Aaron D. Taylor, author of "Alone with A Jihadist" interview at Book Expo America with Michelle Gipson, Written Magazine on Vimeo
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Personal Reflections on the commentary surrounding President Barack Obama’s Speech in Cairo, Egypt June 4, 2009
MOST PEOPLE WANT A TWO-STATE SOLUTION,
SO WHY CAN’T IT HAPPEN?
When did the constant tension between the Israeli and Palestinian people begin? Some would say that the dispute stems all the way to Biblical times and the tribes created by Abraham’s offspring, Isaac and Ishmael.
Others believe that the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which Palestine was granted to Britain as a place to settle the Jews, was the real starting point to the turmoil. Then, there are those who argue that the lines drawn when the state of Israel was established by the United Nations in 1948 constitute the turning point which escalated the strife.
Whatever the cause of the division might be, many leaders argue that only a two-state solution will bring an end to the tension between the two groups.
However, an agreement to divide the land into two nations is easier said than done. Whether the views of each side are based in fact or baseless propaganda, the tension has led to everything from skirmishes between schoolchildren and farmers to razed homes to deadly missile attacks.
Despite a high level of distrust stemming from both sides of this dispute, the reality shown by multiple polls is that the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians favor a two-state solution as the best way to resolve, or at least considerably lessen, the animosity that exists between their peoples. In order for such a compromise to be reached, several factors need to be resolved.
Who is the rightful owner of Jerusalem, a city that has such reverent significance to all three of the major religions in the world? What right do Palestinian refugees have to the land they were forced to flee when Israel was conceived?
Should Israelis be allowed to keep settlements that expanded into the West Bank? Which government would get to lay claim to the natural resources, namely water, that are so prized in that region? Interested parties from across the globe have taken part in numerous meetings in an attempt to put these questions to rest and move forward with creating a region in which two groups can peacefully co-exist.
So far, the peace that has been brokered has only ever been temporary and has yet to settle decisively the key questions that must be answered in order for real progress to be made.
While the primary focus of this conflict seems to be on the Muslims and Jews who live in the area, the Christian population in Israel certainly has a stake in the outcome. And, there is no doubt that Christians worldwide have strong feelings on the matter as well.
In the new release, Alone with a Jihadist: A Biblical Response to Holy War, author Aaron Taylor recounts his meeting in London with a prominent jihadist named Khalid. Taylor, a missionary and evangelist who had long-held beliefs concerning America’s mandate to spread freedom and Christianity, came away from the encounter with a complete transformation in his world view. He now holds the belief, based on his reading of the Scripture, that Christians are taught to
practice pacifism.
Taylor uses part of Alone with a Jihadist: A Biblical Response to Holy War to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asserts, with extensive documentation, that the dangerously one-sided Zionist theology practiced by many fundamentalist Christians within and outside of government is antithetical to the call for peace and brotherhood made by Christ.
Alone with a Jihadist: A Biblical Response to Holy War will be released in October 2009.
For more information visit Aaron d. Taylor’s website at
www.AaronDTaylor.com and blog at www.AaronDTaylor.blogspot.com.