Recognize Israel

Of course Israel is in the top headline news again today. This time it is more to do about the settlement freeze and whether or not the Arabs will recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Let's take a quick look and what this all means. First off, what's wrong with settlements?

Remember that Israel declared independence in 1948 and within days the Arab armies tried to wipe her out only to be soundly defeated by a handful of Jews with a few guns. Most consider this to be a modern day miracle.

Jump forward 19 years and the Arabs were setting up to destroy Israel again. This time not only did Israel defend itself from the invaders but also captured land from its enemies. (This is called the "6 Day War") Israel ended up taking the Sinai from Egypt, took the Golan Heights from Syria and took Jerusalem, Judea and West Bank from Jordan. Ultimately they gave the Sinai back to Egypt in exchange for peace....and that peace has still held....but Syria is still crying about losing the Golan and the Arabs (Palestinians) are certainly still crying about losing Jerusalem and West Bank.

So when they say "settlements"...they are talking about Jews who are building houses and buildings in the Golan or the West Bank. The Arabs are still embarrassed about losing their territory and they simply want Israel to give it back. (insert crying baby noise here)

Here is a newsflash to any Arabs reading this.....ISRAEL WILL NEVER GIVE BACK THE GOLAN AND THEY WILL CONTINUE BUILDING IN THE WEST BANK AND JERUSALEM because that's what growing, thriving populations do....they expand as their country grows...and to the victor go the spoils of war...especially a war in which you were attacked. Also, as a side note, Israel was willing to give back the Sinai because that land was never included in the Bible's definition of "The Promised Land".

So what does it mean when Netanyahu says that Israel will always be a Jewish state and that the Arabs need to publicly recognize this? What is the problem? The problem is that the Arab lobby still is pushing for Arabs to be able to come into Israel and return to the exact places they were living before the 1967 war...when they lost so much territory. So what would Israel be if it were made up of 5,000,000 Jews and 6,000,000 Arab Muslims? It would certainly no longer be a Jewish state.

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he would renew a temporary halt of settlement construction in the West Bank in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

"I will say this publicly now," Netanyahu said. "If the Palestinian leadership would say to its people that they recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, I would be willing to gather my government and ask for an additional suspension."

The Palestinians have consistently rejected recognizing Israel as the nation state for the Jewish people, maintaining that it is up to Israelis themselves to define what their state is.

Palestinians also believe that offering such recognition would compromise the position of Palestinian refugees who either fled or were forced from their homes upon the creation of the state of Israel, as Israel could maintain the refugees had no right to return there.

See article here; http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/11/israel.settlement.freeze/

Let's also remember that when Israel was formed in 1948, millions of Jews were kicked out of Arab countries where they had lived for centuries. The Arab countries simply took their houses, their businesses, their bank accounts and told them to leave and go move in with your Jewish relatives. Israel simply took them in.

But when a few hundred thousand Arabs loose their land to Israel....they sit a cry about it for over 40 years. Most of the folks sitting in refuge camps can't even remember losing the land.

It's time the world looked at the facts and left Israel alone. Israel took in the Jewish refugees mistreated by the Arab countries....let's demand the Arab countries do the same thing and stop this whole "Palestinian refugee problem" right now.

So let's be obedient and continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem....which will only happen when Jesus returns to sit on the throne.