A JERUSALEM SPRING

 

I awoke this morning to see clouds of 'smoke' rising from amongst the trees around my building. Fearing a fire I leapt out of bed to investigate, and to my relief, saw that it was just clouds of pollen smoking off the cypress trees. Spring is here, almost a month early this year, and the pollen season has begun. Woe to all hay fever sufferers! 

Then I opened my Bible and read about how Solomon built the first temple. He bought cedar and cypress wood from the King of Lebanon and lined the stone temple walls and ceiling with beams and planks of cedar ('erez' in Hebrew). The floor was made of cypress ('brosh' in Hebrew) (1 Kings 6). 

The cedar (Cedrus libani)  and the cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) are both native to the Eastern Mediterranean region and reference to them is frequent in the Bible. Both produce a hard, close-grained resinous and fragrant wood that is naturally insect proof - ideal for building purposes. The cedar is popularly known as the Cedar of Lebanon and grows only above 1000m altitude. As such it is mostly confined to the high mountains of Lebanon, but in Israel a few can be found scattered on the slopes of Mt Hermon.  The cypress is more common and thrives in the mountains of Judah where it co-exists with the Jerusalem pine and many other shrubs and bushes.



Cypress trees in the Jerusalem Forest
https://whereintheworldarebillandcindy.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/image67.jpg

 God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah had this to say,

"I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will open rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
¹⁹ I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;
I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine
And the box tree together,
²⁰ That they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it".

Isaiah 41: 18-19
 

The cypress and the cedar are then part of the promises of God regarding the restoration of Israel in her land. They speak of health and bounty and prosperity. How wonderful it is to see this once neglected and almost totally deforested land once again covered in green forest. Israel is the only country in the world where the forests are actually increasing! Israelis love their trees and revere every one that grows. It is almost impossible to get a permit to cut even one down. The prophecy of Isaiah quoted above therefore has truly been fulfilled.

 Last weekend  I drove out through the miles and miles of the Judean forest land and was so blessed by the trees and wildflowers along the way. This is truly a beautiful land- a land of milk and honey indeed.  Here are a few of my photos.



Anenomes  in the wildflower meadows

Judean bugloss and a crown daisy

Anenome and  dyers alkanet

Almonds - the first of the flowering trees to blossom  in late winter

Sheep and goats grazing amongst the  flowers of the Judean shepelah (foothills) with winter wheat growing in the valley

 On a day like today when the sun is shining, it is neither too hot nor too cold, and the flowers and trees are blooming in all this splendor,  I cannot understand how anyone can hate or kill or maim. Yet, sadly, they do.

Yael and Tuvia Weissman

The recent weeks have been no exception. Over the last two weeks there have been a number of terror attacks against Israeli citizens. On Thursday last week two 14-year-old Palestinian youths attacked and wounded a shopper in a supermarket in Shaar Binyamin, north of Jerusalem. An off-duty, unarmed soldier, Tuvia Weissman (21) heard the screams and ran to the rescue, and as a result was himself stabbed to death. He leaves behind his childhood sweetheart and wife, Yael and a four-month old baby girl called Neta.  The two attackers were shot, one fatally, by an armed civilian. http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/28364/Default.aspx?topic=article_title 


This tragic event has led to the IDF changing its standing orders for off-duty soldiers, requiring them to carry their weapons even when on vacation http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4769554,00.html.  This makes sense at a time when even civilians are being encouraged to carry weapons. The quick intervention of armed civilians has on many occasions prevented additional casualties and neutralized attackers.

Sadly, things can sometimes go wrong. This last Wednesday a 26-year old Palestinian school teacher attacked with a knife an Israeli officer, Captain Eliav Gelman, at the Gush Etzion Junction. This junction has gained notoriety as the scene of at least 10  attacks in the last five months. A soldier nearby saw the attack taking place and opened fire on the terrorist neutralizing him. Sadly however a stray bullet hit Gelman also. Gelman later died of his injuries, leaving behind a wife in the seventh month of her pregnancy. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Terrorist-stabbing-attack-at-Gush-Etzion-Junction-one-injured-445937

In the early hours of  Friday morning a 48 year old,  unarmed security guard at a supermarket in Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, was attacked by a Palestinian wielding an axe. The attacker fled the scene and still has not been apprehended. The security guard was critically injured and is still fighting for his life.

Scene of terror attack in Ma'ale Adumim (Photo: Medabrim b'Tikshoret
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4771223,00.html

This brings the death toll as a result of terror attacks over the last 5 months to 33. In addition, over 300 have been treated for injuries by the Magen David Adom (The Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross). At least 30 of these sustained serious injuries. In addition many Palestinian terrorists have been killed or injured, some of them children. Such a waste, a terrible, tragic waste, and for what?

There are those who call the current wave of terror a Third Intifada. It is far from that. An Intifada is a general uprising of the whole population. The current violence is being carried out by a relatively small number of young men and women, many of them mere children.  In spite of calls for a third Intifada, the general population of the Palestinian areas has not risen up. In fact, a recent poll carried out by the reliable and prestigious Palestinian  research institute, Awad, indicated that only 42% of Palestinians today support a third Intifada, down from the 63% who supported it in December. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4763051,00.html

In another development this week the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Fathali, announced that Iran will support the "Jerusalem Intifada" by giving to the family of every martyr the sum of $US 7,000 and to every family, whose home is demolished by the IDF, $US 30,000 http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Iran-offers-financial-reward-for-families-of-potential-Palestinian-intifada-martyrs-445966. This will provide an added incentive  for Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis, and clearly demonstrates Iran's role in financing terror.


Meanwhile our eyes are also on the deteriorating situation on our borders, especially in Syria.  At midnight last night the US and Russian brokered partial "cessation of hostilities" came into effect. This temporary truce includes Assad's army and some 97 different rebel militias. It does not however include the Islamic State (ISIS), the Al Qaida linked  al-Nusra, and the Islamist groups, Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35643151. 

This fragile truce is perhaps the first sign of hope for the Syrian people in this awful 5-year old conflict in which more than 250,000 Syrians have been killed, and over 11 million driven from their homes. Will the 'cessation of hostilities' hold? It seems doubtful and already today there are reports of some violations, although the Russians have halted their airstrikes and relative quiet has fallen in most areas covered by the truce. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4771356,00.html

The conflict in Syria is extremely complex. There are about 160 different warring factions. At the core is the Syrian Arab Army loyal to President Assad and the government. This is supported by many paramilitary groups and militias trained and financed by Iran and Russia. Opposing them is a loose confederation of groups collectively known as the Free Syrian Army and these are backed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, France, the UK and the USA. In the north the Kurds, an ethnic minority in Syria, is fighting for autonomy and to protect its area from the advancing Islamic State (ISIS). They now hold a large region in the north of Syria. The Kurds are also fighting Turkey. The Islamic State has seized considerable tracts of Syrian and Iraqi land. They are also in conflict with the al-Qaida backed al Nusra fighters. Below is a map of the current situation on the ground as of the 8 February.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/25/middleeast/syria-civil-war-q-and-a/index.html

Here in Israel we view with great concern the developing situation around us, especially the cooperation of Assad, Russia and Iran, supported oddly enough by the USA. In the days leading up to the current cessation of hostilities Russia and Assad carried out a massive bombardment of rebel held areas in order to consolidate Assad's government and expand the territory under its control. This has not exactly sown the seeds of peace.   


On a more positive note, about 2000 Syrians have received treatment in Israeli hospitals over the last two years. Although some of these have been civilian women and children the majority have been young fighters. This has raised some debate here in Israel. Should we be using taxpayer's money to treat injured Syrians when our hospitals are already full to bursting point. However staff at the hospitals are adamant that they do not differentiate between patients. They treat everyone that crosses the thresholds of the hospital the same. They do not even know from which militia or army their patients have come. One doctor put it this way, "We don't know who our patients are — Jabhat al-Nusra, the FSA, the Syrian Army. We can't tell, and it wouldn't make a difference".
Another doctor had this to say, "When you are a doctor, you don't get to know who is good and who is bad. You treat everyone ... And as a doctor, you can't take a side...This is a humanitarian mission and I am very proud to do it." 

Apart from the humanitarian side there is also another reason why it is to Israel's advantage to treat these patients. Every healed person who returns to his village knows that Israel and Israelis are not the Arab-hating monsters they have been taught to hate. Some have even acknowledged that Israeli hospitals are the best in the world. I don't know if that is true but they certainly surpass those in Syria and Jordan, which often do not have X-ray machines, CT scanners or even electricity.  It is hoped that these acts of goodwill  will serve to undermine the Syrian desire to fight us.

A prosthetic limb and an external fixator on a Syrian patient. (Photo via Ziv Medical Center)

https://news.vice.com/article/inside-the-hospital-where-israeli-doctors-treat-syrian-patients

As Yeshua (Jesus) taught us:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven

Matthew 5: 43-48.