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New Years Resolution and a Look a Israel v. Hamas

First, before I begin my long overdue article, let me apologize once more. The last few months have been exceedingly busy, and I have not written in quite some time. Busyness however is not excuse, for whatever I say, I would have had time to write something, perhaps not a long something, but something none the less. My actions have no excuse, you, as my readers, deserve an apology. It was rude of me, and although my hope has always been to have a multitude of readers, I have most likely turned away many by my neglect of writing. All of this to say, I am sorry, and hope to assure you of my future faithfulness. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to write consistently, once a week. Now there may be times when it truly is impossible, for example I am going on a Missions Trip to Mexico the end of January, and blogging will not be an option. But whenever it is at all within my power, I will post at least once a week. Some may be long, others short, but something will be there. In conclusion, I wish to thank those readers that have stuck with me, despite the inconsistency. And now on to the long overdue thoughts.

Israel v. Hamas

Unless one lives in complete obscurity, they have heard something about Israel and Gaza. Yes, there is a war going on in the Middle East. However, some seem to think it is a boxing match instead.
Although the publicity is recent, this conflict has been going on for many years. And has, in fact, been terribly one sided. Hamas, from Gaza, has been launching missiles and such into Israel with no provocation whatsoever. The only difference now, is that Israel has finally decided to fight back. They are tired of being hit again and again with no retaliation, as anyone would be in such circumstances.
Strangely, if one were to believe the media, Israel is the bad guy, lobbing missiles and fighting the poor poverty stricken people. Some claim their retaliation has been ‘disproportionate.’ It seems if one is a known terrorist, such as Hamas, killing innocent civilians over and over again, is expected and therefore no surprise. If however, one is not considered a terrorist, but is attempting to deal a decisive blow to the enemy, who is killing the innocents, one is acting disproportionately. People seem to believe this is a boxing match. First, make sure the opponents are of the same weight class, if one is heavier; disadvantage him in some way to make it fair. Then only allow them to fight during the rounds, require them to take breaks, and may the best man win! It sounds ideal, but this is not boxing match, it is in fact, war. When the enemy will not respond to anything other than force, force must be used.
In Israel, they are encouraged not to use the available planes. Why? Because Hamas does not have planes. That would give Israel a distinct advantage. Israel has tanks, but is discouraged from using them, for the same reason. If this keeps up, and the emphasis on ‘fair fight’ remains, the war will never end. For, neither will have an advantage, and therefore, neither will overcome. There is another issue as well. Even if Israel agreed to ‘play fair’ and never used an opportunity or advantage, nothing guarantees that Hamas would do the same. Hamas has already proved, over and over again, that they will use all and any means available to them, to kill innocent people. As my Dad put it, “If a man were trying to kill me with a knife, and I had a gun, I wouldn’t throw away the gun and grab a knife so it was a fair fight.” Think about it. Is Israel the ‘Bad Guy?’
Put yourself in Israel’s place. Every morning, as you wake, you wonder if your house will be standing that night. You leave your family, hoping that you will see them again. Walking to work, you wonder how many missiles will rain down on your city today, and how close they will get this time. Deep down, you wonder how long you will survive…. The next may not be a close call, it may be too late. Thinking of the men and women fighting for you, you squeeze your eyes shut, hoping to squeeze out the thoughts as well. You breath a prayer, that someday you will be able to live in peace and security, but you wonder, is it truly possible?


The following is an e-mail I received from a man I know who is living in Haifa. He has a son and daughter in the Israeli army.

As I watched the news the first night after the war began, I was amazed at how quickly people are prepared to condemn Israel for "over doing it", claiming that our response is disproportionate. But, how much is proportionate? The City of Sderot received 8 years of missiles!! Last Sunday, almost 200 more missiles were fired from Gaza into areas of Israel, endangering lives and entire communities. One person was killed and others were injured, including women and children. Since then, the missiles from Gaza have attacked not only Sderot, but additional cities and communities in the south, such as Ashdod, Ashkelon, Yavne, and more recently, Beer Sheva. An accusation that Israel is "over doing it" is hypocritical and ludicrous. Israel is forced to fight its enemies with one hand tied behind its back and now the world wants us to use just one finger. Since Hamas doesn’t have planes, we can’t use planes. The same goes for tanks. But if we were to respond to Hamas’s attacks on us with the same kind of mindless bombardment the world would be even more outraged. Hamas targets civilians almost exclusively, and children (schools) in particular. Israel is making a great effort to surgically target only Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure. More than 600 tunnels have been dug and used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Israel was able to break into Hamas radio programs placing calls to Gaza residents' phone lines warning them to get out of all buildings where Hamas is hiding their rockets and military equipment. Israeli spokespersons were shown on Arab T.V., speaking to the people of Gaza, in an effort to get them to convince their leadership to stop firing on Israel - all to no avail. It should be remembered that the residents of Gaza voted for these unrepentant murderers. The Hamas charter calls for the total elimination of Israel and they have never budged from this declaration.
The attacks on Israel are clearly the work of the devil, who has implanted a hatred for Israel and for the Jewish people into the minds of the nations. While the tone of many leaders is that Israel has the right to defend herself, the message is also clear: "Defend yourself and respond, but not too much." Even as I write, various countries, and the leadership of the UN, are trying to get Israel to declare a cease-fire. Every time we did this in the past, it allowed our enemies to re-group, re-arm and re-organize for the next level of terrorist activity.
The Israeli government finally took action after almost daily rocket attacks on our civilian population in the south since we unilaterally abandoned and expelled the Jewish communities in Gaza in August 2005. Between 10,000-11,000 rockets and mortars have pummeled Israeli communities in the south since that time. In truth, this was an insufferable situation long before this past Shabbat when Israel finally struck back in force. Israel has waited too long and did too little to stop the assaults against our citizens by the Hamas. When the missiles starting reaching Ashkelon and Ashdod, as well as Yavne, and Beer Sheva was (at that time only) threatened, the eyes of some of our leaders were finally opened and action was taken that was long over due. This late Israeli response comes as Israel enters into an election campaign which greatly complicates matters. The Government that is leading this war effort is composed of the same people who forced Israel to leave Gaza, and then allowed Hamas to run in the Palestinian elections and are directly responsible for the terrorist buildup in Gaza. All the Zionist political parties, even the most radical leftists are supporting Israel’s military response though some are against a ground offensive, which is being prepared but not in operation at the time this is being written. Less than half an hour ago, I received a call from another brother, who is being called up (some 8,500 reservists have been activated as part of a ground-war preparedness) and whose unit is expected to go into action at any time. All of this is the direct result of the Oslo activities, back in the early 1990's, as a result of which Israel agreed to negotiate with terrorists and talk about exchanging land for peace. Now, the so-called Quartet has said that the Road Map and Peace Process is irreversible and must be pursued, even in the midst of war. The world has gone mad.
There are many within the Body of Christ who, amazingly, want to see the establishment of a Palestinian state on the soil of Israel's ancient homeland. They are blinded to the fact that such a state would be an Islamic state, whose residents, as a religious group, are opposed to everything we believe in, from the point of view of the Scriptures. Yet, they see only the "social" issue and not the big picture, of inviting the devil into our living room.
Nasrallah flexed his muscles shortly after the beginning of the military operation, in a speech condemning Israel and Egypt (the latter because it would not allow Gaza residents to enter Egypt). If Iran convinces the Hizballah to enter into the picture, to cause a 2-front war with Israel, it would be for Iran's benefit, as it would probably take Israel's attention away from bombing Iran to stop its nuclear program from getting to the point where it could attack Israel. But, if the Hizballah enters the picture, it is doubtful whether Israel will tolerate its action and will probably undertake a major offensive against it - in Lebanon, having learned the bitter lessons of the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
In the meantime, the good thing that came out of Israel's response to Hamas over the last 2 days, is that Syria broke off its indirect negotiations with Israel, through Turkey, over the matter of the Golan Heights. So, at least that matter was removed from discussion - at least for now.
Well, enough for now. Many thanks for your prayers on behalf of my family, and particularly for Hanni and Netanel, as well as on behalf of Israel. We need them going up as sweet-smelling incense before the Throne of Grace. Netanel's unit is about 17km from Gaza and his base (for the next 2 months) is well within missile range of Hamas. Hanni is stationed in the north and reports that Hizballah is chomping at the bit to fire thousands of missiles into Israel.
My concern is that Hamas will again say that it is willing to enter into a period of "restraint", if Israel will cease its air assaults. As mentioned above, that has always given Hamas time to regroup and re-arm. But, Hamas cannot ask for a cease-fire, unless it has the upper hand in the war, which at this time it doesn't have. So, it is asking other countries and political entities to intervene and place international pressure on Israel to stop its efforts to end terrorism against its citizens. Israel is not that willing to stop until it is assured that Israeli communities are safe from further missile and terrorist attacks.
In the midst of the anti-terrorist activities, Israel has provided humanitarian aid by the dozens of truckloads into Gaza. It has also saved the lives of some of the Palestinians who were working in tunnels blown up by the IDF. Many injured Palestinians were removed to Israeli hospitals for operations and treatment. These are all documented and photos are available.
Your prayers are greatly appreciated, particularly for Hanni and Netanel.
Much love and blessings always. May this new year be one of good health, strength and increasing joy through our Messiah Yeshua. May He protect us all from all harm and enable us to accomplish all that He has purposed for us since before the foundation of the world.
Marvin