I wish this newsletter were about my June 2024 trip to Jordan and Israel, I wish it were an insight into the Bible using the land and culture, I wish it was sharing photos of one of our groups having a lifechanging experience, I wish it were about just about anything other than what I will be writing about for the next several months—the war between Israel and Hamas.
The last few weeks have been harrowing to witness. Texting friends and fellow tour guides while they sit in bomb shelters bidding goodbye to their children who are suiting up to go to war. Seeing videos and images of the most barbaric atrocities imaginable done to innocent Israeli Jews and Arabs 200 of which were murdered at a music festival promoting peace. Seeing catastrophic destruction unleashed on the Gaza Strip attacking military targets that Hamas has deliberately hidden in civilian centers to maximize the death of their own people many of whom are peaceful people whose only crime is being born under a regime of wicked men.
Moreover, we have seen antisemitism raise its wicked head once again in our world. Thousands of “Pro-Palestinian” protests devolved into the celebration of the torture, rape, and murder of 1300 innocent people and taking around 200 hostages. Genocidal chants of “From the River to the Sea” rang out in major cities around the world including the United States, synagogues were destroyed in Berlin and Tunisia, a Jewish teacher was stabbed in the streets of France, and Jewish institutions around the world canceling school or employing armed guards to keep their families and communities safe. The American media has behaved with predictable unseriousness. The New York Times ran the headline “Israeli Airstrike hits Hospital killing 500, Palestinians Officials Say” when in fact the hospital still stands, about 50 people were tragically killed and the missile came from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, not Israel. This headline was picked up by international news outlets and led to riots throughout the world leading to the aforementioned synagogue destruction as well as attacks on US and Israeli embassies.
At the same time, the civilians of Gaza have suffered and will suffer tremendously over the coming months. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is gearing up for a ground invasion of Gaza to ensure Hamas is unable to carry out brutal terror attacks like those of October 7. Hamas has dug miles and miles of tunnels underneath civilian centers of Gaza in order to bury weapons and operate their genocidal war against Israel. Israel will be invading the Gaza Strip to destroy these military installations. To prepare for this ground invasion, Israel has conducted thousands of airstrikes against surface-level military installations in the Gaza Strip killing scores of Palestinian civilians in the process. This is a tragedy and demands our attention and prayers irrespective of the justifiable reasons for the military action. The people of Gaza are made in the image of God. They have lived under Hamas’s regime since 2007 and dealt with their bloodthirsty policies on a day-to-day basis interspersed with the indignities of a military occupation by the Israeli government and the intermittent loss of life and property in the military exchanges between Hamas and Israel. The people of Gaza have suffered tremendously and are suffering today. We cannot lose sight of this regardless of the outrageousness of the actions and intentions of Hamas.
What I will be offering with this newsletter is twofold. First, I will offer an analysis of the headlines of the week from a Christian perspective attempting to fairly evaluate what is happening in the conflict and how that news is affecting events around the world. Second, I will be doing a deeper dive into the history and complexity of the conflict and try and give you a sense of some of the deeper causalities shaping this present iteration of a much longer conflict. Over time, you will hopefully get a fuller picture of what is going on and why it is going on. I plan on releasing this newsletter every Friday with perhaps a quick hit to touch on a major story if it seems necessary. I will also release a few “Explainer” letters in the coming week to try and give you the necessary definitions and basic information about the conflict.
Hopefully, this newsletter will equip you to think through the relevant issues and speak and act in a way that is both just and compassionate. I will do my absolute best to tell you only the truth and interrogate my own assumptions as best as I can. But let me tell you a few of my prior assumptions so you know where I am coming from as I analyze events.
I think the State of Israel has a right to exist and defend itself from attack.
I think the Palestinian people have a right to dignity, safety, and self-determination. I hope for a 2 state solution where the Palestinian people can live in peace with Israel. I am not optimistic about its formation in my lifetime.
I think war is terrible but sometimes necessary—I also think that a just cause does not mean that all actions taken in war are just.
You’ll learn more about what I think if you stick with the newsletter. But these starting points will help you know where I am coming from in evaluating the conflict.
Father God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. For the protection of the innocent and the destruction of the wicked. We pray for discernment as we think through difficult issues. We pray that you correct us when we are in error and never let us lose sight of the mercy you offer. May it make us merciful. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen
Thank you for explaining what we cannot fully understand, and cannot depend to hear truth from our government. I know that as with any people or culture, there are good people and bad people. This means we cannot judge anyone in this war simply because of their heritage. I pray this can end soon. I only recently went to Israel (2020), but the people I met, Jewish, Arab, I don’t know if I met any Palestinian - they were all wonderful people. I loved the country and I want to return some day. I pray your friends will be protected.
Thank you Zach. I will be praying for you.