Friday, 11-30-01

Since the attacks of September 11, whenever the need for America to do something about the war, there you hear from various misguided souls that we have to emulate Israel and its policies in handling this problem. Execuse me! Israel!

I wonder at these people who even think of such a proposal for few basic reasons:

1- Israel is an apartheid state, and America is a free society and democratic. We can not emulate an apartheid state.

2 - Israel has a population of five millions (including 2.3 millions Arabs in the 48 and 1967 territories) America has a population of 295,000,000 million people and plus, the comparison is obvious. We cannot emulate a smaller state (smaller than Los Angeles) we Americans are too proud to do such a thing.

3 - Israel is occupying Arab lands, persecuting Palestinians, and making their lives a living hell. We are a country free of oppression, we only defend ourselves, we have laws that protect our citizens. Our citizens are all equal before the law. They are innocents until proven guilty. For these values which we cherish, we cannot emulate Israel. Israel is a country that has no respect for human dignity (at least the Palestinians people).

4 - Airport profiling: Israel has one Airport, we have much too many. In each county within a state we have two or three Airports, there is no comparison between us and them. For this reason, we cannot emulate Israel.

5 - Due Process: Based on our American constitution, Americans have rights, our constitution is the supreme law of the land. All religions are equals, no religion can impose its doctrine on others. All Americans are free to worship whomever they want. In Israel, the State is religious. If you follow another religion other than that of the state, you are not guaranteed freedom, and your chances of representation within the government is nonexistent. For this reason, and for our freedom, we cannot emulate Israel.

These are few reasons of many. Next time you want to compare America to Israel, please think again. You are insulting our American values. For this reason my dear friend I tell you: Israel is not America, so, get over it.

Note: Opinions expressed in this section do not necessarily express the official opinion of Middle East News & World Report management and staff.