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Testament, that law faithfully and more effectively achieved the purpose, and it was replaced by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And for the confirmation of this truth, it is better if we can look into the Book of Romans.
There is another striking point to which we have to adhere to the law of Moses. That is, once Jesus Christ was engaged in a debate with the Pharisees and Sadducees. At that time, a lawyer who was well versed in that subject came to Jesus and asked Him, “Master, what is the Great Commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36). Actually, what the lawyer wanted to know from Christ was, “What is the greatest of the Mosaic law?” And Jesus without further discussion, replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. That is the first and great commandment. And the second unto it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ On these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the heart and soul of the Mosaic law, and all humanity is supposed to adhere to that. But Apostle Paul quoted similar type of law. “Bear ye one another’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). The fundamental principle of our walking with Christ is about faith or concerning faith, love, and humble submission to Him. By totally submitting ourselves to Jesus, we become adherence to the Mosaic law in the true sense of the word. In Romans 8:3-4, Paul wrote, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin, in the flesh. That the righteousness of law might be fulfilled in us, who work not after the flesh, but after the spirit.”
So, by following Christ with our faith, and walk with Him with His cross on our shoulders, we can achieve everything necessary for our salvation and eternal life. Because He is omnipresent, He was present in the Old Testament and He is all in all in the New Testament. Therefore, it is beautifully said, that the New Testament was concealed in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament through Christ.
How the Millennial Kingdom would be ?
Who Is The Next Enemy to Israel ?
Since the modern Israel celebrated her 65th birthday, we are reminded of the pagan empires that reigned with the master plan of total destruction, but they failed miserably. Then, who will be the next enemy to Israel? As we have studied, Israel was controlled by Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Mede-Persia, Greece, Rome, the Ottoman Turks, the Nazis, etc. Even though these empires and their governments controlled Israel, they totally hated the Jews for no fault of theirs. This continuous hating of Jews by the pagans has been blind and not justified. And those who love the goodness and justice naturally oppose such blind hatred. It is like a bad dream, and such mental setup can never be cured. In fact, people talked about it more increasingly and liked it 3,500 years ago. As mentioned in the Bible, the pharaoh of Egypt ill-treated Israelites as slaves. At that time, God said to His servant Moses, “I have surely seen the afflictions of my people which are in Egypt….. and I am come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3.7-8).
Unfortunately, history has repeated again and again about how pharaohs have arisen and persecuted Jewish people and made God to come down, to deliver them from such calamities. This non-stop persecution has been continued with the Assyrians, Babylonians, Mede-East Persians, and Greeks. All these empires implemented their own methods to persecute, imprison, murder, and plunder the Jewish people who were no other than the descendants of Abraham through Jacob. Then, on this side of Calvary, or otherwise known as the common era, the period of Jesus Christ, Israel was controlled by Romans, Christian crusaders, the Spanish inquisitions, the Russian programs, and the Holocaust are all the representatives of the continuous and relentless persecution of Jewish people. They celebrated their 65th birthday, or anniversary, on May 14th, 2013. The importance of this celebration is that the majority of Jews came back to their homeland from different places after more than 19 centuries of wandering. Even after they got independence in 1948, Israel had to defend herself many a time from attacks, and 6 of them led her into wars.
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First of all, many nations of the world became sympathetic towards Israel because of the atrocities done to her during World War II. History tells us that about 6,000,000 Jewish people were killed mercilessly in that war by Germany’s dictator, Adolf Hitler of Nazis. So, the sympathy of other nations was extended to her as she has been boldly fighting for her survival in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and 2006. However, Israel was following the 1973 conflict which was called “Yom Kippur” (which means the Day of Atonement) war. But during this time, the public sympathy and opinion began to decrease gradually, and the attention of the public was diverted towards the Middle East.
The main reason for that sudden change was due to the scarcity of oil and the soaring prices of petroleum products. With this, people and automobile owners became unhappy, and the oil owners almost stopped their supply of oil to Israel. Then, many nations in the world turned their deaf ear towards Israel’s position, but America alone continued her moral support. The Semitism again began to show its ugly face. Though it has been there always, the oil crisis made it more conspicuous. The sudden appearance of anti-Semitism forced the historians and scientists to explain clearly. Many people blamed Israel for her unique religion and others for the strange nature of some Jewish people.
It is absolutely wrong on the part of people to possess such hatred towards Jews. We can take it for granted that it is the action of Satan to frustrate and defeat the plan and program of God, who has been planning for the redemption of the world. The declaration made by Jesus can never be treated as null and void. He said, “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). God in His sovereignty chose Israel as an instrument for universal blessings. As we read, it was through Jewish people only the Messiah- redeemer was to come into this world. His first appearance as a lamb of God was for the noble purpose of sacrificing Himself for the sins of the world. His second appearance or coming as the lion of the tribe of Judah, with some goals like the recapturing
Who is the next enemy to Israel ?
of man’s last destiny of ruling the Earth which was snatched away by Satan. So, for the fulfillment of His plans, the existence of Jewish people is necessary. This is the reason why the long and continuous war was going on between the people of God and Satan.
Let us look into the title of this topic, “Who is next?” As far as possible let us try to answer this sensitive question. All the nations that turned against the tiny country of Israel experienced the wrath of God. The fact is that, for 65 years, the United States has been supporting Israel, partly because of the Jewish population and the influence that the Jewish people were setting in this country. It is said that the Jewish population in this country (USA) is about 6 million, but the same Jewish population in Israel is only 3 million. Added to that, its foreign policy and Israel’s welfare are coincided. In spite of all that, things are rapidly changing in America. At present, the USA is unable to continue her moral support because of the increase of the Anti-Israel movement among people through the news media, and also the constant enmity between Israel and Palestine, causing disinterest in the minds of Americans. Above all, America’s financial and moral conditions are getting worse day by day.
So, the position of America towards Israel remains the same. If the prices of gas will increase from time to time, or if the Americans experience another terrorist attack of 9/11, or if the unemployment rate becomes worse in the nation, or if lawlessness remains unchecked, or if shortages in food becomes a reality, then the American government may think of some changes in her foreign policy. If the events mentioned above become reality then America will have to look for a scapegoat. And in this case, the scapegoat throughout the world will be, none other than, the Jewish people. We have studied, that Israel has celebrated her 65th anniversary as a reborn nation. Then it is really good if we say, “Happy Anniversary,” to the nation beloved by God and that He may bless her with many more happy anniversaries. If America turns her back to Israel, like other nations, and stop her moral support, then every nation before her will feel the angry wrath of God in the judgment, and in the end. Israel
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will start looking down into the graves of those who indiscriminately persecuted them through centuries. In that way, will America also look down among such countries? Jesus Christ told many things to His disciples what they should do after He goes to His Father. But, with His death the hopes, dreams, aspirations, and longings remained standstill. They actually followed Him for 3 and a half years, walked with Him, slept with Him, ate with Him, taught by Him, and so on. They were under the impression that Jesus would lead them even to revolt against the despised Roman Rule. The Romans were aggressive and oppressive. They simply ridiculed the Jewish religion. They taxed the Jewish people heavily. In a nutshell, the Jews also hated Romans totally.
“Who is the real King of Israel?”
Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of Abraham, was the born King of Jews. He has the legal right to rule Israel because he was spotless and born to a virgin. The Jewish scripture also spoke about the “Deliverer”, “who would come to break the Gentile oppression.”(Ezekiel 34:27). This saying about Jesus is not without reason. The disciples looked at Him as their future King. The Apostle Peter inquired, “Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee, what shall we have therefore when you enter your kingdom?”(Matthew 19:27). And the mother of James and John requested Jesus for her sons to “Grant that these two sons may sit the one on the right hand, and the other on the left in thy kingdom.” (Matthew 20:21). Just at that time, two blind beggars heard about Jesus who was leaving Jericho, cried out, “Have mercy on us O Lord, thou Son of David.”
As kingdom fever was mounting in the minds of disciples, they made their way to the top of the Mount of Olives. It was springtime and approaching the 14th day of the Hebrew month, called Nissan and the “Passover.” Some historians gave the information about one nation that Jewish people had returned to Jerusalem from all over the world to observe this sacred holiday. Jesus and the disciples from the top of the Mount of Olives looked across the Kidron Valley to the glittering city of Jerusalem and then the temple mount.
Who is the next enemy to Israel ?
They saw the massive wall around the city which was designed to protect Jerusalem from the intruders. They also saw the sun rays were reflecting on the beautiful stones and precious metals which adorned the holy temple. The latest rains had ended, and the pleasant weather captivated the rolling hills with green grass and multicolored flowers. The Priests were seen preparing for the big Israel feast with their Passover grandeur. The beautiful sights around the sounds of the trumpets and scented smells of various flowers magnified the situation. And in the midst of such wonderful atmosphere, Jesus turned to His disciples and said, “Go and get the donkey.” The disciples were Jews and they knew their Scripture. They were familiar with the prophetic words of Zachariah, “Behold, thy king cometh unto thee – lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a calt the foal of an ass.” (Zachariah 9:9). If you happen to be there at that time, you would have seen the disciples fully excited and at the same time confused. They were amazed at the prospects that their king cometh unto thee. They were confused, why because their master came on a donkey rather than on a beautiful white horse. The people put Jesus upon the donkey and moved downward the Mount of Olives. Then He went through Kidron Valley, which was narrow, and then climbed the mount Moriah and finally entered the most magnificent city, Jerusalem, through the “Golden Gate.” And there stood the temple with all its splendor and glory, before Him.
As the procession was moving the multitude that followed cut down the palm leaves and put them before Him and shouted loudly, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” (Matthew 21:9). They said these words directly from Psalms 118:25. They were not asking Jesus to save them from the curse of sin because at that time they were not aware and had no idea of His death, burial, and Resurrection. They asked Him to save them from the oppression of the hated Romans. If we look into the genealogy of Jesus Christ, He was the direct descendant of King David and had every right, legally, to sit on the throne. But in a very short time things became unfavorable to Jesus. There were some fickle-minded people in the crowd that shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
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who are going to shout against Him like, “Crucify Him!” on that particular day. So, there was a sudden change in the affairs and Jesus was forced to hang between Heaven and Earth on the Roman cross, and that horrible scene was beyond comprehension. This man, whom the disciples thought to be their future King, died like a common man, miserably on the Roman cross. He died like a criminal in the hands of the enemies. The death of Christ made the disciples plunge into the depth of defeat and despair. All the people were finally confident of Jesus that He would lead them against the Roman rulers. But they became despondent when they could not achieve their goal of liberation from the Roman rule.
The dead body of Jesus was laid in the grave and the disciples thought that was the end of their hope. Their dreams were unfulfilled and their aspirations unsatisfied. But on the third day He rose from His grave. He conquered death, and appeared before His followers. He was resurrected, never to die again. The Lord ministered to His disciples for 40 days. Then before going to Heaven, to His Father, He commanded those who belonged to Him – “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witness unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and in Samaria and to the uttermost part of the Earth.” (Acts 1:8). God promised to Abraham 2 thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ, that in his seed all the nations would be blessed. Even among the wisest sages no one would have never thought His own people from the chosen ones and the chosen nations would reject their Messiah. And the consequences of Israelites’ rejection of their Messiah was horrible. Within less than 40 years, the temple on the mount of Moriah was destroyed and the Jewish people began their long, lonely, torturous walk to different countries for centuries.
“Rebirth of a Nation”
We see today the rebirth of a nation(Israel) through the faithful hand of God. According to the resolution of United Nations (UN) of November 1947, Israel became a “paper nation” and Palestine was legally partitioned. The nations
Who is the next enemy to Israel ?
of the world had given back to Israel a piece of Land that God promised to Abraham and his posterity. When God said, “Walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it for I will give it unto thee.”(Genesis 13:17). Actually the United Nations gave a very small area of the land. It was less than one fourth of the land the British proposed in the mandate of 1917, smaller than the size of the state of New Jersey in America. But it was something, aland, a home, a place to which the wandering Jewish people could return. They would be welcomed into that land and lay their weary heads for rest.
According to statistics, the Jewish population in Israel in 1948 was only 6 lahks and 40,000, whereas the surrounding Arab nations have a combined population of over 80 million and they have been threatening the Jews that they would be driven out into the Mediterranean Sea. In such critical conditions Israel had only six months to prepare for an attack which became inevitable. There was already about 1 lakh of the British army to maintain peace in the case of emergency.
Many leaders of the world were of the opinion that if Israel declared war by herself, then the Arabs, who were far superior in everything, would certainly attack her. In the meantime, America’s secretary of State consulted the leaders of Israel for congenial, political atmosphere for the formation of Nationhood to Israel. Anyway, on May 8th, 1948 Ben Gurion the would be Israel’s first prime minister stood up in a hastily arranged press conference in a movie theater in Tel Aviv (Capital of Israel) (because Israel did not possess Jerusalem at that time) and declared Israel a nation among the nations of the world. On May 15th, the remaining British army left the arena in Israel and, surprisingly on the same day, 6 Arab nations attacked Israel. They were Egypt, Syria, Jordan (Transjordan), Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. These 6 nations joined together and hatched a master plan to attack Israel from all corners, and she (Israel) had to face heavy causalities because she had no good weapons. In the meantime the U.N.O. tried its best for truce between the two parties, but it could be successful only for a month. And in that gap, Israel could plan
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better for the next attack. Just at that time, “Golda Meir”, an amazing and bold lady, came into lime light, who would be the prospective prime minister of Israel. She was sent to America with some assignment and she could raise 5 million dollars to purchase sophisticated weapons. Golda Meir was born in Russia, but brought up since her childhood in America. She lived and was educated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was totally Americanized. As a young woman and a Zionist she immigrated to Israel. She again went to America and raised money (about 15 million dollars) for weapons. When the battle resumed, the Arabs discovered a drastic turn of events, Israelites exhibited their talents individually and collectively. Two young men destroyed entire warships with the help of homemade bombs. Moshi Dayan, a military general, a one-eyed most powerful man commanded a Jeep mounted with a machine gun group designated (Samson Foxes) in a battle in the Sinai Desert. Within 10 days the Egyptian assault was shattered, and their casualties were too much, along with their equipment in the hands of efficient Jews.
Then in another major attack, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan’s armies joined together to capture the northern part of Israel, and the important city of Haifa. It was in the Jewish colony near the mount Megiddo. No doubt, it was the battle of serious consequences. At this moment, the Jews found themselves lacking in men, and in weapons (guns), and so, they were surrounded by the enemies. Added to that, they were very short of arms. They lost all hopes of deliverance. All of a sudden the Jewish army found a gap in the Arab lines, and even today nobody gives any clue about that mysterious gap. It remained as an unanswerable question. The Jewish defense forces seized the opportunity and entered the colony at once to reinforce themselves. The Arabs, stunned at this, reversal and withdrew their forces.
This was a turning point for Israel at that place called Jezreel Valley, otherwise known as the future battlefield called Armageddon. By 1949, January th 7, the war ended and complete independence was declared to Israel. The result of the war was Israel captured some areas in the north, south, and central
Who is the next enemy to Israel ?
which were out of their land for about 19 hundred years. In the final eight months of war, Israel lost more than 4,000 soldiers, and 2,000 civilians. The financial position of the young nation was most alarming. The deficit went up to 500 million, yet the Jewish people began to come to their homeland from all over the world. They used to say, “It is time to go home.”
In the year 1956, Israel had to indulge in the second war. A colonel in the Egyptian army, general Gamal Abdel Nasser, was miserably defeated in the Battle of 1948 at the same place where David had defeated Goliath about 3000 years ago. After that, Nasser seized the power in Egypt like Adolf Hitler in Germany, and tried for the unity of Arab nations. Like Arabs, he too hated Jews and showed his lip sympathy to Muslim refugees that left Israel at the time of the war of Independence. So, he used to say, “You have been driven from your houses by the Jews?” In order to take revenge, he gave training to a group of terrorists and murderers to slip into Israel, unnoticed, with a job to kill as many people as possible with the help of weapons supplied to them by the Soviet Union, which has been trying to have a foothold in the Middle East.In the meantime, Nasser seized the British owned Suez Canal. This action made David Ben Gurion to react immediately and send General Moshi Dayan. The result of the attack was that Dayan’s troops had destroyed all the terrorist bases and captured a large quantity of Soviet Arms. In ten day war, the Egyptians resistance was broken and Moshi Dayan penetrated into the Suez Canal capturing the Red Sea part of “Sharm El Shieph.” But, due to the pressure of the United Nations, the water ways were made open to all.
The third war Israel had to fight was called the Sixth day war in 1967. In this war the airplanes worked well, and within hours the planes of six Arab Nations were smashed. During this Sixth day war, Israel captured the strategic Golan Heights in the northwest, from Syria the entire Sinai, in the south, from Egyptians the most important city of Peace “Old Jerusalem”, Biblical Judaea, Samaria, the West Bank, and Gaza from Jordan. Some battles in the history of mankind appear to be most interesting and thought provoking. In
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this stage one observer explained that in a more beautiful way. “By a heat of arms unparalleled in modern times, Israel surrounded the enemies who were far superior in quantity and quality of equipment, absolute superiority in number had fought war on three forms. They not only survived, but won a resounding victory.
To be clearer, Israel won an amazing battle in 1948 for national survival against six invading armies. In the war of 1956, the terrorists tried to smash the Jews at various sensitive points, but they were utterly defeated, and Israel emerged victorious. And in the war of 1967 Israel expected a dangerous attack by three nations. This time, Syria tried to divert the sustaining waters of the Jordan River, which stunned the whole world at this cruel act. But for the people with spiritual bent of mind, it was the God of Israel who remained behind all those battles as an unseen captain and brought amazing victories. Then the war of 1973 was called the war of “Yom Kippur” for six days. In this war Israel committed a blunder. They did not glorify God for their wonderful victories in their previous wars.
They felt proud of themselves for their achievements in the past. They never realized and repented that the God of their forefathers was responsible for their success. They posed as if they were self-sufficient and invincible. So, on October 6th, 1973, Israel had to face a massive attack by Egypt and Syria which was called the War of Yom Kippur, which means “The day of atonement.” Egypt attacked across the Suez Canal whereas, Syria over the Golan Heights. But Israel’s intelligence gathering capability was the best in the world. As a matter of fact, hundreds of warnings were received from secret agents who confidently told about impending attack.
American intelligence also confirmed the attack 48 hours earlier. Yet, Israelites paid a deaf ear to all those warnings. They decided not to launch anymore strike. They also thought about those warnings as false. They didn’t want to disturb the religious holidays and offend the religious Jews. Anyway,
Who is the next enemy to Israel ?
the Syrian Army, with 18 hundred tanks, started over Golan Heights to attack the unprepared Israel. Apart from that Egypt also marched with a massive show of strength. She crossed the Suez Canal to meet the less than 500 Israel soldiers because most of the other soldiers were on leave on the Eve of an important festival. With all the ups and downs, the Yom Kippur War was a reality and victory.
About 3,500 years ago, the Prophet Moses saw a bush that was burning but not consuming. Then, he said, “I will now, turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt?” (Exodus 3:3). Here Israel represented the bush which Moses saw in the wilderness. Though the bush was engulfed in the fire, it did not burn. In the same way, though Israel has felt the heat of chastisement and persecution, she will never be annihilated. The reference here is from that bush. Jehovah will speak from the midst of that bush to the people of the world, and that day is not too far. Israel’s brilliant general, and tank commander, Ariel Sharam, was able to break through the Egyptian advance in the Sinai and cross the Suez Canal. He found out that his troops completely destroyed the SAM 7 missile sites.
Peace before Storm
Israel has been craving for peace and made a covenant with a world leader who could give a guarantee for that. But, this will be her prelude to near destruction. So, we may call it “Peace before Storm.” We have a good example for this in the Bible. Samson defeated the enemies of Israel (the Philistines) and in doing so, he lost his own life. But unlike Samson, Israelites would triumph over their enemies by the grace of God, and the remaining would survive in the end to experience the glorious peace of God. In a White House Ceremony (in America), on September 13, 1993, the President and the Secretary hosted the Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who represented Israel, and PLO Chairman Yaser Arafat, who represented Palestine, signed a declaration which contained some principles on the Palestinians’ interim self-government in the west bank and Gaza strip.
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Though some world leaders looked at it in surprise, they called it a great triumph. They felt it as a breakthrough after many years of conflict and the stepping stone for peace. It is noteworthy here that just a month earlier Yaser Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) members were not even recognized by the United States. And if Israel had the opportunity, her “Mossad”, which is equivalent to the CIA, would have assassinated him or at least tried him as a war criminal guilty of most heinous crimes. Yet he was established as a great leader, national hero, and a peace maker. Then Arafath happened to win the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize. He shared that prize with Israel’s prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israel’s foreign minister Shimon Peres. In this regard, prophet Isaiah wrote, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).
Let us try to know under what circumstances the Palestinian Liberation Organization (P.L.O.) came to existence or what type of conditions forced Israel to acknowledge P.L.O.’s existence even though they were the enemies to Israel or what events allowed their administration to agree to the negotiation with terrorist group though it was responsible for the countless number of deaths and how far all these events contributed for everlasting peace. During a few months preceding Israel’s independence on May 8th, 1948, and the declaration of nationhood to her, many Palestinian Arabs wished to leave their houses in Israel and settle in other Arab countries. They would have got citizenship immediately if they had stayed there. So, they were advised to settle in either West Bank or Gaza Strip.
The Arab armies and Palestinians planned that they would invade Israel on the same day they declared their nation. Having understood the political situation, the Arabs openly said they would drive out all Israel into the Mediterranean Sea. The people who choose to leave and place themselves in opposition to the newly born state of Israel soon found in a situation they never anticipated. The war did not end in a week or two, and the result was
Who is the next enemy to Israel ?
that Israel became victorious. The Arabs who wished to remain in Israel at the time of the war were quite safe and secure. They enjoyed all privileges, citizenship, and even a better standard of living. There were two refugee camps as a result of the war of independence in 1948-1949. One was Jewish and the other Palestinian. About 8 lakhs Jews who lived in Arab nations for centuries could be absorbed in Israel somehow. But, the same number of Arabs (8 lakhs) who fled from Israel to the West Bank or Gaza Strip; their condition became different.
They were neither welcomed nor allowed to enter their nation. Instead of that, they were kept in the refugee camp only, most of the time in mud huts in poverty. The Palestinians were also used as political pawns by the Arabs. Then on humanitarian grounds, the United Nations provided relief in the refugee camps through all those years and 90% of the expenditure was borne by the United States.
Birth of P.L.O.
Under the strange conditions, the Palestinian Liberation Organization came into existence. The founder of the P.L.O. was Yasser Arafath, who took oath to destroy Jewish state through terrorism and war. Those P.L.O. members started their atrocities first with school children and defenseless people. Then in 1967 during the 6-day war, Israel captured the West Bank in a counter attack by the forces of King Hussain of Jordan. After this war, Israelites entered Jordan secretly to destroy terrorist camps.
On land, the P.L.O. continued her attacks against Israel and became stronger day by day. King Hussain realized that P.L.O. was becoming a threat to his kingdom, and to his sovereign rule. So, in 1970, the King sent his well- trained army against P.L.O. bases in his own land. This powerful army killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and the remaining were driven out of Jordan. This attack was actually Muslim against Muslim, Arab against Arab, and brother against brother. Luckily, Israel did not interfere in this massacre. Therefore, people called it “Black September.”
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The terrorists lived secretly at the borders of Israel for some time, then fled to the West Bank in 1948, and then crossed into Jordan. They massacred many people and made their way into Lebanon. In 1970 Lebanon was a very small country composed of various ethnic groups. But the majority of them were Muslims. There were also some Christians (in minority), but they were wealthy and more influenced. The P.L.O. sent her troops through Lebanon to attack Israel, as she became very powerful in the sight of other Arab nations and consequently established her own nation within the nation of Lebanon.
Then this P.L.O. felt invincible and unaccountable. With that, she killed as many leaders as possible in Lebanon. She raped many young women, and also kidnapped those who did not cooperate to her policy. The Lebanese government could not do anything for her (P.L.O.) atrocities and stood as impotent before the terrorist. So in Lebanon, terrorism, anarchy, and confusion reigned and finally, in 1975-76, all their crimes led to a civil war between Lebanon and the P.L.O. leaders.
In that war, about 80,000 Lebanese people were killed and Christians happened to take shelter in Israel. Political leaders of the world wondered at the condition, but none came forward to settle the issue amicably. Anyway, the crimes of P.L.O.’s became intolerable to Israel. So in March 1978, the government of Israel launched an operation called “Litane”, a major military expedition into Lebanon.
The prime aim of Israel was to wipe out P.L.O. bases and to establish security. It happened so that four times Israel increased her troops and four times withdrew due to political interference and the world’s opinion for peace. Even then on July 24th, 1981 and on June 4th, 1982 the P.L.O. launched 290 attacks against Israel. The attitude of the P.L.O. became unbearable to Israel, so they attacked her with both land and sea forces. This attack was called “Peace for Galilee.”
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Israel knew the power of the P.L.O., yet she advanced her forces towards Beirut which was 60 miles away. The Christians in Beirut welcomed Israel’s troops as if they had gone to liberate them. Israel won the battle and confiscated the war ammunition that P.L.O. owned and it took more than a month to transfer all the weapons. What must be the main reason for the conflict between Islam and Jews? It was purely spiritual.
A Jewish state was in existence in the land which originally belonged to Islam from the 7th century to the 19th century. She remained like a bone in the throat, which could not be extricated. The collective forces could not defeat Israel in the battlefield. Still the West bank Gaza strip was given to the Palestinians and Golan Heights to the Syrians in order to maintain peace. Israel called Jerusalem as their eternal capital. But here also, Palestinians were claiming east Jerusalem, which is at present part of West Bank, would be the capital of the emerging Palestinian nation.
Since 1993 Palestinian flags were flying over east Jerusalem. Still many people were under the impression that Israel would never allow for the division. For Muslims, the temple mount is their third holy place after Mecca and Medina. There is the Dome of the Rock on that mountain from which their prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven. Near that Dome, there is a mosque called “ALAQSA” a Muslim holy place of worship.
The Jews will show due respect to the temple Mount because it was the place to which Abraham came to offer Isaac. It was the same place where King David defeated the wicked Jebusites and built his capital city Jerusalem, “The city of Peace.” And in the same place his son, King Solomon built the house of God. It was also the same place where the Levite priests honestly performed their duties based on the Law of Moses. It was the same place where sinners found acceptance of God, the place where the Jews worshipped the Lord for about 15 hundred years, long before the birth of Islam in the
th deserts of Arabia in the 5 century A.D.