Who is the real enemy to peace in the Middle East?

This mornings headline reads “Israel rules out cease-fire with Hamas”. Okay, I get why Israel and Hamas do not like each other, but, it seems to me, that when your enemy sticks out his hand and offers to stop fighting, the right thing to do is to accept his hand and stop fighting.

In my admittedly unscholarly estimation, Israel is becoming (has become) a warring nation, period. Sure they have been kicked around like dogs for centuries and they have developed a monster-sized chip on their shoulders. But to turn down an opportunity for a cease fire is saying they like their role as a warring nation. Or they just want to be a nation of martyrs.

Which is it Israel? Do you enjoy killing? Do you enjoy being killed? The rest of world can see how hateful you have become. Step outside yourselves and look at what you have allowed yourselves to become. I don’t understand how a nation of people who believes in God can wantonly kill another human being.

If you myopically cite one passage that says an ‘eye for an eye’ as a reason to kill then you are missing the very reason Jesus died on the cross. God alone can pass judgment on his people.

Let’s set aside, for a moment, that this season, the celebration of the birth of the son of God, is enough reason to at least stop the aggression. Let’s forget for a moment that God has told us ‘Thou Shalt not Kill’. Israel, I beg of you to show the world that you do indeed want peace and that you will graciously accept the hand that is offering it.

All my life I have heard only one theme from Israelis and Palestinians, ‘we attack them because they attacked us’. As a child I remember my parents telling me that this reasoning is nothing more than justification for more killing.

Is this true Israel? Is this what you want out of life, more justification to kill? I have concluded that there can never be peace in the very homelands where Jesus was born because you, Israel, will not allow it. This fact alone fosters disdain for your people and leads down a road of hatred and mistrust. Am I wrong here? There is no good reason to continue this killing. Learn to live together by sharing what little you each have on both sides.

I know this sounds very simplistic and is really way too much to ask for, but peace can only start when you forget the past and look to the future.

Another thing that has been pounded into our conciseness at every turn is how our children are our future. What are you, Israel, telling your children, that is okay to kill Palestinians because they are Palestinians even when the Bible teaches us not to kill your neighbor. You are teaching hypocrisy.

There is always time to accept peace and the best time, the utmost best time, is when it is offered. Accept this cease-fire. It is an opportunity our future cannot ignore.

Now listen to the world collectively say “Israel, what the Hell are you thinking?”