Saturday, February 03, 2024

THE TWO-STATE DELUSION



The Two-State Delusion

   The Biden administration is leading a push to recognize a Palestinian state that will be a danger to the security of Israel

   BY ELLIOTT ABRAMS

   FEBRUARY 01, 2024

   Below it is an large Excerpt of the article:

   There are some words missing in all the calls for a Palestinian state—words like democracy, human rights, and liberty. EU Foreign Minister Borrell said in 2022 that “our message to the incoming Israeli government, which we hope will confirm the country’s full commitment to the shared values of democracy and rule of law, and with which we hope to engage in serious conversation on the conflict and the need to re-open the political horizon for the Palestinian population.” This is not new: In his speech in Israel in 2013, President Obama called for “Two states for two peoples. … [T]he only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine.”

   It seems the state on the west side of the Jordan River, Israel, must be democratic but not the new state on the east bank, Palestine. Why the distinction? Because no one thinks the Palestinian state will be a democratic state—or seems much to care. Palestine might be free, but no one seems to care whether Palestinians will be.

Why not? Natan Sharansky (an Israeli politician) explained in 2000 that “Israel and the West are too quick to rely on strong leaders for stability. Democracies often prefer to deal with dictators who have full control.” That was the view Israel took in the Oslo Accords, handing the Palestinians over to Yasser Arafat. His dictatorial control was thought to be an advantage to Israel, for he would supposedly crush Hamas. The Gaza war demonstrates how tragically wrong that outlook proved to be, because the corrupt and ineffective Fatah autocracy proved to be no match for the corrupt and effective Hamas terrorists who turned Gaza into an armed camp.

   Today, just about no one but Sharansky is calling for Palestinian democracy. The Arab states are not, of course, because not one of them is a democracy. The Europeans and Americans are not, I imagine, because they do not believe the Palestinians can do it—can create a working democracy. So the U.S. and the EU are willing to create a Palestinian state in the hope that it would be a better autocracy than it is at present—better at policing the terrorist groups, better at fighting corruption, and less repressive.

   How likely is that? Fighting corruption, for example, requires a free press to investigate it and independent courts to try cases. But no one (except Sharansky!) is calling for any of that as a precondition for declaring a Palestinian state. So it is highly likely that a new Palestinian Authority will soon be as corrupt as the current one.

But there’s a much deeper problem: No one is explaining how that state will live in “peace and security” with Israel if its people would prefer war with Israel. What if, to use Blinken’s language, “what the Palestinian people want” is mostly to destroy Israel?

And they may: Opinion polls suggest that very many Palestinians and not just those in Hamas consider the State of Israel illegitimate, want it eliminated, and favor “armed struggle.” That is, their Palestinian nationalism is not positive—mainly about building a democratic, prosperous, peaceful state of their own—but negative, mainly about destroying the Jewish state. According to a recent poll, if the last parliamentary election were repeated now, Hamas would win an outright majority.

But then what is the nature of the Palestinian state that Western governments are demanding? A terrorist state? A state with a coalition government that is half terrorist, based on admittance of Hamas into the PLO? A state that is an autocracy where “armed struggle” against Israel is widely popular and is prevented only by severe repression by local authorities—who are bound to become increasingly unpopular as they resist the popular will for a fight? Or, conversely, a state like Lebanon, where the authorities are too weak to restrain Hezbollah and in fact have become complicit in the group’s activities? And creating that state is supposed to be the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

   Despite all this, Israelis are supposed to be reassured that a Palestinian state will be no threat to them because it will have no army and will be “demilitarized.” Israelis are not so dumb—nor should we be.

   Perhaps there will be no standing army. But when the Palestinians decide to “upgrade” their police by purchasing armored personnel carriers or night vision goggles, or “defensive” weapons like drones or submachine guns, who will stop them? If your answer is “surely, Israel,” you may be right—but Israel will no longer be able to do that the way it now does, by patrolling the West Bank. Instead its only recourse would be invading or attacking the new sovereign state. Would those Israeli measures to enforce the demilitarization be applauded and defended by the British and the Germans and the U.N. secretary general? Will they be defended in Washington? Or will they be called acts of war across sacred international boundaries? Wait until the International Court of Justice gets the case.

   What other “demilitarization” measures will be imposed by the “international community” on Palestine? A ban on treaties with other nations? A ban on permitting an Iranian embassy, which will on the day it opens be a nest of spies and an arms depot? What about a Syrian embassy, or a Lebanese embassy with a Hezbollah presence? Who will inspect diplomatic pouches carrying arms and ammunition for terrorists? Will dual use items be banned in all Palestinian commercial agreements with Russia and China and North Korea?

It’s true that limitations on Palestinian sovereignty can be built into any “two-state solution” and Palestinian officials can sign them in blood. But the blood will fade; the limitations will be viewed by Palestinians the way most Germans viewed the limitations imposed by the Versailles Treaty. Those who seek to live with them will be called traitors, and those who demand abrogating or violating them will be “nationalists” and heroes. And the Israelis will find many deaf ears in the “international community” about the growing dangers, until they try to do their own enforcement. Then they will hear loud voices in every U.N. body and dozens of world capitals, denouncing their aggression against the new Palestine.

   Now add Iran to that mix. The great threats to Israel today (unless and until Iran develops a nuclear weapon) all come from Iranian proxy groups: Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the rest. The day a Palestinian state is declared is the day Iran hypes up its efforts—which are already considerable—to turn the West Bank into what Gaza became in the last decade: a maze of arsenals, training centers, tunnels, launching sites, and bases for terrorist attacks. Only this time the geography will be different, because the hills of Judea and Samaria overlook Ben-Gurion Airport, Jerusalem, and the coastal plain where most of Israel’s economy, its largest port, and its largest city are located.

   Iranian-supplied weapons will be sneaked into “Palestine” from Syria, over the Jordanian border. Even if one postulates that the Jordanians may try to stop this, they have been unable to stop the current weapons flows and Iran will be trying much harder. Israelis now refer to the Iranian “ring of fire” that surrounds them, in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza, and to a lesser extent the West Bank. Adding a Palestinian state will be a great Iranian achievement and will add a vital piece to that ring of fire. Amazingly enough, that seems to be the new “Biden Doctrine”—as Thomas Friedman describes it in The New York Times. The Biden Doctrine calls for recognizing a Palestinian state (“NOW,” as Friedman puts it) “that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” But in the real world those institutions and capabilities will never be developed, so the pressure will mount from day one to lower the bar and start planning Independence Day parties. First the Arabs, then the Europeans, and finally the United States will recognize whatever exists in the West Bank and Gaza; that’s the Biden Doctrine when it comes to fruition.

   The other relevant part of that new Doctrine, according to Friedman, is “a strong and resolute stand on Iran, including robust military retaliation against Iran’s proxies and agents in the region.” In other words, the same mug’s game the United States has been playing for 40 years: Iran pays no price for its murderous activities because we punish only the proxies while Iran itself is sacrosanct. Biden policy toward Iran has from his first day in office been to weaken sanctions, to watch as Iran moves toward a nuclear weapon, and to keep repeating that “we want no conflict with Iran” while it attacks American soldiers. Leaks from the administration that it will soon hit Iranian targets in Iraq and Syria, giving Iran time to vacate those sites, suggest that the United States will continue to play slightly new versions of the old game.

   Creating a Palestinian state will not end the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict” because it will not end the Palestinian and now Iranian dream of eliminating the State of Israel. On the contrary, it can be a launching pad for new attacks on Israel and will certainly be viewed that way by the Jewish state’s most dedicated enemies. A peaceful Palestinian state that represents no threat to Israel is a mirage. It is an illusion indulged by people in the West who want to seem progressive and compassionate, and those in the Arab world who fear resisting the powerful anti-Israel currents that circulate there and are now fortified by Iran. The future security of Israel depends in good part on resisting the two-state formula for endless conflict.

   (*) Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition.

   Note: It is very sinister that even those who write precise and excellent texts like this do not include any reference to Qatar as the state responsible for the terror and shameful accomplice to what happened on October 7th, before and after, by providing support in all ways to the Hamas terrorists. - Josimar Salum

   https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/two-state-delusion

   #IsraelLives

Sunday, January 21, 2024

THE THREE CULPRITS THAT NEUTRALIZES MEN



THE THREE CULPRITS THAT NEUTRALIZES MEN

   Feminism

   During the 1970s, certain feminist strategists initiated the so-called “Girlhood Project” with the intent of effectively blurring, and even erasing, the distinction between males and females. According to author and social critic Barbara Defoe Whitehead, feminists called for “a new sexual standard based on traditional boyhood. In their plays and pur- suits, little girls were to be made more like boys. Among cultural elites, a traditionally feminine daughter became a mild social embarrassment, while a feisty tomboy daughter became a source of pride.”13 Now, men are afraid to raise boys.14 The “copy the boys” approach was applied to all of life: to sexuality, to speech, and even to body type, with the tomboy ideal of a wiry, athletic body. Along with this, naturally active and competitive boys were penalized for their boyish behavior, while girls were lauded for ruggedness and athletic prowess.

   The effect today is a culture that celebrates a woman who has a body that is sculpted, by exercise and diet, to look like that of a man, and who talks like a man and acts like a man. 

   Amid this cultural inversion, a rugged, assertive, and disciplined man is deemed a threat. If a guy lifts his head to take charge in a mixed-gender situation, he is labeled as a chauvinist or a sexist pig. So a generation of men has been neutered and neutralized as to their natural ruggedness and will- ingness to undergo the disciplines that will turn them into real men. And Christian men are particularly susceptible to being cowed by the culture, because discipline for godliness demands a particular tough- ness and rugged individuality in a castrating, God-denying culture.

   Entertainment

   The second culprit in the neutralizing of men is the addiction to entertainment. A face lit by a luminous screen is a study in passivity. Fleeting images, intermingled with the thousand commercials and banner ads of an average week’s viewing, instill passiveness. There is no time for engagement or reflection, much less action. The viewer becomes a passive, munching, sipping drone (a male bee that has no sting and gathers no honey). There are guys, voyeurs, who have substituted viewing for doing and imagine that they have scored a touchdown or taken a hill by virtue of having watched it—passive living legends in their own inert minds.

   Sexual voyeurism is a pathetic delusion because in it a man’s God-given testosterone (which is meant to infuse manliness) becomes a medium of enslavement and impotence. Sexual voyeurism steals a man’s virility and initiative. Godly discipline becomes a receding mirage for the voyeur. And this also applies to the millions in the thrall of the gaming world (addicted to games like Fortnite - internet games), which keeps men playing games into their thirties in their Star Wars pajamas—warriors in their imaginations. 

   Those enslaved by the world of entertainment will never attain manliness, a life disciplined for godliness—a life overseen, instructed, and energized by the Man of all men, the Lord Jesus Christ.

   Legalism

   Underlying much of the conscious rejection of spiritual discipline is the fear of legalism. For many, spiritual discipline means putting oneself back under the law with a series of Draconian rules that no one can live up to—and which spawn frustration and spiritual death.

   But nothing could be further from the truth if you understand what discipline and legalism are. The difference is one of motiva­ tion: legalism is self-centered; discipline is God-centered. 

   The legalistic heart says, “I will do this thing to gain merit with God.” The disciplined heart says, “I will do this thing because I love God and want to please him.” There is an infinite difference between the motivation of legalism and discipline! Paul knew this implicitly and fought the legalists bareknuckled all the way across Asia Minor, never giving an inch. Now he shouts to us, “Train [discipline] yourself for godliness”! If we confuse legalism and discipline, we do so to our soul’s peril.

   From the Book Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes

    If you want to receive a free PDF copy of this book, write to me to josimar.salum@gmail.com ou through whatsapp at +1-774-696-3714

   #JSalum

Friday, January 19, 2024

IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S PREACHING THE GOSPEL, BUT IT DOESN'T



IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S PREACHING THE GOSPEL, BUT IT DOESN'T

Josimar Salum

   I watched a famous preacher who said that our goal is to be like Jesus. I was thrilled until a minute later I was disappointed. He then said with the support of a large crowd that filled the theater ‘that it is very difficult to be like Jesus.’

   But how difficult is it if it is the work of the Holy Spirit? How difficult is it if for God everything is possible?

   Yes, it is very easy to be like Jesus. This work is His.

   “But we all, with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2Corinthians 3:18

   IT IS BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD THAT WE ARE TRANSFORMED FROM GLORY TO GLORY INTO THE SAME IMAGE.

   “And in the same way also the Spirit helps our weaknesses; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.

   And he who examines the hearts knows what the intention of the Spirit is; and it is he who according to God intercedes for the saints.

   And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called by His decree.

   For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

   And those whom he predestined, these he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Romans 8:26-30

   “See how great love the Father has given us: that we should be called children of God.

   Therefore, the world does not know us, because it does not know it.

   Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet manifest what we will be.

   But we know that when he appears, we will be like him; because we will see it as it is.

   And whoever has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he also is pure.” 1John 3:1-3

   And continuing to watch it the next thing I heard is that we are all bad, gossipers, etc. We are Christians, but we are bad. My God! Why does this legalistic religion still is taught by best speakers in the country?

   What does the Word say? One should not appear to be preaching the Gospel, he must preach it.

   “Whoever abides in Him does not sin; whoever lives in sin has not seen him nor known him.

   Whoever practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning.

   For this purpose the Son of God manifested himself: to undo the works of the devil.

   Whoever is born of God does not live in the practice of sin; because his seed remains in him; and he cannot live in sin, because he is born of God.” 1John 3:6, 8-9

   “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

   Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sexual relations with men, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor alcoholics, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

   Some of you were like that.

   However, you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1Corinthians 6:9-11

   We were like that. We lived like that. We are no longer. If we are indeed saved and therefore we are children of God.

   “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.

   For you did not receive the spirit of slavery, to be in fear again, but you received the spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry: Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.

   And, if we are children, we are, therefore, heirs too, heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.”

Romans 8:14-17

   “In this love is perfect toward us, so that on the Day of Judgment we may have confidence; because, as HE is, so are we in this world.” 1John 4:17

   “And he quickened you, when you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, according to the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we also all formerly walked in the desires of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and we were by nature children of wrath, like others also.

   But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together with him, and made us sit on the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus;

   For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:1-6, 10

   “But God proves his love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

   Therefore, much more now, being justified by his blood, we will be saved from wrath through him.

   For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:8-10

   “He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us; that in him we might be made the righteousness of God.” 2Corinthians 5:21

   If you are still a gossiper, evil, adulterer, or anything else, “Examine yourselves whether ye continue in the faith; prove yourself.

   Or do you not know, as for yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? If not, you are already disapproved.” 2Corinthians 13:5

   Lord Jesus, I humble myself and ask that You give understanding to Your sons and daughters, so that they may believe in Your Word, and live a life by Your Spirit.

   #ASONE

Thursday, January 18, 2024

YOU ARE NOT HOPELESS



YOU ARE NOT HOPELESS

Josimar Salum

   Where you are, what you have today is not your final destiny.  

   You are whom God says you are, you have what God has given you in seeds and you are not stuck in your place, you will go wherever God will show you. Nothing in your present is final for you. You have a future. Tomorrow shall be better than today. 

   You deny with all of your heart to accommodate yourself to your circumstances. 

   You know with all of your being that the God of all provision is giving you power to move to the  fullness of abundance in all things. 

   First, you change to whom you believe. It is not in your parents, in your friends and in your community. It is not even in yourself. You shall believe the God of the impossible. You have repented your sins, you have been forgiven, you have been transformed and Jesus is your God, Lord and King alone. In Him alone you have faith. What other people say will find place in my heart only if it matches with the Word of God. 

   Second, you change your thinking, you begin to read the Scriptures, and think according the Word of God. You must believe only in what the Word says and you begin to dream great things for your future. Dream about your school, dream about your job, dream about your wife or husband, your family, and it will pass as you move to these directions.

   Third, you begin to act upon the Word and talk according to your dreams and not according to your present situation. You talk positively, and not according to what other people say. You say who God says you are and speak against your present situation because God is about to move in your life and He is about to change everything. 

   And forth, you begin to pray and talk the Word of God applying to you and your reality. You trust and obey. You believe and wrap your faith with good deeds.

   And finally, you take small steps into your future not based in your current reality, but according to where you want to arrive. 

   “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬

   “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

   #ASONE

Sunday, December 31, 2023

2024: A NEW TIME TO LOVE AND SERVE; TIME OF THE IMPOSSIBLE, AND TIME TO NOT GIVE UP.



2024: A NEW TIME TO LOVE AND SERVE; TIME OF THE IMPOSSIBLE, AND TIME TO NOT GIVE UP.

   Worcester, December 31st, 2023

   Thinking and meditating upon 2024 I have been overtaken by a strong feeling of humbling that it will be a year of many battles and challenges, of more intense tribulations than those we faced during the COVID years and even tougher situations socially, politically and economically.

   In the personal scope of 2024, those who will prevail are the ones that will face this new time as a means to love and serve. Love and serve your spouse, your family, your friends, your community, in your marketplace, in your school, in your church and in your country.

   In 2024 the times of judgement that will come upon the Earth, especially upon Brazil, the United States and the nations will be overcome by the Love of God upon everything. Therefore contradicting myself I await a time of redemption and not judgement; a time to see God working and not the advancements of evil. And I will prophesy although being a Voice  in the desert that the Kingdom of God has come!

   The keyword that echoes in my heart is ‘repentance’: 

   “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7)

   In 2024 there will be no message that will bring alignment other than: “Repent!”

   2024 will be a time to witness the impossible in your health, in your finances, in your family, in your company, in your city, and in your nation.

   In the political matters of 2024 we will contemplate many surprising interventions by God. A revelation of the living Christ will pulverize the false expectations of an antichrist. 

   What seemed unlikely and impossible the Arm of the Lord will make true and we will see many leaders giving Glory to God, recognizing that who did what was done is the Lord of Hosts that is as well the Shepherd of our hearts.

   2024 will finally be a time to not give up, as much as the burden might seem unbearable the Spirit of Strength and Courage will be poured upon millions and millions of hearts. While wounds and burdens will be upon many, the resilience of the Spirit of Christ added to a work of compassion that will culminate in the succumbing of the powerful wicked without any explanation.

   Therefore my heart rejoices! 2024 comes emerging as a Time to Love, Time of the Impossible and Time to never Give Up! It is a desire to prevail in prayer with God who has compassion on His children.

   Josimar Salum

   #ASONE