Is The Situation Hopeless For Israel And Palestine?

by: bruce nix | published: 06 09, 2010

I was at an acquaintances house the other day, whose homeland happens to be the country of Jordan. His wife is from Palestine. She was watching television with their son, while him and I were talking about something else. Her son was watching an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants and when it was over he left us and went to his room. She flipped the channel over to a show that caught my attention. It was a news report from Dubai on satellite, broadcast entirely in Arabic. It was kind of odd to me at first but, as my attention focused on the report, it became fascinating.

I asked my friend what all of the excitement was about on the news cast and then they showed some film footage. At that point I knew exactly what it was about, even without translation. They were focusing on the recent series of events, where the Israeli Defense Force intercepted the relief ships from Turkey and the actions of the commandos that boarded the ships. Several members of the relief effort were killed as they tried to assault the commandos. Who swung the first blow? Does it even really matter? The facts are, that a tragedy in the making, is brewing over there and the west is not really paying much attention.

As the footage turned from film aboard the ship where the attacks began, to a military base in Jerusalem, where the IDF took their captives, the camera panned around a barricade that held back a substantially large crowd of people all raising their fists in anger and chanting something in their native language. All of them enraged. I asked him what are they yelling? He said, “they are yelling; kill all of the Palestinians!” It was very apparent that there was a lot of anger present at the scene and it was starting to get out of hand. Some of the IDF soldiers were trying to break up the crowd. The whole scene was un-nerving as I have apparently never paid much attention to events over there, except for small news clips. This video went on for some time.

The footage changed again to an area in Palestine, where some of their citizens who appeared to be even angrier, were gathered with their fists clenched, yelling towards a platform of speakers, who were talking about the events on the ships that night. I asked him what they were yelling. He looked at me and said; “they are yelling kill all of the Jews!” It was at that exact moment, that a word I try very hard to keep out of my vocabulary, popped into my head. “Hopeless.” That's it. That's all that there is to say about the situation over there. It is hopeless. There will never be peace there. There will be more killing followed by retaliation and more killing. It doesn't even matter who is right or who is wrong and by the very definition of those two descriptions, one can ask this question. “Who is right and who is in the wrong? The answer lies in the side that you are for.

My friend made a good case for the Palestinians who he claimed, have been displaced from their homeland by the Israeli's, but the story is immersed in the murkiness of post WWI, WWII history, the British Mandate (1920-1948) and Israel’s early days. The European Jews, all but exterminated by the Nazi's were not wanted in Europe and literally had no place to go. Britain was in control of the area known as Palestine and decided to cede it to the surviving Jews and the Arab Jews that were already there. The west had little interest in the area as it was mostly desert land. The European Jews took the land and transformed the area into what it is now, with their knowledge of farming and irrigation. The people of this new land formed the IDF and decided that there would never be another “Holocaust.” On May 14, 1948, Israel announced its statehood to the world.

This tiny country surrounded by Arab people, has been at the center of a conflict for one reason or another for thousands of years. It is the most hotly contested piece of real estate on the planet. Many millions of people have perished there as a result of one faction or another and their attempts to control it. From the Ottomans, to the Romans, to the Crusaders, to present day Israel and Palestine. The land is truly bathed in the blood of its ancestors. It is the home of and the birth place to three different religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Jerusalem being the grand prize for all.

The Bible and the Old Testament are full of accounts of the strife that went on there and also foretell of a final conflict between good and evil on the Plain of Megiddo, just north of Jerusalem or; Armageddon. So there you have it. At the current rate of escalation in the middle east I suspect that, the end is near. Truly we are a nearsighted bunch of people. Here we are immersed in this battle between right and left in our country, the oil spill in the Gulf, Obamacare, bailouts and lord knows what else, meanwhile in a country just over the horizon, a daily battle of life and death rages on. Is anyone paying attention to what is happening over there?

Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon. Verified by the IAEA who recently stated that Iran has produced enough fissile material to complete two nuclear warheads. With their recent success in launching a two stage, long-range missile, that was able to place a satellite into low earth orbit, that feat coupled with the nuclear material that they have processed, should raise a few eyebrows from those concerned. I can almost guarantee that they have Israels undivided attention, especially since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamas have decided that Israel must be eliminated. Look at all of the pieces of the puzzle. All mixed up, they mean little to you and I, put them together and it is a bit scary to say the least.

Radical Islamist's and their Holy Jihad against the west and anyone associated with Israel, have world domination in their sights. Islam is the fastest growing religion on the face of the Earth and it appears that Christians and Christianity are on the decline. Every day I hear stories about freedom of religion in this country being challenged on all fronts. The forces that be, have taken it out of our schools, our government and are trying to take it out of our lives all together. This great country was founded for the very reason, that they are trying so desperately to remove. Islam is spreading around the globe at a phenomenal rate. According to the latest statistics, there are anywhere from 1.9 to 2.3 billion Muslims around the globe in an estimated 200 countries. That is about 23% of the world population of 6.8 billion people.

The present trend in this country by the Obama administration to castrate us in the face of the world, plays right into the hands of that radical group of Jihadist's whose goal is to occupy the White House. The recent plan to build a Super-Mosque in New York City, only blocks from the Twin Towers ground zero site and the leaders of that city's decision to allow it in spite of protests from the citizens of that same city are but another blow to the sovereignty of this nation.

Truly the world is in an upheaval at this moment in history. The people of this great nation are up in arms with each other, and divided as never before, as a result of this President's agenda and it seems that no one is paying much attention to other things that are very critical to world stability and peace. Is the situation in the middle east “hopeless?” I do not know. I hate that word. I have always said; “there is always hope.” I hope that one day there will be world peace. I hope that one day there will be tolerance for every religion. I hope that one day men will come together and lay down their arms. There is so much beauty in this world and we are capable of so much good.

Until that day arrives we must always be vigilant. Liberty and freedom are a fragile thing.

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