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Middle East Peace Talks to Resume

August 20, 2010 at 12:04 PM 2 comments

Read to talk...again

This just in…apparently P.M. Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to head to Washington, D.C. on September 2, 2010 for direct negotiations.

“Speaking at the state department, Mrs Clinton said President Barack Obama had been encouraged by the leadership of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas, and had invited them to Washington to ‘relaunch direct negotiations to resolve all final status issues, which we believe can be completed within one year’.” [1]  That’s sweet that everyone is going to get together and pretend to play nicely.  Will things change?  It is very doubtful and at least part of the problem has to do with the fact that regardless of what Israel gives up, or concedes to, it is never good enough for the parties involved.

Take some time to look back through the history of that region and see what I mean.  Of course, there are those who completely disagree with the fact that Israel should have any type of presence in the Middle East at all, because – according to them – they gave up that right centuries ago.  Since that time in 1948, when Israel became a nation once again, neighboring countries have found against it violently.  Israel has done what was needed to protect herself.

Clinton continued, “‘President Obama has invited President Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan to attend, in view of their critical role in this effort. Their continued leadership and commitment to peace will be essential to our success,’ she added.” [2]

While the two men may be leaders, one would have to ask who will truly be there on Israel’s behalf?  Obviously Mubarak and King Abdullah do not want war, and Abdullah has said as much in the past few months.  The difficulty though is that Mubarak especially has to worry about the people of Egypt and what the majority in his country think about Israel and the Middle East.

According to the article, Obama will be meeting with the four men at the beginning of the process.  Word is that Tony Blair has also been invited and he is no real fan of Israel’s presence in the Middle East either.  The article further states, “The Quartet issued a statement calling for talks that ‘lead to a settlement… that ends the occupation which began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours‘.” [3] (emphasis added)

But see, this is part of the problem.  Israel was attacked from Egypt and that salvo caused the Six-Day War effectively.  Israel was attacked on the Sabbath, which kept them from fighting back.  In the first two weeks of the battle, Israel lost tremendous ground to her enemies.  However, by the second two week period, Israel had not only regained what she had lost, but gained even more land from those who fought against her.

Since that time, everyone is looking to Israel to give back what was rightfully taken.  They want things to go back to the time before she was drawn into a battle with surrounding nations that did not (and do not) want Israel in the Middle East.  This is why the oneness is always on Israel, and not on any other country.  The world views Israel as the interloper in the area and because of that, things easily become Israel’s fault.  Personally, I do not for a moment believe that even if Israel was kind enough to give back ALL the land she took during the Six-Day War, those countries and groups surrounding her would still not be happy.  Israel would still be in the Middle East, something they do not want at all!  So, Israel can give back this, or stop that, or do anything and everything short of leaving the area and renouncing her sovereignty, and ultimately, it would do no good at all to bring peace in the Middle East.

President Obama has already stated that he would like to see a divided Jerusalem with the Arabs getting the Eastern part, where the Temple Mount is located.  He has thrown his hat in with Islam.  Yet, where are all the pictures and history of Islam being connected with the Temple Mount?  Until A.D. 600, Islam did not exist!  Jewish history in that area goes back to Abraham, through Isaac.

Note this statement from a Palestinian official please:  “The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, told the BBC that the talks with the Israelis should be productive.  ‘They have a choice now whether to choose settlements or peace. I hope they choose peace. I hope that Mr Netanyahu will be our partner in peace… and we can do it,’ he said.  The Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, dismissed the direct talks as a US attempt to “fool the Palestinian people”. However, US officials said Hamas would have no role in them.” [4] (emphasis added)

We can already see that as far as the Palestinians are concerned, to them the road to peace starts with Israel’s decision to stop all settlement construction.  Erekat says that he hopes Israel chooses peace, meaning that if they come to the table and say “We will stop all construction immediately,” then apparently peace talks can continue.  However, what are the Palestinians giving up?  What is Hamas going to stop doing?  There are no preconditions on these groups at all.  The preconditions rest with Israel alone.

Once again, the settlements issue has never really been part of the equation to begin peace talks, as a prerequisite.  This occurred under the Obama Administration, when they did not to curtail the demands by others for Israel to stop their building.  Because Obama did not intervene and insist that there should be no preconditions, then the preconditions became part of the process.

It’s going to be similar to what Obama decides to do with the Bush tax cuts, which are coming up for renewal.  If he does nothing, then the tax cuts that Bush put into effect, will go away.  In order for the tax cuts to remain when they come up for renewal, it will require Obama’s signature.  If he does nothing and the tax cuts that the American people have enjoyed wind up going away, it will be interesting to hear the political rhetoric used to continue to say that he (Obama) did not raise taxes, but that the taxes were due to Republican President Bush.  That is not entirely true.  By not signing a document to renew the tax cuts that Bush put into effect, Obama will have raised taxes, whether he wants to deny that or not.  By doing nothing, taxes increase.

It is the same with the Middle East peace talks.  By allowing countries and groups to insist on Israel’s freeze on settlement construction, Obama allowed that demand to officially become part of the peace talks.  We are all familiar with how “livid” President Obama was after Netanyahu announced more construction, and we are all familiar with how V.P. Biden publicly castigated and chided Netanyahu for that decision.

The peace talks will be just that – talks.  I cannot imagine anything being accomplished and if the Bible is correct (of which I have no doubt), then no peace (even tentative) will be realized in that region until the Antichrist steps up and presents a deal that it will be impossible to say ‘no’ to.  We will see what happens, but it is certainly much more plausible to have things continue as they have, with words, posturing, and threats.

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11042430

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4]

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