It's hard to have a positive view of Barack Obama's foreign policy. It is blatantly obvious that "dialogue," or hopes of "dialogue," with rogue dictators and tyrants DO NOT and WILL NOT result in successful outcomes. Iran has walked all over Obama's words. North Korea is threatening a nuclear war. Jimmy Carter is in bed with Hamas and lifting up the covers for Obama to slip in. Israel and Palestine are drowning in a struggle over land; while Obama keeps pushing Israel's head underwater.
This isn't "Hope and Change," this is a mismanagement of policy and a failure to see what this fallen world is all about. Barack Obama has given up a lot of ground in six months, I can only hope for a progressive 3 1/2 years.
"Surely something must be terribly wrong with a man who seems to be far more concerned with a Jew building a house in Israel`s Gaza Strip than with Muslims building a nuclear bomb in Iran." - columnist Burt Prelutsky
1920
1922
Proposed Palestinian State
4 comments:
Hey Ryan,
I'm working on a blog with several others concerning the peace process.
You can check it out at:
holylandpeace.blogspot.com
I don't have much time right now, but I will send you over some other resources on the conflict. I do not know where you got those maps but I'm looking through my books now and I hoping that you are not one of the extraordinary few that still chase the twisted dream of "Greater Israel" (whether that be the Mediterranean to the Jordan or Israel on both banks of the Jordan. The first two maps are very misleading. The British had no intention of ever turning over all of Mandatory Palestine for the Jewish National Home, so to say that the Israelis have been discriminated against and had 77% of what would have been their original state stolen is incorrect. I truly hope you are not one in favor of "Greater Israel." I thought that was only reserved for religious settlers and ultra-Zionists.
I've heard Jimmy Carter speak and tend to follow him rather closely in the news. I have heard him condemn (obviously) Hamas, their tactics, their political goals, and their governing policies in no uncertain terms. However, when he goes to Gaza to check on the reconstruction (which the U.S. administration currently supports as a way to undermine Hamas and strengthen Abbas) he's certainly not climbing in to bed with Hamas. One can certainly comment on the human suffering in Gaza without condoning Hamas. Carter does believe Hamas has a serious role to play in the peace process though, an assertion that is compelling. The best thing to do is to redirect Hamas away from militancy into the Palestinian political sphere, where they will have to be much more nuanced (and blunted) in dealing with Israel and other countries.
Hamas is a major obstacle to the peace process, and in my opinion, they represent one of the biggest, most entrenched obstacles to the resumption of negotiations.
As for the argument that the Arabs control many times more land than Israelis: it does not actually matter. Should we give Arizona and New Mexico back to Mexico? The Mexicans do have claims to those stolen territories and the United States certainly has more territory than Mexico. Wouldn't it be fair to "spread the wealth" and give them some more land to even everything out? Wow, that sounds a bit like our socialist president. It only matters who has the legal claim to the land. The fact that Hebrews lived in ancient Israel does not translate to legal rights to land ownership in the West Bank for white European Jews.
What I want in the endgame of this conflict is a just, lasting peace and this is only going to be attainable through a final settlement based loosely on the Geneva Initiative. Wikipedia has a good article and you can find the full text of the document online.
I think you've misunderstood the plans surrounding the corridor connecting the West Bank to Gaza. It has never been proposed that a future Palestinian state would actually have sovereignty over such a corridor. Most plans envision the corridor as nothing more than a highway and railway, under Israeli sovereignty which can only be accessed from within the West Bank or Gaza.
No international body (never the U.S. nor Britain) ever envisioned a Jewish state in all of Mandatory Palestine. This was an unrecognizable dream of the early Zionist movement, but one they soon saw (by the early 40s) could not be achieved without the wholesale ethnic cleansing of the land - something they simply could not do because of their own humanity.
I'll send more when I get a chance.
Josh,
I enjoyed looking through the website. However, it seems somewhat biased against Israel and its intent to preserve the Holy Land.
In regards to my view on the issue, I believe that Israel has a right to defend the Holy Land. I believe this because I believe in the Word of God. My viewpoint, like many others that support the Israeli cause, is based on a biblical viewpoint that recognizes Israel as the beginning and the end.
Your "history lessons" are always very informative. However, these "lessons" seem oblivious to the real world and a larger history spectrum. Peace is not obtainable in regards to this situation. It never has been. It never will. The issues are bigger than any president, any organization, any peace treaty (that continually get broken), any Facebook group, or any website. Sure, we can work towards peace. I welcome that mindset. However, as soon as "peace" is obtained, another issue is already in the works. No settlement, signature, or belief will accomplish a peaceful resolution.
I admire your optimism regarding the Israel/Palestine situation. But, that's all that it is. Optimism has failed for centuries.
When you have a region of the world, a large region with unlimited influence, that believes in the End of Days Theology...peace isn't even in the vocabulary. "Peace" is just a bridge to the next stepping stone of disaester while we continuously shed our ability to stand against an ideology that stops at nothing for religious domination.
Good luck with your website...
"When you have a region of the world, a large region with unlimited influence, that believes in the End of Days Theology...peace isn't even in the vocabulary"
"I believe that Israel has a right to defend the Holy Land. I believe this because I believe in the Word of God. My viewpoint, like many others that support the Israeli cause, is based on a biblical viewpoint that recognizes Israel as the beginning and the end."
"Peace is not obtainable in regards to this situation. It never has been. It never will."
It seems your own views on the conflict are disturbingly similar to others who believe in End of Days Theology. You just disagree with who will achieve success in the annihilation of the other...
Josh,
"It seems your own views on the conflict are disturbingly similar to others who believe in End of Days Theology."
I'm not even sure how to respond to this comment. So many possibilities. I think that you are a very intelligent person that made a very unintelligent statement.
How, in any way possible, did any of my statements remotely relate to the End of Days Theology in regards to the Christian worldview?
I'm a realist who sees this conflict for what it is. Of course, we all know that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs has nothing to do with Islam, and everything to do with stolen land, and settlements, and all that...just ask Obama and Hillary (sarcasm)
I wish I could speak to the truth of the matter, but no matter what I post, what links I attach, what I quotes from the Bible or Quran I use; what articles I speak of, and/or what the lastest Jihad news of the hour might be; you continue to remain in this oblivious, optimistic bubble that believes that Man, who continually fails, is somehow programmed for good rather than evil. Man is fallen. So is his agenda.
But, believe what you want to believe. I don't think it really matters in the end. Maybe this latest resolution for peace with work and all Israelis and Palestinians will be hugging each other and sharing a brew by next year...
Or, going back to strapping bombs to ourselves and using women and children as shields because Allah wants people who love death more than people who love life.
Hmmm...what to pick...
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