'A Bob each way' on Palestine

IOPNA's first current affairs bulletin -

Last Friday (18^th), Australia and Britain issued a joint communique calling on USA to make more of an effort in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.  Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr has yet to face the electors in a federal election but he would be well aware everyone is tired of this conflict, having lost our own soldiers on this patch of dirt during the ~3,300 years of warfare since Moses and his rellies moved in out of the desert. This follows Prime Minister Julia Gillard being forced to agree to Australia abstaining from voting at the United Nations on the successful move to recognise Palestine as a non-member observer state.   

Why has ‘Palestine’ been so sought after? 

It is the hub for Africa, Europe and Asia. 

So......who are the Palestinians anyway and are they entitled to any of this land?

Every empire in history that has tried to possess this land has collapsed - Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome.....and in recent times:

1917                 Britain issues Balfour Declaration: (but ignores it in 1939)                                                           "...the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people..."                                           

29 Nov 1947   Arab states reject the United Nations partitioning between Israelis and Palestinians                                            

14 May 1948   United Nations General Assembly recognise the State of Israel !

15 May 1948   Next day: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq & Jordan attack Israel (virtually defenseless) resulting in Jordan losing territory!

5 June 1967    Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq again attack Israel, resulting in Israel gaining Sinai, Gaza and West Bank.                                                        

6 Oct 1973      Only 6 years later, Egypt and Syria attack Israel on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)                                                 

March 1979    Camp David peace talks result in Israel withdrawing from Sinai.                                                   Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat assassinated in 1981.

Sept 1993        Oslo peace talks between Israel and the PLO. Israel recognises PLO and starts withdrawing from Gaza and some of West Bank in 1994. 

4 Nov 1995     Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin assassinated.

We’re playing for keeps here. Obviously the Arabs want it all and anybody who dares compromise over this land seems to pay dearly!

So what does the Bible (the Jewish sacred Tanakh) tell us God has to say about it?

"The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine..." Leviticus 25:23

"A land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it..."           Deuteronomy 11:12

"To your descendants (Abraham's) I will give this land." Genesis 12:7                                    

Abraham only ever owned a cemetery - so out of his 8 children, which one(s) will benefit?

Not Ishmael (Gen 21:10), nor Keturah's 6 children (25:5-6) but Isaac (26:3) is the only son God recognises. (22:2) 
Then its grandson Jacob's turn (28:4) and confirmed by God: 
"Israel shall be your name....The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." (35:10-12)  
What does 'Israel' mean?  ‘Prince of God’ or ‘Ruling with God’

So the Bible says Jacob (Israel and his weird family) gets God’s land and gets to rule with God!

Here is the land description:                                                           

"...from the brook of Egypt (Wadi el Arish) to the great river, the River Euphrates..." Genesis 15:18 and detailed in Numbers 34:1-13                                 

Deut 1:7 & 11:24   Josh 1:4           Psalm 105

Meanwhile, Isaiah 18 tells us what God is now silently doing:                                        

"I will take My rest, and I will look from My dwelling place like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." - while a far-away superpower with African connections (guess who!) and with its clattering wings (!), sends its ambassadors by warship to this powerful nation that everyone's wary of.

So far Israel’s victories against overwhelming forces have proved miraculous. Is there really a God out there who helps them? Why not just do it Bob’s way, leave God out of it, and have a ‘bob each way’ for a win-win by dividing up the land as in Daniel 11:39 and Joel 3:2?....or will that be a lose-lose?  

Acknowledgements: David Wroe & Ruth Pollard, SMH, Jan 19/20 2013 

Image credit: Lt. Horsemen / iancoate.com