Page 47 - Signs of the End

THE SIGNS OF THE END 11

position: "Pretend to make peace with the Jews, get what you
can from negotiations, and, when the opportune moment comes,
take the rest of the land by force!"

All three of these positions are being brought forth in the
debate am ong the Arab Palestinians and nations, and many
Israelis are w aiy of the implications of the religious beliefs of the
Moslems on the potential for the peace process.

Other experts in the issues of this conflict indicate that
Moslems teach that if any territory has ever been historically
under the control of Moslems, but has been lost, it must be
returned to Moslem control. This covers a lot of territory,
including parts of Europe, such as Spain. But the immediate
concern is the land of Israel.

Israel, or as the Moslems prefer to call it, Palestine, has been
under Moslem control almost ever since the beginning of the
Moslem religion in the seventh century. The only exceptions
have been the century or so when the Crusaders from Europe
came and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the twelfth
century, and the more recent episode of Zionism in our twentieth
century, with the return of the Jewish people.

The Moslem Arabs tend to look at the return of the Jewish
people in the same way they viewed the Crusaders, as a passing
phase, and that given another hundred years, the Jews will be as
gone and forgotten as were the Crusaders. They fail to recognize
the tenacity of the Jewish people for the Land of Israel, but there
is concern about these historical realities. As our Israeli military
spokesman, mentioned above, stated, "We have won several
major wars and numerous battles with the Arabs, but the Arabs
need only to win one war to succeed."

One reason the Jew s are very hesitant to enter into an
agreement with the Moslem Arabs which depends heavily on the
Arabs voluntarily living up to their commitments, is that they are
afraid that once the Arabs perceive that they have some kind of
strategic advantage, they will annul the peace agreement and
attack Israel once more, and that the Koran would support them
in this tactic. These Israelis believe the only way to have peace
with the Arab is to maintain strong military positions, so that the
Arabs will not be tempted to attack.