Low Expectations Follow Annapolis Summit
Evangelicals disagree on how to pursue peace, but agree that the renewed Israeli-Palestinian talks may accomplish little.
Kristen Scharold | posted 11/30/2007 09:22AM
Viewed as a modest success by some and as a failure by others, the Annapolis summit ended Tuesday with a decision by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to work toward a peace agreement by the end of 2008.
Related articles and links
The summit, convened by the Bush administration to move forward a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, was initially expected to elicit concessions on both sides. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had expressed optimism that Palestinian president Abbas would agree to subdue militant groups and that Olmert would promise to stop further Israeli settlements from being built in the West Bank.
Expectations were tempered as the summit approached, however, and in the end, no immediate concessions were made. The summit did produce a document intended to guide peace talks through 2008.
Gary Burge, a Wheaton professor and author of 'Whose Land? Whose Promise?: What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians', said he was skeptical that any progress for peace would be made in the forthcoming talks.
"Palestinian displacement from land is a key to Middle East peace just like the Israeli need for security is a key for Middle East peace," Burge said, citing a key concession wanted by Palestinians. The "right of return" of nearly four million Palestinian refugees, mostly descendants of Arab residents displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, has never been agreed to by Israel.
(Continued)
Evangelicals disagree on how to pursue peace, but agree that the renewed Israeli-Palestinian talks may accomplish little.
Kristen Scharold | posted 11/30/2007 09:22AM
Viewed as a modest success by some and as a failure by others, the Annapolis summit ended Tuesday with a decision by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to work toward a peace agreement by the end of 2008.
Related articles and links
The summit, convened by the Bush administration to move forward a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, was initially expected to elicit concessions on both sides. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had expressed optimism that Palestinian president Abbas would agree to subdue militant groups and that Olmert would promise to stop further Israeli settlements from being built in the West Bank.
Expectations were tempered as the summit approached, however, and in the end, no immediate concessions were made. The summit did produce a document intended to guide peace talks through 2008.
Gary Burge, a Wheaton professor and author of 'Whose Land? Whose Promise?: What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians', said he was skeptical that any progress for peace would be made in the forthcoming talks.
"Palestinian displacement from land is a key to Middle East peace just like the Israeli need for security is a key for Middle East peace," Burge said, citing a key concession wanted by Palestinians. The "right of return" of nearly four million Palestinian refugees, mostly descendants of Arab residents displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, has never been agreed to by Israel.
(Continued)