WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING IN SYRIA AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
    the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Psalm 33:10-11

On Sunday, 8/12/24, we awoke to a new world reality which can only be described as a cataclysmic shift in the balance of power in the Middle East. During the night, President Assad of Syria, having told his army to stand down, fled Damascus and is now believed to be in Russia, leaving the door wide open for the advancing rebel militias. Damascus has fallen without a fight, and the rebel militias led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) now have control. 

You, like me, are probably confused by the spaghetti-like tangle of terror militias and organizations operating in Syria today. This 10 minute video  gives a good explanation of the the rapid chain of events that led to Assad's downfall:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snObSKVYQwY

Syria was an artificially constructed nation formed as a result of the Sykes-Picot agreement after WWI and consisted of a conglomeration of various ethnic and religious groups, most of which hated each other. For the last 50 years it was held together by the often brutal and oppressive Assad Regime but it began to blow apart during the Civil War which began in 2011. Now, the Assad Regime has been defeated by the lightning advance of the rebel army which took Aleppo at the end of November and Damascus on the night of December 7-8th this year. 

There were 3 main players, and a myriad of smaller entities, involved in this coup:

1. The Rebels: led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Shams (HTS) and includes the Syrian National Army and the Syrian Free Army (both of which were in opposition to Assad). HTS is supported by Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other Shiite Islamist organizations.  It is backed by Turkey and Ukraine. 

2. The Assad Regime - backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. Now, defeated. The Russian troops that were stationed in Syria have fled, and Iran and Hezbollah have been decimated and  weakened by the fighting against Israel. Assad's military forces have collapsed. 

3. Kurdish-led forces, including the YPG (People's Defense Units), the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), and the Peshmerga. 

An area in the south west, near the Israeli border, is controlled by Druze armed groups. Pockets of ISIS/ISIL hold territory in the eastern desert. 

What does this all mean for Israel? 

We in Israel were surprised by the rapidity of the unfolding events and are still in a state of shock, trying to figure out what is happening. 

No one is shedding tears for Assad, who was a cruel and evil dictator who massacred at least 500,000 of his own people during the Civil War period, and caused 6 million to become refugees. He maintained power by brutal atrocities carried out against any dissenters. He even used chemical weapons on his own people. He was supported by Russia and Iran.

Assad's flight and the collapse of his army now leaves a large chunk of the country in a power vacuum and it remains to be seen who will take control of what. The main cities have fallen to the HTS forces and it seems they came with prepared plans to take over the governance of the state. 

Their leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is a wanted a terrorist with an extremely bloody past, such that the USA has a $US 10 million bounty on his head. He claims to have cut ties with al-Qaeda and ISIS/ISIL and is adopting a more moderate ideology, but as Caroline Glick pointed out,  "You can't be a half jihadi; you can't be half pregnant".  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_flG2cVNoAQ&t=1129s).

Also, consider the name of Jolani's militia - Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (HTS)- which translates as 'Freedom for the Levant'. The term 'Levant' includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. Although Jolani's eyes may be turned towards the conquest of Syria right now, his ultimate aim is clearly the conquest of all of the Levant, including Israel. Yesterday the Israel Broadcasting Authority quoted the rebels as saying, "The Israeli Chief of Staff Halevi says that Syria is a battlefront, and we say to him: To Jerusalem, we are coming to you, you Jews,"

Another clue lies in his name. Jolani, is the Arabic version of Golani, meaning native to the Golan. Jolani was born Ahmad al-Ashra, but he adopted the pseudonym 'al-Jolani' in reference to his claimed family heritage in the Golan region, which was seized by Israel in the Yom Kippur War. For more about Jolani read: https://allisrael.com/who-is-abu-mohammed-al-jolani-leader-of-the-syrian-rebel-group-which-overthrew-assad.

Israel is not deceived by Jolani's apparent lack of interest in confronting Israel right now. We are watching his every move, and are prepared both offensively and defensively to protect our borders and nation. 

In recent months Israel has built a defensive berm and trenches along the Israel-Syrian  border in order to help prevent a land invasion, but with the fall of the Assad Regime, other measures have become necessary. In the last few days Israel has:

1. Increased the stationing of IDF troops and arms along the Syrian border. It has also carried out training exercises to prepare for any offensive or defensive eventuality. 

2. Occupied a buffer zone in the Area of Separation (AiS) that was set up in 1974. The agreements formed then are now void since the Assad Regime has fallen. Assad's forces had vacated the area and some armed terrorist groups were active there, but the IDF moved in without facing any resistance. The IDF now occupies the Syrian side of Mt Hermon which overlooks Syria, Lebanon and Israel, and is therefore of great strategic value. 

3. The IDF temporarily entered Syria when Israel was asked to rescue the UN Disengagement Observer Forces (UNDOF) which were being attacked by armed groups at a post near the Syrian town of Hader close to the Israeli border. 

4. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has, over the last few days,  targeted at least 320 military sites in Syria, and destroyed around 70-80% of the military capabilities of the former Syrian Arab Army of the Assad regime, in order to prevent their strategic weapons falling into the hands of the terrorist militias hostile to Israel.

 According to AllIsraelNews, "The destroyed targets include strategic weapons such as Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs [drones], fighter jets, but also regular army equipment like attack helicopters, radars, tanks, hangars, and reportedly also intelligence infrastructure". The IAF bombing also destroyed Assad's chemical weapons stockpiles. 

5. The Israeli Navy attacked the ports of al-Beida and Latakia  sinking or destroying at least 15 missile ships of  Assad's navy.  

It is hard to know at this stage whether the fall of Syria will be to Israel's advantage or to our detriment.

The fall of the Assad Regime and the takeover by HTS can be attributed to the weakening of Assad's main supporters, Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. 

Hamas as a military force has been thoroughly defeated by Israel, though pockets of terrorists still remain in Gaza, and the ideology persists. Just this morning, Hamas operatives managed to fire 4 rockets into Israel, two were shot down and two landed in open areas - this after more than14 months of warfare, and the daily destruction of Hamas personnel, infrastructure and weapons. 

Hamas still holds around 100 Israeli hostages, at least 60 of which are already dead. Negotiations are ongoing for their release but the clock is ticking as their health is seriously deteriorating because of starvation and the inhumane conditions in which they are being held.

 Hezbollah has been decimated in Lebanon. It is thought that the IDF has destroyed around 80% of Hezbollah's weapons and military infrastructure but much still remains. The ceasefire seems to be more or less holding but there have been many infringements. Hezbollah in Lebanon has now been cut off from its source of munitions and personnel which were coming through Syria from Iran. 

The Houthis are still firing ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel, over 250 to date, but nearly all have been shot down by our defense systems. Just this week two drones from Yemen reached Israel, one was shot down but the second hit an apartment building in a coastal city. Last week two ballistic missiles were fired at Israel but were also shot down outside of Israeli airspace (although some shrapnel landed in Israeli territory).

Iran as a power player in the Middle East is critically wounded, perhaps fatally, but a wounded 'bear' is a dangerous animal, especially when cornered. Iran has been humiliated by Israel's attacks and the destruction of its defensive arrays, and now is vulnerable to any attack on its territory. It is also being increasingly shaken by internal disagreements in its leadership. Iran is frantically enriching uranium in order to produce nuclear bombs. Israel is watching this closely and may soon be forced to act to prevent this becoming a threat not only to Israel but also to the whole of the Middle East and Europe. 

Another player that needs to be watched closely is Turkey. The Turkish Leader Recep Erdogan has openly stated his desire for the reestablishment of the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire. Turkey also hates the Kurds and his army is actively fighting against the Kurds in the north eastern part of Syria. For more on Turkey see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIgEFHPeqzg&t=448s 

As a result of the overthrow of the Assad Regime, Russia has been forced to withdraw from several key positions in Syria including air defense units in western Syria, the strategically important Khemeimim airbase near Latakia, and its naval facility at Tartus in NW Syria. Russia may have lost their 'toehold' in Syria, and it may be preoccupied with the war with Ukraine, but it has not lost its interest in being a major player in the reshuffling of the Middle East power blocks. For more on this read: https://allisrael.com/putin-s-pravda-unveiled-russia-s-growing-hostility-towards-israel

As the various ethnic and religious groups jostle for power within Syria, the 'big players' Russia, Turkey and Iran, together with China, are operating behind the scenes to take advantage of these events in order to bring down the western power block, led by the USA. The USA is perceived in the Middle East  as weak and indecisive, since it persists in thinking it can negotiate peace and impose its democratic, Judeo-Christian western values on the Middle Eastern mind and geopolitics.

Many Christians around the world are wondering if we are seeing the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the War of Gog of Magog, as recorded in Ezekiel 38 and 39. It seems to me that we may indeed be seeing the preparatory moves, but the actual war has not begun. The chess board is getting set up. The main players seem to be moving into place. As we have seen in recent days, things can happen very fast. Watch this space...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibz5K_QmWH8

https://www.timesofisrael.com/who-are-the-rebels-battering-syrias-regime-and-do-they-pose-a-risk-to-israel/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQVZUCaHBdA

THE FEAST OF WEEKS

 

This last Sunday we here in Israel, and Jews all over the world, celebrated Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks (also known as Pentecost,  the Feast of First Fruits, or the Harvest Festival). It is one of the three pilgrimage feasts in which God commanded all Israel to come up to Jerusalem for a 'holy convocation'. It is counted exactly  50 days from the Day of the Wave Offering, (also known as the Feast of First Fruits) hence the name the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. Yeshua (Jesus) rose on the day of the Wave Offering (also known as the Feast of First Fruits) and ascended to heaven forty days later. According to Jewish tradition Shavuot is regarded as the day in which the LORD gave Moses the Torah, and according to the New Testament, it is the day in which the Holy Spirit was given to those who followed Yeshua (Jesus). It is therefore a day of double celebration for Messianic believers.

 

 

 

This year, taking advantage of a long weekend, I chose to celebrate Shavuot with friends down in Netanya. When I walked into my hotel, imagine my surprise when I saw this painting on the wall right beside my room. This is a copy of a large applique wall hanging I made for Shavuot celebrations about 25 years ago!!! The wall hanging had hung in the messianic congregation's meeting place for some time, but then was damaged by water during a storm. I do not know what happened to it but it has probably been thrown away by now. However to my joy someone had made an oil painting of it.  It depicts all the people bringing their first fruit offerings, with great rejoicing, up to the city of Jerusalem where they are all received into the open arms of the LORD.

And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ¹⁶ Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.²² ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’

Leviticus 23: 15-22 

In ancient times the Festival of Shavuot marked the beginning of the spring grain harvest and a grain offering was to be brought to the Temple as first fruits to the LORD.  It is in this context that God commands the people to leave the corners of the field for the poor and stranger in the land to glean. It is perhaps because of this that the Book of Ruth is traditionally read at Shavuot. However it is also recorded that Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest- in other words, at the time of Shavuot.  

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.   Ruth 1: 22

Barley harvest in Bethlehem
https://lentengallery.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/reaping.jpg

 I love the story of Ruth and Naomi because it is a reminder that even Ruth, who was of a nation, the Moabites, excluded and cursed by God to the 10th generation, was accepted by God and blessed when she chose the God of Israel, even becoming the grandmother of King David, and a forbearer of the Messiah himself. So too it is for anyone, no matter what evil they may have committed in the past. No one is too sinful to receive God's acceptance and blessing, if he repents of that sin and choses the LORD God of Israel. What a great God we worship.

If you want to learn more about the feast of Shavuot I would recommend watching the teaching videos of my good friend, Hannah, on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4bnZRyEd_Y&index=1&list=PLA7A802173B783E57

Since the Feast of Shavuot another week has passed and it has been an eventful one in Israel (as most weeks are here!).  Spring made itself felt mid-week with a severe sharav heatwave which sent the temperatures soaring into the 40's over much of the country. A number of fires broke out, and in the town of Tel Mond, near Netanya, three homes were destroyed. Closer to Jerusalem, at the Atarot Industrial Park on the outskirts of Ramallah, even as firemen were trying to put out fires around the factories there, arsonists were busy lighting more. Towards the end of the week the temperatures plummeted again to around 25 degrees and in the north today it even rained, a rare event this late in May.

On Tuesday night a mid-range missile was fired from Gaza into Israel landing close to the town of  Gan Yavne, causing no physical damage but considerable trauma to the local residents. This is the 5th violation of the August 2014 ceasefire, and the first involving a mid-range  missile. It is likely that the rocket was fired by some 'errant Palestinian faction' (ISIS has since claimed responsibility) but the Israeli defense establishment regards everything that happens in Gaza as being the responsibility of Hamas. Consequently ,on Wednesday, the IAF attacked four Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4661655,00.html



Missile fired from Gaza
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Sirens-sound-in-Ashdod-as-rockets-fired-into-Israel-404168

Meanwhile it is no secret that Hamas is continuing to reconstruct tunnels and underground military installations throughout the Gaza Strip, and last week the Knesset Minister Omer Bar-Lev, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, warned,

"Hamas has returned to digging tunnels and one or more of them may have crossed the border fence, attacking the sovereignty of the State of Israel. We can't default to (the situation) on the eve of Protective Edge. The hesitancy in government and security of the Prime Minster harms the IDF's deterrence capabilities and abandons the fate of the residents who live near Gaza to the whims of Hamas."  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4658445,00.html

Also on Wednesday, Ynetnews reported that a  road is being constructed about 300 m  from the Gazan side of the border fence and this construction work is being protected by 'armed uniformed men' http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4661863,00.html. On Friday the former Hamas interior minister, Fathi Hamad, admitted that the new dirt road "the terror organization's military wing is paving along the Gaza-Israel border is preparation for a "window of opportunity to attack." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4662927,00.html

In the north the picture is just as disturbing. According to a Lebanese newspaper with ties to Hezbollah, that organization  "has built a vast network of advanced tunnels along the border with Israel for use in a future war, using them to conceal tens of thousands of rockets aimed at the Jewish state." According to a senior Israeli intelligence official, Hezbollah "has an estimated 100,000 short-range rockets capable of striking northern Israel, several thousand missiles that can reach Tel Aviv and central Israel and hundreds more that can strike the entire country."http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-flaunts-advanced-tunnel-network-on-israeli-border/ 

Hezbollah is also gaining more and more control in Syria. Many voices are predicting an imminent collapse of Assad's overstretched government forces, which have lost over 50% of their manpower through desertions and casualties. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-syrian-military-is-on-the-verge-of-collapse-2015-4. In addition most of the regime’s natural resources, such as the phosphate and oil mines, have fallen into rebel or ISIS hands and this is seriously undermining the Syrian economic base. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/195991#.VWoKRpv75LM Currently the Assad regime is being propped up by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which might also collapse if Assad's regime collapses. Iran however might see this as an opportunity to wrest control of Syria and Lebanon, but a more likely scenario is that ISIS will take over control of most of the country. With its capture of the city of Palmyra this last week it now has open roads to the Syrian capital Damascas and the city of Homs.( see map on  http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/21/middleeast/syria-palmyra-watson/ ). As much as we here in Israel hate the Assad regime, its collapse would inevitably bring ISIS to our very border, and also threaten Jordan. This situation is very worrying.  

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjW1ZNuhvxYbvzZIMRIsahOuuhGnxXp9w6oQ8uHc9U8GbdicbfWUrRDbGjP4sNDe7r8sCaSJPxyHXKULl6H-g6oADMjpItLmxqJnIj2GomN3Ha7_GtfTDbwQmi-rRrL6mtdOJRcttRBM/s1600/ISIS+Sanctuary+20+may+hi+res-01.png

Is all this causing Israelis to call out to our LORD God for deliverance? Alas, no. Of course there is always a remnant that is faithful, but many are very far from God.  I have just been reading in Ezekiel the condition of the people of Judah immediately before the Babylonian Exile. They were smug in their sense of invulnerability and felt that God did not see what they were doing behind closed doors. Even in the hidden rooms of the Temple itself, they were worshipping and sacrificing to pagan gods, and in the streets and homes committing terrible abominations. But nothing is hidden from God. He saw and he judged. Their wickedness resulted in the conquest of Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile and scattering of the people until this day.

Still today many people feel that God is far from them and they are looking to find answers in paganism and other ungodly places.  Last week 6000 people formed a temporary city in the desert, near Sde Boker, for the Burning Man Festival. This New Age festival began in the USA as a celebration of the Summer Solstice and has clear pagan roots.



Last year's 'Burning Man"

http://igoogledisrael.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/BurningManIsrael-300x194.jpg

 



This coming Sunday(the 7th) will mark the beginning of Gay Pride Week in Tel Aviv, and on the Friday of that week (12th) the Gay Pride Parade will pass through the streets of the city.



Last years parade in Tel Aviv
http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2014/06/F140613YS03-e1402655179410.jpg

Does God see? Of course he does.

A day of trouble is near,
And not of rejoicing in the mountains.
⁸ Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury,
And spend My anger upon you;
I will judge you according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.

Ezekiel 7:7-8 

Just as God was not blind to Israel's trespasses in the days of Ezekiel, neither is he blind today. He will judge Israel and there is coming on Israel a terrible time of great suffering as is prophesied. All the nations of the world will come up against Jerusalem, and many lives will be lost, but this great battle will lead to a national repentance and the ultimate salvation of all  the remnant of Israel .(Zechariah 12 - see below). 

More and more, Israel is being blamed for all the ills of the world. We are astounded here by the credence given to the wild and outrageous claims of our enemies.  Many seem all to ready to believe the worst of Israel. Just this week the Palestinians tried to oust Israel from FIFA, the world soccer organization, on the basis of our occupation of Palestine. That such an organization, which prides itself on its a-political stance, should even countenance such a proposal is preposterous. Anti-Semitism is once more becoming socially acceptable and espoused by states, in a way very reminiscent of the pre-Nazi era. There is much talk of isolation, boycotts and sanctions against Israel. We feel like we are becoming a pariah nation in the eyes of much of the world.  The scenario pictured in the prophesies of Zechariah no longer seems far off. It all seems oh so possible. It seems like it could come to pass very soon.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. ³ And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it...  ⁷ “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. ⁸ In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. ⁹ It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
¹⁰ “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. ¹¹ In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo... all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Zechariah 12: 1-14 


Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. ¹⁹ Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them,^[a] and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 11: 10-21

Then as now, there is a remnant of those in Israel who sigh and cry over all the sins of the people.

 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; ⁴ and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” Ezekiel 9:3-4
 

God has called many people to this Land just so that they will stand in the breaches (of the walls) and cry out on behalf of the People. There are even more, like many of my readers, who are faithful in prayer for the nation of Israel. Be encouraged, for God hears every prayer and they do make a difference.  Pray for Israel's protection and deliverance from her enemies, and for that Day when she will recognize her Messiah and bow down to Him.   Events seem to be gathering pace now, the scene is being set, and this Day is drawing close.
 

Day 11 of Open Ended Ceasefire

It is a quiet Shabbat morning in Jerusalem and the Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is holding. I can hear the children playing in the swimming pool down below.  Life is returning to 'normal' in Israel. Most families in the southern towns and kibbutzim have returned to their homes to repair their damaged homes and put their lives back on track. Some families however have decided that 'enough is enough' and they will not be returning to their homes in the south.

On Monday this week two million  Israeli children went back to school for the new school year. It was not a normal start however. The Education Ministry decided that the first two weeks would be devoted to allowing the children to express their experiences of the war and doing relaxing activities designed to enable children to process their emotions.  Although most children seem to take  rockets and sirens in their stride, long term emotional trauma is evident in many and can affect them all their lives. Many suffer bedwetting, nightmares, and excessive anxieties. 

http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/feeds/Associated%20Press/2014/09/01/876/493/Mideast%20Israel%20Back%20to%20School-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

 One mother reported that  "At age 5, kindergartner Daniel Neardea of Rishon LeZion recognizes the different sounds of incoming rockets and Iron Dome interceptors and can identify Israel's chief of staff and the top Hamas political leaders"
.
Describing the summer as "loud," his mother, Enav Neardea, said her children mostly took the rockets and sirens in stride, even when they disrupted their activities at the playground or swimming pool. "I guess they understand this is part of their lives now."
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-schools-20140902-story.html

Although the ceasefire is holding it is possible the rocket fire and hostilities will resume once the talks aimed at bringing about a permanent ceasefire begin in Cairo begin soon. No doubt Hamas has taken the opportunity to rearm and regroup. It is already boasting about the 'next round' as I reported in my last post. Hamas' demands for Israel to remove the 'blockade' of Gaza entry points and ports will never be accepted by Israel. I would hope that this latest war would have made it abundantly evident to all that Israel cannot allow Hamas to have open borders. We have seen how, even with the so-called blockade, they were able to smuggle in thousands of rockets and other military supplies, and build miles and miles of tunnels - a whole underground network. Imagine what they could do if there were no controls on their imports.

On the other hand Israel is demanding that Hamas will submit to disarmament, something they are not likely to agree to, unless the world was to unite against them and force the issue, something it seems little inclined to do.



Victory celebrations in Gaza

So the question now is merely, not whether Hamas will resume rocket fire upon Israel, but rather when. It could be tomorrow or next week or next month or next year, but sooner or later it seems inevitable. Hamas is not cowed nor defeated but  feel they have won a great victory over Israel in that they held out for 50 days and successfully turned many governments and people in the free world against us.

Furthermore, as a result of this campaign Hamas' popularity has skyrocketed amongst Palestinians. Polls  carried out after the Ceasefire began by the Ramallah based Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and Gaza show that 88% of Palestinians support Hamas, and 79% believe that Hamas had won. 94% were satisfied with Hamas military performance and 78% were satisfied with Hamas' defense of its civilian population. 86% support the launching of rockets against Israel should current negotiations fail. http://www.pcpsr.org/en/node/489 

These figures are astounding and reflect the disconnect with reality resulting from biased media reporting, and brainwashing that takes place in Palestinian schools and homes from an early age. It also gives a lie to the concept of 'innocent civilians'. Clearly most of the people of Gaza back Hamas and are therefore very far from innocent.

This is what 'victory' looks like in Gaza

Now the UN World Court is intending to try our political and military leaders for 'war crimes'. HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?
The British Colonel Richard Kemp, the former leader of the British forces in Afghanistan, and who observed the IDF operations at close quarters during the Operation Protective Edge, had this to say in an interview with the BBC, " There has never been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF is doing in Gaza . " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WssrKJ3Iqcw. He tells of one Israeli pilot he spoke to who had aborted a mission 17 times because civilians were spotted in the vicinity.

One might ask, why is the UN  not trying the Hamas leadership for their war crimes - firing over 4000 rockets at Israeli civilians and using their own civilians for living shields and propaganda? What about  the 160 Gazan children who died while being forced to construct the underground tunnels for Hamas? http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/38316-140726-report-hamas-used-child-labor-in-tunnel-building  Is that not a war crime or at least a terrible violation of human rights?

Instead of criticizing Israel at every turn (we are quite good at doing that for ourselves) the world should be thanking Israel for its courageous stand at the very front line of the war against terror, which threatens all of Western civilization and the free world. The world is under its greatest threat since World War II  and slowly, slowly, and perhaps too late,  it is beginning to wake up to that fact. Sadly the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Middle Eastern people, and the displacement of millions more,  were more or less overlooked by the West as the Islamic Salafi - Jihadist groups advanced. It was not until an American journalist was brutally beheaded that the Western world has begun to wake up to the threat.
Today a conference of 19 NATO countries  signed a pledge to bring down the Islamic State (ISIS) using both financial embargoes and military might. Time will tell if they will do so. Will they use 'proportional force'  or hold back when the first civilian casualties occur? Does the Western world have the moral courage to carry out its threats? We will see.

Even if the Nato coalition can bring down the Islamic State militarily it cannot stop the ideology, which thrives on violence and opposition. The battle is spiritual not material or military. It can only be won by spiritual means. This week I was reminded of the part we Christian believers need to play in all of this. Not many of us are soldiers in the armies of the 'free' world but we are all soldiers of God's army. This week I was watching the movie "The Hobbit" on TV. At one point Gandalf, the good wizard, remarked that in his long experience it was not the great and mighty that held back the darkness but the ordinary folk, the little people, with an act of kindness here, a smile there or a word of encouragement. Words of wisdom indeed. No matter how small we may feel ourselves to be we have a part to play in holding back the forces of darkness that are threatening to overwhelm us. Prayer is our weapon and we need in these days to wield it with strength, courage, perseverance and hope. We are all on the front line of the battle and we know that the victory is already won in the heavenly places.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He^[ is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

        II Thessalonians 2 (NJKV)

Clearly the call for Christians today is to stand fast in prayer and to discern clearly on which side they stand. The passage above predicts a  'falling away' in the last times, and a strong delusion in which many will believe the lie. Let us all take great care we are all lovers of truth and diligently search for it.

In our praying we need to pray with understanding and in the Spirit. For this reason  I have put together a short history of Salafi-Jihadism and the Islamic State, outlined below.

Salafism 101 or 'Know Your Enemy'

Most non-Muslims have no idea what Salafist Islam is but it is important we understand what we are facing. Salafism is a fundamentalist movement that arose during the second half of the nineteenth century as a reaction against the spread of Western ideas and the perceived corruption of pure Islamic culture.  Salafists desire a return to the 'pure' form of Islam that was practiced in the earliest days of their faith, particularly during the period when Islam was ruled by the first four Caliphs (religious leaders who succeeded Mohammed). The world Caliph (Khalifa) means 'successor'. They promote jihad which is the  struggle for the supremacy of Islam and this term usually carries a military connotation. Persons who are engaged in jihad are called the mujahideen. Salafists are Sunni Muslims and regard Shiite Islam as heresy.

The Salafi-Jihadi ideology thus aims to:

• return to the authentic beliefs and practices of the pious ancestors who were the companions of Mohammed,
• To establish an Islamic State or Caliphate ruled by the strict and harshest interpretations of Islamic Sharia Law
• promote the concept of tawhid  or the oneness/unity of God ( and the denial that he has a Son!)
• endorse the waging of jihad against regimes they regard as idolatrous, including the Shiite, Jewish and Christian 'infidels'.  

Salafi-Jihadism has been growing amongst the people of Jordan and Lebanon since the 1990s and it is therefore not surprising that the founder of the ISIS (ISL or the Islamic State or Da'ish as it is now called), Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, came from the Salafi stronghold of Zarqa in Jordan. 

After the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Zarqawi, set up the forerunner of today's Islamic State in Iraq. At that time it was made up mainly of Iraqis. This organization first directed its jihad at the Shiites and in August of 2003 it bombed the Imam Ali shrine in Najav, the holiest place of Shiite worship in Iraq, killing 95 worshippers including  Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim, the  leader of the Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) .  

  After Saddam Hussein was toppled Shiites replaced Sunnis who had long ruled in Iraq, and this fueled Zarqawi's war against the Shiites. Zarqawi sent dozens of suicide bombers to blow themselves up in schools, cafes and markets in Shiite dominated towns. By 2004 he had joined Bin Laden's al Qaeda and he called his group Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

Al Zarqawi began to see himself as not only an emir (a political and military commander) but as a spiritual leader or caliph. He never reached this goal however because in June 2006 he was killed by a US air force bomb.  Zarqawi was succeeded by Abu Bakr al Baghdahi, who is still the current leader. Under al Baghdadi's leadership the movement became less of a guerilla style terrorist organization and more of an organized army, numbering thousands of trained and armed men.  They opened a second front and attacked  the Shiites of Syria, and the organization was renamed ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Baghdadi imposed strict Sharia Law on the towns he conquered,  and harshly enforced it.

By 2014 President Assad's forces had regrouped and were fighting back. He retook the city of Homs which was the symbolic heart of the ISIS uprising. Consequently Baghdadi planned a bigger strike which led to the taking of the city of Mosul, initiating a new phase in which he demonstrated a willingness to seize and control territory. Baghdadi also promoted himself to "Caliph and renamed his group "The Islamic State".  His ambition is to rule the whole region from the Mediterranean to the Gulf.  In Mosul he gave the command that 'infidels', Christians and Kurds, pay a special tax, leave, convert or face death. Thousands fled as the ancient Christian community there was targeted and those who were unable to flee were beheaded, stoned, crucified and enslaved.

In declaring himself Caliph Ibrahim, as Bagdhadi now styles himself, he may have overplayed his hand. Many more moderate Muslims see it as illegitimate, since according to the tradition, Caliphs were supposed to be chosen in consultation with all Muslim scholars. A Caliph could not appoint himself.  What is more, the institution of the caliphate has not been functioning for around 1000 years. A Caliph must also be physically whole and mentally sane, and must be of the Quraysh tribe of the Arabian peninsula. On the other hand, amongst Muslims there is a mystical belief that if you can establish a caliphate then everything will fall into place, something akin to the Messianic idea in Judaism and Christianity. The promise of  the inexorable, righteous expansion of Islam draws zealous  recruits from all over the world.

Salafi-Jihadist ideology has given rise to many  competing groups and terror organizations, and this lack of unity is their weak underbelly. Al Qaeda, although also Salafi,  disagreed with ISIS' focus on fellow Muslims (albeit Shiites) and were disgusted by their brutality and therefore broke off all ties with them in 2013. ISIS, as it was then called, was too brutal for al Qaeda!

Hamas is also based on a Salafi-Jihadist ideology but ISIS failed to support Hamas in the latest round of violence against Israel, not because it does not want the overthrow of Israel but it has a clearly defined and systematic program and the Hamas offensive did not fit in with its plans. This is its plan:

1. Build a firm base for the Islamic State in Iraq to serve as a springboard for waging war in Syria and Lebanon
2. Weaken the USA politically and economically by means of terror attacks on the USA mainland an US interests in Muslim countries
3. Expand the Islamic State to cover Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and possibly Gaza
4. Then, conquering Jerusalem and destroying Israel.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/isis-a-short-history/376030/2/

If the Islamic State’s history is any indication, then one should be concerned about it deepening political polarization and sectarianism in both Lebanon and Jordan, let alone trying to further its appeal by carrying out spectacular acts of violence in the Middle East or the West. The international community should internalize the fact that the Islamic State is theologically driven to apply Salafist ideology in belief and manifest action by way of jihad in the path of Allah against idolatrous regimes and unbelievers to expand “God’s realm” on earth

Robert G. Rabil  Robert G. Rabil is a professor of political science and the LLS distinguished professor of current affairs at Florida Atlantic University. http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-chronicles-history-10895?page=3





Hamas soldiers in Gaza
http://patdollard.com/category/middle-east/page/11/

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY HAMAS FIGHTERS ARE ALWAYS MASKED?