On November 15th, a new nation?

Great Debates
1

I’ve heard that Arafat is expected to declare an independent Palestine on November 15th.

By this point, with all likelihood, Israel will be in preparation for new elections.

Israel’s response will be to seize all land it needs for security, and any settlements which are not isolated. There will be rioting of all sorts as Israel solidifies its defenses around much of East Jerusalem and the Jordan River settlements.

Gaza and the West Bank will be locked down tight. Israel may even cut off power. It provides the Palestinian Authority with electricity at no cost, IIRC. By all means the Gaza airport will be closed.

A few questions :

Will Israel be able to hold onto these seized settlements like the large suburbs of East Jerusalem and Ariel and such?

Will the Palestinians declare war on Israel after these settlements are seized?

Will the Palestinians declare war and try to gain possession of East Jerusalem?

How can the Israelis continue to guarantee Muslim access to Haram-al-Sharif?

What will happen at Hebron? The settlers won’t leave. Will the IDF protect them? Will they pack up and let the settlers fend for themselves? Will there be a massacre?

Will Jews be able to visit Abraham’s Tomb? How about the 7th century synagogue in Jericho? Will Christians be able to visit Bethlehem?

How can Palestine maintain a link between Gaza and the West Bank?

2

And more importantly, will the evangelicals start pointing to passages in Revelation that talk about Jerusalem at war, and scream “The end is nigh!”?

3

This thread’s going over like a lead zeppelin.

4

I’ll try to help you out, Led.

**
Yes. Israel has enough military might to wipe out the entire Middle East. The Palestinian Authority may be rabble rousers and terrorists, but militarily are a joke. That’s if they are going one on one with Israel . . . BUT:

Yes. This could draw in other nations as well, namely Syria, Iran and Iraq. That’s the flip side of the problem. If Isreal is attacked by foreign countries, expect America to get involved.

Yes. But it won’t happen.

If there is a war, they probably won’t even try.

The Israelis will not allow a massacre. And if they do, the retaliation will be severe.

Not if there is a state of full scale war.

They can’t.

What is really scary about this is that I was at a Gore rally last week and he said that in a couple of weeks we may have to send American troops into Israel.
**
[/QUOTE]