RAMADAN IN JERUSALEM
Around 40% of the residents of Jerusalem are Muslim Arabs and therefore it is impossible for us living here to ignore the month of Ramadan. During this month most Muslims over the age of 8, whether very devout or not, fast during the daylight hours, taking neither food nor water, something not at all easy as our summer temperatures are now reaching the 30s. After sundown, families and friends gather together for the often-sumptuous Iftar meals allowed during the night hours, a time to celebrate and enjoy quality time together.
Around 40% of the residents of Jerusalem are Muslim Arabs and therefore it is impossible for us living here to ignore the month of Ramadan. During this month most Muslims over the age of 8, whether very devout or not, fast during the daylight hours, taking neither food nor water, something not at all easy as our summer temperatures are now reaching the 30s. After sundown, families and friends gather together for the often-sumptuous Iftar meals allowed during the night hours, a time to celebrate and enjoy quality time together.
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| An Iftar Meal http://timesofoman.com/uploads/images/2015/07/27/169178.JPG |
Every year Israel eases the restrictions on West Bank Arabs allowing them to come in and out of Israel more freely, pray at the Al Aqsa mosque (on the Temple Mount), make family visits and even travel abroad. Unfortunately this always results in an increase in tension in the city, necessitating an increase in police surveillance, and sometimes an increase in terror attacks.
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| Ramadan prayers outside the El Aksa mosque http://12pv0y13xwog68iq81ecagfw.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/3050124067.jpg |
This year has been no exception. The relative calm that we have been enjoying lately was shattered on Friday evening as three young Palestinians carried out a shooting and knifing attack near the Damascus Gate of the Old City. A 23-year-old, border policewoman, Hadas Malka was stabbed multiple times in the neck and back, and later died of her wounds in hospital. Five others were also injured. The three terrorists were shot and killed by other police in the area.
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| Hadas Malka, on duty outside the Damascus Gate: a selfie sent to friends to wish them a Happy Sabbath, just minutes before she was killed. http://www.timesofisrael.com/friends-mourn-hadas-malka-stabbed-to-death-near-old-city-as-a-true-wonder-woman/ |
Once again the world's news media have been guilty of reporting this incident in a biased anti-Israel manner. The BBC headline read " Three Palestinians Killed after Deadly Stabbing in Jerusalem". There was no mention of the murder of Hadas Malka, nor that the three Palestinians were killed because they had attacked her and were attacking others at the scene. They were killed to prevent further casualties.
The BBC has since published a clarification and an apology but already the damage is done. Many people read only the headlines and never read the small print, nor the corrections. This apology was only offered after a widespread outcry and protest from the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, who also criticized the BBC for its policy of never using the word 'terror' in relation to attacks on Israelis (2).
The BBC has since published a clarification and an apology but already the damage is done. Many people read only the headlines and never read the small print, nor the corrections. This apology was only offered after a widespread outcry and protest from the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, who also criticized the BBC for its policy of never using the word 'terror' in relation to attacks on Israelis (2).
In spite of the tensions Ramadan is also a time when both Arabs and Jews reach out to each other in friendship. Ynetnews, a major Israeli newspaper, reports that "Jewish settlers in Gush Etzion have taken to hosting nightly break-fast meals for Muslim celebrating the Ramadan, taking the opportunity to talk about co-existence and build relationships with their Arab neighbors." (1) These nightly shared meals are taking place just 200m from the Gush Etzion Junction, to the south of Jerusalem, which has been the scene of many stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks against Israelis, and where Palestinians have to submit to humiliating searches and security checks daily. One rabbi said that he attended these gatherings to " deal with a type of emotional sickness that I think we all—Israelis and Palestinians—have". This sickness is the fear and distrust that separates us even though we live and work, pray and socialize, in the same spaces, shoulder to shoulder. It is good to see there are still those, on both sides, who long for a time when we will be able to heal those wounds, and forget the fear and anger. Sadly though this is still seems far off, but I believe it will come, when Yeshua (Jesus) returns to restore all things. He will heal it all when he fills our hearts with love and forgiveness.
That may sound like an empty platitude but I have seen with my own eyes the love that exists between Jewish and Arab believers in Yeshua when they yield to the Holy Spirit within them. It can happen, and it will, when Yeshua returns.
In the meantime many Arabs are turning to Yeshua across the Muslim world. We hear many reports of miracles, dreams and visions, and many being born again by the Spirit of the Living God. According to Sharia Law any Muslim who turns away from Islam to another faith, especially Christianity, must be killed. Sadly many Christians have already been martyred because they would not renounce their faith. Those who remain have amazing courage, standing firm and proclaiming the gospel. Here is a song that touched my heart - such beauty and courage and joy - as some Egyptian Christians refuse to bow down to fear, even as they pick through the blood stained remains of their Church that had been attacked by Muslim extremists. Here is the link- take 5 minutes to watch and be encouraged:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzNsRCQGE4I
Take a few more minutes to read about the background to this video -
https://www.sat7uk.org/egypt-worship-show-prays-persecutors-victims/
My prayer request in this blog is that you will take time to pray for these amazing brothers and sisters all over the Muslim world, who often feel forgotten by the Western Church, and who are living daily in fear of their lives, Many have had to flee their homes and are living in refugee camps. They could teach us much of courage and victory, but they need our support too.
Pray also that the veil will be lifted from the eyes of more and more Muslims , especially as extremism and violence is revealing Islam for the evil lie that it is. Already there is a stirring of the Spirit of the LORD in these lands such as there has never been since the rise of Islam. Soon we will see this prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled:
In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people,Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”
Isaiah 19: 19-25
1. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4976783,00.html
2. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4977323,00.html
