First, I would like to thank the American Students for Israel and the UCSB College Republicans for bringing Sgt. Benjamin Anthony on campus to discuss his service in the Israeli Defense Forces and U.S.-Israel relations. In another piece of housekeeping, I need to deal with a recent letter to the editor titled “Israeli Blockade Bars Entry of Essential Medical Services.” The author, Noor Aljawad immediately claims the Israeli Defense Forces are inherently racist. She goes on to say, “it is telling to know that many supporters of Israel have followed the racist tradition of Zionism, as they use Eurocentric concepts of industrial ‘progress’ and technological innovations to justify a massacre.” Noor, your arguments to delegitimize Israel and the Jewish people as racist, intentional killers while disguising Palestinian demands as “rights” make you sound silly, so do us all a favor and keep your “uncivil” tongue to yourself.

Why do the media and phony human rights activists, like our friend Noor, insist on painting an incomplete picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Indeed, the picture they paint is a fairytale fantasy of wolves preying on innocent sheep. Meanwhile, Palestinian sympathizers don’t have time to discuss the embarrassing truth that Hamas is an intolerant political unit that has no time for gay rights or women’s equality. Instead, pitiers are busy giving talks titled “A New Hitler for a New Age? The Rise of Israeli Terror.” The people who take these positions are not interested in sorting out the complicated political mess of the Middle East; instead they are caught up in a narcissistic and selfish search for self worth and politically correct recognition.

Meanwhile, missiles keep coming into Israel and nobody in the media seems to care enough to report on it. At last, when Israel refuses to let its people suffer more terrorist attacks, it responds. Does Israel unleash the full power of their military might to fight Hamas? No, they use their Air Force to try and target the specific locations from where the killers are launching their missiles. Militarily, Israel could blow the Gaza Strip off the face of the earth and then some. It could unleash hell on heavily populated towns and inflict tens of thousands of injuries each day, but they don’t.

Still, this isn’t good enough for the media. Pundits are in Gaza reporting on the horror Israel has committed, insisting Israel’s response isn’t proportionate. Always the conclusion is that more Israelis must die to justify the killing of Hamas terrorists, who in concern for human life hide behind women in apartment buildings and children in schools in order to manipulate the American and European media, just like the Vietnamese and Viet Cong did during the Vietnam War. The media have a high tolerance for murder and turmoil when its terrorists are killing civilians, but no tolerance for violence when it comes to those defending themselves and their society. Those, like Noor, who view the conflict in this way, have a truly perverse way of thinking.

Lastly, all cultures are not equal. I’ve said it before and emphasize it now. The proof of this can be seen everyday in the Middle East. The Jews want to live in peace and have demonstrated they can contribute to society. Nevertheless, they have faced extinction numerous times in world history, most recently not by the Third Reich, but by the Islamists that surround Israel. The weak, self-serving media in America and Europe who are concurrently undermining America’s effort to defeat the same culture of war and death that attacked us on 9/11, as well as the U.K, Spain and India, are further undermining Israel’s quest for peace. Instead they side with those who seek religious conformity with and compliance of Sharia law through terror. I’m not Jewish, but I am an American, proud to stand behind Israel, the only country in the Middle East who shares our values and the rule of law.