(1) Many of us still remember the Vietnam War. The idea that it ended 50 years ago seems absurd. And for those of us who do remember, we certainly recall the tremendous polarization in the country. We had governments from both parties (Johnson and the Democrats; Nixon and the Republicans) who were supportive of what we were doing in Vietnam (trying to stop the Communists from the North from taking over the country and trying to keep an important domino from falling). The majority of the country, I think, was supportive of the war, but a strong minority of the country, and I think the majority of those under, say, 30, were vehemently opposed to it.

There were all sorts of demonstrations, marches, and other actions (legal and otherwise), and all sorts of confrontations, confrontations between opposing groups, and between activists and governmental forces. The country was falling apart. But it didn’t.

The war ended when our government decided we couldn’t win it. We pulled out one day (just like we pulled out of Afghanistan). Some celebrated. Others were appalled. But the world went on. And the country was fine.

Israel is now engaged in a war in Gaza which it, too, may not be able to “win”. There remains much opposition to the war and/or its conduct in Israel, and large demonstrations continue on a regular basis. The government seems, however, to be ignoring the demonstrators and continuing to prosecute the war. But one day, they might realize that they have to stop. If so, the world will go on. Israel might not then be “fine”, but it will be in better shape than it is today.

(2). What the Israeli leadership does not seem to understand is that whether Israel wins, loses or draws, it will have to continue to live in its neighborhood, and with its neighbors. You would think it would be preparing for that day, but it does not seem to be.

This is one of the reasons that opposition to everything Israeli grows around the world. And the Arabs are consequently left off the hook.

But let’s remember that this fight started when five Arab countries attacked the new country of Israel in 1948. Had they not, had the Arabs accepted the United Nations’ partition plan for the Mandate Territory, we would not be where we are today. Instead, chances are that there would be a prosperous primarily Jewish Israel, and a prosperous primarily Arab Palestine, living next to each other in peace.

Let’s remember the number of subsequent times that Arab countries have attacked or were prepared to attack Israel. This would include 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, and Gaza and Sinai from Egypt. Had the 1967 war not been necessary, none of that would have happened. After that war, when Israel signed a treaty with Egypt and returned Sinai, Egypt simply refused to take back Gaza. And Jordan, when faced with the possibility of a treaty which would have included the return of the West Bank, refused to take the West Bank back.

Until then, Palestinian nationalism was latent, but then it exploded. And it was given additional strength because of the absolute refusal of the Arabs in neighboring states to do anything for the residents of Gaza and the West Bank, except to treat them, their children, their children’s children and their children’s children’s children as Palestinian refugees who had the right to return or to migrate to Israel proper. In other words, from the beginning, the Arab states have planned for the destruction of Israel and the creation of a larger Arab state stretching from the river to the sea. (Yes, Jordan and Egypt signed treaties with Israel – no one else did – but these were for pragmatic purposes and never reflected the overwhelming feeling of their own citizens, nor probably the feelings of their leaders, who continued to educate the next generations about the eventual destruction of Israel and the evil of the Jewish people.

(3) Today in the United States, we are faced with many young people, on campuses and off campuses, some even Jewish, who are calling for a Gazan victory of Israel, for the “right of return” of Palestinians to the land of Israel and to the possible destruction of Israel and maybe of the 6+ million Jews living in Israel.

We bemoan this. We call it antisemitism (whether it is or not), as well as anti-Israel. And we wonder how it came about. And we speculate. Latent antisemitism is talked about a lot, but in my opinion is a very small part of the problem. One large part of the problem is the actions of the Israel government, and its messaging. We can’t overlook that. Then there is the overall “social justice” movement, dividing the world into the oppressed and the oppressing, and which classify the Jews as oppressors (oppressors far in time removed from those who were oppressed during the Nazi years). Then, there are the Arabs and the Arabists on campus, both as students and as faculty. And Arab money coming into universities (most often from Qatar) funding Middle East Studies departments, and with a not so subtle agenda. And extraordinarily successful creation of student organizations on a national basis. None of this happened by accident. Israel’s neighbors have long known how to vilify Israel and brainwash their young. Now, they know how to do it here, too, it seems.

Just saying.