The new Israel with the problems of old

The State of Israel has come under immense scrutiny since its inception in 1948. However in spite of these difficulties - 7 wars and 7 victories - Israel stands firm. The threat of war hangs over Israel at every juncture; peace is as fragile a concept as always - yet the Israeli people stand firm. At a time where Israel's enemies are planning the ultimate affront - in nuclear war - Israel has a duty to remain strong.

An article written in www.theherald.co.za recently captures the essence of Israel's existence; its desire to live in peace the challenges confronting the Jewish State.


60 years after founding, no peace for Israel

SIXTY years after the declaration of independence as a sovereign Jewish state on May 14, 1948, Israel has not yet found peace (shalom).

Judaism is twice as old as Christianity and three times older than Islam – yet there are 82 Christian countries, 56 Muslim countries and only one Jewish state.

A country which is smaller than the Kruger National Park – less than one quarter of one per cent of the land mass of the Arab world – Israel is the only place on earth where Jews have formed the majority, the only place where they have been able to rule themselves and defend themselves, the only place where they have been able to do what every other people takes for granted – to live as a nation, sharing its own destiny and creating a society according to its own values.

Only in Israel can the Jew speak the Jewish language, live by the Jewish calendar, walk where their ancestors walked and continue the story they began. Yet still it has to fight for the right to exist.

So often the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is portrayed as a zero sum game in which one side wins and the other side loses. But from violence both sides lose, from peace both sides gain.

What matters, therefore, is that all involved work for peace, a peace that allows Israel and the Palestinians to live in dignity and freedom without fear, a peace in which each makes space for the other, a peace in which the children of Abraham – Jews, Christians and Arabs – live together as brothers and sisters, part of the same extended family, a peace that heals the wounds of the past – for the sake of generations not yet born.

Israel is the country whose national anthem, Hatikvah, means “hope”. Israel is the home of hope and on the occasion of its 60th anniversary it is fitting that the people of God will express that hope by praying for peace in the Holy Land.

David Abel, co-chairperson, Support Association for Zionism, George