My Troubled Spirit

By Malcolm Hedding

22 Jan 2008

As a Christian who is concerned about Israel and has a track record to prove it, I have been more than alarmed by the events unfolding before us in the current peace process. US President George W. Bush’s visit to Israel has accelerated this process towards what are, in my opinion, unachievable goals. It is really not possible to conceive of a major advance in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict within the next year. With respect, this is madness!

It further concerns me that this unattainable objective has more to do with the personal prestige and political survival of some of the principals involved than with the real interests of the people in the region, whether Palestinian or Israeli. Politicians always put short–term gains and achievements first, while true statesmen put the welfare of their nations first and disregard their own personal reputations. The world is filled with the former but very short on the latter.

To be sure, I am not against a peace process. Who could be? The Bible says “seek peace and pursue it,” because peace seldom comes running to us. But I am against peace at all costs and so-called ‘peace initiatives’ that are instead dangerous and lead only to conflict and war. The truth is the Oslo process brought conflict, death and misery, and the Roadmap is taking us in the same direction, especially in Gaza. No one can deny this but indeed the very politicians who promoted these misguided adventures have never admitted or accepted their failures. If anything, they are committed to more!!

So, the unrealistic goals of this present initiative place the region in greater danger because failure to reach these lofty goals will collapse the process, usher in despair and trigger a very tragic new round of conflict. In short, by rushing at this for political expediency is playing into the hands of Israel’s enemies. In days gone by this was called brinkmanship!

Please forgive me if I am more concerned about Israel’s well–being and security than many Israelis are. This is what friends are for. Right? Over the years I have voiced similar concerns and, regrettably, my fears and misgivings were fully realized. For instance, concerning the Gaza pullout, I warned that within a few weeks it would lead to Kassam rockets raining down on Israel’s southern towns and villages. It is with grief and not with glee that I say I was right. Now, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and other Christian ministries are delivering portable bomb shelters to the affected areas. How sad!

Most troubling of all is the proposed weakening of the Jewish state by carving out borders that guarantee one contiguous Palestinian state. One could go on about Jerusalem and the refugee question, which only compounds the picture.

The real issue here is the failure of a peace partner. That is, throughout Oslo to the present Israel has not found and cannot find a genuine peace partner on the other side. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has certainly not proven himself in this regard and he remains feeble, losing ground to Hamas by the ballot and by the bullet. Before the present initiative can go forward, the Gaza Strip will have to be brought back under the control of a reformed Fatah – a seemingly insurmountable task at present. To try to achieve this will no doubt ignite renewed Hamas terrorism and invite another attack from a fully rearmed Hizbullah in the south Lebanon.

In all of this I sincerely hope that I am wrong and will acknowledge it if proven so. Until that day arrives, I am deeply concerned for the welfare of the State of Israel, but I do recognize that it enjoys a robust democratic process and I fully believe that this process can prove itself, as it should, to be the voice of the nation.

In the meanwhile, this assessment is presented out of concern and not as one of disrespect for any particular leader. I pray as never before for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).

Rev. Hedding is executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem; www.icej.org/

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