The American Apologist

Why am I a Zionist? That’s a question I’ve asked myself over the past 40 years. As a small child, I remember seeing television coverage of the Six Days War (June 1967) and asking my father why they were fighting. I remember him telling me that the Jews were fighting to keep their homeland and that the Arabs wanted to drive the Jews out of Israel. Later, as a teenager, I saw coverage of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and, again, the Arabs’ goal seemed to be destruction of this small country of Israel.As I got older, I began to wonder why the Arabs wanted the Jews out of the Middle East — after all, I knew (from my Christian upbringing) that the Jews had been in the region since before the time of Jesus (and that’s an eternity to a teenager!). I learned about the establishment of Israel in 1948 and about the original plans for a 2 state solution. I learned the Arabs rejected that plan and sought (you guessed it) a military solution by attacking Israel.I began to develop a sense of David and Goliath here. Israel is a small country. It’s about 260 miles high and about 70 miles wide at its widest point. At it’s narrowest point (excluding The West Bank region) it is only 9 miles wide! It is approx. 8,000 square miles in size. Contrast that to Syria which is about 71,500 sq. mi. or roughly 9 times larger than Israel. Egypt, another frequent enemy of the Jewish state, is 386,700 sq. mi. or 48 times the size of Israel!Here’s a picture of Israel surrounded by its Arab neighbors.

You get the picture — Israel is the modern-day David, opposing the much larger Arab (Goliath) nations.  So in this one regard, Israel appeals to me as an underdog. Americans often want to back the underdog. It’s in our heritage. We were the underdogs against the mighty British Empire and we won.Secondly, I look at the cultures of the two sides. On one side, I see a culture which seems to celebrate death. The Arab terrorists call for suicide bombings. They will pay the families of suicide bombers and promise 72 virgins for the martyrs who kill Jews for “the cause”.On the other side, I see a country that has repeatedly tried to compromise. Israel has given back the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. They have said they would agree to a 2 state solution if the Arabs would just agree to Israel’s right to exist… yes, their right to exist as a nation (something most of us take for granted). Do the Arabs agree? No, they’re not willing to make that sort of concession. In my mind, one side seems reasonable and civilized and the other side seems, well, barbaric and unreasonable.The third reason I support Israel is because of my religious views. I am a Christian. Jesus of Nazareth is my savior. He was a Jew. How can I be against him? How can I support the Arabs who would kill my Lord and Savior because he’s Jewish?