See this page for links to articles on OpEdNEws that articulate both sides on the issues in the middle east. It is the goal of OpEdNews to air opinions from both sides to stretch the envelope of discussion and communication. Hate statements are not accepted. Discussions of issues and new ideas for solutions are encouraged. .The way to protect the USA from the violence and mayhem in the Mid East from revisiting our shores is to truthfully deal with the immorality of trusting in weapons of destruction to change hearts and minds. What is needed is imagination and intelligent leadership that reflects upon what we have done wrong and courageously seeks to right it.
The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership....a leadership of intellect, judgment, tolerance and rationality, a leadership committed to human values, to world peace, and to the improvement of the human condition. The attributes upon which we must draw are the human attributes of compassion and common sense, of intellect and creative imagination, and of empathy and understanding between cultures." - William Fulbright
We the people have been told that the "terrorists" hate us because of "our freedoms". Not a word is heard from the MSM about USA made weapons being used by Israelis to massacre refugees or that target Red Cross ambulances and have now slaughtered more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians.
And yet, President Bush clings too- and the limp MSM continues to report- that it is our freedoms that they hate!
Journalists quote "security sources" without challenging the information/propaganda and for those who dare to speak out about the other side of the wall, we are ignored or labeled anti-Semitic. Speaking out against inhumane and violence perpetuated by any government is a moral imperative for those who know the truth and are compelled to share it. Criticizing USA policy does not make one an unpatriotic American, but a thinking, feeling and compassionate world citizen. Opposing Israel's occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people does not make one anti-Semitic, but proves one cares for the weak, the vulnerable and those without a voice.
"The Israeli aggression is relentless, and Israel benefits from Lebanon, in that the world is not paying attention to Gaza," said Interior Minister Said Syiam in Gaza City. "I appeal to the world to pay attention." http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/807/re2.htm
Two months after Israel's offensive on Gaza began; the civilian population is desperate, isolated, and defenceless before Israeli massacres.
On July 24, 2006 Franklin Graham, President of Samaritans Purse, issued a "Prayer Alert: Crisis in the Holy Land." He states the "latest conflict between Israel and the Hezzbollah terrorist group in Lebanon has created a unique opportunity for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to reach out with God's love to thousands of families displaced by the fighting."
The good news is that in the midst of the mayhem of the Middle East the potential now exists as never before, to wake up USA Christians to the six decade long refugee crisis in the land we all call Holy, and the nearly four decades of occupation that has been allowed to not just continue unchallenged by America, but is also supported by the USA with billions of dollars worth of weapons of destruction and billions of USA tax dollars.
Graham sites Matthew 5:44, that Christians are to "love your enemies" and Psalm 122:6 that we are to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Good advice, but prayer without action is hypocrisy.
Because Lebanon is 30% Christian evangelicals have begun to arouse from their blind allegience to the Israeli governments policies and with education of the true facts on the ground there is hope that the real crisis in the Holy Land can now be addressed, a partial list includes:
1. Four decades of occupation.
2. Millions of refugees who are not allowed to return home and millions who cannot get passports to leave.
3. Over 100 unrecognized villages in Israel where Arab's have been given Israeli citizenship and pay taxes but receive no services; no electricity, no water, no medical, no schools, no respect, no human rights.
4. 4,170 Palestinian Homes have been demolished without reason or compensation since 2000. [http://www.ifamericansknew.org/]
5. A concrete wall/electrified fence that does not follow the Green Line and has been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice and must come down, but continues to grab Palestinian land, water and divides families and prevents farmers from tending their land which terminates their rights to it.
6. 9,599 Palestinians prisoners are being held, many without charges and access to legal council, and many of these are woman and children.
7. 60+ new Jewish-only settlements have been built on confiscated Palestinian land between March 2001 and July 11, 2003. [IBID]
8. The U.S. gives $15,139,178 per day to the Israeli government and military and has furnished billions in weapons of destruction.
"We have seen the enemy and he is US"-Pogo
According to The Nation on the web href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20060808/cm_thenation/20060814new_christian_zionism_1" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20060808/cm_thenation/20060814new_christian_zionism_1
Over the past months, the White House has convened a series of off-the-record meetings about its policies in the Middle East with leaders of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a newly formed political organization that tells its members that supporting Israel's expansionist policies is "a biblical imperative."
The Nation reported that CUFI's pressed White House officials to adopt a more confrontational posture toward Iran, to refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand as it ramped up its military conflict with Hezbollah.
