On October 7th, Hamas, the terrorist group that runs the Gaza Strip, invaded Israel and committed unfathomable levels of evil and barbarism against innocent people. Among those acts of wickedness were the beheading of babies, burning people alive, shooting ninety-year-old grandmothers in the head, raping women and parading them naked in the streets. By the time they were done, over 1,400 people were dead, another 3,500 were wounded and over 220 hostages were taken back into Gaza, including a number of Americans.
We have come to expect dancing in the streets and wild celebrations in many Muslim countries upon seeing such shameful acts, especially when they are committed against Jews. What is mind-boggling is the support these terrorists has gotten from people in this country and across the world.
Most troubling is that much of this anti-Semitic messaging of hate is directed against Israel and Jewish people everywhere by college students on campuses across America. Recent student protest in Washington D.C. praised the terrorists who slaughtered Israeli civilians with statements like, “Glory to our martyrs”, “Free Palestine from the river to the Sea.”
New polling reveals just how far off-course this generation of kids have drifted as they grew up being fed by social media and parented by our institutions. This month’s Harvard CAPS / Harris poll shows how wide the divide has grown. Asked whether they support Israel or Hamas, those over 65 years of age sided with Israel, 95% to 5%.
Now let’s look at the views of those ages 18 to 24. They support Israel over Hamas by the thinnest of margins, 52/48. When asked if Hamas killed 1,400 innocent civilians, 32% of this college-age group say it never happened. A majority of 53% believe that Israel, not Hamas, has been ruling Gaza. And 45% believe that Israel bombed the Gaza hospital, where hundreds of innocent people were killed, despite all of the clear evidence to the contrary. More than half of 18- to 24-year-olds believe that Hamas is justified in killing children.
Misguided people, kids or adults, who justify terrorist atrocities over Israel’s right to defend herself are either morally confused, intellectually dishonest or lack basic knowledge of the situation.
We can do nothing to cure the first two conditions (except pray) so let’s make a sincere attempt to improve our knowledge about this highly volatile situation because this is an extremely important time for the world. This demonically inspired conflict could quickly lead into the Gog/Magog battles described in Ezekiel and explode into WWIII. Hosea 4:6 warns us that “My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge.”
Many claim the Palestinians were simply using violence to defend themselves from their“colonial oppressors”. They believe Palestine was a sovereign state in the early 20th century until Zionists supposedly invaded the land and forced them out of their homes. But that’s not true. Here are the facts:
At the time of the crucifixion of Christ in 33AD, Rome controlled Israel. The Jews revolted but Roman Emperor Hadrian crushed the revolt and Jews were banished from Jerusalem. Hadrian then sought to rename their nation. After learning that the Philistines were the oldest and fiercest enemy of the Jews, He renamed the country Palestina. The name Palestine was to further humiliate the Jews and has no relation to the current Palestinians. Today’s Palestinians are not the descendants of the ancient Philistine inhabitants of the land of Judea.
The Jews had Jerusalem as their capitol for about 1,500 years until about 70AD; then Rome controlled it until 600AD; then Arab Muslims, from whom the Palestinians are descended, took control, holding it until 1100AD; from 1100-1250, the Crusades occurred with Christians attempting to regain control from the Muslims, and power shifting back and forth; in 1250, Muslim Turks gained control until 1917, when, in 1917, the British gained control.
In 1917 Britain issued the Balfour Declaration which promised Palestine would be the national home for the Jewish people. Israel’s return to their ancestral land received support from the international community, especially after the Holocaust. If the Jewish “colonizers” are supposed to return the land to its original owners, to whom should it be returned?
Many claim that Israel has not been willing to compromise with the Palestinians but that is also false. The United Nations drafted the first of what is called a two-state solution in 1947. Their proposal would have established both Israel and Palestine as two independent sovereign nations. Israel accepted the proposal, but Palestine rejected it and with 7 Arab nations — they went to war with Israel.
Israel won the war and since then, the Palestinian government has rejected a number of offers for peace. Israel, however, has made many concessions to appease the Palestinians — including famously giving up control of Gaza (the area Palestinians used for the attack on Saturday) in 2005.
Consider this: Israel and the Jewish people have less than 1% of the land in the Middle East. Muslims have over 99 % of the land. You have to wonder why neighboring Muslims don’t give up just a fraction of their land if they really care about the plight of the Palestinians? And why have the neighboring countries of Egypt and Jordan steadfastly refused to take in any Palestine refugees? The truth is that this is not a war about land for the Palestinians but of wanting Israel as a nation eliminated and all Jews everwhere dead.
If Israel laid down its arms today and announced, ‘We will fight no more,’ what would happen? And if the Arab countries around Israel laid down their arms and announced, ‘We will fight no more,’ what would happen?
In the first case, there would be an immediate destruction of the state of Israel and the mass murder of its Jewish population. In the second case, there would be peace the next day.
That brings up the question of why so many people hate Israel and want it’s people eliminated? The simple answer is that they are anti-Semitic. Antisemitism is the primary thing that unites radical Muslims and liberal supporters of Hamas. This shared hatred of Jews overrides all the other issues. The demonic spirit that impelled the Nazis impels radical Muslims and Jew-hating leftist as well. How else can you explain that radical feminists and LGBTQ activists support Hamas over Israel yet if they were in Gaza today they would be jailed or shot on the spot?
Sadly, a recent Anti-Defamation League report reveals that incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault against Jews has increased by 388 percent over the same period last year.
This demonic hatred against the Jews was foretold in Psalm 83. “ For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, ‘Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the nation of Israel be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:2-4)
God’s love for Israel is expressed in the words of Zechariah: “He who touches you [Israel] touches the apple of His eye.” (Zech. 2:8). And God promises to punish the nations that come against Israel saying, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you,” (Gen. 12:3).
We need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem as the Bible commands and for the safety of Jews everywhere. We need to pray that this war doesn’t expand and set the whole Middle East ablaze. We need to pray for the Palestinians in Gaza because many people there will suffer terribly in the coming days. And then let’s pray for a spiritual awakening on American campuses and for politicians in Washington D.C. and that they heed the warning of Genesis 12:3 before it is too late.