The Jewish War 2.0

SAN DIEGO — Editor’s Note: Jose Galicot, a leader of the Mexican Jewish communities in Tijuana and San Diego, has imagined how the historian Josephus Flavius would have described the situation of the Jews of Israel today.  Although written in a fictional format, Galicot’s observations, in the guise of Josephus Flavius, are serious reflections about Israel’s current relations with the rest of the world.

By Jose Galicot 

I, Josephus Flavius, born as Yosef ben Matityahu, a historian of the 1^st century, once a deserter to my people but now repentant, narrated the first Jewish-Roman war to speak of my people’s struggle. I became a historian, and today, two thousand years later, I take up the pen again to recount the new wars of the 21st century.

Israel is embroiled in many simultaneous battles on many fronts, with strange enemies and peculiar allies.

Gaza —  The provocative reaction by the Hamas group, attacking innocent people —children and women—filming and violating them to break the humanity of the Israelis and turn them into avenging killers, to retaliate against the innocent Palestinians who are also victims of Hamas’s horrendous dictatorship, hiding behind civilians in hospitals, schools, mosques, and other places to shoot at Israel, to cause the death of innocents that would horrify the world and create a wave of punishment against Israel. But it did not work because despite the pain caused, the people and the government of Israel maintain a calm mind, morality, and ethics.

This war must forever eliminate the terrorist mentality of Hamas, as happened with ISIS, those crazy terrorist killers who have been eliminated from the face of the earth. Therefore, this war will end, and a government will emerge in Gaza that will ensure the well-being of the Palestinian people, not the aberrant philosophy of Hamas.

Lebanon – Hezbollah —  A group of terrorists called Hezbollah seized the precious country that was Lebanon, where internal wars have ended the “sweet Paris of the Middle East.” Lebanon was the financial center of the Arab countries, and most of its population was Christian. Hezbollah’s army is more powerful than the country’s army.

Supported by resources and initiatives from Iran, Hezbollah is attacking Israel in the north with caution because they do not want a total war, especially when Israel discovered vast amounts of gas and oil in the Mediterranean in front of the bordering coasts between Israel and Lebanon. Gas and oil will probably bring wealth (Leviathan fund) similar to that of the Persian Gulf, which has been negotiated and will be shared between the two countries.

Eventually, Lebanon has three paths: 1. War with Israel and the elimination of Hezbollah. 2. Peace with Israel and the country’s renewal, and 3. Maintain the status quo.

Syria —  With a criminal government that displaced millions of its citizens and killed half a million Syrians and Druze. Its president, Hafez Assad, is supported by Russia and Iran, and they control him like a puppet. Russian and Iranian military bases are entrenched in Syria, supporting attacks on Israel.

Israel and the United States will eliminate those bases whenever they can with frequent bombings.

Iran —  Iran is a strong country dominated by a theocracy that wants to impose its version of Islam (Shiite) on the rest of the Muslim world and has as its cornerstone the desire to destroy Israel, so it supports all the terrorist militias that surround it.

Iran seeks to possess atomic bombs and already has an excellent capacity to manufacture projectiles that it sells to Russia and hands to terrorists. A war with Israel, which Iran desires and constantly provokes, would not be surprising.

Yemen — A country dominated and supported by Iran, where the Houthis live, who have relentlessly attacked Arabia with which they finally reached a peace agreement. Located in the Strait of Hormuz, they exert pirate pressure on ships wandering through. Currently, they launch projectiles gifted by Iran at Israel and American military vessels protecting civilian trade.

The Houthis are insignificant and probably will remain quiet and at peace.

Brazil —  Lula da Silva, in his second term as president, no longer exerts the charismatic emotion that led him to the presidency; he is a shadow of what he was, and he allows himself to compare the Gaza war with the Holocaust, which makes no sense but is a cruel comparison against the Jews who suffered from genocidal Nazism.

South Africa —  Attacks Israel in the International Court of Justice and in other forums, trying to gain favor with many Arab countries and control African nations. Apparently, it seeks resonance and a position as a leader of the Third World with the BRICS group. Its effect is transient and contentious.

The United Nations —  The 57 Muslim countries that exert pressure with their vote and wealth at the UN have managed to condemn Israel nine times but none of the rest of the world. So, there is a clear lost battle that is somehow mitigated by the defense of the US, which exercises its veto against the overwhelming attack of the Muslim countries and their allied admirers and leads.

Universities —  Intelligently, some Arab countries like Qatar have managed to pay important US universities for permission to generate propaganda against Israel, which has spiraled into rampant and blind antisemitism, hitting without seeing or understanding, but which has generated a growing wave of antisemitism.

There is a battle for freedom in universities that is currently being exercised negatively against Israel.

Internal — I remember that the Jews of my time were divided into factions, so they did not present a united front against the Romans. Nowadays, internal differences affect Israel’s ability to wage war and defend itself in international forums.

In times of danger, I am convinced that they are uniting because they understand the extent of their enemies, many of whom are gratuitous, like South Africa and Brazil, and others who are genuine threats, like Iran and terrorist groups.

A good part of the Arab countries want Israel to eradicate Hamas because these factions of terrorists and extremists, like the Muslim Brotherhood, also threaten their regimes, so they hypocritically talk against Israel while supporting them under the table.

Qatar —  With 3 million inhabitants, 12% of whom are Qatari citizens who enjoy immense wealth from oil and gas, and with a tough and intelligent ruler, Hamad al Thani, who peacefully overthrew his father in a coup and possesses the most significant information company in the world, Al Jazeera, has unleashed an economic media war against Israel by subsidizing terrorist groups whose leaders are based in Qatar, where they enjoy support, and by invading global propaganda until Moody’s lowers the quality of Israel’s economy.

Eventually, Qatar will have to stop attacking Israel and focus on creating an economy designed to live in wealth for centuries to come.

When I wrote The Jewish War, I did it with a heavy heart and to highlight the heroic bravery of the people I deserted. Today, twenty-one centuries later, I want to reflect on the heroism of a country with 10 million Jewish inhabitants surrounded by 1.4 billion Muslims who use all kinds of weapons to exterminate us. But Al Kanfei Nesharim, on the wings of eagles, God will take care of them, protect them, and give them victory so that the light from Jerusalem will advance humanity as is the destiny of prophecy and the covenant with Jehovah.

What a strange irony; Israel was attacked when it was at peace and celebrating, its women were raped, and part of its population was captured as hostages, exerting painful pressure on the people of Israel. And when it defends itself, trying not to harm the civilians of Gaza, where Hamas militants are hiding, now it turns out that South Africa, Brazil, the United Nations, and Qatar condemn the victim, mortified by the victimizer, and demand a peace that would be practically a victory against the brutal violence exerted by Hamas. It reminds me of the anecdote of a young man who killed his parents, then asked the court for mercy because he was an orphan, and sued his deceased parents because he hurt his back while killing them.

I, Flavius Josephus, will return in two thousand years and continue writing the epics and struggles of my people, who will continue to live and shine a light on humanity. Am Israel Chai Vekayam (the people of Israel live and will live forever), watering history with talent and blood when the current enemies are in the waste bin of history.

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Jose Galicot is an honorary board member of StandWithUs.