Israel, Palestine and Peace

If 500,000 Israelis can get along with 2.6 million Muslims in Jerusalem, why should other nations make it their business to get involved?

Israeli soldier trains his weapon on Palestinian peace protesters on the West Bank. Photo by Dexter Phoenix Salem-News.com

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - The six day war of Arab Nations against Israel convinced Anwar Sadat of Egypt that Israel could not be destroyed.

In fact, Israel took over the Golan Heights which, so far as I know, has not been returned to Syria and on which Israel has built settlements.

Israel captured East Jerusalem, announced its intention to retain what it considers the spoils of war by proclaiming Jerusalem as its ancient capital. The evolution of Christianity from within, and the eventual rise of Islam from without made Jesus [as Christ] the symbol of Christianity, and the Prophet Muhammad that of Islam.

The Jewish Talmud, the New Testament of Christianity and Islam’s Koran, constitute the Religions of the Book each of which is rooted in Jerusalem because Christianity emerged from Judaism, and Islam [in the 7th Century A.D.] from Christianity.

Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, according to plan but not until he committed to die for the Christian cause and his fate sealed in Bethany, where he was anointed and given the name Christ [also King of the Jews] symbol of Christianity, just days before his demise.

Muhammad and Islam surfaced in Mecca on the Arabian peninsula, but claim Jerusalem as Islam's capital through its connection via the Religions of the Books supposedly common to all. Today it is estimated Islam has nearly two billion members, making it the second largest religion of the three. It is interpretations of leaders which separate the religions one from another, and their insistence on the right of possession and use of Jerusalem’s shrines that poses problems.

There are 2.6 million Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and just 500,000 Jews, but outside influence attempts to stop Israeli settlements in what euphemistically is called “occupied territory” while Israel continues to build settlements in East Jerusalem conquered in 1967; in areas it considers as a right by conquest.

Israel is the more sophisticated of the antagonists in virtually every respect, which is why bordering Arab states keep egging the Palestinians on. By the same token, Israel promotes Iran as an arch-enemy hoping to develop an atomic arsenal which, it claims, Iran intends to use to blow Israel off the face of the earth. Not likely in my opinion. Israel can take care of itself.

If 500,000 Israelis can get along with 2.6 million Muslims in Jerusalem, why should other nations make it their business to get involved? I suspect it is because the United States is a formidable ally upon which Israel likes to lean, and Moslem states want to keep involved thinking more of “power” in the Middle East than of their domestic priorities.

Israel appears to have its best interests at heart, so why shouldn’t the United States look after its own? The U.S. presumes Iran is developing an atomic arsenal in spite of what Iran says; that atomic energy is being developed for peaceful purposes, a theme its religious leaders proclaim as well. How can the truth be known until we quit quibbling, and get to the point by dealing with it diplomatically? The same is true of North Korea, the last of the Axis of Evil George W. Bush and the Republican Party proclaimed as Gospel. Georgia is the perfect example of what can happen because it believed, until the change in administrations, that it could count on U.S. backing. If Georgia wants to toy with Russia, it ought to do it alone; the United States is not its keeper any more than Russia is an enemy.

Should the U.S. be offended by Israel’s decision to extend its settlements in East Jerusalem? Perhaps, but only if it feels Israel had committed to peace with Palestinians based on that premise. Better to be realistic than offended; for if 2.6 million Palestinians can live peaceably with 500,000 Israelis in East Jerusalem, the Palestinians may know more than what they get credit for; namely that Israel provides jobs, and better living conditions for Palestinians than do their cousins of outside interference. As with Georgia, The U.S. should not be used by either faction.

It would be a feather in the cap of the United States if it could disarm so-called enemies with logic and understanding by bringing them all into the world’s community of nations.

Belligerence often is an attitude of disappointment acted out offensively until it is appreciated for what it is. Sanctions only add to the problems, whereas compassion may heal them, or prove Iran and No. Korea to be far less dangerous than they are portrayed. It is time to get inside them if we expect to know the truth.

The road to peace begins with basic psychology as the first step to an everlasting peace, and the United States and its allies should be first to take it.

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Kenneth G. Ramey was a 79-year old "writer without a Website" who is generating excellent, provocative articles on the subject of religion and world affairs. We are pleased that Ken's "lone wolf" presence as a writer in the world has been replaced by a spot on our team of writers at Salem-News.com. Raised in Minnesota and California during the dark years of the Great American Depression, Ken is well suited to talk about the powerful forces in the world that give all of us hope and tragedy and everything in between. You can write to Ken at: darken1@sbcglobal.net