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Gaza Withdrawal
…Will It Bring Peace?
By Chris Cumming
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes and we
stumble at noonday as in the night. These words from Isaiah 59 came to mind, as
once again I was made witness to Israel giving away more land in the futile hope
that it will bring peace. This time they are giving up
Gaza along with a number
of settlements in the West Bank. Has
Israel learned nothing? Can they not see
that rather than obtaining peace, they are hastening their own possible
destruction?
It was seven years ago that Garner Ted Armstrong proclaimed that the concept of
“Land for Peace” was not only folly but dangerous. Quoting from his
Twenty-first Century
Watch article, “Land
for Peace? OR Safe Haven for Terrorists?”:
“For decades, the Jews in Israel have said, ‘Every time we defeat the Arabs in
war, the big powers jump in and turn our victory into a defeat.’ A review of the
wars of 1967 and 1973 is instructive in this regard.
“When Israel defeated the combined attacks of five Arab armies in the ‘six-day
war’ of 1967, it emerged victoriously in possession of the entire
Sinai
peninsula from Sharm el Sheik to the
Suez Canal; the Gaza Strip, the West Bank
of the Jordan River, and the
Golan Heights, overlooking the
Sea of Galilee. From
that time to this, over 31 years ago, all the Islamic states, joined by the big
powers, have been trying to force the Israelis to give everything back.
“Little by little, they have made almost unbelievable concessions.”
For all the land they have given to the
Palestinians, they have secured no real
peace. Indeed, they act as if they have learned nothing from history or its
enemies. You can see this in some of the headlines of stories covering this
disengagement from Gaza:
Poll: Gaza pullout will help peace process
Bush says Gaza pullout "will be good for Israel"
Gaza withdrawal could foster peace
Bush's new formula: Retreat = 'calm'
Rice: Pullout is chance for peace
A momentous day for peace...
Settlers sacrifice for peace bid
Gaza gamble brings hope for peace
Thirty-eight years of giving up land and they still actually hold out a
possibility of peace? Even the United States and our own administration are
caught up in this foolish and empty hope. I can tell you now that if Israel
abandons all but a few square miles of Israel they will not know one moment of
peace. The Arab world is on record as wanting the complete destruction of
Israel and no amount of land will appease their hatred. With each piece of real
estate they give away to their enemies, the closer their destruction draws near.
Clearly some journalists agree with Mr. Armstrong. Notice:
No peace without Jerusalem: Abbas
[Times of Oman]: “The Israeli leadership and the Israeli people must understand
that without satisfying the Palestinians according to international legitimacy,
in other words the 1967 borders, there will be no peace.”
Jihad: no peace without justice
[Palestine Net]: "The armed resistance will continue until it forces the
occupation out of all our territories."
With settlers, no peace [Media
Monitors]: “If the policy of settlement expansions and settlement building is
not reversed, it will eventually lead to another phase of violence.”
Abbas warns against no more Israeli withdrawals
[Middle East Online]: "Real peace is the end of the occupation of all the
Palestinian territories, and the settlement of all final-stage issues, including
the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees," Abbas said.
"If Sharon wants peace, then this is the road to peace, and if he does not want
it, then it is his business, and that means he will bear the responsibility of
the troubles in the entire region and around the world."
Today Gaza, Tomorrow Jerusalem
[Daniel Pipes]: “Given that some 80 percent of Palestinians continue to reject
Israel's very existence, signs of Israeli weakness, such as the forthcoming Gaza
withdrawal, will instead inspire heightened Palestinian irredentism [recovery
of territory].”
From Gaza, terrorists can fire missiles into most Jewish cities and settlements
in the southern half of the nation.
Gaza Disengagement – Better or Worse Security
[IsraCast}: “Israel will be coerced into returning to the Oslo model of giving
more and more to the Palestinian Authority. But this approach proved to be a
disaster then and it will again because the PA will never combat terrorism. On
the contrary, the Palestinians will view it as a capitulation to terrorism.”
Gaza, The Day After 2: The Warfare Continues
[Yossi Klein Halevi]: “Gaza will become an armed camp dominated in effect by
Hamas, if formally by an ineffectual PLO. As a result, we will be exposed to
terror enclaves on our northern border and our southern border — and, perhaps,
on our eastern border as well, in those parts of the West Bank we evacuate.”
Garner Ted Armstrong stated in his article that Gaza protrudes like a dagger
into the underbelly of Israel and in the hands of the PA would be a safe haven
for terrorists. Going back to Isaiah 59, the prophet wrote, “The way of peace
they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them
crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace (verse 8)." The
concept of giving up land for peace IS A CROOKED PATH.
After Gaza, Then What?
The Arab world will likely take the withdrawal from Gaza as another victory for
terrorism. They will demand more and violence is sure to escalate if they do
not get their way. With the escalation, we may see involvement by other
countries and world figures. Will the violence compel the
EU and
Russia to be
involved? Will the Vatican see themselves as the only entity that can bring an
end to the bloodshed?
Our eyes are on the Middle East!
Photos:
left:
Israeli soldiers removing Jewish setters from Gaza
center: Map of Gaza See close up
of a Gaza map
here
right:
terrorists
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News story added on 01 January 2006
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