The "Road Map" to Peace in the Mideast: Will It Work?
A commentary by John Ross Schroeder
Good News writer of Watford, England
For a people who must count on heavy American support to realize their
statehood, the Palestinians have done themselves no historical favors
in pursuit of this cherished goal. First, they chose to back the Axis
Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) during World War II. Then they compounded
this error by choosing Soviet Russia during the Cold War and finally
by supporting Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War.
But they committed the granddaddy of all their errors of judgment in
2000. As aptly described by Charles Krauthammer, "The most dovish
Israeli government in history presented Arafat with the most generous
offer the Palestinians have gotten from anyone–a Palestinian state
on 97 percent of the West Bank with its capital in a shared Jerusalem" (The
Wall Street Journal Europe, May 12). Failure to accept the Israeli
proposal has been followed by a bloodbath lasting 31 months.
Now the United States is once again offering and vigorously trying to
implement a road map to peace between the Palestinians and the state
of Israel. Realistically, even with the full weight of the U.S. presidency
and high-level American diplomatic efforts, the obstacles may prove very
steep if not insurmountable.
The primary sticking points include the continuing use of terror (e.g.,
Palestinian suicide bombers), the status of Jerusalem (Palestinians
want Arab East Jerusalem as their capital), political borders (the
Palestinians want Israel to retreat behind their pre-1967 war borders), the
presence of 145 Israeli settlements with 200,000 settlers on the
West Bank and in Gaza, plus the dilemma of four million Palestinian
refugees who want residence in Israel.
Even if some sort of temporary peace is ultimately achieved by massive
American diplomatic and economic pressure, the Bible clearly tells us
that it simply will not endure. The Hebrew prophet Zechariah prophetically
describes end-time Jerusalem as "a cup of drunkenness to all the
surrounding peoples" and "a very heavy stone for all peoples;
all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces" (Zechariah
12:2-3).
To understand the ultimate outcome and how peace will finally be established
in the Middle East, request your free subscription to The
Good News magazine. It will explain how only the second coming
of Jesus Christ will bring peace to this war-torn area that has known
so little peace. |
