Part II: What is Happening in the Gaza Strip?

"I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land." Joel 3:2

April 9, 2007 - Earlier last week, PA President Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Haniyeh joined a massive Arab delegation--22 member states comprising the Arab League, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the sole purpose of reviving and activating the "Arab Peace Initiative". As it were, this "peace" proposal--dormant since 2002 because of Israeli objections to its ludicrous demands that would put the Jewish state at a decisive disadvantage, would once again promise "a normalization of relations" with what is now a much weaker and desperate Israeli government in response to Israeli's full withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders. Furthermore, the Arab Peace Initiative would require Israel to come to the bargaining table to negotiate and facilitate the instant infusion and assimilation of an overwhelming population of Arabs into Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, becoming demographically-outnumbered in the process.

As discussed at length in previous articles, this would effectively and quite literally line the streets of Jerusalem and her surrounding areas with hundreds of thousands of hostile, Arab militants--most of whom subscribe to the destructive ideologies of Hamas and the PA. Make no mistake, the closed-door discussions that took place in Riyadh last week were carried out by those committed not to the establishment of a "Palestinian" state, but to the destruction of the Jewish state, and you need look no further than the Hamas charter to discover it.

Facilitated by its chief proponents--of whom are Condoleezza Rice and the E.U., this deceptive, Arab "olive branch" would effectively place the pressure and onus on a weak Israeli Prime Minister, whose most recent approval ratings at home have plummeted to single digits, to engage in peace negotiations with Israel's sworn enemies, effectively committing national and political suicide in the process.

Precisely as the Arab delegation met in Riyadh to discuss their destruction of the Jewish state, the walls of a waste storage facility in northern Gaza gave way, effectively flooding the region with up to 2 feet of raw sewage, causing numerous deaths and injuries, along with the immediate and imminent possibility of an outbreak of disease and contamination. Furthermore, the UN issued warnings of another imminent and much larger waste storage collapse that could effectively push the region into a full-blown humanitarian crisis. The U.N. also made known its well-documented history of warnings that showed the probability of such an imminent disaster. And so, the questions remain: Why wasn't the situation rectified beforehand? The P.A. has collectively received millions of dollars in foreign aid in recent years, along with the sporadic release of "Palestinian" tax dollars at the behest of the Israeli government. Hamas--"the new sheriff in town" since January, 2006, has received tens of millions of dollars in foreign aid from its Arab counterparts, to include Iran. Where has the money gone? Hamas claims to have no funds with which to fix the sanitation crisis and feed its people. Ironically enough, this is a "government" that somehow found the means to hire tens of thousands of militant soldiers, along with the resources necessary to equip them. Furthermore, so "destitute" was the Hamas government that it miraculously facilitated the purchases of tons of explosives, munitions, and weapons, as well as the advanced technologies with which to improve its arsenal of Qassam rockets, which continue to be fired daily into Israel. At the end of the day, what you have is a government firmly established upon an ideology sworn to facilitate the destruction of Israel by any means necessary--even if it effectuates the destruction of its own people and the welfare of its society. Case in point: This story broke just days after the waste facility catastrophe. Do you still disagree?

PERSPECTIVE: The Hand of God is moving. Deny it if you wish. Turn a blind eye to it if you must. However, the timing of the above events--and many like them that have led to the radical decline, if not extinction, of the Holy One of Israel's sworn enemies simply cannot be sequestered. This region's history is one that has seen every prime minister, president, and/or peace envoy--friend or foe, that would advance a doctrine that compromises God's plan for Israel, become radically in touch with an untimely delay and/or demise, effectively derailing said doctrine in the process. God has a plan for His people, and business with His Land--yet to be transacted. By His Hand, His people were dispersed across the four winds in centuries past. By His Will, they have been regathered in and restored to their land--a land promised to them. Through His Promises, they shall remain there--never again to be uprooted. His bidding will not be thwarted.

Part I: What is happening in the Gaza Strip?

April 8, 2007 - There's nothing worse than a fool with a cause. It's been well over a year since terrorist thugs were seen dancing in the streets of Gaza City, indiscriminately capping off AK-47 rounds into the skies over southern Israel in celebration of their victory over the Palestinian Authority's Fatah party. The outcome of the Gaza elections in late January of 2006 represented a widely-publicized, unprecedented turn of events in which the "Palestinian" people--or should I say, the conglomeration of Arabs in Southern Israel, democratically elected and thus chose a terrorist organization, Hamas, as the governing body that would lead them to days of social, political and economic bliss. What the citizens of Gaza failed to consider--or should I say, turned a blind eye to, was the true ideology behind Hamas, and the lengths to which "the new kids on the block" were prepared to go in order to facilitate it.

Fourteen months later, gone are the days in which the people of Gaza expected radical change in the form of positive, social and economic reform. Moreover and quite literally, gone are the days in which the Arab people in Gaza could expect a paycheck for hours worked. The situation in Gaza has now evolved into a humanitarian crisis--one on a scale so dangerous that even the U.N. has threatened to withdraw its people from the region. As you will soon see, the Hamas government's infatuation with the elimination of Israel has blinded them to the welfare of their own people and, subsequently and quite literally, has landed them in deep "crap". Read this article in its entirety: Gaza Strip Part I

The Difference Between Love and Hate

April 1, 2007 - Earlier today, as I perused through my email and the various news headlines of the day over morning coffee, I happened upon two news stories that, after reading them both, left me...well, they left me synergistically befuddled. You see, each of these two stories, of which you will, after reading this article, gain a better understanding, are nothing new nor surprising when read and considered independently of one another. The events and circumstances found in each, individual article could be considered, by and large, everyday occurrences in the land of Israel, as evidenced by what we see on televisions and read in newspapers. However, after reading these two headlines within seconds apart, I became confused and perplexed. You see, these two headlines, in and of themselves, tell the whole story.

The first article, entitled "Hamas Threatens Israel", was one riddled with hatred, disdain, vitriol and incitement as Abu Ubaida, spokesman of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, warned and threatened an Israeli, as it were, "occupation": "We will turn the Strip into a graveyard for soldiers of the occupation...", he said, "The Palestinian resistance is ready to deal with this aggression...We will teach the enemy a lesson and send him home disappointed, just like many times before. We have nothing to lose..." This is, of course, in response to a potentially imminent Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip aimed at putting an end to the onslaught of Qassam rockets that continue to be fired into southern Israel by Hamas militants. I know, such hatred on behalf of "Palestinian" militants towards the Jewish state hardly qualifies as "unique", nor is the nonstop barrage of rockets being launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel. My sentiments exactly, but then my eyes immediately met the headline for article #2.

The antithesis of its predecessor, the second article was one of compassion, courage and perseverance. While the first article wreaked of venom and hatred, the second embraced a loving kindness that, quite frankly, evades human understanding. The second headline, entitled, "Israeli Ambulance Saves Palestinian Baby", told of how a bullet-proof Israeli ambulance entered the "Palestinian" territory of Ramallah in order to evacuate and thus save the life of a critically injured, six-month old, "Palestinian" infant. Thought to be the victim of poisoning, the infant was transported by the Israeli ambulance to the Chaim Sheva Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, where the Israeli medical team promptly and professionally (as indicated by eyewitnesses) handed over the child along with all medical documents.

I think you know where I'm going with this. Fathom, if you can, a scenario in which the circumstances were reversed--a scenario, as it were, in which an Israeli infant was on the fringe of death and the only timely medical response available was situated in Gaza City. As saddening as it may be, the reality of such a fabrication is that the infant would be lost, and its death would be a trophy headline that very evening on Al Jazeera television.

An expected response from the "Palestinian" side to this heroic act of courage on behalf of the Israeli medical workers, whom effectively saved the life of the Palestinian infant, would be one of gratitude--one of thanks. Quite contrarily, the "Palestinian" Ministry of Health had this to say in response, "all humanitarian matters, especially those concerning human lives, should be separated from political issues." Fair enough, but I ask you, would the "Palestinians" abide by that logic? If you do not have an answer, then consider the outcome, and subsequent "Palestinian" response, if the infant had died.