Israel - Not the best at marketing!

This morning BBC news reports are telling us that Israel are to take some 400 hectares (almost 1,000 acres) of Palestinian land near to Bethlehem. Having had a quick look I find the following:

The official statement
"On the instructions of the political echelon... 4,000 dunams at (the settlement of) Gevaot is declared as state land," the army department charged with administering civil affairs in occupied territory said, adding that concerned parties have 45 days to appeal."

The expansionist statement
The Etzion settlements council welcomed this expansion of the current Gevaot settlement as it:
"Paves the way for the new city of Gevaot."

The response from the US State Department:
 "Counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians".

The response from Abbas:
This 'land grab' will “lead to more instability” and “inflame the situation after the war in Gaza."

Expected response from Palestinians:

The Bible assessment (Micah 2):
What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans.
You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so.
When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it.
When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence.
You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance.

But this is what the LORD says:
“I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose.
  You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time.”

In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you:
“We are finished, completely ruined! God has confiscated our land, taking it from us.
  He has given our fields to those who betrayed us.”

Others will set your boundaries then, and the LORD’s people will have no say in how the land is divided.

For those of us who are Christians - pray for peace in Jerusalem and for right-thinking on the part of those who govern the nation state of Israel.

Pax

Made me smile : The US and . . .

Iraq

Or Gaza

Or . . .

Whichever way - it made me smile

ISIS continues to murder and. . .

BREAKING: ISIS JUST EMPTIED NINEVEH PLAINS – 200,000 ARAMEAN CHRISTIANS FLED

By Orthodox Christian News in Orthodox News

Aug 07, 2014 ⋅ 0 Comment(s) ⋅ Tags: Aramean Christians, Disaster, Iraq, ISIS, Persecution, Syria

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World Council of Arameans, Beirut: Last night, two Aramean children and a mother were killed as a result of a shameless attack by ISIS terrorists against Baghdeda (Qaraqosh) in North Iraq. At the same time, in the middle of the night, more than 40,000 Aramean families – comprising at least 200.000 human beings – fearfully fled their ancestral homes, towns and villages in the Nineveh region. Another unprecedented humanitarian disaster is now unfolding in Iraq.

Most recently, thousands of Aramean families had already escaped the Mosul region to the Nineveh province, after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists rampaged the area. The Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of St. Matthew, including its fourth-century Monastery of Mor Matay, and other local dioceses have been closed.

The Nineveh plains are now emptied from its native Christians, who belong to the Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Chaldean and Assyrian (Nestorian) churches in the region. This is the second region that has been emptied from its Aramean population for the first time in its millennia-old history. Thus, an ancient civilization, cultural heritage and population have been destroyed and erased from Iraq’s future.

The majority, if not all, of the local Muslim population apparently did not fear their lives to abandon their homes, while the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters suddenly retreated. The withdrawal of the Kurds is striking, particularly in light of a similar situation that took place a few days ago where thousands of Yezidi men, women and children were abandoned and sacrificed to ISIS by the Peshmerga.

All the developments that have been taking place in Syria and Iraq, once again reveal that there is a clear agenda to divide Iraq into three portions: a Shiite, Sunni (ISIS-controlled) and Kurdish part, whereas defenseless and vulnerable minorities like the Aramean Christians and Yezidis are forced out of their ancient homeland.

The World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (“WCA”) condemns in the strongest possible terms this latest ISIS invasion. This is nothing short of genocide and ethnic cleansing. A new humanitarian disaster is unfolding and the international community simply does not seem to care.

The WCA President, Johny Messo, expressed his deep concerns as follows: “How many more crimes against humanity does the world wants to see before it finally speaks up? Where are the conscience and the sense of responsibility of the world leaders? Where are the principles of ethics and objective journalism by the mainstream media? We urgently call upon the international community, spearheaded by the United Nations, the European Union, Council of Europe, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to act immediately and without further delay. Not to speak is to speak and not to act is to act!”

Mr. Messo further explained: “Yesterday we arrived to Lebanon to discuss the deteriorating situation of our people in Iraq and Syria with the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch and today we would join His Holiness and the Patriarchs of the other native churches in the Middle East at a press conference this afternoon where a joint declaration would be issued. This morning, however, we were deeply shocked when His Holiness broke the news to us. We are all very troubled by this news.”

Before the USA and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003, the Aramean Christian population consisted of 1,4 million souls. Today, less than 400,000 Arameans have remained in their homeland. With the latest developments taking place, the future of this ancient indigenous population of Iraq is at the brink of extinction. In Syria, the same developments have been taking place. Similar attempts of genocide and ethnic cleansing were already successfully accomplished in Turkey in the last century, which saw its numerous native Armenian, Greek and Aramean populations dwindle to less than 100,000.

In all these cases, the foreign policies of Western countries have turned out to be utterly destructive to the many hundreds of thousands of native Aramean Christians who experienced persecutions, beheadings, crucifixion, kidnappings, expulsions and more. Simultaneously, Western governments and mainstream media have remained utterly silent and ignored the cries for help by the Arameans.

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Posted by the Orthodox Christian Network.  You can find the Orthodox Christian Network on Google+.

Israel - how do you see it?

In various discussion with others over the issue of Israel and Palestine I found myself writing this to explain my position:

 The origins of the nation (with or without a God) are set in time and the religion of the Jewish people and their identity is inseparable and has, on many occasions, been the source of great opposition throughout the ages - finding its culmination in the Shoah. The happenings in the Ancient Near East put upon them (from others - not self-assigned),  or at least confirmed, the 'chosen people' label. Something I think, from the early dealings, might just be right.

The blood guilt felt after the War (1939-45) resulted in the the Israel we see today (modern Israel) and that which Balfour proposed  towards the end of the First World War was done - a formalised homeland for the Jews; and like the Samaritans almost two thousand years before them, the Palestinians became displaced. Winners and losers - and one had the backing of Western might. Not the best solution but  there was never going to be one.

The problem is (for me) that some acted to do God's job for Him and so putting the Jews back where "they ought to be' is up there with those who seek to rebuild the temple. It fits the conditions of prophecy physically and yet the key, as the God I cannot leave out tells us, is not the outer (physical) condition or appearance but is the heart and this is where the conflict ( // to the greater Jihad of Islam) really begins.

Modern Israel is a physical reality and, if the broadcast on it I watched a couple of years back is true it is a generally secular state. This means that Israel is but an ersatz offering in the spiritual sense.

I listened to a most interesting discussion on the World Service recently. Interesting and disturbing because it sounded like something that preceded Kristallnacht as the US Jews were portrayed as those who controlled the bulk of the nation's wealth. Shylock-like they hold the US to ransom and by dint of this ensure US (and UK where apparently the situation is the same) support for modern secular Israel. A worrying listen in every sense.

I understand that the placing of the Jews back into Jerusalem, a place found in Palestine, fitted the bill and fulfilled the Seder hope of ' next year in Jerusalem' - the cry of a displaced people but of course, like the Jews the Palestinians aren't going to go away as they take upon themselves the displaced label - but they haven't the warrant of the West and the emotional credentials that the Shoah brings, have they? 

But no one thought of that when the homeland became a nation did they? And so the scene is set and the conflict continues without charity or understanding from Israel and with bitter recriminations and a blood feud to settle from Palestine. (This is where God's 'leave none alive' policy in the OT saved lives - but that was something for then, not now!)

I find myself turning to the prophet to the Jews, Micah, and his call that those who would please God and live as His would exercise humility, seek justice in everything they do (and are) and exercise mercy - see little of that from them. Nothing of the stuff that confirms being God's people just the actions of people defending the rights of ownership without exercising the responsibilities YHWH would desire from them. My view will undoubtedly be unpopular with Zionists (Christian or otherwise) who, in the same way that many Americans fail to see their nation's actions as wrong, do the same with Israel.

The view that Israel, right or wrong, is always right because they are God's people is in itself wrong but if they are then surely God will call them to account and in the now see them live in a place where blessing them is difficult. I think that goes for those who support them too.