| A Durable Peace William Karkow 23 July 2002 Dear Mr. Netanyahu, Despite reading dozens of books regarding Israel, the Holocaust, histories of the Jews and of the Arabs, I have never before read such a succinct and rather shocking description of the origins of the Diaspora. I had truly thought it was due to the Romans, shortly after 70 C.E. To find out that it was a result of Arab colonization and expropriation of Jewish land and property in the 7th century C.E. puts a wholly different light on the foundations of Arab accusations. If I had not known this, as a surgeon born in 1953, old enough to remember the 6-Day War, one who reads dozens of histories each year, then the State of Israel has failed in its defense against Arab propaganda. My college age children and the general public in the U.S. have much less knowledge of history. Therefore, I strongly urge the Israeli government to pay attention to perhaps the major thesis of your book, that peace through strength requires not just military might, but the continual exposition of facts to expose the misinformation of propagandists and the naivete of journalists and to defend the justice of the Israeli position. Weakness whether physical or moral, breeds contempt in the eyes of the world. Although you do not state your religious beliefs, you are obviously well read in the Scriptures. May I make a few comments? 1) The reason so many in the U.S. are sympathetic to Israel comes from the Jewish heritage within Christianity, and my perception is that our own moral foundations are fading along with the level of Biblical knowledge. Even I as a citizen do not trust our government to make decisions in line with morality when it collides with self-interest. I would warn Israel not to lean too heavily with blind trust on the U.S., just as in the days of Ezekiel when he prophesied, "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am G_d because they have been only a staff made of reed to the house of Israel... when they (Israel) leaned on you (Egypt), you broke and made all their loins quake." It pains me to fear that we will never be a nation in whom you can fully trust. 2) Although I believe that any true Christian must be a friend of Israel, recognizing G_d's original choice of Israel to be a light to the nations, as well as Christian prophecy that Israel will once more be restored not just as a nation, but also in the center of G_d's ultimate plan, it is also prophesied both by Jeremiah and by John that there will be a time of Jacob's distress which has yet to occur, and world peace will not occur until the end. I believe Martin van Creveld errs in his book "The Sword and the Olive" to imply that by obtaining and holding the Occupied Territories Israel has brought an avoidable evil upon itself. Faith, like trust, requires a true foundation. Blind faith in whatever one desires, separated from history and reality, is madness. 3) If during training you were able to run the 10 miles across Israel from Tuklarem to the Mediterranean in a little over an hour, is it not possible to more vividly portray on the Internet the vulnerability of Israel's waist by a photograph from Tuklarem showing the coastal plain and the sea beyond? I think even a military nitwit could appreciate the foolishness of allowing hostile forces this kind of unobstructed view. May those in Israel learn the lessons of history and avoid repeating them. We wish all of you well. William Karkow, M.D., FACS |
The Case Agianst Israel's Enemies by Alan Dershowitz 
Coming from England and particularly from the BBC, MUST BE SEEN VIDEO! ANOTHER MUST SEE VIDEO |