The Palestinian Issue

Q. Can you explain what the Palestinian state issue is all about? What is the history of it and significance of the political/spiritual struggle now?

I have read comment about our presidents support of that as backing away from support of Israel.

Thank you so much!

A. I’ll summarize this as briefly as possible. The same stroke of the pen that created Israel as the Jewish Homeland also created a Palestinian homeland, called Jordan. But just like every other attempt to accommodate those opposed to a Jewish Homeland, this one failed. The neighboring countries attacked the brand new state of Israel, promising to push the Jews into the Mediterranean. They warned non-Jews living in Israel to flee before the attackers or face death. Many did, becoming refugees.

Many more became refugees when the UN declared that anyone living in Israel as of 1946, 2 years before Israel was created, who was displaced in the Moslem attack on Israel could claim refugee status. Since neither the government of Jordan, 70% of whose citizens are Palestinian, nor any other Moslem country wanted these people, they were housed in UN refugee camps, some of which still exist.

The word Palestine is a Roman invention used to describe Israel on ancient Roman maps as an insult to the Jews. It means “Land of the Philistines” and was a 1st Century denial of Israel’s right to exist. Because no Moslem country in the Middle East was willing to acknowledge the existence of Israel, the name Palestine has been used in modern times as well, although the Philistines disappeared from the Earth over 2600 years ago.

Even a cursory review of statements made by various Middle Eastern Moslem entities will reveal that from their point of view there’s only one solution to the Palestinian problem, and that’s the total elimination of all Jews from the region. Some say this is due to the fact that the Koran promises Moslems that any land conquered in the name of Allah will never be lost, and Israel, being such a land, exists in violation of the Koran.

Since no world leader, including President Bush and even Israel’s Prime Minister, views Israel’s right to exist as a Biblical mandate but rather as something permitted by a UN resolution, efforts to find agreeable terms for a peaceful co-existence between Israel and its Moslem neighbors continue. The Moslems have been willing go along with this charade as long as they’ve gained from the negotiations because it has given them time to become strong enough to think they can defeat Israel, as witnessed by their claims since the recent war in Lebanon. But as soon as Israel digs in and says, “No more,” Moslems will realize that they’ve gotten all they can from negotiations and will go to war for the rest, just like they’ve said all along.

The permanent solution to the conflict will only be found when Israel recognizes her true Messiah and petitions Him to return and save them (Hosea 5:15-6:3). In the mean time they will continue to follow the lead of several false ones, the worst of whom will be responsible for the death of 1/2 of the world’s population before he’s through.

In the Spiritual sense, this is not just a battle between nations who can’t seem to get along, but between the God of the Universe and the one who’s been fighting since before Adam to replace Him as the final authority on Earth.

Share Button