~ Thursday 10th June 2010 ~

Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01323 410810 E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk

The Word: But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned... Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honoured, and I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth... (Isaiah 43:1-8)

• Pointers for prayer: Even though this past week has seen the very unusual, yet horrific events in the British Lake District (Lake District shooting: TWELVE people gunned down by rampaging ...) as innocent lives were lost when 12 people were shot dead and 25 wounded in the Lake District massacre, even so, the media still keep focused on the situation with Israel and Gaza. Questions still need to be asked as to why? Meanwhile, on 6th June, 2010, the US White House correspondent Helen Thomas told Jews to get out of Palestine. In all these situations, please pray that the LORD God would intervene. Please continue to pray against the lies and deceit that are being aired for all to take on board.

• Since the IDF's raid on the Gaza flotilla, it seems the entire world is against Israel. Please continue to pray for the leaders of the Israeli nation and for all of Israel not to give up against the barrage of attacks. Earnestly intercede for the Jewish people as they face much spiritual warfare aimed at thwarting their divine destiny. Pray for their protection and for their spiritual preparation as they continue to face a difficult future.

• Cry out too for the Arab people struggling under the heavy restraints of Islamic oppression. Pray that they may find freedom in following the Lord God. Please continue to pray for all the children living under Islamic rule in Gaza. Pray for their safety and salvation. Yeshua said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:14-15)
"Jews do not belong in Israel" In the above Scripture, there are some very important verses which refer to the restoration of Israel as a nation in the last days. These verses were prophetic in nature and foretold events which started to unfold in 1880, but which really increased upon Israel becoming a State again in 1948, as well as events yet to come. Whatever theological teachings are fed to the Church each week, I believe it is paramount that the Church grasps this Scripture. For those of you who want to do a simple study, there are plenty of references in the Bible to back this up. Understanding these Scriptures is essential to understanding the meaning of the times in which we live. I have including a list here for you to check out in your own time (Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 27:6; Isaiah 43:5-7; Isaiah 66:8; Jeremiah 16:14-15; Jeremiah 23:3-8; Jeremiah 29:14; Jeremiah 30:3; Jeremiah 32:37; Ezekiel 11:16-17; Ezekiel 20:41-42; Ezekiel 28:25-26; Ezekiel 34:12-14; Ezekiel 37:21-22; Ezekiel 39:25-29; Amos 9:11-15).

The problem with much of the Christian world however is that the Hebrew Scriptures, or Old Testament, is seen as ~ well exactly that... OLD. It seems irrelevant... ceased to be... it is superseded by the new... hence the majority of Churches will concentrate on teaching predominantly from the New Testament. And yet this is clearly dismissing what Paul teaches in his letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, where we read, "All Scripture [meaning the Hebrew Scriptures, as the New Testament hadn't been written then] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." For Christians to ignore large sections of God's Word is to do so at their peril. This only leads to a fruitless, unbiblical church, verging on liberalism at least to humanism and deception at the worse. But what of those people who dismiss the Word of God altogether? Both British and American society was built on the fundamental truths of the Bible, and yet today, many leaders simply dismiss this. But is it the Political leaders fault, or those who are entrusted with leading the Church?

In many ways, this was none more so evident than in the fruitless, humanistic comments being unleashed by the lips of one of America's leading ladies this week. On 6th June, 2010, the White House correspondent Helen Thomas told Jews to get out of Palestine. In an interview, Helen Thomas stated: "Tell them [Israel] to get the hell out of Palestine." Turning her attention to the Palestinians, she said, "Remember, these people are occupied. And it's their land," adding the Jews should "go home" to Poland and Germany. At nearly 90 years old, the veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas is something of a national institution. But criticism of Israel spilled over into outright anti-Semitism as Thomas was interviewed outside, of all places, a White House celebration of American Jewish life that took place before recent events surrounding the Gaza flotilla.

Needless to say, this brought a massive wave of celebration throughout the Arab world with one Arabic newspaper stating, "The peace process will be successful, only when Israel get out of Arab areas, the Golan and occupied Palestine... then we can say that peace is happily achieved, otherwise, and as long Israel occupies Palestine and Arab lands, peace will never be achieved and more headache will be brought to the world by state of terror-Israel." Although Helen Thomas issued a very weak "apology", it was not enough to prevent her agent from dismissing her and to incur the wrath of Bill Clinton's former White House advisor Lanny Davis who issued a statement, saying: "Helen Thomas, who I used to consider a close friend and who I used to respect, has showed herself to be an anti-Semitic bigot. She has a right to criticize Israel…. However, her statement that Jews in Israel should leave Israel and go back to Poland or Germany is an ancient and well-known anti-Semitic stereotype of the alien Jew not belonging in the land of Israel that began... with the first tragic and violent Diaspora caused by the Romans. If she had asked all blacks to go back to Africa, what would the White House Correspondents Association's position be as to whether she deserved White House press room credentials - much less a privileged honorary seat?"

An end to the Disinformation and Demonisation There was a very good article sent to my facebook wall this week in which Bernard-Henri Lévy really tore "strips" of the Gaza situation (if you excuse the pun). Bernard-Henri Lévy is dedicated to all struggles for human dignity. He has ceaselessly devoted his talent, energy, and courage to the causes he felt to be just: from his first reports in Bangladesh for the daily newspaper Combat, founded by Albert Camus, to his investigation of Daniel Pearl’s death in Pakistan, to his several journeys to a Sarajevo surrounded by Serbian militias, and forays into the “forgotten wars” of Africa and elsewhere. However, recently, he has turned his attention to the situation with Israel and the problems in Gaza.

As I mentioned in my report last week, the response by Israel over the flotilla of eight ships sailing to Gaza was stupid, and I had to admit... I was angry... I was angry with Israel for not having the wisdom to deal with this volatile situation better than they did. However, the way this incident was reported by the world's media made me even angrier. My feelings regarding this haven't changed, even though Israel was in the right ~ legally (see next report) to do what they did. And I guess for this reason, my "antenna" was quick to pick up and agree with the words of Bernard-Henri Lévy.

This past week, Bernard-Henri Lévy wrote, "Of course, my position hasn’t changed. As I said the day it happened, in a fierce debate with one of Netanyahu’s ministers in Tel Aviv, I continue to find the manner in which the assault against the Mavi Marmara and its flotilla was effected off the Gaza coast “stupid”. Had I had the least remaining doubt, the inspection of the seventh boat, carried out without a trace of violence this Saturday morning, would have convinced me there were other ways to operate to have kept the tactical and mediatic trap set for Israel by the provocateurs of Free Gaza from snapping shut, in a spilling of blood. That said and repeated, the flood of hypocrisy, bad faith, and, ultimately, disinformation that seems to have just waited for this pretext to flow into the breach and sweep across the media of the world, as is the case every time the Jewish State slips up and commits an error, is by no means acceptable."

Mr Lévy is quite right of course. The flood of hypocrisy that the Media poured out was by no means acceptable. But as the Media's "flood" of hypocrisy and untruths poured forth, they flowed into stagnant water. What happens in stagnant water? Malarial swamps develop, which become breeding grounds for mosquitoes to transmit disease. Stagnant water is also dangerous for drinking because it provides an incubator for parasites. Well, the parasites have certainly been active in this past weeks events regarding Gaza, and of course "Joe Public" has been drinking it in, nor realising the dangers of such actions. However, to satisfy Joe Publics irrational thirst, the British Government appeared to respond in a feverish way to which one can react when bitten by a swarm of mosquitoes ~ yes, sheer madness! The British government has pledged to give £19 million in aid to Gaza and called on Israel to end the blockade. Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, said the money is to go towards services including education and healthcare. So, Mr Mitchell... how do you propose to do this? Are you going to remove Hamas first to stop them from taking the money and buying more weapons to target Israel?

According to reports, the "donation", which I presume as a Tax Payer I'm helping to contribute to, is part of a £100 million financial deal with the UN Relief and Works Agency, which the Labour government arranged in 2006. But hang on a minute... I thought Britain was in dire straits financially? What's all this talk about serious cuts to the British public? David Cameron told the country this week to be ready for an era of "deep cuts and painful restraint to revive Britain’s ailing economy", as the Treasury sets out the principles underpinning the coalition Government’s programme of austerity. Deep cuts and painful restraint to revive Britain's ailing economy???? And yet we are giving £19 million in aid to Hamas? So much for Blair's "War on terrorism"! Israel took action to try to stop weapons getting into Gaza after Hamas gained control of the area in 2007. But Mr Mitchell has called the blockade “both unacceptable and unsustainable” and said the UK was committed to helping people affected by it.

In Bernard-Henri Lévy's report this week he states, "The catch-phrase trotted out ad nauseum, of the blockade imposed «by Israel», when the most elementary honesty requires one to make it clear that it has been undertaken by Israel and by Egypt, conjointly, on both borders of the two countries that share frontiers with Gaza, and this with the thinly-disguised blessing of all the moderate Arab regimes, can only be described as disinformation. It is debatable whether a military blockade is the right option to weaken and, one day, bring down the fascislamist government of Ismaïl Haniyeh or not. But the fact that Israelis who cover the checkpoints between the territories night and day are the first to make the elementary but essential distinction between the regime (that they seek to isolate) and the population (that they are careful not to confuse with the regime, even less to penalize them since, once again, aid has never stopped passing into Gaza) is indisputable." (See also my last two reports on this issue).

Bernard-Henri Lévy continues, "Disinformation: the utter silence, throughout the world, about Hamas’s incredible attitude now that the flotilla has carried out its symbolic duty, which was to catch the Jewish State out and relaunch, as never before, the process of demonization. In other words, now that the Israelis have carried out their inspection and mean to take the cargo of aid to those for whom it is supposedly intended, Hamas’s attitude in blocking that aid at Kerem Shalom checkpoint, allowing it to slowly rot, is met with silence. To hell with any merchandise that has passed through the hands of Jewish customs! Chuck out the «toys» that brought tears to the eyes of good European souls but became impure because they spent too many long hours in the Israeli port of Ashdod! Gaza’s children having been nothing more than a human shield for the Islamist gang who took power by force three years ago, or cannon fodder or media vignettes, their games or their wishes are the last thing anyone worries about there, but who says so? Who shows the slightest indignation? Libération recently ran an awful headline, «Israel, Pirate State» which, if words still mean anything, can only contribute to the delegitimization of the Hebrew State. Who will dare to explain that, if there is a hostage taker, one who coldly and unscrupulously takes advantage of people’s suffering and, in particular, that of the children—in sum, a pirate—in Gaza, it is not Israel but Hamas?" To read Bernard-Henri Lévy's full report, and other writings go to http://www.bernard-henri-levy.com/category/actu As I stated last week, questions really do need to be asked about the response of our British Government, and dare I suggest... supporters of Israel need to get a little more pro-active. Why do we allow this to happen in the UK? And where are the voices of protest?

Was the blockade legal? Many questions have been raised concerning the IDF's diversion of the 'Gaza Flotilla' to Ashdod, and particularly to what occurred on the 'Mavi Marmara'. CFI’s former Director Roy Thurley has written an excellent article on this which attempts to set out the legal position. (Numbers in parentheses refer to the relevant article in the “San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994”).

Roy asks, “Is a blockade legal?” The answer: Yes, provided that “A blockade shall be declared and notified to all belligerents and neutral States.” (93) It is known throughout the world that Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip because of the attacks received from that territory over many years.

Can the blockade be imposed on the high seas? Yes, “hostile actions by naval forces may be conducted in, on or over: (b) the high seas (10). Can merchant ships be stopped? Yes. “Merchant vessels believed on reasonable grounds to be breaching a blockade may be captured. Merchant vessels which, after prior warning, clearly resist capture may be attacked.” (98) What if the ship is carrying the flag of a neutral nation? The ships in the flotilla were flying under the Turkish flag, which is a neutral country in the conflict between Israel and HAMAS. This does not give those ships immunity: “Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they: (a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture;” (67) In this case they were trying to breach a blockade and clearly resisted visit, search or capture. “Neutral merchant vessels are subject to capture outside neutral waters if they are engaged in any of the activities referred to in paragraph 67 or if it is determined as a result of visit and search or by other means, that they: (c) are operating directly under enemy control, orders, charter, employment or direction; or (f) are breaching or attempting to breach a blockade.” (146) Roy Thurley also covers questions regarding an ‘Aid Ship being exempt from attack or not’; ‘The need in Gaza is desperate?’, and ‘Did the IDF use disproportionate force in taking control of the ship?’ The full article can be found on our CFI Young Adults website at the following page Q&A- Legality of Flotilla Incident. The full text of the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994 can be found here.

Senior official of Gaza's Ministry of Justice: There is no starvation in Gaza This next story came via the Daily Telegraph. In the wake of the Gaza flotilla incident, anti-Israel activists around the world have worked to boost their message that the Gaza Strip is the most destitute place on earth, where famine and plague rule. As mentioned, the British government has pledged to give £19 million in aid to Gaza and called on Israel to end the blockade. Yet remarks by Palestinians living in Gaza to international media outlets covering the aid flotilla story paint a very different picture. "There is no starvation in Gaza. No one has died of hunger," Khalil Hamada, a senior official at Gaza's Ministry of Justice, told the Daily Telegraph. Sticking to the Hamas party line, he then went on to criticize Israel's embargo as "inhumane" and "brutal."

Since much of the international media ignores Palestinians when they admit Israel isn't so bad, Israel itself tried to counter the misinformation regarding the Gaza embargo by publishing figures showing how much aid enters the territory. Much of this was covered in last week’s News Report. However, it's worth repeating. According to figures, in the first quarter of 2010 (January-March), 94,500 tons of supplies passed through Israel's border crossings with Gaza. That aid included 40,000 tons of wheat (equal to 53 million loaves of bread), 2,760 tons of rice (or 69 million servings), 1,987 tons of clothes (the equivalent of 3.6 million pairs of jeans), and 553 tons of milk powder and baby food. And as I stated last week, it's not just essential goods Israel provides. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan late last year, Israel brought 11,000 head of cattle into Gaza, enough for 8.8 million meals of beef. So why keep sending in these huge amounts... Well, the problem is that most of these goods never reach average Gazans on the street. It is a long-time policy of the Palestinian and wider Arab leadership to maintain a victim or "refugee" status among average Palestinians. Let's face the facts... why is it, that after 62 years, the Arab "Palestinians" still refer to Arab towns as refugee camps? It's worth checking out some of the photo's taken in these so-called "Refugee camps" to see what really goes on. Now I'm not criticizing the Arabs who are victims to the actions of their alleged "Political leaders".. but one thing is for certain... Israel didn't vote Hamas into power!

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