Israel will never succumb to oppression again

Howard Joffe

Our local morning newspaper in Cape Town declined to print my rebuttal, for obvious reasons.  

They did, however, print a half page report by Terry Crawford-Browne, signing himself as a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, predicting that Bibi would lose the Israeli election. 

Making a prediction of the outcome of the Israeli election the day before, to present your anti-Netanyahu views, is plain stupid. As it happened, he was proved wrong. I can say this to him: “Terry Crawford-Browne, you are not the wise guy you think you are. Wise guys come short.”

Then another so-called member of the PSC – a certain Jeff Rudin – made 10 statements in that same newspaper.

* The security wall was built to protect. This is no different to the fence or wall that surrounds your property.

* Rudin calls it an “Apartheid Wall” l. I think he and his fellow-members should get off their fence

* Israel is not seeking more land. His point that Israel is pushing to take over as much of Palestine as it can, is utter nonsense in the extreme.

* Israel wants peace and is entitled to live in peace. This is what we are fighting for.

There is one more significant point that needs to be aired: The Jewish people suffered greatly and it took them over 3 000 years to return to their homeland after being treated as slaves in Egypt and after the Nazi nightmare.

Who can ever forget the torture they were subjected such as the horrors of the gas chambers at the hands of their German oppressors?

Crawford-Browne and Rudin should ask themselves this question: How come the Arab states with all their land are not willing to give up some of the land for their Palestinians brothers?

The true answer is that the Palestinians have been turned into a political football to get at criticising the Jewish state. This is anti-Semitism.

Have a look at the map of the Middle East to gain an idea of the area of land owned by the Arab states. Then look at the pin prick that is Israel. 

To be blunt: Israel will never ever succumb to oppression again. The world needs to wake up. Leave us alone.