Teaneck, New Jersey, USA – While I spend most of my time living in Jerusalem, Israel, my close family, and friends live in a tri-state area, in a town called Teaneck. I have had the true delight of being able to come home this week and visit with my relatives here in the United States. I simply could not have been prepared for what I have come home to.

Preparations for 2 pm rally for Palestine outside Teaneck Town Hall. Light turnout so far; heavy police presence @northjersey @dailyrecord pic.twitter.com/an2kYfRaCd

— William Westhoven (@wwesthoven) May 22, 2021

Mere hours before I landed in the United States, a pro-Palestine protest was held on the grounds of my hometown’s government buildings. What was truly despicable is that the protest was purposely held on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, so as to avoid opposition from the sizable Jewish community here in Teaneck. 

Pro Palestine rally underway in Teaneck. ⁦@northjersey⁩ ⁦@dailyrecord⁩ pic.twitter.com/mh23F57ZDV

— William Westhoven (@wwesthoven) May 22, 2021

“The police suggested it would be more helpful if we stayed away, but that wasn’t sufficiently persuasive for me and the people who decided to come,” said Doron Hindin, who brought his two young sons with him to stand among the counter-protesters in solidarity with Israel. “The weak showing is the result of fear that we can’t be true to who we are and embrace our identity as Jews in public, on the Sabbath,” Hindin said. “That was very disturbing to me.”

The news of this protest continues to disturb me deeply, too. Teaneck is where I grew up and these people were my neighbors. But why would I be so upset at a peaceful rally? The truth of the matter is that no one who supports a Palestinian state is supporting peace. Israeli-Arabs are given equal rights as Jewish-Israelis; to decry our country as apartheid, or worse, is absurd.

Other Arab-led nations in the Middle East really are nearly apartheid. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has a population that is mostly made up of foreigners, yet only 11.5% of the population are naturalized citizens (https://www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-population-statistics/). Does Israel treat minorities in such a derogatory way? No! We have given the Arab population of Israel every opportunity to join us in building a better future for all of Israel’s inhabitants. And many have seized that opportunity for a better life, but most have yet to do so.

Jews and Arabs have been living side by side in Israel because the country wants it to be so. Far be it from us, the Jewish people, to expel a nation from their homeland. The conflagration is only fueled by people who believe that a Palestinian state would lead to peace: it will not. It can not. No Arab country in the world is accepting of Jews. In fact, much of Israel’s population is descended from Jewish refugees who fled the Arab world to save their own lives. Israel accepts its Arab population so long as the population conforms to the laws of Israeli society, the only stable democracy in the Middle East.

What I just wrote is not new information. What I just wrote is the truth. Only by supporting Israel can we ever hope to see peace in the Middle East. Those who claim they are standing for the rights of Palestinians when they push for a Palestinian state are, in reality, trying to create a terrible future for those who consider themselves Palestinians. 

That is why the protests in my hometown bothered me so much: because no one who stands for Palestine is someone who stands for peace. If you are reading this, heed my word: stand for Israel. Because if you do not, the suffering will not end. Be the change we need in this world. Stand for Israel.