A DOLL FOR CHRISTMAS?

What are you buying your children, or grandchildren, for Christmas or Hannuka this year? A doll perhaps? How about one of these?

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/images/article_images/temp_images/20151209_TerroristDolls.jpg


This week Israeli customs officials confiscated a shipment of 4,000 Palestinian terrorist dolls, made in the United Arab Emirates, and bound for the West Bank. The kefiyah clad dolls are clutching a rock in their raised right hands, and bear a picture of the El-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount, with a caption that translated reads "O Jerusalem we are coming" and "Jerusalem is for us".
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/22728-israel-confiscates-4000-palestinian-puppets

For whom were these dolls intended? Children? If so, then surely this must be the lowest and most despicable act of incitement I can imagine. But for all that, it doesn't surprise me. A people that brainwashes their children to hatred and violence from the cradle, that encourages their children to go out and commit murder, and rejoices when they are killed as a result, has surely sunk to the lowest depths of humanity. How I cry out for these children. What chance do they have of a decent and worthwhile life? How can they ever grow up to build a nation and lead their people in the path of peace with their neighbors - us?

Yet this week New Zealand put forth yet another draft proposal for bringing about peace between Israel and the Palestinians, calling for the Security Council of the UN to mandate a course of action for the two parties to prepare for talks in "a realistic but early timeframe".http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b99accfddab140d88fff2d5c9df12028/new-zealand-circulates-un-resolution-israel-Palestinians
The fact that the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, stated that his country supported the new draft resolution saying "We have always claimed that the UN should be more involved," perhaps says it all. http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/world-news/the-israeli-connection/russian-supports-new-zealand-on-israeli-palestinian-peace-talks-16824 Putin's Russia continues to strengthen its influence and power in the Middle East by supporting and arming Israel's enemies, Iran and Syria. They are hardly neutral observers.

I think most Israelis would be in favor of a two state solution if the terms of its establishment were to ensure lasting peace. Most would be quite happy to live beside the Palestinians and even have them live and work amongst us, if they could be trusted not to attack us with knives and bombs.

Actually Jews and Arabs are cousins- they have similar languages and cultures. Israelis love to eat Arab food and shop in Arab souks (markets). Many of us work and shop together quite happily. Sadly however, there have been a number of instances when a Palestinian who has worked alongside Jews in Israel suddenly one day pulls a knife or a gun and kills his workmates, even though they may have eaten together in their homes and even invited each other to their family weddings. Such treachery has eroded all trust. 

The Palestinian Authority still does not even recognize Israel's right to exist and is doing everything it can to incite violence against Israelis. The only path to peace is negotiation and compromise, but at this juncture there is no one to talk to, and the intervention of the UN would only make things worse. Israel has a deep distrust of the UN that is seen as heavily biased against Israel. What the NZ proposal and the Western world in general does not seem to recognize is that it 'takes two to tango". Israel is willing to negotiate and compromise but that there is no one to talk to. Westerners think all people want nothing more than peace, but here in the Middle East, that is simply not so.  there is no way to negotiate peace if the other part does not want peace. How many more 9/11s and the type of attacks that occurred in Paris recently will it take for the world to wake up? There is a huge movement of Islamic fundamentalism that is quite open about its one and only goal, to overcome the whole world and destroy anyone who is not Muslim. This is Jihad. They want war not peace and sadly, the Palestinians are but a pawn in their game. It suits them to 'keep the pot boiling' by incitement and accusation against Israel. The greatest threat to the Palestinians is not Israel but Islamic fundamentalism.

Imagine if tomorrow Israel took all its settlements and all its soldiers out of the West Bank and turned it all over to the Palestinian Authority. What would happen?  Its not hard to guess. Just look at the Gaza Strip. That's what we did there - we took out all our soldiers and all our settlements. Did the Palestinians raise up a viable state with schools, and hospitals and all the infrastructure needed for a decent standard of living for their people? Did they stop shelling our communities in the south? No, Hamas took over from the Palestinian Authority and turned Gaza into something not far short of Hell.  It also happened in the Sinai, and the same thing would almost certainly happen in the West Bank. The PA is weak and crumbling. Hamas is stronger and is supported by Iran, but standing in the wings, just waiting for the right moment, and growing in power and support daily, is Dayish (ISIS).  I think, in view of this, most Israelis have come to despair of the 'two state' solution'. It just no longer seems even possible. The incitement and poison in Palestinian society runs too deep now. We feel there is no one to talk to about peace, and little point in trying. 

HOPE
So is there any hope at all? Yes, there always remains hope.

This week Sarah Tehiya Litman and Ariel Beigel were married, and it was celebrated by thousands of Israelis from all walks of life, religious, haredi, secular, right wing, left wing, you name it.  Why? On November 13, Sarah and her father, Yaacov, and her brother, Netanel, were driving home from a pre-wedding celebration when their car was fired upon by Palestinian terrorists.  Sarah's father and brother were hit. A Palestinian ambulance arrived on the scene, but seeing that the wounded were Jews, they refused to treat them and left. Before help could arrive both Yaacov and Netanel died of their wounds.  Sarah and her fiancé, Ariel, could have retreated into their private grief and cancelled, or at least postponed their wedding, but instead they determined to hold it anyway. Not only that but they hired the largest reception venue they could find and invited to their reception any Israeli who wanted to attend. According to some reports at least 5,000 accepted the invitation.



http://www.israel21c.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/The-surviving-Litman-family-singing-emotionally-with-the-bride-Sarah-Tehiya-Litman-and-groom-Ariel-Beigel-under-the-bridal-canopy.-Photo-by-Hadas-ParushFLASH90-1168x657.jpg

Sarah's brother, Dvir, had this to say, "This evening, I have to say Kaddish on my father and sing ‘Come, O Bride’ for my sister, but we’re showing that no one will ever defeat the people of Israel. We are here forever".  http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/195434/thousands-of-israelis-attend-wedding-of-israeli-woman-who-lost-her-father-and-brother-in-terrorist-attack

It is interesting to note that Sarah Tehiya' s names literally translate as 'princess of resurrection life'. Pray that she and her new husband, and their families will rise up out of their sorrow, call upon the LORD of Israel and find resurrection life.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth

 

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
⁹ For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

¹⁰ The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

Psalm 33

Let us pray this prayer together with the Psalmist:

Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!² For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
³ They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
⁴ They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

⁵ For they have consulted together with one consent;
They form a confederacy against You:
⁶ The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
⁷ Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
⁸ Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. Selah

⁹ Deal with them as with Midian,
As with Sisera,
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
¹⁰ Who perished at En Dor,
Who became as refuse on the earth.
¹¹ Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb,
Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
¹² Who said, “Let us take for ourselves
The pastures of God for a possession.”

¹³ O my God, make them like the whirling dust,
Like the chaff before the wind!
¹⁴ As the fire burns the woods,
And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,
¹⁵ So pursue them with Your tempest,
And frighten them with Your storm.
¹⁶ Fill their faces with shame,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
¹⁷ Let them be confounded and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
¹⁸ That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 83

AMEN

PS. Lately there have been a number of excellent and positive articles in the local Hebrew press about the Messianic movement. This is indicative of the beginnings of an opening of hearts in Israeli society. Not long ago such positive press coverage would have been unthinkable. For those of you who understand Hebrew, take a look at this one:  

http://familyguide3.walla.co.il/item/2914039

I also recommend going to the link - for an excellent explanation in Hebrew about what we believe  (This may be a good resource to share with your Israeli friends).
 http://www.messiah.co.il/index.php/theblog/107-messianic-jews-jesus-christ-yeshua-messiah

http://www.messiah.co.il/index.php/theblog/107-messianic-jews-jesus-christ-yeshua-messiah
video in Hebrew about Messianic Jews.

THE FACES OF TERROR

 

One Friday night recently I was on my way home and I pulled up at a red light, still basking in the glow of a pleasant dinner with friends. Suddenly an armored police vehicle cut in front of the car in the lane next to me, blocking his way. Out jumped about 10 heavily armed police and surrounded the car. When the light changed to green they waved to me to drive on. I don't know what happened next, but it was probably a routine identity check on a driver who had just pulled out of the Arab neighborhood I was passing.  It made me think though - the 'incident' could easily have been something very different. The driver of the other car could have been a terrorist who pulled a gun and shot me, just as had happened the day before not far away. On that occasion two Israelis and one innocent Palestinian driver were killed, and some 7-8 others injured, some seriously, when a Palestinian driver drove up along the shoulder and fired into the line of cars waiting at a red light.  

This is the reality of the life we are all now living here in Jerusalem, where the sight of soldiers and police, armored police cars and security checks are now 'normal'.  Any passing motorist can pull out a gun and start firing, or suddenly swerve and run down the people waiting at the bus stop. The woman, or child, walking along the pavement behind you can suddenly pull out a commando knife, or just a kitchen knife, and cut your throat. It can happen in  a flash and suddenly your life is over, or changed forever.  And yet today I went to the local shopping mall and it was pulsing with people, shopping and drinking coffee with friends, and going about their lives as if it was 'business as usual'. 

This week the people of France, and perhaps all of Europe, are facing this new reality too. They are still in shock and wondering how life will go on. But it will. They will adapt, just as we have, and countless others before us throughout all the wars and violence of human history. It just astounds me how we humans have this inbuilt, powerful urge for life, that we do go on and  somehow survive, most of us anyway.

One of the ways we cope is by means of a great deal of denial. Who amongst us gets up in the morning and says 'today I will be a victim of terror'? Even though intellectually we know it is possible, but emotionally we believe 'it will never happen to me'.  If we didn't think this way, how could we ever function?

I don't want to give the impression that the current situation here doesn't affect people. It does. We live with a constant heightened sense of awareness. Today on the street I jumped a couple of times when someone came up too close behind me. I am always watching the people around me looking for someone who looks suspicious.

The problem with such suspicion is that it can become fear, and fear, if unchecked, can easily develop into anger, hatred and murder. On Saturday night, an 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist attacked and wounded 4 Israelis in Kiryat Gat, a town south of Tel Aviv. Bystanders mistook an innocent Bedouin for a terrorist and repeatedly stabbed him in the back and legs until police intervened. The Bedouin, when interviewed today in hospital said " I wouldn't want those who hurt me to be punished. The terrorist did something bad to them, you can understand them", but he also went on to say "These days I feel scared to walk around, I hardly leave home, really afraid to walk down the street" (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4729142,00.html)

It is not only Jews who are living in a state of fear today but all the residents of Israel and the Territories. Terrorists do not care whom they kill, they just want to kill and become martyrs.  This week our news reported a first - a convicted terrorist who expressed regret at his actions. However  as I watched the interview I got the strong feeling that the regret was not so much over those whom he had killed and wounded, but rather that he had not been killed and thus made into a martyr. Instead he was just wounded and now faces a long prison sentence - not the glory in Paradise he dreamed of.


PUTTING A FACE ON TERROR

Too often we read the newspapers and hear the statistics and forget that the dead were people. People who had wives, husbands, children, parents, friends and colleagues. They got up one morning, and went off to work or school, not dreaming they would never come home again. Victims of knifings, shootings and vehicular attacks, their lives were suddenly cut off. Add to this list those who are injured, some very seriously. Their lives will never be the same again. Even if and when the physical wounds heal, the memories will haunt them all their lives, in their nightmares, anxieties and fears.  Please pray for all those who have lost loved ones or who are injured, not forgetting their families and friends too.  

Below are photos of the Israeli victims of terror  killed during the months of September and October. Look hard at their faces. As Jewish tradition has it - every soul is a whole world.



http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4729651,00.html

THE FACE OF COURAGE 



Terror victim Ayala Shapira with Noble laureate Professor Aaron Ciechanover (Photo: Elad Gershgoren)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4730699,00.html

 

Less than a year ago, 12 year old Ayala Shapira suffered serious burns when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at her car as she travelled with her father to their home in the West Bank. Classed as a 'child prodigy' she is in the gifted student's program at Bar Ilan University and asked to meet a scientist. This week she met with Nobel laureate Professor Aaron Ciechanover.  Ayala reported that "Towards the end of our meeting Ciechanover asked me what I want to be when I grew up, and was surprised when I said I wanted to be a writer. He asked why I was so specifically interested in science. I responded that I'm interested in many fields, science being just one of them."  Pray for this young girl and all the other wounded in terror attacks as they try to put their lives back together. May the life force have victory over the forces of death and murder.

 

 

THE OTHER VICTIMS

Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies.  I do not have the statistics, but a large number of terrorists have also lost their lives. Many of those were minors, children aged between 11-18 years old. Their minds have been warped and twisted by the teachings of their religious and community leaders, their parents and their teachers. They have been taught to hate and to believe lies, all in the name of their god, Allah. They go out to their deaths hoping for martyrdom and the promise of paradise with 72 virgins. What an empty hope! Even if it were true - how long would the 72 virgins remain virgins? Yet Islam offers no higher hope. There is no promise of eternal life nor of rewards after death except to such martyrs. How sad. All this pain and suffering for what? Please pray that these mainly young impressionable people, brainwashed by their society, will experience doubt and hesitate. Pray that the God of all love will reach them in time. Pray against the Lie of Islam and that the lies these children are being fed regarding Israel and the Jews will be exposed, and that in their place they will receive revelation and truth.

 

WORLD WAR III ?

I wrote the above two weeks ago, shortly after the world was shaken by the horrendous attacks in France, in which some 130 people died. Some see that event as a turning point in human history and even the start of World War III.  It seems to me that World War III started long ago with the rise of fundamentalist Islamic terror and insurgencies, perhaps beginning with the overturn of the Shah of Iran and the formation of Iran's Islamic Republic, based on Shariyah Law. This victory served to  encourage the fundamentalist Islamists that dream of Jihad and the conquest of the whole world for Allah. Iran has also provided the power base and resources to establish and maintain many of the various terror organizations and their activities. The fundamentalist Islamists have made no secret of their goal to destroy Western democratic world, starting with the 'little Satan' (Israel) and finishing with the 'big Satan' (America). Yet the Western world has been reluctant to believe it, and remained blind to the battle and weak in its responses. As Salafist Islam is growing massively in strength and power, western post-Christian democracies are becoming increasingly weak and indecisive. Having lost its Christian anchor, the West is lost in a morass of political-correctness and wishy-washy ethics and morality. Meanwhile Putin's Russia is not troubled by such niceties and is jumping into the fray in support of the main Islamic players in the Middle East, Iran, and Hassad's Syria. Just this week Russia began delivering advanced long-range S-300 missiles to Iran. These missiles can reach Europe.

 

JEWISH SCAPEGOAT

 

Throughout European and Middle Eastern history the Jews were blamed for every catastrophe from the Black Death to the attack of 9/11. Today it is no different. Right after the massacres in France, voices were raised blaming Israel. Swedish Prime Minister, Margot Wallstrom, in a television interview had this to say,

“Obviously, we have reason to be worried, not just in Sweden but across the world—because there are so many that are being radicalized. Here, once again, we are brought back to situations like the one in the Middle East, where not least, the Palestinians see that there is not a future. We must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence” .

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/54266/after-paris-terror-sweden-and-abbass-palestinian-factions-point-finger-at-israel/#GjrIETVhKxXoOwcu.97

(Note the 'we' Wallstrom employs!)

 

The Western world is buying into the Lie that the current wave of terror, against Israel, the USA and Europe, is a result of the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, and especially the so-called 'occupation' of the West Bank following the 1967 War. This is just not true. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is merely a side-show and a convenient pretext for the real threat to world peace, Islamic Jihad. Islamic terror long predated the  1967 conquest of the West Bank and the "Occupation". The modern version of it began as soon as Jews began to return to the land of Israel. In 1919 Haj Amin el-Husseini, the leading figure in Palestinian politics during the British Mandate Period first began to organize groups of suicide terrorists to attack Jews in the hope of driving them out of Israel.  In the 1920s Arab attacks against Jewish settlements killed 135 Jews and wounded another 300. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/riots29.html In 1929 Arab residents of Hevron (Hebron) massacred  67 Jews, and burned their synagogues and homes. The remaining Jews fled to Jerusalem leaving Hebron empty of Jews for the first time for hundreds of years. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/hebron29.html. I could go on but suffice to say, Arab terrorism is not the result of the 1967 'Occupation'.

 

 The real cause of the Palestinian terror is the offense of a Jewish state daring to exist in the Muslim heartland of the Middle East. It is the failure of Islam to recognize Israel as God's chosen people to whom God gave the Land of Israel for a perpetual possession for ever. As such, the battle is not geopolitical but rather spiritual.

Neither is the current wave of terror primarily motivated by economic hardship and hopelessness. The picture painted by Wallstrom and others of desperate Palestinians forced to carry out such attacks because they have no other hope, is flawed. Several of the terrorists have held well-paying jobs in Israel or the West Bank.  Many other peoples around the world suffer hardship but they do not resort to this kind of violence for which there is no excuse under heaven. I do not deny that the Palestinians lack hope for a better future, but had they been willing to accept the existence of Israel, forego terrorism and live side-by-side with us in peace, their future would be much better.

 
Ahmed Kassem in front of his villa of in the West Bank village of Turmus Aya
http://i1.wp.com/jcpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/image76.png?resize=450%2C300
 

 

BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions)

 

One of the outcomes of the acceptance of the Lie is the increasing willingness to go along with the BDS movement against Israel.  It is interesting and perhaps significant to note that just a few days before the attacks in France, the European Union had signed an agreement to boycott goods made in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Is there a link? Judge for yourselves, but the LORD spoke to Abraham saying.

 

I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you

 

Genesis 12:3

 

God has never revoked this proclamation and a study of history  will bear it out. Pray for your nations that they will bless Israel and not curse her. Just this week a survey conducted in the US revealed that some 37% of Americans support sanctions against Israel because of the settlement policy.

What does it mean to bless Israel? It does not mean that we must agree with every policy of the government of Israel or not speak out against things we feel are wrong. Within Israel itself there is a very strong degree of debate over this policy. However we must draw the line at taking actions which undermine or harm the existence of the State itself and the BDS movement, initiated and fed by the Palestinian propaganda machine, intends just that. Ultimately its goal is to destroy Israel. I would warn the US and the European Union against supporting BDS. You may find yourselves facing the curse of the LORD himself.

Furthermore, the people that will be most harmed by the sanctions are the Palestinians themselves. Jewish settlements and industries in the West Bank provide jobs for tens of thousands of Palestinians who can consequently support their families with dignity. This also injects cash into the Palestinian economy.  If you really want to help the Palestinians, pray that their leaders will stop the incitement and the lies which are poisoning the minds of a whole generation of young people and leading them to self-destructive measures such as terrorism. Pray that these men will stop channeling aid money into building themselves mansions and lining their own pockets but rather use it to build schools, universities, hospitals and all the infrastructure of a State. Pray that God will raise up for them leaders who truly have the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart.


IS THE WORLD FALLING APART?
Sometimes when I contemplate world events I am tempted to despair. Evil seems to be on the rise in every quarter and the darkness grows at a terrifying pace. However, as one of my friends recently remarked,

   THE WORLD IS NOT FALLING APART, IT IS FALLING INTO PLACE

 

 



 

This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
²⁷ For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”
Isaiah 14: 26-27

The world may be descending into a deep darkness full of violence and bloodshed but God will overcome all the forces of evil, and establish everlasting peace in the end. This is our hope.

Jesus in his wisdom warned us that before His second coming there would be a time of great trouble, the birth pangs of the final redemption of the world.

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.   All these are the beginning of sorrows.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.   Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.   And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24: 3-14

  



The Light at the End of the Tunnel

 



 

 

 

 

'

 

LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/500af2aac4aa3053c4fc5ae1/t/504231d0e4b0991b72682caa/1346515408754/life-isnt-about-waiting-for-the-storm-to-pass-its-about-learning-to-dance-in-the-rain.jpg

I love the rain. It took me a year or two living in this arid land of Israel, on the edge of the great Saharan-Arabian Desert, to  learn to truly love rain. Now when I look out the window and see rain falling, and hear my neighbor calling for joy from his window, I will  go out to revel in the rain. Rain is joy, it washes the land and the trees and the air, and gives life to every living thing. Every drop that falls is precious. But sometimes you can have too much of a good thing....

On the 25th of October, at 3AM, here in Israel we set our clocks back to winter time. As if on cue,  just an hour or two later, summer fled away and winter came with a bang. The skies opened their treasuries and poured out a deluge of rain over the whole land. After 8 months of 'nary a drop' suddenly we had more rain than we could deal with. On the coastal plain streets turned to raging torrents a meter deep sweeping away cars, garbage bins and everything else in their path. Hundreds of shops and homes were flooded  and strong winds and lightning brought down many trees and power  lines leaving thousands of homes without electricity for  days. After four days without power, some people were just rejoicing in getting their power back, when 'wham' another storm hit causing more damage. Miraculously only two people died, one when a wall collapsed on top of him, but many had to be rescued from flooded cars and homes. 66 mm ( nearly 3 inches) of rain fell in half an hour in Ranaana. In Kfar Saba hailstones the size of tennis balls punched holes straight through car  windscreens.

For more dramatic photos and footage go to http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4717976,00.html



Wednesday 28th October  in Central Israel

Ranaana's main street
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4717497,00.html

Ranaana
 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4717497,00.html
 

Flooding in Herziliya
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4717497,00.html

Here in Jerusalem we got off fairly lightly with just a good wetting rain and a few gusts of wind. This last Friday though I happened to be driving to my congregation in the center of town and the skies opened briefly. Very quickly the streets turned to rivers, manholes burst open and emitted fountains shooting a meter high into the air and stairways became beautiful waterfalls. It was all over in  few minutes but it was a reminder that even here, on our mountaintop, rain can bring destruction as well as new life.

 

Yesterday I was emailing a friend who is a tour guide at the reconstruction of Moses' Tabernacle at Timna Park, near Eilat (some of you may have visited this enterprise and it is a very popular tourist destination). She filmed a flash flood that swept through the Park and the Tabernacle doing much damage. It gives you some idea of the power of flash floods in the desert.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwa2K3DPJn0

 

This week has been a bit less dramatic but we did have a nasty sandstorm on Wednesday which put the air pollution index some 70 times above normal but it only lasted a day before some nice heavy winter rains washed the sky clear again.

 

The arrival of winter in Israel always comes as a bit of a shock even though we  anticipate it anxiously. After around 8 months of continuously hot, dry weather the arrival of the first rains always seems to catch us out. It is funny seeing us all struggling through knee deep streams on the streets in our summer sandals and T-shirts soaked through to the skin. It takes us a while to make the adjustment to having to wear shoes, or even rubber boots, sweaters, and raincoats, and to carry about our battered umbrellas. You forget from year to year just how inconvenient and even unpleasant rain can be, but somehow after a short time, we rearrange our closets, dust off our heaters,  and get on with the new reality of cold, wet weather.

 

It seems that God has equipped us humans with an amazing capacity to adapt and cope with change and adversity. About two months ago, we Jerusalemites were faced with a drastic change in our living conditions. Violence has spiraled with rioting in various parts of the city, cars ramming into groups of people at bus stops and intersections, and random knife attacks. At first we were in a state of shock and fear, but we are now growing used to the new status quo. When the rains come you get out your rubber boots and umbrellas, make the adjustment, and get on with life. With violence now a daily part of our life, we likewise find ways to cope with the new reality. Although most of us feel a degree of fear and anxiety, we mostly manage to put it into the back of our consciousness and concentrate on other things. We may carry a loaded gun or a can of pepper spray, avoid the trouble spots and watch carefully the people around us on the street, but somehow we get on with life.

Of course there are also some do not manage to conquer their fear, and they hide themselves away.  Shops are reporting a drastic drop in business, restaurants are empty and some tourists are cancelling their trips. This is of course affecting our economy quite seriously.  However last night a friend and I braved the cold, wet weather and went to a popular gathering place for a meal. I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the restaurants there were quite full and a number of people, wrapped up in coats and scarves, were enjoying the free, live entertainment in the courtyard.

There is a belief here held by many people that even though there are dangers in going out to these sorts of places, we must do so, because if we don't we are giving the enemy victory over us. Israelis, known to be a 'stiff-necked' people, have a stubborn determination to 'make life' in spite of all.

 

The frequency  of terror attacks in Jerusalem  seems to have diminished slightly over the last two weeks, probably because of the intense level of surveillance, the watchfulness of the general public, the fact that many are armed, and the presence of 4000 police on the streets. All these measures make it much more difficult to carry out a successful attack, and quite a few would-be terrorists have been neutralized before they managed to kill anyone. The terror activity consequently seems to have moved more towards the outlying areas, especially around Hebron, and along route 60 north of Ramallah. These areas have borne the brunt of most of the attacks lately. In recent days the nature of the attacks has also changed with several shooting incidents carried out by operatives of identified terror organizations. This is a worrying development as these organization have access to guns and the equipment and know-how to make bombs.

 

A day in the life of Israel

We are still experiencing  4-5 attacks per day somewhere around the country. Here, for example,  is an excerpt from todays Ynetnews:

 

 A car attack wounded four pedestrians at Tapuah junction in the West Bank on Sunday morning. Two people in their 20s were wounded moderately and seriously while a pregnant woman was lightly injured. A woman suffered light-to-moderate wounds. 
Less than two hours later, a knife attack at the entrance to Beitar Illit lightly wounded one person. The attacker was shot dead.

 
At Tapuah, The terrorist drove rapidly towards a group of Israelis standing at a hitchhiking station before colliding with them. Border Two Border Police officers who are permanently stationed at the junction shot at the assailant, who ran into a concrete barrier, and killed him. He was identified at Sulemain Shaheen, 22, of Ramallah.
 

Scene of attack (Photo: Naftali Meir)

 
Four Israelis were wounded in three separate West Bank terror attacks on Friday, while another attack was averted when the perpetrator was shot dead.

 
An Israeli was stabbed near Sha'ar Binyamin, two were shot near Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, another was shot near Hebron, and a Palestinian 72-year-old widow was shot dead when she tried to run soldiers over with a car.

 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4722381,00.html

Behind all this the incitement of Palestinian propaganda continues. On Sunday the 25th of October, the Grand  Mufti of Jerusalem,  Sheikh Muhammad Hussein,  when asked during a TV interview if he accepts that the Jewish Temple existed on the Temple Mount said " the Aksa Mosque was an Islamic mosque since the world was created", and added that "It was never anything other than a mosque", thus claiming that there never was a Jewish temple on the site.  http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Grand-mufti-There-was-never-a-Jewish-Temple-on-Temple-Mount-430131

This rewriting of history is curious in that until 1948 (when the Jewish State of Israel was founded) their own Wakf handbooks clearly stated that the "that the Dome of the Rock is situated on the indisputable and universally accepted site of Solomon’s Temple”.

Last week Benjamin Netanya created a stir, when in a speech to the World Zionist Congress, he claimed that at a meeting between the then-Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, and Hitler in November 1941 it was the Mufti who suggested the 'final solution' of extermination of the Jews to Hitler, who at the time wanted to 'merely' expel the Jews from Europe.

Netanyahu claimed that  al-Hajj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, ‘If you expel them, they’ll all come here [to Palestine].’” According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked what he should do with them, to which the mufti replied, “Burn them.”

 



The Grand Mufti, Husseini, and Hitler in 1941
https://ivarfjeld.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/mufti-and-hitler.jpg

 

There is currently much debate as to whether this conversation went exactly as Netanyahu claimed or not, and the fact remains that Hitler's program of extermination had already begun before this meeting, nevertheless there is no doubt that the influence of the Mufti and other Middle Eastern leaders greatly encouraged Hitler and supported his efforts.

 

Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, a historian and scholar at the Middle East Forum,  has studied this relationship in depth, and had this to say:

 

But there is much evidence to support Netanyahu’s underlying claim that the grand mufti had a substantial (and for a non-European, unparalleled) influence on the genocide that unfolded in Nazi-occupied Europe and that was planned for the Middle East as well.

After years of inciting violence against Jews as Jerusalem’s grand mufti (notably in 1920, 1929 and 1936), claiming “al-Aksa is in danger,” Husseini found an ally in Hitler’s Berlin during the 1930s. Husseini and many other Arabs of his day saw themselves as a defeated and humiliated people, much like the Germans after World War I. Nazi ideology therefore resonated deeply in the Arab world. In 1933, Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, was serialized in Arab newspapers and became a best-seller.

The Germans encouraged the mufti’s activities, even providing funds and weapons for the 1936-39 Palestinian revolt led by Husseini. The mufti had a steady link to the Nazi security service from 1937 on.

That year, Husseini called on all Muslims to rid their lands of Jews and drafted a Nazi-Islamist pact encouraging the spread of Nazi ideology, and boycotts of Jewish goods, among other provisions. In 1941, he instigated the al-Farhud pogrom in Iraq. Above all, the mufti called for the Axis powers to stop any Jewish influx into the Middle East.

On November 28, 1941, the mufti met with Hitler and the two appeared to come to an understanding that Jews would be killed rather than deported, an option hitherto still under consideration. Although Nazi mass shootings of European Jews began soon after the June 1941 invasion of Soviet Russia, plans for their comprehensive extermination came after this first Hitler-Husseini meeting. At that time the Germans expected the Middle East to become the next theater of war and were therefore averse to disrupting their Arab-Islamist alliance by flooding the region with Jewish refugees.

Adolf Eichmann and his subordinates frequently briefed Husseini, who now lived in comfort in Germany, on the ongoing genocide, as if to reassure him that Hitler had not changed his mind. Husseini met six times with Eichmann, who testified in Jerusalem years later about the mufti’s fierce opposition to the mass transfer of Jews to Palestine. SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler met Husseini in mid-1943 and told him that three million Jews had been liquidated so far.

Eichmann’s aide Dieter Wisliceny testified at the Nuremberg trials, “The mufti was one of the initiators of the systematic extermination of European Jewry ... He was one of Eichmann’s best friends and had constantly incited him to accelerate the extermination measures. I heard him say, accompanied by Eichmann, he had visited incognito the gas chambers of Auschwitz.”

Husseini certainly believed his encouragement of Hitler and others to destroy the Jews of Europe was decisive in their decision to do so. He wrote in his memoirs that “world Jewry wanted to bring the Eastern European Jews to Palestine ... Germany agreed to this ... [w]e were able to foil this effort.”

The mufti further explained, “This caused the Jews to put ugly blame on me for being responsible for the liquidation of 400,000 Jews who were then not able to travel to Palestine,” referencing the known number of Hungarian Jews, half of whom perished.

“The Jews demanded to try me in Nuremberg as a war criminal.” Indeed, he put photocopies of those letters in his memoirs.

Beyond this, the mufti’s role in recruiting and indoctrinating Muslim SS troops in the Balkans and Soviet Asia makes him responsible for still more victims.

 

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Netanyahu-was-right-about-Hitler-and-the-Mufti-432055

 

The debate over the veracity of Netanyahu's stated facts is somewhat missing the point of his remarks, which were intended to demonstrate that the lies, incitement, disinformation and violence directed against the Jewish people today is nothing new.  The parallels between today's anti-Israel propaganda, the incitement and the willingness of the people of the world to believe these lies, and the events and atmosphere leading up to the Holocaust are ominously similar. I suspect the Holocaust of WWII was just a practice-run for the great battle yet to come, the battle when Jerusalem will become the 'cup of drunkenness' spoken of in Zechariah 12:

“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.

 

The stage is being set for the great battle for Jerusalem when all the nations of the world will rise up against her.

In fact the enmity between Palestinians and Israelis does not derive from the settlements or the occupation following the 1967 war, or even the establishment of the Jewish State. It goes back long before that. I believe this can be traced back centuries and even millennia right back to the original conflict between Cain and Abel. In fact this is the subject of a book I am currently writing. Here is an excerpt from the second chapter:

After Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, Eve gave birth to two sons, Cain the elder and his brother Abel. Abel grew up and became a keeper of sheep and Cain was a farmer, a tiller of the ground. In due course, they brought offerings to the LORD. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel brought of the first-born of his flock, and we are told that God respected the offering of Abel, but not that of Cain. Understandably perhaps, Cain felt rejected and angry, but God came to him saying, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4: 6-7).

 

In these words lies a fundamental principle, which underlies all God’s dealings with man and which underpins all of human history. Cain brought an unacceptable offering to the Lord. He had not done well, and his offering had been rejected by God. At first glance it seems that Cain had been treated unfairly by God. How was Cain to know what would constitute an acceptable offering? It is not totally clear in the Scripture, but some say that Cain should have known. In Genesis 3:21 we read that after Adam and Eve had sinned and become aware of their nakedness, God had killed some animals and made them tunics of skin. This is the first time that we see in Scripture the necessity of the shedding of blood for the covering of the results of sin. This happened before Cain was born but he would surely have known about it. Perhaps therefore he should have understood that the shedding of blood was required. Be that as it may, there can be no argument that Cain chose to do things ‘his way’ and not God’s way, whether knowingly or not.

 

From the passage quoted above it seems to me that Cain’s incorrect sacrifice was not counted as sin at that point, and God gave him an opportunity to correct his mistake. Cain still had the choice whether or not to let sin enter into his life. He could have simply brought to God the acceptable sacrifice and found full acceptance. However he chose otherwise. He allowed jealousy and anger to rule over him, and this ultimately led to the murder of his innocent brother.

 

Even after this terrible act, God gave Cain one last chance to repent, when He spoke with him saying, “Where is your brother Abel?”, but Cain refused to take responsibility for what he had done and lied to God (Genesis 4:9-10) thereby increasing the trespass even more. Consequently God cursed him saying, “So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand”. The word, ארור, here translated as ‘cursed’ implies that the very nature of something has changed. It also carries a sense of finality. There will be no more chances. Now Cain has so hardened his heart against God he will no longer listen to Him, nor even to his own conscience. Interestingly enough, if we continue reading in Genesis 4 we see that one of Cain’s descendants, Lamech, was also a murderer and even presumed to claim the ‘mark of Cain’ to protect him from vengeance ‘seventy seventy-fold’ (Genesis 4:23-24). If we harden our hearts against God there is a tendency to slide ever deeper into sin and this tendency is very often passed on down the generations.

 

Incidentally, we are told that Cain went out from the presence of the Lord (Genesis 4:16). This passage does not say that God cast him out from His presence. God had merely told Cain that he would be cursed from the ground, which would no longer yield its strength to him and he would become a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. Yet Cain exaggerated the situation, and added his own interpretation, saying “I shall be hidden from your Face… and it will happen to me that anyone who finds me will kill me”. His anger and his sense of rejection caused him to perceive his punishment as being worse than God intended, and this just fueled his indignation and intensified his anger. It was this that drove him out from the presence of God. Thus it was Cain who rejected God, not the other way around.

 

Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod to the east of Eden (Genesis 4:16). Where was the land of Nod?  We are told it was east of Eden and some believe it to have been the Arabian Peninsula. The land of Nod may not have been an actual place since this phrase could also be translated as the land of wandering, an allusion to the type of life Cain and his descendents would experience as fugitives and vagabonds.

 

As we continue to read through the historical books of the Old Testament we see this pattern, repeated again and again. Every individual and every nation faces exactly the same choice, then as it is today. Will we do it God’s way, or rebel and go our own way? Will we choose obedience or rebellion, love or murder? Will we accept God or reject him? Will we cooperate with him towards redemption or will we fight against him?

This is what I have called the Cain Principle and it underlies all of human history, from the time of the Fall until now. We can see it at work on many levels, but especially we can see it as it relates to the chosen line of the Messiah. The Enemy, Satan, works through mankind trying to bring to naught God’s redemption plan. If he, Satan, can arouse our jealousy and anger towards God’s chosen, he can lead us to murder. This is the root of the ancient enmity, towards God’s chosen, both Israel and the saints in Yeshua (Jesus).

Throughout all of recorded history the nations surrounding Israel walked in hatred against her, attacking her again and again. This enmity was driven by jealousy and fear which gives rise to hatred and finally murder. This I believe is the true root off all anti-Semitism in all nations and individuals who do not stand with Israel as God's chosen people. God has chosen the stiff-necked people of Israel to be the bearers of the historical record, the promises of God and his law, which we call the Word of God. Two thousand years ago they also gave birth to the incarnate Word, Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah of Israel. This is God's way. Are you willing to accept it? Or will you fight against it? Is your nation willing to accept it or will they stand in opposition? Are you with God or against Him?
 

 

BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) and the European Union

 

 

This coming week, on the 11th of November (Ironically - Armistice Day!) the EU is expected to announce new measures requiring member countries to re-label all goods made outside 'Israel's internationally recognized borders', that is within the "Occupied Territories" or the West Bank.

The EU ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, told Israel Television last Tuesday that  in the EU goods made in the Territories can no longer be designated 'Made in Israel', but  labels must say that the product is made in a settlement in the West Bank. Such a move resonates in Israeli hearts with memories of similar labeling of Jewish goods in Germany before the Holocaust. 

 

Although the EU is disassociating this move from the BDS movement it is clearly intended to promote the boycotting of goods made in the Settlements, and ultimately encouraging the boycotting of all Israeli goods worldwide. Great Britain, Belgium and Denmark have already instituted similar labeling guidelines. The EU has already removed goods made in the Settlements from the duty-free status awarded to other Israeli-made goods according to a free-trade agreement with Israel.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article43192584.html

 

Such moves will not seriously affect the Israeli economy as a whole since such goods represent less than 1% of exports, but it will seriously affect the economy of the Palestinians themselves. At least 20,000 Palestinians are employed by settlement-run factories and even more are involved in the construction  and service of the settlements themselves. The Palestinian factory workers earn on average about 4000 shekels a month and are entitled to all the benefits of an Israeli worker - health care, pension plans and holiday pay. This compares to the average income of other Palestinians in the West Bank which is about 1000 shekels a month, with no additional benefits.  It is hard to see how destroying these jobs will benefit the Palestinians and promote peace.

 

Are you, followers of the LORD God of Israel, willing to stand for Israel, and God's redemption plan, in your countries? Are you willing to speak out against the BDS and other expressions of anti-Semitism? I believe that now is the time we all need to be willing to 'stand and be counted'. Things are coming to a climax. God will judge all those who oppose him, nations and individuals alike, and that time may well be soon. According to the prophecy of Zechariah quoted above all the nations who come against Jerusalem will be destroyed. This is the warning for our days. Pray for your nations that they may be found on the 'right' side, and for yourselves also.

 

It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem

 

Zechariah 12: 9