THE US REPORT

(Commentary)—You could say Israel was born against all odds. Prior to her creation, Jewish factions were split politically, with Arab and British hostility thrown into the mix. The US president was negative. Groups that would form the Israeli army would be seriously outnumbered and weaponry was sorely lacking. But there was support. It may surprise some that Russia figured largely in Israel’s founding, even going so far as to mandate the Czech government to sell them arms for the cause.

I learned many things I didn’t know about Israel after discovering the book Inside Israel (Marlowe & Co.), edited by John Miller and Aaron Kenedi. This collection of essays, some written by amazing writers like Paul Johnson, Saul Bellow and P. J. O’Rourke, is worth reading because it sheds a great deal of light on a country at the center of world politics.

Not long ago, I was talking politics with a friend of mine. She thinks the US needs to stop “playing favorites” with Israel. Until our talk, she was under the impression the US singlehandedly split up the territory and handed Israel her deed.

Who supported the creation of Israel?
Russia played an integral role. Paul Johnson writes in the essay, ‘A History of the Jews,’  “When Palestine first came before the United Nations in May, 1947, Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, caused surprise by announcing that his government supported the creation of a Jewish state and by voting accordingly.” In October the head of the Soviet delegation toasted the “future Jewish state” before voting for the partition plan. Of course, the Soviets weren’t fans of Jews. One of several reasons they supported Israel’s founding was because it would disadvantage the British. Johnson notes British and American oil companies didn’t want the Israeli state—backlash from Arab countries would surely follow. Meanwhile, President Franklin D. Roosevelt didn’t want the state either, a position reinforced after his meeting with King Ibn Saud at Yalta. Some might say the Jews had God on their side for sure. Roosevelt died and Harry Truman supported Israel’s founding, says Johnson, because he felt sorry for the Jewish people and he also wanted the Jewish vote in swing states.

Could the current conflict have been stopped?
People talk about the Middle East conflict and we in the US have good reason to be tired of it. Lives, resources and wealth have been sacrificed in my country on that very account, one not exclusively relevant to Israel. As this country was moving to become a reality, numerous other shifts in countries and politics were occurring.  Massive migrations of humans began and not only from Israel. Germany in no small part can be thanked for that, as can France.

But it’s worth pointing out the world had ample opportunity to stop the Arab-Israeli conflict in its tracks. In July, 1937, the Arabs were offered ¾ of Palestine. The Jews agreed. The Arabs wouldn’t even talk about it.

Jewish and Arab refugees
With Israel’s founding, had refugees been dealt with uniformly and fairly, future deaths might have been prevented. Most people know about the Arab refugees—656,000 fled. They were resettled in camps in Jordan, Transjordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and the Gaza Strip. They were viewed as guests who would, one day, return to their native land. This was the status conferred by their Arab brethren.

What most people don’t know is that between 1945-48, a massive Jewish relocation also occurred, with 567,654 Jewish refugees fleeing Arab countries. Israel received them and resettled them, Johnson says, as part of its national-home policy. They weren’t shoved into “temporary” camps. Rather, they were treated as refugees in the US are, with compassion and guidance for future citizenship.

Can you imagine the clamor if the US placed Guatemalans, Colombians, Mexicans and others in refugee camps? And left them there for years? Why is it we never hear criticism about the placement of all those Arab refugees in camps?

That question brings me to my mission. At the moment, here in the US and in Europe as well, my mission is not in sync with politics of our time except with politicians seeking votes and talking rhetoric. It is not intellectually chic at the moment to be a loyal friend to Israel. It isn’t appropriate in some quarters to say the US should never sit down and “talk” to countries intent on destroying Israel. Thus, I have two messages.

A message for Israel and one for the future US president
From the lush tropics of my native state to those who are celebrating Israel’s founding,  Happy Birthday. And may you have many more to come.

And to whoever wins the office of US president, I hope you’ll read some history and maybe a few blogs. They will serve you well in deciding who you should sit down and talk to when it comes to the Middle East, especially if terms like "annihilate" are being tossed around.

(-filed by Kay B. Day)