The war in Gaza is tarnishing our reputation, too.

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-war-in-gaza-is-tarnishing-our.html

For those who have paid little attention to the violent history of the region known as Palestine, since World War II, this attack by Israel on Gaza is not the first time. The Gaza Strip, which occupies a narrow piece of land slightly southwest of the central part of the state of Israel, was territory set aside in the original partition of the land when the Jewish state of Israel was created in 1948 by British and American support. Along with the West Bank, the Gaza Strip was part of the land set aside for the displaced Arabic Palestinian population to make room for sovereign Israel.

It has been frequently invaded, bombed and attacked by Israeli forces on the premise that it was a hotbed of terrorist resistance to the establishment of independent Israel. That's true, as far as it goes, though when a foreign power comes in, takes over the political and economic control of an area, and then uses that control to set aside territory already occupied and home to people whose ancestors have lived there for centuries in order to make room for a largely refugee population of a completely different religious, ethnic and cultural background, some resistance to being ousted from homes and property might be expected to become violent.

Actually, it was the Ottoman ruler Suleiman who first opened up Palestine to Jewish immigration fourteen centuries or so after the Romans had banished the Jewish population and destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. They allowed Jews to return on a limited basis, in relative peace, without upsetting the political or religious balance, a small but significant gesture of religious tolerance that was unusual for the time and place. The Christian Byzantines, who occupied Jerusalem after the Roman era, weren't keen on any kind of Jewish repopulation of the province or city, nor were the Muslims of Mohammed's empire, who murdered the Christians when they took over Jerusalem.

So far, the version of the so-called "two state solution" that has existed has not worked at all, since the economic inequities are not considered. Appeals to the fact that two million Palestinian Arabs enjoy Israeli citizenship do not resolve issues any more than claiming that the oil-wealthy Arab nations bear responsibility for resolving the problem. The economics must be equalized and the amount of sovereign territory must be adequate to support the population.

And let's be clear. The Christian nationalist and Christian dispensationalist theology that pushes itself into the position the United States takes on Israel is based on bad theology and a poor doctrinal interpretation of what they call "Eschatology," or "end-times" teaching. They are flat wrong, and should be ignored.

Realistically, I do not see any kind of momentum in any direction that would lead to this issue being resolved in my lifetime. And that is far more unfortunate for the Palestinian people than it is for any of those government bureaucrats who have the power to make a difference, and won't do it.

[hlthe2b]

1. Unfortunately, US policy repeats its mistakes over and over and over...

and millions die as a result--even if not directly.

[Aristus]

2. We don't have much of a reputation left to tarnish.

But it's nice to know the powers-that-be are hard at work on it.