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I must take exception to the remarks of my estimable colleague, Christopher Hitchens, who at the end of his piece on the Gaza incursion says he feels "quite free" to doubt there should ever have been a Jewish state but adds that "to see Hamas at work is to resolve that whatever replaces or follows Zionism, it must not be the wasteland of Islamic theocracy." I hate to see Christopher join the chilling chorus that blithely wishes for the destruction of Israel. Israel celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. In that time, Israelis have created a vibrant democratic country full of people who want to run businesses, invent things, grow things, raise their children, and to do so without the fear of their imminent death. Presumably this is exactly the kind of state Christopher would like to see replace Israel, though he knows what would follow Israel's end would instead be the "wasteland" he rightly fears.
Since people are not in the habit of voluntarily putting an end to their nation, how does Christopher envision the disappearance of Israelis? Bullet, bomb, gas? For most who wish to see the elimination of the state of Israel, it is not sympathy for the Palestinians that drives them (Where were the voices asking Hamas to stop its daily rockets into Israel so that this incursion could have been prevented?)—but a lust for the end of the tiny Jewish state. Pakistan, which was founded just about the same time as Israel, can hardly be called a success. It is a corrupt nuclear state with regions run by terrorists. But I have yet to hear anyone suggest the founding of Pakistan was a mistake and it should be wiped off the world map. Somalia became independent in 1959. It is now an anarchic terrorist redoubt whose main export is pirates. Again, no one is saying Somalia was just a mistake and let's get rid of it. For some reason, Israel seems to be the only country whose very existence can be casually dismissed.