"From the river to the sea..."

Cain murdering Abel (Met)

    I try to write an honest, thoughtful column, one that considers issues fairly and in a logical way. Of course not everyone agrees. And some issues defy abstract reason — the gut-wrenching horror in Gaza, for instance. Not a situation, perhaps, where deliberation is much use. It's like trying to measure a scream with a ruler.

    I'm tempted to just declare the war unspeakable and address other things — but that strikes me as cowardice, a failure of my duty to myself, to the paper, and its readers. The Israel-Hamas war is a huge story. People are scared and in pain. I know I am. Perspective is needed.

     Maybe not my perspective though. The column below isn't running in the Sun-Times today — nobody explained to me why. I thought it made an obvious, undebatable point — the Jews are there to stay; this from-the-river-to-the-sea business is counterproductive. Maybe it was the way I said it.  Or maybe its acceptance of Israel as a country that exists isn't fit to print.

      Anyway, my apologies to co-workers who were upset — that's the last thing I want. These are heartbreaking times aplenty without my adding to anybody's suffering. I mean that. You can't imagine how profoundly I hate what's going or how sincerely I wish it would go away. Maybe covering your eyes is the next best thing. I'm a humorist at heart; that's what I set out to be. Maybe I can find my way back to that enviable, oblivious state. I'm going to do my best to focus on lighter matters. Readers need that too. I sure do.

     “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is often heard at rallies supposedly supporting the Palestinian people. While the media sometimes points out that it’s a code for genocide — they’re basically saying, “Let’s kill the Jews and take over Israel” — I include the word “supposedly” because someone should consider its effect on Palestinians.
     Belief that they are entitled to all of Israel is what kept them, tragically, from accepting past peace deals that fell short of the Israelis handing over the keys to the country and then magically vanishing.
     It’s what inspires the charmed notion that Israel, one of the most advanced militaries in the world, will be defeated through a series of terror attacks, even one as severe as Oct. 7.
     It’s a mindset that discourages Palestinians from creating a nation where they are — why live jammed in the West Bank and Gaza when the wide sweep of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is theirs for the taking? Though if we look at history — a handy guide — for the first 20 years of Israel’s existence, it didn’t possess sections its people highly desired, such as Jerusalem, but the Israelis built their country anyway.
     Because of that attitude, for all the heartbreaking death and suffering being inflicted by Israel on Gaza, appeals for a ceasefire are directed at Israel and not at Hamas. Surrender is not an option.
     That’s a shame. Surrender is underrated. Look at Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II got World War I going by sending his troops into Belgium on their way to France, which the Germans always fancied they deserved (“From the Atlantic to the Rhine, France shall be mine ...” — not quite as catchy). The four-year bloodletting cost 20 million lives.
     Germany gave up in 1918 but didn’t really surrender — the position the Palestinians keep finding themselves in. The Germans decided they didn’t lose because of all those American doughboys. No, they had been betrayed, stabbed in the back — by the Jews, natch.
     In that frame of mind, after 20 years spent siring a new generation of cannon fodder and rebuilding its military, Germany tried again.
     World War II cost over 50 million lives — 15 million military deaths and at least 38 million civilians, because civilians always take the brunt of war. It didn’t start in Gaza. After World War II ended with their complete defeat, again, the Germans looked over the ruin of their once prosperous nation and did something surprising: They learned. They decided to surrender sincerely this time. They gave up their dream of possessing the Sudetenland. They stopped fighting, and endured seven whole years of Allied occupation.

To continue reading, click here.