Conservatism and the demise of Israel

Andrew Bolt's claim that the United Nations 's Israel investigation is a farce (Telegraph 21may 2018) is an unbelievable assertion. His support for Australia and the United States being the only two countries voting against the United Nations Human Rights Council decision to investigate the killing of 65 protesting Palestinians is equally bewildering.

Bolt ignores that it is now the fifth consecutive week that thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have gathered near the border fence as part of what organizers have dubbed the Great March of Return.

It will be the 70th anniversary of what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or "catastrophe". Most of Palestine's Arab population fled or were driven from their homes during Israel's creation in 1948.

He also ignores that approximately 70 percent of Gaza's two million Palestinians are refugees who came from lands in what is now Israel.

The support for Israel seems to be a questionable conservative viewpoint. Israel is surrounded by enemies. Those displaced Palestinians live in every one of those countries. Many have stories of their families being turfed out of what is now Israel.

The United States supplies the military weapons that Israel uses to defend itself. Its support, as is Australia's support, is very questionable. The US Republican President has now withdrawn from the agreement that prevents Iran developing atomic weapons. Iran has a history of illegitimate CIA sponsored coups of its once democratically elected government. Mohammad Mosaddegh,35th Prime Minister of Iran. Look him up.

There is no love lost in Iran for Israel or for the United States. Even now sporadic rocket attacks and bombings occur between the two countries. Once Iran has a missile and a nuclear warhead, they will be launched. Israel has atomic bombs also. It will wipe out large parts of Iran, but Israel will be obliterated in the process.

The obvious Israeli strategy is to seek peace with its neighbours. The conservative forces in Australia also need to support this approach. For its long term security, Israel also needs to support a two state solution. Netanyahu is against accepting Palestine.

Today there are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees scattered around the world. The people who come back would now be the second generation, but the homes they would come back to are theirs, not the homes of the Israelis who took them over. Or if they did not want to come back, Israel needs to provide financial compensation to those families who lost their homes.

This program would be at a massive cost, with an uncertain outcome. But it would still be cheaper that the massive military expenditures and near certain war associated with the current approach.

The Huffington Post states that many people question why Israel violently reacts to provocation. The writer of that article, who appears to be Jewish, says that the answer may lie in the sad history of the Jewish people. "Growing up Jewish, one of the 15 million in a world of 7 billion people, is growing up feeling like a survivor of so many historical massacres, lucky to be alive and stay alive."

This maybe is the reason why Israel is so aggressive. The writer of this article, however, has worked in the Middle East over many years, including Iran. He has met many displaced Palestinians. This article asserts a long-held belief – that Israel's current policies are not in its best interests. As soon as its enemies have the administrative capability and the weaponry to attack, they will.