From: David Dolan
To: Multiple recipients of list ISRAELUPDATE
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 3:49 AM
Subject: [ISRAELUPDATE] JERICHO PULLOUT
 

Greetings from Jerusalem, where I am located once again following a two-month speaking tour in parts of the United States, Jamaica and Barbados.  It was good to see many of you during my journey, but it is also good to be back home at the center of the world.  I apologize for the fact that February’s Israel news review and analysis report was not sent out over this e mail service, due to technical difficulties beyond my control.  However as always, it was posted on my web site (www.ddolan.com) where it can still be accessed.

Israel is handing over the ancient town of Jericho to the Palestinian Authority today as government preparations continue to evacuate thousands of Jews from their homes in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria this coming July.  Today’s pullout from the lowest town on earth, just north of the Dead Sea, is an eerie echo of the first phase of the failed Oslo peace process.  As part of that peace accord, the Jordan Valley town was similarly abandoned by Israeli forces in April 1994.  Soldiers returned six and a half years later after Yasser Arafat rejected Israel’s final status peace offer and launched a new phase in the protracted jihad war against the world’s only Jewish-run state.

In an interesting twist of timing, today’s scheduled handover comes the morning after some forty world leaders gathered here in Jerusalem for the official inauguration of the new Yad V’Shem holocaust museum.  The somber ceremony on Tuesday evening, broadcast live on all three Israeli television channels, was  a stark reminder of the dangerous anti-Semitism that many Jews face in an often hostile world.

Will the Palestinians once again use Jericho, and the other population centers to be transferred to their control in the coming weeks, as launching pads for violence and terror?  Or will the new PA leader and his comrades finally succeed in ending the bloodshed for good?  Given the continued expressed desire of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other radical Palestinian groups—supported by the Lebanese Hizbullah movement, Iran and Syria—to wipe Israel entirely off of the face of the earth, it seems unlikely that the evacuations will result in lasting peace and safety.  All this comes as fresh tremors rumble through nearby Lebanon, possibly presaging political, if not military upheaval in that frequently troubled land.

I often exercise at the King David health club as a guest of the Israeli manager, who is a friend of mine.  However, that was nearly impossible on Tuesday due to intense security surrounding the many international leaders staying at the hotel.  I was slightly amused as I went through no less than two metal detectors and body searches as I slowly made my way from King David Street into the empty gym.  Among those who passed by as I entered was UN Chief Kofi Annan and several prominent American and European politicians.  It was an interesting reminder of the unique and important role that Jerusalem is playing, and will continue to play, as we near the prophesied Messianic era when the holy city is slated to become the official capital of the world.

On a more temporal note, I am scheduled to speak at a conference sponsored by Barry and Batya Segal in Birmingham England in mid-April.  Details will be posted on my web site in the coming days.  I am also planning to share in various cities in Norway in early May, followed by a DPM Israel conference in Charlotte North Carolina in mid-May (for more information on that, please go to http://www.dpmusa.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID309366|CHID636894|CIID1790418,00.html).  I will be speaking after that in Philadelphia and Hagerstown Maryland.  In mid-August (soon after the planned Gaza/northern Samaria withdrawal here), I am scheduled to travel out of Israel again to speak on an MJIF cruise to Alaska, followed by a round the world tour.  There should be more interesting news to talk about by then!  For more details on the cruise and subsequent world trip, please follow the specified links on my web site home page (www.ddolan.com).