Dear Joel,
I read your new article, "Mounting evidence suggests President Obama preparing to “divorce” Israel" with sadness in my heart. I am grieved because you are not telling your friends and the folks who read your articles the truth about why President Obama and his administration and many Jews and Israelis are upset with Netanyahu's policies and the actions of his coalition. You overlook the following important facts:
1. The Israeli government continues to confiscate Palestinian lands in the West Bank for the purpose of expanding Jewish settlements. In the process, Palestinian homes and farms are being destroyed causing Palestinians to live in smaller and densely populated enclaves.
2. Jewish settlements in the West Bank go against American - NOT JUST OBAMA'S - policy for Israel and the West Bank. All living American presidents publicly and privately told Israel that they are against this policy.
3. A two-state solution is the choice of the international community not just the choice of President Obama, and on Obama's watch, Netanyahu and his right wing coalition are killing the possibility of the two-state-solution.
4. When Israel simultaneously works against the one-state-solution and against the two-state-solution, it frustrates American foreign policy for the Middle East and frustrates the chances of peace.
5. With Netanyahu saying no to a 'one democratic state' and no to a 'two-state-solution', there remains no political hopes for the Palestinians who make up about half of the population that resides between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
6. You totally ignore the fact that more than 99% of the Jewish population of Israel deny that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died and rose again to save humanity. You speak of the modern state of Israel as if, TODAY, they are God's chosen people.
7. You ignore the fact that since 1948 Palestinians lost over 80% of their land and millions of them are stranded as refugees in other countries with no hope of return.
8. You work hard to whitewash Netanyahu's lies and his repeated insults on the American President which, in the first place, caused the rift.
9. You bemoan the possible divorce of America and Israel and you claim that if the divorce takes place, it is Obama's doing. America should never be married to any foreign country. If a divorce takes place, it is healthy for both America and Israel. Thanks for whoever makes such a divorce possible.
10. You use Bible verses to influence American Evangelicals to support a history of violence and injustice in Israel/Palestine rather than focusing on the teachings of Jesus that lead to love, justice, peace, reconciliation and coexistence. We are reminded in these days, as we focus on the death and the resurrection of Jesus, that the Bible is the story of God's love for the entire human race. Let us not use God's Word to support the ethnocentric ambitions and greed of one tribe of humanity.
Joel, I urge you to work with Messianic Jews, Palestinian Christians and all those who are committed to peace and reconciliation. Focus on prophecy will bring us one apocalyptic catastrophe after the other. Focus on the teachings of Jesus will bring about the Kingdom of God. Let us join hands together and seek God's best design for both Jews and Arabs who live in Israel and in Palestine.
Alex
March 28, 2015
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