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    Whose Land? Whose Promise?:: What Christians Are Not Being Told about Israel and the Palestinians (Revised, Updated)
    Whose Land? Whose Promise?:: What Christians Are Not Being Told about Israel and the Palestinians (Revised, Updated)
    Whose Land? Whose Promise?:: What Christians Are Not Being Told about Israel and the Palestinians (Revised, Updated)
    Ebook562 pages14 hours

    Whose Land? Whose Promise?:: What Christians Are Not Being Told about Israel and the Palestinians (Revised, Updated)

    By Gary M. Burge

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    About this ebook

    Because events in the Middle East continue to escalate in tragic complexity, Christians still struggle with making sense of it all. In this updated version of "Whose Land? Whose Promise?," Gary Burge further explores the personal emotions and opinions, and sharpens his theological argument in the context of the new developments surrounding the crisis in the Middle East. "Whose Land? Whose Promise?" offers insight for the thoughtful reader on an explosive topic and challenges personal truths on peace.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPilgrim Press
    Release dateOct 30, 2013
    ISBN9780829821055
    Whose Land? Whose Promise?:: What Christians Are Not Being Told about Israel and the Palestinians (Revised, Updated)

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    • 5/5
      With great clarity Gary Burge helps us to understand the Israel/Palestine conflict. Knitting together real-life stories, biblical scriptures, and historical foundations, perhaps for the first time the reader gains insight about this conflict. Gary presents his case with great objectivity, leading the readers to a startling conclusion. In my opinion as a pastor/theologian, this book is a great Biblical Theology on Promise, Land, and People. Thank you, Professor Burge, for sharing your thoughts with courage, leading us to a greater appreciation of humanity and our Saviour's mission to save people. Thank you!

    Book preview

    Whose Land? Whose Promise?: - Gary M. Burge

    Part One

    THE BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM

    Relief Map of Israel/Palestine

    The land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

    —DEUTERONOMY 11:11–12

    The countryside of Israel is dotted with a series of peculiar-looking forts that date back to the British occupation of the country during the first part of the twentieth century. Tour guides generally pass these by since today most are simply outposts for the Israeli army (known as the Israeli Defense Forces, or the IDF). They all have a distinctive architecture and are easy to identify. Sir Charles Teggart built them around 1937, and the British used them to maintain control during the turbulent years before the founding of the modern state of Israel (1948). Teggart had come from India, where he had a reputation for effective police enforcement. In Palestine he introduced a system of sixty-five military-police forts situated strategically throughout the land.¹

    When I have a group of students with me, I like to stop the bus and ask them to examine their maps in order to tell me why Teggart chose to build a fort in this particular place rather than elsewhere along the highway. A good place is Latrun on the main highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (Hwy. 1). Teggart’s advisors were keen strategists who studied geography and history. They knew the mountains and valleys, and they understood which routes had to be controlled, which highways needed protection if the British were to be successful administrators of this region in the 1930s and 1940s. This particular highway is the primary artery that gains access to the central mountains and Jerusalem from the coast. Today its edges are dotted with wrecked military vehicles from the 1940s, preserved by the government to show the courage and perseverance of fighters who kept West Jerusalem linked to Tel Aviv.

    Once we see the strategic importance of the landscape, I then ask students if this route was important in antiquity. Did the ancient Israelites and Philistines fortify this area as well? Nine times out of ten, nearby we discover a crusader fort and an archaeological tell, a mound that looks like a human-made hill which hides the remains of some ancient fortress or city. The conclusion is clear: ancient conquerors, just like Teggart, knew which valleys and passes had to be fortified. Strategic considerations have never changed in Israel. King David, King Herod, Titus, the Crusaders, Saladin, the Ottoman Turks, General Teggart, King Abdullah I of Jordan, and Moshe Dayan of Israel all were concerned about the same valleys. While long-range artillery and air power may have changed the strategic military equation, the struggle for control of the central hills of Israel will never change.

    MAJOR FEATURES OF THE LAND

    Most political conflicts have a great deal to do with geography. The location of mountains, valleys, highways, bodies of water, and rainfall for agriculture all define the problem. For example, the Black Sea just north of Istanbul, Turkey, held vital warm-water ports for the Soviet Union’s naval fleet. Now with the breakup of the U.S.S.R., Ukraine has inherited these advantages. These geographical questions have a direct bearing on a country’s sense of

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