In case it is not clear – the giant in the Middle East is Israel. Do not be deceived by geographical size, they are funded and armed by the world’s only superpower. Israel’s human rights violations are being committed with US weapons, financed by US tax dollars. I am nauseous knowing that my money is providing Israel the ability to target and kill Palestinians and Lebanese militants and civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Despite our own president’s comments supporting “Israel’s right to defend herself”, the more sane leaders of the world have called for a cease fire on both sides – including the Vatican which pleaded for an end to the disproportionate retributions by Israel.
The briefest summary of events that I can muster:
The first two weeks of June saw an increase in Palestinian casualties as a result of routine shelling from Israel. This resulted in the Hamas raid that captured an Israeli tank gunner. The militants demanded a prisoner exchange (there are roughly 11,000 Arab men, women and children being held without charge in Israel). Israel refused and re-entered Gaza with force. For over two weeks Gaza suffered nightly bombings of homes and critical infrastructures including the only electrical generation plant, bridges, roads and endured repeated sonic booms. (By the way, it is still continuing today in Gaza).
In response, and to show solidarity – Hezbollah (a Lebanese militant group) ambushed an Israeli tank in the north, capturing two soldiers and demanding a release of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners for their exchange. This was clearly a stupid thing to do. Israel has called it an act of war from Lebanon – an unfair charge, especially since Israel refuses to be associated with the violent acts committed by extremist Israeli settlers.
So now with a sea blockade, a land incursion, and air attacks on Lebanon – Israel has threatened the stability of a very moderate and progressive-leaning country. Last night, as promised, they bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut. They have sent antagonistic statements including that they’re “willing to turn back the clock 20 years in Lebanon” if the two soldiers aren’t released. So far at least 60 Lebanese have died, and over 100 wounded. Hezbollah continues uses rocket launchers on northern settlements and towns in Israel – at least two Israelis have died as a result. Despite Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora’s plea for a cease fire – Israel refuses.
As Israel threatens Syria, Iran waits – pledging to defend Syria against Israel. Doing anything to Syria would destabilize the entire region.
Friends I met while I lived in Jordan - Andrew & Karen (& their four children) are stuck in Beirut. Andrew is the principal of a Christian school and had purchased plane tickets to leave before the airport was hit. Now they are re-evaluating their options and have presumably huddled down in the safest place they can find.
Non-violent Resistance: Still the Best Option
Meet Muhammad Az-Zanoun, a 20 year old Palestinian journalist who recently suffered massive injuries while trying to take photos of the current events in Gaza. Since Israel issued a decree banning all foreign passport holders from the Occupied Territories – these vulnerable people have been increasingly isolated. When an Israeli soldier saw him taking the photos – he was shot in the stomach. As he went down he scrambled for the film. He believed that if he could just show the world what was happening – someone would surely stop it. I cried because I knew he was wrong. No one is going to make them stop.
One of the pictures he took before being shot.
18 Responses to “David vs. Goliath”
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July 18th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
GI JOE! LOL…….I haven’t heard that in so long……..u crack me up!
July 18th, 2006 at 2:47 am
I was just getting started.
July 17th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
nebulatravel ur comment is too long! Mom called me today & told me all about her problems……….she prayed and rebuked the pain and bad thoughts so she feels better now! I don’t hink she heard a work i said……oh well! Love ya sis!
July 17th, 2006 at 2:12 am
Confanity brings up some very good points.
I take a different perspective. Sorry. I feel that neither side can take the high road. There is spilt blood in both camps.There is systemic hate and racism ingrained in everyone in that region.
If I was to be completely honest systemic hate is everywhere and no one is guiltless especially the American people – myself included. All of us throw stones and pass judgments while we walk over the faces of the African American slaves, the Native American nations, the Coolies from China, the Irish, the Hawaiian natives, and every other group of people we exploited to become the last standing Super Power. Let us not forget mother Earth herself. We condemn developing nations from burning the rain forests and over-fishing the seas and poluting the atmosphere at the same time we conveniently forget our own recent past
Can’t we realize there is only one solution to the quagmire in the Middle East? We need an awaking of consiousness. Our world needs to come to the realization that if we kill our brother we kill ourselves. If we make one bomb we distroy the entire world.
Too New Agey for you? Most of the world believes in the Adamic Nature of Man. That man is inherently evil because of the Fall in the Garden of Eden. If this is true then all is lost. Let’s just wait for Armageddon and keep our heads in the sand. That’s called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Actually some Christians and Muslims welcome global distruction. Any Left Behind fans?
We all have intrinsic value. Everyone has a spark of goodness in them. It’s the spark of divinity. God made us in his image and likeness. I believe it’s our ability to love that makes us divine. Creation is the expression of that love. Not the sixties Beatnik love, but the agope love – God’s love. I said earlier that systemic hate is all around us, but unlike love, hate is learned. One is not borned into hate. Put a child in a bubble and she yearns for companionship and love, not the opportunity to hate and distroy.
Is it posible to believe we could one day wake up and love our neighbors? We have to believe. What is the alternative?
There’s a soldier on every corner, but where are the Peacemakers?
July 16th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
So tell me: when Hezbollah, whose political wing is a significant portion of the Lebanese government, indulges in an unprovoked attack across an internationally-recognized border, how is that not an act of war by one sovereign state against another? It’s not like some random guys got mad and attacked a TANK without their government’s involvement. And by what corruption of logic is a sovereign state not allowed to defend itself when another state commits acts of war against it? Frankly, for a “Goliath” devoted entirely to genocide, as some idiots claim it is, Israel’s been pretty laid-back: often hitting buildings at night when they’re unoccupied; dropping leaflets warning civilians to stay away from airstrike targets; pinpointing Hezbollah infrastructure instead of actually following a “mass punishment” policy as some confused people would claim.
Now contrast that policy to Hezbollah’s tactics: launching over 700 missiles into Israeli territory, not caring whether they hit farms, houses, streets, or nursery schools. ‘Well,’ you may say, ‘Israeli strikes have killed more civilians than Hezbollah’s rockets.’ The difference is that Israel is attempting to minimize civilian casualties despite the terrorists’ use of civilian sites as cover for their missile bunkers, while Hezbollah is specifically hoping to kill as many random innocents as possible despite the Israeli army being easy to find, as demonstrated by the tank raid. The problem is that the Hezbollah are cowards who would rather use innocents as a shield than risk their own lives in open fighting. They don’t even care about their own people. How can you side with that?
All this can be said for Hamas and Gaza, too. The “increase in Palestinian casualties” you refer to is specifically the beach explosion of June 9 that, it has since been found, was caused not by Israeli shelling but by the explosion of a Palestinian mine. They mined their own beaches and then let children play there. Smart move. Keep in mind that this, and the initial tank raid as well, were not “responses” to Israeli actions but rather part of Hamas’ continuing war against Israel. Israel, in case you’ve forgotten, withdrew entirely from Gaza. Since when is murder and kidnapping a valid response to that? Hamas responded to the removal of the occupation by firing thousands of rockets into Israel, randomly attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure. Why do you not condemn this? And the amazing thing is that the Israeli response was — oooh — sonic booms. Tell me, which is worse: getting woken up at night, or getting your house shot with a rocket? As with Hezbollah, Israeli military responses were directed against, not civilians, but Hamas’ rocket-launching sites. How is it Israel’s fault that Hamas uses civilians as shields? Doing so is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention, after all. So how can it be that your anger isn’t directed at the Palestinian terrorists, who are willing to sacrifice civilians merely to win points in the media war?
Israel may be a Goliath, but it’s surrounded by scores of murderous “Davids” who started the fight in the first place and are willing to kill their own children in order to hurt him, and if he even so much as slaps a face in return, hypocrites like you jump on his back. It’s rare (not rare enough, unfortunately) to see someone get something so completely backwards, simply out of the desire to be seen supporting the underdog.
July 16th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
it is a hard time, i must admit. the excavation where I was located is 12 km south of haifa and among the area that threatened by katyusha rockets. there is now only a one minute warning of sirens that can go off to warn you to take cover before the katyusha rocket may hit. targets now include netanya which is south of the tel where i was excavating. each time we heard of new attacks on haifa and surrounding areas, we would wait to hear if the israeli families of those digging with us were still ok. i hear the voices of pain in lebanon and gaza — and i hear the voices of the israelis whose families are in danger. it pains me that hezbollah and the idf are hitting civilians. i have no simple solution. i only long naively for a simple peace.
July 15th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
thanks miss brady
July 15th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Should we practice “an eye for an eye”?
In the 1991 Gulf War, Israel was being “threatened” as a ploy to prevent the USA, from pursuing full war against Saddam and his henchmen in Iraq. The government of Israel agreed to not retaliate, not make threatening moves to protect herself. In spite of a history of attacks against her people, she did “stand down”, and the Scuds thrown against them, fell to the ground without harming them. This was not, and maybe should not be, their usual response. YET, perhaps the nation trusted to God more then than now? This war should be our call as Christians to pray for all who are involved in a control situation, over the progress(regress) of events. AL
July 15th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
“greenzinia” points out something very important in this discussion: the “eye for an eye” was meant to limit retribution. Israel needs to obey, but do we know the full extent of their harassment? I think we need to look at all sources we can, before we condemn either side. I received a post from the Religious Freedom Coalition, today. It seems that there has been daily violence against the Jews, for a long time in Israel. They also pointed out that there has not been allowance of a fully culminated war victory since Japan surrendered in 1945. What will the mid-east look like if we allow a full scale war? I believe it will look quite different. Truly we must be praying for the peace of Jerusalem. If we will pray for God’s will, He will work on the hearts on both sides. Many of your responses were dealing with both sides backing down. We are not there; I’m not sure that that would satisfy any of the anger. I do believe that Israel’s claim to send Lebanon 20 years into the past is a cruel thing to say. But would we be willing for them to ignore the immediate context of where harrassment is coming from, and immediately take the assault to Iran?
It is time to decide which side you are on. I am on the Lord’s side. He wants righteousness in the earth. That is not a political statement–it is a religious commitment statement. Both (should I say ALL) sides in this conflict are in the wrong. (by the way “nebulatravel”, I can see you have your tongue in cheek.)
July 15th, 2006 at 3:56 am
No eProps for you!
See the problem is your commentary is too damn long. You need a quick, clean soundbite with a catchy banner to get your point across. Splash some red, white and blue on your site. It’s patriotic.
Esther, Americans don’t have the time to read lengthy explanations and historical mumbo-jumbo. We’re too busy working overtime and stressing out about our credit card debt to sift through the mountains of rhetoric for a bite of astute insight. We can’t digest all the information pouring into our noggins each day. I dare say Fox Network was the first to figure that out.
We voted our leaders into office so they can hash all this out. That’s why they keep giving themselves raises. Bush went to Yale, Esther. Remember that.
Spoon feed us fluff. It’s the breakfast of champions. I promise you your readership will go up. You might even get more eProps from me in the future…if there is one.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html Bush really went to Yale?
July 14th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
I’m so tired of hearing that “Christians” support Israel and that Israel has a right to do whatever it wants! Everone seems to be afraid of Israel because they believe that the nation of Israel is “Gods chosen people forever and always no matter what they do!” This is absurd! This posting has mad me cry. My heart hurts. What will it take to stop the killing of innocent people all in the name of God?
July 14th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Not much to add. Great post. So right. Israel doesn’t know how right it is about setting the clock back 20 years in Lebanon, and how detrimental this will be to regional politics for years to come.
July 14th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
It seems as if a lot of tragic things happen with US weapons, and a lot of nations are financed with our taxpayer money and aid. As soon as I saw that Hezbollah did what it did, the first thing I thought was quite profound “Oh crap.” Ridiculousness on all sides has to stop, be it anti-Semitic attitudes or overwhelming and excessive retribution.
And, of course, the price colluders in America see a constipated member of Hamas as a reason to jack oil and gas prices…
The whole thing is rotten for everyone.
July 14th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Great post…
July 14th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
I’ve been reading Micah, I wonder why Israel has forgot the prophets that talked about loving justice & mercy and walking humbly with God…what about meeting the needs of the people instead of further aggravating them causing deeper roots of bitterness that will come out in aggression…
July 14th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
It is really heartbreaking. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. A couple of Sundays ago, my pastor was talking about the eye for an eye command/restriction. He pointed out that God instituted that, not so people would get punished for their wrong doings, but so that the person who had been wronged would not go overboard with retribution. It is human nature to not just want to get back at someone, but to want to give them even more in return. I wish Israel would read the Torah again.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
thank you. My mouth fell open when I heard the US statements of solidarity. Why are my opinions so opposite of my home country? Is it because I have been to the middle east? Or because my neighborhood is populated by immigrants from these countries which are on the brink of war (fights are breaking out as I type, tensions are high)? and the hard question….if I’d never left the USA, would I be paying attention to any of this?
July 14th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Heartbreaking…