At Least 155 Killed In Israeli Attacks Today!

[Sam]

How many times has Israel been condemned by a United Nations resolution for violence?

How many times has Hamas or the PLO been condemned by a United Nations resolution for violence?

[Cindy]

The media bias is alive and well.

[Sam]

I received this email from someone who is ministering in Israel. A few years ago he was ejected from Israel but he has since become an Israeli citizen so he can minister more effectively. This gives a little different perspective on what is going on there. I have removed names of places and the ministry for anonymity. I don't have his permission to share this.
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One of my faithful (and brave) volunteers and I just came back from Gaza this evening. We first visited some of the border towns on the Israeli side that have suffered so much for the last few years. Last year we received more than 3,000 rockets from the Muslim extremist organization Hamas, and last week alone -------- (one of the hardest hit towns) received more than 80 rockets. We did a kindness outreach in -------- and gave out food coupons from a local grocery store for distribution to five families. Just to tell you the story of one of the families: the wife has 73 pieces of shrapnel in the right side of her body from one of the Kasam rockets that blew up in their house, and she is still in the hospital from 14 mos. ago. The son was also wounded in that same blast. That means that she is obviously not able to work, and the husband’s store that used to have a thriving business, is now dead. They constantly have to run for bomb shelters, and have had to do this almost daily since we pulled out of Gaza in 2005. It is incredible to see the bus stops that the kids take to get to school. They are little bomb shelters. This is so that when a kid (or adult) is waiting for the bus and a rocket whistles in from overhead (they make an incredible shrieking sound, as I still remember from the Lebanon war), they can run inside the small concrete box and wait for the inevitable explosion. Can you imagine living your life like this month after month for how many years? And the citizens of ------- cannot sell their houses because nobody wants to buy them. Who in their right mind would want to live under that kind of stress every day?

From there we continued on to the Gaza border where we met up with Israeli troops in their tanks, poised and waiting for the ground invasion to begin. That was when we went up to them and offered them Hanukkah candies, and shared words from the Bible with them. As I walked back to our car, I was so struck by the contrast as I looked at their monstrous tanks, threatening by their very appearance, and yet the soldiers around them were just kids in their late teens or early twenties. I could not help but burst into tears. I knew that in a matter of hours they would be forced into extremely dangerous shoot and don’t shoot situations where they would go from house to house, trying to clear out Hamas terrorists. The problem is that groups like Hamas do not wear uniforms. They dress like any civilians, and fire their rocket launchers from the midst of crowded residential neighborhoods with children all around in an attempt to cause as many civilian casualties as possible when Israel counter attacks. U.S. troops fighting in Iraq have reported the same sort of tactics as civilians are used as human shields. This is what the west has still not learned: the war against radical Islam is a propaganda war first and foremost. Oddly enough, it is a victory for Hamas when there are casualties on either side. It is a victory for them when they suffer casualties, be they guerrillas or innocent civilians, because then they can claim they are victims of Israeli aggression, and it is a victory for them if they kill Israelis, civilians or soldiers, because then they are killing more Jews. And the media, eastern or western, seems to play into this.

Whereas from an Israeli perspective, we are entering Gaza to try and stop Hamas from firing rockets, from the Arab world’s perspective, we are entering Gaza to kill more innocent Palestinians. This is one more example of propaganda used to incite more violence against Jews and against the West. I have heard so many conspiracy theories from my Arab friends, most of whom believe that there is an international conspiracy of Jews to cause almost all of the world’s problems. Even many born-again Christian Arabs believe these conspiracy theories. It is part of the mission of the ----- to try and counter this misinformation and bring about a greater understanding between Jews and Arabs. I know that many of my Christian friends in the U.S. and abroad will get angry at this e-mail and will accuse me of getting political. But when modern day blood libels are used to incite violence against Jews around the world on a daily basis, this impacts the mission of

Please keep in mind that I am certainly not justifying all of Israel’s actions towards the Palestinians historically, nor am I even justifying Israel’s current invasion. I am trying to bring about a greater understanding of why Israel is doing this and what is behind it. Personally, if someone died and made me king, I would be funding massive humanitarian aid into Gaza and the West-Bank, and the real use of force that I would use would be to provide armed escorts for them. I firmly believe in the mission of organizations like --------- to share the love of God with all through acts of kindness. I believe that if we had built up Gaza economically after 1967, that would have not created the breeding ground for terrorism that we have today. I realize that radical Islam has its own side to take responsibility for, but I will still own what I believe to be our side of what is wrong with the current situation. There are Arabs that share many of my views on this situation, and naturally they are the ones that are easier for me to relate to, but I spend much of my time with Arabs that do not share my views at all. This too is part of my mission in life.

As we returned to ---- from the Gaza border, I gave an Israeli soldier a ride. He had just spent 28 days on the front lines of the fighting. He just happened to be going in our direction, because he is an Israeli Arab Bedouin who lives in one of the Bedouin villages just outside of ----. I believe our meeting was a divine encounter because I have been seeking an inroad into the Bedouin community in the area for some time. It was very interesting listening to his perspective, as an Israeli Arab, on Israel’s war with Hamas. He believes Hamas is destroying the Palestinian people and has no sympathy with them or their cause. He is also proud to be an Israeli citizen and proud to fight for his country. Israel is his country too, as he assured me. I can’t help but remember the original vision of our declaration of independence, that makes it clear that we would have a culturally Jewish state that would not discriminate against any of its citizens on the basis of race o religion. It struck me that this Bedouin is a better Zionist than many of my Jewish acquaintances.

----- reaches out to both sides in love. Today we reached out to the Jews on this side of the fence (one of the few Jewish outreaches we have done), but I am already trying to find ways to send a humanitarian team into Gaza to reach out to the Palestinians there, who are also suffering. Whether justified or not, Israeli counterattacks traumatize the local population. There is no question about that, and I really feel for their side too. I know that their children grow up being taught in their schools the above-mentioned conspiracy theories and are taught the glories of martyrdom for God, which involves blowing oneself up in a suicide mission against the Zionist occupiers until Israel no longer exists and there is only the state of Palestine, Muslim rule being restored. I confess that had I grown up in their environment, I would probably be an anti-Semite myself.

Again, I have started spending money I do not have. I took our debit card and bought ten food coupons worth 100 sheqels apiece (about $25 apiece) at a local grocer and distributed them to five families in Sederot who have a major bread-winner hospitalized or disabled in the bombings. I know that this will not buy much food these days, but that is more than what we have in our bank account right now. I also bought candy bars to distribute to the Israeli soldiers. As a result, we are back in the red in our bank account. I would certainly appreciate all of your contributions, because that enables us to do more outreaches. All of the children of ---- are forced to live in bomb shelters from morning to evening, since it is not possible for them to go to school when 80 rockets a week strike their city. They are in need of meals for the children, as well as toys and games, and even volunteers to entertain them, clowns, etc. I need a lot of money for this, and your contribution are really needed right now. And of course we still have our homeless shelter for the Sudanese set up, and we need to continue feeding and providing for the refugees until they receive their working visas.

[All4one]

Methinks the children of Abraham are very disfunctional.

[Aquila]

Pray for peace.

[RevDWW]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Pray for peace.

There is can be no lasting peace when the Prince of Peace is rejected. Seems as though hatred is sown in great fields of resentment and bitterness, always yielding bumper crops of destruction and human misery when it comes to the Israelis and Arabs. See what Abraham hath wrought? A stark lesson on believing God's promises and waiting for them with patience.

Pray that the Light will shine in that darkness!

[Sam]

Psalm 122:6 says, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." When I pray that I think I am praying that Jesus would come, tear down our human governments, and establish His government on earth as prophesied in the Old Testament. It is my understanding that Jesus will some day return to earth and sit on the throne of His father David in the City of Jerusalem and rule the world in peace.

[live4him]

rev dww i do agree with you because the prince of peace is rejected thats why everything is going haywire, war. church, violence, sin, very well put

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Sam

How many times has Israel been condemned by a United Nations resolution for violence?

Many... many... many.

[Sam]

Below is sermon by the late Nathaniel Urshan who died in 2002 at the age of 84. I've heard him preach in Cincinnati in the late nineteen fifties when he was pastor of Calvary Tabernacle which was a large church in Indianapolis, IN. From 1978 to 2002 he was the General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church. His father, Andrew Urshan, was Assyrian and was born in Persia in 1884 He came to the United States in 1902, and returned to Persia in 1914 where he survived the massacre of the Assyrians and Armenians by the Turkish and Kurdish Muslims. I heard Andrew Urshan preach in the nineteen fifties when I was in St. Paul, MN. Once I heard Nathaniel's uncle speak and he told about avoiding death in Israel/Palestine by some times passing as an Arab and some times as a Jew. They were quite a family of preachers and had first hand experience in the struggle between Arabs and Jews which is the theme of this message. I don't know the date of this message but the way it is worded I think it was a message that Bro. Urshan gave over the radio when he was speaker for the Harvestime broadcast of the United Pentecostal Church. The latest date he mentions is 1956 but it still seems appropriate for our day. I hope you enjoy it.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST FEUD
By: Nathaniel A. Urshan

The top news stories on radio, television, newspapers and magazines tell of the titanic struggle between the Arab nations and Israel. In an ever increasing crescendo, the Near East seems to be heading for a world conflict and Armageddon. Russia is building up its military forces on land, at sea, at air, boasting that she is there to protect the interest of the Arab countries. A number of world powers are supplying arms to either the Arabs or Israel and some to both.

But most people do not realize that this is the world's greatest family feud and that problem is 4,000 years old. It is the battle between the star of David and the crescent of Mohammed. The most dramatic family story in history is the story of Abraham, his two wives, Sarah and Hagar and finally, his two sons. His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, initiated the worlds longest and earliest family feuds, greater in intensity than the Hatfields and the McCoys.

FAMILY DIFFERENCES
This family struggle began in the tents of Abraham. God had promised Abraham and Sarah that He would give them a son who would bless the entire world. Abraham, known for his faith, faltered at God's promise and took an Egyptian servant girl named Hagar as a concubine. With Sarah's consent, permission, and also suggestion, Abram had a son born of Hagar whom he named Ishmael. If Sarah and Abram had believed the word God had spoken to them concerning an heir, there would not be this bloody story of the fighting brothers who are destroying each other this very moment. Sheer unbelief caused a slave girl who was an alien and a heathen to become the mother of Ishmael and wife of Abraham. It is truly amazing that a wrong committed thousands of years ago has such violent repercussions today.

The Arabs and Israelites have one father. It was the mother who made the worlds of difference. Not only was Hagar a foreigner and idolatrous in Abraham's house, but Genesis 21:21 states, "And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt." The records state Ishmael's mother chose an Egyptian as his wife. This forever links and ties the Egyptian and Abrahamic worlds together. Ishmael and his sons after him mostly settled in the north and west of the Arabian peninsula. His posterity forms the chief element of the Arab nations.

What a different world was created by Isaac who is called the Son of Promise. Isaac was born to Sarah and Abraham in the hundredth year of Abraham's life. Isaac was a miracle child and his offspring were to know miracles as no other nation in history. Through the watchful care of Abraham, Isaac married Rebekah, a Jehovah fearing woman of the family of Abraham. In Genesis 24:40, it declares, "He married Rebekah of my kindred, and of my father's house." In this way the two worlds began and from that time these estranged brothers have moved further and further apart.

RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES
One reason why Israel and the Arabs see life so different is their religion. The Arabs followed the Prophet Mohammed who was born in Mecca in 570 A.D. In 610 A.D. he declared himself to be a prophet. He was first rejected in Mecca and fled to the city of Medina. Here Mohammed was received and became a fierce warrior and through this began to propagate his faith by the use of the sword. It is the only religion which started in opposition to Christianity and Judaism.

The Moslem religion is based on a belief in one God. They call his name Allah. Their Bible is the Koran which they read and recite daily. The Koran demands daily prayer, alms giving, and at least one pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca during the life of a Moslem. There are more then 300 million Moslems living today. The Moslem faith has done little to elevate and educate its adherents as anyone can see by studying its history in a number of lands. A strange religious contradiction is that the Arabs look to Abraham as their father but to Mohammed as their prophet.

On the other hand, Isaac and his son Jacob followed Abraham's religion. Their worship began with Abraham's teachings and continued to Moses from whom they received the law. Then to Judges, Kings, and Prophets of the Old Testament, each revealing more of God to the nation. Also, the Jews adhere to the Talmud, which is a collection of rabbinical writings explaining how to live as a believer in Jehovah. They accept the Old Testament as their basis of belief including its laws regarding religious observances, sanitary procedures, dietary rules and moral principles.

There is a tremendous resurgence of traditional Judaism in the world at this moment and the grand hope of building again a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. This would be the first time such a temple existed in the last 2,000 years since it was destroyed by the Romans. One visit to the wailing wall in Jerusalem today reveals the ardor and the zeal of modern day Jews crying out for expected Messiah to return.

to be continued in part two