THE BOY NEXT DOOR .....
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| Hamza Muhammed Hassan Matrouk http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617622,00.html |
On Wednesday this week Hamza Muhammed Hassan Matrouk, aged 23, woke early in his home in Tulkarem, and decided that he would go into Tel Aviv, board a bus and kill as many Jews as he could. In the middle of the morning rush hour, when buses are packed with people going to work and children going to school, Hamza Matrouk boarded a number 40 bus on Begin Boulevard, close to the old bus station, and started stabbing its passengers with a knife. The first person he attacked was the bus driver, Herzl Biton, 55, who while trying to fight off the attacker, managed to open the bus doors to allow some of the passengers to escape. Biton sustained life-threatening stab wounds to his chest and 11 others were also stabbed by Matrouk, three critically (all those injured are in recovery). CCTV footage shows Matrouk running off down the street and stabbing a woman pedestrian as he passed. A group of prison guards who were travelling in a car near the scene of the attack pursued Matrouk and shot him in the leg before arresting him.
What motivates a young man, like Matrouk, to commit such a heinous act? He said it was because of Operation Protective Edge (Israel's 50 day war with Hamas in Gaza this past summer), the events on the Temple Mount and the promise of receiving 70 virgins in Paradise. How tragic and sad is that? Jesus said we should pray for our enemies. Pray for this young man, who will be spending many years in an Israeli prison, alongside other terrorists, who will continue to feed him lies and incite him to further violence. Pray that the Lord will somehow be able to reach him and show him a better way, a way of love, forgiveness, healing and hope.
The real villians behind these kinds of acts are not so much the young men and women like Matrouk, but those who feed them the lies. Israeli leaders were quick to lay the blame at the feet of those Palestinian leaders who condone and incite violence, and feed their people lies. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said that this terror attack was the " direct result of the Palestinian Authority's venomous incitement against the Jews and their state. The same terror tries to hurt us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere." He added " Hamas, Abbas's partners in unity government, hurried to welcome this act - the same Hamas that announced it will sue Israel in the ICC "(for supposed war crimes during the Gaza War).
Within minutes Palestinian cartoonists had posted cartoons celebrating the attack on the social media, Facebook and Twitter. The first, drawn by cartoonist Bahaa Yaseen, shows a smiling terrorist holding a bloody knife, a bus with blood pouring out of it, and the number 10, which was the number of people believed to have been injured in the attack at the time. The second cartoon, also drawn by Yaseen, and posted by the Palestinian Shehab Agency, shows blood dripping off a smiling knife with the colors of the Palestinian flag on it, and lying on the ground behind, a blood covered Israeli flag. Both these cartoons have since been removed from Facebook and Twitter.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinian-cartoons-praise-Tel-Aviv-stabbing-attack-388440
Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and forms the unity government with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, did not claim responsibility for the attack, but praised it as 'brave and heroic'. What is so brave and heroic about attacking defenseless women and children? It is nothing but a cowardly and despicable act.
Not long ago the world watched in horror as Islamist militant 'lone-wolves' carried out terror attacks in Sydney and in Paris. This brought home to the inhabitants of those cities the reality of this new (to them) kind of terror, when anyone on the street can pull out a knife, a gun or activate a bomb and kill innocent people just going about their daily lives. This is the kind of terror that we here in Israel have been living with for years. As we set off for work, climb on a bus, drive down the road, go to a movie, we never know if the person next to us, who looks just like any other, might not be a terrorist about to kill us. The tragedy is this state of affairs has become 'normal' to us. It hardly raises an eyebrow these days.
Even more disturbing is the rise of a Jewish backlash. When any Arab could be a terrorist every Arab becomes a threat. Fear breeds violence. On Thursday, the day after the Tel Aviv attack, a group of about 10 Jewish young men, wearing kipas (skullcaps), attacked a young Druse man, Tommy Hasson (21) in central Jerusalem, reportedly because they heard him speaking Arabic. Hasson was hospitalized for head wounds sustained in the attack, when the youths broke a bottle over him. What these Jewish louts did not know that only 3 months ago, Tommy Hasson, finished his national service in the Israeli Army where he served in a combat unit and later protecting the President's residence. Hasson had recently moved to Jerusalem to study music. President Rivlin, who knows Hasson from when he guarded his home, called Hasson's father, Ramzi, to express his support, and in the course of their conversation Ramzi had this to say,
"On a personal level I believed up until now that this is one nation – I never saw a difference between a Jew and a Druze. I believed and I will continue to believe in the future that this is the land of the Jewish nation – it has a right to live here. There was never doubt about this. I blame myself (and) I blame my Jewish friends for not doing enough to educate. To speak Arabic is not shameful – it does not make you a potential terrorist" .http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4618430,00.html
TENSION IN THE NORTH
"Someone threw a match into a powder keg and is now waiting to see whether it will explode or not"
Last Sunday, in the Syrian Golan border region, a helicopter and two missiles attacked a convoy of Hezbollah and Iranian military personnel transferring missiles from Iran to Hezbollah. In the attack, twelve were killed, including Jihad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's commander of the Syrian Golan sector and the son of master terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, Imad Mughniyeh Mohammed Issa, the head of Hezbollah's operation in Syria and Iraq, along with five other Hezbollah fighters and six Iranian military personnel - including Iranian General Mohammed Ali Allah Dadi of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617222,00.html
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Quneitra-Rashomon-388657
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| Jihad Mughniyeh meets with Ayatollah Khamenei http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617222,00.html |
Although the Israel has not admitted responsibility for the attack, the Arab world clearly blames Israel. The Fars News Agency reported that the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said "These martyrdoms proved the need to stick with jihad. The Zionists must await ruinous thunderbolts" .
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Report-Iranian-general-was-killed-in-Israeli-strike-because-he-didnt-turn-off-his-phone-388779
All of Israel is now waiting to see what those 'ruinous thunderbolts' might be. Residents in the north are going about their business as normal but some farmers have been told to stay out of their fields along the border and some border roads have been closed. That Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has the capability of serving Israel with 'ruinous thunderbolts' is beyond doubt. They boast of having 500,000 missiles, including many long range missiles, capable of striking any target within Israel. Will they launch a massive attack at this time? This is open to debate. IDF analysts believe they will not, for they will want to save them for the day that Israel attacks the nuclear facilities in Iran. Whether they are right or not, only time will tell. It does seem likely however that they will carry out some sort of attack either on Israel itself, or on Israeli or Jewish targets abroad, in the near future. They will want some kind of revenge. Anticipating this the IDF has been moving military equipment and personnel, including Iron Dome anti-missile batteries into the northern border region.
THE ALMONDS IN BLOOM
Yesterday was a glorious, warm sunny day and I decided to take myself off to the coast and take a walk on the beach. On my way I was astounded to see that the almond trees in the hills around Jerusalem are already beginning to blossom. Almonds are the first of the trees to bloom and they begin to bloom even in the depths of winter, when all is still cold and dark, and periodic storms thrash the land. I see this as deeply symbolic.
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| An almond in blossom in the snow in Jerusalem, January 2014 |
Israel is under threat as never before. Our enemies surround us with bigger and better weapons than we have ever faced before, and the support of our friends seems to be waning. Internally the gap between the rich and poor is threatening to erupt into internal strife, and we are facing early elections and a time of political uncertainty and change. All seems very dark. But even in the depths of this 'winter' there are signs of spring approaching. Small signs but significant. One such is the greater freedom young Israel believers are feeling towards proclaiming their faith in Yeshua. For example a group of Israeli believers have published a Hebrew-language website, under the banner "We are Israel", which is aimed at making the point that " a Jew who believes in Yeshua is a Jew, period.” You can see their video presentation on YouTube - in Hebrew with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84503534&x-yt-ts=1421914688&v=Jz9rVpwVxXA#t=70.
One young Israeli believer, Shai Sol, is participating in a popular TV competition called " Kochav Haba", which means 'The Next Star". Prior to her initial audition Shai openly proclaimed her faith in Yeshua on National TV. This prompted Israel's leading media group, Keshet, to publish a weekend article in its online portal, Mako, in which it asked readers to take a closer look at Israel’s 15,000 Messianic Jews and to be more welcoming toward those who believe in Yeshua (Jesus). Significantly the article used Jesus' real name, Yeshua, rather than the acronym 'Yeshu' usually used in Israel which actually means ' may his name and memory be erased'. The fact that a mainstream news group ran such a positive article about Israel's Messianic Jews is a sign that Israeli society in general is becoming more open to our existence, and even openly curious about what we believe.
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| Shai Sol http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25724/Default.aspx |
Another sign that a spiritual 'spring' may be drawing near is the recent initiative, called project 929 which aims to get all Israelis to read the Tenach (Old Testament). Project 929 (the number of chapters in the Tenach) was initiated by Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman and Rabbi Benny Lau, the cousin of Chief Askenazi Rabbi, David Lau. A survey conducted prior to the launching of the project found that 93% of Israelis have a Bible in their home but very few ever read it. This initiative aims to create the largest Bible study community in the world by means of a cycle of daily Bible readings that will finish in three years and seven months, on the day of Israel's 70th Anniversary. In spite of the fact that some Israeli rabbis have recently come out against some of the interpretations of Scripture put forward, my hope is that many Israeli's will participate, read the Bible for themselves, and call upon God for His interpretation as quickened by the Holy Spirit.
President Reuvin Rivlin and his wife, Nechama, regularly host a Bible circle, as have done his predecessors. Rivlin is participating in Project 929 and according to Ynetnews, he said that he was excited at the prospect http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4608007,00.html . We can pray that God will reveal himself in truth with power to Rivlin and all others who are participating in this project.
This project could well be a significant step towards national repentance. Perhaps the veil over the eyes of the Jewish people is beginning to lift. The New Testament teaches us that when a Jew turns to Yeshua the veil is removed. When Jews begin to open their hearts to Yeshua, God will reveal the truth about his nature and identity.
But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.2 Corinthians 3: 14 - 16
Today I read the following verses in Psalm 102:
Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily...
And let my cry come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily...
My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me...
Those who deride me swear an oath against me...
But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
15 So the nations shall fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the Lord shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory.
17 He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer...
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
15 So the nations shall fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the Lord shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory.
17 He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer...
For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
21 To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
21 To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord
Let us, who are known by your name, o lord, take pleasure in the very stones and dust of zion, and call out fervently for her salvation.
Topics:
Messianic Jews
Israel’s leading media group, Keshet, has taken a keen interest in the nation’s Messianic Jewish community after one of its flagship television shows, the popular singing competition Kochav Haba (“The Next Star”), featured a Messianic Jewish contestant.
Keshet’s online news and entertainment portal, Mako, published a weekend story asking readers to take a closer look at Israel’s 15,000 Messianic Jews and to be more welcoming toward those who believe in Yeshua (Jesus).
The article opened by highlighting some of the hostile comments made after openly-Messianic songstress Shai Sol scored a spot in Kochav Haba’s second round following a mesmerizing audition performance.
The negative responses by some to Shai’s appearance were, as the article noted, characteristic of the typical mainstream attitude toward Messianic Jews. But the fact that Mako ran such a sympathetic piece is further evidence that much of Israeli society is not only increasingly tolerant of Messianic Jews, but is also growing more curious about what they believe, and why.
First, it should be noted that the Mako article used the name “Yeshua,” rather than the derogatory “Yeshu,” an acronym used by most Orthodox Jews meaning “may his name and memory be erased.”
Shai was asked by Mako to explain in greater depth what it means to be a Messianic Jew, a subject she briefly touched on in her Kochav Haba pre-audition interview.
“It is a stream of Judaism… We light Shabbat candles and worship God, read the Scriptures and learn the Bible,” replied Shai, noting that the one major difference with mainstream Judaism is that “we believe in both the Tanakh and the New Testament.”
Asked if that means Messianic Jews celebrate Christmas, Shai stated, “Absolutely not. We celebrate only the Jewish festivals. This is not Christianity, this is Messianic Judaism. After all, Yeshua was a Jew.”
The conversation inevitably turned toward “conversion” and “missionary activity.” The interviewer said that for her and many Jews, “when I hear ‘Messianic Jew’ I immediately think of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Shai said there was no connection. “The title ‘Messianic Jew’ always brings up negative connotations of Christians, of a cult, of missionaries. We are not missionaries walking around trying to compel people.”
The young singer explained that if someone like her interviewer was interested, “I would tell you about Yeshua and show you some [supporting] scriptures. I would invite you to a meeting at a [Messianic] congregation.”
Shai further clarified that Messianic faith is first and foremost “humanitarian” in nature, and that one cannot be compelled to accept Yeshua, who “after all [taught us] to spread love. He healed the sick and did many other social works.”
Shai said that many in the Messianic community had expressed support and satisfaction over the fact that a fellow believer had taken the national stage and in so doing had been boldly open about her faith.
“I have received a lot of messages from Messianic youth who are usually afraid to speak about [their faith],” said Shai. “They see in my ‘coming out’ an act of bravery, but I see it as natural.”
The interviewer noted that Shai has a great desire to be “a pioneer for the community, [part of] a Messianic vanguard that builds the bridge between Israeli society and Messianic Judaism.”
Shai will certainly have an opportunity to do that as she has started work on her first CD, and is scheduled to appear again soon on Kochav Haba, where critics rate her among the top contestants.
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25724/Default.aspx
Keshet’s online news and entertainment portal, Mako, published a weekend story asking readers to take a closer look at Israel’s 15,000 Messianic Jews and to be more welcoming toward those who believe in Yeshua (Jesus).
The article opened by highlighting some of the hostile comments made after openly-Messianic songstress Shai Sol scored a spot in Kochav Haba’s second round following a mesmerizing audition performance.
The negative responses by some to Shai’s appearance were, as the article noted, characteristic of the typical mainstream attitude toward Messianic Jews. But the fact that Mako ran such a sympathetic piece is further evidence that much of Israeli society is not only increasingly tolerant of Messianic Jews, but is also growing more curious about what they believe, and why.
First, it should be noted that the Mako article used the name “Yeshua,” rather than the derogatory “Yeshu,” an acronym used by most Orthodox Jews meaning “may his name and memory be erased.”
Shai was asked by Mako to explain in greater depth what it means to be a Messianic Jew, a subject she briefly touched on in her Kochav Haba pre-audition interview.
“It is a stream of Judaism… We light Shabbat candles and worship God, read the Scriptures and learn the Bible,” replied Shai, noting that the one major difference with mainstream Judaism is that “we believe in both the Tanakh and the New Testament.”
Asked if that means Messianic Jews celebrate Christmas, Shai stated, “Absolutely not. We celebrate only the Jewish festivals. This is not Christianity, this is Messianic Judaism. After all, Yeshua was a Jew.”
The conversation inevitably turned toward “conversion” and “missionary activity.” The interviewer said that for her and many Jews, “when I hear ‘Messianic Jew’ I immediately think of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Shai said there was no connection. “The title ‘Messianic Jew’ always brings up negative connotations of Christians, of a cult, of missionaries. We are not missionaries walking around trying to compel people.”
The young singer explained that if someone like her interviewer was interested, “I would tell you about Yeshua and show you some [supporting] scriptures. I would invite you to a meeting at a [Messianic] congregation.”
Shai further clarified that Messianic faith is first and foremost “humanitarian” in nature, and that one cannot be compelled to accept Yeshua, who “after all [taught us] to spread love. He healed the sick and did many other social works.”
Shai said that many in the Messianic community had expressed support and satisfaction over the fact that a fellow believer had taken the national stage and in so doing had been boldly open about her faith.
“I have received a lot of messages from Messianic youth who are usually afraid to speak about [their faith],” said Shai. “They see in my ‘coming out’ an act of bravery, but I see it as natural.”
The interviewer noted that Shai has a great desire to be “a pioneer for the community, [part of] a Messianic vanguard that builds the bridge between Israeli society and Messianic Judaism.”
Shai will certainly have an opportunity to do that as she has started work on her first CD, and is scheduled to appear again soon on Kochav Haba, where critics rate her among the top contestants.
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25724/Default.aspx
