Israel and the World

Israel’s recent military strike into the Syrian Golan Heights aimed at Hezbollah terrorists should not raise eyebrows in the international community. How is this strike different than American strikes against ISIS in Syria? Both are aimed at terrorists who plan to use their newly acquired land (due to the Syrian Civil War) to produce more trouble. While the American people are not on the front lines and do not feel the immediate effect of these terrorists, Israelis have no place to go and are fighting these threats of radical Islam on their borders, close to their homes.

This notion was further illustrated on Wednesday morning, as a terrorist from Tulkarem in Samaria (the northern West Bank) stabbed passengers on a Tel Aviv bus before being shot and subdued by members of the Israel Prison Service who happened to be driving by at the time of the attack. While various leaders within Western countries (Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain), voiced their horror at the attack, Hamas, and other smaller terror groups in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), praised the attack. Furthermore, Fatah called the attack, “an act of sacrifice.”

It is becoming abundantly clear that the Palestinian leadership does not wish to come to a two state solution. If they did, then they would denounce such terrorism against a country they wish to have peace with. Mahmoud Abbas’ hypocrisy is blatant. The President of the Palestinian Authority, who walked in the front lines at the French rally for peace two weeks ago, incites terrorism and hatred aimed at the Israeli people. His inaction to clamp down on terrorists can be looked at as an action in allowing them to continue their terror activity.

In some ways, the Western world can be held accountable for today’s attack, as well as the need for Israel’s strike in Syria. The various European countries who recognized a Palestinian state and criticize Israel for their supposed human rights violations, without looking at Syria’s human rights violations (or other violations around the world), are allowing these terror groups to continue their actions unimpeded. Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, is a bastion of Western ideas and ideals in a region ravaged by terrorism and theocracies. Without Israel, it is possible that the Middle East would be even more dangerous than it already is.

The current clash of civilizations between the West and radical Islam meet in the Middle East, with Israel on the front lines. It is time for the Western world to recognize the staunch ally they have in the Jewish state. Israel seeks peace with its enemies and aims to better the world for the future. If the West votes to affirm its faith in Israel, then it will affirm its desire to curb this threat of radical Islam, in order to prevent heinous attacks, such as the ones in Paris a couple weeks ago, as well as the one today. Until then, the clash of civilizations will grow uninhabited, further threatening world peace.