No peace in Paris

No peace in Paris

Middle East conference more likely to be a powder keg

By Charles Gardner, Special to ASSIST News Service (Writer’s Personal Opinion)

PARIS, FRANCE (ANS – January 13, 2017) -- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a problem that is going to disappear with a wave of a magic wand weaved by the world’s politicians. It’s an age-old dilemma that has spiritual roots, and a spiritual solution.

Representatives of 70 nations will descend on Paris on Sunday (January 15th) for a global conference to promote a “two-state solution” as the way to lasting peace in the Middle East. It’s a “peace” they plan to impose on Israel, who will not even be there!

And the fear among Jews is that whatever is agreed in France will be used as the basis for a UN Security Council resolution that would permanently divide Israel and create an Islamic Palestinian state.

But the nations are merely engaging in another distraction -- a denial of reality -- that does not begin to address the issue. Just three weeks ago the UN passed a resolution declaring that Israel is illegally “occupying” much of the land to which it is historically, and biblically, entitled -- including the Temple Mount, Western Wall and the Old City itself (every inch of east Jerusalem, in fact) which has been part of Judaism for thousands of years. And Britain, to its shame, voted for this!

In rewriting history and making a mockery of justice and fairness, the United Nations has become a sick joke as it brazenly continues to back the Palestinian narrative that would drive Israel into the sea. Their spokesmen have been quoted over and again saying that they only want such a state as a launch pad for ridding the region of Jews altogether.1

The response to the truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem which killed four Israeli Defence Force soldiers2 says it all. Arab Palestinians took to the streets and social media to celebrate and, in Gaza, the ruling Hamas terrorist group praised the attack as a “natural response to the Israeli occupier’s crimes”. People in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority-controlled “West Bank” were seen festively handing out sweets [candy] to mark the occasion.

According to the PA, the murder of Israeli youths is sanctioned by Islam! The official PA daily said the killer “died as a Shahid” (that is, a martyr for Allah). And the Authority will now reward the terrorist’s wife with a lifetime monthly allowance of £627 ($760 or 2,900 shekels). And this in a territory led by Mahmoud Abbas -- a so-called “moderate”.

No, the problem is not the settlements, or Jewish communities, built on disputed land claimed by the Palestinians. The root of this enduring conflict is anti-Semitism, currently in the shape of Islamic fundamentalism. Actually, Israel is entitled under international law to Judea and Samaria (currently known as the West Bank) courtesy of the San Remo Conference of 1922 in the aftermath of World War I. In fact it was around this time that a “two-state solution” was first tried when, with the stroke of a pen, the British Government handed over a major portion of the territory originally earmarked for Israel to the Arabs -- the country now known as Jordan. So why is there a need for further division?

The Paris Conference, like the recent UN resolution, could well make things worse for Israel and render peace even less likely by encouraging terror groups to believe they have the backing of world powers.

This would be a profound tragedy, however, especially for the nations involved. There will undoubtedly be further battles for Israel, but in the end they hold the “trump” card -- and I am not referring to the incoming U.S. President.

Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, will return to his beloved land -- and the nations who scattered his people and divided up his land will be put on trial. But the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem will be restored. (See Joel 3.1f)

Jesus will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and will be king over the whole earth. (Zechariah 14.1-9)

Come, Lord Jesus!

Notes:

1) For this and other information in this article, I am indebted to David Soakell’s January 12 2017 newsletter, Watching Over Zion, produced weekly for Christian Friends of Israel, as well as to official PA TV, January 8 2017.

2) This included three young women aged 20-22, one of whom, Yael Yekutiel, was a Facebook friend of my CFI colleague David Soakell, who described the 20-year-old officer as “full of light and life” who “seemed to love everyone and everyone loved her.” David himself narrowly missed being a victim of a suicide bomb back in 2002.

Photo captions: 1). Temple Mount in Jerusalem with Israeli flag. 2) Palestinians from the West Bank protest near the Jewish Hallamish settlement. (AFP/File). 3) A young Palestinian hands out sweets (candy) in Gaza to celebrate the recent terrorist attack in Jerusalem. (Photo: Screenshot.) 4) Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas shake hands at a meeting, but still no sign of peace. 5) Charles Gardner with his wife, Linda.

About the writer: Charles Gardner is a veteran Cape Town-born British journalist working on plans to launch a new UK national newspaper reporting and interpreting the news from a biblical perspective. With his South African forebears having had close links with the legendary devotional writer Andrew Murray, Charles is similarly determined to make an impact for Christ with his pen and has worked in the newspaper industry for more than 41 years. Part-Jewish, he is married to Linda, who takes the Christian message around many schools in the Yorkshire town of Doncaster. Charles has four children and nine grandchildren. He is the author of Peace in Jerusalem, available from http://olivepresspublisher.com, and can be reached by phone on +44 (0) 1302 832987, or by e-mail at chazgardner@btinternet.com .

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