Oct 8, 2023

the right to defend ourselves

People are very comforted by words of world leaders, or really of any foreign leader of even a small country, expressing support for Israel in difficult times, such as now. Those words of support are almost always followed by, or include, something like we believe Israel has the right to defend itself, Israel has the right to defend its citizens, or Israel has the right to defend its borders.

Personally I don't like it.

Sure, I like the support, I appreciate it, I think it is important.

But Israel has the right to defend itself?

Those words gets on my nerves, every single time.

What other country needs to have that right waved in front of everyone any time they are in a tough situation?

Did the USA expect world leaders to say "The USA has the right to defend itself" after the 9/11 attacks or after Pearl Harbor? Did world leaders say that in their words of support?

Did world leaders come out and say Ukraine has the right to defend itself? Did world leaders say Japan or South Korea or North Korea or Iraq or Kuqait or Serba or Poland has the right to defend itself?

Any and every country has the right to defend itself. The only time that right seems to need to be expressed is by Israel. And that bothers me. It rankles my nerves every time. The need to express it implies that it is not a given that we have that right.





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4 comments:

  1. Years ago, a woman I know wrote, "I know you mean well when you say that, but Israel does not have a 'right' to defend itself. Israel has a [expletive] *obligation* to defend itself, and for that, we don't need your affirmation."

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  2. Garnel IronheartOctober 10, 2023 5:03 PM

    When Russia invaded Ukraine, no one gave the Ukrainians permission to fight back. Only Israel needs that permission because having permission means it can be rescinded as soon as Israel starts to win.

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