About Us Israelis - The Region's Thugs

One thing us Israelis are very used to is being labeled, "the region's thugs". 

Whatever the reasons for the turmoil in our part of the world, we usually find ourselves on the defensive. We are always the aggressors, always the one's at fault – always the ones to be blamed.

The examples are many. The three examples which best elucidate this tendency are the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1982 Peace-for-Galilee Lebanon War, and the 1998 Cast-Lead operation in Gaza.

In 1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Egypt, after Egyptian President Nasser initiated a naval blockade by closing the Straits of Tiran into the Red Sea, kicked out UN peace-keeping troops from the Sinai Peninsula, moved his armed forces toward Israel and launched a violent rhetoric attack.

In 1982, Israel launched operation Peace for Galilee, in retaliation for the assassination attempt on the life of our ambassador to The UK, Shlomo Argov; afterwards, the PLO, which had by then occupied de-facto the southern part of Lebanon, sent terrorists from its border with Israel on a mission to kill innocent Israelis and followed this with a continuous missiles barrage against Israel's northern cities.

In 2008, after being hit by hundreds of missiles against southern Israeli towns, fired by Palestinian terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad with no prior provocation, Israel launched operation Cast Lead, in order to put an end to the ongoing assault on the lives of us Israeli civilians.

In all cases, we found ourselves defending our right to defend ourselves. In all cases, we found ourselves being blamed for the situation. In all cases, voices were heard, labeling us "the region's thugs".

Well, I think this time I'll use one of Bob Dylan's songs to make our case. Yes, Dylan is Jewish. Yes, he's a Zionist. And, yes, he is a great supporter of the State of Israel. He is also one of the greatest song-writers of all times, who has often written about immoral behavior and human injustice, regardless of race, color, nationality or religion. In 1983, fed up with the way Israel was being covered by the international media, Dylan released the epic song, "The Neighborhood Bully". I think it would be best if I let the song speak for itself. 

Bob Dylan

It goes like this:  

Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man
His enemies say he’s on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully's been driven out of every land
He’s wandered the earth an exiled man
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
He’s always on trial for just being born
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him
’Cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac
He’s the neighborhood bully

He got no allies to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep
He’s the neighborhood bully

Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon
He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand
In bed with nobody, under no one’s command
He’s the neighborhood bully

Now his holiest books have been trampled upon
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health
He’s the neighborhood bully

What’s anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin’, they say. He just likes to cause war
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed
He’s the neighborhood bully

What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?

Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill
Running out the clock, time standing still
Neighborhood bully

For a song written three decades ago, it sure sounds contemporary, doesn't it?

Now, please consider this when forming your opinion about us Israelis.