Jason Koutsoukis, Middle East correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age, has published an important piece online today, singularly challenging the myth that Israel is a victim in the Middle East:
Forgive me for being confused, but exactly what are the clear and present dangers facing the State of Israel?
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The more urgent threat to Israel’s existence is it’s continued occupation of the West Bank. The most common reason given by Israeli leaders for denying Palestinians the right to build a sovereign state of their own is security. Give the Palestinians a state, many Israelis argue, and it won’t be long before they conspire with the rest of the Arab world to push Israel into the Mediterranean Sea.
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As long as Israel implements one set of laws for Israeli Jews who live in the West Bank, and another set of laws for the Palestinians who live alongside them, the country will continue to be condemned as an “apartheid state”.