The Dance Goes On

All well intentioned persons should want peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And much of the world including the U.S., Israel's strongest ally allowed Israel to get away with the excuse that there could be no peaceful resolution with Yasser Arafat as leader of the Palestinian Authority. And there was ample evidence of Yasser Arafat following a two-track policy of public statements of moderation, while encouraging radical acts to further political goals. But with the new more moderate Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, replacing the late Yasser Arafat, the barrier of Yasser Arafat is gone. Yet in the last few days, Israel and the Palestinians are on the brink of a dangerous and worsening level of violence. Coupled with the Bush disaster in Iraq, the election of a radical in Iran as President, and the worsening situation in Afghanistan, the American hopes for a peaceful MidEast are quickly breaking into chaos and in tatters. Major war in the MidEast could be just around the corner.

The reality is that Israel never wants to give Jerusalem to the Palestinians as a capital of their state, and the Palestinians have no legitmate historical claim to this city as well. So this sticking point will forever be a conflict. And another reality is that there is no way the government of Mahmoud Abbas can have good enough of intelligence to stop all radicals such as Hamas from committing acts of violence, but there is the flip side that any Palestinian government probably will not be completely serious to stop all Palestinian radicals either. So a type of dance goes on, where Israel is not serious to truly offer a Palestinian state, and Palestinians are not really serious at stopping all violence. This is why no peaceful resolution is in the cards for the MidEast.

The Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament is an amazing book, in that it details the entire history of the Jewish people in the MidEast, all the way from ancient Judea and Sumaria to the re-establishment of Israel as a state in 1948, to a short period of peace, to the worst war in the history of mankind taking place with Iran(Persia) the main opponent of Israel, but drawing in many dangerous and powerful world armies in support. This war is detailed in Ezekiel 37-39.

The world is slowly watching the the MidEast break into the turmoil that will set the conditions for this serious war as foretold by prophet Ezekiel. Israel is preparing for a major offensive in Gaza within hours, and even an emergency visit by Secretary Of State, Condoleezza Rice, has been probably fruitless to stop this escalation into further violence and no peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Bush would have wanted his legacy to be peace in the MidEast. And this would have been a great legacy. Instead with Iraq, Afghanistan and a deterioration into chaos in Israel, and an Iran intent on nuclear weapons, the MidEast will only sink into further dark clouds of war.

The dance between the government of Israel and the Palestinians may go on a little longer. But soon the dance may stop, and all out war will replace this dance.