One thing that the enemies of Israel have in common aside from their passionate desire to see that tiny strip of land obliterated, is that they are very creative in their ways to promote her destruction. It does not matter that Israel became a modern nation in May 1948, after vindication by the UN vote (33 Yes and 13 Nos) in November of 1947. It does not matter that Israel is the ONLY democracy in the middle east where many Arabs are better treated than in their own respective countries, and it certainly doesn’t matter that God Himself covenanted with Israel and the Jewish people so that Israel would never be destroyed (Genesis 12:1-3; Jeremiah 31:35-37)!
From the moment Israel was reborn as a modern nation, neighboring Arab countries and soon after other worldwide countries started to work overtime on a plan to thwart her growth if not her very existence. As it turned out, the UN, the very organization used as a platform to Israel’s rebirth out of the ashes of the Holocaust, has passed more resolutions against Israel since 1948 that any other country in the world.
Today, many solutions are brought forward to bring peace in the middle east between Jews and Arabs. While common sense dictates that any good solution requires compromise which is a bilateral effort, the options presented to Israel seem to be unilateral at best. At the end of the day, the destruction of Israel is always part of the equation, either in an obvious or insidious manner.
Three recurring options can be defined.
1. A Two-State Solution
Based on direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the Two-State Solution envisions two countries side-by-side: Israel and Palestine, carved out of the Land currently know as the State of Israel. Constant disagreements pertaining to borders and sensitive areas such as the Temple Mount have rendered the Two-State solution very unlikely. Yet it continues to be pursued.
Regardless of the numerous geographical, political and spiritual roadblocks, many countries have pushed for Israelis and Palestinians to “get along” and live side-by-side. Just about all American presidents have tried to bring about a Two-State Solution since the first attempt was presented by the Peel Commission Report of 1937 under the British Mandate of Palestine.
Beyond governments, grass root movements such as Christ at the Checkpoint (CatC) have organized conferences (2010 and upcoming in March 2012) at the Bethlehem College of the Bible. Under the guise of hope, peacemaking and reconciliation, this gathering turns out to be a hateful parade of politically correct pro-Palestinians and anti-Zionists wanting nothing less than Israel admitting her “colonialist” approach to the middle east crisis. Their agenda is only fueled further by recent movies such as With God on Our Side or Little Town of Bethlehem were Israel is clearly (but inaccurately) represented as the oppressor or “New Nazi of the Middle east” creating an “apartheid nation”. Both movies are boldly endorsed by an array of Evangelical Christians.
Even though many Israelis and Palestinian might genuinely be in favor of a Two-State Solution, the Palestinian leadership has made it impossible to achieve, especially when one looks at their unilateral demands. The Two-State solution is NO SOLUTION!
A wonderful analysis as usual Olivier!