Perhaps one day we will forgive our enemies for killing our boys, but we will never forgive them for forcing our soldiers to kill.
Golda Meir
It is imperative that we do whatever we can to minimize the damage done to our image in the eyes of the western world, now that most of it has turned against us.
The Palestinians have intensified their hate campaign against Israel. Not only do they manipulate and falsify the facts, but they have also shown themselves to be masters at fabricating complete and limitless lies about our soldiers’ operations in the West Bank.
The ongoing crusade by the media and world leaders, together with anti-Israel statements by the UN and the EU, are serious matters that cannot be ignored. As our war with the Palestinians is first of all a media war, we must do whatever we can to show the world that we are not just decent people who try to prevent harm to innocent people, often taking enormous risks, but that we suffer from the fact that we have to use weapons to defend ourselves in this conflict which has been forced on us.
True, it will have no effect on our Arab enemies or on all those anti-Semites who now have free rein and are proving once more how ill they really are. But we should never forget that most people who read newspapers or watch television are not imbued with hatred towards us. Their dislike for us and our country is a direct result of what they hear and watch on television and read in the papers. And this can be diminished, if not stopped entirely.
However, as we observe many of our Israeli spokespeople, we are not only astonished by their lack of proper English usage, lack of patience with those who interview them (which sometimes manifests itself in arrogance, with detrimental consequences), but also a complete misreading of the minds of their Gentile television audiences.
The element that seems to be lacking, and that is crucial for any successful pro-Israel campaign, is the need to emphasize Golda Meir’s statement: “Perhaps one day we will forgive our enemies for killing our sons, but we will never forgive them for forcing our soldiers to kill.” This powerful statement must be repeated and explained.
We hate having to take up weapons in order to defend ourselves. It is a nightmare to have to uproot the lives of innocent people. We abhor having to shoot people even when they want to kill our babies and mothers in suicide attacks. We take no joy or satisfaction in it. If innocent Palestinians are killed accidentally, our pain has no limit. Our hearts cry bitterly when we see young Palestinian people expressing such hatred towards other human beings. We want peace for them, which they will never achieve under the leadership of a man who cares nothing for their lives and is the arch-enemy of his own people. Our heart bleeds for all those (not so) innocent Palestinians. But we have no option other than to defend our people. It is our moral duty to fight the terrorists with every means at our disposal and we have to continue our operations on the ground until there is a decisive victory.
The continuous repetition of these and similar statements should be a matter of policy in every interview, statement and documentary made by all government members, ambassadors, army spokesmen and anyone else who speaks in the name of our country. The power of these sentiments cannot be overestimated. To deny the impact of such statements in the gentile world shows a complete misreading of the minds of millions of people who now criticize us and have begun to hate the State of Israel. The fact that our spokesmen are not repeating these sentiments constantly should worry all of us. For a Jewish country this is the minimum that can be expected from us. It is utterly Jewish. Speaking to our spokesmen it is abundantly clear that they fully agree with this sentiment but it seems that they are reluctant to utter these words since they believe that it would be seen as a sign of weakness on our side. This is a great tragedy. Strong men can afford to be sensitive. The weak cannot.
