Foot, Shoot Thyself

The Palestinians are at it again, just as they have been for a hundred years. A lifeline from the West has been thrown into the churning sea that is Arab society and stands ready to help put the Palestinians in a better environment. An economic summit hosted by the U.S. and Bahrain is scheduled for June. The theme is “Peace to Prosperity,” and the overall goal is to lend yet another hand to the Palestinians. According to a report:

“Expected attendees are treasury ministers and businessmen from the Middle East and around the globe. The objective of the workshop is to encourage potential investment in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip that would lead to Palestinian and regional prosperity, which could be made possible by a peace agreement.

“Later, the Americans are planning to release the political aspects of the ‘deal of the century,’ which will concern the unresolved core issues between Israel and the Palestinians.”

And, right on cue, the corrupt Palestinian Authority has denounced the conference:

“Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah figures rushed to announce their unreserved rejection of the economic workshop in Bahrain, despite the severe economic difficulties facing the PA. They stressed that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict demanded a

political resolution, whose consequence would be the economic issue. According to Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, the components of the political solution are the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital, and the ‘right of return’ of the Palestinian refugees (Note: The ‘right of return’ means the destruction of the State of Israel as a Jewish state.) So far PA

chairman Mahmoud Abbas has not yet officially responded to the proposed economic workshop but his unconditional rejection can be expected because it is part of the ‘deal of the century,’ which Mahmoud Abbas rejects out of hand.”

I’ve driven through the Jordan Valley and seen firsthand the poverty average Palestinians live in, literally right next to luxurious villas built by and for the PA “leaders.” It’s unconscionable, but so long as the PA and Hamas control the population, this is what you’ll get.

Notice too the fascinating element to this story: Bahrain is a co-host! This is akin to the Saudis also cozying up to the Israelis and Americans. I’m skeptical that these kinds of relationships are genuine on the part of the Arabs, but so long as Iran’s mullahs exist, these partnerships will also exist and even flourish.

Hamas is denouncing the conference partly on the grounds that it promotes “normalization”(!) with Israel. Wow. Imagine that! Imagine some Muslims in the Middle East strolling into the 21^st century, from their 7^th century perch.

The Saudis and the UAE will also participate in the conference, further sidelining the maniacs in Gaza and the Territories. One can hardly imagine people more evil than Mahmoud Abbas and the Henchmen of Hamas. They shove their own people into a meat-grinder and then sit back by their pools and churn-out more anti-Semitism.

Bashar al-Masri, a Palestinian businessman, has also denounced the conference (no doubt with a gun to the heads of his family members), saying with a straight face that the Palestinians can see themselves to economic prosperity and don’t need foreign intervention! Holy moly. They couldn’t “economic” their way out of a paper bag.

As Christians who support Israel and place a priority on her security, we should also regularly pray for rank-and-file Palestinians who are abused by their own leadership.

Much is at stake.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

Israel at 71

It’s staggering, when you think about it. Seventy-one years!

When David Ben Gurion stood at a mic on the afternoon of May 14, 1948 in Tel Aviv, he told the world that Israel had re-entered history.

The founders of the state weren’t even sure what to call the new state at first. Among the possibles: Zion.

Finally, they settled on “Israel,” and Bible prophecy rocketed forward at warp speed. Today, Israel is a vibrant miracle.

We know what the Romans did to the area 2,000 years ago. The expulsion of Jews from their ancient homeland has been an open wound ever since.

By 1850, there were about 10,000 Jews in Palestine. The village of Rosh Pinah (the “headstone” of Psalm 118) was established in 1882, the year of the largest influx of Jewish immigrants to the area. That began large-scale modern Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.

Just days before statehood in 1948, Golda Meir made a clandestine trip to meet with Transjordan’s King Abdullah. A bit of their conversation is quite fascinating, as she told it:

“‘Why are you in such a hurry to proclaim your State?’ he asked me. ‘What is the rush? You are so impatient!’ I told him that I didn’t think that a people who had waited 2,000 years should be described as being ‘in a hurry’, and he seemed to accept that. ‘Don’t you understand,’ I said, ‘that we are your only allies in this region? The others are all your enemies.’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I know that. But what can I do? It is not up to me.’ So then I said to him: ‘You must know that if war is forced upon us, we will fight and we will win.’ He sighed and again said ‘Yes. I know that. It is your duty to fight. But why don’t you wait a few years? Drop your demands for free immigration. I will take over the whole country and you will be represented in my parliament. I will treat you very well and there will be no war.’

“I tried to explain to him that his plan was impossible. ‘You know all that we have done and how hard we have worked,’ I said. ‘Do you think we did all that just to be represented in a foreign parliament? You know what we want and to what we aspire. If you can offer us nothing more than you have just done, then there will be a war and we will win it. But perhaps we can meet again— after the war and after there is a Jewish State.’”

Remarkable!

And when President Truman recognized the new Jewish state hours after the Tel Aviv declaration, the world woke to a new reality. Very few understood the prophetic implications (fewer do now, I’m afraid), but the fact is, God had brought about the very thing He promised to do.

Let us celebrate with our Jewish and Israeli friends, and remember when we get down that God always keeps His promises.

Never let that thought leave your mind and heart.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com