Study – Grow – Know

Israel Has Rights Too

February 20, 2010 at 8:47 PM

I have been recently considering the situation in the Middle East and how so many people are against Israel and the Jews, believing that they literally have NO right to have their own land and country.  This has come upon them again and again, in spite of the concessions that Israel has made.  What the media tells us is how much the Palestinians suffer at the hands of the Israeli state, yet rarely if ever do we hear of what the Palestinians perpetrate against Israel.  When we do hear anything, it is seen as retaliation for something Israel has done.  The truth of the matter is that what the world hears via news bureaus is not really the truth.  That should surprise no one, but it does.

A few months ago, Marv Rosenthal reported in a special bulletin the truth regarding the situation in the Middle East, specifically as it relates to Israel and the Arabs around her.  “Today’s inhabitants of Gaza are Palestinian, a name given to the land by the Romans almost fifteen hundred years after the Jews settled the land. The Palestinians living in Gaza are separated by about 45 miles from the larger Palestinian community in the West Bank of the Jordan Valley.”[1]

Rosenthal continues by stating “Today, Syria refuses to speak to Israel about peace without the precondition that Israel give to Syria the Golan Heights – the very mountain range from which she shelled Israeli farm communities near the Sea of Galilee almost daily for nineteen years (1948-1967) while it was under Syrian control.”[2]

Rosenthal speaks of Yassar Arafat’s climb to power and how his actions clearly indicated a complete lack of concern for his own people.  He was more intent on gaining and keeping the power he sought through the PLO.

The area which Israel occupies (as well as people known as Palestinians) goes back to biblical days of the Old Testament.  “When the children of Israel under Joshua entered the land of Canaan, the tribe of Dan was to capture the area of Gaza. Instead, the tribe of Dan moved north and settled near the base of Mount Hermon. As a result, the Philistines became a major “thorn in the flesh” to Israel for centuries.”[3]

Today’s Palestinian people have no clear origin (click on newspaper article image).  Scholars have determined that they do not descend from the ancient Philistines, who gave Israel so many problems to and beyond the time of King David.

If we segue to modern day, we see the beginnings of new groups and their stated purpose is essentially the destruction of Israel.  Rosenthal comments “In 1987, Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmad Yasin. Hamas is an Arabic acronym for “The Islamic Resistance Movement.” Its stated purpose is to establish an Islamic state in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. To achieve its purpose, Israel and the Jews must be destroyed. And therefore, peace with Israel is not an option to be considered under any circumstance.”[4]

In 1993, Hamas began carrying out unprovoked attacks on Israeli civilians and opposed any agreement between the PLO and Israel.  At the time, the agreement would have included the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank and autonomy “in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for the Palestinians.”[5]

In 2007, Hamas seized full control of the Gaza Strip, which created problems for PLO, Israel and other neighboring people.  “After more than fifty years, the West Bank leadership wanted to move toward peace with Israel; while at the same time, the concept of peace with Israel was not even an option to be considered by the Hamas leadership who now controlled Gaza.”[6]

Because of Hamas’ new position in the West Bank, they lobbed thousands of rockets into Israeli territory over the past eight years.  The number of rockets launched is near the 6,000 mark.  Interestingly enough, the rockets, along with other military hardware and weaponry were being smuggled into Gaza through tunnels.  These tunnels were on the Egyptian border, and were approximately 70 feet or more below ground with at least some of the tunnels being a half mile or longer in length.  So far, 90 such tunnels have been located and destroyed, although some place the full number at over 300 tunnels remaining (see diagram on page 4).

It is generally accepted knowledge that Hamas is funded in large part by the Iraqis and Syria and Hamas itself is safely headquartered in Damascus, among the civilian population.  This situation grew to the point of becoming intolerable for Israel and she launched an offensive against Hamas.  When Israel went on the offensive, there were three goals ahead of her:  “first, to stop the rockets; second, to destroy the Hamas infrastructure that makes their launching possible; and third, to make certain that after her troop withdrawal, the rockets will not be reintroduced into Gaza to again harm Israel.”[7]

Had Israel wanted to do so, she could have destroyed the entirety of the Gaza Strip within hours.  Because Hamas was certain of an Israeli strike, they (Hamas) deliberately used women and children to shield themselves, by placing them on the rooftops of Hamas buildings.  Prior to Israel launching their attack, they dropped thousands of leaflets to the people in the targeted area, warning them of the upcoming attack.  By doing so, Israel lost the element of surprise, but saved untold lives in the process, which was her aim.

The Palestinians of Gaza are not innocent.  They voted in Hamas during a democratic election and gave them their full support, knowing their stand against Israel.

We have all of this going on in the world, yet anyone who supports Israel is considered to be a Christian Zionist, which is not a compliment, working against God.  People, who refer to those of us who support Israel’s right to land and autonomous rule as Zionists, apparently believe that Israel has no right to land or autonomous rule in the Middle East.

What is more surprising is the fact that many of those who oppose what Israel is trying to accomplish, are Jews themselves; Christian Jews, or Messianic Jews or whatever they prefer to call themselves.  The trouble is, not only have they been blinded by the absolute error of Replacement Theology, which is normally part of Covenant Theology, but they have become part of something else that is becoming more and more insidious.

Think about something for a moment.  Forget religion for a moment and simply think about what it is that the world is saying.  In a purely secular world, what everyone seems to be saying is that the Jews have NO right to have any land at all, nor should they be allowed autonomous rule.  This is patently absurd, yet this is what the world is saying, loud and clear!

In the Middle East, Israel is completely surrounded by Arab nations.  The Palestinians themselves are Arab, passing off as “Palestinian” as if this represents a separate culture, language or ethnicity.  It does not and thanks to PLO leader Yassar Arafat (you know, the guy who looked like Ringo Starr, and allegedly died of AIDS), he created one of the best sleight of hands ever.  He created a situation in which the Arabs living in the West Bank were seen by the world as a unique species of people.  However, it is clear that the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians are so simply because they live in the area referred to as Palestine.  Yet, so did many, many Jews, but they are not called Palestinians.  They are still called Jews.

I support Israel’s right to have land and I support their right to be autonomous.  The Arab world has plenty of land and countries which surround Israel, yet they are not satisfied with that because they want more.  They have stated over and over again that they will not be happy until the Jews are pushed into the Mediterranean Sea.  So, the reality for the Arab is that they want the Jews gone; out of the land entirely.  They do not want a two-state solution.  They want to eradicate the Jews.  Frankly, I’m sure they will not be happy until they saw every last Jew dead and they have stated as much.  This of course will never occur.

Though the world seems to disagree vehemently, from a secular standpoint, Israel has every right to exist as a nation.  It doesn’t matter that the world’s opinion is stacked against them.  In fact, to see how much oppression they have suffered and yet still maintain what they maintain is remarkable.  They keep pushing on in spite of the odds against them.

It is also remarkable when you stop to consider how much the world is against the Jew and Israel being their own nation, ruling themselves in general.  From a purely pragmatic point of view, it is an unfair position that the world has put Israel in.  Israel has every right to fight back, push for autonomy and push back against a world that is attempting to force them to do it their way.

It is interesting how the world does no such thing against the Arab world.  Interesting indeed.  For decades they have lobbed rockets into Israel space from Jordan.  They have dug tunnels from their countries into Israel; tunnels which they have repeatedly used to smuggle in weaponry used against Jews.  The world does nothing.  It blames the Jews and Israel for its own problems.

The absurdity of this position is seen when placed against the backdrop of the world’s opinion and resultant actions.

I will continue to support Israel’s right to land and autonomous rule, if for no other reason than they are the underdog.  I will also support those rights for Israel because of biblical reasons as well.

Ultimately, I believe what occurs in the Middle East is in God’s hands.  I believe it will work out according to God’s timetable, His will, and His purposes.  Certainly that remains to be seen, however, for the time being, Israel should have its own land and nation solely because it currently has it and the Arab nations are plentiful.  They do not need another nation on the West Bank, or anywhere.  But don’t tell the rest of the world that because it appears that they believe Israel has too much already and the poor Arab has nothing.

Wake up, world!  Israel has rights too.

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[1] Marvin Rosenthal, Truth Siege (Zion’s Fire 2009), 1
[2] Ibid, 2
[3] Ibid, 3
[4] Marvin Rosenthal, Truth Siege (Zion’s Fire 2009), 3
[5] Ibid, 3
[6] Ibid, 3
[7] Ibid, 3

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, Demonic, dispensationalism, Life in America, Posttribulational Rapture, Pretribulational Rapture, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, temple mount. Tags: anti-semitism, anti-zionism, christian zionism, end times, god's chosen people, israel, last days, nation of israel, state of israel.