1949 and 1951 Observations from Lebanon about Israel and the Palestinians
Today the US embassy opens in Jerusalem and tomorrow Israel celebrates its 70th year as a reconstituted modern state. The news is filled with pictures of violence between the Palestinians and Israelis on the border between Gaza and Israel. The contest between Israel and the Palestinians has never found a peaceful, mutually acceptable solution. Perhaps it will be of interest to consider the initial observations of an American missionary who was in Lebanon at the beginning of the dispute. On June 3, 1949, the Rev. Albert G. Edwards wrote a letter to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions from the American Mission, Al Mina, in Tripoli, Lebanon, in which he contributed his unique perspective on "developments" in the Middle East. Edwards, grandson of the A.G. Edwards who founded the St. Louis-based brokerage firm by the same name, had spent the majority of his missionary career in Persia (now Iraq) and Iran. After serving in Brazil during World War Two, he and his wife, Marie,...