SUMMER OLYMPICS

 

 

Last weekend I sat up in the wee small hours of Saturday morning  to watch the live broadcast of the  Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. I even sat through the somewhat tedious parade of the more than 200 participating nations. Why? Its not so much that I am a big sports fan, but rather that the Olympic Games for me are a celebration of life, of health, of humanity. They are a demonstration of the beauty and excellence of the well-trained human body. But more than that, they demonstrate to me what humankind is capable of achieving, if we could only learn to work together. For this brief moment, nations can forget their divisions, celebrate their diversity and compete together in peace. I ask myself what could humanity achieve if we didn't waste so much of our energy and resources in fighting senseless wars?  

 

Israeli Olympic Delegation (Photo: AP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4838006,00.html

 

How sad I was therefore to read the next day of something that was the very antithesis of this. As the Israeli sports team was leaving their hotel for the Opening Ceremony they were directed to board a waiting bus. However as they tried to board, their entrance was blocked by the Lebanese delegation which was already on board. They did not want to share a bus with Israelis. The Lebanese delegation head, Salim al-Haj Nakoula, at one point blocked the Israelis by physically standing in their way. The organizers gave in to the Lebanese and provided a second bus just for the Israelis, and Nakoula became a hero in Lebanon. According to Ynetnews, the "The Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar news networks, both associated with Hezbollah, gave Nakoula praise, with the latter also interviewing him. Hezbollah supporters and officials praised him on social media, with one Al-Manar broadcaster tweeting, “The Israelis were sent away from the bus because normalization (with Israel) is not to be had in any form, and because the Lebanese identity (is that of) resistance. Be proud to be Lebanese.” http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4838006,00.html

 

What a shame that even at the Olympics these enemies of Israel get away with such behavior. One of the Israeli athletes, Udi Gal, wrote this on his Facebook page,

“How is it that they (the Games organizers) let something like this happen, and on the opening night of the Olympic Games? Isn’t this the opposite of what the Olympics represent and (don’t the actions by the Lebanese delegation) work against it? I cannot describe the way I feel. I’m enraged and shocked by this event.”  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4838006,00.html

 

No wonder the Israeli delegation appeared somewhat subdued as they marched in the parade of Nations.

No wonder there is no peace in the Middle East.  I saw a video today that epitomizes the reason why peace between Israel and the Palestinians is impossible at this point in time. In this video a Palestinian father tries to get his 3-year-old son (erroneously stated to be 4-years-old in these videos below) to throw stones at Israeli border police, and calls upon them to shoot the little boy. Instead the soldier extends his hand in peace to the little lad who gives him a 'high five'. Not wanting to disobey his father no doubt, the poor confused boy eventually throws his stones harmlessly into a field. Take a minute to watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKkCgpKk4SI. For a fuller explanation take 10 minutes to view this video too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdXjh8d0Gw . Here is Netanyahu's response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-kOwFA8xZ4.

 

This is the real tragedy of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict, that children  are being trained from the cradle to hate and kill and be killed. Amongst the Palestinians there exists a culture of death. Children are being educated in the values of marytydom and are being sacrificed by their own mothers and fathers. Why is the world not crying out against this terrible child abuse?

 

 In 1957, the former Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, said this:

 “We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”  Her words have never rung more true than they do today.

 

http://api.ning.com/files/0SEDixnlYokHk-Huesjq-lTblG0x0SoajGWndBFvPeqv*uqmVT-XI4-sjJuCNvJS40mxX3eqoRkrv0zHv8t0Xw__/250883_444398322251271_1028662905_n.jpg?width=737&height=424

I will never forget the words of a Gazan mother, who accompanied her son to Israel for life-saving medical treatments, during the latest Gazan war. She said " The difference between you and us, is that you (Israelis) honor life and we (Palestinians) honor death". 

 

Today I read in the paper of yet another incidence when Israel brought people from enemy nations, this time from Syria, for medical treatment. In this latest case 8 people, including two badly burned children, were evacuated by night across the border from a hospital in the Syrian town of Quneitra that had earlier been attacked by artillery fire from Assad's government forces. The injured were in a critical state and dozens of Israeli paramedics and soldiers put themselves at great risk to rescue these people. In the last three years 2,500 Syrians have been treated in Israeli hospitals. These people are treated free of charge and at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer, and when well enough returned to their home country.

 

 

A Syrian child being treated by Israeli paramedics prior to airlift to the hospital. His face is blurred out to protect his identity. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4838412,00.html

 

With acts of kindness like this the culture of hatred, fear and distrust can be changed and there are many on both sides who are trying to change it. Arabs and Jews can learn to love one another. This is especially true for those who profess faith in Yeshua. He taught us to love our enemies. He taught us that in Him we are one. Just last week my (predominantly Jewish) congregation held a picnic with members of an Arab congregation that also meets in our hall. We shared our food, worshipped God singing in each other's languages, prayed for each other and just enjoyed each other's company under some shady trees in a park.  It can be done if there is a will. The only real hope for the Middle East, and indeed the world, is reconciliation in the Messiah, Yeshua. Only he has the power and the love to heal the wounds, turn hatred into love and war in to peace. In Isaiah 2:4 it says that,

 

 They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

But this will only happen when,

 ...in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.

 

Isaiah 2: 2

 Meanwhile in Jerusalem the senseless violence continues, although the summer has so far been relatively quiet. Some months ago the police clamped down on the shooting off of guns and fireworks in our neighboring Arab villages,  but in the last couple of weeks we have seen a renewal of these activities. It is a cultural tradition amongst Arabs to shoot into the air and fire off fireworks to celebrate weddings and other happy occasions, however those bullets have to fall somewhere, and at times the fireworks,  including rockets often loaded with nails, are used as weapons. These weapons can be deadly. The Jewish neighborhood of Har Hazeitim, to the south and east of the Old City, is constantly being bombarded by Molotov cocktails, rocks and fireworks, fired from the neighboring Arab village of Ras el Amud. Residents of Har Hazeitim have erected a camera in an attempt to prevent these attacks. Here is a video taken by this camera last week as fireworks were being fired across an intersection at passing cars and at the police patrolling the area.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4836940,00.html

A story that has hit the headlines here this week is the revelation that the Evangelical aid organization, World Vision, has inadvertently been aiding terrorism against Israel. Their Gaza branch director, Mohammed El-Halabi, was arrested by Israeli security forces in mid-June and has admitted that he is in fact a Hamas agent that was infiltrated into the World Vision organization in 2005. Since that time he has orchestrated a sophisticated apparatus by which some 60% of funds donated to assist needy Gazan citizens has been diverted to support the terrorist wing of Hamas and used to  finance the digging of terror tunnels, the building of military bases and the purchase of weapons. This has amounted to some $US7.2 million per year.  You can read more about this on http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/29759/Default.aspx or

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4837539,00.html.

According to Israel's Shin Bet security services Hamas took advantage of the naivety of the well-intentioned World Vision organization. This reminds me of Jesus' warning to his disciples,

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  Matthew 10: 16.  

There is no room for naiveté in the Middle East. Why are serpents considered to be so wise? Snakes in general do not have eyelids, and therefore they can never blink. They sleep with open eyes.  They are perpetually watchful.

The eye of a snake
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bc/db/8c/bcdb8c672038b8a3f75929b7c383ee86.jpg

We as Messianic or Christian believers need to understand the wickedness of the world we are living in. Sometimes we withdraw into a nice comfortable bubble, relating mainly to ourselves, and this can make us overly trusting and naïve. Western believers are especially prone to this and are often ill-equipped to deal with the dishonesty, cynicism and manipulations prevalent in Middle Eastern society.  We need the Holy Spirit to help us find the fine line between a healthy respect and trust for our fellow man and the necessity to be 'as wise as serpents' when dealing with fallen humanity. I personally find this the most difficult aspect of living in the Middle East and there have been many times when I have fallen prey to those who take advantage of my trusting nature.

I want to finish by drawing your attention to the situation in Russia. Recently the Duma (the Parliament) adopted proposed amendments to antiterrorism legislation which, if passed into law, will make it illegal to share the Christian faith with a nonbeliever, even in casual conversation, or in the privacy of your own home, without prior authorization from the government. This amendment, ostensibly aimed at preventing the spread of terrorism, would, if enforced, reintroduce the draconian restrictions on the freedom of religion that were present during the Communist era. The seriousness of this proposed amendment is explained in the following quote:

The new law will require any sharing of the Christian faith – even a casual conversation – to have prior authorisation from the state. This includes something as basic as an emailed invitation for a friend to attend church. Even in a private home, worship and prayer will only be allowed if there are no unbelievers present. Churches will also be held accountable for the activities of their members. So if, for example, a church member mentions their faith in conversation with a work colleague, not only the church member but also the church itself could be punished, with individuals facing fines of up to 50,000 roubles (£580; USD770; €700). There are also restrictions on the extent to which churches can have contact with foreigners; for example, any non-Russian citizen attending a church service would be required to have a work visa or face a fine and expulsion from Russia.

https://barnabasfund.org/news/christians-call-day-of-prayer-and-fasting-as-russian-government-introduces-draconian-soviet-era-restrictions-on-religious-freedom

The bill is now  in the hands of President Putin who has until the 20th of July to decide whether to make this bill law. Our Russian brothers and sisters in the Lord have called for national prayer and fasting, and we all need to stand with them in prayer against this terrible development.