Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Border policewoman 'M', who shot dead a female assailant who tried to stab her at a police post in the West Bank city of Hebron on October 17, 2015 (Courtesy: Israel Police)
A Border Policewoman who shot dead a knife-wielding female attacker in Hebron said Saturday that she acted “without hesitation” when her assailant tried to stab her in the neck.
“The terrorist approached the post and asked for directions to a certain place in the area. I told her the name did not sound familiar and that she should ask the locals when she arrived, when to my surprise she pulled out a knife and tried to stab me in the neck,” said the sergeant, who has been identified only as M.
The policewoman was standing at the checkpoint at the entrance to the base near the Cave of the Patriarchs when the Saturday morning attack occurred.
The attacker only managed to hit M’s vest, causing minor injuries to the policewoman’s hand. “I took a step back and I shot the terrorist without hesitation,” M said, according to Channel 10 news. “I responded like any fighter in the Border Police would have done.”
She added: “I do not take pleasure in the fact that the incident ended in this way and not without casualties.”
The attacker was identified as 16-year-old Bian Asila, from Hebron.
M’s commander commended her for her bravery. “She did exactly what was expected of her.”
The incident was the third attempted stabbing attack of the day and the second in the West Bank city, a frequent flashpoint site where a few hundred Jews live in close proximity to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
It came just hours after two other separate stabbing attacks in Hebron and Jerusalem, in which both attackers were also killed.
Susie
didn’t know what love was. Growing up in a family of five, with dad having left
them all when she was three, provided nothing but rejection and hearts without hope.
She didn’t have the fancy clothes and trending shoes that others wore. The kids
in school would tease her because of her freckles and curly hair. She just didn’t
fit in.
Her mom
tried the best she could to put food on the table. Working a double shift at
Rudy’s a few miles away, serving Columbian coffee to the early risers in the
morning and the local draft beer to office personnel after hours, left little
time to give Susie a desperately needed hug, nor a spoken, simple, “I love you.”
So Susie’s heart longed for someone, or something, to fill that growing void.
By the
time she turned 17, Susie had already tried what others had. With nothing to
keep her pointed in the right direction, that midnight hour with Mark left her
with a life within, but no other about. He too followed the way of the world and
took the next train to Chicago, leaving her standing to face the day alone. The
woman at the PP told her she had the right to subtract the “tissue that will
pull your life down”, but something, she didn’t know from where, told Susie not
to proceed. Maybe that other voice she now remembered was right. Life had
begun, and this one would be different.
Love hadn’t
been what Susie wanted it to be. She had dreamed dreams like every other precious
princess had, hoping this too would fill the void, or that experience would
ease the longing. "Someday her prince would come" would play in her head.
Her pained heart still beat though, while longing to have
someone tell her it would just be OK. If she had to go it alone, well, she
would go it alone. Somehow she and the other beating heart would make it.
I could continue
writing and say that this common story ended quite well. I could tell you that
Susie found the love she had been looking for; that a righteous prince had come
and provided for her and her child with everything good. But that didn’t
happen.
You see,
the Lord had tried to share His love with Susie through another, one who too
had gone through the same story. He had appointed that person to speak life
into her heart, and give her the hug she needed, to help her find the way. But they
didn’t; instead seeking their own comfort and pleasure rather than sharing His
love with others. And so Susie and her child were no more.
The moral
of the story you ask?
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have
not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless
they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who
preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans
10:14-15, NKJV)
You who
are reading this now have been given the love that Susie and others need to
know. You have been blessed with the gifts from the One Who loves, to share in
your world. You have the hug to give, the words to speak, the knowledge and experience
you have known, because He first loved you. His love is in your life.
Please go
and share what you have. The world needs to know what love you have talked
about.
Now think
on this,
Steve
Martin
Founder
Love For
His People. Inc.
P.S. The above story about Susie is a story, but it is far too often a reality.
Love
For His People, Inc. is a charitable,
not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love
of the Father in the nations.
If
these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of
$5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in
Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your
tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID
#27-1633858.
Now
Think On This #190 “What Love Are You Taking About” by Steve Martin
Date:
In the year of our Lord 2015 (10.17.15) Saturday at 6:37 am in Charlotte, NC
All
previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this
Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This
Please
share this message with your friends on your Facebook page, Google+, and/or
Twitter account if you would. You can use the icon links below. Thanks!
Why are Christians not leading Jewish people to Jesus?
Many believers have been misled by a spirit of deception. They have been told that a Jew who follows the old covenant is accepted by God without Jesus—so why witness to them?
Paul gives the definitive answer in Acts 4:12, "There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Most Jewish people have been deceived as well. From childhood we are told or it is implied that we cannot believe in Jesus and remain Jewish. We are told this by the Jewish community as well as the church.
Even a Jewish atheist has a desire to remain Jewish. Why? When we Jewish people were scattered to the four corners of the earth and eventually persecuted by our chosen nation of refuge as the Bible predicted in Deuteronomy 28, God had to devise a plan for those who survived.
God put His entire reputation on the line when He guaranteed that as long as there were waves, sun, moon and stars, there would be Jewish people on the earth (Jer. 31:35-36). The Jewish people lost their country, their temple and were murdered or had to flee for their lives for nearly 2,000 years. Any Jews who survived all of this should have assimilated into other religions long ago.
What is the secret of how God kept us as a distinct people? He put an instinct within us that says, "I was born a Jew and I will die a Jew." The majority of Jews—even a secular Jew who never sets foot in a synagogue—still identify as being a Jew.
So when a well-meaning Christian says, "You must convert to Christianity," what a Jew hears is: "You must stop being Jewish." This goes against our God-given instinct for Jewish survival.
The word "Christian" means "one of the Messiah's." By that definition, I am a Christian. But by Christian and Jewish usage it has come to mean "no longer Jewish." I cannot go against my God-given instinct. Instead, I refer to myself as a Jewish believer in Jesus as Messiah.
Why was it so important to God that the Jews remain a distinct people? We know the Jewish people were chosen to evangelize the Gentiles and did a great job at the first coming of Jesus. But the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. And God has chosen the Jewish people to evangelize the Gentiles just before Messiah's return.
When will this happen? At the "fullness of the Gentiles."
The 'Fullness of the Gentiles'
Every Gentile believer must understand the term, "the fullness of the Gentiles." As a new believer in Jesus, I was taught this referred to the time when all the Gentiles who were going to be saved had been saved and then God would bring about the salvation of Israel. But that never made sense to me because, even during the Tribulation, both Jews and Gentiles will be saved.
Then God showed me clearly the meaning of "the fullness of the Gentiles." As I studied the Bible, I found clues to know when this would take place. Luke 21:24 says, "They (the Jewish people) will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led away captive to all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." On June 7, 1967, Jerusalem was once again in Jewish possession! But God said we must look for one more thing.
In Romans 11:25-26, Paul writes, "For a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved ... ." The key to this mystery is found in two places in these verses. First, Israel would be judicially blinded to the gospel in part. In other words, a remnant of Israel would be saved, but most would be blinded until this judgment was over.
How can we know when the judgment of blindness is over? The obvious answer is when we see large numbers of Jewish people turning to Jesus. We see this happen in our recent outreaches in Israel! But why now and not in 1967?
The second part of the answer is found in the meaning of the Greek word for "fullness." It can be translated "maturity." In other words, when the Gentile believers are mature in their biblical understanding of the Jew, Israel and the supernatural, Jews will be saved in larger numbers until "all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:26). The call of the Gentile is to evangelize the Jew. Paul states in Romans 11:11, "I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid! But through their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles—to make them jealous."
I feel like a type of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness that the judicial judgment for the sin of spiritual blindness is over, and it's time for the Jew to come home—home to Israel and home to God.
Isaiah 40:2 says, "Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been pardoned, that she has received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins."
No Longer Future but Now!
The spiritual blindness judgment is over! We Jewish people are now open to the gospel for the first time in almost 2,000 years. But Paul nails the problem in Romans 10:14, when he says: "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?"
Until the spiritual judgment ended, the best a Christian could do was have "Bless Israel" meetings without evangelism, give toward the return of Jews to Israel or supply humanitarian aid. And God knows we still need all of these.
But I want to shout it from the rooftops—the spiritual scales are off, the curse is over, and Jewish people are now open to the gospel! But even though we are ready to receive the Lord, our minds are still programmed with the lie that says, "You can't be Jewish and believe in Jesus." The only way to do a "mind bypass" around our intellectual arguments is through a demonstration of signs and wonders. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:22, "For Jews request a sign."
Last year, I led an evangelistic meeting in Jerusalem I called a "Lecture on the Supernatural." I promised that many who attended would be healed in their seats. The auditorium was jam-packed with 550 unsaved Jews. Many were instantly healed, and the majority stood up and prayed a prayer of salvation. This year I went back and held another outreach with 650 unsaved Jews in attendance. A total of 98 percent boldly stood up and prayed with me to receive Jesus as Messiah!
I have done these lectures all over the world, including Brazil, Germany, the United States and the former Soviet Union, with similar results. Why? Because I approach the Jew the biblical way, not with wisdom and clever words of men, but like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
Just like Paul, when I demonstrate God's kingdom through signs and wonders, I earn the right to present the King! When people are instantly healed, it is as if the spiritual scales come off and they are open to the gospel.
The Law of Evangelism
As we reach out to the Jewish people with the Good News, we activate what I call the "Law of Evangelism." When God called the first Jew, Abraham, it was with a heart to reach the rest of the world—the Gentiles. When Jesus wanted to reach the whole world, He said He went only (or went first) to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Again, this was a spiritual seed to reach the whole world. When Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, wanted to reach his prize, he went to the Jew first (Rom. 1:16). "To the Jew first" is not just God's historical order for evangelism. It is His spiritual order, and it produces supernatural results.
My desire is to evangelize all people. When I go to the Jew first, I supernaturally reach more Gentiles than if I go to the Gentile first. One example is my evangelistic outreach in Kaifeng, China. I learned that Jewish silk traders had settled in Kaifeng centuries ago. Before leading an outreach, I went to Kaifeng to "spy out the land." I found the remnants of an ancient synagogue as well as a number of Chinese-Jewish descendants and a Jewish museum.
The director of the museum asked me why I wanted to bring a tour group and hold a meeting there. I asked him to open his Jewish Bible to Isaiah 49:12. It read in his Chinese language: "Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim." But in his Bible it did not say "Sinim." It said the real meaning of the word: "China."
Isaiah was saying that in the last days, Jews from China would return to Israel! How did Isaiah know there would be a nation of Israel in the last days? And even more amazing, how did he know there would be such a thing as Chinese Jews? The answer is simple. God dictated the prophecy, and Isaiah was being a good Jewish secretary!
I returned to Kaifeng with a group of believers, and we evangelized the Chinese Jews. I later learned that one of the Kaifeng Jews I led to the Lord immigrated to Israel just as Isaiah prophesied. My visit also triggered the Law of Evangelism. When I went to the Jew first in China, God spread my message about Jesus to that entire city. People actually recognized me on the streets from seeing me on local television. This would never have happened unless I went to the Jew first.
The Law of Evangelism is very important to God. Paul tells us in Romans 11:12, "Now if their (the Jewish people) transgression means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?" The fullness, or maturity, of the Jews will culminate one day. According to Romans 11:15, "For if their (the Jewish people's) being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" As the Jewish people are restored to the body of Messiah, they will restore literal resurrection-from-the-dead power to the church. Get ready to witness the release of creative miracles in large numbers not seen since Bible days!
Better yet, the salvation of the Jewish people will usher in the return of Jesus. In Matthew 23:39, Jesus said to the Jewish people, "For I tell you, you shall not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
The restoration of the Jewish people to the body of Messiah will be the catalyst to release the greatest Gentile revival in history. The prophet Amos predicted this. He said that when the tabernacle of David is restored, it would usher in such a great Gentile revival that there would be more fruit than we had laborers to harvest it. What is the tabernacle of David? The word for "tabernacle" in Hebrew means "house" or "family."
Who is the family of David? The Jewish people! When the Jewish people are restored to God, this is what will happen according to Amos 9:13: "Indeed, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman will overtake the one who is reaping, and the treader of grapes the ones who is sowing the seed ... ." And what will be the result of the initial Jewish harvest? God promises in Isaiah 27:6, "Israel shall blossom and bud and shall fill the whole world with fruit."
It is past time for the "fullness of the Gentiles." It is the Gentile Christians' finest hour. I appeal to you as Mordecai appealed to Esther: "For if you remain silent at this time, protection and deliverance for the Jews will be ordained from some other place, but you and your father's house shall be destroyed. And who knows if you may have attained royal position for such a time as this?" (Esth. 4:14).
The Jewish Express
A friend of mine, Penny Lea, was speaking at a pro-life meeting when she was approached by an elderly German man. He told her about an event that happened when he was a youth in Germany that continued to haunt him. As a child, he would attend church with his family every Sunday. During worship, a train would pass by on the tracks next to the church. As the church members sang, they could hear people on the trains shouting, crying and wailing. These were Jewish people jammed into cattle cars being taken to the gas chambers to be murdered. When the cries became too objectionable and loud, the pastor said, "Sing a little louder!" The young boy was now an elderly man, but the screams were with him every night.
Now I want to tell you about another train. It is called the "Jewish Express." It will stop in cities all over the world. Why? Because the Jewish people were scattered to the four corners of the earth. Jews are lining up at the "train stations." They board the train by receiving Jesus as Messiah. The Jewish people waiting to board are increasing, but few are telling them about Jesus. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
The Jewish person God has placed in your life is not an accident. You are the one who has that Jewish friend or former classmate. You are the one who knows a Jewish doctor, lawyer, dentist or merchant. You are the one chosen by God to evangelize them.
You may feel like you are not equipped to witness to a Jew. This is why I wrote a booklet I want to give you as a gift on how to reach the Jewish people. I draw on my more than 40 years of experience in Jewish evangelism, and now I want to pour it into you. Please visit sidroth.org/free to get your free copy of The Mystery Law of Evangelism Revealed.
Israel Ablaze for Jesus
I have a vision. I see Israel ablaze for Jesus! I see people going to Israel not just for tours, but to get under the 24/7 cloud of glory. I see many new Jewish believers boarding the Jewish Express train as modern-day Paul the apostles. I see Orthodox rabbis boarding who will be the greatest Bible teachers since Jesus. I see Jewish businessmen boarding the train who will make Christianity the head and not the tail. I see Jewish Hollywood movie stars, producers and directors who will use the entertainment industry to evangelize the world. Can't you hear the whistle blowing?
The devil knows his time is short. The world is quickly turning anti-Jewish and anti-Israel. Will you "sing a little louder?" Or will you be like Queen Esther and boldly stand up for the Jewish people?
You have been called to the kingdom for such a time as this. Esther (the church), as you rise up to evangelize the Jew, no matter how dark the world gets, the glory of God and the blessings of Abraham will overtake you. Those who give to Jewish humanitarian causes and participate in "Bless Israel" meetings have found this to be true. But if God will bless you for this according to Genesis 12:3, how much more will He bless you for Jewish evangelism at the fullness of the Gentiles?
The only thing we take to heaven is souls! It's time to be "mature" and enter the great Jewish harvest that will catapult us into the greatest Gentile harvest in history!
"Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you" (Is. 60:1-2).
Sid Rothhas a passion for people to experience the power of God for the purpose of having intimacy with Him. Roth is a pioneer in the convergence of Jews and Gentiles in Messiah Jesus that brings about an explosion of God's power. His television program,It's Supernatural!, documents miracles and is viewed internationally.
Sid Roth shows the power of "first to the Jew, then to the Gentile" on The 700 Club atjewfirst.charismamag.com.
NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!
Did you enjoy this blog? Click here to receive it by email.
Rick Joyner Shares Secret to Getting Through End Times
Think back to Sunday School and the flannel graph with paper Jesus leading the paper sheep.
The illustration is one of the oldest lessons teachers give children, instructing them how sheep know a shepherd's voice.
For prophetic voice Rick Joyner, this metaphor should be the guiding force as Christians live their daily lives during the end times.
"Most people, we won't know until eternity, we won't know how much harder our lives were because we didn't know His voice and didn't follow His voice," Joyner tells Jim Bakker. "As we get closer and closer to the end, (knowing His voice) is going to be life and death that we hear from Him."
NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!
Last month, during the 10 days between September 13, (Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year) and September 23 (Yom Kippur) I experienced one of the most spiritually active times I can remember. I got very little sleep as there seemed to be something happening in the spiritual realm every day and night during that time.
The Next 24 Months to Radical Change
This year on Yom Kippur (September 23, 2015) God showed me an outline for the next 24 months. Starting on that day and going through the next two years through September 2017 we are going to see dramatic breakthroughs and turnarounds. But it will require different strategies for five different groups.
"Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in."Psalm 24:7
God is moving quickly and opening up some "gates and ancient doors" which are spiritual gifts, callings and lost assignments. This will usher in God's presence in unprecedented ways.
These are the 5 things God showed me that He is doing in the next two years. All of them are based on the number 24, which symbolizes new leadership and authority. He highlighted 24 hours, 24 days, 24 weeks, 24 months and those who are 24 years old.
24-Hour Promotions
We are going to have dramatic overnight accelerations with sudden promotion, blessing or advancement. This is similar to when Joseph had a radical turnaround in his life when in one day he went from obscurity to being second in command of the entire region of Egypt (Genesis 41). Joseph had been prepared for a number of years to fulfill his dreams, but his advancement came within 24 hours.
Most of the people who are being promoted in the 24-hour time frame have already suffered losses and rejection for a number of years. They have been placed on the backside of the desert because their time had not yet come. But over the next two years we are going to see many of these sudden accelerated promotions of people who were previously unknown.
24 Days to Advancement
God spoke to me that there would be promotions that would start for many people within 24 days of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur ended on September 23, 2015. Expect something significant to have happened or shifted into place for you on or after October 17, 2015.
24 Weeks to Radical Change
Many people are going to see a major change in their lives 24 weeks after Yom Kippur, which is March 9, 2016. Interestingly, God spoke to me earlier that when we (in the U.S.) set the clocks forward in the spring, things will begin to "spring forward" in the spiritual realm. This date is March 13, 2016. Watch for the first two weeks of March to bring some radical changes.
I saw these two groups within this 24-week time period:
The first group was those who have been preparing and God has already taken them through a time of pruning and purging within their lives. This group will gain an extraordinary amount of revelation over the next 24 weeks that will position them to advance suddenly in March 2016.
The second group is those who have been on the frontlines of ministry and have taken a beating. God is calling this group to take a break, rest and regroup over the next 24 weeks. Many who don't do this will be at danger of being taken out (not necessarily dying). As they take time to rest and heal, God is going to re-fire them into an upgraded level that they have never seen before.
This does not mean you have to take the entire 24 weeks off. God has already spoken to these leaders that they will need to take times of rest in order to move into the next phase of their lives and ministries.
24 Months of Amazement
The entire timetable that I was shown was from September 23, 2015 going for 24 months, which ends September 23, 2017. During this two-year period we are going to see things move at an accelerated pace. Many people who have thought they had missed God's greater calling on their lives will be strategically realigned for accelerated advancement.
What would have taken many people a lifetime to achieve will be accomplished in less than two years. Also those who did not take time to pull back and rest will go through a time of suffering as they need to be prepared to operate in the new season at hand.
24 Year Olds Encountering God
God showed me that He is moving on people who are 24 years old in 2015 and 2016. They were born in 1991-1992. Many of these young people feel like there is something greater for them to do but they are not sure yet what it is. Over the next 24 months through September 2017, God will be speaking to this group and over the next two years they will have encounters with the Lord and sudden advancement.
I also shared this word last week in my October Spirit Connection webcast - watch that here. I received a lot more revelation that I am not able to fit into this one article.
Also, my new upcoming book, 2016 Prophetic Forecast, contains the details to the prophetic words God has spoken to me for the coming year. Overall it is going to be a good year for many people who have been waiting on the Lord.
Many people have asked me about the current wave of violence between Jews and Muslims in Israel. Why is it taking place? Is it the beginning of a new intifada (uprising)? Could it have been avoided? Does it create a risk for tourists visiting Israel?
First of all, it certainly could have been avoided. These attacks are not random, spontaneous acts of frustrated people. They are the result of many years of systematic Palestinian education in UNRWA schools, funded by the US and the EU, through which a whole generation of Palestinians have been taught that the very existence of the state of Israel in Dar al Islam (house of Islam) is illegitimate, and the only way to destroy it is by concerted violent jihad (holy war).
There is a constant explosive mixture of radical Islamic indoctrination fermenting under the surface and held back only by the security squads of Mahmoud Abbas. All that it takes for the explosion to be ignited is a green light, a “head-nod”, from President Abbas and his dictatorial regime.
The West should take this into account, stop funding incitement to violence and start pre-conditioning its massive funding on serious Palestinian education system reforms.
Each intifada always has more to do with inner Palestinian politics than the Israeli-Arab conflict. When Hamas is losing popularity in the streets, it starts firing missiles at Israel. When the PLO loses popularity, it unleashes an intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Unfortunately, killing Jews is an easy way to gain political capital in the Palestinian street; it may be easy but it comes with a terrible price. Before the first intifada, a Palestinian from Gaza could easily travel to work at a bank or hospital in Beer Sheva and an Arab from the West Bank could freely drive with his family to a beach in Tel-Aviv on any weekend. With each wave of Palestinian violence, the movement, the commerce and the livelihood of Palestinians has been decreased significantly. Intifada always backfires.
Over the past few months, Mahmoud Abbas has been portrayed in the regional media as old, ineffective and illegitimate. The most widespread dialogue has been conjecture as to “who will replace Abbas?” As a very timely, carefully contemplated response, Abbas traveled to the UN a few weeks ago, stood before the world, and declared that the Palestinians “cannot continue to be bound” by their political and security agreements with Israel. Most of the world did not understand what was novel about this declaration. The Palestinian street, however, understood quite well: the limitations have been lifted. You are free to release your fomenting rage without fear of retribution from the PLO security forces.
Following the Abbas UN declaration, attacks on Israeli citizens ensued, mutual acts of violence followed, and Abbas has yet to publicly condemn any of it. His silence is deafening. Several of Abbas’s government leaders have actually vocally supported the civil unrest. PLO Executive Committee Member, Mahmoud Ismail, declared that killing Israelis is a “national duty” and PLO Central Committee Member, Jamal Muhasim, stated that killing Israel settlers is “legitimate and legal”.
In light of this, we should applaud Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s explicit condemnation of recent Jewish retributive attacks on Muslims and his call for the Israeli Police to crack down on all acts of violence from both communities.
This recent escalation could come and go quickly like rain clouds which blow over the horizon, but it could also develop into a longer term drawn-out intifada. It is too early to say. What we know is: when it is all over, many will try to ascertain which side “won” in this conflict. Such calculations are asinine. When human life is lost, nobody wins. The destruction of any life, Israeli or Palestinian, is the destruction of a whole world. In order to support Israel, we should not harm Palestinians and in order to support Palestinians, we should not harm Israel. We should advocate for the improvement and protection of life and livelihood for both peoples on both sides of the conflict. As mentioned above, I believe this starts with education reform.
For those who may be planning to travel to Israel in the near future, I would not change my travel plans. These are very targeted criminal acts being carried out against specific Israeli Jews and Muslim Arabs, in specific geographic locations. None of the attacks have been directed against tourists. Tourism is equally important to the economies of the Jews and the Muslims. Furthermore, the international media tends to exaggerate the tensions. Regardless of current events, Israel continues to be safer and have a lower crime rate on average than the safest major city in the United States.
I look forward to seeing you in our beautiful city.
Screenshot from the fire started by Palestinian rioters at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, in the West Bank, on October 16, 2015.
The Walla website also reported that PA security forces had brought the fire under control and dispersed the rioters. The blaze caused major damage to the women’s section at the site, the website said.
There were no reports of any injuries in the incident, which followed a day of relative calm in Israel and the West Bank after weeks of deadly Palestinian terror attacks and clashes.
A large group of Palestinians set fire to the compound containing Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Channel 2 television said Palestinian Authority security forces dispersed the hundred-strong crowd and managed to douse the fire at the tomb, believed to contain the remains of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Israel Defense Forces troops arrived at the scene once the confrontation was over and the fire was out, the television station reported.
“The burning and desecration of Joseph’s Tomb last night is a blatant violation and contradiction of the basic value of freedom of worship. The IDF will take all measures to bring the perpetrators of this despicable act to justice, restore the site to its previous condition and ensure that the freedom of worship returns to Joseph’s Tomb,” IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement Friday morning.
Israel has bolstered its troop presence in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the wake of the violence. As in previous weeks, only women, of all ages, and men over the age of 40 will be allowed to enter the flashpoint Temple Mount for Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Last month, during the 10 days between September 13, (Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year) and September 23 (Yom Kippur) I experienced one of the most spiritually active times I can remember. I got very little sleep as there seemed to be something happening in the spiritual realm every day and night during that time.
