Why all this Israel-bashing?

People it seems are so easily swayed by what they see, hear and want to believe. The graphic images of kids injured in hospital, shrouded bodies being pulled out of collapsed buildings, gun-camera footages and street rallies decrying the bullying tactics of the aggressor hellbent on destruction. It then becomes a knee-jerk reaction and the "bad guy" is all too painfully obvious.

Israel has always been the focus of much public anger. Its close association with the US has kept it firmly in the crosshairs of world public opinion and rarely has this been positive.

The Israeli offensive into Gaza is just the latest in a series of action which has turned much public opinion against this tiny Jewish state.

But is Israel really to blame?


Israel is not unlike Singapore in many respects. It is small, surrounded by much larger neighbours. Religion and history has always been against it. Its neighbours would rather it be wiped off the face of the earth.

In its short history of some 60 years Israel has already fought a number of wars for its very survival. The fact that it has prevailed in such a spectacular fashion against the military might of much larger countries, has sadly not found it much friends.

It has occupied and retained the West Bank and Gaza for its self-protection for more than four decades. It is seen as a snub against its Muslim neighbours and little Israel will remain a festering thorn in the side of the Arab/Muslim world.

But let's be rational for a moment and look at what triggered this latest action.

For several years now, Israeli citizens have come under rocket attacks launched out of Gaza. One estimate put it at 6,464 rocket/motar attacks launched from Gaza in the past three years - with Hamas deliberately placeing its weapons in and near the homes of its own people. to maximize civilian injury when the inevitable Jewish response comes. Hundreds of innocent Israeli citizens were killed or wounded, building destroyed, lives shattered in these rocket attacks. Where was the world public opinion then in decrying these terrorist acts of aggression?

When Israel moved into the Gaza to put a stop to things once and for all, only then did the world react - against the victim - Israel. Yes this country has a sledge-hammer approach in dealing with aggressors. F16s are clearly no match for your cowardly Hamas fighters who use their own people as human shields.

But did Israel deliberately target civilians? No. Quite the opposite. Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy non combatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Just before the Israeli air offensive in late December 2008, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language handfone SMSes from the Israeli military, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons.

Its pilots, argubly among the best in the world, took great pains to avoid collateral damage knowing full well that one stray missle - however unavoidable - would only add to the already mounting press propaganda.

This is a country defending itself - fighting for its national right to survive. It seeks neither friends nor foes. All it wants is to be left alone but that's never going to happen.

What the world needs to remember is that when backed in a corner, when the lives of your family are at stake, when you have nothing left to lose, the 300 or so tactical nuclear weapons each bearing the proud Star of David - however unthinkable - becomes the last option - the Six Day War brought us close to the dawn of Armageddon ... will history repeat itself? ... perhaps the Final Solution isn't really all that far off ...