Summary

 Summary

Summary of Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour: The most obvious source of tension was the creation of Israel. This forced Palestinians out of their homes to make a way for Jews and created a lot of confusion and resentment. Another source of tension branches out from this event. After three years of exile, the Supreme Court issued a decree allowing the Palestinians to return to their city, but when they tried the military still rejected the notion. One decision that Elias' made was the choice to sneak out of bed and go to the church. He felt the tug on his heart and went without reservations. He valued obedience to God over obedience to rules. On the contrary, his decision to remain silent at the Christmas Party in Europe was disagreeable. The host directly attacked Elias' heritage and paraded him around. **Chapters 9-13** Chacour's focus concerning the beatitudes was on "Blessed are the peacemakers" and "Blessed are the meek." He interprets these two passages as saying that dignity needed to be restored to both the Palestinians and Jews as children of God, and that it was his calling to be a peacemaker. He highlights Moses' meekness alongside his fight for justice. This is huge, because it was the justification that he needed to no longer be a doormat, so to speak. Chacour understood that anger leads to hate, and that hate can lead to inconceivable violence. We cannot cover our hurt with the Christian response, but rather we ave to give it to God and forgive. Otherwise, our hearts are in danger of embitterment. There was some beautiful imagery displayed in the book: In the same way that the parish garden was dead until time and love were poured into it, each act of love brings life to our deadening hearts. Chacour listed six questions in his book that he directs to his brothers and sisters in the West. These questions are:
 * [[image:http://www.elise.com/books/weblog/images/bloodbrothers.jpg width="153" height="233"]] ||= **Chapters 1-8** There was trouble in the mid-1930's between Great Britain, Palestine, and Jerusalem. Elias wrote that these strikes and riots were small, but it did contribute to the tensions. Another source of tension is biblical rather than historical, and goes all the way back to the times of Abraham. Elias relates that Palestinians are the sons of Ishmael (Abraham's son with Sarai's maidservant, Hagar) and as we know, the Israelites are the sons of Israel. They were brothers, yes, but one was chosen and the other exiled. The full extent of these consequences are unknown for us, bit we are certain of some generational effect.
 * Was it a bad thing that Europe organized to liberate itself from a savage occupation before and during World War II?
 * Were the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution "acts of terrorism"?
 * Who is the terrorist?
 * Who is the fighter for liberty?
 * How do you find it your right to judge?
 * How can you take on yourself the right to decide who is the terrorist? ||

Summary of A Durable Peace by Benjamin Netanyahu:
 * Discussed in this book, is the place of Israel amongst the other nations of the world, as the subtitle suggests. The author explores many intricate topics revolving around this issue - some of which will be touched on here.

Zionism, according to Netanyahu, is simply the struggle of Jewish people to restore the free State of Israel. There were two political events that made [|Zionism] a positive movement pre-WWII, and these were the Versailles Conference and the centuries of scattered Jews. The [|Versailles Conference] laid the foundations of thought needed to grant each culture, history, and language an "independent national domain." Examples that illustrate this concept are Estonia, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. There was also the creation of a slew of new nations and this paved the road for the state of Israel. However, it is important to note that the Versailles Conference did have its downfalls concerning the Creation of Israel. Secondly, the dispersion of Jews actually strengthened the belief that they were deserving of a separate country to end their wanderings.

The author also pens the idea of "the betrayal." This is referring to Great Brittan's rejection of a Jewish National home at large, but also includes many minute events. One being British acceptance of anti-Semitic riots by Arabs. Netanyahu also boldly proclaims that the West is also betraying Zionism. One way this is happening is propaganda directed towards westerners via Arab regimes. These regimes have enormous power and wealth and have just recently started the spread of anti-Israel pronouncements. Another theory central to this reading is Palestinian centrality. This refers to the proposition that a problem would still exist in the middle-east regardless of the presence of Israel. Why? Because, Arabs cannot get along! As radical as this claim is, there may be some truth to it.

In 1938, a Nazi regime rolled through Czechoslovakia and Western powers did nothing. Netanyahu suggests that, because of this incident, the same fate will befall Israel. This claim is based of geographic, political, and militaristic similarities. However, to accept this theory as gospel is dangerous because it ignores the United States past support for the Nation. Also highlighted is the importance of military, economic, and political power for Israel. A weak Israel inspires no desire for alliances, but with a rising economy other countries will seek to join the nation. A way that economics has been used poorly was through the acceptance of such substantial amounts of aid. The author states "no country in the world will choose to ally itself with Israel because it has returned to parading the virtue of Jewish powerlessness." Basically, they have milked their help all they could and now the world has tired of it. Due to the fact that economic power is so closely tied to militaristic power, Israel used this for good to prevent Syrian takeover of Jordan.

A primary theme wrestled with throughout these pages is peace. //Can peace come to the holy land?// Netanyahu suggests that there is. In fact there are two possibilities. The first is a kind of western peace, with open borders, commerce, and cooperation. An example used to exemplify this perspective was that the U.S. and Canada get along, but there are still small disagreements.The second type of peace discussed is called a "peace of deterrence." This type is commonly utilized in dictatorial conflict and the "peace" is gained through strengths intimidation of an opponents provoke. || ||

American Christian Perspective:

You may be wondering what perspective an American Christian should have on the nation of Israel and this is definitely a topic worthy of address. Consensus among Americans seems to be a surface level support, but Timothy Weber, author of "How Evangelicals Became Israels Best Friend" thinks that support for Israel must go beyond the fondness of our Sunday school days. Although, the history of Israel is contained in beloved bible stories, support for the modern nation has to surpass this and develop into an immovable force. [|"Why Christians should support Israel"] proposes several reasons why this type of support is essential of American Christians.

Consider that scriptures concerning Israel are laced throughout the Bible. (see [|Genesis 12:3], [|Matthew 25:40], [|Psalm 122:6], and [|John 4:22] ). The content of these scripture references range from "//I will bless those who bless you//" to "//Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, So have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel.//” (Jeremiah 3:20). Secondly, and most logically: Jesus was Jewish and it is through Him that Christianity is derived. In this case, ignorance is not bliss because this makes Israels history and future part of our own. As with [|A Love Story for Jews and Christians], a new story pleas to be written from //Mikol halev//.

Who Should Get the Land? Other Perspectives:

**Palestinian Perspective:** Palestinian leaders continue to be frustrated with the lack of response about the proposed two-state solution creating (as the name implies) two individual states out of the Israeli land. While this has been the working solution for over 15 years, and is still the supposed aim for both parties it has not produced any tangible results. The newest plan proposed is a one-state solution that would include the land of the West-Bank and the Gaza Strip, with both the Palestinians and the Jews living together unified. [|For Some Palestinians, one state with Israel is better than none.] However, a major problem with the one-state solution is that no Israeli leader wants to have to share power with a Palestinian. Peace talks are starting to be increasingly difficult to plan. Another thing that is clear from reading the article [|The threat of a one-state solution] that the leaders of these two groups of people are not listening to one another. Which is causing them to get nowhere in the peace plans.

﻿Israeli Perspective: The Israeli perspective centers on Zionism. Out of Zionism has been born a new Zionism; the new self-hating Jew. A message has formed from this new self-hating Jew; “You don't like this the way it is? We don't need you. We don’t need anybody. We don't even need Obama, so what makes you think you've got any place here at all?" ( [|The New Self-Hating Jew] ). From this statement we can see a desire from the Jews to do things their way, and without help. “ They are Jews who want to take pride in a homeland which fosters democracy, civilization, a conversation with the world as a whole” (The New Self-Hating Jew). But is Zionism a problem? Ben Ehrenreich outlines the legacy that Jewish mistreatment is left, which is” understanding oneself as a member of a tribe that over and over had been cast out, mistreated, slaughtered” ( ﻿ Zionism Is The Problem). Israel needs this land in order to rebuild abused identity and esteem.

American Perspective: ﻿Currently there seems to be an indifference to Israel. America in the past has been a good support for Israel. President Clinton was received well in Israel, but President Bush and especially Obama have not been as well received. Obama has been said to have " has no special feeling for us" by an Israeli official ([|Special Relationships]). There is tension beginning to form between America and Israel. Obama insists he is a friend of Israel, but his cold attitude towards them says differently in [|Can Israel Survive Friends Like These?]. While in the past America has been a good supporter of Israel it is now on the decline.

//"Those who bless will be blessed and those who curse will be cursed" - Genesis 12:3 //

Table of Contents: Can Peace Come to the Holy Land? <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Introduction -Can Peace Come to the Holy Land? <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Connections <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Conclusion - Dani, Katie, Audrey, Laura