No Peace in the Middle East

Rafah Shows Why

Published on January 24, 2008 By Larry Kuperman In Current Events

Despite the bold words that are being bandied about ("Failure is not an option" by example) there will be no peace in the Middle East. This week's incident at the Rafah Gate shows why.

Hamas has been firing hundreds of missiles into Israel. Why? Aside from the usual hatred of Jews, they want to make sure that the current round of peace talks is derailed. Hamas is heavily invested in making sure that there is no peace. The have refused to acknowledge Israel's right to exist under any circumstances. It is usually a given that both sides agree not to kill each other before meaningful negotiations can commence. They won't. Why? If there was peace, there would be no need for Hamas.

Israel responded by cutting off supplies of diesel fuel to Gaza, saying that Hamas could get it from Egypt . Egypt refused. So, the Palestinians accused Israel of war crimes and the European Union condemned Israel for "collective punishment." Lets break this down. Hamas shoots at Israel and Israel STILL HAS TO GIVE THEM OIL. Does that make any sense?

Not only did Egypt refuse to provide oil, but they closed the gate in the wall that they have built to keep the Palestinians out. Did you know that Egypt built the same kind of separating wall that Israel has planned? The walls are really quite different. The Israeli wall was a "bad wall" and outraged the international community. How dare you build a wall to keep terrorists out? The Egyptian wall was a "good wal" and represents the legitimate interests of a sovereign nation to protect its borders.

Just like the Israeli refusal to give Palestinians oil was a crime against humanity. The Egyptian refusal was a different kind of refusal. Never mind that Palestinians and Egyptians are both part of the Islamic Ummah or Brotherhood. Never mind that Zakat or charity is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and that such a refusal goes against the Koran. No one is condemning Egypt.

The destruction of the gate was planned well in advance. Hamas started weakening the metal a month ago, working with blow torches.

So the Palestinians blew up the gate. They poured through and all is well. Not really. Egypt has affirmed their intention to rebuild the gate and to send the Palestinians back. "The border will go back as normal," said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki.

If the Palestinians were allowed into Egypt they would destabilize the government there and they also would stop attacking Israel. The Arab hatred of Israel is the only unifying force in that part of the world.

There will be no peace because the Arab world doesn't want it.

The Arab world is fragmented. The hatred and animosity of Sunni versus Shi'a is not a recent event. Its roots go back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad. One party championed Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, as Caliph and became known as the Party of Ali, or Shi'a. Others championed Abu Bakr, a companion of Muhammad's and they gained power. They are the Sunnis of today. The Umayyad Dynasty ruled from the capital of Damascus in Syria. They would be overthrown by the Abbasid's who claimed descent from the family of Muhammad and who transferred the capital to Baghdad in Iraq. That feud has gone for fourteen hundred years. It is our naivete to think that we can resolve it with foreign aid.

Without Israel, that part of the world would return to their ancient feuds.

The Palestinians will go on attacking Israel and Israel will continue responding in an endless cycle because thats the way the powers that be want it.

Comments

Larry Kuperman

on Jan 25, 2008

As of this morning, riot police from Egypt sealed the wall again.

Dr Guy

on Jan 25, 2008

So, the Palestinians accused Israel of war crimes and the European Union condemned Israel for "collective punishment." Lets break this down. Hamas shoots at Israel and Israel STILL HAS TO GIVE THEM OIL. Does that make any sense?

Does anything make sense when it comes to the European (and some americans) hatred of Israel?

I surely do not understand it. Almost any other nation would have flattened the offenders by now. Instead, Israel tries to pick the nits from the hair instead of shaving the head.

Adventure-Dude

on Jan 25, 2008

Larry isn't interesting that Chamas in Hebrew means violence?

Shalom.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!