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The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest
Vol: 39 Issue: 16 - Thursday, December 16, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rumors of Peace?
"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." (Jeremiah 6:14)
Rumors of peace are breaking out all over the Middle East, with news headlines breathlessly reporting things like; "Abbes Calls on Palestinians to End Armed Struggle"; and, "Syria Makes Peace Overtures"; and this morning's; "Egypt Charts New Course for Mideast Peace."
Nobody is whispering the reason for the new wind of hope blowing through the Middle East anymore, either. It's because Yasser Arafat is dead.
When he was alive, the blame for the Oslo War fell on Israel's 'occupation'. Now even the Arab press is admitting Arafat was the aggressor and not a victim.
He used to be referred to in the Western media as, "Nobel Peace Prize winner Yasser Arafat" when he wasn't being referred to as, "embattled Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat", but now, when he is mentioned, it is usually in the context of, "Now that Arafat is dead, both sides are hopeful . . ." -- which accounts for most of the rosy speculation now.
In life, Yasser Arafat was the 'living symbol of the Palestinian people' -- a man whose passing was mourned by no less a personage than the Pope, who commented that Arafat was "a leader of great charisma who loved his people and sought to lead them towards national independence."
The Pope went on to bless the blood-soaked soul of the dearly departed, saying, "May God welcome in His mercy the soul of the illustrious deceased and give peace to the Holy Land. ..." Ummm, YASSER Arafat?
Kofi Annan ordered UN flags flown at half-staff and said the dead terrorist "expressed and symbolized in his person the national aspirations of the Palestinian people," and admitted he was 'deeply moved' by his passing.
French president Jacques Chirac called Arafat a "man of courage and conviction who, for 40 years, has incarnated the Palestinians' combat for recognition of their national rights."
Irish President Mary McAleese, who had just concluded her six month rotation as president of the EU, eulogized the terrorist by saying, "President Arafat has been a key figure in the efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict on the basis of two states living in peace within secure and agreed borders.”
BUT, now that the key figure in the peace process, the Nobel Prize winning peacemaker who captured the heart of the Pope and deeply moved Kofi Annan at his passing is finally and permanently in the hands of Allah, suddenly, everybody is talking about the 'winds of peace' starting to blow across the Middle East.
Assessment:
In an editorial in the Jerusalem Post entitled, "Analysis: Hopeful Again" Herb Keinon summed up recent comments made by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, noting, "It's been a long, long while since an official at Shalom's level in the government of Ariel Sharon has held out the possibility of peace with the Palestinians."
Keinon expressed the general attitude of the Israeli public when he added, "Indeed, it's been a long, long while since a battle-weary public has entertained such thoughts as well."
Since Arafat's death, there have been a number of events that have bolstered Israeli optimism, if not for peace, then at least for a break from open war.
Israel has only known two states of existence since its rebirth in 1948 -- a state of war, punctuated by brief periods of discussions about peace, followed by more war.
To the shell-shocked Jewish state, those discussion periods were what passed for 'peace' in a life under otherwise constant threat.
So the advent of another round of talks that may lead to a cessation of hostilities, however briefly, is cause for optimism.
Egyptian President Mubarak recently said Ariel Sharon is the Palestinian's best chance for peace, and drummed up support for peace in his visit to the Gulf states.
Egypt also released Israeli prisoner Azzam Azzam, after eight years in an Egyptian jail on an espionage charge that he denies.
The Palestinians and Israelis have begun talking about peace. All these signs give hope that the long nightmare of violence that began in September 2000 is at last over.
Fresh rumors about forthcoming Israeli concessions and Palestinian truce offers appear almost every day. The latest rumor claimed that Palestinians and Israelis have agreed to a truce and even to the major details of a peace deal.
But this peace deal, like many other rumors, is evaporating quickly.
Less than 24 hours after it first appeared, it was termed "premature" by Israeli officials. and Palestinians explained that it is only an agreement about election logistics. The PA is willing to agree to a cease-fire only long enough to elect a new warlord.
Arafat really WAS the embodiment of the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and those aspirations have not changed.
The Palestinians don't want a state beside Israel; they want a state INSTEAD of Israel. And nothing less will do. Mahmoud Abbas has not dropped the demand for a Palestinian 'Right of Return'.
It was Arafat's insistence on the so-called 'Right of Return' that torpedoed Camp David and launched the Oslo War. And it was Abbas who counseled Arafat NOT to give in.
The 'Right of Return' demand is part of the PLO's long-range strategy for the destruction of Israel. The Palestinians are demanding that the 1948 'refugees' -- and their descendants -- be allowed to resettle in Israel.
And not the 'right of return' to a new Palestinian State. The Palestinians demand that those who fled in advance of the 1948 War, hoping to return and claim their land plus whatever remained of Jewish possessions, be resettled in Israel.
Should Israel agree to this, it would mean the almost instant dissolution of the Jewish State. The Palestinians claim the 'Right of Return' for almost 6 million Arabs, their descendants and their families.
A recent al Jazeera article explained; "Sharon would like the new Palestinian leadership, possibly led by Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), to compromise on such key Palestinian issues as East Jerusalem, the right of return and the creation of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But this, says Yacoub Shahin, a high-ranking official in the Palestinian ministry of information, will not happen."
Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's likely successor after the elections, told the Palestinian parliament that he would walk in the footsteps of the late Palestinian leader.
"We promise you [Arafat] that our heart will not rest until we achieve the right of return for our people and end the tragic refugee issue," he told PA lawmakers.
Abbas also reportedly agreed with Syria's Bashar Assad to coordinate their strategy, so that Israel could not make peace with the Palestinians without making peace with the Syrians as well. This strategy will guarantee at least the neutrality of the Syrians toward Abu Mazen and the Palestinians.
On the other hand, since Israel is not likely to open peace talks with Syria, at least until the United States is satisfied that Syria has stopped supporting Iraqi insurgents; it adds an unnecessary and probably fatal obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
When Israel proposed an initiative to build housing for Palestinian 'refugees' (still living in squalid concentration camps in Arab countries after almost sixty years) INSIDE a proposed Palestinian State, Abbas was swift to respond, and in no uncertain terms.
"Any proposal regarding the resettlement of the refugees is completely rejected," Abbas told reporters in Saudi Arabia.
The Ramallah-based Committee for Defending the Rights of Palestinian Refugees also rejected the Israeli plan and called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to acknowledge its responsibility for the plight of the refugees.
"Israel alone must admit that it is responsible for the problem of the refugees," the group said in response to the Israeli initiative.
"Israel must recognize the right of the refugees to return to their homeland and properties and compensate them for the psychological and material damage."
In a speech at a Palestinian 'refugee camp' in Lebanon only last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia sweetened the pot, telling the cheering crowd;
"No state without Jerusalem, no independence without Jerusalem, no peace without Jerusalem - just like other national legitimate Palestinian rights."
So, there we have it.
Israel is already on record as saying it will never give up Jerusalem to the Arabs. And Israel's desperation for peace will never reach the point of committing national suicide.
And the Palestinian insistence on the 'right of return' -- to ISRAEL -- and NOT to a Palestinian state makes clear that the Four Stage Plan for the Destruction of Israel has outlived its author, the late, lamented Yasser Arafat.
For them, peace is not an option; it is a weapon of war.
The recent initiatives by Egypt, the European Euromed initiative to include Israel in a greater EU free trade zone, and [even] a temporary truce for the Palestinian elections, seem like hopeful signs -- but they are an illusion.
They have 'healed the hurt of My daughter slightly', as Jeremiah noted, 'saying peace, peace -- when there is no peace.'
But as Zechariah also noted, Jerusalem remains a 'burdensome stone'.
"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it," the prophet wrote. (Zechariah 12:3)
To date, the only nation to truly burden itself with Jerusalem is the United States, whose support for Israel is credited by our enemies as the main reason for the 9/11 attacks.
The same prophets who so accurately forecast the situation so far are not going to suddenly stumble and drop the ball now.
Events continue to exactly mirror the description given by the prophets concerning Israel, the peace process, and Europe's developing role in it.
Because we are living in the times of which they spoke.
There are two remaining events on the prophetic calendar that must be fulfilled before the Tribulation can begin.
The first is the Rapture of the Church. The second is the signing of a European-brokered peace agreement of seven years duration by the leader of a revived Roman Empire, an event that signals the beginning of the 2,520 day Tribulation countdown.
The second element MUST take place soon -- it is unthinkable that there will NEVER be a breakthrough -- not at this stage. Israel is under too much global pressure.
The only thing preventing an enforced settlement by the global community is the United States.
Now we revisit the first event on the prophetic calendar again -- the Rapture of the Church -- considering its probable effect on Israel's sole global ally, the United States.
Now all the dots connect.
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