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Ignorance about Israel Provides Opportunity

(National Interest) Lawrence J. Haas - Much of the world sees Israel as an "apartheid state," a uniquely prominent human rights abuser now committing genocide in Gaza. However, ignorance about Israel provides opportunity. In a recent survey of 250 college students, 85% supported the Palestinian chant "from the river to the sea." Many, however, couldn't identify that river or that sea, and many didn't know basic facts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "After learning a handful of basic facts about the Middle East," the University of California at Berkeley professor who commissioned the survey wrote in December, "67.8% of students went from supporting 'from the river to the sea' to rejecting the mantra." Discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I've evoked blank stares when noting that Palestinian leaders have rejected multiple offers of statehood, that Palestinians overwhelmingly oppose a two-state solution and support Hamas' brutality of Oct. 7, and that the Palestinian Authority continues to pay pensions to the families of terrorists who kill Jews. So, for those who want to level the playing field of discussion about the Jewish state: relay facts, offer history, suggest reliable sources, and change the world - one blank stare at a time. The writer is a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.
2024-04-09 00:00:00
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