שלום דרך עוצמת אש טובה ביותר

It has been in the news a fair bit lately, people protesting Israel, people saying that neither the US nor anyone else should be backing Israel, that maybe we should be backing Palestine instead. Or, perhaps, we should back neither. We should go in and "enforce peace" or let Israel and Palestine and Jordan and Syria and Egypt duke it out and then we talk to the winner.

These people suck. I do not get a lot of modern entertainment these days. I do not watch TV, I do not go to the theatre, and I do not listen to the radio. What I do is I watch Israel. Israel rocks. Forget for a moment whether or not Israel SHOULD exist. That is ancient history, it does not matter any more. The fact is, these people are here now. And they have every right to live there now. They were born there. They have families there. They might just grow old and die there. That is what makes them our protagonists.



Our protagonists are surrounded on all sides by evil neighbors. Malicious, theocratic, self-entitled, whining Muslim nations who are so pissed over losing 8,000 square miles and one holy city that they have sworn their treasuries, their policies, and the welfare and lives of their citizens to getting it back or destroying it in the process.



But Israel is not our ordinary peace-loving nation. The Israeli people understand that they are in a fight for their lives and they will NOT be robbed of them. They do not fight weak wars. They do not occupy and set up provisional governments. They do not do the Cold War Berlin thing. They kick ass in ways so painful that their neighbors will not even look at them cross-eyed. Oh, sure, they talk the bad shit to eachother or to the rest of the world, but soon as Israel walks into the room they sit up a little straighter and start saying "Sir". Why?



Israel is a nation composed ENTIRELY of badass. Israel is a country whose military's mission statement, as it's first item, says "Israel cannot afford to lose a single war".

In 1967, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq decided they were going to have a little gang-bang. Israel got wind of this, and literally DESTROYED the main opposing air force in the early hours of the morning. By the end of the first day, they had TOTAL air superiority. 5 days later, they controlled the ENTIRE Sinai peninsula and were well on the path to Cairo before everyone said "Uncle". They call this the Six Day War.



6 years later, almost the same group of belligerents (whose name for the "6 Day War" is "The Setback", just to give an idea of their learning curve) decided to make a sneak attack on one of Judaism's holiest days, Yom Kippur. Things went well, at first. Then the Israeli Defense Forces finished lacing up their ass-kickin' boots and made for a total reversal. They regained all of the territory that had been invaded and even EXTENDED it by the time the war ended.



This is a government that is so dead-set on peace with their neighbors that in spite of controlling Jerusalem, one of the holiest, most ancient cities on the planet, and controlling the site of some of the holiest ground in THREE religions, the Temple Mount, that they have turned over administration of the Temple Mount to a group so intolerant of other beliefs that nobody not of this belief is permitted to worship there. Muslims ONLY, and everyone else, in their minds, should be grateful to be granted visitation. The good graces of the Israeli people made a gift of this holy place, and they are trying to hurt not just the Israelis, but EVERYONE with that gift. The goodwill of teh Israeli government even helps to enforce this petty ban. It is not even the holiest site in Islam, like it is for the Jews and Christians. That honor is reserved for Mecca, a city that forbids entry to non-Muslims. Are we sensing a pattern here? Israel is right to fear for its safety. Israel has shown remarkable maturity and restraint in its diplomacy. And as far as I am concerned, Israel is right to strike at their foes, preemptively or no, and I will side with them by default.



This is a country composed of people who can work a 9-5, Monday through Friday workweek, punch out Friday night, go to a party, get drunk, and decide to invade Palestine over the weekend. So they do. They march over the countryside, do some off-roading with their tanks, and are back in time to shower and be back in the office Monday. And I LOVE to watch them do it. It gives me a warm fuzzy. It is my favorite thing in the news, on television, or to hear on the radio.

And these people want to cancel my favorite show.

Now do not get me wrong. I would never reduce the valiant struggle of the Israeli people to little more than a TV show. What I find, however, is that I get as excited about the news of Israel kicking ass as some people get about their football team winning the Superbowl - when the IDF lays the smackdown on Palestine, gives Iran the finger, laughs at Syria's pathetic chest thumping, or when they effortlessly defuse another attempt by Muslim fanatics to start a war over the Temple Mount, part of my rejoices like a stadium full of Argentinians whose team just won the World Cup. Because what we get with Israel is a fight that matters, a fight for the right to live and exist, a fight against some of the most pervasive religious intolerance in the world, a fight against some of the most belligerent, violent, stubborn governments on the planet. Were I Jewish, I would join that fight without a second thought. Outside of that, I have little choice but to cheer these people who understand, above all else, that if you want peace you must prepare for war.

A people who truly understand that Peace is won through Superior Firepower.