Thursday, August 24, 2006

Blame America First, and Israel a Close Second

Lately I have heard Leftists ask "what if there was no Israel?" They imply by this question that if there was no Israel the Muslims would just happily live together in peace. Israel is responsible for all the ills in the "House of Peace."

As a student of Arab history, I shake my head and smile at these Liberals who act as if YOU'RE dumb for not buying what they're selling.

My answer to this question is a few questions of my own-

Do Muslim terrorists kill Hindus in Kashmir and India because of Israel? How quickly we forget the train bombings of Mumbai! Not to mention the bombing of the Indian Parliament not long after 9-11.

The fact is, Hindus and Muslims have been killing each other for centuries. Watch the movie "Ghandi." It shows one of the more recent rashes of Hindu-Muslim violence that broke out in 1947- the year before Israel was founded. And it wasn't the first. Or the tenth.

Do Muslims in Nigeria kill Christians there because of Israel? Nigeria is far removed from Israel and its Christians do not assist Israel in any way. A Christian peasant in Nigeria who is illiterate probably wouldn't be able to find Israel on the map. And most gun-toting Muslims there who's favorite sport is shooting Christians likely couldn't either.

Do Sudanese Muslims enslave black Christians in Darfur because of Israel? Certainly not, this enslavement has been going on for centuries, more than a millenium even.

Did the Turks massacre the Armenians because of Israel? Certainly not. Actually, thanks be to God, they ceased this policy prior to the creation of Israel.

Do Indonesian Muslims massacre Christians on Timor or blow up Hindus on Bali because of Israel? Nope, once again, the conflict predates 1948.

Do Shi'ites and Sunnis massacre each other in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran because of Israel? Absolutely not. That conflict goes back to the days of Imam Ali (656 AD) and Imam Husayn (680 AD), the founders of Shi'ism. We're talking 1 1/3 millenia here.

The list goes on and on. It is a collosal unfairness to blame all this mayhem on Israel, for things which they bear no responsibility. Genesis 16:11-12 forecast the above circumstances. The Angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, who was the ancestor of Arab Muslims, "...you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your misery. He will be a wild ass of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him and he will live in hostility to all his brothers."

Israel is not to blame in all this. Blame rests with those sons of Ishmael who live up to their ancestor's legacy in spades.