         Annexation and Transfer...The only path to Peace
                         March 7, 1991
                      by Gary M. Cooperberg

       NBC Reporter, Bob Simons, whose Judaism may never have played an important
part in his life, suddenly became acutely aware of it as a result of the Gulf War.  Mr. Simons is
a professional news reporter whose vivid descriptions are tempered with studied impartiality. 
When one becomes an active participant in events, however, unintentional as it may be,
impartiality can no longer be maintained. 
       Mr. Simons was covering the Gulf War in Iraq when he found himself a victim of it. 
He was imprisoned by Iraqi soldiers and abused when they discovered he was Jewish.  He
probably still is unaware of how lucky he was that he wasn't tortured to death.  He described
his treatment in vivid detail, which although frightening and unpleasant, did not result in any
serious physical injury.  Despite this, he very calmly and sincerely announced before the world
press that, had he had the opportunity, he would have been happy to have murdered his
tormentor in cold blood.  And had he succeeded in doing so, he would "have had no more
remorse than he had when he stepped upon a cockroach in his kitchen in the morning."
       Taken out of context, I would imagine there could be those who would praise the
Iraqi soldier for his restraint and condemn Mr. Simons for his intolerance.  As outrageous as
that statement may sound, that is exactly the kind of evenhanded treatment given to Israel by
the world press.
       Before there was a Jewish State, Jews who lived in Palestine, and any other place in
the Middle East, were an oppressed minority.  That means that anyone who was a Jew could
expect to receive treatment much like that given to Mr. Simons, and much worse, by any Arab
in any country he happened to live in.  In Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Tunisia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Syria, to
mention but a few countries, Jews were a tolerated pariah.  They were forced to pay high
taxes, just because they were Jews; they were cursed, spat upon, beaten, stoned and even
murdered with impunity, just because they were Jews.  A Jew was forced to live in a "ghetto"
and to keep his head very low so as not to insult a Moslem, (a crime punishable by death).
       I should hope that Mr. Simons benefited by his experience and can now begin to
understand why no Arab nation can possibly accept the concept of a Jewish State.  Mubarak,
like Sadat before him, is a clever strategist and liar.  He seeks to destroy Israel in the name of
"peace".  As such he is a greater danger to this country's existence than those who openly
shoot at us. 
       We Jews have every right to hate Arabs and try to destroy them.  Yet we have
never so much as suggested such behavior.  On the contrary.  Every Jewish Prime Minister has
begun his term in office with an outstretched hand and an offer to sit and discuss peace with
any Arab leader in any place of his choosing.  Only one nation, as a very last resort, took us up
on the offer and, by so doing, achieved a victory which he never could have accomplished by
war.
       In 1948 hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab countries were deported from
the lands of their birth, forced to leave behind all of their belongings and properties, and
sometimes were robbed of even their children.  The state of Israel took them in and enabled
them to begin a new life in the Jewish homeland.  

       Those Arab refugees, who did not flee Israel to make room for Arab armies to
liquidate the Jews, had no real place in the Jewish State, yet were accepted as citizens here. 
Again, in 1967, those Arabs who tried to destroy us, not only weren't destroyed by us, nor
deported, but permitted to continue to live in the liberated Jewish lands!
       The kindness we showed our enemies then is being repaid today with a revolution. 
Arabs who live in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, together with those who live in pre-1967 Israel
and are citizens of the state, openly declare their demand to be recognized as a nation unto
themselves and to build a new state on Jewish soil!  They express their "just and legitimate
requests" with rocks, broken bottles, fire bombs, knives and bullets.
       What normal country would accept such a situation?  Who cannot justify a swift
and brutal crushing of such an insurrection by ungrateful tolerated losers of the wars to
destroy our country?
Yet, even today, when a Knesset member even suggests the possibility of affecting a peaceful,
voluntary reciprocal transfer of the Arab population to Arab countries, with compensation for
properties left behind, (which is far more than the Arab nations offered their Jews who were
transferred to Israel), that Knesset member is ridiculed and defamed by his colleagues as being
a racist!
       If our Arab population truly wished to live in peace with us, it had forty-two years
to show us.  Instead it has openly shown us that, not only does it not want to live together
with us in peace, but that it still wishes to destroy us!  
       Because of the inordinate amount of time we have been tolerating this abominable
ever-tightening noose around our necks, there are many among us who have come to believe
that we have no choice but to continue to endure what has already become an open
revolution!  Tolerance of differences of belief and freedom of choice has exceeded its limit
when it is exploited to destroy those who offer it.  The so called "intifada" has already
stretched the tolerance of the Jewish State beyond its capacity to accept.
       The Gulf War will have contributed much to the understanding of the true feelings
of Arabs for a Jewish State if the experiences of those like Bob Simons, and the fact that Iraq
fired missiles on Israel just because it is a Jewish State, are carefully examined and presented
to the public.  It should be obvious to any honest observer, that the proposition to transfer
Arabs out of the Jewish State, is the only realistic way to prevent the State of Israel from
becoming another Northern Ireland.  It is a very warped kind of prejudice that forces one to
close his eyes to murderous terrorist activities and declared evil intentions, for fear that
someone might think him a "racist".
       Rather than indicate a willingness to negotiate with those who stood on their
rooftops and cheered the missiles sent to destroy Israel, we would show more reason and self
respect were we to immediately annex all Jewish Lands to the Jewish State and  immediately
deport all those calling themselves "Palestinians".  While there are those who think such a
move will not be tolerated by the "world", such is simply not the case.  There isn't a remote
similarity between Iraq's unprovoked exploitation of Kuwait and Israel's unplanned return to
parts of her ancient homeland as a result of her defending herself in a war initiated by Arab
nations to destroy her.  The so-called "Palestinians" are an illegitimate contrivance of enemies
of the Jewish State whose sole purpose is to be used as a tool to destroy Israel.  It is
incumbent upon Jewish leaders to openly state these truths and take away that tool if we are
ever to resolve the conflicts we face and hope to find true and lasting peace.   
