TO WAR OR NOT TO WAR?

The Lord is in his holy temple;

    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.

He observes everyone on earth;

    his eyes examine them.

5 

The Lord examines the righteous,

    but the wicked, those who love violence,

    he hates with a passion.

Psalm 11: 4-5

0n Wednesday this week I happened to be reading this Psalm and was interested to see that the word here translated as 'violence', is in Hebrew the word 'hamas'.  Hamas is the name of the terror organization currently in power in Gaza. The name Hamas is, in Arabic, the acronym for the phrase Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya, meaning the "Islamic Resistance Movement". In Arabic 'hamas' means courage or zeal, and the Hamas organization interprets its name as meaning 'strength and bravery', according to its Covenant. 

To me this summarizes the whole problem with Hamas. What we see as the negative value of violence and destruction, they see as the positive value of courage and bravery. 

At 7:37 that same evening Hamas opened fire on our southern communities around the Gaza border. Seven rockets of the first barrage landed in the town of Sderot, striking two homes and injuring a number of people, including one seriously and another moderately. Others suffered minor injuries or shock and two women went into labor as a result of shock.  You can see a video of the attack on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKjLmsIBNdg

Over the next 48 hours around 200 rockets and missiles were fired into Israel from Gaza. In total 7 civilians in Israel were hospitalized with injuries, including a  30-year-old Thai agricultural worker who suffered serious injuries as she was preparing breakfast for the other workers on a farm. Many others suffered minor injuries and shock.  Homes, factories, agricultural buildings and equipment were damaged, while the whole population of the area was instructed to stay within 15 seconds of a bomb shelter.  Children's summer camp activities were canceled, gatherings of over 300 people forbidden, roads closed and the rail service stopped between Sderot and Beersheva. 

In response, the IDF attacked around 150 Hamas targets, including military installations, munitions factories and stores, and missile launching positions and terror cells. Most of these targets had been evacuated in anticipation of such an attack and the IDF also warned people to leave before they attacked so human casualties were few. Hamas claims that a man, a pregnant woman and her 2-year-old daughter were killed by the IDF. The photos they posted however reveal that this is nothing more than a lie. The photos of the toddler supposedly killed by the IDF is actually a photo of Elle McBroom on the occasion of her 2nd birthday and posted by her parents on Instagram.  Elle is alive and well (1) . This is yet another 'blood libel' against Israel spread by the Palestinian propaganda 

The Instagram posting
http://www.israellycool.com/2018/08/09/palestinian-blood-libel-of-the-day-the-baby-and-her-pregnant-mother-edition/

On Thursday morning I went online to see if how the world's media were reporting the events of the previous night. I was astounded by the thundering silence. One commentator summed this up under the headline "Israel Under Attack While the World Yawns"(2).  Is it a case of 'Israel fatigue'  or plain antisemitism?  The only major newspaper to report it at all was the BBC which did so under the inaccurate (not to mention plain incorrect) and biased headline " Israeli airstrikes kill pregnant woman and baby" (3). Israel's Foreign Ministry and the Board of Deputies of British Jews demanded that the headline be changed immediately (4). The BBC did change it to " Gaza air strikes 'kill woman and child' after rockets hit Israel". A little bit better but not much!!! This is by no means the first time the BBC has been called out on its biased and frankly antisemitic reporting of events in Israel. 

The rocket attacks on Israel continued all through Thursday and at 15:07 a Grad missile was fired at the city of Beersheva, some 40km from Gaza. This was the first time the citizens of Beersheva had heard the Code Red Sirens blaring since the Gaza operation of 2014. The missile thankfully landed in an open space and no damage or injuries were reported. It could just as easily hit an apartment building or kindergarten or children's playground. Thank God it did not. With this attack, a red line was crossed and the IDF stepped up its operations in Gaza and bombed the Hamas intelligence headquarters totally destroying it. 

During this period Hamas also activated a fraudulent App, called IsraelAlert that purports to warn of incoming missile attacks in Israel. This App deliberately copies the format of the official RedAlert App, but gives fake warnings and comes with a load of malware that is capable of taking control of phones, accessing the camera, messages, locations and more. Once downloaded this malware cannot be removed from the phone even if the app is deleted. Below is a photo of the official RedAlert App on the left and the fake Hamas app on the right  (5). 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5326309,00.html  phony phone app

While all this was going on the Israeli Military was preparing for a full-scale war with Israel and the question on everyone's lips was whether we were going to enter Gaza and deal with Hamas once and for all. Some soldiers were called up and equipment moved towards the border area so that they could respond immediately if necessary. No one, neither Hamas nor Israel, wants war but the public pressure to deal with the situation here in Israel is growing by the day as frustrations  accumulate as a result of the ongoing, never-ending rounds of rocket attacks and fires. 

On Thursday night Hamas claimed a Ceasefire agreement had been reached with Israel and they stopped firing rockets into Israel, for now at least. This was probably a result of the decisive attack on their Intelligence HQ and pressure from Egypt and the UN. Israel never made any agreement for a Ceasefire. The Hamas claim was probably an effort to save face but also designed to make Israel look like the villain should they carry out any further attacks in Gaza. 

Although the rocket fire has stopped the incendiary devices are still coming from Gaza and a number of fires ignited. On Friday about 9000  Gazans rioted along the Gazan border burning tires, and hurling firebombs and explosives at IDF troops. The IDF responded with riot control measures and live fire and 3 Palestinian rioters were killed and around 300 injured. In addition Israeli tanks fired on two outposts from which grenades were thrown at Israeli soldiers (5). 

In spite of the so-called Ceasefire, Hamas continues to call upon Gaza residents to continue the weekly "March of Return" protests. According to Arutz7 "The Supreme National Organization of the March of Return and Breaking the Siege is urging Palestinian Arabs in both “Palestine” and abroad to take part in large-scale demonstrations this coming Friday, August 17, under the title "The Friday of the Rebels for Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa"" (6). This is to commemorate the attempted burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. Today Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, ahead of a meeting of the Security Cabinet to discuss further steps in relation to Gaza, stated that 

“Our demand is clear - a total cease-fire...
“So far, we have destroyed hundreds of Hamas military targets. With every round of attacks, the IDF exacts a heavy price from Hamas. I will not reveal our operational plans, but they are ready" (6). 

What does all this mean? Will we go to war with Gaza again or not? I cannot say. But all I can do is echo the Psalmist:

The Lord is my light and my salvation—

    whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—

    of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me

    to devour me,

it is my enemies and my foes

    who will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me,

    my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

    even then I will be confident.

Psalm 27: 1-3 

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM AND ALL ISRAEL 

References:

1. http://www.israellycool.com/2018/08/09/palestinian-blood-libel-of-the-day-the-baby-and-her-pregnant-mother-edition/

2. http://www.israellycool.com/2018/08/09/israel-under-attack-while-world-yawns/ 

3. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45124357

4. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180810-bbc-bows-to-pressure-from-israel-and-changes-gaza-headline/

5. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5326309,00.html  phony phone app

6. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/250371

Day 47 of Operation Protective Shield.


Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
² When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
³ Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

It is a hot and sleepy Shabbat afternoon here in Jerusalem. In my neighborhood the only sound is the gentle cooing of doves and the occasional chirping of a bird.  As I look at the beautiful and deceptively peaceful view across the neighboring Arab villages and the distant, hazy hills of Jordan, it is hard to believe we are in the middle of a war.

                           http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Pages/Rise-in-rocket-fire-from-Gaza-3-Jul-2014.aspx

Just 50 km away, all is not so tranquil. As I write orange and blue pop-ups appear regularly on the TV as 'code red' sirens sound in Ashdod, Ashqelon and the towns and kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip, warning of incoming rocket fire.  Close to the Strip the sirens sound every 10-15 minutes, each one giving the residents only 10 to 15 seconds to find shelter. In the days since the collapse of the last ceasefire, we have had record numbers of rockets raining down- around 140 per day.  Little wonder that most of the towns down there are like ghost towns. Over 80% of the residents have fled to the north, and those few who remain must stay indoors, close to their 'safe rooms'. Businesses and factories lie idle and late summer crops are rotting in the fields. 

Last night the first Israeli child, Daniel Trergerman, aged just 4 1/2 was killed when a mortar hit his home. It was Friday night and the children were playing outdoors in a moment of quiet. The parents managed to get their two younger children into the shelter but Daniel just couldn't run fast enough. He died. Put yourself into his parent's shoes this morning. They had been up north in relative safety for some weeks, but had decided to return home to try and put their lives back into some semblance of normality. After two days of constant rocket fire they had begun to pack up to return to the north, but too late. Daniel is dead, another little life cut off way too soon.  Here is a facebook post about Daniel. Read the small print.

Its an impossible situation for the citizens of the south. And an even more impossible situation for the citizens of Gaza who are suffering even more. It cannot go on.  Our government is again and again telling us that we need more patience. They say that it will all end but not yet. But how long can people hang on?

The mood here is changing. People are losing patience with the slow process of negotiation and counter negotiation in the search for peace. We don't believe that Hamas will honor any negotiated deal even if agreement is reached. After all, they have broken every one of the 11 ceasefires that we have had so far, even though they themselves were the ones to call for the ceasefires . The cry is getting stronger for a quick and decisive incursion into Gaza to 'finish the job', that is to say to disarm and cripple Hamas to the extent they are no longer able to fire rockets into Israel.   There is a feeling now that this is our ONLY real option, in spite of the fact we all know that this would cause a great many casualties on both sides, and would probably isolate Israel  even more in the international community. At the beginning over 80% of Israelis were in support of Netanyahu's approach to the situation but only around 56% support it now, according to polls.  

Meanwhile the world's eyes have been distracted by the events in Iraq, as the ISIL (ISIS) forces continue their relentless march to take over Syria, Iraq and eventually the entire Islamic block. ISIL has killed thousands of innocent people, massacring whole villages, raping and selling women and children into slavery, crucifying, beheading and stoning others, yet the world paid little attention until one poor American journalist is brutally beheaded.  The Western world is suddenly shocked and appalled by their medieval barbarism, but we here in the Middle EAst are not at all shocked. We have been trying to warn the West of this threat for years. After all Hamas is but a branch of the same tree that has given birth to Al Quaida and ISIL. The same ideology, jihadist fundamentalist Islam, committed to world domination, drives them all. Its time for the Western world to open up its eyes. Their whole civilization is facing an existential threat and for the most part they are blissfully unaware.
http://libertyunyielding.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Iraq-ISIS-ISW-BBC-map.jpg

Amongst Christian and Messianic believers here in Israel there is a growing awareness that the battle lines are being drawn up for the great and final showdown between the spiritual forces of  evil and the forces of the living God of the Bible, the God of Israel. It is time for all of us to get off the fence and decide which side we are on. There is a desperate need for Christians everywhere to go back to the Bible, read it as it is written, and not to listen to the myriad voices of liberal humanism in the media and the pulpits of many churches. I challenge every Christian to read the Bible literally. Where the words say "Israel" read it as "Israel" and not the "Church" as replacement theology teaches. The place and role of Israel in God's plan for the redemption of the World has not been replaced by the Church. God's promises and plans for the people of Israel are not void. God will not abandon his people at this time, just as His word says over and over again. Israel will survive and her enemies will be destroyed. The nations will be judged by their stand at the end. Will your nation stand with Israel or against her? Will you stand with Israel or against her?

Prayer points:

• Continue to pray for God's supernatural protection on the people of Israel. We have seen many miracles during this war and it is amazing that to date only 4 Israeli citizens have died in spite of  the more than 4000 rockets and missiles fired from Gaza since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge. http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Pages/Rise-in-rocket-fire-from-Gaza-3-Jul-2014.aspx

• Continue to pray for our leaders who are under incredible pressure from every quarter, both within the country and internationally. May they make wise and righteous decisions and not allow themselves to be swayed by personal or political considerations or threats.

• Pray for the civilians of both Israel and Gaza, who are suffering daily physical danger, privation and economic tragedy.

• Pray for the  brave and selfless soldiers of Israel who are willing to suffer and sacrifice their lives minute by minute in order to protect us and allow us to more or less go about our lives as normal. Another 10,000 reservists were called up to supplement the 70,000 already called up, and the regular army. All these men and women have left behind mothers, fathers, siblings, wives and children, businesses and careers. Some have not been home for over 40 days, and are sitting out in the open with little or no  respite from the searing heat and dust of our late Summer.

• Pray for truthful, honest and unbiased reporting in the media. This issue is addressed very eloquently in this video by a Maori woman in New Zealand. http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/10/a-maori-woman-stands-up-for-israel/

• Pray for church leaders and congregations that they will interpret Scripture according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and not according to erroneous traditions and philosophies of men.

• Pray for your own nations and leaders that they will be found supporting the right side in this war.

• Pray for the enemies of Israel. They are the true victims in all this. They have been deceived by Satan into believing they are doing Good, destroying the infidel and winning the world for their false god, Allah. They will get a great shock when they meet the true God on Judgment Day. Pray that many will receive visions and revelations of the Truth, as some have already. Pray that they will be rescued from the Deceiver and the Father of Lies.

• Pray against the advance of the ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria,  and that the Western world will move to stop them before it is too late. Today it is Iraq and Syria, tomorrow Jerusalem and the next day, Europe. As someone in my congregation recently remarked "I am not afraid for Israel, but I fear greatly for Europe".

Psalm 27 (NJKV) from verse 11.

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
¹² Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!