Stephen Morse: Recent events demonstrate need to support Israel

Since 1948, Israel has been recognized as a sovereign nation -- and now it has been attacked by a non-state entity, the terrorist group Hezbollah. Still the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel faces many dilemmas because of its location in a "bad neighborhood." I urge everyone not to turn a blind eye to the sources of Hezbollah's funding, namely the states of Syria and Iran. Iran is the most serious threat to Israel.

As Iraq and Afghanistan have been weakened in the past five years, Iran is now trying to assert itself as the Arab world's hegemonic power. A fanatical Shiite leadership spells disaster for the rest of the region and eventually the world as Iran's threats against the West and Israel must be taken seriously. Though China wants Iranian oil and Russia wants Iranian construction contracts, the major powers must unite and acknowledge the terrible direction that Iran is headed under its current leadership.

Many world leaders hold Syria accountable for not doing enough to diffuse the current situation. But Syria could be the key to ending this crisis as its proximity to Israel makes it fearful of attack and it wields much control over the Hezbollah powers within Lebanon. After losing wars to Israel in 1967 and 1973, the Syrians still claim hatred of the Jewish State. But at the same time they joined George Bush Sr.'s coalition against Iraq in the first Gulf War.

In our globalized society, Hezbollah acts as group of mercenaries for Iran and Syria despite being located outside of the physical territories of those nations. The fact that Hezbollah launched its attack on Israel the same day that Iran was going to be sent before the United Nations Security Council to discuss its refusal to give up its nuclear weapons program is appalling. Sadly, this diversionary tactic worked, and Iran's defiant actions are no longer on the front page of newspapers; instead, the crisis between Israel and Hezbollah is.

If you've been following the news closely, you would have read that Saudi Arabia has denounced Hezbollah for provoking the current crisis. When a traditional Muslim nation is quick to defend the actions of Israel, this should be a clue to the rest of the world that Hezbollah is completely out of line.

In a land rocked by violence since its inception, Israelis do not like to see civilian casualties in their land or in any other. Thus, they often vote for left-leaning governments that advocate peace, as is the case with the center-left Kadima party that is currently in power.

What Israelis really want to see is the enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 which calls for the withdrawal of all non-Lebanese forces (Hezbollah) from Lebanon and disbanding and disarming all non-Lebanese militias.

However, at this time there is no other way to stop the barrage of Hezbollah rockets that have slammed into northern Israel for years. Despite a complete pull-out from Lebanon six years ago, Israel has chosen this time to fight back.

When the British established peace in Northern Ireland less than a decade ago, the terrorist activities suddenly came to a halt. This has not been the case in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon where hundreds of rockets have been launched at civilians in Israel since the Israelis pulled out for good and gave complete autonomy to the Palestinians and Lebanese.

To critics of Israel who use the suddenly common talking point that Israel is destroying the "civilian infrastructure" of Lebanon, what is really "civilian" in a land where Hezbollah hides weapons, rockets and terrorists within villages and other non-military and non-government establishments? Israel has attacked bridges and roads in Lebanon to prevent militants from transporting weapons and the two captured Israeli soldiers across the border to Syria, not to prevent families from traveling.

Democrat or Republican, Jew, Gentile or Muslim -- now is not the time for complacency. We must thank our government for standing with Israel in its fight against terrorists. Like any other sovereign nation, Israel too should not fall victim to cross-border attacks.

On this side of the world, we can make a difference. Write letters to your public officials thanking them for standing with Israel, attend rallies supporting Israel and denouncing terror and donate money to Israel's ambulance service through the American Friends of Magen David Adom (www.afmda.org), or the International Red Cross (www.redcross.org), which needs your money now more than ever. It's as simple as a few clicks and you've made a difference.

I was planning on spending the final month of my summer vacation volunteering as a firefighter in Israel, but because of the current situation I will be unable to go. While a cease-fire is the ideal solution to this crisis, the release of thousands of Israeli prisoners for Israel's two captured soldiers is completely irrational. Should Israel give in to demands along those lines, not only will more kidnappings occur, but this will be seen across the Arab world as a willingness for Israelis to negotiate with terrorists, an awful precedent to set.

While we all hope that this crisis will subside, America must be by Israel's side should the violence escalate or parties like Iran and Syria become directly involved.

Guest columnist Stephen Morse is a College senior from Oceanside, N.Y. He is on the executive board of the Penn Israel Coalition and is chairman of the Middle East Forum. His e-mail address is morses@sas.upenn.edu.

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