Whose
Land Really Is It?
The
current situation was supposed to have been prevented by the Oslo Peace Treaty brokered
between the Israelis and the Palestinians in 1993. For
several years after the sides began to negotiate, the issue of Jerusalem was set aside, to
be dealt with after the other issues had been resolved.
Even
in light of the fact that Israel had abided by the Oslo Agreement, the radical Palestinian
militia groups continued to attack innocent Israeli citizens. In 1995 and 1996, a series of terrorist bus
bombings claimed the lives of dozens of innocent Israeli men, women and children.
Early
in 2000 the Oslo negotiations began to focus on the one point that threatened to derail
all that had been achieved thus far – Jerusalem. The relations between the two sides
began to deteriorate as no compromise could be arrived at. Then in late September Ariel
Sharon made his now infamous visit to the Temple Mount.
Months
earlier, when Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon, the terror organizations
Hizballah,
Hamas and Islamic Jihad saw it as a victory. The suggestion was made by Hizballah that the
Palestinians should try the same approach of continual violence, to gain a similar victory
over the Israelis. Could this have been what
inspired Arafat to call for and support the Al Aksa Intifada?
At the time of the completion of this book (May 2002) the Al Aksa Intifada is
now in its 20th month. More than
2500 Palestinians have died, the majority of them in the course of attacking Israeli
citizens and soldiers. During the same
period, more than 450 Israelis have been killed, by far the majority being innocent men,
woman and children who were murdered by misguided Palestinians who were under the
impression that these despicable acts of terror will secure them a state with Jerusalem as
its capital.
The
Netanya Passover massacre, as it has come to be known, was the ‘straw that broke the
camel’s back’. The Israeli people
and the government of PM Ariel Sharon had been pushed too far. The patience of the
Israelis ran out. As we say in the Pesach Seder, “Dayenu!“ (Enough!)
The Biblical
Perspective
Christians
have no business turning to secular sources for the answer to the question Whose Land Is It ?
The Bible is the only legitimate authority on this matter.
Acts 17:26
And He
has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has
determined their
pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.
Now
for the most legitimate ‘land deed’ ever written
………
Psalm 105:6-11 O
descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the LORD our
God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word he
commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he
swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting
covenant: "To you I will give the land
of Canaan as the portion you will inherit."
“Yes”, some may say, “but
Israel broke the covenant.”
Israel or Palestine - 20 Interesting Facts
Here is a list of some conveniently overlooked facts in the current Middle East situation.
1.
Nationhood and Jerusalem Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before
the rise of Islam.
2. Arab refugees in Israel
began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after
the establishment of the
modern State of
Israel.
3. Since the Jewish
conquest in 1272 B.C.E. the Jews have had dominion over the land for 1000 years with a
continuous presence in the
land for the
past 3,300 years.
4. The only Arab dominion since the
conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.
5. For over 3,300 years,
Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem
has never
been
the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even
when the Jordanians occupied the city of
Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did
not come to
visit.
6. Jerusalem is mentioned
over 700 times in the Jewish Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.
7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.
8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims
pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.
9. Arab and Jewish Refugees. In 1948
the Arab refugees were encourage to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the
land of
Jews Sixty-eight percent left without
ever seeing an Israeli soldier.
10. The Jewish refugees were
forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.
11. The number of Arab refugees
who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees
from Arab lands
is estimated to be
the same.
12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY
not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab
territory.
Of the 100 million refugees
since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been
absorbed or integrated
into their own
peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger
than the state of New Jersey.
13. The Arab - Israeli Conflict. The
Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is
only
one Jewish nation.
14. The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls
for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel
has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land
autonomy under the Palestinian
Authority and has supplied them with weapons.
15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.
16. The U.N. Record on Israel and the Arabs, of the 175 Security Council
resolutons passed
before 1990, 97 were directed
against Israel.
17. Of the 690 General Assembly
resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.
18. The UN was silent while 58 Jewish Synagogues where destroyed by theJordanians.
19. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mt. of Olives