The Illusion of Middle-East Peace

By Gary Stearman
Prophecy in the News

For the past couple of decades, Israel has been treated to a variety of peace conferences, all of them equally worthless. We remember Oslo, Madrid, the Roadmap to Peace and various “Two-State Solutions.” They all have failed.

The most recent meeting at the White House featured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bended knee, proposing that in the name of peace, Israelis would consent to be governed in the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority. He offered Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas the compromise that Jews living in the West Bank would remain there as “Palestinian citizens” after this territory becomes part of the new Palestinian state. The Israeli Prime Minister also offered a compromise on Jerusalem.

Abbas scoffed at the idea. In the end, he emphatically stated that there would be no “historic compromise” on Jerusalem. Furthermore, the September 10th Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying,

“We’re not talking about a Jewish state and we won’t talk about one. For us, there is the state of Israel and we won’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state.”

For the Palestinian Authority, this is business as usual. The problem with peace conferences is that all of them have been based upon a false principle, namely, that Israel’s enemies also desire peace. In fact, they do not. In this article, we will quote the words of their own founding documents. From these, it will be easy to see that they intend to annihilate Israel.

But this has not fazed the promoters of world peace, who are convinced that the answer lies in finding the right approach. Foreign Ministers and heads of State Departments continue to send their emissaries to various meeting places, fully confident that at some point, they will hit the right combination of talking points.

Peace has lately been viewed as a “process,” which will produce results if only the participants will talk long enough. In their eyes, agreements can be forged out of nothingness. The beliefs of the conflicting parties are blithely ignored.

The global obsession for peace in the Middle East is a study in foolishness, since it assumes that all parties actually desire peace, as currently defined by the pundits. In rough terms, their idea of peace is a cessation of aggression, even while remaining in a state of violent disagreement. This artificial state, they are willing to call “peace.”

It is actually a prelude to war, just as Paul writes in his first letter to the Thessalonians, where he mentions the latter-day preoccupation with “peace and safety” as the precursors of the war that leads up to the Tribulation.

We are reminded of the “shuttle diplomacy” of United States Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger in 1973. In the aftermath of the infamous Yom Kippur War, he shuttled back and forth between key parties in the dispute, without their actually having to meet in person. In the end, there was “peace.” Ironically, Kissinger had little to do with the actual end of the conflict, since the Israelis had already won the war, and were on their way to supremacy, had they not been stopped by a U.N. Ceasefire Resolution.

Kissinger’s efforts continued through the Nixon and Ford Administrations, until 1977. In 1996, during the Israeli-Hizbollah conflict, then Secretary of State Warren Christopher carried on Kissinger’s policy. Another ceasefire resulted. But there was no real peace. Until the present day, “mediators” continue the policy of travelling between the conflicting parties. Current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still follows the original model. And still, there is no peace, only a continuous stockpiling of weapons and war materiel.

Fatah

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas was endorsed as president of Fatah in 2005. Considered a moderate, he nevertheless took leadership in an organization which is generally considered leftist among the Arab councils of the region.

It should be recalled that Fatah was founded by Yasser Arafat, who was its leader from 1989, until his death in 2004.

Given the opening tenets stated in the Fatah Charter, it is impossible to consider Abbas a moderate. The following is a quote from its opening paragraphs:

“Palestine National Liberation Movement Fatah Internal Charter

“Revolution is our path to freedom, independence, and construction. It is a revolution until victory.

“Introduction

“In accordance with the Basic Charter ratified by Fatah’s Fourth General Conference held in Tunis in 1989.

“In adherence to the principles, objectives, and methods agreed by the members of Fatah.

“And in implementation of the decision of Fatah’s Sixth General Conference held in Bethlehem on 4 August 2009.

“This internal charter has been drafted to regulate the relationship between the members, cadres, frameworks, and leaders of Fatah, and to define their tasks, duties, and methods of struggle to achieve the goals of Fatah.

“This internal charter has been adopted within the framework of adherence to the provisions of the Basic Charter.

“Brother and Comrade in Struggle:

“This movement and this work are a national trust and a historic responsibility. You must shoulder the precious trust and recognize the historic responsibility. You must prepare yourself to inspire the spirit of organized revolutionary work in every Arab soul that is sincere to Palestine and that believes in its liberation. Let us train ourselves to be patient and to face ordeals, bear calamities, sacrifice our souls, blood, time and effort. All these are the weapons of revolutionaries.

“Therefore, Brother, do not stop. With the calm of the workers, the silence of the sincere, the determination of the revolutionaries, the resolve of the believers, and the patience of the strugglers, you must act quickly because our people cannot spare a single moment after our tragedy continued throughout all those long years. You must know that our enemy is strong and the battle is ferocious and long. You must know that determination, patience, secrecy, confidentiality, adherence to the principles and goals of the revolution, keep us from stumbling and shorten the path to liberation.

“Go forward to revolution. Long live Palestine, free and Arab.”

From these introductory words, it is easy to see that Fatah’s outspoken goal is the liberation of all “Palestine,” their name for Israel. This, of course, would mean the defeat and subjugation of all the Jews there. This would include the city of Jerusalem, and all infrastructure. The war required to achieve this end is bone-chilling to contemplate. For the last few years, Fatah has been challenged by Hamas, with its headquarters in Gaza.

Hamas

In 1988, Hamas developed their Charter, calling for the total replacement of Israel and all existing Palestinian territories with an Islamic state of Palestine.

After the elections that took place in 2006, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud Al-Zahar accepted the possibility of a two-state solution, but he regarded such a state as only temporary.

In 2008, Jimmy Carter and Hamas leader Khaled Meshal came to an agreement, in which Hamas would honor the creation of a State of Palestine, on the territory taken by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. In the end, however, Hamas has been unable to arrive at any sort of truce that would recognize Israel’s existence.

The reason for this is no mystery, given the tenets of the Hamas Charter, which is couched in dramatic and poetic language. The following quotes are from Article Eleven on Palestine and a short portion of Article Thirteen, which gives a revealing look at its attitude toward a general peace. Bear in mind that a “waqf” is an Arab trust:

“Article Eleven: The Strategy of Hamas: Palestine is an Islamic Waqf

“The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it. No Arab country nor the aggregate of all Arab countries, and no Arab King or President nor all of them in the aggregate, have that right, nor has that right any organization or the aggregate of all organizations, be they Palestinian or Arab, because Palestine is an Islamic Waqf throughout all generations and to the Day of Resurrection. Who can presume to speak for all Islamic Generations to the Day of Resurrection? This is the status [of the land] in Islamic Shari’a, and it is similar to all lands conquered by Islam by force, and made thereby Waqf lands upon their conquest, for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. This [norm] has prevailed since the commanders of the Muslim armies completed the conquest of Syria and Iraq, and they asked the Caliph of Muslims, ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, for his view of the conquered land, whether it should be partitioned between the troops or left in the possession of its population, or otherwise. Following discussions and consultations between the Caliph of Islam, ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, be peace and prayer upon him, they decided that the land should remain in the hands of its owners to benefit from it and from its wealth; but the control of the land and the land itself ought to be endowed as a Waqf [in perpetuity] for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. The ownership of the land by its owners is only one of usufruct, and this Waqf will endure as long as Heaven and earth last. Any demarche in violation of this law of Islam, with regard to Palestine, is baseless and reflects on its perpetrators.”

If you wonder why the “peace process” always fails, consider the following:

“Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and International Conferences

“[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: “Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not aware.”

The PLO

Founded in 1964 as a paramilitary operation, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) presents itself as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

It is the umbrella organization that covers Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, The Palestinian People’s Party, the Palestinian Liberation Party and a few others.

Until 1991, and the peace conference at Madrid, it was considered a terrorist organization. In 1993, the PLO supposedly recognized Israel’s right to exist. Additionally, it ostensibly accepted UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, as well as renouncing its terrorist aims.

However, its charter is built around the centuries-old passions of Arab leaders who consider Palestine to be among their highest goals for world domination. Its words – a few of which, we quote from three of its thirty-three Articles – are the essence of bitter passion. The Arabs operated as a people cheated of their natural rights:

“Article 1: Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation.

“Article 9: Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. Thus it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their return to it. They also assert their right to normal life in Palestine and to exercise their right to self-determination and sovereignty over it.

“Article 22: Zionism is a political movement organically associated with international imperialism and antagonistic to all action for liberation and to progressive movements in the world. It is racist and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist, and colonial in its aims, and fascist in its methods. Israel is the instrument of the Zionist movement, and geographical base for world imperialism placed strategically in the midst of the Arab homeland to combat the hopes of the Arab nation for liberation, unity, and progress. Israel is a constant source of threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East and the whole world. Since the liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to the establishment of peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian people look for the support of all the progressive and peaceful forces and urge them all, irrespective of their affiliations and beliefs, to offer the Palestinian people all aid and support in their just struggle for the liberation of their homeland.”

Israel’s Existence Is Assured

After reading just a few of their words, in which they state their own intentions, it is impossible to imagine that any process, or any collection of great minds can create a compromise that will bring peace between Israel and Islam.

There will be no peace. The Bible states the end of the matter:

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

“Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame” (Ezek. 36:2, 5-7).

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