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Source: https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/10/26/what-the-west-could-learn-from-israel/
What the West Could Learn from Israel
(Spiked-UK) Brendan O'Neill - At Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, as I peruse a vast wall of stickers showing the smiling faces of the men and women who were stolen on Oct. 7 - some of whom made it home, some of whom did not - I feel a sudden flush of anger. Anger that Israel was left almost entirely alone to agitate for the precious lives and liberty of these abducted Jews. A short walk and I am in Dizengoff Square, which has become a makeshift monument to the Israelis who have died in this infernal war Hamas started. Hundreds of lovingly framed photos of the dead have been perched on the perimeter wall of the square's fountain. Untold numbers of joyful, youthful faces. Photos of men and women whose lives have already been given for their country. You see young Israelis with their fierce faith in their nation, with their willingness to die for their people. How does a country in the 21st century withstand the cult of fashionable frailty and self-hatred and do that thing you're not supposed to do - fight? The secret ingredient is self-belief. The sense of nationhood in Israel, of peoplehood, is extraordinary. That doesn't mean there aren't divisions. There are millions. But everyone I meet - everyone - is a Zionist. The hippy chicks, the pacifist kibbutzniks, the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in a rooftop bar, the old fellas drinking coffee in Dizengoff - all of them. They are bonded by something that rises above all of it: peoplehood; sovereign conviction; an attachment to nationhood so powerful that it can even withstand the ceaseless barbs and libels of virtually the entire intellectual elite of the Western world. People say that Europe and the Jews took wholly different lessons from the Second World War. Europe's rulers decided nationalism was bad, the Jews decided nationhood was essential, in order that they might protect themselves from the murderous urges of organized antisemitism. The Jewish people went down the path of restoring their ancient homeland so that they might live freely and securely in the land of their forebears. Being there reminded me what a nation is: a place of belonging, of attachment, of sacrifice, of promise. A place where the young are brave and the old are safe. A place where soldiers are celebrated and enemies are defeated. A place where no one is left behind. Not a perfect place - but a place that at least aspires to live by high ideals. Let Israel be - it's fine.