New Zealand , or the bulk of Latin American countries were established , that is , by Europeans with no legitimate claim to those lands who subjugated and decimated indigenous populations and proclaimed their own authority . Or , for that matter , North African countries that were conquered and occupied by Arab-Islamic invaders who , without hesitation , redefined their national character . Or nations like Iraq and Jordan , which were created by then-imperialist Western powers for entirely self-serving reasons .
No other country has faced such overwhelming odds against its very survival , or experienced the same degree of never-ending campaign of demonization and vilification by too many nations ready to throw integrity and morality to the wind , and slavishly follow the will of the energy-rich and more numerous Arab states .
Yet Israelis have never succumbed to a fortress mentality , never abandoned their deep yearning for peace with their neighbors or willingness to take unprecedented risks to achieve that peace — as was the case with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 , for example , in the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 , and one day , no doubt , in a deal with the Palestinians , when their leadership finally accepts Israel ’ s reality — never lost their zest for life , and never flinched from their determination to build a vibrant , democratic state .
“ No other country has faced such overwhelming odds against its very survival …”
Here was a people brought to the brink of utter destruction by the genocidal policies of Nazi Germany and its allies . Here was a people shown to be utterly powerless to influence a largely indifferent world to stop , or even slow
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