World News and Trends: Will Palestinians make a lasting peace with Israel?

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Many hoped that after Israel withdrew from Lebanon following last summer's war, peace would be restored to Israel—not just with Lebanon, but also with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. That hope was recently dashed again.

Many hoped that after Israel withdrew from Lebanon following last summer's war, peace would be restored to Israel—not just with Lebanon, but also with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. That hope was recently dashed again.

"Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip as an unexpected truce took hold Sunday [Nov. 26], but two major Palestinian militant groups, saying they had no intention of stopping their attacks, fired volleys of homemade rockets into Israel. The rocket attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad tempered hopes for a lasting cease-fire, which was meant to end five months of deadly clashes" (Associated Press, Nov. 26, 2006).

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "ordered the army to show restraint in the face of the rockets. 'Even though there are still violations of the cease-fire by the Palestinian side, I have instructed our defense officials not to respond, to show restraint, and to give this cease-fire a chance to take full effect,' he said" (ibid.).

Will there ever be peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis? The Bible says that there will be no lasting peace until the Messiah comes, forcing peace on those that are bent on war (see Zechariah 14; Revelation 19:1-20:6). (Source: Associated Press.)

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Jerold Aust

Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.  

Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978).  Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps.  Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!

John Ross Schroeder

John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.

Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.

John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.

In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.

John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.