Far too many Christians (and others) are being caught up in the endless propaganda being fed to us. The recognition of Palestine by Canada, the UK, Australia and France is either an act of stupidity or worse….This article I wrote for Christian Today explains why….you can get the original here….
The problem with recognising Palestine
Belgium, France, Portugal, Canada, Australia and the UK have all recently recognised the state of Palestine. The case for doing so appears strong. The war in Gaza is creating some horrific conditions. If recognising Palestine as a state will help bring peace who would not argue for it?
In addition to this even before the formation of the state of Israel after the Second World War, it was agreed that there should be a two-state solution – with one state being mainly Jewish and the other mainly Palestinian. Surely now is the time to implement that to bring peace? If your worldview is created by social media, then you will almost certainly answer ‘yes’. It just seems so obvious, doesn’t it?But Christians (and hopefully others) have a responsibility to look beyond the superficial, and the memes, and dig a bit deeper. So, let’s consider what it is we are actually talking about and whether the recognition of Palestine could result in peace, or whether it might even make things worse. The best way I can think about things is to ask questions. I hope you will find them helpful.
1. What are the borders of this Palestine state which are being recognised?
You cannot have a state without borders. So what are these borders? In general, it is assumed that these would be the borders that existed before 1967. The only problem with this is that it would mean the displacement of more than half a million Jews and the splitting of Jerusalem.
The current population of Israel is 10.15 million people – 72% of which are Jewish, 21% Arab – which kind of gets rid of the notion that Israel wants to commit genocide against the Palestinians. The population of the new state would be 5.5 million – 3.3 million in the West bank and 2.2 million in Gaza – with no Jews.
2. Who are the government?
International governments recognise the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, led by President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa. Hamas has absolute control of Gaza but in general is not recognised by other nations – and therein lies a major problem.
How do you get rid of Hamas? None of the countries who have recognised Palestine will put troops on the ground. The assumption that Hamas can be sidelined through attrition rather than outright defeat, is based on wishful thinking. There is no way to remove a terrorist group who are committed to violence and have a martyrdom complex, not just for themselves but their whole people – other than by force.
3. Why has there not been a two-state solution until now?
The answer to that is remarkably simple. The Arab nations have fought hard to destroy the state of Israel from the beginning. In 1948 Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestinian troops with support from Yemen and Saudi Arabia tried to wipe out the new tiny Jewish nation. They failed. The irony is that Israel secured 78% of Palestine, far more than the 56% they had originally been allocated. Egypt occupied Gaza and Jordan occupied the West Bank.
The second major attempt to destroy Israel was the 1967 six-day war, this time Egypt, Jordan, Syria with support from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Algeria. Remarkably, Israel won again. They captured the West Bank (from Jordan); Gaza and Sinai (from Egypt), and the Golan Heights (from Syria).
Another attempt was made in the 1973 Yom Kippur War with Egypt, Syria and expeditionary forces from Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia. Israel again won but faced heavy losses. Despite the resultant Camp David Accord, Israel has continually faced attack from Hamas, Hezbollah and other largely Iranian-sponsored armies.
4. Would a two-state solution be acceptable to both Israel and the Palestinians?
Given the above history it is hardly surprising that the Israeli government is highly unlikely to welcome the establishment of a Palestinian state which would destroy Israel’s current borders.
Within Israel itself opinions vary. There are some extreme right-wing groups who want to remove all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. There are others who somewhat strangely are even opposed to the state of Israel. All the majority want is the right to live in peace on the land of Judah, which is historically theirs. They are after all the indigenous inhabitants.
It is difficult, if not impossible to imagine any Israeli government giving up East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights or the West Bank based solely on the assurances of the West that they will be protected. Given the previous history of the West in the Holocaust, and the current increase in antisemitism in the West – and throughout the world – you can understand why the Jews want to keep their own state.
What about the Palestinians? Do they even want a two-state solution? In 2000 and 2008 they rejected a two-state solution which Israel had accepted. The reason for this is straightforward. It is summed up in the mantra which so many Western progressives chant (I hope ignorantly), “From the River to the Sea, Palestine shall be free”.
At best this means that the nation of Israel will be destroyed and all of the ex-Roman, Ottoman, Turkish, British province of Palestinia will become this new nation. At worst it means a new Holocaust, where the whole area will be purged of the Jews.
In the Hamas constitution article 7 quotes a hadith from Muhammad: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree … would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”
Article 32 says: “The HAMAS regards itself the spearhead and the vanguard of the circle of struggle against World Zionism … Islamic groups all over the Arab world should … [fight] the warmongering Jews.”
How can there be a two-state solution when such views exist in the leadership of the Palestinian, Arab Islamic world?
5. What does Hamas think of the recent recognition by Western countries?
There is no doubt that Hamas consider the recognition to be a major victory. They have exulted in it. For example, Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official stated that “the recognition of a Palestinian state is one of the fruits of October 7”. He went on to argue that the wave of recognitions represents a “victory” for the attack, justifying its brutality as a catalyst for international pressure on Israel and progress toward Palestinian statehood. Hamas feel that they have been rewarded both for their attack on Israel and the forced martyrdom of their own people. But for them it is only the beginning. In rewarding Hamas, the Western governments have justified and encouraged Hamas in its violence.
6. Why have these Western governments done this?
They know all this. Despite the contempt in which so many politicians are held, they are not stupid. They have at least the same information as the rest of us. So why have they handed this victory to Hamas? At best it’s a kind of desperate ‘Hail Mary’ – ’What else can we do? Let’s try something’.
But I suspect it is much more cynical than that. If our primary motive is that we care about the suffering caused by war, then why are the UK, Canada, Australia and France not campaigning to end the war in Sudan? Who cares for the three million people in Afghanistan who are threatened with starvation? If we are so passionate about the genocide of a Muslim people, why are we entirely silent about the fate of the Uyghur people in China?
It is surely not without significance that all of the countries that have recognised Palestine have large Muslim immigrant populations whose religion is fundamentally opposed to the Jews. If the Jews were not involved, we would not be facing this situation.
Furthermore, they have centre left governments who are under pressure from their Left – with the Greens, the far Left, pushing for more action against Israel. Despite the incongruity and insanity of ‘Queers for Palestine’ it now appears that antisemitism in the West has a triple alliance (the old far right, the new far left, and the ever-growing Islamists). If you think that governments have not been affected by this, ask yourself why, when Italy refused to recognise Palestine, there were riots all over the country instigated by a combination of left-wing and Islamic groups?
In addition to this, Hamas are winning the propaganda war. The old Jewish blood libel has been resurrected. In a perverse twist worthy of Goebbels himself, Jews are now the Nazis wanting to kill children and commit genocide.
However, our governments should beware. Betraying Israel may work well with some of the electorate, but no nation has ever gone against the Jews and prospered. It’s not wise to touch the apple of God’s eye.
7. Will it work?
Given that the recognition is primarily for domestic political consumption, and more than a little international virtue signalling, it is highly unlikely that it will work. No hostages have been released in response and Israel will not stop its attack on Gaza – especially as it now feels increasingly isolated. In fact, isolating Israel further and rewarding Hamas is far more likely to increase the suffering of the Gazan (and Israeli) people.
My final question: what should the Church do?
I don’t have a solution to an intractable problem. I would love to see the two-state thing work, but it won’t because the hostility towards the Jews is too ingrained, and the sense of injustice against them too profound.
Gaza is mentioned several times in the Bible – because of its strategic significance. I want to mention two of them. In 1 Kings 4:24 we are told, “For he [Solomon] ruled over all the region west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides.” Would that not be wonderful if there were peace on all sides? We can only pray for the peace of Jerusalem and of Gaza.
And then there is this delightful detail from the book of Acts. “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza’” (Acts 8:26). On that route Philip, the evangelist, met with the Ethiopian Eunuch who was converted. And that surely is what is needed: more evangelism. There will be no peace without Christ. Jew, Gentile, Arab, Israelis, Muslim and nominal Christians – all need Christ. May the Prince of Peace reign!
David Robertson is the former minister of St Peters Free Church in Dundee and a former Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. He is currently the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales, and blogs at The Wee Flea.
Gaza, Israel, Politicians and the Church – Some Questions
Hi David. You wrote:
“However, our governments should beware. Betraying Israel may work well with some of the electorate, but no nation has ever gone against the Jews and prospered. It’s not wise to touch the apple of God’s eye.”
I know that you enjoy being provocative, even (especially?) to your friends, but I wondered about the above assertion. As I read the Bible, Jesus is the “apple of God’s eye,” being the true son of God (Ex.4:22), and this gracious description embraces all who are “in Christ,” whether Jew or Gentile.
Perhaps you would care to explain why you think today’s ethnic or religious Jews can be so described?
Yes – my language could have been clearer and fuller. Apologies. Your point is valid.
Your Exodus reference says nothing about Jesus being the true Son of God. It says that “Israel is my firstborn son’. I was referring to other verses which speak of Israel as the apple of God’s eye (or as the NIV puts it – ‘the pupil”. – Such as
“In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the pupil of his eye.” (Deuteronomy 32:10)
“”For this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the pupil of his eye—'” Zechariah 2:8)
There are those who argue that todays Jews have nothing to do with the Israel of the Bible – whilst I think that is a legitimate position I don’t agree. Like McCheyne (and most in the Scottish presbyterian tradition) I accept that the Jews remain Gods covenant people and that we still owe a special debt to them. Jews need to be converted as much as Gentiles – but I think that Romans 11 teaches that when there is a great ingathering of the Jews to Christ that will result in a great blessing to the Gentiles.
To be honest I am not sure about whether the current existence of Israel as a nation state is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy – but I do think it is highly significant.
‘There is no way to remove a terrorist group who are committed to violence and have a martyrdom complex, not just for themselves but their whole people – other than by force.’
Jesus didn’t use force against Saul of Tarsus. The gospel is powerful enough to convert even terrorists into saints.
I know that. But I’m not quite sure what its relevance is here – given that no one is suggesting that violence be used to spread the gospel. On your criteria we should immediately disband all our armies and instead preach to any invaders!
By the way Jesus did use force. He blinded Saul and caused him to fall to the ground!
Your summary has saved me delving into History but I did know some ,suffice to say :Well Done Robert .
Keir Starmer is a dead loss and Channel Four Matt Frei is staring up the evening audience to hate Israel .It’s working.
Unless as My Dad ,Alec used to say if you don’t have a historical background of knowledge you don’t know anything.
Our Prayers continue for Israel and Gods will be done .Amen.
Thank you .
Dear Reverend – as I have pointed out to you on a number of occasions your assertions re Palestine contain a number of extremely worrying historical factual errors. I speak as someone who’s late husband was a Scottish Jew who intended for our family to emigrate to the new state of Israel from Scotland. Whilst over in Israel preparing the ground for our emigration my husband became aware of the Nabka and returned very disillusioned to Scotland.
Britain has a huge responsibility here as has France and other countries as decisions made in the early 1900s by these states have heavily contributed to the current situation.
I believe you studied history at Edinburgh University – which had a huge role in the history and development of the present day Middle East.
I have also pointed out in previous comments if you read the memoirs of the founders and of Israel and politicians and military people up to contemporary times you will see that the Israelis are in part responsible for the current situation. One example – if Israel had obeyed the United Nations and stopped stealing land the situation would not have festered on as it has.
You will also find that a number of Middle Eastern political organisations have rescinded there demands that Israel cease to exist and are prepared to work towards peaceful coexistence.
I find it strange that you use the river to the sea quote – which is in fact one of the key Israeli political aims – espoused by the Israeli Prime Minister himself.
Your closing paragraph I think holds the key to the issue. What is not needed is a two state solution but rather one in which all the people live together. However the major injustices and inequalities between the people’s will have to be addressed to solve this. Currently Israel is an apartheid state. This will have to change. I think the Palestinian population has been ready for change for some time now – the problem lies with the Israeli population – who seem blissfully unaware that their society and their behaviours are a major part of the problem.
By glossing over these issues your article (apart from the last paragraph) is unhelpful and is unlikely to help resolve the problem.
Thanks Glenda – Your personal story is as ever interesting.
But I note that your response does not really address any of my main points in the article. However let me address some of yours.
1) Yes Britain and the other European states have a great responsibility for the Middle East given that they controlled most of it – and created several new countries out of nothing. Although I note that Palestine was never a country.
2) Of course the Israelis are partly responsible for the current situation – who would deny it?
3) You state ‘if Israel had stopped stealing land and obeyed the United Nations’. Firstly no nation in their right mind should obey the UN – a corrupt and despotic institution. Secondly the Israelis only took land as a result of being attacked by some of these ‘united nations’ who were determined to wipe them out – as listed in my article. You seem to be operating on a somewhat naive position of believing the UN and that the desire to wipe out Israel by the Arab nations (and Iran) has gone…
4) The River to the Sea quote is essential. Given that it is the mantra of the anti-Israel movement.
5) Israel is not an apartheid state. If you say that the West Bank and Gaza are not part of Israel – which they not – then within Israel itself 20% are Arabs with full citizen rights. That is not apartheid. The use of hyperbolic language does not really help.
6). Your version of ‘reality’ (that the Palestinians are ready for change and willing to live in peace, but it is the Jews who don’t want to do so) is somewhat fantastical! There is no evidence for that. In fact the opposite. Recent opinion polls in the West Bank show 70% support for Hamas (which is why the PA won’t hold elections). Hamas are dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews and their removal from the land (see their constitution).
I did not ‘gloss over’ any of these issues. I have just tried to deal with the reality on the ground and not live in some kind of utopian world – which if ever acted on would result in yet another holocaust.
The ‘Palestinians’ did have a state of their own in Gaza since 2005, cleared of any Jews, including graves, and governed by Hamas. I wonder how that’s going?
Thanks David. I found a couple of YouTube videos helpful recently.
https://youtu.be/WTE3JxDbR1A?si=2CGcizAApNz_iwfA https://youtu.be/WTE3JxDbR1A?si=2CGcizAApNz_iwfA
https://youtu.be/23cbG9xTj8s?si=j1eaPH1hsT1ERPm4
After reading your article you seem to say the Palestinians have failed and so the descendents have no claims to their original lands… the residents prior to 1948 and what about the violence of many Israelis destroying homes and replacing them with their own? Crossing continents on R4 revealed the amazing tenacity of Palestinian archaeologists.
Of course there are rights and wrongs on both sides. Recognising Palestine will only make those worse..
Yes – it is well recognised that the bulk of Israeli archaeologists are involved in creating a false history of the region. In addition to this the Israeli military have destroyed a huge amount of artifacts from the Gaza and West Bank areas – see eg – https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/israel-weaponises-archaeology-too/
Worryingly for students of historical Christianity this destruction and that at Israeli excavations involves materials relating to this history.
I’m always wary when someone states ‘it is well recognised’ or ‘everyone knows that’, because invariably what follows is unsubstantiated gossip. The bulk of Israeli archaeologists are no more involved in creating a false history (ie. a history you don’t agree with) than the majority of Jews eat children for breakfast! Stop the silliness…
Thank you for this David. 🙏
All very good and may I say reasonable arguments, comments etc. But none of them carry the prophetic Word of God! Let me bring it as humbly as I can? The book of Joel states that the Lord will bring the nations into the valley of judgement on behalf of His people Israel. Why will He do this? Because they divided His Land. What is the problem of recognising a Palestinian state? It means the UK has now invited herself to the valley of judgement. How sad so many in the church can’t see this and therfore didn’t pray about it and indeed many are celebrating the decision. How tragic that many in the church can’t see what the Lord is doing with His whole heart and I challenge you to go and find in the Bible the only time this is written( that God is doing some thing with His whole heart). How awful and so far from God is the destructive theologies strangling the church that she can’t see who God actually is-The God of Israel and His beloved Son the King of the Jews and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Lion has roared who can but prophesy!
I don’t think Israel forming in 1948 has anything to do with Biblical prophecy, but they had every right to take further land as spoils of war in 48, 67 and 73.
Well Roland, I KNOW that Israel being restored to her land has EVERYTHING to do with Biblical prophecy because I have read the Bible from cover to cover multiple times over. It amazes me that so many Christians believe in the sovereignty of God and are good calvanists. But when it comes to Israel, somehow it wasn’t God just a political accident or worse, somehow those deluded Christian zionist dispensationalists managed to hoodwink God and get Israel restored behind His back! The pharisees had their theologies and expectations of the Messiah all wrapped up and had every i dotted and tee crossed, much like so much of church theology now. Then Jesus turns up and fulfills literal prophecies before their eyes, much as Israel is doing before our eyes in this generation. But they were so entrenched in their theologies, they refused to see what was clearly right there in front of them. Oh church don’t be like them, wake up and see. He who has an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches….watch this space and see how the UK is about to fall because of this decision of recognising a Palestinian state. Of course many won’t connect the dots but the fall of the UK is now inevitable.
Absolutely spot on!
In my reading of the Bible and commentaries I have come to understand that Jesus went to great lengths to say he was the fulfillment of both temple and land/kingdom. Lk 17,21 ‘…because the kingdom of God is within you’ and John 2,19 ‘..destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days’. Gods glory was seen in the clouds of the wilderness wanderings and Solomon’s temlple but was not seen in the second temple but was seen in Jesus at the transfiguration. Jer 59,5-7 says we are to seek peace in our nation to be salt and light of Christ till he comes again Gal 6,14. To the Samaritan women at the well Jesus says John 4 21 -23 ‘ true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth’ and said He was the ‘living water’. Rom 9,6 speaks of children of the promise receive the promise given to Abraham and so his children surely become the ‘apple of his eye’? The disciples were commissioned to go to the ends of the earth to ‘gather in’ believers from all nations. I believe there is no reason to go back to the temple or land which I think distracts from the gospel. Good books I think are published by Grove: The Temple in the New Testament, The New Testaments use of the Jewish Scriptures and Prophecy fulfilled today. In OT God repeatedly says He gave the Israelites the land for his purposes and if they did not acknowledge that were they not in trouble?
As I’ve asked before on this blog – what if the present state of Israel has nothing to do with religion and Biblical prophecy? If this is the case – the implications are huge.
If Israel is to be nationally converted at the return of Christ (Roms 11) then Zech 12-14 seems to suggest this takes place when Jesus returns to the Mt of Olives (Zech 14). It is hard to read some of these verses in any way but literally. If this is so then Israel requires to be in the land which at the moment they are. We must remember that the gifts and callings of God never change (Roms 11). They remain loved for the sake of the patriarchs (Roms 11). If there is presently a remnant chosen by grace then the logic is that there will yet be a fullness. The rejected will yet be accepted (Roms ). The Olive tree of grace will have a fullness from the gentiles and a fullness from Israel. Having said this, it is true that the strip of land that is Palestine is not the heavenly country to which Abraham travelled. Nor is Jerusalem the city whose builder and Maker is God. These belong to the renewal of all things that Jesus creates when he returns and makes all things new.
Incidentally there seems to be genetic/DNA evidence that both Jews and Palestinian Arabs have Canaanite roots. Like Israel, Palestinians were in the land and never left. They remained ‘local’ over the centuries. I wonder if they belonged to the peoples Israel failed to expel?
Regarding a solution to the land/state dilemma Dov Waxman seems to think the two state solution is falling out of favour. He thinks a federal one-state solution has more to commend it. A one state solution would be impossible for Muslims have more children than Israelis and would soon be democratically more influential than Jews. However, a federal situation may work. Each state would mum have independence but be interdependent. An overarching government would be composed of representatives from each state.
Still they would need to work together and at the moment that looks improbable.