The Elusive Prize: Peace in the Middle East

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Throughout our lifetimes there has been turmoil in the Middle East. Israel has been the center of the ongoing conflict. Peace between Israel and her Muslim neighbors is the most pursued prize in international diplomacy, yet this treasured prize has also been the most elusive. American presidents have each taken a crack at finding a resolution, but the war between Israel and the aggressive neighbors of the small Jewish nation remains ongoing.

There has been no peace in the Middle East, only brief moments of no war.

The formation of Israel in 1948 brought about an immediate attack against the small sliver of land the Jews reside upon from all sides by Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. After the nearly year long war, the truce brought to Israel an expansion of territory.

The Suez War between Egypt and Israel commenced, and concluded, in 1956. Israel took control of the Suez Canal after Egypt had nationalized it. Israel later returned the Sinai to Egypt.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) formed in 1964, with the sole purpose of destroying Israel, and taking the lands for themselves.

The Six Days War in 1967 began with a mass attack by the Islamic nations around Israel, and when it was all over Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula, West Bank, Golan Heights, and had seized control of Jerusalem.

The Yom Kippur War in 1973 was launched against Israel on the Jewish people's most holy day, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Egypt and Syria attacked. Israel, once again, repelled the invaders.

In the early eighties Israel endured the War with Lebanon, and in the late eighties began fighting against the first Palestinian intifada in Gaza. The uprising ended in 1993 with the Oslo Accords, but it was a short lived cease fire.

In 2000 the Palestinians launched their second Palestinian intifada. During this conflict, the world was introduced to suicide bombers.

The war between Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah has been ongoing ever since.

United States presidents have helped with peace agreements between Israel and Egypt and Jordan, but the two Muslim nations have continued to harbor deep hatred against Israel, continuously siding with other Muslim nations when they launch military and political conflicts against Israel.

No amount of diplomacy will ever be able to broker lasting peace in the Middle East. Islam will not rest until Israel is destroyed, or when Islam becomes no more. Christians believe that the day the evil ideology of Islam will be defeated will come after the Battle of Armageddon someday in the future, after the Great Tribulation, and the Second Return of Jesus Christ.

In the meantime, the elusive prize of peace in the Middle East will remain unattainable. This time of conflict will continue. Lasting peace through the hands of men is impossible in the Middle East, and so it is the United States of America that must stand with Israel, support and pray for our government leaders that they will do what they can to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.

Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), especially in the face of a warlike ideology like Islam.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary