Peace Long Time Gone

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the Palestinian Islamic Jihad water, word comes that the terror group is building on its rocket attacks from last month by opening “training camps” for youth.

Islamic Jihad had always been, at least publicly, less robust than Hamas or Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Stretching back to the 90s, the group operated on a smaller scale than their better-known rivals.

And even last month’s barrage of 1,000 rockets from Gaza might not have been due to their efforts, according to some reports, although at the time, major media outlets were definitely pointing at Islamic Jihad. As a source in Israel told me: “They don’t make a move without Hamas giving them the greenlight.” It was thought that perhaps Islamic Jihad was taking the fall, so as to give public cover to Hamas, already on thin ice as Israel talked of a large-scale incursion into the Gaza Strip.

Whoever was responsible, the week-long attacks provided Islamic Jihad with its own metaphorical merit badge for terror. Now it seems they’re building on that reputation.

On June 12, PIJ, the recruiting arm of the Jerusalem Brigades, opened their training camps, calling them “The Camps of Operation Free Men’s Revenge.” They were held at the training camps of the Jerusalem Brigades and were open to youth 14-16. Ahmed al-Ra’I, spokesman for the group, said response had been so great, they had to break the sessions into two phases. All this stemming from Operation Breaking Dawn in August of last year.

This is always the way the terrorist operate. Israel is forced to defend itself from the terrorism inflicted on it by lunatic jihadists. The response then is “an answer” to “Israeli aggression.”More than 1,500 young people have joined these operations, where they are given “crash courses” in tactics. In other words, they are cannon fodder for confrontations and in rare cases, breakouts of war. From Egypt to Lebanon and Syria, many youth are raised on a diet of hate for Israel and they are eager to be martyrs for the cause.

Problem is, they don’t realize that the leadership cares nothing for them and considers them useful in harassing Israel. There hasn’t been a break in this fervor for 100 years.

Even the trainers in this terrorism cover their faces with masks, so that photographs can’t identify them. This is cowardly, but I don’t even think they care if we call them that. For them, everything is justified in “fighting the Zionists.”

The religious angle is important, too, in whipping these impressionable youth into a frenzy. Specifically, they “fostered connection to Islam and the path of the Prophet Muhammad,” an integral part of the groups’ ideology. Remember, even though Yasser Arafat himself wasn’t especially religious, he well understood that it would be a key catalyst for persuading thousands of young men to give up their lives for “Palestine.”

Instruction included land fighting, storming the enemy’s positions, and shooting. Psychological operations also ensured they would not stray from the path.

A huge outcome of all this, according to PIJ leaders, is to send a message to Israel: the efforts from Operation Shield and Arrow, to uproot the terror group’s leadership and training facilities, only served to swell the ranks of recruits, and to rebuild the physical training centers.

After 10 days, the training camp came to an end and a ceremony was held near Khan Yunis.

A fascinating op-ed appears this week in the Jerusalem Post, and sheds light on the never-ending circle of violence:

“A two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, long the dream of Jewish liberals like me, is increasingly unlikely and probably has been since the end of the Six-Day War in June 1967 – a war in which Israel expelled Jordanian forces from the West Bank.

Prior to the Jordanian exit, there was a two-state solution of sorts – a Jewish state (Israel) and an Arab state (Jordan) occupying the entirety of what had been Mandatory Palestine.

A short time later Israel’s government, headed by Labor Party prime minister Levi Eshkol, offered to return the West Bank to Jordan in exchange for peace, an offer Jordan rejected and concurrently abandoned its claim to the West Bank in favor of the newly created Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The writer, Alfred Moses, believes more should be done to improve the lot of Palestinians.

Yet this approach has also been tried for decades! Untold billions of dollars from the U.S. and Europe has poured into the Palestinian territories. Much of it was stolen by the leadership. When Israel pulled out of Gaza entirely in 2005, they left business infrastructure such as farms and sophisticated irrigation. The Palestinians swept in and

Madness.

Enormous effort has been expended in “improving the lives of Palestinians,” but right up to this moment they continue poisoning their own culture because of hatred for Jews.

It’s fascinating that Moses believes there was never a real chance at peace, stretching back 60 years. And it’s true that Jordan basically served as the Palestinian state, until King Hussein kicked Arafat and the PLO out of his country. The terror football was tossed back in Israel’s direction.

As Christians, and ones that believe in Bible prophecy, we know that no human solution exists to bring real peace to the region. It is frustrating that madmen have so much power to cause so much harm. And it’s all unnecessary. Israel has made serious overtures to the Palestinians since 1967, but the PLO has always preferred that their own people be used as pawns.

This week, remember especially the 1,500 young people being shoved into the meatgrinder by the terrorists. Pray they will have both discernment and a way out of that hellhole.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

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