The Jewish people have long sought self-determination in the midst of continuous persecution and oppression in foreign lands. In 1948, this hope was regained as Jews fled from the oppressive Diaspora to joyfully reunite in their homeland of Israel, a place where Jews have long dwelled but never obtained official statehood.
With the declaration of the creation of the Jewish state, Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, said, “We offer peace and neighborliness to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Hebrew nation for the common good of all” — an offer still intact today. As Israeli men, women and children celebrated in the streets dancing, singing and emotionally chanting the words of their new national anthem, their new neighbors, countries two-hundred times the size of Israel, invaded the ancient nation.
The Israelis fought back nine Arab armies with their hearts and souls, trying to maintain their precarious independence. The war eventually ended in a miraculous Israeli victory no statistician or military analyst was ever able to explain. Israel’s survival even today is much the same.
Ever since its war for independence, Israel has fought for its survival and security in a region of the world filled with intolerance for its Western and Jewish identity. With only 60 years of officially recognized existence, Israel, a country the size of New Jersey, has become a world leader in science, innovation, industry, environmental improvement, humanitarian aid, counter terrorism, human rights, democracy and peace.
Israel is home to extensive research and development of alternate and environmentally friendly energy sources, and it is a world leader for innovation in the solar energy field. In fact, Israel is the world’s largest per capita consumer of solar water heaters — itself an Israeli invention. Currently, Israel ranks in the top ten cleantech countries, places where research and innovation regarding environmental technology are most successful. For example, its Arrow Ecology company developed a high-tech system capable of separating organic and inorganic materials while sorting massive volumes of solid waste, reclaiming recyclables and turning the rest into biogas and rich agricultural fertilizers. This innovative system is used worldwide in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Greece, Australia and Mexico. In addition to its numerous contributions to the environment and its dedication to science, Israel was the only country with a net gain in the number of trees at the start of the twenty-first century, a remarkable accomplishment considering its arid nature.
Israel is also a leading innovator in engineering which spans the fields of agriculture, aerospace and computers. As citizens of a Western nation, many of us have used a tremendous amount of Israeli-made technological products. The first cell phone, the Intel dual core micro chip, Windows NP, XP and Vista operating systems and instant messaging are all innovations developed in Israel. For the Xbox gamers out there: the Kinect is based on technology created by an Israeli company. And these are only a few of numerous Israeli contributions to modern society.
Israel is also one of the world-leading contributors in the field of medicine. Israeli scientists are responsible for the development of the first completely computerized diagnostic device for breast cancer that emits no radiation. In addition, it developed a pill-sized digital camera and other devices needed for non-surgical digital imaging of the gastrointestinal tract. Israel’s medical innovations are endless, and its devices and medicines are used internationally to treat patients in need of medical assistance.
Israel’s Save a Child’s Heart Foundation is a humanitarian organization dedicated to treating children all over the world with quality pediatric cardiac care that they cannot find in their home countries. Israel always contributes to humanitarian aid in the form of food, supplies, education, disaster recuperation, etc. Israel was the first country to set up a field hospital in Haiti after the disastrous earthquake and the only Middle Eastern country to lend a helping hand during the catastrophe. The Jewish state considers humanitarian aid to be its obligation to the international community. Its generosity sees no boundaries and is provided to those in need regardless of politics, citizenship, religious, racial or ethnic background.
Against all odds, Israel not only survives but lives to contribute to the progress of modernity.
I love Israel
Israel is a wonderful country
Israel is a beacon of light to the world.
This is also true on the battleground, a place where Israel is forced to visit all too often:
10/10 would rage again.
Israel is on the front lines of freedom and human rights in a region that lacks both.
“In 1948, this hope was regained as Jews fled from the oppressive Diaspora to joyfully reunite in their homeland of Israel, a place where Jews have long dwelled but never obtained official statehood.” Problem is, wasn’t there a majority indigenous Arab in Palestine prior to this? Some interesting quotes from the Israeli Zionist historian Benny Morris: “Following the outbreak of 1936, no mainstream (Zionist) leader was able to conceive of future coexistence without a clear physical separation between the two peoples — achievable only by transfer and expulsion. Publicly they all continued to speak of coexistence and to attribute the… Read more »
Correction:
Problem is, wasn’t there a majority indigenous Arab POPULATION in Palestine prior to this?
Klaus, Israeli Arabs have full political rights in Israel. Their are Arab members of the Knesset. They have their own political parties. Israeli Arabs are granted the same citizenship rights as Jewish Israelis. Is their discrimination against Israeli Arabs, yes. But the Israeli government attacks its citizens when they wrong the Arab minorities. For example, when Israeli Rabbis issued a declaration saying they will condemn anyone who rends their home to an Arab, Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu attacked them. When Settlers burned Arab homes in Hebron, Former Prime Minister and PM at the time Ehud Olmert compared the settlers to… Read more »
The writings of Benny Morris that I quoted help explain why the Arab population of Israel is now only 17%.
It’s great that he conveniently decides not to mention that the leaders of the surrounding Arab countries told Arabs in Israel to leave so they could slaughter the Jews. Perhaps there would be peace and a larger Arab population in Israel if the Arabs hadn’t tried to wipe Israel off the face of the earth on the very day it began to exist.
Max,
Could you possibly provide any objective, independent evidence(contemporary newspaper article, etc.) of such a declaration from Arab leaders, or that it resulted in a mass Palestinian emigration?
My understanding is that no such evidence exists, and this story is pretty much universally accepted as a myth among serious scholars in Israel.
Not that I expect you to be open to facts that might cast doubt on your intractable beliefs, but you asked for this and here it is.
http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=121275
What an amazing article!
Elad: Hey bud, this reads like a tourist brochure. I encourage you to be just a little less gushing in future articles about foreign nations. Let’s be honest, Israel may be great for Israelis and visiting Jews, but its not so great for Christians and Muslims, who are generally viewed as “second class” people, most of whom are not allowed to become citizens. The culture is mostly European and American hybrid because most Israelis are of European and American origin, and without the billions of unquestioned financial, business, and military aid pouring in from the US taxpayer, it would immediately… Read more »
I just got back from Israel. I was more surprised by the complete lack of European Jewish culture. Yiddish is extinct, you will not find traditional European Jewish food, but rather most of the food is Middle Eastern. I would argue Israel is more of a Middle Eastern/American hybrid (and only American for music and movies, which dominate most of the world to begin with). Other than the soldiers, I did not see anyone carrying a weapon, including Sderot, a city hit with thousands of rockets (granted I did not go to any settlements, where settlers are allowed to carry… Read more »
Ken would have us believe all those Noble prizes Israelis have won were due to American largesse.
Ken would have us believe that the Muslims elected to Israel’s parliment are second class citizens.
Ken would have us believe that the 800,000 Jews who were forced to leave (all their goods and possessions stolen) Muslim countries in the 1940s, and fled to Israel were really American and European Jews in drag.
Ken would have us believe the following information, videos and pictures of Gaza are actually from hell.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/06/free-gaza-the-true-version.html
http://travel.mapsofworld.com/palestine/gaza-tours/restaurants-in-gaza.html
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/07/23/the-gaza-strip-mall/
http://www.rootsclub.ps/movie.php
http://vladtepesblog.com/?p=21265
Ahhh, poor Ken, the internet is his worst enemy as it so easily disproves his lies and so easliy shows him for what he really is, i.e., an anti-Semite.