The Palestinians Are the Best People on Earth at Defending Their Homeland

Phalapoem editor, 17/01/2025

Source: Haaretz

A visual representation inspired by the article, capturing the themes of resilience, defiance, and hope. Source ChatGPT

This is the headline of an editorial in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz titled: The Palestinians Are the Best People on Earth at Defending Their Homeland.

Can you believe that the editorial of Israel’s largest newspaper today speaks the truth about Palestinians, recognizing them as one of the most determined peoples on earth who have risen to defend their rights after 75 years as if they were one unified entity?

Here is the Haaretz editorial translated from Hebrew:

What follows is one of the rarest reflections of a living conscience, the finest fruits of intellectual freedom, and the most remarkable acknowledgment of the truth. The writer states:

“During the war on Gaza and the launching of rockets by the resistance, our losses every three days exceeded $912 million. This included aircraft missions, Patriot missile costs, refueling military vehicles, and the use of all types of munitions and rockets. Add to that the halt of commercial activities, the stock market collapse, and the cessation of most institutions, construction projects, and agricultural, industrial, and commercial sectors. Millions of dollars were lost due to the death of poultry on farms, the shutdown of airports and train lines, and the costs of feeding people fleeing to shelters. Not to mention the destruction of homes, shops, vehicles, and factories caused by Palestinian resistance rockets.

We are waging a war we initiated, ignited, and fueled, but we are not in control of it, and certainly not the ones who will end it. Its conclusion is definitely not in our favor, especially since the Arab cities in Israel have surprised everyone with their sweeping uprising against us after we thought they had lost their Palestinian compass.

This is a bad omen for a state whose politicians now realize their calculations were entirely wrong and their policies lacked the vision they needed.

As for the Palestinians, they truly are the rightful owners of the land. Who but the rightful owners would defend their land with their lives, money, and children with such ferocity, pride, and determination?

As a Jew, I challenge the entire state of Israel to show such loyalty, connection, and rootedness to this land. If our people were truly committed to the land of Palestine, we would not witness the massive migration of Jews at the airports, fleeing the moment the war began—despite the fact that we have subjected the Palestinians to killing, imprisonment, siege, separation, and even flooded their society with drugs. We invaded their minds with absurd ideas to distract them from their religion, such as secularism, atheism, and moral corruption.

But the strange thing is that even someone addicted to drugs will rise to defend their land and Al-Aqsa Mosque as if they were a pious Sheikh shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar.’ They know what awaits them: humiliation, arrest, and worse. Yet they never hesitate to go and pray at Al-Aqsa.

Ironically, armies of entire nations with all their weapons have not dared to do what the Palestinian resistance achieved in a few days. The invincible Israeli soldier has been exposed—killed, captured, and humiliated.

Now that Tel Aviv has tasted the resistance’s rockets, it would be better for us to abandon our delusional dream of Greater Israel. There must be a Palestinian state neighboring us, living in peace with us, and us with them. Only this can extend our survival on this land for a few more years.

I believe that even if we managed to survive as a Jewish state for ten more years, a day will inevitably come when we pay the full price. The Palestinians will rise again and again, and next time, they will march to Tel Aviv on horseback.”