I was born in Cyprus, lived in the UK for 8 years and lived in New York for seven years where I studied Jewish History, Biblical Criticism and Hebrew language. I moved to Israel in 2002.
I’m a proud citizen of Israel and it saddens me to see how we are often misrepresented both in international news and on social media. In this post I will share my perspective and I will also present videos that deal with the issues I discuss.
Due to the latest defensive operation in Gaza and the much negative publicity Israel receives-even in less heated times- I believe it is extremely important for our voice to be heard.
I fell in love with Israel when I was born again by faith in Yeshua. Israel has been my home since 2002 and day by day my love for Israel continues to grow.
It’s important to understand the intentions, goals and aspirations
of each side of this century old conflict
Ultimately these intentions are what determine the actions of each side and the resulting reality on the ground
Many have an opinion regarding the Israeli-Arab conflict and this opinion is usually formed by the international media which usually paints Israel as the aggressor.
“It is important to remember that Israel is not responsible for the situation in Gaza. What happens there is because of Hamas. One of the criticisms of Israel this week was that while Israelis have the Iron Dome and bomb shelters to protect them, Gazans have nothing.
This is false. Gazans have the simplest, cheapest and most effective Iron Dome in the world – it is called Stop Shooting. If Hamas stopped attacking, Israel would not have to fire a single missile into Gaza.”
Excerpt from article by Yaakov Katz 21.05.21
Israel's Gaza operation is like no other military op. in history - opinion
Casualties from The Israel Defense Force's operations are exaggerated and distorted to incriminate Israel and to enrage the Arab population against Israel. These tactics are also used to turn international public opinion against Israel and to create political pressure on Israel. By the time research has revealed the true facts it is too late: the damage has been done.
During this defensive operation against Hamas in Gaza, it was encouraging to see European governments and moderate Arab countries join the United States in supporting Israel's right to self defense
Presenting Israel as the aggressor is not a new strategy. I have seen European news reports from the early 1950s which failed to mention the murder of Jewish women and children by Arabs who infiltrated Israel from Jordan and instead preferred to focus on the Arab casualties following the Israeli response.
The impression is given that Israel attacks without provocation
I can tell you that Israel has no reason to attack without provocation
Israel’s operations are always defensive and are started after
a clear and present threat has been recognized,
after much provocation and maximum restraint
Israel is a modern, self sustained and super developed,
technologically advanced country
with a thriving economy
Israel's focus is on progress, research and development for the benefit of the whole world and for all of humanity
Please watch these videos so that you can start developing a picture of Israel
that is different to what you see on the news or on social media
We have a good life here and Israel offers freedom and
equal opportunities for all its citizens
Interesting facts about Israel
There are around 15 million Jews in the world today
with about 7 million living in Israel
Israel has a 20% Arab population which enjoys more freedom and rights
than their co-religionists do in all other Muslim nations
Israeli-Arabs in the State of Israel
Watch an Arab citizen of Israel proudly describe life, opportunities and success in the State of Israel
The almost two million Palestinian Arabs living in Gaza
are under siege and held hostage by Hamas
Hamas takes hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid and construction material meant to be used to develop Gaza and uses it to build tunnels, to purchase and develop weapons and to train fighters all with the sole purpose of destroying Israel, “freeing Palestine” and establishing another Jew free Islamic state from the river to the sea.
The Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria aka the West Bank also calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Arab state in its place.
Although presented as more moderate and accepting of Israel, Fatah’s charter declares that its main goal is establishing a Palestinian-Arab state throughout the entire land of Israel.
Fatah's Charter: download and have a look for yourself.
This dismisses any notion of acceptance of a Jewish state, rather it promotes the eradication of Israel.
You should understand what you mean when you say free Palestine
You should be shouting “Free Palestine from Hamas”
If you are indeed referring to Gaza
If when saying "Free Palestine" you are referring to all of Israel, then you are participating in the call for mass genocide, a second Jewish Holocaust
and the destruction of the State of Israel.
Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of the only Jewish State and the establishment in its place of a Arab state under Islamic Shariah law—from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him." (Article 7) Hamas Charter
Get your facts straight and be careful how you loosely adopt
these hateful slogans
The Iranian leadership, which supports, funds and trains Hamas, openly vows to destroy Israel and is developing nuclear weapons to that end promising to finish the job the Arabs started in 1948.
Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon are funded and armed
by Iran and serve Iran's plans in Gaza in the West Bank
The war against Israel has been going on since the first
Arab riots broke out in Jerusalem in the 1920's
The simple truth is that the Palestinian Arabs simply to not want the Jews here and that they refuse to accept or recognise the Jewish State
The Muslim Arabs have used violence since the early 20th century. This has nothing to do with the settlements, the blockade on Gaza or Israel presence in Judea and Samaria all of which are defensive in nature and have nothing to do with occupation or colonialism.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 uprooting 9000 Israelis from their homes
In 2007 Hamas took over Gaza from the Palestinian Authority and started terror activity and the launching of rockets into Israel which continues in
increasing frequency and advancing capability to this day
Beginning with the defensive war of independence in 1948 when the armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq attacked the newly established state of Israel, every war Israel has since fought has been a defensive war
Israel has sought peace and has offered opportunities for statehood
which the Palestinians have consistently rejected because
they refuse to accept and recognise the state of Israel
As Golda Meir (Israeli prime minister 1969-1974) said:
"When the Arabs love their children more than they hate us,
there will be peace."
And as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a few years ago:
"If the Arabs put down their weapons there will be no war;
If the Jews put down their weapons there will be no Israel."
The Arabs could have had a state
before they even started calling themselves Palestinians
Why Isn't There A Palestinian State
Please have an open mind and examine the facts and the history
Israel's Critical Security Needs for a Viable Peace
And this doesn't mean that Israel's enemies
will stop being aggressive or stop trying to destroy Israel
"More than ever, it is crucial to ensure defensible borders for Israel,
so that Israel can defend itself, by itself"
Is Israel Really an Apartheid State?
Israel has been accused of being an apartheid state even though Israel has extended offers of peace and statehood to the Palestinians who have consistently rejected these offers. Instead they have continued in armed resistance, vowing to wipe Israel off the map, glorifying suicide bombers and indoctrinating their children to hate Israel and the Jews.
I understand that it is not an easy task to sway public opinion in Israel's favour, nevertheless, I am compelled to speak my position in order to equip those leaning towards supporting Israel with facts and information.
I also aim to challenge those who are honest enough to admit that they are not well enough informed to express an educated opinion
to further look into the history and the facts
Israel's hasbara (PR) can’t combat Jew-hatred - opinion
No amount of PR, regardless of its quality, can counter
anti-Zionism and its root, anti semitism.
By RUTHIE BLUM MAY 20, 2021 21:48
. . . content and substance were irrelevant to those viewers who saw Israel – the collective Jew – as the villain of the story.
Nor does knowledge about Israel and its history necessarily alter perceptions. One need only observe the ideological splits within the country itself to realize that exposure to the same information does not lead to uniformity of thought.
Europe has a culture of anti-Semitism going back almost two thousand years and the Islamic world-with over one and a half billion followers-is openly hateful towards Israel and the Jews.
The connection between, anti semitism,
anti-Zionism, Judaism and Israel
Global Survey on Anti-Semitism
On this map Arab nations are represented in green.
Israel is the red line in the middle - West of Iran and Iraq, North of Egypt and south of Turkey.
The USA, Australia and New Zealand are not represented on this map.
Are Jews Indigenous to the Land of Israel?
Israel has had a continuous presence in the land for
3500 years and a connection to the land going back almost 4000 years
Genesis 15:18 (NASB)
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
The constant prayer of the Jewish people throughout 2000 years of exile had been: Next year in Jerusalem - The return to the Jewish homeland
Ezekiel 11:17 (NASB)
17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’
Deuteronomy 30:3-5 (NASB)
3 then the LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. 5 The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.
Theodor Herzl: The Zionist Dream of a Jewish State
In the late 1800s, the Jewish people began
returning to their land fleeing persecution and expulsion
in Europe and in Arab lands
Nation building started in the late 1800s with Jewish agricultural communities sprouting up, draining marshes and swamps and developing modern irrigation techniques that would make the deserts bloom. The standard of living for the local Arabs improved, infant mortality rates dropped, life expectancy increased and Arabs from surrounding lands flocked into the land. The local Arabs supported by the surrounding Arab nations did not want the Jewish people to live in the land and they instigated violence in the most horrific ways. The killings were indiscriminate: without warning they would murder families in agricultural communities and in the newly built cities in an attempt to scare the Jews away.
In Europe Anti-semitism, pogroms, fierce persecution, crusades and inquisitions culminated in the Holocaust which claimed over 6 million Jewish lives. Those who could, fled to the land of Israel for refuge. Those who remained in Europe would be almost completely annihilated. The world Jewish population before the war was around 18 million. Six million were murdered. The world Jewish population today is around 15 million. Around 7 million live in Israel.