Arabs who understand

Last year the Israeli Monalisa came to the notice of the israeli public, a young christian arab woman who not only wished to serve the state, but serve in a fighting unit. Her real name is Monalisa Abdo:

She describes the nasty comments some Arabs made to her and her family members when she signed up.  She dismisses them.  And her parents are squarely behind her.  “Israeli Arabs need to serve in the Israeli military,” she insists in the interview, “to give to the country and not just take.”  Israel is our country and we need to serve it, she believes.  And military service is beneficial for those who serve, she adds, teaching them discipline and responsibility.  Monalisa’s older sister Michelin, age 21, has also decided to enlist and will start her service in a few days.  In the same unit as Mona.
Monalisa not only asked to enlist in the Israeli Defense Forces but signed up for an elite combat unit named “Karkel,” in which both men and women serve side by side on the front lines.  Karkel is the name of a wild desert cat that lives in Israel’s south.  The unit is station in the Arava desert close to the border with Egypt.  Hunting down terrorist infiltrators is its specialty.

Now it seems our Monalisa has been so successful that she is to become the first female arab commander of an elite combat unit:

Israeli Monalisa Abdo the first female Arab combat commander

Abdo worked very hard throughout her training and was then chosen for the elite commander's course. "I'm very excited and I'm thinking about the fact that soon I'm going to get new troops who will be under my command. I hope to lead by personal example," she said.
Abdo received mixed reactions from the residents of her village and from the Jewish counterparts serving alongside her for her desire to join the IDF. "There were people who were very proud of me, but there were those [Arabs] on the street who saw me with the IDF uniform and the fighter pin and told me I was a traitor," she told News 2 online. "I'm very at peace with my decision and my parents are very supportive."

"There were soldiers who were originally in shock, those I met in the course and in the battalion, but they were very impressed with what I did. I was also approached by Arab women who told me they wanted to enlist, but that they were worried about what other Arabs in the village might think."

And Monalisa has now been joined by her younger sister in the same Caracal unit she is serving in. This is one christian family that really does understand who their friends and protectors really are, and are prepared to do something to pay back the debt to Israel.

It is not only christians who serve the state. The southern border is protected by the beduin muslim reconnaissance brigade. They stopped the recent incursion into Israel after terrorists killed sixteen egyptian border guards eating their Ramadan meal. This was after Israeli intelligence had warned the egyptians about the coming attack!

The muslims who serve Israel nearly always belong to communities that are minorities within the larger arab and muslim fold such as the druse.

Israeli druse muslims serve Israel for the most part loyally although the druse on the Golan heights are an exception to that.  The reason was not any love for Syria but that Israel has given mixed messages over the year about giving the Golan to Syria from which it was conquered in Israel's defensive war of 1967. Not wishing to have to explain to the Syrian Mukhabarat (secret service) why they served Israel in future the druse preferred to maintain links with Syria and rebuff Israel, whilst enjoying all the benefits of its democratic society. Things are however changing now and druse on the Golan are stampeding the Israeli interior ministry to claim israeli nationality. The druse see the writing on the wall, that they have a non too bright future in a sunni islamist ruled Syria. This is all to the good as a future Israeli government will find it all the more difficult to give the Golan over to Syria when most of the Golan's inhabitants are Israeli. Ironically Israel is now getting thousands more settlers who are muslim, but who will most likely be loyal citizens and a bulwark against any ridiculous future 'peace' deals handing back land.

 'Peace' up to now has meant Israel giving precious and strategic land away for a piece of paper to an arab leader who can be deposed tomorrow. As we now see with Egypt, pieces of paper have little meaning to the Muslim Brotherhood which sees a peace agreement as legitimate 'Taqiya' (deception of non-muslims in order to gain victory over them). Egyptian President Morsi has called a number of times for 're-negotiating' the Peace Agreement and more menacingly sent waves of tanks and armoured cars into Sinai thus breaking that Agreement.

Peace agreements between Israel and arab countries are based on strength and that alone. The day Israel seems weak it will be attacked. The stronger Israel is, the longer the peace will hold. Israel's defense minister Barak has still not understood this as regrettably some other of Israel's generals. They beat their breasts and believe that if only they were nicer to Israel's enemies, they would learn to love Israel.

Maybe our Monalisa will rise to become a senior general in Israel. She will then be in a position to share her knowledge of arab muslim hatreds towards Israel and how Israel should deal with it. I'm sure it won't involve giving away of territory or of being 'nice'.