Morphing the face of jihad

As Hitler and Stalin rose to bloodthirsty power, some opinion-shapers in the West became apologists for these demonic movements. They tried to make horrendous evil appear to be simply ‘another worldview.’ They desensitized the West’s discernment about fast approaching dangers – until it was too late.

The prophetic words of Isaiah have pressing importance for the situation we face in our day: “For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples” (Isaiah 60:2). The black wave of jihadi Islam is covering the Middle East. It bubbles up in Belgium and in the Netherlands, and spreads across France, England and Germany.

Western leaders have unwittingly masked the danger facing Western society. They have made light of the Islamist menace and have soft-pedaled the jihadi threats. “The watchmen are blind. All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, dreamers lying down who love to slumber” (Isaiah 56:10).

Paul tells us clearly, “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” (1 Corinthians 13:8). What are the mujahidin (the jihad fighters) up to? What are their goals? How can we pray about these clear and present dangers?

Politicized spin about the Islamist faith

On September 17 2001 President George W. Bush addressed the Islamic Center of Washington regarding the jihadi terrorists of 9/11, “These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it’s important for my fellow Americans to understand that . . . The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war. When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. . .” (https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html).

President Bush’s declaration that jihad violates the Islamic faith is understandable given the horror of that Twin Towers moment, but his read is totally inaccurate.

British PM Tony Blair’s spoke about jihadi terror at the Labour Party National Conference, July 16, 2005, just a few days after the London Islamist bombings: “I want also to work with other nations to promote the true face of Islam worldwide… In the end, it is by the power of argument, debate, true religious faith and true legitimate politics that we will defeat this threat. That means not just arguing against their terrorism, but their politics and their perversion of religious faith” (https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4689363.stm).

German Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel said Germans should be careful to differentiate between Islamists and the religion itself. “We must be incredibly careful that we don't lump everyone together," the Chancellor said. "The Islamists are not the Islam of Germany” (www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/merkel-islam-ist-ein-teil-von-deutschland-a-858218.html). Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said that that the Chancellor had in no way expressed “criticism of Islam …You cannot interpret the Chancellor as a critic of Islam because she naturally has respect for an important world religion,” Seibert said in Berlin (www.thelocal.de/20101027/30801).

In a recent comment about jihadi Islam in light of the beheading of US newsman James Foley, U.S. President Obama declared, “Let’s be clear about ISIL…ISIL speaks for no religion.  Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.  No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day.  ISIL has no ideology of any value to human beings.  Their ideology is bankrupt…From governments and peoples across the Middle East there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer, so that it does not spread.  There has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies.  One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century” (www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/20/statement-president).

This list could go on. But this much is clear:

Did Mohammed understand the true face of Islam?

A careful but simple survey of the Quran’s teaching on jihad shows that jihad (holy war) is a fundamental tenet of the Islamic faith (see “A Perspective on Islam” by Avner Boskey, https://davidstent.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/a_perspective_on_islam.pdf).

The highest calling a Muslim can engage in is armed jihad, according to the Hadith (authoritative Islamic book accompanying the Quran) “Muhammad once was asked: ‘What is the best deed for the Muslim next to believing in Allah and his messenger?’ His answer was: ‘To participate in jihad in Allah’s cause’” (al-Bukhari 1:25).

Martyrdom in jihad is considered the highest of goals. “So narrated Anas bin Malik, ‘The prophet said, “Nobody who dies and finds good from Allah …would wish to come back to this world even if he were given the whole world and whatever is in it – except the martyr who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to the world and get killed again” (al-Bukhari 51:6).

Decapitating unbelievers is totally acceptable in jihad. “When you meet the unbelievers (in battle), strike off their heads; then when you have made wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining captives. Afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates” (Surah 47:4).

Terror is considered a necessary psychological weapon to intimidate and crush all opposition. Allah says, “I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every one of their fingertips . . . Strike terror (into the hearts of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies” (Surah 8:12, 60).

Jihad continues until full world conquest. “Make war on them until idolatry does not exist any longer and Allah’s religion reigns universally” (Surah 8:39).

Killing and being killed is what mujahidin look forward to. “(For) the believers …theirs (in return) is Paradise. They fight in his cause, so they kill (others) and are killed … (al-Bukhari 51:1). “So narrated Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba, ‘Our prophet told us about the message of Allah that “… whoever amongst us is killed will go to Paradise” (al-Bukhari 51:2).

Is the beheading of unbelievers the true face of Islam?

President Obama declared (above), “ISIL speaks for no religion… (N)o faith teaches people to massacre innocents.  No just God would stand for what they did yesterday…Their ideology is bankrupt… There has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies.” Yet the Quran teaches without compromise that decapitation is an integral part of the jihad warrior’s arsenal.

One of Mohammed’s closest generals and most brilliant military commanders was Khalid bin al-Walid (خالد بن الوليد), also known as Sayf Allāh al-Maslūl (or the drawn sword of Allah; سيف الله المسلول; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_ibn_al-Walid).  Between 629-636 AD/CE he was responsible for over one hundred military victories, including the conquests of Arabia, Persian Mesopotamia, Roman Syria, Yarmouk, Damascus and Jerusalem.

During the Battle of Mu’tah, al-Walid broke nine swords in hand-to-hand combat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mu%27tah). At the Battle of Ullais it is recorded that he oversaw the decapitation of 70,000 Persian soldiers (mentioned in Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari’s History of the Prophets and Kings, Vol. 2, p. 560-62: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_Jarir_al-Tabari; https://khalidbinwaleed.blogspot.co.il/2010/12/chapter-22-river-of-blood.html).

Though modern Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors gag at the thought of religious beheadings, according to classical jihadi Islam ISIS/ISIL believes and carries out the commands of Mohammed and the battle tactics of his most valiant general.

YHVH the God of the Hebrews is poles apart from the angel who demanded Mohammed’s obedience. The God of the Bible does not command His followers to spread the message of Yeshua by cutting off people’s heads. But a majority of Muslims believe as an article of Quranic faith that Allah commands decapitations.

It is therefore no surprise that jihadis take the Quran literally in their conquest of the Middle East  (www.gospelherald.com/articles/52128/20140806/chaldean-christian-leader-isis-systematically-beheading-children-in-iraq.htm).

Islamism, Europe and the Jews

The jihadi Islam that Hamas enforces in Gaza is quite similar to that of ISIS/ISIL. Though there are some slight differences of strategy and methodology (similar to the original differences between Marxist-Leninists, Trotskyites and Maoists), they share the common goals of jihad, international caliphate and shari’a.

For those who would like to get a better grasp of current Islamist developments in Europe, I highly recommend two online videos. One is from CBN, and is entitled “Belgistan? Sharia Showdown Looms In Brussels” (www.cbn.com/tv/1509282970001).

The other is a four program series (45 minutes each) in Hebrew (or with English subtitles) by Zvi Yehezkeli and David Deryi. Yehezkeli is the Arab affairs specialist for Israeli Channel Ten. He spent months travelling undercover through Western Europe, interviewing Muslims about the spiritual direction of Islam. The program series is called “Allah Islam” in Hebrew, and either Europe’s Takeover by Islam or Israeli infiltrates European Muslim community with English subtitles.

Hamas, jihad and the Jews

Hamas’ goals and strategies are impeccably Islamist and jihadi. The Hamas Charter states  clearly (www.acpr.org.il/resources/hamascharter.html; https://davidstent.com/hurtling-through-the-fog-of-war-a-messianic-perspective-on-the-new-hamastan/):

What is jihadi ceasefire?

The Western world finds it nearly impossible to comprehend what Hamas believes. So it tries to get Hamas to make PR statements abandoning its own Islamic faith and principles. However, Hamas will never recognize Israel, never live in peace with a Jewish state, and never cease trying to murder the daughter of Zion.

Two nuggets of intelligence have come out in the past week.

Massive Hamas attack thwarted

In April 2014 Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed an agreement of reconciliation, promising to share power and work together (www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/PA-assures-reconciliation-agreement-required-recognition-of-Israels-existence-350267). Nevertheless, recently Hamas went to war against Israel, ignoring these agreements.

The PA has major jitters that Hamas would win free elections were they to be held in the West Bank. Something similar already happened in Gaza in 2005. Hamas won the election and then proceeded to kneecap, torture and jail PA operatives, throwing many off of Gaza’s higher buildings in classic Mafia style.

But there is now no need for the PA to worry about what might happen in the future. The Israeli Shin Bet (FBI equivalent) recently uncovered a Hamas plot involving over 100 Hamas operatives in the West Bank who were plotting a violent takeover and assassination of PA leaders, murders on the Temple Mount, and violent riots and attacks on the IDF and Israelis in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel proper (www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Massive-Hamas-infrastructure-in-West-Bank-planned-to-topple-the-Palestinian-Authority-371409).

Hamas was getting ready to murder the PA leadership (with which it has been cooperating in Cairo over the past weeks) and to set up a jihadi terror state north of Jerusalem,. Senior Hamas leader Salah al-Aruri, based in Turkey, directed the coup as well as the kidnapping of the three teenagers. Hamas operatives in Zarka, Jordan as well as in Jenin, Ramallah and Hebron were all involved.

“Can an Ethiopian change his skin color, or a leopard his spots?” (Jeremiah 13:23)

Closing thoughts

No American would have entertained the thought of negotiating with Osama bin Laden. And no Jewish government in their right mind would negotiate with Pharaoh of Egypt, with Haman, or with Hitler. This is a fight to the finish, with no holds barred. It is like playing poker with a psychopathic murderer who, if he doesn’t like the way the cards are going, grabs a submachine-gun and tries to rub out his partner.

For dyed-in-the-wool jihadi warriors, an asymmetrical approach to warfare with Israel – one which results in many Gazan civilian casualties – is actually a gateway to religious merit and reward. This is not a cycle of violence, or simply a deep animosity between Isaac and Ishmael. It is a fight between (on one hand) Islamist kamikazes who don’t surrender, a group of post-Hiroshima-like zombies, and (on the other hand) the Jewish people returning to their Promised Land in fulfilment of ancient Hebrew prophecies.

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do!

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

The seduction of the blind

Western Christians in the 1930’s were beset by a selective blindness – one that left them criminally unprepared for the rise of genocidal Nazi anti-Semitism. This same dynamic is being repeated in our day in spades. This time the entry point for foul evil is not racist fascism but rather anti-Zionism and deference to jihadi Islam.

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

It’s been another ‘business as usual’ week in the Middle East. The geopolitical strategies of the Western superpowers lie shattered in the dust while jihadi Islamic forces murder, rob, rape and enslave their way across the Mesopotamian plain.

The black war flags of jihad proclaiming upcoming Caliphate world domination flutter over:

“Ein Gespenst geht um in Europa – A spectre is haunting Europe”

Europe is not far behind. The upsurge of violent anti-Semitic marches, riots, synagogue burnings and physical attacks on Jewish individuals is documented for all to see. Though the politically correct excuse for this anti-Semitic terror is given as Gaza-connected, there is no practical separation between anti-Zion and anti-Jew. The adulterous connection between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is on lurid display, splashed boldly across the TV screens of the world.

Moral failure of Western media

Western media have been roundly seduced by Islamist spinmeisters and are serving as drugged spokesmen for jihadi strategies, trumpeting Hamas propaganda as accurate news. Their digital falsifications aptly fit George Orwell’s 1984 vision of ‘newspeak’ and ‘right-speak.’ The jihadi guerilla strategy of cynically catalyzing casualties to one’s own civilian population and then castigating Israel for defending itself – this scheme has blinded the hearts of many Western viewers, bewitching their eyes and skewing their discernment.

The love of many Westerners is growing cold

Anti-Semitism has even bled over into cold-hearted diplomatic censure, as Britain (www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/12/british-arms-exports-israel-gaza-block-suspension) and America (www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4558615,00.html) leak to world media the existence of embargoes on resupplying Israel with the military ability to defend itself from jihadi rocket fire.

Tangled up in hooks

A burning prophetic word came to Ezekiel on the plains of Babylon. He described how in the Last Days, the God of Israel would put hooks into the jaws of mighty nations and pull them down to direct a hate-filled attack against the Jewish state and the Jewish people.

“I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army… After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste… It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog. Thus says YHVH God, Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares YHVH God, that My fury will mount up in My anger” (Ezekiel 38:4,8,16-18)

Some have suggested that the seductive bait to tempt the nations will be the bromine-rich brine wells of the Dead Sea, an essential ingredient in agricultural fertilizers. Others have declared that the attraction will be a new and world-shaking Israeli oil discovery. All these stand alone as potentially true and valid reasons.

While Westerners are barely moved by Muslims slaughtering Muslims in the hundreds of thousands, they turn an understanding and sympathetic eye to Islamist hate fests directed against Israel – especially when the Jewish state stoutly refuses to tolerate jihadi terror attacks against Israeli civilians. The legitimation and justification of mass anti-Semitic rampages against Israel reveal how solidly this hook has been fastened in the jaws of the nations.

Whereas Muslim communities in the West have by and large not been subject to hate-filled riots by Jewish demonstrators, and have not had to post police cordons around their community centers and mosques, the Jewish people’s historical experience in Europe has been either persecution (when Jews were powerless) or bigoted and demonized attack (when the Jewish state protects its own citizens). Accommodating volatile Islamist sentiment will not spare Europe or America from the vengeance of the black flags.

Becket revisited

Barely one hundred years after the Norman invasion and occupation of Saxon England, King Henry II found himself at odds with the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Becket over coronation protocol and protection of the privileges of the Catholic church. His fateful remark to four of his knights, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” catalyzed their assassination of Thomas in 1170 near the door leading to the monastic cloister (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket).

There are many today, even in the Christian world, who look upon the Jewish people and their state with haughty eye, raised eyebrow and theological smirk. Part of the Jewish people’s irrevocable gifts and calling involves being a priest to the nations (Isaiah 61:6-7). Jihadi Islam is asking Henry II’s dramatic question to the non-Muslim world, and European response (soon to be followed by American assent) is close to deafening.

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do!

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

Phoenix rising

As of Tuesday morning Israel has withdrawn its forces from the Gaza Strip, in exchange for a 72 hour Egyptian brokered ceasefire beginning at 08:00 hours (the eighth ceasefire so far, all of which have been broken by Hamas). At least twelve rockets were fired by Hamas in the minutes leading up to the ceasefire, and twenty to thirty were fired between 08:02 and 08:50, with pieces landing in the Palestinian Authority town of Beit Sahur near Bethlehem as well as on the southern part of Hebron Road within Jerusalem. At 09:38 PA PM Abu Mazen welcomed the ‘ceasefire,’ but warned Israel that the calm must be maintained.

What is going on? What influenced the Israeli government to order a withdrawal? What is happening with the tidal wave resurgence of anti-Semitism across the world? How does this fit in to both Hamas’ strategy and into Satan’s end-time schemes?

“He lies like a rug”

Hamas has broken at least eight ceasefires in a row. Some of these have been brokered by the UN, others by the US, others by Egypt, and one by the Red Cross. The last two violations occurred on Friday (www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-hamas-agree-to-72-hour-humanitarian-cease-fire/2014/08/01/059f1ff8-194e-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265_story.html; www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4553302,00.html) and today Tuesday.

On Friday, 90 minutes into the ceasefire (Which Hamas had also signed off on) a Hamas terror squad attacked a Givati Reconnaissance team scouring Rafiah streets for terror tunnels. A Hamas terrorist dressed in an IDF army uniform popped out of a tunnel and killed the recon commander and another soldier, mortally wounding Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin. The Hamas squad then grabbed Goldin’s corpse and jumped back down into the tunnel. Another IDF commando jumped in to the tunnel in hot pursuit after them, along with three other Givati recon soldiers. They gave chase for at least 100 meters, and were able to bring back physical evidence of Goldin’s death.

Today Hamas broke its eighth ceasefire within minutes, firing nearly thirty rockets into Israel for up to an hour after the ceasefire came into effect. It is hard for Westerners to understand serial lying of such a magnitude. Yet such behavior is acceptable according to Islamic jurisprudence.

Lying is kosher

The concept of taqiyya (or acceptable lying, www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/taqiyya-about-taqiyya/) has an ancient and honored position in Islamic history. Mohammed himself engaged in breaking ceasefires and violating truces on many occasions, including the murder by deception of the Jewish poet Ka’b bin al Ashraf (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka'b_ibn_al-Ashraf; www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/052-sbt.php#004.052.269; in the Hadith, Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Numbers 265-271; ibid. 5:59:369) and the murder of Usayr ibn Zarim (al Yusayr bin Rizam) and his 30 companions who came to discuss ceasefire terms under a truce (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usayr_ibn_Zarim; www.justislam.co.uk/images/Ibn%20Ishaq%20-%20Sirat%20Rasul%20Allah.pdf, “Abdullah bin Rawaha’s raid to kill al Yusayr bin Rizam 981, pp. 665-667”; see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_of_Abdullah_ibn_Rawaha).

In At-Taqiyya fi’l-Islam (“Taqiyya in Islam”) Dr. Sami Makaram, a former American University of Beirut Professor and Head of the Department of Arabic Literature and Near Eastern Languages (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Makarem), states, “Taqiyya is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practices it … We can go so far as to say that the practice of taqiyya is mainstream in Islam, and that those few sects not practicing it diverge from the mainstream … Taqiyya is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era” (At-Taqiyya fi ’l-Islam, London: Mu’assisat at-Turath ad-Druzi, 2004, p. 7).

The respected Hans Wehr Arabic-English Dictionary defines tawriya as, “hiding, concealment; dissemblance, dissimulation, hypocrisy; equivocation, ambiguity, double-entendre, allusion.” The three radicals in the root of the word, w-r-y, appear in the Quran in the context of hiding or concealing something (e.g., 5:31, 7:26).

According to the Islamic hadith (which along with the Quran is authoritative for Muslims), Mohammed permitted lying in three scenarios: to reconcile quarreling parties, to one’s wife, in war, or in jihad (Imam Muslim, “Kitab al-Birr wa’s-Salat, Bab Tahrim al-Kidhb wa Bayan al-Mubih Minhu,” Sahih Muslim, rev. ed., Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, trans. (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 2000).

According to one Arabic legal manual devoted to jihad as defined by the four schools of Sunni Islamic law, “The ulema (“scholars”) agree that deception during warfare is legitimate … deception is a form of art in war” (Ahmad Mahmud Karima, Al-Jihad fi’l Islam: Dirasa Fiqhiya Muqarina, Cairo, Al-Azhar, 2003, p. 304).  Dr. Mukaram concludes “Taqiyya in order to dupe the enemy is permissible” (Mukaram, At-Taqiyya fi ’l-Islam, p. 32).

Based on these perspectives, it is somewhat easier to understand why Hamas lies about casualties, conceals the truth about the high percentage of its own fighters killed, and terrorizes international journalists who want to tell the unvarnished truth.

Truth or consequences

Israel’s Chief of Staff Benny Gantz knows the strength, the strategic advantage and the will of his armed forces. As far as his is concerned, Hamas can be defeated quickly. But the leaders of Israel are focused on other concerns.

The cabinet is thinking about international pressures, sanctions, embargoes and boycotts from the EU, the UN, the USA and the FAA. They pick up on the not-so-subtle threats from British Foreign Minister (www.timesofisrael.com/british-fm-anti-semitism-likely-to-rise-due-to-gaza-op/#ixzz39R7KqRsk ) that anti-Semitic riots will ensue and Jewish citizens of Western countries will be attacked if Israel insists on defending herself against jihadi terrorists. US Secretary of State John Kerry recently intimated “For Israel there’s an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up… There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things… (T)he fact is the status quo will change if there is failure” (ed., in the peace talks) (https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/02/221134.htm).

Though Western leaders grudgingly admit that Israel has a right to defend itself from terror rockets, they do not take the next logical step and acknowledge Hamas’ strategy of using its civilian population as human shields in order to win world sympathy. A recently captured Hamas terror manual clearly explains this horrific strategy (www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/08/04/captured-hamas-combat-manual-explains-benefits-human-shields/#.U9_WNM3K4nU.twitter). To ignore Hamas’ war strategy while blaming Israel for defending itself against Hamas attacks is to fall into a pit that Islamist terror leaders have dug. It also weakens the West’s most faithful Middle Eastern ally.

Another issue that Israel’s leaders weighed long and hard is the cost of Israeli military casualties that a ground invasion would engender – an incursion that would cut off and destroy Hamas’ military leadership and command-and-control HQs – most of which lies under Gaza’s main hospital al Shifa.

A last issue concerns the likelihood of a drawn-out Somali-like guerilla war (think ‘Black Hawk Down’) – between 6 to 12 months – as the IDF would clean up jihadi terror nests in low-intensity urban conflict (www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/We-could-have-taken-Gaza-in-a-week-but-that-wasnt-our-mission-says-senior-IDF-source-369954; www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.608762).

The IDF has withdrawn to the eastern ridges which overlook Gaza and which border on Israeli farms, kibbutzim and towns. There may be an eventual dialogue in Egypt, but since rockets are still being fired by Hamas, that option may also fall through. The IDF reserves the right to re-enter Gaza should hostilities break out again.

Here are four helpful analyses of the very fluid situation:

Ultimately, this physical battle has spiritual roots – in this case, jihadi Islam’s desire to destroy the Jewish people and the Jewish state. The superpower troika of Britain, Russia and the US have still not assimilated the spiritual lessons from their wars and disappointments against jihad in Afghanistan (as well as the US in Iraq and Iran). There too the spiritual element was brushed aside and not seriously factored into war strategy. The movie Charlie Wilson’s War makes that point clearly.

Crushing the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15)

The ascendancy of Islamist jihadi armies throughout the Middle East is a cause for geo-strategic concern. As the Gaza war rages and burps, ISIS/ISIL continues to plow forward, establishing its terror Shari’a caliphate from Iraq to the borders of Lebanon and Jordan. Black ISIL flags wave at demonstrations in Ramallah, in Israeli Arab cities like Taibe and Yafiah, and in the Gaza Strip. The rise of violent and revolutionary soldiers is a concern not just to Israel, but to Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, etc. The Muslim Brotherhood has slowly metastasized into al Qa’eda, Islamic Jihad, al Shabab, Boko Haram, al Nusra, ISIL – and Hamas.

Hamas in living color

Many in the Western world find it a real stretch to get inside the minds of Hamas terrorists. They assume that all anyone ever wants is personal peace and prosperity. The thought of passionately embracing suicide for ones’ self and death for one’s family is nearly unbelievable for secular Westerners.

Here are some videos which show the actual spiritual message of Hamas:

US National Security Adviser Susan Rice just stated an hour ago that “it is very important that both sides remain committed to (ed. the ceasefire) and use this opportunity to begin the negotiations that we had been working so energetically through US Secretary of State Kerry and President Obama to get off the ground so that the underlines causes of the conflict in Gaza can be addressed at the negotiation table.”

Up from the ashes

In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Grandpa Potts sings his famous “Up from the ashes grow the roses of success.” The phoenix was a mythological bird that was continually regenerated. He obtained new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. For many bored students of history, the Nazi phenomenon belongs in the previous century. Modern Europe is built on the presumption that such travesties will never again occur on European soil.

Yet today, and not only in Europe, anti-Semitism has reared its phoenix-like head and is spitting poison in all directions. Browse these links to get a broader grasp of what is happening now:

Note in the last link, that a cartoon worthy of Goebbel’s Der Stürmer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_St%C3%BCrmer) was printed in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald. An apology was posted after howls of indignant outrage, but with a twist. The paper did not apologize for its racist caricatures, but for associating them with a religion – in this case, Judaism! No insult against Judaism intended Ma’am! But against the Jewish state and the Jewish people? Well, that’s another story. They actually are fair game, according to that paper.

What can we do?

Believers in the God of Israel and His Messiah Yeshua have all the power of Heaven behind them as they pray and intercede, respond proactively, and reach out to the Jewish people with arms of love, compassion and truth.

Here is a recent example. Believers in Tübingen, Germany held a street march against anti-Semitism in Germany, with banners proclaiming that a ‘red card’ (soccer penalty disqualifying a player from the game) is due to any blend of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity (www.tagblatt.de/Home/bilder/bilder-lokales_autoplay,1_mmid,5601.html#387876/).

A courageous Hollywood movie star Noah Tishbi has recently spoken out forcefully against the politically correct attacks on Israel by some Hollywood glitterati who are otherwise ignorant of jihad’s media spin (www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/item/hollywood_stars_without_borders._or_facts).

Jon Voight of Mission Impossible fame and father of actress Angelina Jolie, added his voice of rebuke those attacking Israel, stating that Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem should “hang their heads in shame” for signing an open-letter denouncing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and demanding the EU to “condemn the bombing by land, sea and air against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip.” Mr. Voight said he is “heartsick” that Mrs. Cruz and Mr. Bardem “could incite anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage they have caused” (www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/3/jon-voight-anti-israel-actors-you-should-hang-your/).

Your prayers, your testimony, your willingness to stand alongside of the people and state of Israel, is of great importance. You were born for such a time as this!

A prophetic warning

Twenty years ago, Pini Badash (the mayor of our community in Israel) stood up in the Knesset (Israel’s parliament building) and spoke words trembling with destiny. He was leveling them at those politicians who were advocating a withdrawal from Gaza and a withdrawal from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

“There are not a small number of Knesset members, primarily from the Left, who bury their heads in the sand and are not willing to see the grave dangers which are entailed in handing over Gaza and its regions to the PLO. They bury their heads in the sand and say, ‘We need to try, we need to return the Strip to the Arabs,’ but none of them is ready to talk about the price of making such a mistake. None is willing to take into account that the step which we will take is not reversible. Will we ever again be able to conquer Gaza again if there is a need to do so? I am not referring to military ability; I am referring to politically, internationally. Never ever! The huge amount of weaponry stored in Gazan bunkers is one of the most dangerous weapons armories for us. Out of these storehouses Ashkelon will suffer, and Nahal Oz and the regions around her, and we, to my great regret, will need to stand up again at the Speaker’s Dias of the Knesset and to announce for the umpteenth time, ‘We told you, we pleaded with you to think through what will be the price of this mistake – and you refused to listen’ ” (Pini Badash, Knesset Protocols, January 26, 1994).

Another Member of Knesset and former IDF General was laughed at and mocked in the Knesset when he said these words:

“If we heed their voice and submit to their counsel, then the Gaza Strip will become a malignant tumor and a thousand-fold center of terror. What will we do when katyusha rockets fired from Beit Lahiya land on Ashkelon, and from Beit Hanoun on Sderot?”  (Rehavam Ze’evi, Knesset Protocols, March 22, 1993).

Even one or two Israeli Messianic leaders defended such a withdrawal barely ten years ago. Today the cold and unappetizing truth about the wisdom of that disengagement lies there motionless and inert on the pixelated platter of today’s news.

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do!

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

As it was in the days of Adolph

The war between jihad and the Jewish state enters its fourth week. The fog of war is clearing, and outlines are becoming sharper. What follows is a summation of the flow of the past three weeks, a description of the developments of the past 24 hours, and some guidelines for prayer.

Background to this war

On June 12 a Hamas squad in Hebron kidnapped and quickly murdered three Jewish teenagers hitching home from an Orthodox Jewish high school. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) set up a dragnet in the West Bank to find the boys and the terrorists and by June 30 the boys’ bodies were found. The search then turned to the terrorists, and a significant amount of Hamas terrorists were arrested in the West Bank, and their underground organization was collapsing. This was good news for Abu Mazen and his Palestinian Authority (PA, formerly PLO) who see the Islamist Hamas as their mortal enemy.

In an effort to change the equation, Hamas in Gaza began to fire rockets at Israeli kibbutzim, farms, towns and cities. This quickly increased into a torrent of rockets, reaching the major cities of the south (Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheva, Kiryat Gat), the Greater Tel Aviv area (Rishon L’tziyon, Rehovot, Holon, Bat Yam, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, etc), the Sharon Plain (Hadera, Netanya, etc) and even the Jerusalem area. Israel tried to negotiate a ceasefire to no avail. The Israel Air Force (IAF) began bombings of rocket launcher sites, weapons depots, empty homes of Hamas leaders, and command-and-control centers in Gaza. Over the years Hamas had developed an inventory of over 10,000 long and short range rockets, well hidden in exclusively urban areas (mosques, kindergartens, schools, medical clinics, hospitals, homes and United Nations UNRWA schools).

Body counts and Nazi propaganda

Hamas has placed its rocket launchers smack in the middle of its civilian population. This is a deliberate part of Hamas’ war strategy, and has been repeated every time its jihad forces fire rockets into Israel (2009, 2012). The casualties which result when Israel tries to destroy rockets and launchers from the air are turned into what the KGB called “agitprop” – the use of media for political agitation and propaganda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agitprop). Israel’s defensive measures are twisted by Hamas and they influence world media into changing the storyline – now it is Gaza’s citizens who are the victims and Israelis who are the aggressors, while jihadi rocket fire continues merrily along its way.

Hamas is an Islamist dictatorship. It beats or kills newsmen who do not report news according to Hamas’ agitprop rules:

International journalists in jihadi Gaza are not free to interview whom they wish. They have Hamas minders at all times. To borrow George W. Bush’s terminology, Islamo-fascists are dictating Gaza’s news bulletins, and the West is eating it up. Casualty statistics are exaggerated by Hamas or simply fabricated. The death of Hamas fighters, and even their bodies, are concealed from foreign media. Instead, the figures of casualties among women and children are usually inflated.

British Colonel Richard Kemp, former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, has addressed this issue in world media and also at the UN quite lucidly (www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/A-salute-to-the-IDF). Addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council he stated, “During its operation in Gaza (ed., 2009), the Israeli Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX6vyT8RzMo). He continues to speak directly to this dynamic as fleshed out in this war (www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/30/col-richard-kemp-israeli-pilot-aborted-gaza-strike-17-times-to-protect-civilians-jewish-people-should-be-proud-of-the-state-of-israel-interview/).

In the same way as Nazi Reichsminister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels twisted the news media into an organ of persecution and murder of the Jewish people, so Hamas is twisting Western media, and millions of consumers are being poisoned into hating and opposing the Jewish people and their state.

Terror tunnels

Hamas has spent many years preparing a network of terror tunnels which snake under the border between Gaza and Israel. These are being used even now to launch attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. These tunnels are often 90 feet deep and run for up to 1.6 miles (2.5 km). Hamas was planning a 9/11 type attack for September 24 this year (Rosh Hashana/ Feast of Trumpets), involving somewhere between 200-400 terrorists exiting 20-40 tunnels simultaneously to murder and kidnap men, women and children on kibbutzim in the Gaza area. Over the past two weeks the IDF has been locating and destroying these tunnels, but the network is extensive and not easily located, and the work needed to destroy these tunnels is complicated; at least another week is needed to deal with the lion’s share of them. To be safe, a security belt of at least 4 kilometers should be established between Israeli kibbutzim and the Gazan populace. In recent days at least ten IDF soldiers have been killed in tunnel attacks. Today IDF Givati Battalion Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin (23) from Kfar Saba was kidnapped in southern Gaza by Hamas in a combined commando/suicide bomber operation.

The Islamist phoenix – ISIL, Iran, Al Qaeda etc

The rise of Islamist violence is world-shaking in its scope. The jihadi genie was originally let out of the bottle in Egypt of the 1950’s, but quickly metastasized in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan under the al Qaeda-Taliban confederacy. This zealous revival movement in Islam conjured up the original jihadi spirit which had guided Mohammed in his wars of colonialism, enslavement, robbery and conquest. Today’s jihadi Sunni movement reaches for global jihad, while working locally for the overthrow of secular Muslim governments. It also plans and carries out terror attacks against Shiites, Western Christians, Jews, and the State of Israel. Most of their effort has been directed at destroying these ‘enemies’ rather than on constructive achievements which would ameliorate conditions in the Muslim world.

The recent dramatic spread of ISIL/ISIS in Iraq, al-Nusra in Syria, Boko Haram and al Shebab in Africa, and Hamas in Gaza are all part of the same ideological movement. Though they may disagree among themselves on certain tactics, their long-term strategies are exactly the same – total jihad across the face of the globe; the application of original shari’a law; a dhimmi slave status for non-Muslims; destruction for the Jewish people and their state.

Hamas has managed to blind many Westerners to their own blue-blood jihadi foundations, and instead have postured themselves as freedom fighters rallying against Jewish oppression.

The destruction of Middle Eastern Christianity

Though our focus is mostly on the Bible’s priority emphasis on the Jewish people and their key strategic role in world revival, we want to draw attention to how Islamist jihad is destroying the ancient Christian traditions (what are called the ‘historic churches’) in the Middle East. In Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Gaza, Christians are being persecuted, tortured, beheaded, raped, robbed and burned. This is the same spiritual principality that Israel is confronting in the Gaza Strip, and this current war is part of the front lines of that battle.

A Smorgasbord approach to Islam

Many in the West find it hard to believe that Muslims still believe in jihad, or that the source documents of Islam actually call for such religious atrocities. Some would like to visualize a ‘gentler, kinder” Islam, or transform Islam into a Middle Eastern form of Unitarianism. Yet a smorgasbord approach to Islam will not work; that is an ostrich-like approach to a clear and present danger to the civilized world.

Just as Communist sympathizers in the West in the 1930’s and 1940’s attempted to pave the way for the spread of Marxist-Leninist revolution, so it is with those who sympathize with the Muslim Brotherhood. They are attempting to shift America and Europe away from their original Christian moorings and foundations, while empowering the spread of jihadi revolution.

“A plague on both your houses?” – Christian geldings

Many in the West simply don’t understand the Middle East and have little patience for it. They are not looking at things from a biblical perspective and have no grasp of what God is doing in these Last Days with the restoration of His Jewish people to their Promised Land. They simply see an endless schoolyard fight between stubborn and violent people. The attitude of these Westerners, including some believers, is simply to say that both sides in the Jewish-Islamic conflict are speaking propaganda, that God is not involved in the process, that He doesn’t take sides, that He has no commitment to the Jewish people, and that Westerners should only support what is in their own best economic interest.

When those heart attitudes are combined with “politically correct” or leftist or anti-globalization viewpoints, or BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) groups or human rights groups with an anti-Israel bias, or Palestinian Liberation theology Christian Replacement theology groups which call for boycotts and civil disobedience/violence against Israel – one has the makings of a new toxic campaign which will outdistance Nazism in its poison and murderous effect.

Good morning Vietnam Syndrome!

Years ago there was much talk about something called the “Vietnam syndrome.”

A malaise spread throughout the United States, trumpeting a suspicion of all leadership and authority (“don’t trust anyone over thirty”), a rejection of armies and warfare (“make love not war”), and a shame about being a superpower. Certainly the Nixon years had demonstrated some cause for concern, and the Vietnam War had some very bad and corrupt moments. But the result was a loss of heart, confidence and a sense of just cause for many Americans. The American hero was replaced with the anti-hero – in movies, on TV, in fiction, in video games and in politics.

Add to this the “Crusader syndrome” (a perception that fighting for religious freedom and defending one’s faith is ethically reprehensible) and the “Chamberlain syndrome” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeasement; a perspective that war is unthinkable and peace by appeasement of cruel dictators is preferable), and we have a pretty accurate description of many people in the West: a gut-level embarrassment about Israel, a hatred of those who see the reborn Jewish state as a fulfilment of Biblical prophecy, a tendency to defend Islamist terrorists if it will bring a short-term peace to the Middle East (and especially uninterrupted oil supplies).

Western believers need to reclaim the forgotten biblical heritages of warriors, prophets and kings. Even as J.R.R. Tolkein singlehandedly resurrected many of these themes in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, so believers in the God of the Bible need to recapture the heart essence of what Moses declared in ancient days: “Moses built an altar and named it ‘YHVH is my Banner.’ And he said, ‘YHVH has sworn. YHVH will have war against Amalek from generation to generation” ” (Exodus 17:15-16). Where are today’s banners? Where is the enemy?

Fruitful eunuchs?

Yeshua once prophesied that “there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops” (Luke 12:2-3). Anti-Jewish attitudes have lain fallow for years in some hearts, even in some hearts of those who call on the name of Yeshua. This virus morphs like cancer, and attempts to suck the spiritual life and vigor out its hosts.

I have met believers who tell anti-Jewish jokes (even to Jews), who dismiss clear teaching about God’s priority choosing of Israel and His restoration of the Jewish people to their land as propaganda, as simply ‘one side of the story.” I have met believers who were raised with a love for Israel, but whose hearts have grown chilled and alienated. They neither know Joseph nor feel warmly disposed to Joseph’s people (see Exodus 1:8).

David DuPlessis once said that God has no grandchildren – only children. There are those who have tasted of the good gifts of God, who have bathed in the warmth of God’s heart for Israel, and yet they have moved away from that place of blessing, tenderheartedness and revelation (see Hebrew 6:4-12). Somehow the heart of the matter has shrunk. Somehow the spirits of some men and women have been shriveled by the enemy.

C.S. Lewis talked about this dynamic in his thin book “The Abolition of Man.” “In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”

Writing in a heavenly book

Jewish people tend to remember things. Our recorded history in the Bible helps us to remember the highlights and the low points. The prophet Zechariah’s name means “YHVH remembers.” God asks, “How can I forget you, O Israel? I will never forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15; Hosea 11: 8).

The psalmist swears to God and asks for his right hand of livelihood to be cursed if he does not remember Jerusalem and prioritize her above his own greatest joy (Psalm 137:5-6). He then asks YHVH to remember the hatred and cold-heartedness that Edom exhibited when they fought against Israel and cursed her (Psalm 137:7). He asks the God of Israel to remember Edom’s deeds and to curse her.

One way God helps us to remember is by writing things down in a book. “Then those who feared YHVH spoke to one another, and YHVH gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear YHVH and who esteem His name. ‘They will be Mine,’ says YHVH of armies, ‘on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’ So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:16-18).

God has books wherein all our deeds are written down. He promises that He will weigh and judge all our thoughts as well – including the attitude of our hearts toward Israel His beloved (Revelation 20:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Matthew 25:37-40). Knowing the fear of God, we try to persuade men (2 Corinthians 5:11).

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do!

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

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