LETTER: Apartheid, intolerance fuel lethal conflict  in Middle East

To Ozaukee Press:

When the Jewish state was created, many Palestinians became refugees, and the Jews were not welcomed by the Islamic community. In order to survive, Israel developed enormous military capability designed to defend the country from the terrorism perpetuated by its neighbors.

Little by little, Israel embarked on additional protection projects, such as the wall and iron dome. They created many barriers to the movement of Palestinians, all in the name of security for Israel.

In the west bank there are hundreds of such barriers, checkpoints, trenches, various types of walls, etc. Regardless of the type, they restrict freedom. The Israelis build Jewish-only settlements and connect them with roads, while at the same time making it nearly impossible for a Palestinian to get a simple building permit; if they build without one, the structure is destroyed.

No one can leave or enter Gaza without Israeli permission. The sea is guarded by the Israeli navy, thus making Gaza what is described by many as an open-air prison.

Inside Israel. the percentage of non-Jews must be kept low in order to guarantee that Israel remain a Jewish state.

Apartheid has many forms, but when one group gains the power to restrict another group, it’s apartheid. Did Israel have a choice? I don’t think so.

There are many types of terrorist organizations around the world, but the Islamic world has more than its share. Among them, Hamas, Hezbollah, Taliban and the Islamic State of Iran.

No one knows if the Islamic world will undergo an enlightenment as happened in the west when religious fantasy was gradually replaced by science, secularism, democracy and America’s separation of church and state. No one knows when the Islamic world will experience similar change, but based on its repression of women, LGBTQ+ and its elitism in its claim of superiority to all other beliefs, the enlightenment can’t happen soon enough.

Can Israel give up its Jewishness? Can the Islamists give up their elitism and intolerance? If not, I’m afraid that all we can do is count body bags—by the thousands.

John S. Strauss

Campton Hills, Ill.