Israel and Egypt, in response to security concerns, have imposed limitations on the flow of certain materials and individuals, given that Gaza is controlled by Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel. These restrictions solely aim to prevent weapons and materials that could be used for military purposes from reaching Hamas.

The assertion that Gaza is a prison overlooks the fact that it has a self-governing authority. Since Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005, the territory has been under the control of Hamas. This means that Hamas, not Israel or Egypt, governs Gaza’s internal affairs, including the distribution of resources and the allocation of aid. Rather than prioritizing the well-being of its citizens, Hamas has invested significant resources in building an extensive network of tunnels and acquiring weaponry. While the civilian population suffers the consequences of this prioritization, it is essential to recognize that it is Hamas, not external forces, that is responsible for the dire conditions in Gaza.

Moreover, Gaza is not isolated from the outside world as a prison would be. Characterizing Gaza as an “open-air prison” oversimplifies the complex geopolitical dynamics at play and fails to acknowledge the role that Hamas plays in perpetuating the challenges faced by its own population.

Did you know that Gaza also shares a border with Egypt? Have you ever asked yourself why that border is closed? No workers enter Egypt to work everyday and no goods are imported into Gaza through a border with Egypt. The reason Egypt doesn’t open its borders is because they know Hamas and its supporters are primitive terrorists with radical Islamist ideologies exactly like ISIS, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram.

The Jews were the sovereign people who first lived in Israel nearly four thousand years ago and have been there ever since. Muslims did not exist until 2600 years later, while the Palestinian Arabs decided to lay claim to the Land of Israel 1300 years after the advent of Islam. So, who exactly are the colonialists – the Jews who came first, or the “Palestinians” who laid claim later, as an instrument of political warfare?

The very suggestion that Israel is a colonial state is a well-calculated political lie, contrary to historical fact. With time, this has become an accepted myth that is easily debunked. In their efforts to distort and deny the Jewish claim to Israel, historically and morally, its enemies have perpetuated that lie to delegitimize the Jewish State. The historical connection of the Jewish people to the land dates back to Biblical days – a fact known to all, including those who would ignore it. Muslims, whose presence began nearly 2600 years later, are well aware of this chronological reality.

The modern Jewish State of Israel, officially established in 1948, was, in every sense, the rebirth of a nation that had been Jewish for time immemorial. History serves as the best witness, and any honest examination provides clear evidence of this fact. The reestablishment of Israel was unique in this sense: Despite the many conquests of the area known as the Land of Israel by a long list of invaders over the centuries, Israel was the first country to have a sovereign claim to nationhood in two millennia. All others were historically conquerors of the territory.

The notion of a Palestinian people – as separate from the greater Arab nations – is a modern-day invention. In fact, not until the 1960s did they themselves claim this separate status as an instrument of political warfare. If you visit your library and try to find a book on the Middle East that speaks of a separate Palestinian nation before the Arab propaganda machine of the 1960s, you will not find one. This is because what are today’s “Palestinians” were considered, even by themselves, to be part of a greater southern Syria.

In using the manipulation of language to justify a “Palestinian” identity that would counter the historical Jewish connection and its indigenous roots to the land, the Arabs chose to deceitfully portray Israel as a colonialist entity. In line with the concept of the Big Lie, it was repeated often enough to gain acceptance, thereby falsifying the truth for those ignorant of history.

Consider this as well: If demographics matter, why do Israel’s adversaries and enemies choose to ignore the fact that Jews have always been a majority in Jerusalem – a provable fact dating back to the first official (modern-day) census of Jerusalem in 1844? The answer is obvious: because it negates their anti-Israel, anti-Jewish narrative and the historical truth.

Through the deceptive and very transparent use of Orwellian language, the Palestinian Arabs have accused Israel – via propaganda disseminated for foreign consumption throughout the world – of the very crimes against humanity that they themselves have long promoted, committed, and celebrated. The call to destroy Israel as a nation, and the Jews as a people, has served an act of national pride – disseminated for domestic consumption throughout the Arab/Muslim world.

There exists no conflict in modern times that is more clearly the case of right versus wrong, and good versus evil, than the stated endeavor by the Palestinian Arabs to destroy the Jewish State. The unabashed call for politicide is an open euphemistic call for genocide. It is black and white. Language matters. Erroneously labeled for so many years as the Arab-Israeli conflict, the more accurate description or nomenclature to describe the conflict is “the Arab war against Israel” or even more accurately “the Muslim war against the Jews.”

Despite various efforts to bridge the gap between Israel and much of the Arab world, there remains one arena where the call for the elimination of Israel and its citizenry remains fully extant: the Palestinian Arab world. In the West Bank and Gaza. By the Palestinian Authority (and its military arm Fatah) and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In 1964 – three years before Israel became an “occupying” state – the Palestinian Liberation Organization was formed with a Covenant, its Charter, which called for the eradication of Israel. What indeed was the PLO trying to liberate in 1964? Yes, Israel proper. The euphemism went largely unchallenged. Unless, of course, one reads the 33 articles of its Charter – which still calls for, either explicitly or implicitly, for the destruction of the Jewish/Zionist State of Israel. In Gaza, Hamas has its own Charter, established when Hamas was first created in 1988. That document also is replete with language which unabashedly calls for the killing of Jews everywhere – a religious mandate not limited to Israel alone. That (!) is the call for genocide! In any language. Palestinian Arabs, in both the West Bank and Gaza, have acted on their collective call for genocide – through decades of terrorism that has become their calling card. And, quite remarkably, Israel – while defending itself against this genocidal enterprise – is condemned for having successfully defended itself despite the deaths of thousands of its own citizens.

For nearly 3 generations, Palestinian Arabs have employed all forms of terror – suicide bombers, bus bombings, rockets launched on Israeli towns, indiscriminate shootings of Israeli innocents, and the more recent massacre of over 1200 men, women, and babies in Israel. The Jewish communities were torched, women subjected to mass rapes and then murdered, children and babies set on fire while still alive. That is the definition of genocide – and God help us if we ever confuse for a moment, who its perpetrators were. Most remarkable was that Israel’s military – the IDF – went to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties in responding to the Palestinian savagery. And even more so – that the barbaric terrorism that is endemic to Palestinian Arab society – is praised enthusiastically by its very adherents. This is insanity.

Genocide is the goal and the work not of Israel, but its enemies. Instead, through the deceptive and very transparent use of Orwellian language, the Palestinian Arabs have accused Israel – via propaganda disseminated for foreign consumption throughout the world – of the very crimes against humanity that they themselves have long promoted, committed, and celebrated. The call to destroy Israel as a nation, and the Jews as a people, has served an act of national pride – disseminated for domestic consumption throughout the Arab/Muslim world. The western world needs to wake up to this reality.

Few crimes of modern warfare are as heinous as that of ‘ethnic cleansing’ – the use of force or intimidation to remove people of another ethnic or religious group from designated territories, a policy which is contrary to international law. The operation can be swift (as through an action of war) or a more insidious manner (as a political process). The evidence for either is often found in the numbers .

The Arab war against Israel is as old as Israel’s existence as a modern state, having been reborn in 1948 after having seen the indigenous Jewish population exiled by various conquerors (or ‘colonialists’ from foreign lands) throughout history. The Palestinian Arab war against Israel dates back to the invention of “Palestinians” as a separate people from apart of the greater Arab nation(s) – in the 1960s.

In fact – ethnic cleansing in modern times was best evidenced by the forced expulsion of over 850,000 Jews living for many centuries in a dozen countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

As part of Islam’s war against the Jews – who had lived in Arab lands as second-class citizens – almost all of the Jews were forcibly expelled, forfeiting their homes and businesses, having had their properties seized, families completely uprooted – all without any compensation. It was the classic – and tragic – case of ethnic cleansing. The numbers below (see chart) are quite incriminating.

In a duplicitous inversion of reality and of history, the Palestinian Arabs and their apologists have pointed the accusatory finger at Israel for the very crime against humanity which they themselves have long promoted through word and deed. Seeking to take advantage of an international community that was unsympathetic to the Jewish State (as per the annual number of UN resolutions condemning Israel demonstrate), a policy driven particularly by the UN’s 57 Muslim nations in an oil-thirsty world, Israel’s enemies fraudulently charged Israel with the very crime they had mastered.

The following is all one needs to know: Between 1948 and today, the Jewish population in Arab countries declined by 99.83%. During the same period, the Arab population in Israel increased by 1,296%. The former is the result of ethnic cleansing. The latter is exactly the opposite, a complete refutation of the Arab lie (stated above).

Enough of the lies. Let the numbers speak. In fact, they shout out the truth.

Let’s play the game – the lie – that the Arabs and the Left (which has embraced them) love to use against Israel – ethnic cleansing

Let’s look at some numbers.

Jewish population in Arab countries 1948 … and now

Algeria                        140,000                      0

Morocco                     265,000                      2000

Tunisia                        105,000                      500

Yemen                        55,000                       50

Syria                           40,000                        0

Egypt                          75,000                       40

Libya                           38,000                       0

Iraq                             150,000                      7

Lebanon                       20,000                      100

That’s 850,000 Jews forcibly expelled from Arab countries. During the same time, in Israel, the Arab population grew from 156,000 to 2,178,000.

Let’s offer one more: The Palestinian “refugee” numbers, those living in the so-called “occupied” territories, from 1949 to the present, have grown by 550%. We rest our case: the Palestinian Arab charge of ethnic cleansing is a damnable lie; while purposefully ignored is the real ethnic cleansing that had victimized the Jews of Arab lands.

Apartheid, generally defined as a sanctioned socio-political structure within a nation state, can take various forms, most often a systemic political, social, religious, and economic policy of discrimination towards a specific segment of its own citizenry. Quite ironically, of the nearly two dozen countries that make up an expanded map of Middle East, Israel is the only one that is free of any form of apartheid – a provable fact.

In reality – it is only in Israel that its Arab citizens – unique among the nations in the Middle East – have all the rights enjoyed by its Jewish citizens. Political and human rights. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, assembly, and political expression and protest, are available to all. Yes, Israel’s Arab citizens whose political opinions are in strong opposition to that of the State or the government can form and field their own political parties. Those rights extend much beyond rights available to Arab citizens of any Arab country – anywhere. Israel’s Arab population numbers over two million – 21 percent of Israel’s overall population of nine million.

In striking contrast, while the 57 Muslim states that are part of the United Nations 193-strong member nations – where there is no democratic rule of law, where there are no free elections, no freedom of speech, where corruption and societal discrimination is endemic, where political protesters are jailed and often tortured, where religious minorities are persecuted – it is only in Israel where the average Arab citizen faces no such fears.

Well known too, is that Israel’s Arab citizenry is represented in proportion to their population in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Most remarkable is that the Arab parties regularly oppose the government and its policies as an expression of their freedom – frequently as hostile antagonists – and unchecked and unbridled by Israeli laws. Imagine any Arab opposition to the ruling order in any of the Arab or Islamic nations. They would be summarily imprisoned or cut down. As evidenced by historical example. Consider: In Israel, Arabs are represented in the judiciary (yes, including Israel’s Supreme Court and other courts), throughout academia, and even over-represented in the medical institutions. Their freedoms are safeguarded everywhere. In fact – even in those territories that the Arabs inhabit in the West Bank which are under Israeli oversight – they too are freer than they would be in other Arab nations. Gaza, as we know, from where Israel withdrew completely in August 2005, is under Arab control, and where its citizens are denied any human rights by the ruling Islamic entity – Hamas. And yes, with its unprovoked attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 – the world got more than a glimpse of Arab extremism and barbarity.

As for that insane charge of apartheid against Israel. On the contrary – it is only in Israel that the Arabs have any rights – an undeniable fact to anyone who dares to look.