Israel celebrated 64 years of Independence on Thursday, April 26.

While they celebrate, Palestinians mourn the anniversary. We in the U.S. need to educate ourselves on the history of Israel so we can understand why we should join the celebration and not the mourning.

First of all, the word ‘Palestine’ isn’t even Arabic. The Romans first used the word so as to replace the name Judea. The Romans wanted to prove they had conquered the Jews. Which itself proves that the land originally belonged to the Jews and a remnant has always remained.

Palestine was never an independent state nor ‘Palestinians’ a distinct people. ‘Palestinian’ was an all-encompassing name including Arab tribes sparsely settled in the region and a mixture of Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Arabs laid no claim to the land.

The 1917 Balfour Declaration created a national home in Palestine for the Jewish people who were fleeing persecution from all over Europe. Freedom of speech, religion and assembly were guaranteed in the document for all people. Freedoms the Arabs had never known. However, freedom and peace have never been what the Arabs in Palestine wanted since that included accepting the Jews.

The first Jihad by the now so called Palestinians against the Jews in 1920, called the Nebi Musa Riot, was followed by decades of violence against Jews in Palestine. In 1937, the Jews offered vast territory in exchange for peace and increased immigration.

The Palestinian leaders refused. Consequently, Haj Amin Al-Husseini was sent into exile to end the violence but he was welcomed by Hitler. They became best buds. Al-Husseini lead the Muslim Brotherhood while also working as a Nazi.

Statehood for the Palestinians has been offered many, many times, but each time the Arab leaders refused and instead answered with more violence. Consequently, the U.N. needed to step in and draw distinct boundaries for the safety of the Jewish people.

More than 650,000 Palestinians could have accepted Jewish hospitality and freedom but chose to become refugees. The massive surrounding countries of Syria, Jordan and Egypt should have taken in their brothers but chose to close their borders refuse entry and use them as pawns instead. Jordan and Egypt then attacked and became the occupiers of the refugee camps denying the people any civil rights.

Historical fact is this; the ‘Palestinian’ people have been offered land, statehood, peace and freedom, it is their own choosing to live in squalor just to better terrorize Jews.

It is vitally important that we, here in comfortable southern California, understand history so that when we read comments like the following we will automatically understand the writer is either lying or dangerously misinformed; “However, you have to recognize that Israel came into Palestine and squeezed the Palestinians of that region into a tiny strip of land that is constantly bombed, blocked from any aid, and strained by shortages of many necessities. Violence is a natural response to such conditions, as it was for the Warsaw Ghetto.”

I’ve heard the same comment from college students. They’ve been told that the plight of the Palestinians is just the same as the Jews during the Holocaust.

As stated above, the Palestinian leaders denied all deals for Statehood and bigger pieces of land simply because they refuse to acknowledge Israel in any form. So if they have been ‘squeezed into a tiny strip of land’ it is not the fault of Israel but rather the fault of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood.

As far as being ‘constantly bombed,’ the truth is that rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip and West bank into Israel on a regular basis. The intended targets are innocent Jewish civilians and children. In fact, 8,000 rockets have been launched into Israel just since 2005! Recently a bus load of Israeli school children was purposefully targeted and bombed. When Israel does target specific terrorists, the world screams like a bully with a bloody nose.

My favorite over the top accusation against Israel is that they treat the Palestinians just like the ‘Warsaw Ghetto.’ That is why there are so many cattle cars in Israel filled with Palestinians and smoke stacks spewing smoke from burning bodies, right?

No? No, the truth is, Palestinians have more rights, freedom and health care inside Israel than they do in any other Arab nation. Then there’s the accusation that Palestinians are “blocked from any aid and strained by shortages of many necessities." Hmmm... I wonder where all those bombs and rockets come from? Could it be, they, along with plentiful supplies of luxury items and expensive food make their way daily by vast smuggling operations from surrounding Arab countries? The real question is Why do surrounding Arab countries smuggle in bombs and rockets yet leave the people to suffer poverty and lack of food?

Well, that question will never be asked in the Western Press because it doesn’t fit the narrative of Jews as oppressive bad guys.

I don’t deny that the Palestinian people are suffering but I refuse to believe it is the fault of Israel. I refuse to believe the ancient accusation that anyone suffers because Jews prosper. Instead, if Palestinians really truly desired comfort, safety, peace and prosperity they would embrace the Jewish people and strive to follow their example rather than spend all energy trying to wipe them out. The Palestinians should be celebrating the Independence of Israel because the Jews lead the entire Middle East in freedom, human rights, women’s rights, forgiveness, prosperity and love for their children.

It is important that we understand the right of Israel to protect her very life. Otherwise we hardly notice when President Obama says, “The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps” This was an outrageous, deliberate thing to say. He knows Israel would be under mortal danger and he knows how many times Israel has attempted to ‘swap’ land for peace with the end result being increased violence from the Palestinians.

Similarly, President Obama joked about our own border issues when he said, “maybe they’ll want a moat with alligators.” Never mind that American ranchers live in fear for their property and safety, many have been raped and murdered and others are simply leaving their land for safer ground. He doesn’t believe Israel should be allowed self-defense nor does he believe Americans should be allowed self-defense.

All violence is not equal. The Palestinians have no right to violence just because they don’t like Jews. Gangs and human traffickers also have no right to violence here. Israel and the U.S. however, do have the right to self-defense by the use of fences and armed guards.

We promised, “never again” but “again” is happening every time false accusations about Israel are spewed and given a pass. As a result, persecution against Jews and Christians is at an all-time high. America was once Israel’s biggest ally. We must be again, because if we say Israel has NO right to exist, NO right to self-defense and NO right to live then neither do we.