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One of my professors from the Israel Bible Extension (IBEX) of The Master's College posted something on the situation in Israel yesterday. I always like to hear what he has to say about it, since he lives there. I think he's right.
Todd's Thoughts: Land for Peace: Has It Worked?
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9 comments:
No, but not withdrawing is not going to help much either.
No, probably not, but I think Todd is right that the very existence of Israel is the cause of the violence. Many parts of the international community would have them give more and more of their land away in the name of peace. Eventually there would be nothing left to give.
If Israel is to hold on to the land it occupies it has to be able to justify this. Israel has never been able to make a convincing case to the international community for holding onto that land.
Withdrawal may not lead to peace with the Arabs, however, holding onto the occupied territories only escalates the conflict and drives a wedge between potential sympathy it might receive from other nations.
You simply cannot do politics without being willing to compromise on some issues.
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
I think that no matter what, there will always be enmity between Israel and Ishmael's descendants.
Genesis 16:12
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers."
With Israel I don't like "doing politics" as one might with any other country. God brought them back once and He can certainly do it again if they are exiled again, but I do support Israel and definitely think that the international community is either lacking sense or the willingness to see that there is never going to be peace there while Israel exists. The whole Middle East is full of hatred.
I suppose what I don't like is what kind of compromises they are asked to make. Would we ask the Arabs in Israel to leave and go to the Arab areas when we ask the Jews to leave the Arab areas? No, we wouldn't. Compromise is a two way street and I don't see this issue going both ways.
Shieryl, I agree with you completely.
Angie, the problem is that the Arabs have been there for longer. Israel's occupation and settlement of the land was not in accordance with international law. The Israelis were on shakey ground and could never have prolonged that situation indefinitely.
"With Israel I don't like "doing politics" as one might with any other country. God brought them back once and He can certainly do it again if they are exiled again, but I do support Israel and definitely think that the international community is either lacking sense or the willingness to see that there is never going to be peace there while Israel exists."
Maybe so. But the governments of the world cannot just sit bakc and do nothing.
The Israeli government would have been unwise to just let an explosive situation be intensified by its own occupation and settlement of those territories.
If you were the prime minister (meaning you would probably be an unbelieving Jew) of Israel what would you have done?
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
I don't know what I would have done. I sincerely hope I am never in a position to make such a decision.
I suppose I don't like some aspects of international law. According to the way war has worked throughout the course of history, Israel would be a much larger country than it is, since they kept gaining territory during war that the international community told them they had to give back. Then again, the very existence of Israel is, in one sense, an act of the very international community that likes to tell it what it can and cannot do.
Honestly I think that occupation probably wasn't the most politically savvy move to begin with, no matter what I think of their "right" to be there.
One could say that the Arabs were in Palestine first, so the original settlement was not in accordance with international law, thus giving Israel a very shaky claim to existence at all, could one not?
Yes. But most of the world holds that the Arabs are going to have to get used to Israel being there. Just as Israel cannot ignore the fact that the Palestinians want their own state. They are not going to disappear if the Israelis ignore them.
I am not sure why you and others are so dogmatic about the fact that the Arabs will never accept the existence of Israel.
I appreciate that they hate Israel, but many Arab politicians insist that they are ready to accept Israel in her pre-1968 borders. That is certainly the position that Mahmoud Abbas has taken and reflects the stated views of many Palestinians.
Is there really some big conspiracy here?
I suppose the reason why us Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians are unwilling to acknowledge the possiblity of any resolution of this conflict is that we expect that the Lord's return is near.
This is very likely.
However, it is not certain. We need to be careful of allowing our prophetic views to obscure realistic analysis on political events. The resolution of this conflict may not actually be as impossible as we Evangelicals tend to think.
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
I supposed part of my position is the fact that I spent 3 1/2 months in Israel and much of my education in Middle Eastern politics is from people who have lived there for several years and see things differently than we do through the media.
I doubt that defining Israel according to pre-1968 borders is going to ensure peace.
My views are based on observation as much as any sense of prophecy. I suppose in this I am very cynical.
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