Letter to local radio stations



In the coming weeks, Palestinian sympathizers will be approaching area radio stations to promote a rally to end what they call, "Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Lands." What the rally organizers won't tell you is that to them, "Palestinian lands" means not just the West Bank and Gaza, but Israel itself, as witness the maps used in West Bank and Gaza classrooms where the state of Israel is marked as "Occupied Palestine."

The organizers say that the rally is to protest, in their words, "the 40th anniversary of Israel's illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip."

Israel, however, won the West Bank and East Jerusalem, not from the Palestinians - but from Jordan. Israel won Gaza, not from the Palestinians - but from Egypt. This new lie, which these organizers are trying to propagate, must be shown for what it is - baseless propaganda. Two years ago, in front of the international media, Israel extended its hand in peace to the Palestinians, giving them Gaza, deporting its own people and removing its soldiers. With this gesture, Israel became the only country ever to grant the Palestinians any territory - not the Egyptians, not the Jordanians, not the Lebanese, and not the Syrians. From that time to this day, Palestinians have responded by firing rockets into Israel, terrorizing Israeli citizens - their way of saying thank you. Israel has had no choice but to defend its citizens by going after the perpetrators who hide among civilians, while the Palestinians claim that they are the ones being victimized. Similarly, Israel builds a security barrier to defend its citizens from the terror of Palestinian suicide bombers, and Palestinians claim that they are the ones again being victimized. The barrier has worked, by the way. Suicide bombings are down 90%. If the Palestinians have something to protest, it is their own reckless leadership. They could have had their own state many times - as early as 1948. But they chose war - and lost. They can still choose peace - that option still exists. Israel wants nothing more than a negotiated settlement - to live in peace with her neighbors. It takes two, however, to form an agreement - and the Palestinian leadership hasn't had the wherewithal to make it happen.

This is what the protest should be about.

Michael Berenhaus