THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 119, May 11, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LIVING ON THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION:
ISRAEL'S SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY
THE FULL STORY
By Alan Caruba
ISRAEL, THE MIDDLE EAST, & THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT: SERIOUS LESSONS TO BE DRAWN FROM THIS SIXTIETH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL -- SERIOUS THREATS TO ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE ON THE NEAR HORIZON -- THE
FAILURE OF ISLAM & THE ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST -- THE SUCCESS OF JUDAISM & CHRISTIANITY
“Trusting in the Rock of Israel we now place our signatures
in witness to this proclamation, sitting as the Provisional State
Council, on the soil of the homeland, in the city of Tel-Aviv,
this day, Friday afternoon, the 5th of Iyar, 5708, the 14th of
May, 1948.”
This was the moment of the re-birth of Israel announced by Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel. I would call your
attention to the year of the Jewish calendar he cited, 5708. It reaches back over the millennia, deep into the Torah
(the Old Testament), with its long history of a people chosen to be “a nation of priests and a holy people.”
This fact alone eviscerates all arguments and lies put forth that the Jews do not have a right and a claim to their own
homeland. Historians put the birth of Judaism at approximately two thousand years before the advent of Christianity.
When the Roman Empire fell, it was restructured as the Holy Roman Empire, with Christianity at its core. Jewish resistance
to the Roman Empire shaped much of its early history.
At the heart of the Islamic protestations of modern Israel is their contempt for the two faiths that preceded their own,
which began in 622 A.D. By then Judaism was already a very ancient faith. To be anything other than a Muslim, then and
now, was declared to be belonging to an inferior faith. Islam is distinguished by its inflexible fixation on Allah, a former
moon god worshipped in Mecca, and on the cult of Mohammed.
More than a billion of the world’s population is Muslim. More than a billion is Christian. Billions believe in Hinduism and
Buddhism. Judaism, which was never an evangelizing faith, existed in small numbers, but, for reasons of faith, both
Christianity and Islam persecuted the Jews in their midst because their very existence raised questions of spiritual
legitimacy.
Throughout this long history, the Jews remained steadfast to their ancient faith under circumstances that would have
destroyed a people less committed. In the last century, an evil so vast that it defies comprehension attempted to kill every
Jew in Europe and Russia.
Out of the ashes of an estimated six million Jews, the Zionist movement, which had been established at the very end of the
previous century, reached its moment in history when a re-born nation of Israel was the sanctuary needed for the
survivors and others who would flee persecution in Arab nations, in Russia, and elsewhere.
“After the people were forcibly exiled from their land,” said Ben-Gurion on May 14, 1948, “they kept the faith with it in all
the lands of their dispersion, and never ceased praying and hoping to return to their land. . . .”
Within hours of Ben-Gurion’s announcement, Israel was attacked by Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. By June 11,
1948, a truce was arranged. Thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers had arrived from around the world.
Hostilities resumed on July 8, but it went poorly for the Arabs, as the Israelis won about 20% more territory than was
originally granted.
There has never really been any peace since then. Several more wars and the Intifada declared by the Palestinians have
been markers in Israel’s short history. There has only been the tiresome demand that it return to 1967 borders. Even when
Israel relinquished Gaza to the Palestinians, it has not stilled their rockets for a single day.
Today, Israel remains surrounded by its enemies, despite a peace accord with Egypt and Jordan. It remains a tiny nation,
and Jews worldwide remain a minority. These days, Israel is directly threatened by two Palestinian entities, Hezbollah and
Hamas, assisted by Syria, funded and armed by Iran, a nation led by men who promise to destroy Israel.
The failure of the Middle East as a society is the failure of Islam, a faith whose name translates as submission. The
success of Israel is the success of Judaism, a religion whose believers have greatly blessed the modern world. It is the
success, as well, of the support of Christians who are Judaism’s spiritual heirs.
There are serious lessons to be drawn from this sixtieth anniversary, and serious threats on the near horizon. If we permit
the destruction of Israel, we nullify the values of both Judaism and Christianity. We put our souls at risk.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Israel & the Arabs -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba has a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.
Caruba’s new book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press.
© Alan Caruba 2008
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity