Israel, patriotism, and personal emotion

 Arup Saikia

(arupsaikia07@gmail.com)

Once, I had a female Israeli friend in Mumbai, namely Kesniya, while we were studying at the University of Delhi. She was doing a social project in India. Incidentally, she fell in love with a Telugu boy. He also happened to be our friend. They have finalised how to tie the knot. But she insisted her fiancee postpone the marriage plan because she wanted to serve her nation in voluntary military service. Although military service in Israel is said to be compulsory, there are a lot of grounds for excuses. We all tried to convince her to get married. The patriotism in Kesniya propelled her to think that the prospective mental or physical changes may deter her from serving in the military after marriage. The citizens of Israel are really the epitome of patriotism.

Simultaneously, the Jews, or Israelis, have an aura of intelligence. Many Islamic clerics or leaders frequently urge boycotts of Israel and Jewish products. But it’s a matter of fun and impracticality. Nearly half of the modern world of science and civilization stands on the contribution of Jews. Without their contribution, the human race would have been centuries behind. As a single race, they have won the highest number of Nobel Prizes as a whole in medicine (55 persons), physics (51 persons), chemistry (36 persons), economy (29 persons), literature (14 persons), peace (9 persons), etc.

What did the Jewish scientists not invent? From brain damage to psychology therapy, insulin to streptomycin, literature to global peace—these are all the fruits of Jewish intelligence.

In the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, barring Russion, the country that helped India was Israel.

But Israel’s diplomatic relationship with India was established only in 1992. India feared that the relationship with Israel would worsen our cordiality with Middle Eastern countries. After India’s economic reforms, P.V. Narsimha Rao became the Prime Minister. Dispelling all this hypocrisy, he established diplomatic relations with Israel. Since then, Israel’s support in science and technology, agriculture, space research, defence technology, and financial services has enriched India a lot.

Israel is a small country with a population of nearly 80 lakhs. The world-renowned Jewish scientist Einstein was once offered the presidency of Israel. With the formation of Israel in 1948, five countries—Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq—jointly attacked Israel. But Israel countered with bigger capabilities.

The reason for the Arab-Israeli wars is the unrest in Gaza. Any relationship became worse for the disbelief of one another. Former PLO and present HAMAS and Israel are not agreeing to any territorial deal.

Jerusalem is a city of 3300 years old with Jewish ancestors. Judaism was the religion of Hebrew speakers and the first Abrahamic religion in the world. The arrival of the Islam religion in Arabia was after many centuries of Judaism. The Romans occupied Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago. Jews are deported from their own land and spread to different countries around the world. The “Land of Israel” is ruled by Roman, Christian, and Muslim rulers. Eventually, Jerusalem became the holy place of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Samaritanism, Druz, and Bahai religions. Later, Jerusalem came under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire and the British.

During World War II, millions of Jews fled from Germany to America and Britain. Jews living in America, Britain, and other corners were behind the establishment of today’s State of Israel in 1948. The original “Land of Israel” became the “State of Israel” after 3000 years or more.

But this state of Israel created a huge problem for all Muslim countries. No Arab country is willing to accept a non-Islamic Jewish state among Islamic Arab countries. Currently, the population of major religions (Christian, Muslim, and Hindu) is more than one billion each.

What is the contribution of these huge communities or religions other than increasing the population of the world? Their contribution to industry, physics, chemistry, medical science, and economics is nearly minimal in comparison to Jews. Hindus were busy with caste, and Muslims were worried about the future of the dead person in the grave. At that time, the Jews invented a lot.

Finally, Facebook, where we write, is the invention of thirty-year-old atheist Jews, Mark Zuckerberg. May peace prevail in the Middle East.