Conflict in the Middle East

I recently read a great article by Dennis Prager. He succinctly made the problems in the Middle East very easy to understand. His explanation of the conflict is contained in a nutshell:

"The Arab and other Muslim enemies of Israel (for the easily confused, this does not mean every Arab or every Muslim) want Israel destroyed. That is why there is a Middle East conflict. Everything else is commentary.

The Middle East conflict is difficult to solve, but it is among the simplest conflicts in history to understand."

You should take the time to read his article in the Jewish World Review.

http://jewishworldreview.com/0706/prager071806.php3

Here are some of the facts he mentioned for the conflict in the Middle East

• Iran, Palestine, Hizbollah, Hamas, and Muslim supporters all over the world want the Jewish state annihilated.

• 1947- 48 The Arab states tried to destroy the tiny Jewish state formed by the United Nations partition plan.

• 1967 June 5 – 10 Egypt, Syria, and Jordan tried to destroy Israel in what became known as the Six-Day War.
  

• 1967 September 1 Arab countries convened in Khartoum, Sudan, and announced their famous Three no’s to Israel: "No peace, No recognition, No negotiations."

• 1973 Egypt invaded the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula

• 1977 November Anwar Sadat visited Israel and addressed its parliament in Jerusalem.

• 1978 Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in return for which Israel gave all of the oil-rich Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt.

• 1981 Sadat was assassinated by Egyptian Muslims, a killing welcomed by most Arabs, including the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). Why welcomed? Because Sadat had done the unforgivable — recognized Israel and made peace with it.

• 2000 July 11-14 Israel's Camp David offer of a Palestinian state for Palestinian peace was rejected because most Palestinians and their Arab and Muslim supporters don't want a second state. They want Israel destroyed. They admit it. Only those who wish Israel's demise and the willfully naive do not.

The extremist New York Times foreign affairs columnist, Thomas Friedman, wrote two weeks ago:

"The Palestinians could have a state on the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem tomorrow, if they and the Arab League clearly recognized Israel, normalized relations, and renounced violence. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know Israel today."

If a harsh critic of Israel like Friedman can get it so can anybody else.

According to Prager, If you ask almost anyone living in the Middle East why there is a Middle East War, in English, they will assume you are either an academic, a Western news reporter, a diplomat, or a "peace activist." They will assume you are gullible and will tell you that it's because of "Israeli occupation" or "the Zionist lobby."

But they know it isn't. And it never was.