Ever since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 the Arab world has maintained a consistent stance against its presence. The one notable exception was Anwar Sadat and he lost his life in part because of his accommodation. And while there is a strong desire for peace there are voices warning that the current peace progress is a a false hope.

Today's Washington Times has a piece by Frank Gaffney, Jr which shows how the United States has changed its tack on Palestine and is now fully supporting the new Palestinian President as a man of peace, a key player in a road map to peace. $50 million has been pledged to the Palestinian Authority to help its cause and Israel is making addition concessions along with the planned retreat from the Gaza Strip by August. But the PA is not making the type of moves that gives hope that the conflict is over.

Hamas and other terrorists are being integrated into Palestinian security forces, receiving valuable training and even arms from U.S. and European personnel. Burgeoning quantities of ever-more-powerful weapons are smuggled into Gaza from Egypt. Meanwhile, Palestinians are encouraged by official imams whose sermons are broadcast on Abbas-controlled media to kill Jews and destroy America. For example, less than two weeks before Mr. Bush welcomed Abu Mazen to the White House, Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris claimed on Palestinian Authority TV that history showed the legitimacy of torturing, exiling and murdering Jews and Muslim conquest of the U.S. inevitable.

This is not an encouraging sign. But most news outlets ignore such talk. Why are American and Israeli leaders ignoring the signs of continued conflict? Gaffney points to the title of a new book, "The Oslo Syndrome" which goes into an interesting analysis of why Israel's leaders are so desperate to reach a peace at any cost. The books is written by Dr. Kenneth Levin, a Harvard psychiatrist. A summary by Gaffney:

Dr. Levin is concerned with a pathology that has prompted Israel's Jews to embrace the false promise of peace ostensibly on offer first from Mr. Arafat, now from his former right-hand man. A similar malady seems to afflict official Washington, as well. Dr. Levin describes the roots of this pathology: "[It] lies in psychological responses common among chronically besieged populations, whether minorities subjected to defamation, discrimination and assault or small nations under persistent attack by their neighbors. People living under such stressful conditions often choose to accept at face value the indictments of their accusers in the hope of thereby escaping their predicament."

The entire article is a wake up call.

Check out the lead article in the June issue of World News and Prophecy. Cecil Maranville covers the recent trip by PA President Abbas to Washington and brings in the Biblical background on the subject. You can read it here .