This is not a war between Jews and Arabs

Since the reawakening of the Zionist movement, Jews have been immigrating to the land we can now call Israel. Most of the Arabs living first under Ottoman rule and then under British rule welcomed the Jews. We brought investment into the economy which created jobs. I live in Haifa. In 1921, under the British Mandate, The Arab mayor of Haifa, Hassan Bey Shukri, wrote a letter to the British rulership stressing his support for Jewish immigration. He wrote:

Hasan Bay Shukri photo public domain via Wiki Commons

We strongly protest against the attitude of the said delegation concerning the Zionist question. We do not consider the Jewish people as an enemy whose wish is to crush us. On the contrary. We consider the Jews as a brotherly people sharing our joys and troubles and helping us in the construction of our common country. We are certain that without Jewish immigration and financial assistance there will be no future development of our country as may be judged from the fact that the towns inhabited in part by Jews such as Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, and Tiberias are making steady progress while Nablus, Acre, and Nazareth where no Jews reside are steadily declining.

This is a war between fundamentalist Islam and moderate Islam for leadership of the Arab world. Israel and the Jewish people are simply pawns in the middle of this war.

Iran’s leadership does not care about the Palestinian Arabs. Iran is ruled by Shi’ite muslims and they consider Sunni muslims as infidels.

Likewise, fundamentalist Sunni muslims use the Palestinians to gain power and money. The worst of them are the Palestinian leaders themselves who become rich off the suffering of their own people. The more the Palestinians suffer, the more money the West sends to help. And a large portion of that money ends up in the personal bank accounts of the Palestinian leadership.

Still, the media loves to portray this issue as a Jew versus Palestinian problem. Jews killing Arabs makes for a great headline.

In fact, Israel is trying to prevent deaths of Arab civilians. Civilians who actually celebrate the murder of innocent Jewish women and children. And all this in the middle of a war for its very survival. The worst action that Israel can be accused of is wanting to build homes on empty land that other people believe should be preserved for a future Palestinian state. Building houses. That’s the crime.

Yesterday, Hezbollah sent missiles into Akko. Akko is a mixed city of Arabs and Jews. We all sheltered together. We are all victims of a made up conflict between Jews and Muslims. And the perpetuators of this crime are the politicians and the media who encourage this conflict by reporting this lie as truth.

If you are a Muslim and you want to live in freedom, Israel is the best country in the Middle East. It is the only country in the Middle East with a Free Press and Freedom of Speech. Only in Israel do Jews and Muslims eat together, study together, work together and play together. It’s not a Utopia without any prejudice. But it is the best country in the Middle East if not in the entire world.

If you really want peace in the Middle East: condemn Hamas; condemn Hezbollah; condemn Iran. But most of all, condemn those who falsely claim that Israelis want to commit atrocities against Arabs. They are the real obstacle to peace.