Washington Post--Don't Know Much About History...

Israel At Level Ground emailed me about this op-ed by Richard Cohen:

The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake. It is an honest mistake, a well-intentioned mistake, a mistake for which no one is culpable, but the idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort we are seeing now. Israel fights Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south, but its most formidable enemy is history itself.

Apparently Cohen buys into the notion that Israel came about because of Western guilt over the Holocaust.

In his op-ed there is no hint that he has any understanding of the modern history of Zionism and the influx of Jews into then-Palestine starting in the 19th century--and the already existing Jewish community that was already there.

Or the immigrations of Jews from earlier generations, students of the Baal Shem Tov and the Vilna Gaon.

Or the history of Safed, the city in Israel that is currently known for being struck by Hizbullah missiles, but back in the 16th century was home to a Jewish community which included Rabbi Joseph Caro who wrote the compendium of Jewish Law used till today.

Or the history of those Jews who did not leave after Rome destroyed the Jewish Temple.

History is the "most formidable enemy" of Israel? Of Jews?

Are you kidding?

We Jews have been beating history and the pundits who claim to be able to predict it for 4,000 years, Thank G_d!

So much for your view of history.

About your view of politics, that:

The smart choice is to pull back to defensible -- but hardly impervious -- borders. That includes getting out of most of the West Bank -- and waiting (and hoping) that history will get distracted and move on to something else. This will take some time, and in the meantime terrorism and rocket attacks will continue.

No thanks. Considering what you yourself wrote and the current situation, please be aware that Jews do not believe in suicide.

But there is one thing I think you should know. You want to talk about a mistake of history?

Think Cristopher Columbus and his accidental discovery of America.

Hunker down with that!

Technorati Tag: Israel and Washington Post and Richard Cohen.