"Watching Over Zion" (The CFI News Report & Prayer Update)
~ Thursday 15th October 2009 ~
Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01323 410810 E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk

PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO THE DAVID DOLAN UK TOUR THIS WILL BE THE LAST NEWS REPORT FOR THREE WEEKS. THE NEXT REPORT WILL BE OUT ON 5th NOVEMBER 2009. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

The Word: Lord, You have been our dwelling-place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men." For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning-- though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your indignation. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. All our days pass away under Your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due to You. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May Your deeds be shown to Your servants, Your splendour to their children. May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90)

• Pointers for prayer: Once again, as we approach the Throne of grace in intercession, may we cultivate absolute dependence on the Holy Spirit. Let us begin by entering His gates with thanksgiving and praise (Psalm 100:4). Let the high praises of God be in our mouths and a two-edged sword in our hands (Psalm 149:6).

• Establish the work of our hands: Please pray into the situation of the ministry & workers within Christian Friends of Israel. Without the right staff, CFI will cease to exist in Israel. Who then would provide the unconditional love and support we give? Next week CFI Jerusalem will be taking 10 visas to the Ministry of Interior. These all need to be covered in prayer as they are “key” people at CFI in management positions. Pray also into the continued financial areas within CFI, along with the persistent health issues which have affected the staff and volunteers.

• Hezbollah arms depot explodes: A Hezbollah arms depot has exploded in southern Lebanon. The presence of such weapons demonstrates that Hezbollah is illegally storing weapons in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Please pray that this would be exposed and stopped. Please continue to pray for the protection of Israel's northern boarder.

• Arab states plan to use Goldstone Report: Continue also to pray against the Goldstone report, which gives credibility to every allegation or hearsay against Israel in the War on Hamas in Gaza.

• Conflicting stories from within Gaza: Once again the BBC have been reporting on life in Gaza. But it this flawed? Please pray for fair and accurate reporting from every media outlet. Pray that both Arab children and Israeli children would have an education which does not involve hatred but teaches peace, understanding and respect.

• David Dolan on tour: Christian Friends of Israel have been organising David Dolan's UK tour, which starts on Friday. We would of course love to see you all at one of the events. Not only would we appreciate your support, but prayer backing is essential. Please do keep us all in your prayers.

Establish the work of our hands Psalm 90 (above) is an awesome prayer to HaShem, the LORD God. It's a prayer to have compassion on His servants who live their lives under the rod of divine wrath, and due to the work of sin (fallen man) God’s sentence of death. So this is a plea that God will yet show them his love, give cause for joy and bless their work with enduring worth. I can't think of any other Psalm that so poignantly depicts the dismal state of mankind before the face of God ~ the One Who is holy and eternal. Like it or not, we are all to be judged before the God of creation upon our death. Yet within this Psalm, there is neither defiance nor despair. There is only honest acknowledgement of guilt... for God's anger is warranted... He is a just God.

Faith on the other hand is God's unfailing love (verse 14) to which our appeal can be made. That Israel’s 40 years of enforced wanderings in the wilderness desert (Deut 8:15) on its journey to the Promised Land (see Numbers 14:26-35) should evoke such a prayer ought not to be surprising. But have you ever wondered why Israel? Why did He choose the Jew? For some unknown reason (barring they where the smallest of all nations (Deut 7:7 ~ "for you were the least of all peoples") God called and chose a peculiar people to live a peculiar life. But why? Why the Jews? Why them and not someone else? And being grafted in, the true Christian could also ask "why me and not my neighbour? Why should God choose me? (We did not choose God but from the beginning God chose us. 2 Thessalonians 2:13)

Why did God choose me? Was it that knowing how rebellious I was, He would choose me to utterly prove how great He is? These are questions that we might never find answers for. However, the long and the short of it is... He has chosen us, and He has chosen the nation of Israel, and if people want to question this, then maybe they should take it up with God Himself. At the end of the day, we are called.

As Christians, we are also called to stand with the Nation and people of Israel. But how long will we have this privileged position? We don't know... but today we hold this position. Recently at one of our fellowship meetings (One Life Church) someone told a story about a group of Spanish sailors who reached the continent of South America after a long and dangerous voyage. It just so happened that they approached the mouth or headwaters of the Amazon River, an expanse of water so wide the sailors assumed it was a continuation of the Atlantic Ocean. Here are some interesting facts for you: The Amazon River is the greatest river in the world and contains over 20% of the earth’s fresh water. Where it opens into the Atlantic Ocean it is 202 miles wide, discharging eight trillion gallons of fresh water a day into the ocean. That fresh water can be detected over 200 miles out into the sea. Sadly, these Spanish sailors didn’t realize that subtle change in the water. They had spent months knowing they couldn’t drink the water in which they were travelling. Any experienced sailor knows that drinking salt water will kill you. Although it didn’t look much different, they were right on top of the largest quantity of fresh water in the world. And with that nourishing, fresh water all around them, some of those sailors died of thirst.

That picture serves as a metaphor for how I see many Christians today. Are we truly living the abundant life God promised us? Are we really living the Kingdom life? Are we in the correct position to allow God to unveil His Kingdom through us? Or are we just living tired religious lives? Have we become accustomed to work/ministry being drudgery ~ something simply to be endured? The truth is… CFI has a calling... and you have a calling... but sometimes it is hard to complete the task ahead. Right now in Israel, Christian Friends of Israel are struggling to maintain the staff due to visa problems. Without the right staff, CFI will cease to exist in Israel. Who then would provide the unconditional love and support we give? Next week CFI Jerusalem we will be taking 10 visas to the Ministry of Interior. These all need to be covered in prayer as they are “key” people at CFI in management positions.

Here in the UK, the financial difficulties are affecting many people. This too is affecting CFI UK. On top of this, key people within CFI are being affected by persistent health issues, and ever-increasing workloads. So how do we pray into this? How do we tap into the fresh water (the living water). Is there ways in which you can pray into or help practically in these areas? It states in John 9:4: "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” The light is still shining. The work is still to be done. May we all establish and fulfil this work together, before the darkened days are thrust upon us when we won't be able to work.

Hezbollah arms depot explodes As this report is being written, news is coming in that a Hezbollah arms depot has exploded in southern Lebanon (14th October 2009). The presence of such weapon caches demonstrates that Hezbollah is illegally storing weapons south of the Litani River in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. According to sources, a large explosion took place in the house of a senior Hezbollah member which was being used as an arms cache in Tayr Filsay, a village about 15 km east of the coastal city of Tyre and south of the Litani River. In the aftermath of the explosion, Hezbollah terrorists sealed off the area and used trucks to remove evidence from the scene to a nearby village. Although the footage isn't clear, one can see the terrorist group smuggling the evidence away in this video clip:
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ClipMediaID=4388633&ak=null

This incident came in the wake of a similar explosion which took place at a Hezbollah arms cache three months ago, which proves the ongoing military build-up in southern Lebanon. Moreover, these incidents leave no doubt regarding Hezbollah's practice of placing its military weapons and facilities within civilian villages and houses. In the same way as we have seen such events in Gaza, the use of Lebanese civilians as human shields endangers their safety. The primary source of these supplies comes from Iran and Syria, which continue to provide Hezbollah with large quantities of weapons and explosives, accompanied by substantial financial backing and training. Over 20,000 40 km rockets as well as rockets with a range of well over 200km, hundreds of anti-tank launchers and missiles, thousands of IEDs and anti-aircraft missiles are currently located in southern Lebanon. It is clear that elements in the Lebanese army have purposely ignored the rebuilding of Hezbollah's infrastructure. Israel considers the Lebanese government responsible for any incident that occurs in its territory and expects it to take the necessary measures to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament in southern Lebanon.

Arab states plan to use Goldstone Report As you will be aware, over the last few weeks I have been reporting on the "Goldstone Report" which gives credibility to every allegation or hearsay against Israel in the War on Hamas in Gaza, and none to even direct admissions of guilt by Hamas leaders. According to Israel Radio, senior Israeli officials said that as the Goldstone report is full of lies and distortions, Israel should probe how Richard Goldstone and the other members of the commission reached their conclusions. The report, which was released four weeks ago, concluded that Israel should be brought before the International Criminal Court if it did not conduct internal investigations and begin prosecutions within six months.

This week the "Goldstone Report" continues to cause problems, and Israel is poised for a showdown with Palestinian diplomats and representatives of Arab states who plan to use the UN Security Council debate to press for action on the report. Israel's ambassador to the UN in New York, Gabriela Shalev, is expected to address the council during its monthly debate on the Middle East. The council will likely focus on the Goldstone Report. Jerusalem has rejected the Goldstone Commission's mandate as biased and inherently flawed, but this week’s debate presents Israel with an opportunity to publicly address Arab states.

Palestinian officials have rallied support at the UN among countries that plan to weigh in on the report, produced last month by a four-person commission headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone. The Human Rights Council will likely demand action on the report, including sending it to the UN General Assembly, which in turn could send it to the International Court of Justice, also in The Hague. The Human Rights Council could also demand that the Security Council turn to the International Criminal Court, a move that would likely be vetoed by Western countries on the Security Council.
Conflicting stories from within Gaza This week, the BBC have once again done a wonderful job of portraying life in Gaza. The problem with the BBC Middle Eastern news is, can we really trust what is being reported? For many years, HonestReporting.com has criticised the BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen for what appears to be an "anti-Israel bias". Even the BBC found itself agreeing with HonestReporting. As reported by major UK newspapers, including The Guardian, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent and Daily Mail as well as by the BBC itself, the BBC Trust, which oversees complaints to the our British state broadcaster, ruled that Bowen's coverage of Israel in an article on the BBC's Web site and a radio broadcast was inaccurate and that aspects of the Internet article lacked impartiality. In the piece Bowen wrote for the BBC website last June under the headline "Six days that changed the Middle East," about the Six Day War, Bowen referred to "Zionism's innate instinct to push out the frontier". He also wrote that Israel showed a "defiance of everyone's interpretation of international law except its own" and that its generals felt that they were dealing with "unfinished business", left over from the 1948 War of Independence. These references were deemed inaccurate or lacking impartiality by the BBC Trust.

This week however, further " impartiality" would appear to have been broadcasted. The BBC, reporting (including on Children's BBC Newsround) from UN school in Gaza, stated that 42 people were killed in the school - this despite the fact that the UN changed its statement to say that the number was 12 and they were in the road outside the school. Likewise, there was no mention in the report of children in Sderot and their suffering.

Fresh on the heals of this, the BBC have issued very confusing reports showing conflicting life in Gaza. In its first report they state, "Around the world millions of children are not getting a proper education because of poverty or war. In the second report in the BBC's Hunger to Learn series, Katya Adler meets children in Gaza whose schooling has been repeatedly interrupted by conflict." The BBC then interview Gazan children, showing scenes of bombed out schools and misery everywhere. On seeing and reading this report, one is left with the feeling that Gaza lies completely in ruins, with very little help from the outside world.

In Katya Adler's report, she states, "It is early morning in northern Gaza. The streets are filled with children on their way to school. Most carry backpacks almost as big as themselves. All are dressed in crisply-ironed uniforms. It is quite an incongruous sight as they walk past piles of rubble and devastation - leftovers from Israel's military operation earlier this year." Adler then focuses on one of the children and states, "Their house was destroyed and one of their cousins killed in an Israeli air strike in January. Amer, their father, is worried about the winter. He tells me he cannot afford a proper roof. He has been out of work for three years, ever since Israel imposed heavy restrictions on border crossings into the Gaza Strip, crushing the already weak local economy." Any viewer reading or watching this story would be left feeling angry against the Israeli's for inflicting this awful life upon the "Palestinians". However, for eight years the Palestinians rocketed southern Israel on almost a daily basis. Amongst the targets hit were many Israeli schools where the Jewish pupils had to scramble down to shelters on each occasion. Physiologists testify to the enormous damage done to these children, yet the BBC not once ran a report on what was going on. Now they run a story to show the "poor" Palestinian children! Having an innocuous video clip included, in no way restores balance to an outrageously one-sided story. What if less Israeli children were killed than Palestinians? It wasn't for lack of trying by the latter.

However, in another story out the same day, the BBC appear to have forgotten that Gaza lies in "rubble and devastation" and lacks any real hope of families putting an "normal meal" together in a "normal home". This second report shows Gaza's children all very happy, in bright coloured clothes, some in Brazilian football shirts, playing at a Zoo. In the report the BBC state, "A zoo in Gaza has found a novel way to get around Israeli restrictions on the importation of animals by partly dyeing two donkeys so they resemble zebras (see Hair-dyed 'zebra' donkeys delight children at Gaza zoo ). Apparently, the owner of the Marah Land Zoo in Gaza City said he had used masking tape and black hair dye, applied with a paint-brush, to disguise the white females. Mohammed Bargouthi said it would have cost him more than $40,000 to bring in a real zebra via smuggling tunnels. Children seemed delighted by the new additions and happily played with them.

Now please hear me here... I'm not saying that the children of Gaza don't deserve decent schools, zoos etc, etc. Every child has a right to an education and a good life. But the report about the school children is to put it mildly, "biased". Has the BBC reporter spent anytime in Sderot - the Israeli boarder town to Gaza that for 8 solid years was bombarded with rockets from Gaza? Has the BBC thought of interviewing children from there who are suffering also? When will the BBC wake up and see who is to blame. If Hamas and the PLO would only stop the firing of rockets on Israel, and accept Israel, then their children and Israeli children would have an education, which does not involve hatred but teaches peace, understanding and respect.
David Soakell

Sources: Unless otherwise stated: Personal sources throughout Israel along with The Jerusalem Post, BBC News, Arutz-7 News, Israeli Embassy London, Independent Media Review and Analysis & Israel National Radio