Of Terror
by haRold Smith
from Jerusalem, Israel
Nizar Ghayan was killed on Thursday. Nizar Ghayan was the face of terror toward Israel.
A professor at the Islamic University in Gaza City, as well as the most respected Hamas military and spiritual strategist since the 2004 assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, no one knew better than Ghayan the maxim he taught his students - "Whatever Israel does to Hamas, Hamas will win. If you kill us, we will become martyrs, the most beloved of God and the Palestinian people, and we will win. If you refrain from killing us, whether from fear or political expedience or moral considerations, we have only cemented our victory. For us to win, we only need to survive." Every move Israel makes to undermine and crush and topple Hamas, he taught, only builds support for the defiance, the resistance and the culture that Hamas symbolizes and embodies.
Imagine what your life would be like if your neighbor launched anywhere from 30 to 100 rockets, missiles and mortars into your backyard on a daily basis. All of your appeals for him to cease fall on deaf ears - both from your neighbor and from the surrounding community. Your neighbor has only one purpose - to make your life so intolerable and so miserable, so as to drive you out of the neighborhood for good. The community says it is your fault your neighbor is so angry at you - that you should give your property to him and just abandon what was given to you by your ancestors.
You can't walk freely on your own property in the likelihood of something falling out of the sky. Even though most of the missiles fall harmlessly into an area of your backyard that holds nothing of value, occasionally one finds its way into your living quarters - but you never know which one might be 'the one' to completely alter your life. You endure day after day of inadequate sleep because the bombs fall constantly and are no respecter of day or night. Your children huddle in a corner and shake uncontrollably from the uncertainty the fear of not knowing what is to happen next brings. You can't sell your property (who wants to buy it to live as you do?) and you don't have enough money or resources available to walk away from it and start elsewhere. It takes you two minutes to get into a 'safe' room, but the siren warning of another incoming missile only gives you 60 seconds to get there. If you manage to get to the room in time, there are not enough adequate supplies of food, water and medicine because all of the neighborhood stores have left for fear of losing their businesses. Since the businesses have left, there are no jobs - how do you then make a living?
Imagine what it would be like if this neighbor embraced a culture of death so severe that he would arm a bomb and send one of his children to your front door with instructions to detonate it as soon as you appeared.
This is the reality of living with terror. For over seven years "harmless rockets" have been falling into a population area of just under a million people living in the mid-south of Israel. In just this past year of 2008, over 3000 have landed on Israeli soil. Until now, Israel has responded with restraint. Contrary to what has been popularly reported, up until seven days ago, Israel provided 70% of the electricity, water and sewage to the residents of Gaza - even in the face of this barrage from the democratically elected terror organization, Hamas. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is permitting sick and wounded Arabs entrance into Israeli hospitals - even though the casualties to Israeli citizens of this incessant terror assault has tripled over the last year. Right now, Israel is allowing 100 trucks a day of compassionate, humanitarian relief aid into the area - even in the midst of a war situation. Who does that?
Because Israel embraces a culture of life, because they are concerned with the ramifications of collateral damage to civilians, the IDF engages in a tactic that has come to be known as "Roof Knocking." These Arab militants hide themselves, their weapons and explosives beneath mosques, inside of school classrooms, hospitals and private residences. Before bombing a target considered to harbor such activity, the IDF will call the owner of the building on their cell phone to tell them they have ten minutes to evacuate the premises. Before dropping the actual ordinance, they will drop a 'sound bomb' meant to scare away anyone still lingering in the building or the surrounding area. Frequently (seeking to exploit the Israeli embrace of life, even for the enemy), the targeted Arabs will send their wives and children to the rooftops to deter the military firing on them. Even then, the IDF will first bomb just a corner of the building to scare them away before sending the real missile. Who does that? These are the people who are consistantly painted as insensitive, immoral and uncaring of human life.
The most explicit indication of how intensively this culture of hate is taught to Arab children was brought home to me when I looked at a map contained in an Arab elementary school geography book only to realize there was no trace of the country of Israel to be found on it. So pervasive is this culture of death, it is ingrained into their children from the earliest ages that in the nobility of life the highest honor bestowed on an individual is to blow themselves up taking as many Jews as possible with them. These thoughts and images are taught to their children before they are even able to walk.
Ghayan believed in and promoted such a culture. He sent one of his own sons to his death as a suicide bomber within Israel. His four wives and 11 children died with him as he chose not to leave the building he was in - choosing instead to hide behind his family and use them as human shields. If these people hold so little value over their own lives, why should we think they would care about anyone else's?
ISRAEL NEEDS YOUR HELP MORE THAN EVER BEFORE!!!
Listen to some of these stories and see if you can find a way you can help.
"Three nights ago Grad rockets were sent into BeerSheva. The night the rockets started falling my wife and kids were sleeping in the shelter-room to be safe. The next morning they ran to the shelter many times as rockets hit BeerSheva all day long. When a few hours of calm came they decided to drive north on Highway 6 to her parent's house in the center of Israel. Just as she left Highway 6, a rocket was reported to have landed in that very intersection a few minutes later. I am now with my family until things calm down in BeerSheva. We are temporary refugees. Rockets have landed on the road of where five of the believers in one of the house congregations live.
"There are highly discounted hotels and hostels in the center and North for the refugees in the South. We were asking for intercession or support from anyone who can help the new believing families that are stuck in BeerSheva and the South with the costs of escaping from rocket distance for some time. This is an emergency need and we need to know immediately if you can help. Some of the families are without bomb shelters and could be impacted greatly. Please email us immediately if you or somebody you know is able to help."
Sean and Ayelet Steckbeck simeons_cry@hotmail.com
"Just a quick update as to what is going on here at the Merchavia Israel Discovery Center guesthouse. We are north of the conflict, and not in danger security-wise with the current situation. But given the space we have here and the real need for people in the south to be able to get to a place of safety, we are receiving people here from the southern Israel cities for a week's respite from the constant threat of rocket attacks.
"The amount of this fun day is $48.00 for each child. We hope that we will be able to raise enough money to send everyone to fun-day! This is what little we are able to do for the children of God that are suffering in this time. Now you can help by giving them a chance to relax and a reason for them to smile!!! We also are visiting the wounded in the hospitals and presenting them with special relief bags to help these victims make their stay at the hospitals easier. Thank you for your kindness and generosity - our God will bless you mightily."
Miki Solomon - founder, Light and Mercy Light222@netvision.net.il
Donations to Light and Mercy can be made at: www.lightandmercy.com
Light and Mercy is an Israeli Non-Profit Relief Organization
P.O. Box 4022, Ariel 44837 ISRAEL
Cell Phone: +972-50-202-3041 - office: +972-2-624-7005 - Fax: +972-2-6247007
"I had a private briefing from the security officer of the Sderot-Negev municipality, Rafi Babivian. He is in charge of the southern area rescue teams and is coordinating all emergency preparations and support services in advance of the impending incursion into Gaza. He has provided me with a list of medical and security equipment that needs to be immediately put in place to provide emergency care and protection of civilians that are under fire. Out of this briefing, we have committed to raise the necessary funds to equip them with the necessary medical and protection gear for the southern emergency service units. They are the ones in charge of the life saving and fast intervention for the whole population in the South. Now we need to provide them with the vital equipment they will need. This includes:
Doctor's equipment:
7 advanced life-support kits for doctors - $2,500 each
7 bullet-proof vests and built proof helmets - $1,400 each
Paramedic's equipment:
13 life-support kits, modified for paramedic use in field situations - $1,800 each
13 bullet-proof vests and helmets - $1,400 each set
"We are facing a scenario of multiple missile attacks from multiple fronts. This means missile attacks on towns planned simultaneously with secondary terror attacks on smaller kibbutzim, possibly by suicide bombers who have infiltrated under the guise of agricultural workers passing through the Gaza checkpoints. Every donation is important. With this medical equipment for the south of Israel - we will be able to make a difference. Thank you for your help."
Adi Zahavi - founder, Israel Emergency Aid Fund
Donate securely online at: www.ieaf.co.il
Or via post to: PO Box 4730, Jerusalem 91046 Israel - Please make checks payable to IEAF.
Israel Emergency Aid Fund (I.E.A.F) is a non-affiliated non-profit organization that is directly involved in medical and humanitarian projects throughout Israel.
| "I shall lay your cities waste, And you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, therefore, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you." Ezekiel 35:4-6 |