Students Supporting a Secure Israel: January 2006

Yerushalayim shel zahav

Today, 61 years after the liberation of the deepest abyss mankind has ever fallen into, let us celebrate the existence, the security and the beauty of the one and only institution fully and unequivocally dedicated to avoiding its repeat - the State of Israel, with its capital Jerusalem - the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

Victory for Terror

According to preliminary results, Hamas won 76 seats to 43 for the ruling Fatah party, giving them a majority in the 132-seat chamber. The turnout was 77%.

So reports the BBC. Hamas, the group which refuses to recognise Israel, and has not given up terrorism, will now take seats in a democratic parliament. Its hard to imagine how things could be worse.

Israel and the US have made it perfectly clear they will not negotiate with Hamas, and they have good reason not to. So what then happens to the peace process? In fact, was "peace process" even in the mind of Palestinians who voted common thugs to represent them?

A Day that will live in Infamy

Never Forget. Never.

On January 20th, 1942 fifteen high-ranking civil servants and SS-officers met in this house to discuss plans of "The Final Solution" of the Jewish question in Europe, the decision to deport the Jews of Europe to the East and murder them.

Arik's Legacy

The Weekly Standard, one of Israel's best friends in the world, has a wonderful piece by Peter Berkowitz on Ariel Sharon's Legacy.

And a beautiful piece it is, as showcased in its closing paragraph:

Sharon is the last of the 48ers--think of Yitzhak Rabin, Ezer Weizman, Moshe Dayan--to occupy the commanding heights of Israeli politics. He belonged to the generation that was born and bred in Israel, that came of age loving the land and fighting in the War of Independence, that was proud of the Zionist dream, that fought hard and lived large, and that, after heroic military careers, governed the nation well into its sixth decade. The 48ers were not always the best of democrats, especially Sharon. And yet time after time, they, and Sharon in particular, rose up to defend their small, surrounded, war-torn, beautiful country, making it possible for Jews to build a free and democratic state in their ancestral homeland.

General Ariel Sharon, the Epitome of Israel

While it may be disrespectful to write obituaries for a living person, I believe that given the certainty that Ariel Sharon will never return to the Israeli political scene, a look back on his career and his public life might be apposite.

Needless to say, only the greatest writers will do. Let us begin with Michael B. Oren, Author of the definitive account of Israel's Greatest War, distinguished fellow of the Shalem Center, Colonel in the Reserve Forces of the World's Best Army, and regular contributor to the World's Greatest Magazine.

Oren has a beautiful piece in today's Wall Street Journal that will not, I think, leave anybody untouched. The closing sentence is a quote for the ages:

Now, with his withdrawal from the political scene, Israel stands to enter a new phase in its national existence. Less divided, perhaps, and more certain of the borders it wants and the type of society it aspires to create; separated from the Palestinians but open to compromise with them; preserving productive relations with the international community and an unshakeable alliance with the United States. That is the Israel that Ariel Sharon has left us, a formidable legacy for facing the future.

Another very good comment, by the equally excellent Charles Krauthammer puts the scale of Sharon's achievement in perspective:

The success of this fence-plus-unilateral-withdrawal strategy is easily seen in the collapse of the intifada. Palestinian terror attacks are down 90 percent. Israel's economy has revived. In 2005 it grew at the fastest rate in the entire West. Tourists are back and the country has regained its confidence. The Sharon idea of a smaller but secure and demographically Jewish Israel garnered broad public support, marginalized the old parties of the left and right, and was on the verge of electoral success that would establish a new political center to carry on this strategy.

Next up, at the World's most influential Journal of Opinion, ever, Saul Singer writes, on the subject Ehud Olmert - who may still surprise us, but who, at this point in time, looks like Harry Truman on the morning of April 12th, 1945:

Olmert is a talented politician, and may be able to convey the right combination of strength and humility that the situation demands. It is hard to imagine, however, his attaining the gravitas Sharon achieved in his six decades of service, spanning the life of the state, and culminating in decisions that changed history.

As for my comment of yesterday, in which I called Ariel Sharon the world's greatest living general - with all due respect, that subject matter is non-negotiable, and I will not consider any e-mails making the case that Colin Powell, Pervez Musharraf or, G-d forbid, Wesley Clark should be considered.

In any case, the great Nelson Ascher makes a better case than I ever could.

Furthermore, I do not believe that anybody else could claim to be the greatest living Israeli, either. Not even Benyamin Netanyahu. Yet.

Praying for Ariel Sharon

We have all had our disagreements with Ariel Sharon, especially over the past few years and months, but at this dire hour, we pray for him, and we hope that the world's greatest living general, the greatest living Israeli, and one of the most courageous and daring human beings ever to grace the face of the planet will survive, and recover.

Don't leave us, Arik.

Domestic Violence in the Arab world

22% of married Israeli Arab women have experienced some form of physical violence. But only four out of every 1,000 battered Israeli Arab women report their abuse to the police.

"I ran to the bathroom and locked the door," said Aisha "And I remembered that my cell phone was in my pocket. I called my mother and told her to come quickly and call the police. I told her he was going to kill me."