By Bill Bregar

On Nov. 12, a reader wrote expressing

that the world should delegitimize Israel as the only way of stopping Israel's policy of ethnic cleansing. Is there such a policy? Do the facts support this claim?

Of the 7.6 million people in Israel about 1.5 million (20%) are Israeli Arabs. All citizens in Israel 18 or over are allowed to vote, and 10% of the Knesset are Israeli Arabs. Food, fuel, and other humanitarian aid are delivered to Gaza by Israel. Yes, it's inspected, but once the weapons are removed, it is delivered. Israeli hospitals treat thousands of Gazan Palestinians a year, many for free, including those severely injured in militant action.

A 2008 study of Jewish and Arab Israelis by researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School found that a significant majority of both Jews and Arabs supported coexistence with mutual respect and equal opportunity. 77% of Arab citizens stated that they would rather live in Israel than in any other country. Would Arabs hold such opinions, if they felt they were being "cleansed"? A prominent Arab Israeli famously said "By any yardstick you choose – educational opportunity, economic development, women and gay's rights, and assembly, legislative representation – Israel's fare far better than any other country in the ."

Contrast Israel's policies with that of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah, all of whom have called for the violent extermination of Israel. Israel is still being hit by rockets, and lives under the constant threat of attack on its civilians. But any policy or attempt at self-defense is greeted by condemnation. Over 800,000 Jews have been driven out of Arab countries, and those who remain have few or no rights whatsoever. But human rights fingers are rarely pointed anywhere but at Israel.

Israel is not perfect. Its treatment of Arabs internally and externally have often been legitimately questioned. However, Israel has done far more than any other Middle-Eastern country to rectify its mistakes and protect innocent Arab civilians, who are routinely used as human shields. Accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing just doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

The lives of of millions of people throughout the world, without regard to ethnicity or nationality, have been enhanced or saved by Israeli technology and medical innovations. Subverting Israel's survival would be tantamount to shooting ourselves in the foot, and would accomplish nothing more than eliminating history's favorite scapegoat.



Bill Bregar lives Lake Oswego.