Tag: Israel

This week, tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians have flared up again with the worst violence seen in decades. Meanwhile, the world awaits the illusive Two-State solution. Nothing happens. And neither can it. The endgame for Palestinian extremist organisations like Hamas is the destruction of Israel. There isn’t any real compromise. To them, a Palestinian state is “from the river to the sea.” So, what is happening, and why? Let’s dive into some history to find out:

The end of Israel

In the first century, war devastated ancient Israel for decades. The Roman armies destroyed much of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD. Tensions and attacks on Jews around the Roman Empire led to a massive Jewish uprising against Rome from 115 to 117. In 131, Emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and constructed a Temple of Jupiter on the site of the former Jewish Temple. Hadrian banned Jews from living in Jerusalem (a ban that persisted until the Arab conquest).

In 136, the Roman Empire finally crushed any rebellion from the Jews. The Roman province of Judaea was renamed Palaestina (Palestine in English). There was no country called Palestine.

No Palestine. No Israel

From 136 to 1945, there were no indigenous nations in that region. There was no Palestinian state. There was no Israel. The land was controlled by:

  • Roman Empire (64 BC – 390 AD)
  • Christians (Byzantine period, 390 – 634)
  • Muslims (634 – 1099)
  • Crusades and Mongols (1099 – 1291)
  • Mamluks (1291 – 1517)
  • Ottoman Empire (1517 – 1917)

There were always Jews present in this region, along with other indigenous peoples. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem was previously a church when the Christians held the territory.

In the first half of the 20th century, the Zionists who came to Palestine invested a lot of money in creating schools and infrastructure. If a Jewish state did eventuate, it would survive. At least, that was the hope.

The Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of the First World War. British foreign minister Arthur Balfour sent a public letter to the British Lord Rothschild, a leading member of his party and leader of the Jewish community. The letter subsequently became known as the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It stated that the British Government “view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” The declaration gave the British government a pretext for claiming and governing the country. An agreement between British and French bureaucrats decided on new Middle Eastern boundaries. From then on, Diaspora Jews began migrating to Palestine from many nations.

A Nation is Born

In 1947, The United Nations approved a Partition Plan for Palestine. The Partition Plan recognised an independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem under “an International Trusteeship System.” Jewish people received this joyfully, but the Arab community did not agree. Civil war broke out in the region, and more than 250,000 Arabs fled. Hundreds of thousands of Jews and Palestinians have suffered for centuries. People have lost their lives, homes, possessions, and loved ones.

On 14 May 1948, the last British forces left Haifa, and the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum. It proclaimed the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz, Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. The USA (Truman) and Russia (Stalin) recognised the new State but not the Arab nations, who marched their forces into Israel to “drive it into the sea’. Thus began the first Arab-Israeli war.

Many Jewish immigrants, who were World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors, began arriving in the new State of Israel. Many joined the Israel Defence Force (IDF). The war ended early in 1949 when Israel signed armistices with its neighbours (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria). Israel’s new borders were internationally recognised, except by the Arab States. Land granted to Israel remained under the control of various Arab nations. There was little or no outcry from the international community about this. But in 1967, Israel took those areas back, and the international community WAS outraged.

Over the next several years, Israel grew as Jewish people returned from the nations to which they had been scattered. The new country developed its land; the desert was reclaimed, and infrastructure was built.

The Six-Day War

In the 1967 six-day war, Israel captured territories that it had lost in 1949 – the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights (from Syria), the Gaza Strip (from Egypt), and the West Bank (from Jordan). Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. The war created what we know as modern Israel.

Much has happened since 1967. Sadly, there is still no end to the tensions between Israel, the Palestinians, and much of the Arab world. The Two-State Solution is no closer to being realised. It cannot happen until all parties are willing to compromise.

Arab countries want a pan-Arabic Empire as in the days of old. But the Jewish State is in the way. They aim to keep Palestinians in displaced persons camps in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon as pawns for a larger agenda.

The PLO and Hamas

The Intifada of the late 80s and early 90s led to Israel transferring governmental authority in the Gaza Strip to the Palestine Authority (1994). Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian government struggled with a stagnant economy, divided popular support, stalled negotiations with Israel, and threatened terrorism from militant groups like Hamas, which came to power in Gaza in 2007.

By 2005, Israel had withdrawn all troops and citizens from Gaza. Israeli settlers had to leave their homes like Palestinians did in 1948. Homes and infrastructure were left intact. The hope was the Palestinians would create a healthy state. Instead, Hamas destroyed houses and infrastructure. Much of the money donated by nations to help the Palestinians was (is) used to buy rockets and build tunnels to commit terrorist acts in Israel.

The Difference

The Covenant of the Hamas makes for fascinating (and terrifying) reading, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Hamas rejects any negotiated peace settlement and views every Israeli citizen as a combatant. So, in their mind, it’s acceptable to bomb civilian targets because there is no such thing as an Israeli civilian. Hence, the firing this week of thousands of rockets indiscriminately from Gaza into Israel.

Compare that recklessness with the conduct of the IDF:

  • First, they call anyone in or near a targeted building to warn them of an impending attack.
  • Next, they drop leaflets in the area, giving the same warning.
  • Thirdly, small unarmed (dummy) missiles are aimed at the roof of the building to be destroyed in a warning dubbed “Knock, Knock.”

Even with the greatest care, some civilians get killed because Hamas operatives don’t let them leave. Dead civilians get mileage with the media and create international outrage against Israel.

I spoke with a Jewish friend about the conflict recently, and he said: “We live in the hope of a free Palestine that is free from Hamas and Hezbollah and corrupt leadership.” Both Jews and Palestinians have a right to their homeland. But if things continue unchanged, it’s only a distant aspiration.

Tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians have flared up again.

The world waits for the illusive Two-State solution. Nothing happens. And neither can it. The endgame for Palestinian extremist organisations like Hamas is the destruction of Israel. There isn’t any real compromise. To them, a Palestinian state is “from the river to the sea.”

So, what is happening, and why? Let’s dive into some history to find out:

The end of Israel

War ravaged Israel for decades. The Roman armies destroyed the Temple and much of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Tensions and attacks on Jews around the Roman Empire led to a massive Jewish uprising against Rome from 115 to 117. In 131, Emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and constructed a Temple of Jupiter on the site of the former Jewish Temple. Hadrian banned Jews from living in Jerusalem itself (a ban that persisted until the Arab conquest).

In 136 CE, the Roman Empire finally crushed any rebellion from the Jews. The Roman province, until then known as Judaea, was renamed Palaestina (Palestine in English). There was no country called Palestine.

No Palestine. No Israel

From 136 to 1945, there were no indigenous nations in that region. There was no Palestinian state. There was no Israel. The land was controlled by:

Roman Empire (64 BCE – 390 CE)

Christians (Byzantine period, 390 – 634)

Muslims (634 – 1099)

Crusades and Mongols (1099 – 1291)

Mamluks (1291 – 1517)

Ottoman Empire (1517 – 1917)

There were always Jews present in this region along with other indigenous peoples. The Mosque that exists in Jerusalem now was a church when the Christians held the territory.

The Zionists

In the first half of the 20th century, the Zionists who came to Palestine invested a lot of money in creating schools and infrastructure. If a Jewish state did eventuate, it would survive. At least that was the hope.

The Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of the first world war. British foreign minister, Arthur Balfour, sent a public letter to the British Lord Rothschild, a leading member of his party and leader of the Jewish community. The letter subsequently became known as the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It stated that the British Government “view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” The declaration provided the British government with a pretext for claiming and governing the country. An agreement decided new Middle Eastern boundaries between British and French bureaucrats. From then on, Diaspora Jews began migrating to Palestine from many nations.

1947

In 1947, The United Nations approved a Partition Plan for Palestine. The Partition Plan recognised an independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem to be under “an International Trusteeship System”.  Jewish people received this with joy, but the Arab community did not agree. Civil war broke out in the region. More than 250,000 Arabs fled the area.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews and Palestinians have significantly suffered for centuries. People have lost their lives, their homes and possessions, and their loved ones.

Hala’s story

Hala is a longstanding member of Bayside Church. She is Palestinian and was born in 1949. The previous year her family fled from the Holy lands in an event called Al-Nakba (Palestine Devastation).

Hala’s father, Abdo, was a soldier in the British Army Palestine corps. The household comprised his parents, wife, three sisters, and three brothers. Like so many others, they reached Jordan, where they stopped and set up a home.

The advice was for the Palestinian public to vacate their homes and lands until the problem passed. They would then be able to return. Weeks, months, and years passed, and there was no opportunity to return. The majority of Palestinians settled in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan.

With his dying breath, Hala’s grandfather asked to be buried in Palestine. A request that could never be honoured as Israeli law forbade any right of return – dead or alive.

In 1949 a United Nations Commission (UNRWA) was created to deal with the Palestinian ‘problem’.

Hala writes, “What is most touching with today’s people of Gaza, is that for many up to seven times they have had to move on, as increasingly more of Palestinians’ land was taken. The horror of today is that they have never known respite, and this last stance may well be their last! The call to return has never come. And every time, thousands more Palestinians died. In Jordan (1970) Lebanon (1982) and now Gaza.”

After leaving the army, Hala’s father befriended an Australian soldier. Later, working with Shell Aden, he met another Australian, an owner of a bus company and a Shell client. That was his and his family’s good fortune, and they were to come to Australia. Hala remains very thankful to God that she and her family were given the privilege of resettling here.

A Nation is Born

On May 14, 1948, the last British forces left from Haifa, the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum on the day. It proclaimed establishing a Jewish State in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. The USA (Truman) and Russia (Stalin) recognised the new State but not the Arab nations, who marched their forces into Israel to “drive it into the sea’. Thus, began the first Arab-Israeli war.

Many Jewish immigrants, who were World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors, now began arriving in the new State of Israel. Many joined the IDF. War ended early in 1949 when Israel signed armistices with its neighbours (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria). Israel’s new borders were internationally recognised, except by the Arab States. Land that had been granted to Israel remained under the control of various Arab nations.

Most importantly, Egypt had control of the Gaza strip and Jordan the West Bank. There was little or no outcry from the international community about this. But when in 1967 Israel took those areas back again, the International community WAS outraged.

Over the next several years, Israel grew as Jewish people returned from the nations to which they had been scattered. The new country developed its land; desert reclaimed, infrastructure built.

The Six-Day War

In the 1967 six-day war, Israel captured territories that it had lost in 1949 ~ the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights (from Syria), the Gaza Strip (from Egypt), and the West Bank (from Jordan). Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. The war created what we know as modern Israel.

Much has happened since 1967. There is still no end in sight to the tensions between Israel, the Palestinians, and much of the Arab world. The Two-State Solution is no closer to being realised. It cannot happen until all parties are willing to compromise.

Arab countries want a pan-Arabic Empire as in days of old. But the Jewish State is in the way. Their agenda is to keep Palestinians in displaced persons’ camps in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon as pawns for a larger agenda.

The PLO and Hamas

The Intifada of the late 80s and early 90s led to Israel transferring governmental authority in the Gaza Strip to the Palestine Authority (1994). Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian government struggled with a stagnant economy, divided popular support, stalled negotiations with Israel, and threatened terrorism from militant Muslim groups like Hamas. Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2007. (Visit Britannica Online for a more detailed history).

By 2005, Israel had withdrawn all troops and citizens from Gaza. Israeli settlers had to leave their homes in the same way Palestinians did in 1948. Homes were left intact, as was infrastructure. The hope was the Palestinians would create a healthy state. Instead, Hamas destroyed houses and infrastructure. Much of the money donated by nations to help the Palestinians was (is) used to buy rockets and build tunnels to commit terrorist acts in Israel.

The Difference

The Covenant of the Hamas makes for fascinating (and terrifying) reading “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Hamas rejects any negotiated peace settlement and views every Israeli citizen as a combatant. So, in their mind, it’s acceptable to bomb civilian targets because there is no such thing as an Israeli civilian. Hence the firing of approximately 2000 rockets indiscriminately from Gaza into Israel since Monday.

Compare that recklessness with the conduct of the IDF:

  • First, they make phone calls to anyone in (or near) a targeted building to warn them of an impending attack.
  • Next, they drop leaflets on the area, giving the same warning.
  • Thirdly, small unarmed (dummy) missiles are aimed at the roof of the building to be destroyed in a warning dubbed “Knock, Knock.”

Even with the greatest care, some civilians get killed because Hamas operatives don’t let them leave. Dead civilians get mileage with the media and create international outrage against Israel.

I was speaking with a Jewish friend about the conflict this week, and here’s what he said: “We live in the hope of a free Palestine that is free from Hamas and Hezbollah and corrupt leadership.” Both Jews and Palestinians have a right to their homeland. But if things continue as they are, it’s only a distant aspiration.

Jeremiah’s prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures is pretty dark. It’s full of warnings to the Nation of Israel because of their ungodly behaviour. Like any good parent, God warns His kids when they’re going off track and let’s them know the consequences if they don’t change: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place…” (Jeremiah 7:3). But they didn’t listen or change their ways, so God disciplined them by taking them into exile into Babylon.

Jehoiachin, king of Judah, was captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon, along with some 10,000 of Jerusalem’s principal citizens in 597 BC (see 2 Kings 24:12-16). There they stayed for 70 years. They settled down, built homes, grew in numbers and sought the prosperity of the city where they were in exile.

In Jeremiah 29, God gives some good news and hope to His people: This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

The Prophet Isaiah picks up the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (almost 300 years before it happened) in Isaiah 43, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? 
I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert.
Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland
 so my chosen people can be refreshed.”

This is a wonderful promise of God’s provision as He led His people back to their homeland. They would need to travel through the wilderness, the dry wasteland, the desert but this land would be transformed by God’s provision of refreshing water for His people.

What was prophesied over 2,700 years ago is still being fulfilled in Israel today. What God did supernaturally for Israel then, they now put into practice so that Israel has gained a worldwide reputation for its ability to turn barren desert into useful and arable land. They redirect floodwaters to desert areas, they use solar power, they have fish farms that thrive on brackish desert waters, and they plant trees and alternative crops that reverse desertification. It was Israel that developed modern drip irrigation now used by many nations, and 50% of water used in desert areas is recycled wastewater – higher than any other nation. Such ingenuity has reclaimed land that was once considered useless.

Click here to see some of the amazing things this nation has achieved:

The ingenuity that the people of Israel have demonstrated to turn sand into land can be employed by each of us in our everyday lives. What can you do this year to redeem areas in your life that you now consider unproductive, wasteful or dry? Use your God-given wisdom and refresh yourself and others in 2014!

Now, right from the start I want to make my position clear so there can be no misunderstanding from what I’m about to say (I hope!). I am Pro-Israel. I believe that God chose to work through this people group in order to bring forth the Messiah who would save those who put their trust in Him that’s what Genesis 12:3 is about – “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  But being Pro-Israel does not mean two things:

1. That I agree with everything Israel does, and

2. That I am anti any other nation

I believe it is vital that our Pro-Israel stance does not blind us to these two very important truths, because some Christians I have spoken to are so Pro-Israel that, in their eyes, Israel can do no wrong.  These same people often speak disparagingly of nations that Israel is at enmity with, such as the Palestinians.

Regarding the first issue: Blessing Israel does not mean I have to agree with everything it does.  I love my kids; I love to bless my kids; but that does not blind me to their faults and it does not stop me from exacting appropriate discipline when they do the wrong thing.  In the Old Testament God often punished the nation of Israel for their wrong actions.  Over the years Israel has been guilty of some dreadful injustices to others.  We have some Palestinian people at Bayside Church who have recounted to me the horrors their families were subjected to by Israeli soldiers many years ago.  My point here is that just because Israel does it doesn’t mean it’s right.

Secondly, being Pro-Israel does not mean I have to be anti any other nation.  I am not anti-Palestinian; I am not anti-Arab; I am not anti-Lebanese – and neither is God.  Jesus came to save people of all nations.  Glimpses of heaven in the Book of Revelation refer to there being people of all nations worshipping around the throne of God.

One of the things I love about the church is that we start to get a glimpse of heaven on earth.  In the Church we see Jews and Palestinians worshipping side by side as well as people from Lebanon, Iraq and other nations.  We see Protestant and Catholic Irish people loving each other.  This is why heaven will be heaven.  The Church’s task now is to bring heaven to earth:  that’s what Jesus told us to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer.  Supporting injustices of one nation against another or being anti any nation creates hell on earth rather than heaven and ultimately works against the plan and purpose of God for the World He loves.

New Years bring new things – good and bad.  One of the not-so-good things so far in 2009 has been the escalating hostilities between Israel and Gaza; and not only has it divided the Middle East it has also divided the world. We’ve seen demonstrations in various nations – some opposing Israel with others showing their support.  And there are good arguments both ways.

If we were having enemy rockets landing indiscriminately in Melbourne on a regular basis I can’t see our government standing by and not taking action. Southern Israel has been subjected to this for a long time and has demonstrated restraint and patience. On the other hand it was Israel that initially supported Hamas financially many years ago in an attempt to destabilize Yasser Arafat’s PLO. One could suggest that Israel is merely reaping what its sown.

But the real problem runs far deeper than politics. The real problem is that innocent people on both sides are suffering and the suffering is disproportionately falling on the residents of Gaza where hundreds of people have lost their lives.

Mission Network News reports that Christians are hurting with the rest of local residents. Windows in Gaza Baptist Church were blown out when a missile struck a police station across the street. About 40 deaths were reported in the attack. In the words of one local believer: “Seventy percent of the Christians want to leave Gaza because they are very afraid. But we love Gaza. It’s our country, we have roots here, and our homes are here. We will not know anyone if we go somewhere else.” In addition, some Christian families from Gaza that visited Bethlehem over Christmas were reportedly separated from loved ones when Israel sealed the border. How would we feel if that was us?

Right now the best thing the church can do is pray for lasting peace – and not take sides! God loves everyone and is not willing that anyone should perish. That should be our desire too.