Britannia Radio

SO IT IS ALL A LIE

In the magazine Israel Today (July 29, 2013) my friend Ryan Jones wrote about the renewal of the so-called peace negotiations that have just been held in Washington DC.   It is truly remarkable and, at the same time, deeply disturbing, that those who have believed in this notion - that there is any real wish for peace on the Palestinian side - have been so blinded by their own repeated deception that they are unable or unwilling to see the truth when it is right in front of their eyes!   Here is Ryan's article headlined "PA minister: New peace talks will help us conquer Israel later."   There are more than a few in the Palestinian Authority who are upset over the pending renewal of peace talks with Israel. Hamas in particular believes the move to be a detriment to the Palestinian cause.   But Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash reassured everyone last week that the political peace process is just a ruse, and part of a larger scheme to defeat their enemy.   In a sermon delivered in the presence of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and broadcast on official Palestinian Authority TV, Al-Habbash compared the US-driven peace negotiations to the Hudaybiyyah Peace Treaty concluded between Islam's prophet Mohammed and the Quraish tribe of Mecca.   Peace talks with Israel at this time are "the right path, which leads to achievement, exactly like the Prophet [Mohammed] did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah," Al-Habbash stated, noting that all of the Palestinians' achievements to date "never would have happened through Hamas' impulsive adventure."   Al-Habbash explained that, like Hamas, many of Mohammed's companions burned with anger that their leader was negotiating with the Quraish tribe rather than attacking Mecca. But Mohammed knew that only a more measured approach would lead to ultimate victory.   Two years after signing the treaty, Mohammed's forces had gained enough strength and he launched the brutal conquest of Mecca.   "This is the example and this is the model" that the Palestinian leadership is following, Al-Habbash acknowledged.   Amazingly, all of the doe-eyed Israeli commentators who believe that this round of negotiations is for some reason going to be different from all the previous fail to take the simple step of listening to what the Palestinians themselves are saying.   "Abbas is a real peace partner," they shout, while willfully ignoring what Abbas' own ministers are telling the public, in his name and in his presence, without any refutation by the "president."   [Translation of Al-Habbash's televised speech courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch]   So it is all a lie. The Palestinians have no wish for peace even as there is a sinister use by the Palestinian leadership of the Israelis' sincere wish for peace and their willingness to sacrifice for that! This was always so. Arafat informed Arab media outlets on the White House lawn on THE VERY DAY he signed the so-called peace agreement with Israel's leaders that it was a further step towards the destruction of Israel.   So what are we talking about, a peace process, or the ominous misuse of Israel's wish for peace in order to bring about her destruction?   This means that the repeated assertions by Israeli spokespersons that Israel has entered these new rounds of talks to serve Israel's own interest and not American or Palestinian interests, is a lie! In no way are these talks for Israel's good, and any enlightened Israeli after the debacle of Oslo must know this!   Did the withdrawal from Gaza serve Israel's best interests? No!   Did the unilateral withdrawal from South Lebanon change anything good in Lebanon towards Israel? No!   Do we have to wait - deluded by our own propaganda into believing, despite their prolific professions to the contrary, that the Palestinians really want peace - until incoming planes are shot down in the skies over Ben Gurion Airport, or until rockets bring death and destruction on Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities after we have agreed to withdraw from Judea and Samaria? Should we experience further, and worse, what we went through as a result of our withdrawals from southern Lebanon and Gush Katif?   And this will only be the beginning. The Palestinians want all of Israel by hook or by crook! As Arafat, Abu Mazen's dear leader and mentor, once said (reported in the Dutch paper Trouw): "Peace for us means the destruction of Israel!"   And for those ever deceived peace lovers who claim that this is no longer the Arabs' intent, there is a simple question that can be put to the Palestinian leader by Secretary of State John Kerry or anyone else:   "Mr Abu Mazen, when PA Minister Al Habbash made this remark a few days ago, why did you not vehemently scold him for saying such things? Is it because they resonate what most Palestinians leaders hope to achieve: Fatah via peace talks, and the Hamas through violence and war, namely the destruction of the Jewish State by hook or by crook?"   How well the psalmist's words express Israel's present predicament when he cries:   My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war. (Psalm 120:6-7)     Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director International Christian Zionist Center