Tag Israel

Israel Is a Sovereign Nation And Therefore Permitted to Defend Itself

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

A recent AP headline read: “Israel Remains defiant, seizes Gaza-bound aid ship” and the opening paragraph reads:

A defiant Israel enforced its 3-year-old blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday, with naval commandos swiftly commandeering a Gaza-bound aid vessel carrying an Irish Nobel laureate and other activists and forcing it to head to an Israeli port instead.

Defiant Israel? Why is defiant used instead of determined, or perhaps steadfast, or maybe even reticent? They are not the ones defying the rule of law, but the boats attempting to crash the legal blockade established by a sovereign nation to protect it’s ports are engaging in defiant behavior.

The organizers of Saturday’s sail said they planned to dispatch as many as three more ships in coming months and that four captains already have volunteered for the missions.

Now that sounds more like DEFIANCE to me. Organizers of those who want to crash through the legal blockade are the ones being defiant. Let’s get some definitions of terms here shall we?

de·fi·ance

  1. The act or an example of defying; bold resistance to
    an opposing force or authority.
  2. Intentionally
    contemptuous behavior or attitude; readiness to contend or resist

Okay who again is being defiant? The one setting the rules or the one challenging the rules? Is the one enforcing the rule the one who is defiant or the one who is contemptuous of the rule? It would seem to me those that are supporting the flotillas challenging the Egyptian and Israeli blockade are the ones being defiant. The way this article reads they have everything exactly backwards. They make it sound like the Palestinians are the recognized soveign state and Israel is the one acting unlawfully. What other country would stand by and allow anyone to enter their ports without a regard for safety. especially if cargo carrying ships have brought weapons into the region. AP wants Israel to give up their land to militant invaders and leave their own country. That is totally out of whack and if no one else is going to say so I shall.

“What Israel needs to understand is that nothing is accomplished with
force,” said Greta Berlin of the Cyprus-based Free Gaza group, which
sent the latest aid vessel, the Rachel Corrie.

AP wants Israel to understand that nothing is accomplished with force and yet they turn a blind eye to the forcible attempts by the flotilla to break through a legal blockade. Israel has a security concern which is why they set up the blockade to begin with. Egypt apparently agrees that there is a possible threat for they too are participating in the blockade.

Israel said it would block any attempt to reach Gaza by sea, in order to
prevent weapons from reaching the Iranian-backed Islamic militant
group. “Israel … will not allow the establishment of an Iranian port
in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israel and Egypt closed Gaza’s borders after Hamas seized the territory
three years ago from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The disengenious tenure of this article is appalling. It is written to make it sound like Israel is forbidding humanitary aide from reaching the residents of Gaza which is totally not true. All Israel is forbidding is an Iranian[ backed militant group from establishing a port in Gaza. Israel is more than willing to off load the cargo at another secure port and transport true aid into the Gaza region. Because of the constant missle strikes from Gaza over the years Israel decided to stop the flow of weapons into the region.

Hamas and other groups have fired thousands of rockets and mortars on
Israeli border towns in recent years. The U.S. and Europe, like Israel,
have branded Hamas a terrorist group.

Israeli officials said the cargo was to be unloaded in Ashdod, and items
permitted under blockade rules would be taken to Gaza by land.

The Free Gaza group, which organized Saturday’s sail and other attempts
to break the Gaza embargo, said Saturday it was closing its Cyprus
headquarters and relocating, but won’t stop sending ships to challenge
the blockade.

Doesn’t that sound like defiance to anyone else besides me? In another article we read an entirely different perspective on the Flotilla incident.

One participant told Al Jazeera, “Either the Israelis let us reach Gaza,
or they can stop us . . . . We can also die as martyrs and never
return, which is okay with us.” read the full story here

Again this sounds like a defiant attitude to me does it you?

This same report goes on to say this:

Despite all the misreporting, Gaza is not starving as Israel allows tons
of food, drugs and humanitarian aid to reach Gaza every day. The
entirely legal naval blockade is designed to prevent arms, primarily
from Iran, from reaching the terrorists in Gaza, from which Israel
withdrew in 2005. The flotilla’s aim was not to feed ordinary
Palestinians, but to help Hamas break the embargo so that it can bring
in weapons.

The last sentence sums up the entire intent of the flotilla ships’ defiance of the Egyptian Israeli blockade, they wish to get the international community to force Israel to open the ports in Gaza so that they can ship in weapons along with their so-called humanitarian aide.

Like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this past week Israel is guilty until proven guilty by the UN no matter what they do. There remains a group of people who desire Israel’s total annihilation and will not stop until that happens. Israel is constantly being bombarded with the idea of making peace with Hamas and the Palestinians and yet the Palestinians reciprocate with escalated violence every time Israel relinquishes land. Some people are never satisfied no matter what you give them. The only way to have peace in Israel is if the Palestinian authority is defeated and the people agree to live peaceably with Israel not continue with their desire to take over Israel and capture Jerusalem for their own capital. Now that is what I would call defiance not protecting your country. Resolute, determined, steeled, principled, would be a better description of Israel’s attempts at national security and if I was an Israeli I would not want it any other way.

The Free Gaza group are the ones participating in defiant behavior and yet AP did not mention this fact once in their article. Apparently only Israel can engage in bad behavior everyone else gets a pass.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Related articles by Zemanta

Hillary to Israel: Don’t Count on Me!

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

Robert Randle is a fellow writer over at Faithwriters.com and this article just begged to be shared with as many people as possible. I have included it here for all my regular readers and will be adding it to the “Pop Goes the Gospel” blog carnival being published later this month. This is such a timely and appropriate article in light of all that is happening in the United States of America under the current Obama administration. These are frightening times and exciting times, I guess it all depends on how you view God’s provision and providence.

Hillary Clinton’s comment may be a wake-up call for Israel
By Robert Randle

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent statement at the summit called AIPAC should have been a reality check for the Israeli people; not to mention, another glaring example of American hubris. While avowing unrelenting support for the nation of Israel, she went on to say that with all the sophisticated weapons and technology being developed by the enemy, [in light of this continually evolving situation], “WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PROTECT ISRAEL ANYMORE.” This unfortunate comment should have caused some consternation among the Israeli political leadership including Benjamin Netanyahu and Barak Ehud; as well as outrage among Israeli citizens and other people as well. It says that if America wasn’t around to scare away all the enemies and haters of Israel who are bent on her destruction or annihilation, she would not even exist. Perhaps Israel needs to rethink its relationship with the United States, Western European countries, and her role within the United Nations as well.

In the Jewish Bible [“TANAKH“] there are some lessons to be learned from the Jews depending on or soliciting for military deliverance from other nations instead of their God. In 2 Kings 16: 1, 7, 9, King Ahaz of Judah paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser to save them from the armies of the Kings of Syria and Israel. Also, in 2 Kings 17: 1, 3-4, King Hoshea of Israel conspired with the King of Egypt to come to his aid against Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, and when the Assyrian King uncovered the plot, he imprisoned King Hoshea and besieged the capitol [Samaria] for three years and carried away the people captive.

Later in 2 Kings 18: 17, 19-21, 32b; 19: 16, 19-22, 32-34, Rabshakeh, the Chief of Staff for Sennacherib King of Assyria taunted King Hezekiah and the people along the wall in Judah [the city of Jerusalem], and speaking for King Sennacherib, said, “Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD [Adonai??] should [can] deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (Cp. 18: 35). What is instructive for the political leaders of modern-day Israel is what King Hezekiah did as recorded in 2 Kings 19: 1, 20, 32, 34: And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth [and ashes??], and went into the house of the LORD. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ’Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib King of Assyria, I have heard.’ ” “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the King of Assyria: ’He shall not come [set foot] into this city [Jerusalem], Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor build a siege mound against it. “For I will defend this city [Jerusalem], to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”

Ironically enough, the remnant of the children of Israel [tribe of Judah, no doubt] wanted to return back to Egypt, the very country which their ancestors were enslaved, as it says in Jeremiah 42: 9a, 10a, 13-14; 43: 7a: Thus says the LORD, “If you will remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. “But if you say, ’We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God, saying, ’No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall not see war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell.’ ” So they went into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD.” Eventually Egypt was defeated and Israel went into captivity, anyway (Cp. Jeremiah 46: 1-28).

The people of Israel as well as the rest of the world needs to recognize that God has on occasion punished the Jews for their transgression of His Law [Torah], which included plagues (diseases), military defeat, captivity and exile into foreign lands, but nevertheless, as it says in Proverbs 21: 31: The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD. God will protect Israel from her enemies and will gather them from all the nations around the world to settle them in the land promised to the patriarch Abraham and codified in the Law [Torah] given at Mount Sinai; irrespective of the negotiations between the United States, Israel, the UN and the Palestinians about the settlement issue in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

Finally, it is not about having fighter jets with “STEALTH TECHNOLOGY” traveling at several times the speed of sound or having some of the best pilots in the world, or how many nuclear bombs they have, or equipping their soldiers with the latest in body armor and sensors to detect chemical, radiological, and biological weapons, and other such capabilities to wage modern warfare. The very opposite existed for their ancestors who were at a tactical disadvantage in almost every encounter before their enemies; especially when it came to the development of iron weapons. The one thing Israel had, though, was unwavering ’faith’ in the promises of God and as long as she trusted in the LORD, Israel was victorious. The people of Israel need to be reminded of this because their sacred Scriptures teach:

Exodus 14: 14
The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

Deuteronomy 1: 30
The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.

1 Samuel 17: 47
Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear [weapons]; for the battle is the LORD’S, and He will give you into our hands.

Zechariah 4: 6b
So he answered and said to me, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts [YHVH Sabaoth].”

The Jewish people, their military and political leaders need to return [repent] to their LORD God through living according with the Law [Torah] and not adopt the customs of America and Western Europe. When this happens, the blessings which come to Israel will flow throughout the entire world and we will all be better off because of this.

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
March 23, 2010
pbks@hotmail.com

pbks@hotmail.com
http://choirboy51.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com–CHRISTIAN WRITERS–MAKE A WEBSITE

Related articles by Zemanta

Naysayers or Yes Men

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

In light of the recent death of Michael Jackson I thought it was appropriate to repost an early article on the problems associated with the RICH and the FAMOUS who surround themselves with people who are not truly seeking their best interests but actually are enabling their own demise. Initial reports seem to be circulating about Michael’s misuse of prescription drugs. There is growing controversy over the cardiac doctor who was present at the time of Michael’s cardiac arrest. The events that led up to the death of Michael could possibly have been prevented had Michael chosen a road of righteousness rather than stardom. There is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof is death. Take a lesson and learn from the misfortunes of others and perhaps we can side step the events that led to their untimely deaths.

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm“?—Proverbs 13:20

ShipwreckThe allure of the world’s riches have caused many to fall by the wayside. The deceitfulness of riches ability to heal us of all ills has bankrupted many a soul on this journey called life. Each week we are reminded of the failings of mankind when another person finds themselves shipwrecked on the rocks of disgrace and shame.

Paris Hilton, although used to being in the spotlight for her celebrity status as an heir to the great Hilton empire, recently found out her celebrity status could not keep her from a prison cell. In fact the media frenzy that surrounds her just might have added to her misfortunes. For a person who is so used to the richness of privilege to find herself in a less than advantageous position had to be very humiliating for her. What brought Paris to this place in her life? Could something had been done to prevent this from happening?

A resounding yes would be the reply of any thinking person. Had someone stepped in to persuade her to stop her partying ways and take her life a bit more seriously perhaps she could have avoided her prison sentence.

Newspapers are filled with stories of the haves who end up face down in life’s cesspool. In just our recent past we can name many celebrities who have fallen from the heights of respect to the depths of shame. Lindsey, Brittney, Anna Nicole, O.J., Michael Jackson, “The Huff” must we go on?

Many through their hardships found a better way.

Some still live in disgrace to this day.

Sins_141cChristiandom is not void of those who had fallen from great heights into public shame and disgrace. Who can forget PTL and James and Tammy Faye? Or Jimmy Swaggart’s moral failure? All of us need to take heed and listen to what proverbs has to say about this subject. To use a modern day proverb one could say if you lie down with the dogs you are likely to get up with fleas.

Continue reading “Naysayers or Yes Men” →

Is America A Christian Nation? by Alan Allegra

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

Today I hope you enjoy this guest post from Alan Allegra. If you enjoyed it or find it offensive or have any other comment be sure to let Alan know how you feel. From time to time I like to post articles from fellow authors at Faithwriters.com. We can learn a great deal if we take the time to read what others have to say. So without further delay on with this weeks quest article.

Is America a Christian Nation?

b3bc5301-6edd-48b0-a208-8a504e527944.Large Religion and politics are the two most incendiary topics of conversation imaginable. Everything we think, say, and do is influenced by our view of God and government. President Obama’s observation that we are not a nation beholden to any particular religion has struck the match of ardor and ignited the debate over whether America is a Christian nation.

Let me clarify that there is no such thing as a Christian nation. A Christian, by definition, is an individual follower of Christ. No nation can be "a" Christian, although we understand that those who debate the question mean our law is based on Christian (or "Judeo-Christian") principles. Without floundering in a sea of theology, let’s just say that the principles in discussion predate Christianity and Judaism. They were incarnated in the very womb of Creation.

Some tell us we need to "embrace universal principles that emphasize our common humanity and promote greater understanding and appreciation of different cultures." This sounds well and good and politically correct, but is it practical or possible?

The Book of Judges is a horror story right out of a Gothic novel, except it’s all true. It honestly and almost matter-of-factly documents scenes of rape, murder, dismemberment, unbridled lust, idolatry, robbery, economies of truth, betrayal, assassination, warfare, torture, suicide, filicide, and other best-seller fodder. The key verse and epilogue are identical summaries of the culture of the time: "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6, 21:25). In other words, every person followed the dictates of their common humanity, unfettered by government standards.

If we are to appreciate different cultures, then we need to embrace them uncritically lest we offend. We were wrong to interfere with Nazis, and must appreciate Holocaust deniers. Beheading and terror are innate to some cultures, and we need their cooperation to make this a better global village. Forced abortion is practiced by a country with over 20% of the world’s population. Genocide rules in many countries, and a caste system in others wears a heavy boot that keeps the people crushed and oppressed. So we wonder: Whose principles of common humanity should we embrace and cooperate with?

A cursory consideration verifies God’s view of common humanity: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). Jeremiah reminds us, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (17:9). God ordained human government, based on His righteous character, to rein in man’s evil: "For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil" (Romans 13:4).

Are there "good" common principles of humanity and culture that we can embrace? There are values that are shared by humans that manifest themselves in almost every culture, such as private property and the right to life. But these are not beliefs that evolved or sprang up from the fertile soil of man’s own heart. "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them" (Romans 2:14, 15). God has written His standards in every heart, and we either live by them or make excuses to go our own way.

Founding Fathers [VHS],

The Federalist Papers

Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty

It is historical fact that the founding fathers based the nation’s laws on the Bible. They were not all Christians or Jews but recognized the wisdom of having a righteous standard of law, a law that respects life and encourages true freedom.

Alan Allegra, Executive Administrative Assistant of Faith Church in Allentown, Pa. More devotionals at http://www.faithefc.com/includes/Alan-Devotionals.htm. More articles at Lifestyles Over 50: http://www.lifestylesover50.com/ and the Morning Call: www.mcall.com. Available for writing.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com <a href="http://www.faithwriters.com">CHRISTIAN WRITERS</a>

Related articles by Zemanta

Inauguration Day

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor.



In*au`gu*ra"tion\, n. [L. inauguratio a beginning: cf. F. inauguration.]

  1. The act of inuagurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.

2. The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.; as, the inauguration of a new system, a new condition, etc.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches. Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie. One man, who had been sick for 38 years, was lying there. Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?” The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.” The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked. John 5:2-9 (GW)

The Pool of Bethesda was located on the eastern side of the city near the Fortress of Antonia. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy."
 
The water source was a nearby spring. Recent archaeological discoveries have confirmed the Biblical account, that there were five porches and the fifth one divided the rectangular pool into two separate compartments. Josephus wrote about the Pool of the Sheep-market.

There is a loud cry of discrimination and inequality being heralded throughout our land. There are those who may feel like this crippled man, that there is no one looking out for them, there is no one to give them a hand out, there is no one to help them attain their goals. So here they sit and wait and complain about being discriminated against.
 
Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter when he asks. "Would you like to get well?" Do you really want your situation to change? Are you really ready for change? Are you willing to take responsibility for change?
 
The man answered that he had no one to help him. There was no one to enable him. There was no compassion being shown him. No one cared or showed mercy. There were others skipping in line and going before him. His answer should have been YES SIR! I want to be healed. Instead he made excuses. Jesus then commanded him to GET UP! PICK UP YOUR BED! and WALK!
 
There is the simple remedy to life’s ills. Get up, pick up, and start to walk!
 
I have listened to crowds of people cry YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN and then come running with their hands out. Now I am not the smartest person on this planet but I am having a hard time understanding how you can say YES WE CAN and then turn around in the next breath and cry NO WE CAN’T.
 
We are about to inaugurate a leader who made us cry YES WE CAN but then says NO YOU CAN’T. Our new leader seems to think that the government has the cure, while simultaneously ignoring the huge pool of opportunity sitting right before us. He promises that all can drink from the public pool of funds collected from those who have been healed by the pool’s waters of opportunity, yet he does not offer to lift anyone into the pool to actually be healed.

The crippled man sat by the pool for 38 years. He had seen a whole generation pass before him into the waters while he was continually passed up. For those who have long been imprisoned with this crippling mindset, I can understand their lack of internal strength, to do whatever it takes to obtain their goals and objectives. There are some in our society who have been put down and overlooked for so long that they have accepted their lot and gave up on their goals. They sit by the wayside of life, day in and day out watching others succeed, and lament their inability to achieve. They have lost the inner desire to achieve.

Continue reading “Inauguration Day” →