There are two types of criticism of Israel:
- A constructive criticism that at its core motive is to support Israel against his enemies or is based upon Israel's compliance with their covenant that they have with the God of Israel, which also supports Israel against his enemies.
- A criticism that comes from a willingness (not a reluctance) to paint Israel in a bad light while contending with his enemies, thereby supporting Israel's enemies.
.
For Israel to drive his enemies out of their covenanted land (Ex. 34:24 Deut. 4:38 / 7:1 Joel 3:2) that would in turn make Israel terrorism / terrorist-free would be seen among the Gentile nations as the greatest war crime ever among the nations, while most of Israel's response to unprovoked attacks upon their citizens are seen somehow as acts of aggression. When Israel moved away from the covenant during Gaza expulsion in August 2005, it resulted in more rockets coming into Israel from Gaza within two years than the entire period of the so-called occupation of Gaza (1967-2005). Yet the Quartet applauded and even demanded such a move of Israel's withdraw from Gaza. This is more proof added to the Gentile world history that they love "dead Jews" and are willing seeking by political means the death of Israel - the state of the Jews!
.
Any criticism of Israel should always be based upon whether Israel is in compliance with their God-given covenant. No criticism should ever be based upon what's politically correct and most especially when it's coming form the Quartet. When criticism of Israel is based outside the covenant's (Bible) parameters, such criticism has already been spiritually corrupted to begin with. The covenant-rejectors of the world will never support any political ideas that even remotely supports a portion of the everlasting covenant God has with Israel. They can't because they are spiritually tied to the rejection of the covenant and therefore the death of Israel.
.
If criticizing Israel is not based upon "the covenant" and all its principles, then that very criticism has to be based upon an attempt to conform Israel to a position that is outside all that "the covenant" spiritually means to and calls Israel to be. There is no way around that, for there is no in between. This is why tiny Israel brings such a huge spiritual decision to the nations of the world, and depending on how one views Israel's place in the world determines a great deal on how close to the God of the covenant they are!
.
There is a spiritual reason as to why the Palestinians are called just that - "Palestinians". They've adopted that name which is derived from Roman Emperor Hadrian renaming the covenanted land of Israel to "Palestine" after the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE of which thousands of Jews were slaughtered and then ever forbidden to enter Jerusalem - the city of David renamed Aelia Capitolina by Hadrian, and then later renamed Al-Quds by the Muslims.
http://www.levitt.com/essays/palestine.html
Therefore, like the "Philistines" from whom Hadrian's renaming of Israel came, the name "Palestine" is spiritually associated and linked with Jew-slaughter but more importantly with "covenant denial" of Jewish habitation within the land of Israel. Is there any spiritual-wonder as to why the Palestinians' "final solution" from which they chant are "from the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean)"? http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3236542,00.html
.
If the Palestinians, with their Hamas-electing tendencies, their Islamic-jihad asperations, their shahid-suicide bomb supporting culture, their arms-struggle for all of Palestine goals, and their very cause as a people by which their very name reveals are not "pro-covenant" towards the land of Israel and the Jews, then their entire cause on any and every level is simply "anti-covenant". Therefore, any backing or support of these anti-covenant Palestinians in their endeavors against Israel in whatever form or however intended, spiritually becomes "anti-covenant" period!
.
All Palestinian / Islamic terrorism is totally based upon the side of "anti-covenant" - the fulfillment of the Jewish return to the land of their forefathers (Ezekiel 37:22-28). Their spiritual Islamic goal is specifically set to deny the Jews their fulfillment of prophecy from their God Jehovah in order that they may honor of their god Allah, and that Islam be the superior of all religions (Koran 8:39 / 9:33).
.
Perhaps even without knowing it every Israeli response to anti-covenant based terrorism has been an attempt to indeed put an end to this Palestinian "anti-covenant" terrorism. There is no part of Palestinian terrorism that is not anti-covenant based of which Israel is trying to stop. Therefore, such anti-terrorism based response can only be a "pro-covenant" response being that it promotes circumstances and conditions for Israel that is closer to all that the covenant actually declares and stands for - the Jewish people living in peace and safety in the land of their forefathers (Deuteronomy 33:28-29 / Ezekiel 36:33-38)!
.
When I hear someone criticizing Israel's policies, I immediately check their motive. Are they wishing for Israel to conform to their God-given covenant or are they wishing Israel to conform to a Gentile policy that is in fact outside, or even denies their covenant with God? Again, any criticism of Israel outside "covenant criticism" is a criticism that is based on anti-covenantism!
.
When one is convinced that the Christians are the "new" covenant people replacing the Jews based upon Galatians 6:15-16 (replacement theology) or that the Muslims have replaced the Jews as "God's chosen" based upon sura 3:110 (Islamic replacement theology) then their criticism will most always be based upon their spiritual willingness, and certainly never a spiritual reluctance, to criticize Israel both spiritually and therefore politically whether they realize it or not.
.
It doesn't matter how right and justified Israel may be on any given issue, critics of Israel will always find a way to criticize Israel, and or, criticize anyone who defends Israel in their justification. This is why it is helpful to know a person's general stance on the issue of Israel itself. Whatever the stance or mindset that one has towards Israel to begin with, it will generally come out in the form of criticism, being either "for" or "against" the everlasting covenant God has with His people as fully depicted throughout the Hebrew scriptures.
.
The accusation against those who chose to defend Israel stating that such a person believes "Israel can do no wrong" usually (not always) comes from someone who believes "Israel can do no right" or at least has the mindset and holds to their Christian / Islamic belief that Israel has no covenant when it comes to dealing with Palestinian terrorism. The victim-villain role-switch of "Israeli aggression and Palestinian victimization" has been a "anti-Israel / anti Jewish" method used by all of Israel's enemies including the world media for quite a long time. Again, the very covenant itself should be the over-all deciding factor on any given issue concerning the Jewish Israelis. And this certainly includes any issues concerning the so-called occupied areas of Gaza and the West Bank of which so happens to be part of the covenant (Joshua 15).
.
Some of the questions I ask myself on every action the State of Israel expresses include:
- Does such action promote or is inline with biblical principles including all of the Torah?
- Is such actions agree or disagree with all biblical prophecies concerning the Jews and the nation of Israel?
- Does such actions please the Gentile nations (namely the Quartet) more than it pleases the God of their covenant, and vice-versa?
- Does such actions help, advance, support, encourage, influence, and excite Israel's enemies, or does it deter, discourage, hinder, frighten, and prevent Israel enemies from committing unproved attacks against Israel be it military or civilians?
- Are such actions in direct support the everlasting covenant God has with His Jewish people, or are they in total contempt of the covenant?
.
Those who cry, "disproportionate" are for the most part "disproportionate" in their criticism of Israel verses their criticism of Israel's enemies! This is quite ironic when it's Israel enemies that always (and I do mean always) starts any and all confrontations - always! The "Israel can do no wrong" jab that is so often used by Israel's critics should be met with the fact that "yes, Israel actually has "done no wrong" by starting a war or initiating a terrorist attack"!
.
This verbal comeback should make them stop and think of Israel's non-conflictual nature that they have demonstrated throughout their 60-plus year history in trying to do everything that they can to make peace with the Palestinians and with all their Muslims-Islamic neighbors around them. However, such an explicit reality still won't keep the disproportionate-concept factor that is embedded in the minds of these disproportionate-critics from taking center stage on Palestinian / Hezbollah-terrorism issues, while the guilty party of who started the entire conflict to begin with is completely forgotten and is willfully overlooked. This willful and blatant injustice happens because these Israel critics' mindsets are not covenant-based but anti-covenant based!
.
When the 2003 EU survey declared Israel as "the most dangerous country in the world" ahead of Iran, Korea, and Venezuela, it showed how the white Christian Europeans have this inner hatred for Jewish Israel. And call me crazy, but I believe such an antisemitic result is due to Israelis being non-Christian and God's chosen people (and many of them non-white) all at the same time. Most all critics of Israel (especially the world media) who are eagerly willing to criticize Israel outside the everlasting covenant, I find much of this EU survey results resonates within them as well.
.
The cartoon above depicts perfectly the "world of Israeli criticism" (a world that influences some more than others). Charges of "hurting of civilians" and "escalating the violence" under the banner of "disproportionate response" keeps the world focused not on Israel's enemies and what Israel's enemies initiates in the form of terrorism towards innocent Israeli civilians, but on Israel! Israel is then seen as Christ-denying Jews, who are so dangerous in the world in wanting to hurt the poor Palestinians and the poor people of Lebanon just like they wanted to hurt Jesus1, when all the poor jihadists are wanting to do is annihilate the most dangerous country ever known to Europe - Israel.
.
If it is true that an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then the bottom line answer to the Israeli "disproportionate response" question is quite simple: If Israel is never attacked by unprovoked terrorism, the world would never find itself in a position nor the need to criticize Israel for what they see as disproportionate response! Again, that's bottom line! Any other reasoning automatically calls for the acceptance of terrorism against the Jews as a norm of which cannot be fixed nor address as the biggest obstacle towards the solution to the problem. Of course when the annihilation of the State of Israel is their inner most goals by reason of anti-covenantism then who whats to address the "real" and "only" solution to Palestinian / Hezbollah terrorism? But to point out their hypocrisy - their unjust criticism: if all the energy that it takes to get the world wound up over Israeli responses to Jewish civilian murder and use that energy as they should against the initial and premeditated terrorist attackers, then the terrorist attackers themselves might just consider it twice before carrying out their Jew-murdering attacks on Israeli citizens!
.
As it currently stands, the world offers the Palestinian and Hezbollah Islamic terrorists the enjoyment of a win-win situation. Their initial premeditated terrorist attacks that target innocent Jewish civilians are almost completely overlooked by world governments, world media, and general populations, while any and all Israelis responses are criticized as "disproportionate". In this way these terrorists are backed by the world by making Israel the villain and the Palestinians / Hezbollah (people of Lebanon) the victim - a spiritual / political role-switch. The world doesn't want to hold the Palestinians accountable for anything and make Israel accountable in order to blame them for something the Palestinians started!
.
This is also the reason that Palestinian and Hezbollah terrorist hide behind their own civilians when Israel is hot on their tail in pursuit. If either the civilian (human shield) or the terrorist is killed by Israeli forces, the civilian and the terrorist both becomes Islamic shahid martyrs. They know all too well that Israel will be condemned by the world for making either their human-shield or the terrorist a martyr, and that the terrorist that initially caused the civilian to be a human shield to begin with will never be condemned or even mentioned for that matter! All because the world for the most part, hates Jews and Israel (elements of the covenant) of whom they seek to paint in a evil-light any chance that they get!
.
All in all, the complete answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the full implementation of the everlasting covenant that the God of Israel has with His Jewish people throughout the land as the Palestinians like to say, "from the river to the sea". The further away Israel gets from their covenant with their God the more they will find themselves among world (Gentile)-overlooked Islamic terrorism. There, I just criticized Israel - the right way!
.
Covenant prophecy:
Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them. - Jeremiah 33: 23-26
Notes:
1. One media cartoon depicted the wheelchair-bound Hamas sheikh Ahmed Yassin (whom the Israelis righteously sent a missile into his lions on March 22, 2004) as being nailed upon the Christian-cross while the Jews were rejoicing.
4 comments:
israeltoday.co.il has an article headlined
“Why Israel Wins and Haters Lose”
by David Suissa
September 9, 2022
askdrbrown.org has an article headlined
"Giving up the ‘Occupied Territories’ is NOT the Solution"
on October 15, 2023 by Michael L. Brown this article states
"There is a widespread belief that if Israel would only give back the territories it seized during the Six Day War in 1967, then peace would come to the Middle East.
This is demonstrably false, especially in light of a popular chant heard around the world in recent days.
To start, Israel gave back the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982 as a result of Egypt recognizing Israel as a legitimate sovereign state. This is the land that borders Israel on the south, including the southern border of Gaza, and is certainly of strategic importance.
Still, Israel returned that to Egypt.
The other territories that Israel occupied after 1967 were the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Jordan, the latter known as Judea and Samaria in biblical days.
What has happened since then?
As is well-known now, in 2005, Israel gave Gaza back to the Palestinians. (On a side note, before the Six Day War, the Palestinians were known simply as Arabs, since there was not a Palestinian national identity, even though some of the local Arab inhabitants had lived there for centuries.)
And, as is also well-known today, in 2006, the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas as their leadership. Yet Hamas was explicitly formed in 1987 with the purpose of obliterating Israel.
So much for the concept of “land for peace.” Not quite!
How would you like to live next door to a family who believed you did not have a right to be in your house and who expressly stated, “We will drive you out or murder you”?
That’s what Israel has faced since 2006.
As far as Gaza is concerned, Israel has returned to its pre-1967 borders.
You say, “But it still exercises control over Gaza, not allowing the Palestinians to travel at will in and out of Israel and restricting their access to the outside world.”
That is correct, but for one reason only: Hamas has vowed to slaughter as many Israelis as possible, and Hamas rules Gaza. Do you really think Israel will say, “Yes, by all means, we will take down all defensive measures and open our borders fully to barbaric terrorists who want to wipe us out”?
Remember that Hamas has training camps for children where they learn the "value" of being anti-Israel terrorists and aspire to become martyrs for the cause. Remember that from their earliest days they are indoctrinated with hatred of Israel and the Jews. That’s why whole families sing and dance in the streets when Hamas slaughters innocent Israelis – because in their eyes, there are no innocent Israelis.
To put this in perspective (and this view is not just held by the Gazan Palestinians; it is widely held in other Palestinian circles), consider these words from a Jordanian-Palestinian businessman and politician named Talal Abu Ghazaleh. He was being interviewed on Lebanese television on October 12 about the war in Gaza.
He said,
“Israel would not sacrifice a single person. There isn’t a goal for which it would sacrifice a single person. They are afraid of death. Death for them is strange and loathsome. We, on the other hand, welcome death. A Palestinian carries his son on his shoulders, with a headband on the kid’s forehead, which his father inscribed: ‘Martyrdom Seeker.’ This is a man who says: 'I want my son to die.' A [Palestinian] mother says: 'I have given birth to six children, so that three could die in the revolution. I gave birth to children so that they would be martyred.' This does not exist in the Zionist mentality.”
the article continues
"Moms and dads, you might want to read those words again.
This is what Israel is facing.
When the interviewer referenced “the multitudes of innocent civilian victims [in Gaza],” he replied,
“How many? Two thousand? The casualties always accumulate, unfortunately... Fine. How many people did Russia sacrifice in its war against the Nazis? 27 million. Not just a thousand... We haven't gotten to thousands yet. Russia knowingly sacrificed those people. It was no coincidence. It is not that Russia did not know that these people were going to die. It wanted 27 million people to die so that Russia survives. We, Palestinians, are the same. There are two million people [in Gaza]. If one dies…I hope I will be one of them. It would be an honor to die as a martyr. But there are two million people in Gaza. Will [Israel] kill two million people? How? Half of them are hidden underground, in tunnels.”
And this was just a casual TV interview, two people talking about Israel’s war with Hamas.
Abu Ghazaleh also explained,
“You cannot defeat someone who wants to die. People who flee death cannot defeat people who seek death. What happened in Germany in the World War? Entire cities were destroyed. But didn't Germany become later one of the five most wealthy countries in the world? Let them destroy [Gaza]. What is destroyed can be rebuilt. I think that the goal of [Hamas's] lions of humanity was to cause the demolition of those buildings so that they could be rebuilt properly, according to more aesthetic and newer engineering standards.”
& lastly says
"As to why Hitler only slaughtered 6 million out of 9 million European Jews, it was because he wanted to leave some alive so everyone could realize why he did what he did.
And you actually think that Israel going back to pre-1967 borders would eliminate these kinds of sentiments?
Spend a few hours on the Memri TV website and watch the clips for yourself. Or read the quotes on the Palestinian Media Watch site to see for yourself what the Palestinian people are hearing and reading and seeing (not just in Gaza but under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank as well).
The peace loving voices and the voices of conciliation are in the small minority.
Remember also that Israel did open its borders to Gazan workers on a limited basis, allowing those who were thought to be non-lethal to do various jobs in Israel.
As noted by the Institute for National Security Studies,
“In October 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic ebbed, the Israeli government decided to resume Gazan employment in Israel. Currently, about 11,000 Gazan workers have entry permits and are employed informally. In March 2022 the government decided to regulate Gazan employment in Israel and allocate 20,000 work permits to Gazans, 12,000 for the construction industry and 8,000 for agriculture. The permits are given to married Gazans aged 25 and up who have passed a security check.”
A lot of good this ended up doing.
You say, “Well, maybe the situation in Gaza is more complex, but surely, if Israel returned the West Bank to the Palestinians, there would be peace.”
Not quite.
First, more than 500,000 Israelis currently live in the West Bank. A Palestinian state would demand that every last Jew uproot and leave. It must be Judenfrei (meaning “free of Jews”).
In stark contrast, there are roughly two million Arabs (= Palestinians) living in Israel.
So, Palestinian Arabs can live in a Jewish state, but Jews cannot live in a Palestinian Arab state (if, in fact, they wanted to).
Second, and more importantly, remember that the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 is, in the Palestinian (and wider Muslim-Arab) world is known as “Al-Nakba,” the Catastrophe.
This is confirmed in the chant that is being heard around the world these days (as I referenced in my recent article on Hamas): “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.”
This means no more Israel, even with pre-1967 borders.
This means rejection of the UN’s 1947 Partition Plan that resulted in the birth of the modern State of Israel.
This means no homeland for the Jews.
This is what the protesters are chanting. This is what Muslim crowds are calling for. This is what Palestinian sympathizers desire. “Jews go home!”
Sorry, but we are home – back in the Land, our one and only ancient homeland. And we are not about to leave.
In saying this, I do not demean the struggles of the Palestinian people. I do not claim that Israel has always been ethical and righteous in all its dealings with the Palestinians. And I do not present a peace plan for the Middle East.
I’m simply debunking a popular myth."
Post a Comment