By James Wilson
The
well known promise of God for Israel is expressed in Genesis 12:3. The Father of Father Abraham says his
children will be numbered as the grains of sand and the stars in the sky. He says any who bless Israel will themselves
be blessed beyond imagining and any who curse Israel will be cursed beyond
thought. Cursing is as much to reject or
abandon as it is to attack. In other
words, those who ignore Israel’s status as the firstborn of God are in for some
serious ignoring by God when the chips are down. Jesus Himself declares of those who say they
know Him but have ignored His will, “Go away from me; I never knew you.”
I noticed a
photo on the internet the other day of Pope Francis stopped before a wall in
Bethlehem. The wall held scrawled
graffiti calling for the liberation of Palestine. I cannot know the heart of this Catholic Pope
and so I cannot know whether he favors Palestinians or Israelis, or whether he
naively believes peace is possible in the Middle East if both sides just agree
to live in peace. I do know that I too
long for the liberation of the Palestinian people, and I know there is no
authentic liberation possible while so many believe the hate soaked lies
Palestinians are fed by their leaders.
Israel herself
bought the lie in 2005 – under pressure from a gullible George Bush – that if
the Palestinians were permitted to govern themselves peace would come. Has life improved for Palestinians in Gaza
since Israel handed over the land in 2005; has even one refugee camp
closed? How about the limited
self-government Israel permits in the West Bank? Any new status quo, or just more places for rocket
launchers and riots?
I
know a few other things as well. I know
the Israelis have never launched terrorist attacks on their neighbors –
civilian or military. Palestinians are
as free as Americans to shop in their bazaars and take their children to school
or to play dates. That all too many of
their schools are filled with munitions and their homes rubble is due to deliberate
choices of the Hamas government they elected.
Hamas used the concrete donated by Israel for housing and infrastructure
to build tunnels for infiltration and murder.
Even so the Israelis give warnings by text, phone and leaflet before
attacking these militarized neighborhoods.
It is Hamas who forbids families to flee under penalty of death, and
Hamas that uses Palestinian children as shields for their soldiers.
Israel
begged the Jordanian and Syrian citizens of her Arab population to stay and
build with the Jews in 1947. Some did,
and they live well under Israel as full participants in government and culture;
I have seen their high rise dwellings and their Mercedes and Audis. Others answered the call of Jerusalem’s Nazified
Grand Mufti and his armed thugs to leave, returning only to attack the civilian
settlements of the Jews. Hitler is dead,
but his hatred lives in the heart of his satanic master and those who serve
that master. In five wars and multiple
smaller military actions the Jews have bought space for their children to go to
school and to play with their friends.
In 1967 they re-captured their ancient capital and much of their
plundered lands while defending themselves against overwhelming aggression from
five nations attempting their annihilation.
Even today Jews are stoned by Palestinians from above while they seek only
to pray.
In recent days Israelis
are dragged from their cars and beaten to near death while the world press
moans about the “innocent” Palestinians who are hurt or killed when Israel
protects her own from their fanatical incursions. A mother of five was attacked in her car with
Molotov cocktails and rocks; light rail trains have been attacked and bombs
hidden on highways. Palestinians and
Arabs are rioting in multiple towns and cities.
At least eleven Israelis are dead at Palestinian hands – five of them
hacked to death while worshipping in their own Jerusalem synagogue. Are Israelis attacking Palestinian and Arab
civilians anywhere? No; the provocation
of “grave concern” – per America’s government – is that the Israelis dare to
build housing projects in their own capitol city.
The good news is
there are decent Arabs – appreciative of what they have in Israel and of the
standards of common decency – who saved at least one assault victim by
protecting him from the mob until police arrived. They would fear for their lives if they
intervened in such an incident in Gaza or the West Bank. Even in Jerusalem a number of Arabs have died
in the recent violence, some killed by their own people when they intervened;
others just caught in the crush.
The better news
is there is one – only one, and it is ultimately inexorable – prospect for both
peace and liberation. “For He Himself is
our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing
wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law…to create in Himself one
new man out of the two…and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God
through the Cross,” is how it comes across in Ephesians 2.
I
cannot forget the images – broadcast via television news nightly during the
summer’s fighting in Gaza – of Palestinian children victimized as pawns by
their own government while the world condemns Israel for defending her
children. I saw no photos of Israeli
children made homeless by Hamas rockets – the media suppressed them – but I
have names. Avi and Leah; Shuki, Avital
and Adi; Yoel and Laura; Arni and Yonit; Asher and Daniella – these are my
friends who live in Israel showing grace and mercy wherever they can to people
dedicated to their destruction. Make no
mistake; Israelis show up as fast as Americans to reconstruct and rescue the
victims of disaster worldwide, even when the victims are their own sworn
enemies. I say to Pope Francis – and
anyone else who is listening – I stand with you for the liberation of the
Palestinians.
But
it must be authentic liberation. It must
be liberation through truth and a commitment to authentic justice for the
people who remain the only bright spot of civilization in the Middle East. And it must begin with the blessing of the
children of Abraham through Isaac – if not for the sake of Genesis 12:3 then
simply because it is the right thing to do.
Only then can we truly bless the children of Abraham through Ishmael.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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