Jerusalem Reunification Day

Just count the wars of Israel! In the 1930s Arabs began launching terror attacks against Jews to halt Jewish immigration. Many Jewish people were already seeing storm clouds on the horizon in Europe and fleeing to their restored homeland and imagined safety. Every decade since Israel has been attacked: 1947, 1948 (War of Independence), 1956 (Sinai Campaign), 1967 (Six Day War), 1973 (Yom Kippur War), 1982 (Operation Peace for the Galilee), and uprisings within Israel borders called Intifadas 1987-1992 and from 2000 to date. What nation on earth has suffered this manner of physical, emotional and political/diplomatic attack?

In 1947, the United Nations passed a resolution to divide the land into two nations – Palestine and Israel. The Jewish people said, “Yes” even though the resolution designated Jerusalem an international city to be administered by the U.N. Surprisingly however, Arabs voiced a resounding, “No!” Five months later, Arab intrigue, terror attacks, and a strongly encouraged evacuation of their own people (to keep them from being caught up in a massacre of the Jews), erupted into all-out war. Against terrible odds, with six Arab nations attacking, the modern nation of Israel was born.

Subsequent U.N. Resolutions regularly castigated Israel. Condemnations on every level were brought to the United Nations General Assembly. These condemnations were fueled by Arab nations now infected with the genocide virus through Haj Amin al-Husseini (Jerusalem’s Grand Mufti [supreme governor]), who interfaced in person with Hitler regarding the eradication of the Jews, not only of Europe, but also of the Middle East.

In both ‘47, and ‘67, Israel was attacked without provocation. On both occassions what one could only call divine intervention, Israel won military victories, recovered occupied land, and took her place on the world stage just short of a super power.

Yom Yerushalyaim, Jerusalem Reunification Day, is the celebration of the 1967 Six Day War and the victory that placed the Shomron (biblical name of the West Bank), the Sinai, Gaza, and Jerusalem back under the authority of the nation of Israel.

Yet, as I type this, Israel’s 40th anniversary of that war is almost overshadowed by an attack from Egypt. What do I mean? Actually we now have three nations in a tiny area in the Middle East – Gaza under Hamas; once seen by Egypt as Greater Egypt, now fed by terror cells coming from that impotent country. The West Bank under the Palestinian Authority; once seen by Jordan as Greater Jordan, now fighting for its life as the growing menace of Gaza/Egypt/Hamas matures to a potential worldwide danger, and Israel in the middle. Egypt is turning a blind eye to the arming of Hamas through their own borders.

However, in light of all this this week’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of Yom Yerushalyaim was like none I have ever seen. The West’s mislabeling of Israel’s tenacity as bull-headed arrogance happens when all the facts are not considered. All things considered it is fairly easy to predict another full-fledged assult upon Israel – the bullies now being Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria’s saber rattling on the north border. It is also fairly easy to predict continued victories and celebrations within Israel because He who keepth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.