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![\"ISIS\"](\"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/ISIS.jpg\")
<\/a>\nMuch of the news is coming from the Middle East. Israel is under attack from Hamas terrorists and the \u201cnew\u201d combined state of Syria and Iraq and possibly parts of Lebanon are being overrun by Shiite sect terrorists who are ruled and under a shadowy figure who has called himself the Caliph. Westerners cannot tell Shiite from Sunnite, Wahhabis from anyone. How can they deal with the violent variations within what they thought was a monolithic Islam. They use terms like \u201cIslamo-fascist\u201d to cover or create a soundbite description of what they are discussing. This brings out an age-old distinction between the worldviews of Greek and Near East, and this comparison is seen in the approach to Bible study. Once again Israel seems to hold the key to dealing effectively with the dangers at hand.<\/p>\n
The Caliphate dates from the death of Mohammed and the choice of a successor. It also led to a choice of how to further spread the Quran\u2019s teachings: fire and sword conversion or peaceful means. Today the term has been downplayed in news reports and even ridiculed. But the long-term thinking behind it still stands. Israel has the benefit of being a modern state that understands long term thinking.<\/p>\n
Western nations all too often are lulled into a state of security or complacency by thinking that a surface acceptance of a consumer culture or parliamentary form of government is a benefit that modernizes a client nation. They made significant mistakes in the African nations and tribal differences and centuries-old antagonisms ran wild after independence. The creation of democratic-in-name only states in the Middle East conveniently forgot or never took into account the Shiite-Sunni rivalry and the place of the Caliphate in both sects\u2019 cultures. Too often Western thinking ignores the core concepts of different worldviews in their diplomacy. Unfortunate also is the practice of having diplomatic representatives who see from only a Western vantage point. Israel has diplomats who see both.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s unique talents for penetrating the minds and resolving issues involving both long and short term results oriented attitudes gives it the tools to deal effectively with its neighboring hostile neighbors and an often antagonistic world of critics. The societies of the Near East are essentially tribal. Western societies view this as primitive but these societies have \u201cblood feuds\u201d among themselves which date back for generations. There is certain arrogance in thinking that fast food, digital communications and the latest fashions can overcome a cultural fixture. Israelis in the long run, are the penultimate tribal society and a genuine extended family all in one. The difference is that many of these extended family members have a degree of roots in Europe. The combined approaches to problem solving are further enhanced by a foundation of a faith whose covenant is over 3,500 years in existence; we call it the Bible.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it\u2019s time the United Nations took some lessons from Israel on how to negotiate and work with the governments of the Middle East to achieve a lasting peace and deal with the constant new arrivals on the terrorist scene. Certainly the current approach is lacking in success. They may even get around to acknowledging the Bible as the inspired Word of the Almighty.<\/p>\n
For over a decade I\u2019ve worked with Arabian horses. They are a special breed, a breed like no other. They form a bond with their owner like no other horse. This bond takes time to build and requires extreme patience; there are no shortcuts. They remember a kindness and resent a cruel act or treatment and can take terrible retribution on the malefactor at a time of their choosing. A 1,000 pound horse is very dangerous especially if you have mistreated it and drop your guard or get distracted. Likewise, the Middle Eastern mindset is a long-view one. It sees far ahead and far back. It changes slowly. Its trust must be earned, not merely signed off on paper. Maybe it\u2019s time the nations asked Israel how to go about finding a peace that lasts and becomes part of the culture instead of imposed by pen and paper and the news media. Maybe turning back to Biblical principles as well could be incorporated, we can only hope, can\u2019t we?<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tom Brennan Does Israel have the best experience to deal with the rise of the Caliphate? Do Western Governments really understand how to deal with the Middle East? Much of the news is coming from the Middle East. Israel is under attack from Hamas terrorists and the \u201cnew\u201d combined state of Syria and Iraq more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[313,314,625,125,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-1841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israeli-news","8":"tag-caliphate","9":"tag-isis","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","12":"tag-war","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1843,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841\/revisions\/1843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}