(Israel Hayom) Mudar Zahran - Since 1948, we Arabs have been taught that all we need to do is get rid of the Jewish state, and everything else will go well after that. We Arabs have given our dictators carte blanche to impoverish, terrorize, oppress and destroy us - all in the name of "the great Arab struggle to end the Zionist entity." In short, we Arabs have put 70 years of our existence on hold while awaiting that "glorious day" when we defeat Israel and "feed the Jews to the fish." But that day did not come, nor does it seem to be coming. If Israel were to disappear, Iran would extend its influence into Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain the next day. We also have Islamic State, with clear ambitions to enter Jordan. I regularly visit the West Bank and have interviewed scores of Palestinians there. As much as they hate Israel, they still openly yearn for the days when it administered the West Bank. As one Palestinian told me, "We prayed to God to give us mercy and rid us of Israel; later, we found out that God had given us mercy when Israel was here." We can hate Israel as much as we like, but we must realize that without it, we would most likely be ruled by Iran or Islamic State. The writer is a Jordanian-Palestinian who resides in the UK.
2015-07-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive