Summer reading

It’s summer. Time for vacation. Maybe the beach. Maybe that foreign trip postponed the past couple of years? One thing for sure, books will be part of the agenda. Summer = books. It is a time when we naturally just chill.

Why do book sales escalate in the summertime? Why are new releases always scheduled for this time of year? It is traditional that be it the beach, the mountains or a local hangout, books get packed to tag along.

For some reason we allow ourselves the liberty wherever we vacation to read. That’s why book publishing booms in May and June and fades as summer does, perhaps to have another re-birth at holiday time.

And, every year, for some reason, Israeli history, actual and distorted appears in newly published books. This summer is no exception. There are a plethora of books — some long, some short — some accurate, some not so much.

Without naming names, you can find your pick by visiting any website featuring summer books. The amazing thing to me is the number of books still questioning the legitimacy of the Jewish State.

All right, so you can mount a fairly good argument of the borders of Israel with regard to Jordan. You can make a case for the situation for Arabs on the so-called “West Bank.”

Are these people entitled to citizenship in Israel? Well, if they pledge allegiance to the flag of Israel and live under its rules and laws it would seem to make sense. In a perfect world …

To become a citizen of the United States you make a pledge (“I pledge allegiance to the United States of America”). Should be the same for any and every nation.

Problem is the majority of these people cannot accept the presence of a Jewish State located exactly where it was during the first and Second Jewish Commonwealth.

The Second Commonwealth was declared in 1948. It was accepted by the United Nations and got a yes vote from the United States. The State of Israel exists today in the ancient land where it was born all those centuries ago.

Could a book make it to market today questioning the truth and viability of the United States? Canada? England? Doubt it.

The “Great Arab Nation” that was promised if the Arab tribes would unite and help Britain defeat the Germans in WWI never came to be. The vast lands of what was generally known as “Arabia” were in fact whacked up between a French nobleman and an English Government official in a London War Room in 1915. It was called the “Sykes/Picot Agreement” and destroyed the dream of a huge Arabian nation that would draw together the bands of Arabs who sought their own land on the vast strip of desert today called the Middle East.

It became part of the Peace Accords that ended WWI. It was this agreement that was the eventual creation of the Second Jewish Commonwealth called Israel.

So, why should there be books this summer still questioning the legitimacy of the Sovereign Nation of Israel? Because there are still those who refuse to accept the legitimacy of the Jewish State.

There are books this summer about Israel as it is today. Even a monster book about the targeted assassinations of terrorists and others planning to kill Israelis. The book is titled “Rise and Kill First” by Ronen Bergman.

We live (thank God) in a society with a free exchange of information, opinion and rhetoric. Israel is still front and center of Middle East discussion.

I think the basic problem here is that such a large swath of the population, even among the so called experts on the Middle East already have their minds made up on this epic problem.

There are books about history such as “The Arab Israel War of 1948.” This book tackles the problem of the Arab World not accepting an Israeli nation in their midst.

Problem is that Israel was there first, over two thousand years ago and the establishment of the first Jewish Commonwealth on the land in what is now the Middle East.

The war between Israel in 1948 after the declaration of Israeli independence and its acceptance by the United Nations was not accepted by Arab nations. So, they invaded this new nation and attempted to eliminate its people. They failed. They failed again in 1956 and in 1966 and in daily conflict since then.

Books like “Can We Talk About Israel” and “Both Sides” about the historic ongoing dispute between Israelis and their Arab neighbors try to dissect and solve this intractable problem.

The problem itself and its solution is incredibly simple: The Nation of Israel is here to stay. It is a Jewish country founded on the site of the last Jewish country from which we were driven over two thousand years ago. As these books and others will tell you as will history itself: There is a Jewish nation. It is called Israel. It is located where it always was: On the Red Sea in what is known as the Middle East. It is surrounded by much younger nations, all Arab.

It is here to stay. Full stop. Period. End of discussion. Put it in the book.