The truth about Israel is seldom told in the media. Here "Carlos" tells the real story....The so-called "Palestinians" who have been firing rockets from Gaza have never said they will stop if Israel withdraws from the West Bank, any more than they did when Israel gave up "land for peace" and withdrew from Gaza.
They have vowed to continue until they have obliterated the "Zionist entity" and have "reclaimed their land," by which they mean every acre from the river to the sea. This is what they say, even in their children’s TV programs, and I believe them.
The Big Lie Endures by Carlos http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/morebiglie.htm In spite of the clear immorality of Palestinian terrorism, one still hears the refrain that "occupied people" have the right to "resist" by whatever means they have at their disposal. So far the security fence and close monitoring of activity in the West Bank have dramatically decreased terrorist incidents originating from there. (AF writes: I have edited this story, which we originally put on this site in 2008, and omitted some parts.)
There has been one area where deadly terrorism continues and the Israelis have been unable to stop it. This is the southern region, including the cities of Sderot and Ashkelon and other towns and villages. This is also the region in which Israel took a dramatic step to end the occupation. In the summer of 2005 Israel completely withdrew from every single settlement in Gaza.
AF adds: This was naive at best and the recent conflict proved that. As the last settlers left their businesses, which provided vast amounts of fruit and vegetables, the Gazans showed their utter idiocy by smashing all the glasshouses all to bits. Never mind, all those soft westerners will dole out the handouts to the "poor Palestinians," who repeatedly try and kill as many Jews as they can.
The result was a constant threat to Israeli security that continues to this day. Palestinians have launched thousands of rockets into population centers within southern Israel, causing several deaths, including very young children, and many more wounded. These attacks became a virtual daily occurrence, traumatizing the population and driving out residents and businesses.
With Iran's help, the "Palestinians" increased the range and power of their rockets, which are becoming steadily more lethal. This is what happens when you withdraw from "occupied" land. Yet in spite of this untenable situation for Israel, world opinion still places the moral burden on Israel as “occupier" who must "end the occupation." The result is a classic catch-22: Israel tried negotiating. Israel and the Palestinians came very close to a negotiated settlement at Camp David 2000.
Yasser Arafat torpedoed the agreement, despite being offered everything but the keys to the Knesset! (AF) The peace that should have been, never became. So the pressure is on Israel to "end the occupation now." Yet when Israel takes steps to do so, as it did in Gaza, it is accused of "unilateralism." Even worse, it finds itself in a much less secure position. Do not get me wrong.
Even though the occupation resulted from a war Israel had to fight to defend itself, I do not like it. I want it to end. I want both Israelis and Palestinians to have a place they can call their own, with the power to determine their own futures. But given the present conditions, which include: A Palestinian leadership that has not negotiated in good faith, A Palestinian people increasingly radicalized by fanatic religious hatred, using their schools and media to transmit that hatred to their children, A Palestinian leadership now openly committed to Israel’s destruction as its sacred duty,
(AF adds: the "Palestinians, a people who have never existed historically, with no nation, language or capital in history, have a homeland. It's called Jordan. Going deeper, what was then Transjordan was actually part of the vast land area offered to the Jews in the Balfour Declaration in 1917. They eventually got about 13 per cent of what we promised them. I go out and speak, with a Powerpoint presentation, to any church that wants to know more.)
"Carlos" continues: The Palestinians, acting not in isolation but as proxies for outside forces, notably Iran, A clear Palestinian message to Israel that the more territory it cedes, the more violence will result and the less secure it will be, Given these conditions, can I say the occupation is immoral and should be ended immediately? No, I cannot. It is not immoral for Israel to protect the cities in its heartland from the rockets that a new and larger Palestinian terror state will fire on them.
When you have a gun pointed towards your head, and that gun is actually firing, you can hardly be expected to feel conciliatory. So the big lie endures, and it is this: The occupation is the cause of the conflict. The Palestinians have sold this lie to the world, and the world has bought it. And accepting this lie is the surest way to prevent peace. All the pressure in the world, if brought to bear on Israel alone, will never bring about peace. Because Israel cannot end the occupation if doing so will ensure its destruction. Israel cannot allow Tel Aviv and Haifa to suffer the fate of Sderot and Ashkelon.
The "Palestinians" have all kinds of excuses: they can’t help it, they are "poor," they are "oppressed." They know the buzzwords that evoke international sympathy. None of that erases the fact that when you choose the Qassam rocket over the peace table, you are making a conscious and deliberate decision. So while "Palestinians" try to make increasing areas of Israel uninhabitable for Jews until they destroy it all, they cry that Israel is "ethnic cleansing," is committing a "holocaust."
Can the irony of this really be lost on anyone? Will the world continue to infantilize the "Palestinians," treating them as perpetually helpless victims, or will it treat them as adults, capable of making responsible decisions and overcoming their prejudices to make peace with the Jewish people living next door? Do people really want this conflict to end? If so, be realistic.
(AF comments: In fact the so-called "Palestinians," who are mostly descendants of recent arrivals in Israel, with their origins in neighbouring Arab nations, like Eygptian born Arafat, could easily be assimiliated into many of the neighbouring nations from which their forebears migrated. They have limitless space whereas Israel - the only nation with total freedom for all in the Middle East- is a tiny country, smaller than many US States.)
No country can be pressured into taking an action it has cause to believe would be suicidal. The occupation is not the reason the conflict persists. The immediate reason is the message that Palestinians are sending loud and clear: the less occupation, the more terror. The Palestinians who are firing those rockets from Gaza have never said they will stop if Israel withdraws from the West Bank.
They have vowed to continue until they have obliterated the "Zionist entity" and have "reclaimed their land," by which they mean every single acre from the river to the sea. This is what they say, even in their children’s TV programs, and I believe them. Peace will never happen without realism. And realism must begin with rejecting the big lie, before it shatters any hope of peace not just for Israelis and Palestinians but for the rest of the world as well.
The following is taken from our Table of Truth on Islam, which is in our book Cults and Isms, True or False? - available from our web shop and something every church should have copies of.
The forgiveness of Sins? This is what Islam teaches:
(They have) No assurance unless they die fighting. ‘Let those of you who are willing to trade the life of this world for the life to come, fight in god’s way. To anyone who fights in god’s way, whether killed or victorious, we shall give a great reward.’ (Sura 4:74)
Suicide bombers believe that because of their murderous act, their sins (and those of their relatives!) will be forgiven and that they will go straight to Paradise. In fact, they die in the act of murder, which sends them straight to Hell.
How sad for muslims who sacrifice their precious lives for nothing! How tragic when, the second after they die, they find themselves burning in Hell and realize they have believed a lie! Here's more from The Koran:
"Fight in god’s cause against those who fight you, but do not overstep the limits…Kill them wherever you encounter them and drive them out from where they drove you out, for persecution is more serious than killing…Fight them until there is no more persecution and worship is devoted to god (Allah).’ Sura 2:190-193
Those who will not fight: ‘…we expect god to inflict punishment on you, either from himself or at our hands…’ Sura 9:52
and ‘they are cowardly’ Sura 9:56
‘He who fights so that Allah’s word (Islam) should be superior, then he fights in Allah’s cause.’ Hadith Vol 1, Book 3, Number 125
So yes, Islam is the problem. Not "radical Islam." Just Islam. The sooner the media and political leaders rcognise this and vocalise it, the better.
