Dear Friends,

I think it’s time that the free world stops trying to deal with dictators.

Three different news items caught my attention recently, and they seem to be related. First of all students at a Tel Aviv university think that the “peace process” has finally stopped (thank God!). I’m glad if it really has, not because I don’t want peace for Israel but because I think it is impossible to negotiate with a dictator.

This brings me to the second news item, which pertains to Saddam Hussein and Iraq—same problem, same frustration. One simply cannot negotiate with dictators, and that’s all there is to that. One should never have to. In the future, I expect the United Nations, the Antichrist, or whatever global force it will take, to simply outlaw the whole idea of one man running a country and dictating its policies. From Hitler through the Communists, and now China, North Korea, Cuba, etc., we have seen how debilitating it is to a nation to be run by some all-high potentate and his henchmen, rather than to freely elect their leaders and to change them periodically. All of the Arab nations are dictatorships and therefore these nations are running well behind the rest of the world in every area of life, and that certainly includes Iraq and the Palestinian people.

The third news item concerns journalists who are being jailed by Arafat. In at least two reported cases, those who wrote the wrong things about the dictator ended up in cells. In a third case, an editor of some thirty years experience was simply fired without severance or pension for simply placing an article about Arafat on page eight rather than page one of his publication.

The common thread in all these stories is the preferences of dictators. Peace has failed in the Middle East, just as religion fails in China and economics fail in Cuba. These things did not serve the wishes of the local dictators and thus have not survived. Did I say that Arafat does not want peace? Yes, of course I did, and the whole world should have known that from day one. Why would an international terrorist with a lifetime’s experience of killing Israelies, who were typically innocent and defenseless, want to live beside an Israeli state? Why has he not changed the PLO Covenant, which calls for Israel’s destruction? Why is he so intractable in every negotiation, whether it takes place in Israel or Washington? The simple answer is that Arafat wants five million dead Israelis and all of the land, not peace. No matter what Israel does, no matter who is in power there, no matter how many concessions are made to Arafat, there will never be peace while this dictator is in charge.

Rather, he will continue to frustrate his people with the theft of their produce, providing huge villas and belly dancers for himself and his cronies, and enjoying limousine and helicopter rides. Negotiating with him about peace is exactly like negotiating with Saddam Hussein about arms inspections. Total frustration is always the result.

And things are not better in other Arab nations. The true lunatics, such as Qaddafi of Libya or Assad of Syria, are treated differently in the press than so-called modern thinkers like Mubarak of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan. After all, the latter two wear suits and neckties and therefore must be enlightened Western democrats.

Well, in reality, Egypt and Jordan are mostly notable for their lack of modern progress and inability to even feed their people. With all the resources imaginable, including oil, Egypt is a total calamity, border to border. If you have ever traveled there as I have, you will see true poverty and true destitution. Its “president” resides in a palace and there is no limit on his term as dictator. In Jordan, the fabulously wealthy king lives the life of a sultan of ancient Arabic stories and plays at being some sort of statesman for the TV cameras. I personally examined his brother’s five-hundred-passenger yacht, and I have seen the king’s summer palace at Akaba on the Red Sea. I have also noted the poverty of Jordan’s ordinary citizens.

As we go to press, it looks as though we are finally going to bomb Saddam Hussein, or rather, some of his subjects, while he cowers in one of his subterranean bunkers. It’s hard to tell, but the current White House situation makes it almost imperative for the President to change the headlines. So we may see some true pressure on a dictator after all. But as far as Israel goes, the government’s unilateral give-away program to the Palestinians seems to be finished, and the peace process, other than in some foggy Washington minds, is a thing of the past. I will only add on that note, that if the Palestinians were to hold a true election (they would be the first Arabs to do so) and put in charge of their people an individual with whom one could reason, peace would yet be possible. But, in preference to what we have now, I think a continuing detente would be the better choice.

Israel, ironically, remains more than usually secure because of the beefed-up protective forces that have been in place since the peace process began. Once again, we have never seen the slightest indication of any activity one could relate to the political situation on our tours. I have gone and come back 57 times with no casualties, no evidence of the blaring headlines of the imaginations of the American news media. Join us on our next tour!

We will be in Israel for the Feast of Pentecost, which will be on May 31st this year. Why not join us in the Land where the Holy Spirit came? Our Grand Tour, from May 20 – June 2, visits the New Testament sites of Athens, with its Acropolis and Mars Hill, and Corinth in Greece. The Grand Tour also includes a leisurely Mediterranean cruise to the islands of Mykonos, Patmos, Rhodes, and the city of Ephesus. This is the only time in 1998 that we will visit Greece, so this is the time to jump on board! Our Deluxe Tour, from May 24 – June 3, will cover Israel from the lovely, green countryside of the Galilee to the stark desert fortress of Masada by the Dead Sea. Call our answering service at 1-800-WONDERS (966-3377) for your travel folder, or call Cynthia at 214-696-9760.

We just began taping the first programs of our new series, The Covenants of God. The eight covenants of Scripture represent spiritual “contracts” made by God with men. You will be impressed with the truly interesting people we will interview on these programs. We looked around Jerusalem for those who are most competent to speak on these subjects. I know you will be fascinated by Dr. Gerald Schroeder, a nuclear scientist and Orthodox Jew. His views on the scientific origins of the earth will illustrate the covenants of the Garden of Eden. We will introduce the rest of the programs as this series unfolds.

If you can provide some significant financial support as we continue to post-produce The Covenants of God, it would be very much appreciated. This is a critical time to help us, and I will certainly be satisfied if you just ask Him what He would have you do by way of prayer and giving. And be sure to remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Your messenger,

Zola

Zola Levitt Ministries is ECFA approved and has Charity Navigator’s top rating of 4 stars.

Share This Page