Methodist Friends of Israel

A Palestinian state? Don’t count on it

By Jeff Jacoby

If the Palestinian Authority genuinely desired international recognition as a sovereign state, Mahmoud Abbas wouldn’t have come to New York to seek membership in the UN General Assembly this week. There would have been no need to, for Palestine would have long since taken its seat in the United Nations.

Were Palestinian statehood Abbas’s real goal, after all, he could have delivered it to his people three years ago. In 2008, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state on territory equal (after land swaps) to 100 percent of the West Bank and Gaza, with free passage between the two plus a capital in the Arab section of Jerusalem. Yet Abbas turned down the Israeli offer. And he has refused ever since even to engage in negotiations.

“It is our legitimate right to demand the full membership of the state of Palestine in the UN,” Abbas declared in Ramallah on Friday, “to put an end to a historical injustice by attaining liberty and independence, like the other peoples of the earth.”

But for the better part of a century, the Arabs of Palestine have consistently said no when presented with the chance to build a state of their own. They said no in 1937, when the British government, which then ruled Palestine, proposed to divide the land into separate Arab and Jewish states. Arab leaders said no again in 1947, choosing to go to war rather than accept the UN’s decision to partition Palestine between its Jewish and Arab populations. When Israel in 1967 offered to relinquish the land it had acquired in exchange for peace with its neighbors, the Arab world’s response, issued at a summit in Khartoum, was not one no, but three: “No peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel.”

At Camp David in 2000, Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians a sovereign state with shared control of Jerusalem and billions of dollars in compensation for Palestinian refugees. Yasser Arafat refused the offer, and returned to launch the deadly terror war known as the Second Intifada.

There is no shortage in this world of stateless peoples yearning for a homeland, many of them ethnic groups with centuries of history, unique in language and culture. Kurds or Tamils or Tibetans — whose longstanding quests for a nation-state the world ignores — must find it maddening to watch the international community trip over itself in its eagerness to proclaim, again and again, the need for a Palestinian state. And they must be baffled by the Palestinians’ invariable refusal to take yes for an answer.

It is no mystery, however. The raison d’etre of the Palestinian movement has never been the establishment and building-up of a sovereign Palestinian homeland. It has always been the negation of a sovereign Jewish homeland. That is why well-intended proposals for a “two-state solution” have never come to fruition, no matter how earnestly proposed by US presidents or UN secretaries-general. That is why the basic charter not just of Hamas but even of Abbas’s supposedly moderate Fatah vows to continue the “armed struggle” until “the Zionist state is demolished.” And that is why Abbas and other Palestinian leaders insist that a Palestinian state would be explicitly Arab and Muslim, but adamantly refuse to acknowledge that Israel is legitimately the Jewish state.

The goal of the Palestinian movement has always been the negation of the Jewish state. Both Fatah and Hamas feature logos that depict crossed weapons imposed against the map of Israel.

“Palestinian nationalism,” Edward Said told an interviewer in 1999, “was based on driving all Israelis out.” Sadly, it still is.

Last week, to kick off its campaign seeking UN recognition as a state, the Palestinian Authority staged a highly publicized march to the UN offices in Ramallah, where a letter was delivered for Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Officials named Latifa Abu Hmeid to lead the procession and hand over the letter. “She was chosen,” reported the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, “because she is a symbol of Palestinian suffering as a result of the occupation.”

What the paper did not mention is that Abu Hmeid is the mother of four murderers, whose sons are serving a total of 18 life sentences for their involvement in multiple terrorist attacks. According to Palestinian Media Watch, this is not the first time Abu Hmeid has been honored. Last year, the Palestinian Authority awarded her “the Plaque of Resoluteness and Giving,” and a government minister publicly extolled her virtues: “It is she who gave birth to the fighters, and she deserves that we bow to her in salute and in honor.”

It is this grotesque and bloody culture that Palestinian leaders want the UN to affirm as worthy of statehood. The wonder is not they make the request, but that anyone thinks it should be granted.

by Malcolm Lowe
Published in Hudson New York

In 2010, the Methodist Church in Britain produced a report entitled “Justice for Palestine and Israel“. The report was adopted as official Methodist policy. Consequently, British Methodists are now called upon to boycott certain Israeli products and support the pro-Palestinian initiatives of the World Council of Churches and Christian Aid.

We have looked at this report, which relies heavily upon a purported history of Palestine in the twentieth century, supported by a bibliography that makes no pretense to impartiality. Anyone who has any genuine acquaintance of that history will be amazed at the continual misrepresentations. In particular, the report repeatedly uses statistics that will mislead an unknowing reader. The report is not the first example of this genre of semi-fact, but perhaps it is the greatest masterpiece to date.

Some time ago, we reviewed a miniature product of the genre in our exposé of the Myth of Palestinian Christianity. To do the same for the Methodist report would require a substantial monograph, not a mere article. Moreover, the task would be a waste of time, since such a report can hardly have come from people who might be prepared to change their minds.

But if the British Methodists ever show interest in salvaging their reputation, they should engage a respectable historian (say Benny Morris) to review the report and list its falsities. Moreover, they should pay that historian handsomely for the mental torture involved. Cheaper and more befitting a Christian institution would be to throw it officially into the waste-paper basket. If that sounds exaggerated, consider just a sample of the report’s statements.

Read more »

A study day to reflect on the 2010 Methodist Conference report ‘Justice for Palestine and Israel’
Led by Rev Dr Sam McBratney, City University, London.

Two events with facilitated open-table discussion of the issues raised by the report, arranged by Wales Training Network.

Saturday, June 18th 2011
10.30 am to 3.30 pm
St Michael’s College, 54 Cardiff Road, Cardiff CF5 2YJ
Booking form »

Saturday July 2nd 2011
10.30 am to 3.30 pm
Buckley Cross Methodist Church, Buckley
Booking form »

My heart was filled with sadness this morning when I heard of the death of David Wilkerson in a traffic accident in Texas. His wife, Gwen, was seriously hurt and is in hospital. As a teenager in the 1960s I avidly read “The Cross and the Switchblade” and all of the books that resulted from the ministry of David Wilkerson. They had a great impact on me, a baby Christian, and inspired in me a desire to follow Jesus wherever he led me. I can honestly say that his ministry, together with Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, inspired me as no other, outside of Scripture, had done.

David Wilkerson was a real man of God who had great integrity. He was the sort of person you could trust 100%. He listened to God and was not afraid to speak out what God had told him. He was known in New York as someone who headed up a church that could be relied upon to help in times of trouble. On the day of the attack on the twin towers Mayor Giuliani contacted David and his fellowship immediately responded to the call for help in financial and practical ways.

David constantly put God first and trusted Him to meet all of his needs and those of his church. When money was needed he did not appeal for it, he and his congregation prayed that Father would release the funds that were necessary. Time after time their prayers were answered and the finances were provided. What a contrast to the many TV evangelists who constantly appeal for money and live luxurious lifestyles with private jets, mansions and hefty bodyguards!!

Through David’s ministry countless numbers of folk have been brought to a saving faith in Yeshua, many of them folk who were addicts, gang members, murderers and thieves. Their lives were totally transformed as they surrendered to the perfect Passover Lamb and became new creations. They, in turn, went on to witness about Yeshua’s saving grace and saw folk born again. David’s spiritual children, grandchildren and great grandchildren must be beyond counting.

David was a staunch supporter of Israel. He once said “God warned me when I first established Times Square Church that we must always remain faithful to Israel. And I always have.” He believed God’s word concerning Israel and wouldn’t allow anyone to deter him from standing with her.

He was no stranger to prophecy, believing the Scriptures as the Word of God and seeing their fulfilment, past, present and future. He was also a man who listened to God and faithfully passed on what God had shown him even if that did not make him popular.

A few years ago I was privileged to meet him in Cardiff. I thanked him for his ministry and told him of the huge, positive impact he had had on my life. He was very gracious and humble, happy to talk and sign a book for me. I shall never forget it.

From the bottom of my heart I thank God for raising up such a faithful man who was so bold and fearless in speaking the truth and who never became puffed up with self importance and love of self. The world has lost a truly great man of God as he has taken up his new life with Yeshua.

Please pray for Gwen’s healing and for comfort and strength for the family. May they know His presence around them at this time.

Pam

From israel21c.org:

With almost one in eight Americans developing Alzheimer’s disease in older years, a vaccine is of extraordinary interest to pharmaceutical companies.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University are working on a nasal two-in-one vaccine that could protect against both Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. The proposed vaccine appears to repair vascular damage in the brain by rounding up “troops” from the body’s own immune system.

According to an article soon to appear in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, the vaccine not only has a preventative function but could also help fight Alzheimer’s symptoms that are already present.

Inspired by Melanie Phillips’ excellent open letter to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt we’ve started an online Petition to Mr Hunt to investigate increasing concerns about perceived BBC bias against Israel which you can find here.

We hope many of you will feel able to sign this online petition and if you are able to do so, to make its existence known amongst your particular circle of Israel’s friends.

Anglican Friends of Israel

PA continues push for UN recognition
 
IAF aircraft struck a terrorist cell in the southern Gaza Strip Wednesday morning as it was getting ready to fire rockets into Israel. Palestinian sources reported one fatality in the strike, with Palestinian Islamic Jihad claiming the killed man as one of their own, as well as another gunman who was wounded.
 
The strike, following another strike earlier in the morning on a smuggling tunnel, was in retaliation for Kassam rockets fired into Israel on Tuesday.
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Jerusalem Post

Terror tunnels, weapons storage facilities among targets hit by IAF planes; Hamas medical officials say 19 wounded, including 7 children.

The IDF Spokesman Unit overnight Monday confirmed that IAF aircraft attacked two terror tunnels, two sites used for the manufacturing and storage of weapons and two further terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.

“Direct targets were identified and all planes returned safely to their base,” a statement by the IDF read. “The attack was in response to recently conducted attacks on southern communities,” the statement continued. 

“The IDF will not tolerate the continued attack of settlements close to Gaza,” the IDF statement said.

Hamas medical officials said 19 people were wounded in the Israeli air strikes, including four terrorists, seven children and two women.

In an apparent bid to avoid an Israeli military strike in the Gaza Strip, Hamas reiterated on Monday its commitment to preserving the unofficial truce with Israel.

Earlier on Monday, the Israel Air Force bombed a terror tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip  that was being dug under the border so terrorists could infiltrate into Israel.

The IDF said that a number of Hamas operatives were also hit in the strike that was carried out jointly by the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

The IDF said that the strike came in response to the weekend attacks by Hamas that included close to 50 mortar shells and at least two anti-tank missiles.
 
On Monday, The Jerusalem Post reported on mounting concern within the IDF regarding increased efforts by Palestinian terrorist groups to dig tunnels under the border that could be used to infiltrate into Israel and perpetrate attacks.
 
According to IDF sources, the number of tunnels has grown in recent years. Each Hamas brigade commander is under orders to dig “terror tunnels” along the section of the border under his command.

Tunnels have been used in the past by Hamas and other terrorist groups to infiltrate into Israel. The terrorists who abducted IDF soldier Gilad Schalit from his military post near Kerem Shalom, crossed into Israel through an underground tunnel.

Israel Today

The Israeli army on Tuesday officially opened the doors of its field hospital in the devastated northern regions of Japan.

The clinic is situated just outside Minamisanriku, a village that was all but destroyed by the tsunami that followed the massive March 11 earthquake off Japan’s northeastern coast.

The facility includes surgical, pediatrics and maternity wards, an intensive care unit, a pharmacy and a laboratory. The buildings for the clinic were built by the Japanese government, and the 58-man IDF Medical Corps and Home Front Command team is being housed at a nearby hotel.

The Israelis brought along their own medical equipment and supplies, as well as their own food and water so as to not further tax the already-limited local resources. Also on hand are several officials from Israel Atomic Energy Commission to make sure radiation levels in the area do not get too high.
On Monday, several of the Israeli officers spoke to Japanese reporters asking them to publicize the opening of the clinic so that victims in the area know where to find assistance and treatment.

Israeli Ambassador to Japan Nissim Ben Shitreet thanked the Japanese authorities and volunteers on the ground for not only accepting Israel’s help, but assisting the set-up of the clinic.
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Israel Today

It appears that the bus stop bombing that killed one person and wounded another 50 on Wednsday in downtown Jerusalem may have been targeting Israeli schoolchildren on their way home from the day’s studies.

The blast occurred at around 3 PM, the time that children and teens studying at downtown schools are typically passing through the Central Bus Station and nearby bus stop terminals.

Indeed, of the 11 victims who remain hospitalized, seven are aged 18 and younger. Another is a 19-year-old seminary student. Yet another is a father of four, whose wife is only months away from giving birth to their fifth child.

The human face of those victimized by the bombing was completely missing in international reports. International news giant Reuters went so far as to question whether the bombing was an act of terrorism at all.

In its report, Reuters explained that Israeli police “said it was a ‘terrorist attack’ – Israel’s term for a Palestinian strike.”

Yes, Reuters brushed off the Jeruslem bombing by coming as close as possible to utilizing terrorist terminology, under which the attack was a legitimate “military operation.” Reuters’ wording was also a transparent attempt to draw moral equivalency between Israeli anti-terror military operations and Palestinians acts of terrorism.

Israeli observers noted that had an Israeli targeted Palestinian teens, news agencies like Reuters would be scrambling to find anyone and everyone who would label the attack a “war crime.”