Happy birthday to you

This past Monday marked Israel’s Independence Day, which

celebrated 56 years of the State of Israel. Israel’s history is one

that Jews around the world can be proud of.

Many events in the past few years have brought Israel back into

the media spotlight. Among the more recent are President Bush’s

statements supporting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza

disengagement plan. Sharon’s plan was shocking even before he and

President Bush met regarding the issue. The prime minister who was

supposedly one of the most iron-fisted extremists was willing to do

something that no other prime minister before him, including

Yitzhak Rabin, was willing to do.

Later that evening many Palestinian leaders, including Arafat,

sent messages of continued terror and bloodshed. The withdrawal

from Gaza proves that terror works and should continue to be used.

Where will things go over the coming months and years? Is this what

Israel must consider a partner in peace?

This is no partnership. This indicates that the only acceptable

“peace” solution has nothing to do with green lines or settlements.

Palestinian promotion of an increase in violence upon receiving

favorable results shows that the only acceptable solution, to them,

is the eradication of the state of Israel.

The assassination of multiple Hamas leaders has sparked enormous

reactions within the West Bank and Gaza. The sheer numbers of

people protesting theses attacks show the immense amount of support

that the terrorist group holds among Palestinians. “There is no

solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad (holy

war). Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all

a waste of time and vain endeavors.” This is just one of the

principles of Hamas that is stated in their charter. The refusal of

any type of compromise is at the core of all their statements.

Again the question must be asked – is this a partner for peace?

A partner in peace must accept the right of Israel to exist as a

sovereign nation, not tolerate its existence until the country can

be overthrown. Until Palestinian leaders are willing to recognize

the rights of the existence of the state of Israel, there will be

no peaceful solution.

Despite daily terror attacks and the hardships of life under

such circumstances, Israel’s accomplishments in its short 56 years

surpass anything the Middle East has ever seen. Israel’s

technological prowess is second to none and is on par with the best

high-tech Japan and the United States have to offer.

Some examples of familiar technology that Israel has developed

are: AOL Instant Messenger, Intel Centrino Mobile Technology,

Microsoft Windows NT, the backbone of Windows XP and the Intel

Pentium Processors. Israel has also made more agricultural

contributions then could possibly be mentioned in the space

here.

Among the most notable is that Israel is the only country to

have more trees at the turn of the century than the beginning.

Also, Israel developed drip irrigation out of the necessity to make

barren desert and swamp fertile.

Israel can be proud of all the amazing accomplishments it has

achieved in such a short period of time. Despite its small size,

comparable to the size of New Jersey, it has achieved more than

ever could have been predicted, and has done it all in the face of

terror. Both Israelis and Arabs deserve to live their lives in

peace. I wait with anticipation for the day where there will be a

true partnership in the Middle East and all citizens can live day

to day without fear.

Rachel is the president of CSU Hillel