THE CUSTER SYNDRONE
Irwin Garfinkle 7/28/2006

I was 23 years old in 1948, so what did I know? I had graduated from law school, passed the Massachusetts bar and was practicing law in my own office. I thought I was pretty smart. I thought the establishment of a Jewish state amid millions of hostile Arabs was foolhardy. George Custer’s chances for survival at Little Big Horn were much better. I knew I was right when the Arab hordes, including forces trained by the British attacked on all fronts. But I didn’t know about miracles. The Jews not only survived, but prevailed to establish Israel, a democratic state. A miracle! Unbelievable!
I was proud of those Jews. They were my people, my family. They proved to the world that Jews were not nebbish. They proved that I was not so smart, that I was wrong, that my people could prevail against overwhelming odds. Unlike Custer, we Jews, my people would have prevailed at Little Big Horn.
That was 60 years ago. Now, I’m older and perhaps, wiser. I am still proud of how my people defended themselves in 1948, and throughout all the succeeding wars including the intefada. The Jews are no longer regarded as nebbish. Indeed, we Jews are now regarded by many as part of a powerful worldwide conspiracy to rule the world. While the conspiracy accusations may be tainted by anti-Semitism, I actually prefer being regarded as powerful conspirator, rather than nebbish.
But after 60 years of military successes, I am concerned that the Israelis, and perhaps all Jews, are again at Little Big Horn, and the adversary is acquiring the means to overwhelm them. Not only will the enemy have technically advanced arsenals, Iran will have the bomb. Is the Muslim world prepared for mutual self-destruction? Islam as practiced by the fanatic is a culture of death. Paradise awaits the martyrs who die killing infidels. The martyrs want to ethnically cleanse the world of infidels, starting first with the Jews. An unthinkable nuclear attack? Yes, Israel can and would retaliate, but what then? The destruction of Iran, Syria, Iraq? The end of Israel? The Final Solution?

The Muslim world has been and is now at war with the West. Because of the West’s superiority of arms, the Muslim war is limited to suicide bombings and hit and run attacks. Israel learned to cope with that type of war, dreadful as it may be.

It is not politically correct, and probably not true, to suggest that all Muslims are enemies of the West. I think it is safe to say, however, that all Muslim theocracies are the enemy. The Muslim world hates the West. Note the celebrations following 9/11. Whatever the cause of this hate, the West is the infidel with lifestyles that offend the radical Islamist believer. No westerner is hated more than the Jew. The fanatical Muslims who now are in power will never accept a Western democracy in its midst, and half of the Jews of the world are at Little Big Horn, scorned and outnumbered by millions of “hostiles”.