Katie Sola '14 defends claims of Israeli imperialism by mentioning Deir Yassin devoid of context. She neglects to mention the massacre at Kfar Etzion, in which Arab militias killed 129 Jewish men, women and children. Her one-sided focus displays a skewed narrative and ignores the fact that there are hostilities on both sides.
In fact, Sola wrongly associates "the catastrophe" with the Israeli War of Independence. It actually refers to what the Arabs call the Nakba, the Palestinian exodus out of their homes that occurred because Arab armies told the Palestinians to leave and return when Israel was annihilated. Fortunately, a small Jewish army then successfully defended the Jewish state. The Palestinians who left subsequently became refugees, refused citizenship by every single Arab nation except Jordan. Not surprisingly, Sola does not mention the equal number of Jewish refugees who were expelled from the various Arab countries of the region. Furthermore her comparison to early colonists is no more than a masked attempt to knock the United States and Western civilization.
"Apartheid" is also a seditious word to describe the situation. Arab-Israelis enjoy full rights. Palestinians not living in Israel proper should take up their political grievances with Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. The 1993 Oslo accords established the Palestinian Authority, which hasn't had elections in years. The 2005 withdrawal of Gaza saw Israelis being dragged from their homes as an Israeli gesture towards peace. The result was the election of the terrorist group Hamas and constant rocket barrages on towns and schools in Southern Israel.
Essentially, Sola criticizes Israeli policy and focuses little on the role America should play in supporting Israel. If we are in fiscally tough times as Sola suggests, we should reduce our two billion dollar check to Pakistan, a government whose intelligence services apparatus has direct ties to Al-Qaeda. In fact, Israel is required to pour 70 percent of its America aid back into American industry. This creates jobs and economic growth in the U.S. To argue that Israel is not a "cooperative ally" simply ignores our military, democratic and technological collaboration that advances both progress and security.
