Archive for January, 2024
Brief History of Israel/Hamas War
The war between Hamas and Israel has deep roots. One aspect of it relates to who rightfully occupies the land. A history tracing it back to Bible times would require more time and space than this column accommodates. Instead let’s reflect on it going back to when the land was occupied by Arabs. It was basically a nomadic unoccupied desert.
After World War II the British controlled the land. The British Mandate authorized a homeland for the Jews. On May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel, establishing the first Jewish state in 2,000 years. This sparked the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which resulted in the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight from the land that the State of Israel came to control. This subsequently led to waves of Jewish immigrants. War is ugly, very ugly and what began and continues is not pretty.
Many of those who occupied the land were displaced from their homes. At the same time the Jews began the development of what has become many modern cities and sophisticated agricultural use of the land. Israel truly is a miracle.
Hamas is a Palestinian political and militant group that emerged in 1987 during an uprising against Israeli rule. It is one of several militant groups committed to “driving Israel into the sea” and seeks to establish an independent Islamic state in what is now Israel. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries due to its use of suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces.
In recent years, the group has also become active in politics, notably winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and subsequently taking control of the Gaza Strip, an area roughly the size of Washington, DC, where they have acted as the governing authority ever since. Hamas is known to be funded by groups from around the world, especially Iran.
Though Hamas controls Gaza it is headquartered in the oil rich country of Qatar where their leader, Ismail Haniyeh watched and celebrated the invasion from the safety of his Qatar office. There is footage of him rolling on the floor praising God for the incursion into Israel.
I have visited Israel 44 times and seen scars on both sides of the conflict. There is enough wrong on both sides to boggle the mind. I have visited a home on the wall of Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate occupied by peaceful Arabs who fled into the desert when war broke out. They came back after the Six Day War to find their former home occupied by Jews. They had no recourse.
I have talked with youthful friends who saw the head of a man blown over the wall surrounding their playground by a terrorist bomb. These are microcosmic examples of the conflict.
I am very much pro-Israel. I have visited Israel with a Jewish group primarily from New York when we purchased a home for a Jewish family in which former Prime Minister Sharon lived out his last years. However, I am not unaware or unopposed to some of their conduct.
Israel will always be the object of aggression and is deserving of our full support.
King David, the psalmist appealed: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.” This is an appeal to pray for Israel. Let’s do it.
A Word Is Worth…
Etymology, the study of the origin of words, often reveals interesting roots. Consider these words and their genesis.
The Greeks introduced to the world their god Pan. When in a good mood the god Pan’s flute music was soothing. When he got disturbed and outraged it was frantic and erratic. Such idiosyncratic outbursts came to be known as having a panic attack.
Meander is a proverbial word derived from the name of a river in southwest Turkey that flows from Dinar to Miletus on the Iconian. Sitting on a hillside overlooking a plain through which the river wound its rambling abstract course, I could see the word’s meaning.
Berserk is derived from the trance-like state of a raging band of fierce out of control savage Norse warriors, the Berserkers. They would psyche themselves to ignore pain and disregard safety. They went wild in a battle frenzy. Their name came from the fact they wore bear skins. When in a rage a person is often said to have gone berserk.
Blackmail had a most intriguing origin. Rob Roy was a freebooting clan chieftain in the Scottish Highlands who initially joined the Jacobites. In between major conflicts he would raid herdsmen’s cattle and hide them in the Highlands. Cows were as good as cash. He would demand a ransom in order to get them back.
Rob was Scottish for Red, a title given him because of his red hair and beard. The word “male” had the meaning of an agreement. “Black” was used for evil. Blackmail was an evil agreement used by Rob Roy in order to return cows.
The golfers mulligan, meaning an extra shot after a poor one, comes from 1920 in Canada. Out of gratitude for driving his foursome to St. Lamberts Golf Course near Montreal, they gave him an extra shot. It became more broadly used starting in 1949.
An absorbing captivating person is often said to mesmerize people. Franz Anton Mesmer, born in Switzerland in 1734, a psychic practitioner, is inaccurately credited with developing hypnotism. He was in many ways spellbinding. His name gave rise to the word mesmerize which identifies a fascinating personality.
The name Christian was given to followers of Christ in Antioch in the first century. The suffix “ian” was borrowed from Latin and meant “adhering to or belonging to.” It meant a partisan of Christ and was initially used as a term of derision. This came as a result of Christ being crucified. As a means of execution it was so loathsome law forbade any Roman citizen from being crucified.
The word “Christian” now being used as a noun and an adjective causes some confusion. As an adjective it describes a person who endeavors to live according to the teachings of Christ because of devotion to Him. Some persons calling themselves a Christian are using it as a noun and in reality are not Christlike in their conduct. A gross application of the appellation is Hitler who is said to have been a Christian. Noun! Associating Hitler with Christ is a travesty. He was not a Christian in the sense of being a follower of Christ, a devotee.
Disgracefully some who use it as a noun don’t live it as an adjective.
As an example, show the world what an adjective Christian is and DOES.
War Is Hell
Writing about the following is difficult in that things are changing rapidly.
The conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza began over 2000 years ago in a Bedouin’s tent in the desert when Abraham had one son too many. Those sons Ishmael and Isaac, are the progenitors of the two groups now at war.
War has been best described by one who knew how to rage it, General George Patton, who said, “War is hell.” Can I get an amen?
Get ready for a deep peep into hell, d/b/a Gaza.
There is a statement that has been attributed to a number of Israelis, most recently Benjamin Netanyahu: “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel”. Based on the record that appears to be true.
With only one provocative reason Hamas, a terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, attacked Israel by breaching 15 holes in the defensive fence separating the two and sending more than 1,000 terrorist fighters into Israel to pillage, murder, and take hostage citizens from a number of countries. Oh, the one provocation. It is the mere existence of Israel. That is it, nothing else.
The Gaza Strip is a 140-square-mile stretch of land located along the Mediterranean coast between Egypt and Israel. It has endured decades of protest, military operations and violence. It is one of the most densely populated places on earth with over 2,000,000 people. Many are innocent Palestinians who are pawns of Hamas, a terrorist organization led by Ismail Haniyeh, the leader behind Hamas’s deadliest ever attack on Israel. He watched it unfold on television with delight from the safety of Qatar. Footage shows him and colleagues rolled on the floor praising God. Praising God, for what.
Israel has urged citizens in Gaza City to get out and go into the country. Israel got no such warning before untold scores of their people along with guests in Israel from many countries were attacked. Many people from Gaza have heeded the warning and gone to NATO schools and the open country.
I have been in touch with friends in Jerusalem who tell me the holy sites are safe, but the citizens are not. Understandably the people feel vulnerable and they are. The known history of Gaza spans 4,000 years. Gaza was ruled, destroyed and repopulated by various dynasties, empires, and peoples. In the early 16th century, it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During World War I, it fell to the British forces and became part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt has administered the newly formed Gaza Strip. Originally a Canaanite settlement, it came under the control of the ancient Egyptians for roughly 350 years. No one has ever been able to successfully govern the people. Israel conquered it during the Six Day War and gave it back after the war rather than investing resources trying to govern it. It was hoped it would be the Singapore of the Mediterranean.
All of my contacts in Israel ask for prayers. Please respond positively with their entreaty.
Civility = Common Sense
Civility has been replaced by cynicisms in our society. One reason is civility has been diminished in our schools and cynicism is being fostered by the media. Free speech is caught in a vice. It is the heritage of American citizens.
On one hand we are told opposition to a certain political figure is not accepted dialogue. In this way the public figure is insulated from criticism and opposing voices silenced.
Conversely, abusers of the right of free speech think they have the right to use any tone and say anything they want at any time.
The reason for this milieu is a lack of understanding of civility. An over simplistic definition of civility is acting toward each other in a courteous way. There is such a lack of civility even the word “civil” needs to be defined for some. It is adhering to norms of polite social intercourse; not being deficient in common courtesy. Civility means to show courtesy, that is, behave yourself, show manners.
If it is not taught at home, schools have little chance of teaching it. The entertainment media is teaching many youths that their combative conduct is the civil norm.
When added to the word “government,” as in civil government, then it relates to the standards set for orderly government. Most people have little or no understanding of the civil order of a democratic republic such as ours. Basically it is defined in our Constitution and Amendments. It is how statesmen are to get along and do business civilly. It embodies such things as decorum, protocol, dignity, grace, courtesy, and etiquette. Professional manners might be a good way to explain it.
As a child I can remember my grandparents talking about the fact members of congress would never “tell on one another.” Now many of them exploit each other.
There is room for civil debate. It is essential for forging truth and reaching appropriate decisions. However, personal assaults are an affront to civility.
In our personal relationships as well as in civil government for there to be civility we must deal with principles not personalities; issues not individuals.
“That is a nutty idea” is a much more civil expression than “You are nuts.”
Societal civility involves social concern, social responsibility, and social involvement.
Among the general population do you see concern for one another in general? Has me-ism replaced a sense of “one nation?”
Has a sense of entitlement taken the place of social responsibility?
Has isolation prevailed over social involvement?
A sense of being overwhelmed by personal affronts, insults, and assaults causes many to feel helpless regarding being a change agent. Start by making your sphere of influence a civility zone and work out from there.
If in standing for Jesus you are met with a lack of civility you should be encouraged and feel sorry for such an uncivil person. In response show holy boldness with grace.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”
Brighten the Corner Where You Are
Does this sound like an expose` on the society page of the paper? “People are totally self-centered, money hungry, blowhards. They are proud and crafty, having no regard for the morals taught by their parents. They are without appreciation, morality, and basic regard for others. They lack self-control and are haughty. Their passions are without principles, slippery, self-centered, stuck-up, absorbed at all times with that which gives them pleasure, and not what pleases the Lord. In matters of religion they are hypocritical, but their conduct exposes their lack of genuine faith.”
If that sounds descriptive of our time it should. A different rendition is found in the Bible book of II Timothy 3: 1-5. There it goes like this.
“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
In verse 1 of the text it is introduced like this, “…know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.” It will be a time of great danger.
It concludes with how Christians should relate to such people if at all possible, “from such people turn away!” That is, don’t hang out with such people.
It is as though the doctor has made a diagnosis, but offered no prescription. We know what is wrong, but as individuals we do not know what to do.
Start by noting the 10 points in the text one by one and check your behavior on each. That is, brighten the corner where you are.
Thomas Jefferson noted in his writings that the streets at night in Philadelphia were dark and full of bad conduct. He put up a pole in his yard and hung a lamp on it. Soon a neighbor did the same. The process resulted in all the streets eventually lighted.
Billy Sunday, the Billy Graham of his day, had a vocal group sing this little chorus at all of his crusades.
“Just above are clouded skies that you may help to clear,
Let not narrow self your way debar;
Though into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Refrain:
Brighten the corner where you are!
Brighten the corner where you are!
Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar;
Brighten the corner where you are!
Become involved in the events of your community. Study the social and political issues of the day and let your voice be heard. There is another little chorus that supports this concept. Sing it and do it.
“This little light of mine I’m gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine.”
Shine on.