The Barbarians are at the Gate…or at Least Around the House!

Again with the fighting in the Middle East?

Indeed it is happening again.  Hamas, the resident military of Gaza, initiated the latest battle by firing rocket after rocket into Israel – without provocation.  This past Sunday, while the world was watching Germany win the World Cup, 130 rockets were shot into Israel.  In all of 2014, I’m not sure if anyone knows how many rockets have been fired at Israel – shooting at civilians sending people to almost have to  live in their bomb shelters, but the numbers are in the thousands.   

Now, after Israel accepted the Egyptian brokered ‘cease fire’ and ceased military operations, Hamas fired 50 more rockets into Israel, less than 3 hours after the cease fire was agreed to – and yet, the media, once again, calls for Israel to use restraint.

But what I don’t see is the condemnation of the barbaric actions of Hamas:

·      Civilians are ordered to stay in their residences while rocket installations and munitions storage is located around the home.
·      Command and Control, along with rocket installations and munitions storage are placed in Mosques. (considered Holy places in the Qur’an).
·      Women, children and elderly are used as ‘human shields’.
·      Hamas rockets are aimed at civilians, not military installations.

If this was happening to any other country, especially the U.S., the media would be crying foul, and insisting that the ‘world community’ do something about it!  But no, the only thing we hear is the ‘heavy hand of Israel’ and ‘exercise restraint'.

Question: What is the difference between Sodom Hussein using ‘human shields’ and Hamas using ‘human shields’?  Answer:  Israel wasn't attacking Sodom Hussein.

Yep; as long as Israel is trying to protect her people, ‘human shields’ are OK for Hamas.

You Can’t Have it Both Ways!

The Middle East is on the brink of major war and the majority of the world is blaming Israel; if not blaming, insisting that Israel use ‘enormous restraint’.

Recently three Israeli youth were kidnapped and murdered, in the West Bank.  Whether they should have been in the West Bank is not the issue – the issue is a senseless act of cowardice by men who were so convinced of their righteous position that the ‘covered their faces so they wouldn’t be recognized’?  In retaliation, six spineless Israeli men jumped and captured one Palestinian youth and burned him to death.

In the news last night I heard a reporter refer to the death of the Israeli youth as murder, yet when referring to the Palestinian youth, just as ‘retaliation’.  And, the world indignation is against the Israelis who burned the Palestinian youth to death.

Here’s the real story:  Both incidents were MURDER and the perpetrators deserve to be put to death for the MURDER of children; and the world needs to support that position, not just beat up on Israel. (In Israel, capital punishment is allowed only during wartime and only for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, treason, and crimes against the Jewish People). 

But, instead the world wishes to forget that the day after Israel became a County, 7 Arab Nations attacked her with the stated purpose “to wipe Israel from the face of the earth”.  They also choose to forget that over and over, since then, Israel has been repeatedly attacked by Arab States.  They forget that the leader of the PLO, before his death, insisted that Israel be eliminated.  They forget that the leader of Iran has vowed to destroy Israel.  They forget that Hamas and Hezbollah continue to fire rockets into Israel and that children must hide in basements and safe rooms and sometimes only have fifteen seconds to get to shelter. 

It amazes me that the world, including the United States, takes such a stand against Israel, when if the same thing was happening to another country, they would be outraged and would certainly retaliate in kind or in escalation!

So….what is going to happen now?  The Arab states will continue to attack Israel (verbally and with munitions) and the world will continue to call for restraint on Israel’s part but ignore the acts of others.  Today, more rockets will be fired from Gaza but this time, Israel will respond in escalation; and the world will continue to denounce Israel.

Genesis 12:2-4New American Standard Bible (NASB)

² And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
³ And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

If you believe in God, you certainly believe in His Word (I hope).  So what is going to happen when He makes good on this promise?  The world, once again, will blame Israel.  (or maybe they’ll blame George Bush)

Too Quick to Shoot?

In less than 4 months, in our area, there have been a number of fatal shootings, at the hands of Police Officers.  What can we learn from these tragic incidents?

In Centralia, Police confronted a man who was relieving himself in an alley behind a business; the man came at the Police with a knife and was killed.  Also in Centralia, a man was contacted by Police for stealing a burrito from a convenience store.  While attempting to arrest the suspect, he pulled a gun from his pocket and the Officer shot him; the man died at the scene.  In Seattle, a man refusing to pay his fare on the ‘light rail train’ was contacted by a Deputy Sheriff.  Rather than accept a citation for not paying the fare, the suspect pulled a pistol; the Deputy shot fatally wounding the suspect.  This morning, Police chased a stolen truck in Seattle.  The suspect eventually ran from the officers.  While attempting to hide behind a building, the suspect appeared with a pistol pointed at the Officers and was shot and died at the scene.

What is the common denominator in all of these cases?  Some would say it is the Police being too quick to use lethal force; death for peeing in an alley, stealing a burrito, cheating on train fare or even stealing a truck, seem pretty minor crimes when compared to crimes that can invoke the ‘death penalty’ in a Court of Law.  Let’s see; burritos cost about $2.50, train fare maybe $1.50, a truck…..sure that’s expensive and peeing in a dark alley – well there is the cost of cleaning it up; but the death penalty?

Actually the common denominator is not the ‘simple crime’ or even the quick response of the Police; it is the fact that all of the suspects attempted in some way to fatally harm the officers; one with a knife and 3 WITH PISTOLS!!!!!  What on earth would you expect a Police Officer to do?

While I admit and understand that in the wake of several incidents that resulted in the death of Police Officers here in the Northwest, Officers are on ‘high alert’.  But at the same time I wonder if lethal force is always called for.  But more important is; I wonder why people think that confronting a Police Officer with a gun or a knife is something that would resolve the matter in their favor.  The only conclusion I can make is that these suspects were not in their right minds.

To The Friends of the guy with the knife: Don’t take a knife to a gun fight!

To the Friends of the guys that pulled guns: don’t point guns at Police Officers!

To those who make our laws: So much for the effectiveness of ‘background checks’!