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…
EYE ON 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
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…
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
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…
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…
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
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…
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,
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.