Rosh Hashanah begins on Wednesday, September 28th, and Israelis who observe this holiday wonder what the Jewish New Year will bring during this time of political turmoil. Palestinians are currently seeking recognition of an independent state at the United Nations. What will the holy holiday mean for Israel this year? Will it bring peace between the divided nations or will it only temporarily halt negotiations?
Rosh Hashanah marks ten days of repentance--the 'High Holy Days'-- and leads up to the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. The holiday is a time for deep reflection and prayer, and many hope that the 'New Year' would bring peace to Jerusalem. However, in the face of so much political uncertainty, most Israelis are skeptical that this will actually happen. One man said: "I don't expect a great deal of progress in the peace process. I don't actually expect that there will be a Palestinian state." Another woman said that "you can give many concessions to the Palestinians, [but they will always] want more."
On Tuesday, Israel announced that it will build over a thousand new housing units in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to claim for a future state. Palestinians see this as a direct affront to peace talks and refuse to negotiate until Israel stops talking about settlement expansion, and both the U.S. and the European Union agree. One cannot blame them for being angry; Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that this symbolizes "1,100 no's" to peace.
President Barack Obama remains neutral and does not offer much insight, saying: "While we cannot know all that the New Year will bring, we do know this: The United States will continue to stand with Israel because the bond between our two nations is unshakeable." 88 percent of Israelis actually say that they are in good spirits for Rosh Hashanah, in spite of the unrest. Do you think that Rosh Hashanah could be a peace-maker, or is it naïve to think that the holiday itself will be enough to bring peace?
Photo credit: kevinrosseel from morguefile.com
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Comments: 8
As long as he continues to support Settlements--especially with the defiant timing of increases in these residences, before new Talks or public initiatives--then the peace process has as much chance of moving forward, as an Elephant has of surviving in a piano factory.
And Hamas is just as bad.
Netanyahu was delighted when Obama backed away from the settlement issue due to a desire to mollify Jewish dem voters in the wake of the loss of a NY House seat in a special election. Now Netanyahu is free to negotiate with the Palestinians the way he wants to. In other words, zero prospect of a peace agreement now.
I don't think it's fair to see the President's recent actions, or inactions, on the Middle East, to simply be out of self-interest, for his own re-election bid.
As you know, our country just sold Bunker-Buster missiles to Israel; what's more, the President's recent appearance, before the UN General Assembly, was hardly pro-Palestinian.
And yet all the Right claims is that Obama wants to help push Israel into the sea.
US policy has ALWAYS been pro-Israel.
At a time when Palestine seeks statehood status, from the UN--a move that the US opposes--it would hardly be prudent for the President to embellish things, by publicly criticizing Israel.
A cursory examination of the Bible indicates trumpets signal WAR not PEACE.
Does than mean there will be war that day? Not necessarily, but it sure does not mean there will be peace.
War is coming, though. Things simply cannot keep heating up like they are without something coming unglued. Sooner or later, Jerusalem will be embroiled in a lightning war, with the end result that Jerusalem will again become a divided city.
The key Rosh Hashanah to watch will be 16/17 September 2012. There may indeed be a day of war that day.
And the Gather member, who put up the original Post, should join me, in their condemnation--as soon as she sees them.
Brett, this is MMMerlin, it's standard fare for him.
And I do NOT look forward to more fighting over Jerusalem - I dread it for it means more instability in the Middle East as well as everywhere else, something we do NOT need.
However, the history of Jerusalem has been war for thousands and thousands of years, and pretty much always with the same players involved even today. So, short of some miracle, we will continue seeing the history repeated ad infinitum.