And I'll present this (directed at USA) -
JNW Editorial
It's not their land, Mr. Secretary!
By Stan Goodenough
Jerusalem - September 30, 2003
Just before Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a keynote address on
America's Middle East policy to the US-Arab Economic Forum in Detroit,
Michigan Monday, he took questions concerning the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict, among other issues, from the editorial board of the Detroit Free
Press. (www.freep.com/voices/columnists/powellweb_20030930.htm)
There, while elaborating on his belated recognition of Yasser Arafat's
incurable propensity for terrorism, and on the essential need for an
independent Palestinian leader to deal decisively with Hamas and the
Palestine Islamic Jihad, (even as he remains quite ready to work with
another Arafat puppet) Powell reiterated something he has said many times
before.
This time, however, it jumped out at me. And because it is clearly the
pivotal point around which all US policy in the Middle East revolves, I
believe it needs to be addressed head on, even if for the ten-thousandth
time.
This is what he said:
".actions such as [Israel's] continuing settlement activity and a fence
that is on your property is fine, but as it transgresses and goes into
Palestinian territory."
There, right there, is where America, for all its earnest desires to see
real peace come to the Middle East, and for all its sincere efforts to help
bring about that peace, is wrong. Dead wrong. W-R-O-N-G.
Mr. Powell, the fence and the settlements are going up in Israeli territory,
on Jewish lands, on Jewish property.
While pondering how to put this age-old truth across in an arresting way, I
found ammo fresh from your own mouth which just a week ago, in what was
surely your most serious faux pas as Secretary of State, described America
as a "Judeo-Christian" country.
Notwithstanding (or perhaps because of) your scramble to quickly correct
yourself, your slip was at once revealing and indicting.
You revealed that you are in the camp of those of us who trace the roots of
our religious beliefs to the Bible - the Hebrew Scriptures and the New
Testament.
And by acknowledging your membership in this "Judeo-Christian" world, you
convicted yourself of betraying the very essence of your beliefs in your
pursuit of the two-state, Israel-Palestine program.
Mr. Secretary, your own faith teaches that the land you and virtually
everyone else in the world insists on calling the West Bank is Jewish land,
Israel's land, Israel's property.
It's Israel's land historically. It's Israel's land biblically.
It's Israel's land according to the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament):
And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your
eyes now and look from the place where you are-- northward, southward,
eastward, and westward; "for all the land which you see I give to you and
your descendants forever." (Genesis 13:14-15)
"Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you
are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I
will be their God." (Genesis 17:8)
"I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know
that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the
Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the
LORD." (Exodus 6:7-8)
It's Israel's land according to the New Testament:
But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and
go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are
dead." Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the
land of Israel. (Matthew 2:19-21)
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea,
and there He remained with them and baptized. (John 3:22)
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one
greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and
multiplying I will multiply you." (Hebrews 6:13-14)
It's Israel's land according to the Almighty One your Bible calls the Lord
God of Israel, Who says repeatedly to the descendants of Abraham through
Isaac and Jacob (not Ishmael and Esau) that He has given this land to them.
(Deuteronomy 3:18, Deuteronomy 28:52, Joshua 23:13, 15, 16)
Yes, there is some legally, privately-owned Arab property in these areas,
but while these land rights should be upheld there as they are "inside"
pre-1967 Israel, the West Bank, (the Occupied Territories), are not Arab
lands.
Again, according to your Bible, Mr. Powell, they are Jewish lands, Israel's
lands, the Land of Israel.
Now if only, with all due respect, both you and your frequently
faith-professing Christian chief executive would just find the courage to
acknowledge that, for decades, your country's involvement in the Middle East
has been predicated on a denial of what you regard as a cornerstone of your
faith - the Scriptures; and if you would find the faith to reformulate your
Middle East policy accordingly, then maybe, just maybe, the people of Israel
and the Palestinian Arabs could finally hope to see real progress in efforts
to bring real peace to this part of the world.
For 55 years, we have all seen what the fruits are of persisting on basing a
policy on falsehoods, fabrications, and lies. Will you continue to bang your
heads against the immovable force of the Judeo-Christian God's word?
