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Why the West Should Care about Israel's Survival

(Vancouver Sun) Dallas Brodie - I asked former Soviet dissident and now Israeli cabinet minister Natan Sharansky last month, "Why should the West care about whether Israel survives as a country?" He said: "If you truly believe in the principles of human rights and democracy then you must support Israel because it stands as a tiny island in an exceedingly dangerous sea of totalitarianism with all the challenges of waging war as a democracy." There is no question that Israel sits on the front line against despotism, Islamic fundamentalism, and terror in the Middle East. As such, it plays a crucial role in the ongoing war against terror. Essentially what Sharansky is saying is that the West must pick a side. Either we believe in democracy and human rights or we do not. Whether we agree with the way successive Israeli governments have handled the Palestinian question should be irrelevant to our support of Israel's existence. Many countries have policies with which we disagree, but we do not call into question their very nationhood.
2004-02-13 00:00:00
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