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Volume CXXXII, Number 22 |
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The real circumstance
YARON EISENBERG
COLUMNIST
When the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) engages in military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, there seems to be much confusion as to why the IDF is mobilizing. The efforts undertaken by the IDF are seen by some as actions against a civilian population along religious or ethnic lines-a misconception reinforced by statements such as "the IDF versus the Palestinians." Although this notion of the IDF fighting civilians and the Palestinian people is pervasive, it is simply wrong. The IDF is forced to combat organizations whose doctrine centers upon the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel.
Doctrines offer insight into the purpose of organizations. If one examines the doctrine of the IDF, which is readily accessible via its website, one will notice that there is a not a hint of racial discriminatory rhetoric, nor is there stated ambitions of territorial expansion. There isn't even an enemy identified by nationality or creed. The IDF soldiers are not indoctrinated to hate a group of people, nor are they schooled on the prospects of the elimination of a people or cultural entity. This is hardly the case for Hamas. The Hamas Charter, which was publicized in 1988, is riddled with highly charged religious language, calling for a mass movement against not only Israel as a state in its territorial entirety, but Jews as well. The Charter reads, "Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors….When our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, Jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims. In order to face the usurpation of Palestine by the Jews, we have no escape from raising the banner of Jihad." The anti-Semitic propaganda, which is proliferated and created by such organizations, is widespread and dangerous. Such harmful rhetoric, which is taught in elementary schools, television, radio, newspapers, and delivered at public events such as religious services and political forums, is insightful and a cornerstone of these organizations.
The ambition of eliminating the State of Israel is also shared by Arafat's PLO and its splinter groups (just read the charter). It is against those ideologies and practices that have targeted Jewish civilians everywhere in the world, but commonly in Israel, that the IDF seeks to protect.
The IDF has an aim of preserving the state of Israel, and it takes steps to protect its citizens, not unlike any other army of a sovereign state. The IDF's primary concern is to protect its own citizens (Jews and Arabs); it also bares tremendous risks when it tries to protect a civilian Palestinian population while systematically uprooting intricate terrorist networks, exemplified in Jenin last summer as a part of Operation Defensive Shield when the IDF made a decision to only use ground forces in a vast anti-terror campaign.
For the sake of the Palestinians and their future, its best that these terrorist organizations no longer dictate their political and social lives. One only hopes that Israel and the democratic world will win this brutal war against terrorism.
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