Thursday, May 12, 2011

A Third Intifada?


A facebook page called The Third Intifada has been inviting all Muslims in countries surrounding Israel to march into Israel on May 15, 2011. Exactly how this will be carried out and how the Israeli defence force will respond are unknown.

The fear is that women and children will form the front line of this march across borders into Israel, creating a difficult defence problem for Israel.

But whatever the tactic used, according to reports on the facebook page—in Arabic, I can’t read it!—has continually posted messages inciting violence, which facebook reviews and removes periodically. The problem for facebook is that messages are often encoded in language that appears innocuous.

The page, which seeks the liberation of Palestine from the Jews by this march into Israel, has attracted 330,000 likes. It seems clear that the sentiment to destroy Israel has a large following. The Palestinian group Fatah in Gaza continues to maintain its stance to destroy Israel.

The United Nations provided a home for Israel in their present location in 1948. The way to peace in the Middle East has been intractable ever since, resulted in misery on both sides of the borders, and continued menacing threats from Arab militants.

Psalm 122:6-7 requests us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’”

The wall erected by Israel as a protection against terrorists, may also help to reduce the threatened confrontation. Let’s pray for a peaceful outcome of this proposed march this weekend, and equitable peace in the longer term for both Israelis and Palestinians.

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