Mainline or Out of Bounds
Leaders of the National Council of Churches U.S.A. (NCC) are fond of reminding us of its size and influence. In fact, a Web site reviewing the organization’s newest yearbook called the NCC…
MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT
While We Were Sleeping
Unbelievers will go to the mat to prevent dog fighting, but believers won’t do the same to prevent worldwide persecution of their brethren in Christ. Read what is happening while we sleep.
Checking Up on the ‘Big Split’
We were recently taken by a headline that appeared in The Jewish Week. It read, “Evangelical Split Over Israel Batters Bush.” The crux of the article rested on the premise that evangelical…
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…
Pursuing the Finish-It Principle
While the West founders in a sea of inconclusiveness, radical Islam pushes aggressively toward its goal. We have an option. Dare we take it?
Hirsi Ali’s Challenge to Humanity
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is arguably the bravest and most remarkable woman of our time. To understand why this 37-year-old woman is extraordinary, she must be assessed in the context of the forces…
Saddam’s WMDs…From Someone Who Knows
In Iraq he was known as General Georges, former air vice marshal in Saddam Hussein’s military and one of Saddam’s top advisors. His name is Georges Sada, and he is a Christian. His book…
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…
Questions That Beg for Answers
Here we go again. Just as they exploded with rage over 12 cartoons published in a Danish newspaper in September 2005, Muslims again are demonstrating that they will not extend freedom of the press…
Brigitte Gabriel Conclusion
When the Palestinians started fighting in Lebanon [in the 1970s], the war took on such savagery that it was inconceivable. They would massacre the Christian cities. City after city. A signature Palestinian way…
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…
The Day Rose-Colored Glasses Turned Green
On January 25 things looked pretty good for wishful thinkers who perpetually see the world through rose-colored glasses. The Palestinian election polls were showing a 10-point spread between Palestinian President Mahmoud…
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…
Myths/Facts: Israel & the Middle East Jan/Feb 2006
Myth: Egypt is no longer a military threat since signing a peace treaty with Israel. Fact: While Egypt remains formally at peace with Israel and honors its Camp David commitments, Cairo has nevertheless amassed…
Myths/Facts: Israel & the Middle East Nov/Dec 2005
In Gaza, Israel’s intent was always to withdraw completely, and no settlements were viewed as vital to Israel for economic, security, or demographic reasons. The situation in the West Bank is completely different.
Israel: Inside the International Pressure Cooker
Years ago, few thought Ariel Sharon would ever give up Gaza. The reasons for his dramatic U-turn, however, aren’t that difficult to understand.
Jordan’s Disengagement Connection
As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in August forcibly evacuated Jewish settlers and their families from the communities where they had lived, many of them for more than 30 years…
Myths/Facts: Israel & the Middle East Sep/Oct 2005
In March 2005, Israel announced the intention to build 3,500 homes on a strip of territory that has been declared state land between the community of Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem (Jerusalem Post, March 20, 2005).
A Hand of Help for Gaza
Although the context is far removed from the essence of that ancient encounter, if you have ever ventured into the Gaza Strip you have likely thought something similar. On my last visit…
Myths/Facts: Israel & the Middle East Jul/Aug 2005
Long before 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank, Arabs used violence to try to first prevent the establishment of a Jewish state and then to destroy Israel. Anti-Jewish riots began in 1920 and were…
The Flip Side of Disengagement
Israelis are being expelled from the land they worked so hard to cultivate. Will this bring peace to the region? You be the judge.
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…
You Only Get One Mistake
I have a friend who spent his military career in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a sapper—a military demolitions specialist. His job was to defuse land mines and other lethal explosives. Upon being inducted…
Can Abbas Deliver?
None should have any illusions about newly elected Palestinian Authority (PA) president, mahmoud Abbas. He was the number two person in the Palestine Liberation Organization and a founder of the Fatah terrorist …
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…
Myths/Facts: Israel & the Middle East Mar/Apr 2005
“Hamas as a political organization does not mean that every member is a militant and we do not do political vetting and exclude people from one persuasion against another.” Although Hansen makes specious distinctions between…
Playing the Blame Game
In today’s upside-down world, right looks wrong, wrong looks right, and the good guys are getting the short end of the stick. If you don’t believe that, read this.
On the Way to Canaan Land
George W. Bush had just won the presidential election for a second term. The confetti was still lying on the floor of GOP headquarters when Britain’s prime minister Tony Blair jumped forward…
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…
PLO Uses Violence to Suppress News
Suppressing news by threatening reporters with violence or death is one of the dirty little secrets of Middle east journalism.” so wrote Jeff Jacoby last year in The Boston (MA) Globe.
Myths/Facts : Israel & the Middle East Jan/Feb 2005
Israel is not a theocracy. However, it is governed by the rule of law as drafted by a democratically elected parliament. It is informed by Jewish values and adheres to many Jewish religious customs…
Jerusalem: The Missing Link
When the pundits look back on 2004 and the attempts at an Israeli-Palestinian solution, the word disengagement will probably top…
The Ever-Expanding Reach of Islam
From its inception, Islam has been committed to being a witness to the world. And that commitment has yielded phenomenal results. Today Islam is…
Islam’s Bogus Peace
Islam, amazingly lauded as a religion of peace since September 11, 2001, is built on violence. Its founder, Muhammad, established this religion by plundering…
Sharia: It’s Closer Than You Think
Amina Lawal, a 30-year old woman accused of adultery, was tried in a Nigerian court and found guilty. She was a divorced mother who bore a child…
No More Villages to Burn
Christians are being killed in record numbers. If you think Muslims want to dominate the Middle East only, you are dangerously mistaken.
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
Targeting Hamas
The goal of Hamas is clear. As stated in the organization’s covenant, the Islamic Resistance Movement “strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.” No negotiations or compromises are possible.
Israel’s Significance Is Insignificant
Geo-political Israel today is not to be understood as God’ s promise to Abraham and Joshua. IT IS NOT! …It is fair to say, the world owes them a homeland. But, and this is important…
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…
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2004
ARUTZ-7—The United States has determined that Yasser Arafat approved the terrorist attack on a U.S. embassy convoy in which three Americans were killed in October 2003. Middle East Newsline reported in the name of U.S.
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…
Myths/Facts: Israel & the Middle East Mar/Apr 2004
In the case of Israel, the necessity for checkpoints has been created by the Palestinians. By pursuing a violent campaign of terror against Israel’s citizens, they have forced Israel to set up barriers to make…
Five Big Words
When speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom DeLay, visited Israel recently, he said cryptically, “Israel’s fight is our fight.” Just five words to be sure, but words defining what the conflict in the Middle…
Fighting ‘World War IV’
Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey has an interesting slant on world events. As far as he’s concerned, World War III is over.
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…
Potholes in the Road Map
Just how difficult it will be to negotiate the much-ballyhooed “road map” to peace in the Middle East was summed up by Israel’s prime minister, Ariel Sharon, after the Israeli cabinet recently approved the plan…
Serving the Double Standard
An issue is festering in the road map process that cannot be overlooked and certainly should not be honored. It is the insistence of the Palestinians and their Arab mentors that millions of “refugees” be…
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…
It Is About Religion— and About Responsibility
Although many people say Islamic militancy is not about religion, the trail of blood says otherwise. Can there be a Sharia democracy? We don’t think so.
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…
Selling Islam in America
The one-year commemoration of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon spawned a huge irony. While Americans and masses of people the world over held solemn…
Twenty Facts About Israel and the Middle East
The world’s attention has been focused on the Middle East. We are confronted daily with scenes of carnage and destruction. Can we understand such violence?
Confused About Who the Bad Guys Are?
If you’re not confused, give America’s largest teachers’ union time to work on a few more lesson plans, and you can be sure that the next generation will be. As though it’s not enough…
Peace in Two Sentences
Why is it so difficult to find the formula for peace in the Middle East? What’s the problem, anyway? The problem and solution are two simple sentences.
A Terrorist by Any Other Name
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. And if Nobel Peace Prize-winner Arafat funds and preaches terrorism, he’s every inch a terrorist.
A Clash of Civilizations
After decades of trying to build a better world, we are back where we started: fighting a man and an ideology that seek to destroy us.
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2002
The deputy chairman of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council told about 350 Islamic clerics recently they should support a holy war against Israel to “expel the sons of apes and pigs from Palestine.” Speaking to representatives…
When Silence Says It All
The pope’s recent visit to Syria spoke volumes. But the loudest message appears to have been what he wasn’t allowed to say.
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 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 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.
Can Israel and Syria Make a Deal?
In spite of all the optimistic talk in Washington, Jerusalem, and Damascus about peace being on the horizon, there are serious questions about how much, in the long run, can actually be achieved.
Is Everybody Happy? Don’t Count on It!
When the Sharm Agreement was signed at Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, last month, a mini-eruption of euphoria flowed into statehouses and liberal editorial offices all over the world. At long last, the spin was, we are on the road to…
Taking Stock
“My father spent his adult life as a prince one day and a pauper the next.” So said a friend speaking of his father who was addicted to playing the stock market. Winning big and losing bigger brought the man to an unenviable situation…
A Palestinian State?
With a new Israeli prime minister who appears more open to negotiating with the Palestinians than his predecessor, it is appropriate to raise this question: What would a Palestinian state involve?
Russia Eyes the Middle East
President Ronald Reagan spoke of the Soviet Union as the “evil empire” in 1983. Although spoken in a political context at the time, there is more truth to that phrase than the former president may have realized. The Union dissolved…
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…
Getting Our Attention: Is It Too Late?
There is a threadbare story that I tired of hearing years ago. It had too much of the smell of musty homespun about it to appeal to me and many of my generation, but it made a point. The story had to do with a crusty farmer and his mule.
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…
Interview With David Bar–Illan
In view of the turmoil now being experienced in the Middle East, we have decided to replace Israel In The News with an interview Elwood McQuaid conducted with Mr. David Bar-Illan on November 18, 1998. He is the Policy and…
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…
Israel at 50: Obstacles To Peace
The American College Dictionary defines the word obstacle as “something that stands in the way of or obstructs progress.” In order to understand the Middle East Peace Process, we must investigate the facts surrounding the…
Israel Cannot Forget What Many Refuse to Remember
Repeated denials by U.S. officials of any intention to pressure Israel into a posture of appeasement in the interest of approving nods from Yasser Arafat are refuted by their own actions. The heat is on Israel to acquiesce to Washington’s…
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…
Israel in the News Jun/Jul 1998
By 2003, Israel will finally have fulfilled the dreams of its founders when it overtakes the United States to become home to the largest number of Jews in the world. This according to the Institute of the World Jewish Congress, which is…
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…
Saddam Hussein: Back to Square One
I was speaking to an Israeli official shortly after the Gulf War. “We are,” he said, “deeply appreciative for all that America did during the war with Iraq. Israel is grateful. But if I could, with all due respect, I’d like to offer an opinion: I’m afraid that perhaps the…
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…
Lebanon: Land Of Beauty, Land Of War
The Bible pictures Lebanon as a land of towering mountains covered by tall cedars, rising above lush valleys with flowing rivers. Although few of the famed trees grow in the rugged mountains of modern Lebanon…
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…
The Oppression Of Middle East Christians
Extraordinary diplomatic efforts in recent years have been undertaken to resolve some of the world’s most complex, divisive conflicts—in Ireland, Bosnia, and the Middle East. The latter is no closer to resolution.
Terrorism Moves West
The words “Allahu Akbar!” (“God is great!”) regularly resound from the mosques of the world as a confession of Islam. Those same words were shouted loudly in Arabic to a group of elderly Greek tourists…
The Last Word
America has once again witnessed the stomach-wrenching emotion of flag-draped coffins being carried from large Air Force cargo planes. Grieving widows and their children are told by grim-faced leaders that their loved ones did not…
Americans on the Line
If the militant Islamic Mujahedeen have it their way, the tenuous position of the American peacemakers in Bosnia will be made even worse. According to a recent New York Times News Service release, black-garbed Afghan…
The Peace Process
From a distance, which is where I sit, things don’t look promising for Israel. Frankly, I, along with hosts of Christians who are deeply committed to promoting Israel’s best interests…
American Troops on the Golan: Another Bad Idea
In a world awash with bad ideas and catastrophic consequences, it is not out of line to counsel caution and offer a bit of good sense to those who make the decisions that affect us…
Two Faces of the Middle East
The trees look a bit better along Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv these days. New leaves have sprouted on limbs that were denuded of foliage when a mad bomber from Hamas triggered an explosive device…
A Clear and Present Danger
Life in the Middle East is often fraught with danger for citizens who hope only to live in peace. It goes without saying that the current peace process is a risk-taking venture that reflects…
A Window in Sudan
The clamor for a Palestinian state on the West Bank in Israel continues to rise. It is now an established perception in the West, particularly in the media, that the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Accord…
Hebron—Aftermath
Fanatics always turn out to be their own worst enemies. The tragedy is that in the process they often do irreparable damage to their own cause and to those people they are ostensibly…
Israel in the News Feb/Mar 1994
In an October 16 speech, Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi called on Arabs to “liquidate Israel” in the same way that “the Westerners liquidate Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina.” In his remarks …
Who’s at the Controls?
Dramatic events played out in areas of the world far removed from one another often appear and are, in fact, unrelated. Occasionally, however, a cohesive dimension developing on a larger scale reflects the fact that…
Hallelujah Revelation 19:1–6
Revelation 19–21 moves history into its glorious Hallelujah phase. In the first six verses of chapter 19, four resounding Hallelujahs (praise the Lord) are raised—the only place in the New Testament where this word…
Judgment in the Middle East Zephaniah 2:4–15
When Iraq’s Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait, world tensions were ignited. Hussein is a proven despot who envisions himself as a modern-day Nebuchadnezzar and aspires to become the leader of the Arab world.