I just finished reading Steve Horn’s opinion piece in The Badger Herald (“Just because it’s your Birthright, doesn’t mean it’s not wrong,” Feb. 16) about the Taglit-Birthright Israel program that provides all expenses paid trips to Israel for young Jewish students. According to Mr. Horn, the organization is nothing less than a public relations tool used to coerce young American students to blindly support Israel and the Israeli government in everything it does and has done, and to ignore the past. I must disagree. Let me respond to Mr. Horn by first going over some history.

Much of the Middle East was ruled by the Turks until the end of World War I. After WWI, the British received the Iraqi and Palestinian Mandates and subsequently established the countries of Iraq and Jordan. Jordan consisted of 70 percent of the Palestinian Mandate. Still yet to be determined was what to do with the remaining 30 percent, which was occupied by both Palestinians and Jews. While Mr. Horn would have us believe that the entire area was occupied by native Palestinians, the truth is Jews have lived in this area for thousands of years and some areas, including Jerusalem, had more Jews than Muslims, Christians or Turks before the advent of modern Zionism in the late 19th century. As Jewish immigration increased, so did immigration of Arabs from Arab countries. Partition was inevitable and was considered by the United Nations in 1948.

Partition was agreed to by the Jews but not by the Palestinians or the surrounding Arab countries. When the Jews established the State of Israel in 1948, the Arabs attacked with the clear objective of destroying the state and “throwing the Jews into the sea.” The Jews were able to repel the attack, and an armistice was agreed upon. While Israel gained additional territory, Jordan took over the West Bank, and Egypt took over the Gaza Strip. These borders lasted until 1967, when the Arabs once again attacked Israel unsuccessfully. The result was that Israel gained control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

While it is true many Palestinians were displaced in 1948, the bulk of those who remained in their homes and did not assist the Arab invaders were not displaced. The fact that Israel’s population today is 20 percent Palestinian, all of whom are Israeli citizens, is a testament to this. While Mr. Horn’s statement that “750,000 Palestinians were forcefully evicted from their homes” is sheer propaganda and fantasy, as he never mentions anything about the Jewish refugees. Perhaps he would say there weren’t any. In fact, when Israel was established, more than 1 million Jews had been forced to leave their homes and possessions in a number of Arab countries. Those who went to Israel were welcomed and resettled and did not linger in refugee camps. Unfortunately, Arab refugees were treated differently by their fellow Arabs. No effort was made to resettle them in the areas where they took refuge. They were forced to remain in refugee camps where many of them remain today.

These facts raise a number of pertinent questions about the last 60 years of Middle East history. For example: Why were the Palestinian refugees never allowed to become citizens of Lebanon, Syria or Egypt? When Jordan took over the West Bank, and Egypt assumed control over the Gaza Strip in 1948, why did they not establish an independent Palestinian state? When the Palestinians were offered a state in 1948, 2000 and again in 2008, why did they turn down the offer and instead decide to fight? Why did Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, attack Israel with rockets after the Israelis pulled out of these territories? Why was the PLO established in 1964, before the 1967 war and before Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza? Why is Jordan, with a population that is a majority Palestinian, not considered the Palestinian state? The answer to these questions, I’m afraid, leads to the crux of the problem. As they stated in 1948, and as many Arabs and Palestinians still believe today, a Jewish state in their midst remains unacceptable.

Now, let’s get back to Mr. Horn’s complaint about Taglit-Israel Birthright. He complains it operates a public relations operation. There is no secret the organization tries to strengthen the relationship between young American Jews and Israel from which all Jews trace their origin. And what’s wrong with that? One would hope that all countries would have similar organizations to maintain such relationships, e.g., an organization for Irish Americans and Ireland, one for Greek Americans and Greece and so on. Mr. Horn’s suggestion that participants are “coerced” into doing or believing anything is ridiculous. No participant I’ve talked to has ever suggested that anything like “brainwashing” is going on.

My children went on the same trip Mr. Horn went on and explained to me that, yes, they do get the Israeli point of view, but they are also encouraged to do their own research and analysis and form their own conclusions. Unfortunately, Mr. Horn did not do that. For those who have questions, I hope they will do the necessary research. If they do, I believe they will conclude, as I do, that Israel is a great country, that it makes mistakes, that it usually tries to do the right thing, that it provides opportunities to its Arab citizens that they would not have in any Arab country, and that it has attempted, and continually tries, to make peace with a number of Arab countries and Palestinian representatives, despite the fact that they either want to or wanted to destroy the state of Israel.

Julian Klazkin

Proud Badger Parent

klazkinj@gao.gov