Much could be done to restore some law and order in the wild and often crazy arena of Middle-East politics. But in order to achieve this illusive notion of peace, all parties have to somehow speak the same lingo. At the very least, the main concepts (and conditions) have to have a shared value.



Unfortunately, when things concern the tiny Jewish state of Israel, the world has created its own unique set of terminology and vocabulary. Let's look at a few of these major concepts - a sort of ?top 10 list? of double-standards for the Holy Land, especially since the Jews returned to power.



First and foremost is the notion of ?occupied territory?. It seems that while the rest of the world has engaged in a rather large share of conquering, dividing and ?manifest destiny?, they refuse to look in the mirror and call a spade a spade. To them, it?s - you'll pardon the expression - as American as apple pie. Another country bothers you, refuses some ?reasonable? request, doesn't send you oil in a timely fashion, taxes your tea bags, or calls your grandma some nasty name, then it?s deemed perfectly kosher to put the foot down and give ?em the business.



Pick up any decent high school book on world history and it?s filled to the rather depressing brim with wars, battles, invasions, religious military campaigns, kings fighting kings, nations taking over nations. This is particularly true for good ol?, holier-than-thou, Europe, where rulers? kingdoms were measured not by years, but by hours. Throughout history, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, England, etc., were constantly at each others throats, juggling for more power, influence and land. Especially the newly ?discovered? lands of America and Africa. They didn't give it a second thought to run the ?savages? - you know, the ones who had already been living there for hundreds of years - into the sea. Hmmm? Those folks ain?t as cultured, as civilized, as modern as us; let's kill ?em. Or better yet, turn ?em into slaves.



If ?occupied territory? means that a group of people are presently living on some land that was once inhabited by a different group of folks, then I would venture to say that nearly every square inch of the planet can be labeled ?occupied?. Okay, leave out the areas hugging the north and south poles, but only because the human species has had a rough time putting a Wal-Mart there.



And yet, these very same countries, this same hypocritical world, has no qualms whatsoever pointing a large, accusing finger at Israel: How dare you live on this ?occupied? land that belongs to a different group of people, known as the ?Palestinians?! My third grade teacher once showed me that when you physically point at another, you're really pointing three fingers back at yourself at the very same time. The same notion, a thousand times over, applies to those who falsely accuse Israel of occupation. For perhaps what really bothers the world is that the only legitimate, true owners of any piece of property on the globe are, in fact, the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It?s the only group to be promised some real-estate based on the Bible. You can't go too wrong having G-d Almighty as the seller, broker and buyer of this eternal deal.



But let?s even put aside the Biblical claim to the land and deal with it on ?their? terms: historical evidence and military victory. It is an undisputed fact that Jews have lived in the Land of Israel since the times of Abraham. Sometimes, we?ve run the show and other times, unfortunately, it?s been run by others. But they?ve all come and gone and we remain. At times we were chased out of our homeland by conquering and hostile armies, yet we always returned. There was never a nation known as Palestine or a group of people known as Palestinians. In fact, a generation or two ago, Israel was sometimes referred to as Palestine and the Jews were often called ?Palestinians?. The original name was ?Pelishtim? and these folks were around in the time of Samson. But, to put it bluntly, they ain?t no more. And so, the name ?Palestinian? was conveniently created and placed on a group of people purely for political reasons aimed at undermining the Jewish state.



Now, let?s look at the military aspect of land ownership. As mentioned above, the rest of the world plays by a certain set of rules. They are more than content, in fact, they totally accept the following game plan: If things get nasty, beyond negotiations, we fight. If my side wins, we call the shots. We either take over some territory or dictate policy. Or both. Somehow, they haven?t given Israel this same luxury. Israel has won all of the wars imposed on it by its huge, hostile neighbors. And yet, after each victory, enormous pressure has come from nearly every corner of the globe - C'mon guys? be nice, will ya?! Give it back. They only talked about pushing you into the Mediterranean, they didn?t really mean it. Just give ?em back the land they used to attack you. Scout?s honor they?ll behave!



Israel gave back the Sinai to Egypt, hoping for true peace. Never mind the fact that this territory is now being used to build tunnels to smuggle in all sorts of lovely weapons to the so-called Palestinians. Like my grandma used to say when referring to Egypt, ?with friends like that who needs enemies?? And yet, treaty after treaty, deal after deal, handshake after handshake, Israel has given - Land. Money. Even weapons. All they asked for in return was a stopping of terrorist activities. (?Hey, you ain?t gotta love us ? just don?t kill us. Perty please.?) There may have actually been a few of these deals that worked for a few hours? but I can?t really name ?em.



We gotta be absolutely out of our minds to buy into this nonsense. It?s as if the world is desperately trying to make Israel the only true Christian country. While they themselves don?t practice, and wouldn?t in a million years, the suicidal policy of ?turning the other cheek?, they keep pushing Israel into this self-destructive role. To me, it smells of nothing short of old fashioned anti-Semitism.



The second doozy of the ?top 10 double-standards? involves anti-terrorist measures. This baby can also be broken down into some sub-categories. First, the name itself: terrorist. It's used to describe many an enemy of the United States, of Great Britain, of Russia, Australia, Spain, etc. An individual who acts alone and takes down a building or some government workers is deemed a meshugenah - a lunatic. But when they form into ideological units of roving bands, quoting the same scriptures and religious leaders, making bombs, brainwashing children to become suicide bombers, murdering citizens, etc., then they are nothing short of terrorists.



And yet, I'd be a zillionaire if I had a buck every time the media has called a Palestinian bomber or Hamas member a ?militant?. Do we see a slight discrepancy here, folks? To the world, if Americans or ?Westerners? are hurt or victimized in some attack, the perpetrators are worthy of the title ?terrorist?. Yet, in their eyes, apparently, the killing of Jews is still not so high a crime.



Part B of the terrorist phenomenon is methodology. More specifically, what to do once the terrorists have been identified. Quoting Metallica, the US has adopted the policy of ?search and destroy?. If they take down a whole town of supporters at the same time, so be it. Since 9/11, America has not shown a great willingness to sit down at the same table with ?their? terrorists and negotiate. And well they shouldn?t. The other side doesn?t care for treaties and White House hand-shaking ceremonies. In fact, the only thing the US would like to show Bin Laden & Company is the end of a rope. America went thousands of miles away from home to blow al-Qaeda (and half of Afghanistan) off the blooming map. It mobilized its armed forces to remove Saddam?s corrupt and evil regime in just a few months of an active and highly effective air campaign.



And yet, to the world, this same common sense and well-justified approach does not somehow apply to Israel - even though the terrorists are more easily identified, more well known, and they live within spitting distance of Israel proper. Israel is told, urged, and forced under tremendous pressure to talk to ?their? terrorists, to sit down? to negotiate. To, once again, not take action.



I say that what?s good for the goose is good for the gander. Israel has lost the ability to tell the world to ?bug off.? But it's not too late to get it back, to get our bearings set correctly. It?s time we gave the powerful IDF the green light to do what?s necessary to bring about true peace and stability in the region. There is no need whatsoever to send in our ground forces first and put them at tremendous risk - like we did in Jenin - to minimize civilian casualties on the Arab side. We lost a lot of our young, brave soldiers and still the world pointed that finger at us - How dare we had the chutzpah to enter Jenin and go after those trying to kill us! What utter chutzpah that we didn?t just roll over in defeat. Jenin gave us yet another taste of this misguided notion known as ?world opinion?. It was a case of ?damned if we do, damned if we don?t.? This being the bitter reality, the ?do? side, being pro-active, is a heckuva lot better than sitting back doing nothing, letting the terrorists walk all over us, and earning some ?Brownie points? in world opinion. If they love us when we?re down and out, when the terrorists are busy terrorizing, well, quite frankly, we don?t need their love. Their double-talk and double-standards have meant nothing but double trouble for Israel.



We have nothing to prove to the world. We don't owe them anything. From what we?ve been through in our history, I?d say it?s high time they owe us. At the very least, Israel needs to play by the standards they use for everyone else. For the welfare of Israel and the world at large, the terrorists, and those that support them, need to be put out of action. Israel, thank G-d, has the ability to do so. Each day delayed puts more innocent lives at risk.

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Dr. David Lazerson, the founder and director of Beth Rafael ? The Alternative Yeshivah High School in Miami, Florida, is the author of Skullcaps and Switchblades and Ammunition.