EYE ON THE MIDDLE EAST

Map of the Middle East.

Kissing Freedom Goodbye

For years realists on Middle East affairs said a Palestinian state would become a platform for radical Islamist terror and that the most dangerous merchants of death would populate the ministate…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2007

A tired old motto makes its appearance in every political campaign. It goes something like this: “Politics: the art of the possible.” However, in many cases the reality is more…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2007

Speaking in December 2006 at a Holocaust memorial ceremony in Berlin, Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: We have learned and memorialized the lesson: the weak and defenseless are doomed. Doomed…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2007

Unity is not a word often bandied about in Middle East circles. For whatever it’s worth, however, there has been a rare occurrence of unity in a coalition of Conservative…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2006

The late Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) cronies made a big mistake years ago when they chose to line their own pockets with the loot garnered from the benevolent West, rather…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2006

Over a year ago, in a good-faith attempt at conciliation to Palestinian and international demands, Israel left the Gaza Strip. Eight thousand to 10,000 Israeli citizens were expelled from their homes…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2006

Speaking before the British House of Commons on June 8, 1982, President Ronald Reagan gave his famous “evil empire” speech in which he affirmed the reality of evil in the world and insisted…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2006

In a world overrun by head-scratching contradictions to anything resembling common sense, here’s one more. Israeli Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi has been forced to cancel plans to study…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2006

When Israel’s prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was stricken with a devastating, career-ending stroke in January, an era came to an end. Sharon was the last of the giants who have fallen…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2006

“What’s it to me?” That’s a question repeatedly bandied about by Americans and people residing in the affluent zone we call the Western democracies. There’s plenty of “bread and circus” and little…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2005

For Israelis, Gaza is history—it’s over. The tears have been shed, and lingering, bitter memories still distress many of the displaced. For example, the evacuees from Kfar Darom will not forget the heavy price exacted…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2005

In the quest for peace and survival in the Middle East, a little history and a few questions may be to our benefit. Following Britain’s defeat of the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1917, the Mandatory…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2005

In this troubled world, it’s always a plus to live in a safe place where the neighbors are friendly and always ready to lend a helping hand. Good neighbors are even more important…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2005

The Palestinian leadership has proven its ability to keep the situation under control. It has also proven its ability to coordinate the activities of all Palestinian organizations, including those who hold tough positions…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2005

Late last year a number of positive developments appeared to be taking place in the middle East. For starters, Egypt’s president Hosni mubarak freed an Israeli druze who had been convicted of spying for Israel…

Map of the Middle East.

Strike Three! You’re Safe!

Turn a few Americans loose anywhere in the world and what do you get? Baseball! While most of the media in Iraq were chasing blood-and-guts stories in other parts of the country…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2004

If oil is properly termed black gold, then one would suppose water could properly be termed liquid gold. Today the search is on for…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2004

I am a former Moslem, born and raised in the Middle East. I am very disappointed and almost scared after watching your presentation about Islam. One of the reasons I fled to the United States

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2004

The family finished their evening meal and gathered in the living room to sing and enjoy a relaxing time exchanging pleasantries and stories. Later Esther put four of their young children to bed…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2004

We have known for years that Islamist terrorist cells have been operating in the United States and North America. In 1994 investigative reporter Steven Emerson produced a one-hour documentary, Jihad in America, that aired…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2004

Last December thousands of Palestinians flocked to the home of a family whose newborn son caused a sensation. Muslims are revering the boy as the “miracle
baby” of Bethlehem. The designation was given because…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on Middle East Jan/Feb 2004

Following the brutal suicide bombing that took twenty-one lives and wounded sixty others at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa on October 4, 2003, Israel went on the offensive. The terrorist group Islamic Jihad quickly claimed responsibility…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2003

Israel has been under intense pressure by the United States, Europe, the Arab nations, and others to stop construction of a security fence in areas that have exported suicide bombers and assorted terrorists bent on…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2003

When Israel, in accordance with its agreement with the new Palestinian government, pulled Israel Defense Forces troops out of Bethlehem recently, many residents of the Jerusalem suburb of Gilo feared the worst. And they…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2003

A former U.S. ambassador to an obscure Third World nation recently contributed his opinion on TV as to why the spate of terror attacks in the wake of the war in Iraq. His remarks postulated…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye On the Middle East May/Jun 2003

The Iraq encounter has clarified precisely where major nations stand on tyranny and the prestige and power of the United States and Israel. President George W. Bush made his assessment of the UN’s power…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2003

Recent polls taken in a broad range of countries have revealed that many nations view the United States with increasing distaste. This situation…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2002

Reading the news reports that flood the airways and Internet these days, one often tends to conclude that searching for good news is a vain pursuit. That certainly applies to what is taking place in

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2002

One of the most exciting aspects of a return trip to Israel is seeing the magnificent changes that take place in relatively short periods of time. Riding through the Galilee and Judean hills and seeing…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2002

When the Israelis decided to go into the refugee camp at Jenin in order to ferret out terrorists and their weapons-making factories, a fateful decision was made. Instead of using massive, indiscriminate bombing campaigns as

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2002

Late last winter a flurry of peace proposals began floating through the air of the Middle East. The situation in Israel was desperate. Palestinian terrorists were murdering innocent civilians at an alarming rate. In…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East

Israel is not worth the price of an atom bomb. That opinion was expressed in an editorial appearing in an Iranian newspaper in response to remarks made by former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani. The editorial…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2002

According to a report in The Jerusalem Post, Israeli Cabinet minister Dan Meridor hailed a recent Palestinian statement as “a major breakthrough.” Apparently the Palestinian Authority (PA) has offered to resettle Arab refugees in the

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2001

In a matter of minutes on September 11, Americans were led into the violent world Israelis have occupied in the Middle East for more than half a century. Despite the fact that terrorist murder-merchants repeatedly…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2001

As if the world were not in enough trouble already, we now learn that Iraq has all of the basic components necessary to assemble a nuclear bomb. The Jerusalem Post reports that Dr. Khidhir Hamza,

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2001

At the height of the recent Al-Aqsa Intifada, Palestinians and Israelis bemoaned the suffering it caused. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, determined to widen the war and force international intervention on his behalf…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2001

We have commented often in this space about the issue of revisionist history—the writing of fiction while calling it fact. The most recent blatant example is the Arab contention that the Jewish people have had…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2001

Sheik Hassan Nashrallah has a suggestion for all Jewish people living in the State of Israel. Nashrallah is the secretary-general for the Hezbollah terrorist organization that operated against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2001

Every now and then a story breaks that contradicts the notion that Jews and Palestinian Arabs could never live together in peace and mutual respect for one another. Recently, on the eastern…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Oct/Nov 2000

Jewish emigration from the former Soviet Union is again on the rise. The reason is distressingly familiar. The evil of anti-Semitism is increasing once again. Groups such as the swastika-sporting Russian National Unity Party have…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Aug/Sep 2000

Ehud Barak’s government is on the verge of collapse. With the sporadic departure of parties from his coalition, the prime
minister faces the distinct possibility of calling early elections. He vows that in that case…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 2000

It can never be said that the Middle East comes up short when it comes to contradictions. A case in point has been the wrangling that has gone on over the withdrawal of the Israel…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Apr/May 2000

Who’s on First.” That famous comedy routine by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello had audiences in an uproar trying to figure out who was where on the baseball diamond.

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Feb/Mar 2000

JERUSALEM—In an attempt to enlarge an exit to an underground mosque, the Muslim Wakf has been illegally excavating underneath the Temple Mount and dumping the dirt by the truckload into the Kidron Valley.

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 1999/2000

Israeli lifeAn Israeli politician once told me that Prime Minister Ehud Barak is “Bibi compatible.” That is to say that Barak, who spent the major portion of his life in the military and is the nation’s most highly decorated soldier…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Oct/Nov 1999

Christians who understand what it means to be a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people were horrified upon learning of the tragic shooting of Jewish children in Los Angeles last August. Anti-Semitic violence is always unspeakably…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Aug/Sep 1999

There is a Muslim family living on a kibbutz in Israel today. How they arrived at their new home is a story that defies virtually all conventional wisdom about the ability of Jewish people and Muslims to coexist. The family is from Albania. They were forced…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 1999

I was sitting on the balcony of my hotel room in Tel Aviv, Israel, a few weeks ago. It was about three in the morning, and it seemed to me that, although I couldn’t sleep, the rest of the world should be in bed. But it was not—at least not…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Apr/May 1999

Egyptian Foreign Minister Moussa recently sent the Israelis a message meant to influence voters to dump Prime Minister Netanyahu in favor of, in their view, a more flexible candidate. Moussa urged Israelis to embrace a Palestinian state…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Feb/Mar 1999

Jewish people who are questioning if they should leave Russia and join their kinsmen who have made the exodus to Israel or other countries would do well to exit while they can. Less than a decade after the Soviet era of discrimination against…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Dec/Jan 1998/1999

Palestinian militants were pleading “wounded pride” following last summer’s retaliatory strikes against terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan. A leader of Islamic Jihad said he hoped Muslim militant groups would carry out attacks to punish…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Oct/Nov 1998

It is often difficult to feel certain you are getting the straight story when listening to spokesmen for the Palestinian Authority and their cohorts in the Middle East. The new Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheik Ekrima Sabri, recently appointed by Yasser Arafat…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye On The Middle East Aug/Sep 1998

The idea of Israel’s making a complete withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon should cause a rousing celebration in Beirut and the Arab world. After all, withdrawal from south Lebanon has been the stated objective of…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 1998

The Russians are back. And, as far as what Americans might expect, with a vengeance. During the crisis with Saddam Hussein, the Russians were vocal in letting the United States know that any attack on Saddam could start World War III—meaning…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Apr/May 1998

Since the January visits to Washington by Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, much has been said about a “demilitarized” Palestinian state. It is presumed that such a state would cause no appreciable problems for Israel, while bringing much aid and…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Feb/Mar 1998

Iran is gloating. Russia, eager to once again become a major player in the Middle East, is touting the close ties being developed with the nation that sent hundreds of thousands of its children to death in the desert during its war with the Iraqis. Moscow has declared…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Dec/Jan 1997/1998

After the tragic suicide bombing on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem last September, Yasser Arafat was adamant. The bombers, he insisted, came from abroad; thus, he had no control over the invaders. As a matter of fact, the problem, he claimed, was with…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Oct/Nov 1997

According to a recent news report, the Palestinian Authority has drafted a plan creating a belt of Palestinian communities circling Israeli neighborhoods in Jerusalem. The announcement was made by Faisal Husseini, who is in charge…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Aug/Sep 1997

French ultranationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen recently referred to the Holocaust of World War II as “a detail of history.” According to Le Pen’s version of revisionist thinking…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 1997

The debate that has raged over the Israeli building project at Har Homa, an area in southeast Jerusalem, has raised a fundamental question—one that reflects the central issue in Israel’s sputtering peace process…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Apr/May 1997

The explosion was deafening and lit the skies over a small village in northern Israel like a giant burst of lightning. Those who rushed to the scene on a fog-shrouded winter night found the shattered…

Map of the Middle East.

Prophecy And Politics

Throughout the negotiations carried on by both the Rabin and Netanyahu governments in Israel with their Arab neighbors, a persistent question has been raised by many Christians.