Ten Ways That Israel Is Treated Differently

David Harrys @ Algemeiner:

(...) Yet here are ten ways that Israel is constantly treated differently from all other countries on earth. 

First, Israel is the only state whose capital city, Jerusalem — with which the Jewish people have been umbilically linked for more than 3,000 years — is not recognized by almost all other countries.

Imagine the absurdity of this. Foreign diplomats live in Tel Aviv, while conducting virtually all of their business in Jerusalem, where the prime minister’s office, the Knesset, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are located.

In fact, look at the listings of world cities, including places of birth in passports, and you’ll see something striking — Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan; Pretoria, South Africa; Lima, Peru; and Jerusalem, sans country — orphaned, if you will.

Second, Israel is the only UN member state whose very right to exist is under constant challenge. 

Notwithstanding the fact that Israel embodies an age-old connection with the Jewish people, as repeatedly cited in the most widely read book in the world, the Bible; that it was reborn based on the 1947 recommendation of the UN; and that it has been a member of the world body since 1949, there’s a relentless chorus denying Israel’s very political legitimacy.

No one would dare question the right of many other countries to exist, whose basis for statehood is infinitely more questionable than Israel’s — such as those countries that were created by brute force, occupation or distant mapmakers.

Just look around at how many nations fit those categories — including, by the way, quite a few Arab countries. Why, then, is it open hunting season only on Israel? Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that it’s the only Jewish-majority country in the world?

Third, Israel is the only UN member state that’s been targeted for annihilation by another UN member state.


Think about it. The leadership of Iran, together with Iran-funded proxies in Lebanon and Gaza, has repeatedly called for wiping Israel off the map. Is there any other country facing such a stated goal of genocidal destruction? Meanwhile, a majority of countries continues to conduct business as usual with Tehran, as if this threat to another nation was either welcome or somehow deemed irrelevant. 

Fourth, the UN has two agencies dealing with refugees.

One, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), focuses on all the world’s refugee populations — save one. The other, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA), handles only the Palestinians.

But the difference goes beyond the anomaly of two structures and two bureaucracies. In fact, they have two strikingly different mandates.

UNHCR seeks to resettle refugees; UNRWA does not. When, in 1951, John Blanford, UNRWA’s then-director, proposed resettling up to 250,000 Palestinian refugees in nearby Arab countries, those countries reacted with rage and refused, leading to his departure. The message got through. No UN official since has pushed for resettlement.

Moreover, the UNRWA and UNHCR definitions of a refugee differ markedly. Whereas the UNHCR services only those who’ve actually fled their homelands, the UNRWA definition covers “the descendants of persons who became refugees in 1948,” without any generational limitations.

Fifth, Israel is the only country that has won all its major wars for survival and self-defense, yet is confronted by defeated adversaries who have insisted on dictating the terms of peace.

In doing so, ironically, they’ve found support from many countries that, victorious in war themselves, demanded — and, yes, got — major border adjustments. A quick glance at, say, earlier maps of Europe amply illustrates the point.

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