Dear Editor,
The Belize government has broken diplomatic ties with Israel and is being congratulated by the Hamas terrorists for this action. Some of our local intelligentsia may be applauding this, but I want to know if we do not have enough problems for our government to deal with here. Does it need to be blundering in on the Arab/Israel conflict? Their unwise action puts us into the position of being an accessory-after-the-fact to the appalling acts of terrorism conducted by Hamas, and I strenuously object to this because I believe in doing unto others what I would have them do unto me.
If we were ever attacked by a neighbor, God forbid, I would expect my government to do everything in its power to protect us from such depredations. How then can I or anyone else condemn Israel for acting in defense of its people?
Yes, there has been an outcry from some against the Israeli war to wipe out the Hamas terrorists, an outcry that has been fanned by elements in the news media. Are we forgetting that over 6,000 rockets have been fired against Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah causing destruction, injury and death? It seems to me also that the horrendous and animalistic atrocities inflicted by the Hamas terrorists on innocent unarmed civilians has quickly left the minds of some.
It hasn’t left my mind, however, and it shouldn’t leave the mind of any person who has a notion of fairness and justice. The Hamas terrorists treated the very old and the very young with the same brutal savagery. Young and old were beheaded, some with shovels. Women were raped, their naked bodies dragged through the streets and mutilated to the glee of spectators while cameras were rolling. Families were burned alive in their homes. The full extent of the atrocities was too graphic for television broadcast. However, Israel recently felt compelled to show some of it to UN representatives who had been reflexively condemning their actions against Hamas. I am informed that what they saw brought them to silence.
The history behind the Arab/Israeli conflict is long and complex and there is more than enough wrongdoing to go around. I do not claim to be an expert but certain things stand out to any impartial observer. One of these is the deep bitterness and hatred of the Arabs against the Jews and Israel and the staunch resolve of many Arabs to use violence in order to get what they feel should be theirs. Israel has made concessions and offered land for peace on many occasions but all to no avail. You may recall that after numerous acts of terrorism against their population some time ago, Israel decided to build a wall.
Belize’s then representative at the United Nations voted along with the usual cohort of nations to reprimand Israel for this. I was flabbergasted. We in Belize need a wall for our protection, but Israel should not have what we would like to have? What kind of craziness was that?
Note as well that when Ehud Barak was prime minister of Israel in 2000, the Palestinians were offered 97% of what they asked for including their own state. He offered control over the temple mount, control over the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), control over the Gaza Strip and half of Jerusalem to be capital of the Palestinian state. When Ariel Sharon took over as prime minister in 2005, the offer remained on the table and he ordered Israeli soldiers to forcibly remove the Jews who had settled in the Gaza Strip. All of this was in the hope of finally establishing peace. However, after taking over Gaza, the Palestinians walked away from the proposed deal. Hamas destroyed the agricultural infrastructure that the Israelis had left behind. Instead of allowing their citizens the opportunity to build an economic future, Hamas took the monies that had been sent to assist the residents in operating the greenhouses, burned everything, cannibalized the equipment for military purposes and began the campaign of violence again. Notwithstanding this, when Ehud Olmert took over as Israel’s prime minister in 2008, he again offered everything that had been put on the table with additional sweeteners. The Palestinian leadership didn’t respond. After they walked away from the table, the violent attacks began again. There were heightened periods of violence in 2014 and 2021 and now here we are again in 2023.
I believe the many efforts to resolve the situation over the past seven decades have failed over and over again because the bitterness and hatred of the Arabs is fueled and supported by the Koran. Their end game has been and continues to be the wiping of Israel off the map. They are aware that this will not be easily accepted by people who don’t hold to their religious beliefs and so the strategy has been to charge Israel as being a racist, apartheid, colonialist state, notwithstanding the fact that there is no evidence for this. Israel is a democracy. Arabs comprise 20% of its population and have the same citizenship rights as the Jews. There are Arab citizens on Israel’s Supreme Court and Arabs who have been elected to sit in the Knesset, the governing body of Israel.
However, a lie that is persistently repeated has a tendency to take root. With bias, misinformation and emotional manipulation so rife in today’s global media, care needs to be taken in analyzing situations and forming opinions. In today’s world it is the popular and acceptable thing to swim downstream in condemning Israel no matter what has occurred. Although it doesn’t have a spotless record, I believe the evidence supports the fact that Israel desires to live in peace with its neighbours.
If only one side in this conflict seriously wants peace, though not at the price of its extinction, and the other accepts no compromise, then we have the type of situation that we see unfolding. We have no business butting our noses into this except to offer aid and comfort to those who are suffering. I find it deeply disgraceful that Belize has been put into the position of receiving congratulations from terrorists. I am therefore begging our government to reconsider and rescind its decision.
As a Belizean Christian I also say a resounding no to those who cry for Judenrein “from the river to the sea” in the Holy Land. I can do no other since I, like everyone else, will face a judgment that is eternal.
Sincerely
Christine Vellos