This is the final post I'll make on our trip last month to Israel. The overall time was filled with lots of interesting times to both site see and meet some people from Israel.
Israel is a place filled with Tension! That is an understatement.
All over the country young adults fill the ranks of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). A picture of six young women carrying automatic rifles is not an odd picture at all in Israel. Young adults are conscripted into the army for two years when they reach 18. They serve as a deterrent to acts of violence that flare up from time to time as Palestinians fight against the Israeli rule in the West Bank.
The tension is complicated, and don't let anyone tell you that it can be solved simply, if only Israel would do "this or that"; or if only the Palestinians would do "this or that". Those who write from the states side that they have the solution are not credible - naive at best, foolish in reality.
When the Palestinian uprising called the Second Intifada broke out in 2000 it was no longer youth throwing stones and rocks. It was organized with firearms, rockets, grenades and mortars. After Arab terrorist groups organized their fight they also sent young people (often women) into Jerusalem (mainly) and strapped suicide vests on them to kill as many as they could in public places. Israel responded with the Separation walls. It's sad to see the walls...they are ugly and they serve as a constant irritation to the Palestinians who are (by their own admission) MUST WORSE OFF now than they ever were before. One can understand Israel's actions as a "enough is enough" action. And, One can understand the Palestinian anger at being segregated and penned in.
SO, is there any solution? I believe the solution is not political, but Spiritual. God called Abraham to this land, and the land belongs to Him. Jesus walked this land to declare the nowness of The Kingdom of God. If there is to be a solution it would be Jews and Arabs discovering the Gospel with Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness and Peace as outcomes of lives given over to God.
Our friends, David and Karen, have lived there for a few years now - and without hesitation have always shared outwardly their faith in Jesus Christ. They have made countless inroads through friendships into both Jewish and Palestinian Arab - Muslim and Christian - people.
They are genuinely loving, caring, and intentional people who are seeking to make a difference in a land that desperately needs to have something different happen.
They have made friends with Muslims like this young man David worked with on his dairy project.
Mohammed is a young Muslim man from Hebron and although he is angry with the Israeli occupation, he freely admitted to me that every Intifada and every Western political solution (think Oslo Accord) has made things worse instead of better.
Most of all he just wants to make a living, marry and have a family - he was a great guy to meet.
As we drove through Bethlehem I heard a man from the street yell out in a loud clear voice - "DAVID"... It was Majdi, David's shopowner friend.
When David presented us to Majdi, he didn't try to sell us anything, but instead invited us to the back room, made us tea and wanted to sit down and find out things about us.
He didn't argue politics nor spew hatred, but as a Muslim wished out loud that Jews and Arabs could co-exist and get along with each other.
One night David and Karen took us to the homes of Palestinian Christians and introduced us to his friends and their Mother. The man on the right is ISSA, which is Arabic for Jesus.
His family has lived in Bethlehem for generations, and again, they just want to build a family life in the midst of the tension. Issa told me that many Palestinian Christians have fled the West Bank because of the way in which they are often treated as a minority among the Palestinian Muslim majority. When the Intifada broke out in 2000, Muslim fighters showed up at their house in the middle of the night an dtold them they had five minutes to flee before they used their home as a firing platform for lobbing mortars into Jerusalem - which the Muslim fighters knew would invite retaliation to that firing spot by the Israeli army. Issa's father died of a heart attack during this time and Issa's family lived out of their car for almost a year while their home was constantly taken over by PLO, Hizballah and other Palestinian military groups. No wonder so many Palestinian Christians began to leave - but Issa said his family has no intention of fleeing because this is their home.
It's a strange land - full of tension, full of pain, and distrust. I loved the trip and loved seeing all of the sites, and meeting some wonderful people.
Scripture says to "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem."
I can't help but say "AMEN".
Israel is a place filled with Tension! That is an understatement. All over the country young adults fill the ranks of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). A picture of six young women carrying automatic rifles is not an odd picture at all in Israel. Young adults are conscripted into the army for two years when they reach 18. They serve as a deterrent to acts of violence that flare up from time to time as Palestinians fight against the Israeli rule in the West Bank.
The tension is complicated, and don't let anyone tell you that it can be solved simply, if only Israel would do "this or that"; or if only the Palestinians would do "this or that". Those who write from the states side that they have the solution are not credible - naive at best, foolish in reality.When the Palestinian uprising called the Second Intifada broke out in 2000 it was no longer youth throwing stones and rocks. It was organized with firearms, rockets, grenades and mortars. After Arab terrorist groups organized their fight they also sent young people (often women) into Jerusalem (mainly) and strapped suicide vests on them to kill as many as they could in public places. Israel responded with the Separation walls. It's sad to see the walls...they are ugly and they serve as a constant irritation to the Palestinians who are (by their own admission) MUST WORSE OFF now than they ever were before. One can understand Israel's actions as a "enough is enough" action. And, One can understand the Palestinian anger at being segregated and penned in.
SO, is there any solution? I believe the solution is not political, but Spiritual. God called Abraham to this land, and the land belongs to Him. Jesus walked this land to declare the nowness of The Kingdom of God. If there is to be a solution it would be Jews and Arabs discovering the Gospel with Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness and Peace as outcomes of lives given over to God.
Our friends, David and Karen, have lived there for a few years now - and without hesitation have always shared outwardly their faith in Jesus Christ. They have made countless inroads through friendships into both Jewish and Palestinian Arab - Muslim and Christian - people. They are genuinely loving, caring, and intentional people who are seeking to make a difference in a land that desperately needs to have something different happen.
Mohammed is a young Muslim man from Hebron and although he is angry with the Israeli occupation, he freely admitted to me that every Intifada and every Western political solution (think Oslo Accord) has made things worse instead of better.
Most of all he just wants to make a living, marry and have a family - he was a great guy to meet.
As we drove through Bethlehem I heard a man from the street yell out in a loud clear voice - "DAVID"... It was Majdi, David's shopowner friend. When David presented us to Majdi, he didn't try to sell us anything, but instead invited us to the back room, made us tea and wanted to sit down and find out things about us.
He didn't argue politics nor spew hatred, but as a Muslim wished out loud that Jews and Arabs could co-exist and get along with each other.
One night David and Karen took us to the homes of Palestinian Christians and introduced us to his friends and their Mother. The man on the right is ISSA, which is Arabic for Jesus.
His family has lived in Bethlehem for generations, and again, they just want to build a family life in the midst of the tension. Issa told me that many Palestinian Christians have fled the West Bank because of the way in which they are often treated as a minority among the Palestinian Muslim majority. When the Intifada broke out in 2000, Muslim fighters showed up at their house in the middle of the night an dtold them they had five minutes to flee before they used their home as a firing platform for lobbing mortars into Jerusalem - which the Muslim fighters knew would invite retaliation to that firing spot by the Israeli army. Issa's father died of a heart attack during this time and Issa's family lived out of their car for almost a year while their home was constantly taken over by PLO, Hizballah and other Palestinian military groups. No wonder so many Palestinian Christians began to leave - but Issa said his family has no intention of fleeing because this is their home.
It's a strange land - full of tension, full of pain, and distrust. I loved the trip and loved seeing all of the sites, and meeting some wonderful people.
Scripture says to "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem."
I can't help but say "AMEN".
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