Monday, May 23, 2011

Israel, Israel

I recently revisited an old book in my possession entitled Fighting Terrorism by Benjamin Netanyahu. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, I came across this great work with keen interest as I wanted to know more about who our enemy was and how to defeat them. At the time, I did not care about why our enemies hated us more than to discover a clear strategy aimed at easing them of their miserable and wretched lives. But despite my learned satisfaction attained by reading, the more dominant liberal sensitivities from a population turned more fearful and complacent were precisely what the mainstream media persisted on reporting. This only served to embolden the enemy and his reaffirmed cause rather than dismiss him altogether. Now, ten years later, the music is still the same, though softer and more trance-like befitting a fallen culture who calls "evil good and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). And this same melody of apathy and deliberate discontent toward national sovereignty and justified defense (both foreign and domestic) was portrayed through smiling eyes of contempt by our cocksure President aimed at Benjamin Netanyahu, now Prime Minister of Israel, during his immediate visit to the White House after Obama's twisted declaration for an indefensibly reduced Israeli State. Although he has recently claimed the statement as "misrepresented," behind the mask and prosaic statements there still exists a favorable allegiance to Palestine - and with such - an implicit support for Hamas. While I cannot at all bear witness to the experience of living in a country like Israel where rockets and suicide bombers are included as rain during the morning weather forecasts, I feel I do have a responsibility in sharing my thoughts and feelings on the present matter in the Middle East, particularly and most importantly with respect to the divine kinship and fidelity we must maintain for the chosen people of Israel.

As defined in Fighting Terrorism, "Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic assault on civilians to inspire fear for political ends." I cannot help but think how congruent this definition fits with our current system of government. While we do not have our elected officials blowing themselves up or firing rockets from the Capitol Building's rooftop at innocent civilians, their fear tactics and apocalyptic assertions regarding such things as not raising the debt ceiling, enacting universal healthcare, and printing a new stimulus are, by the same definition, acts of terror. As cited in an earlier post, this deliberate and systematic assault on the freedoms and appropriations of taxpayer funds are summed up justly by FDR when he said, "In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way." Such domestic terror should be given no intellectual quarter. But even more should we not make great efforts in gaining a clinical understanding of terrorist psychology as intellectual insight alone will not produce the action(s) necessary to resist and destroy evil at all costs. The reasoning is simple - insight leads to understanding which will invariably turn to acceptance. An old Jewish saying bears credence to this fact when it says, "Those who are kind to the cruel end up being cruel to the kind." Right is right and wrong is wrong. There is no middle ground here. Evil does not follow in stages ranging from beginner, intermediate, to expert level. You either choose the light or dwell in the darkness. Terrorists are soulless, godless, and uninspiring individuals who show greater obedience to the ticking timer strapped to their chests than to the still small voice of reason and truth. In one section of his book, Fighting Terrorism, Benjamin Netanyahu talks greatly about moral clarity and the responsibility we have as free-men to resist and defeat terror in all its forms rather than waste precious time, energy, and resource distinguishing the horrific from the unalarming. He then cites several major events from history where maintaining moral excellence prompted swift action and honorable victory:

"This [moral] clarity is what enabled America and Britain to root out piracy in the nineteenth century. This same clarity enabled the Allies to root out Nazism in the twentieth century. They did not look for the "root cause" of Nazism - because they knew that some acts are evil in and of themselves, and do not deserve any consideration or "understanding." They did not ask whether Hitler was right about the alleged wrong done to Germany at Versailles. That they left to the historians. The leaders of the Western Alliance said something else: Nothing justifies Nazism. Nothing!" (xx-xxi)

Without such moral excellence we are as the blinded Samson, fit to fight but incapable of seeing the true face of terror - the devil himself. Like shooting from the hip, our point of accuracy lessens and more than likely misses the mark entirely, as if David had instead hurled his stone at Goliath's mailed chest rather than the center of his forehead. To be sure, immoral conduct creates a significant delay between the act of aggression and the victim's response. The reason for this bears repeating: an obsession with understanding evil leads to identifying with the aggressor. Because of this, our tactical responses to these murderers is slowed and thereby more costly, like a car having a five minute delay between the turn of the steering wheel and its moving right. In place of this, we should be strengthening ourselves more by counterterrorist education beginning with Netanyahu's book, Fighting Terrorism, in learning how to defeat God's enemies than on promoting their cause further by our futile and arrogant attempts made to understand them. Nevertheless, this is our present awful state. Voices of sin within our own borders have already lamented the fact that Osama Bin Laden was not granted due process! A fair trial for a mass murderer! We can only assume that many more "intelligible" judges and politicians have echoed the same foolish sentiment. Like the Israelites of old who denied the saving power of the brass serpent lifted up by Moses, our corrupt leaders appear no different, so puffed up in their pride and wicked ambitions they fail to realize the slow coiling of the same snake around their exposed throats.

It is a well known fact that Israel sits surrounded by enemy states. In 1967, they took defensible action over a six-day campaign against Syria, Egypt, and Jordan and secured for themselves a sovereign nation, still independent and free to this day. Long before that, the Israelites were deemed God's chosen people, a body the Lord Himself loved and covenanted would never be defenseless insofar as they kept His commandments. In Deuteronomy 7: 6-11 we read:

6 - For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 - The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 - But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you our with a mighty hand, and redeemed you our of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 - Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10 - And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
11 - Thous shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

With reference to Israel's enemies and the surrounding regimes that aid and abet terrorism, the Lord declared further:

17 - If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18 - Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
21 - Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

As I ponder these inspiring verses, I cannot help but think of David and his going alone before the giant Goliath. So filled with faith and the power of God, he "ran toward the army to meet the Philistine." And after prevailing over Goliath with a small stone and then beheading him with his own sword, the Philistine army fled in derision, in immediate fulfillment of David's originally bold declaration:

46 - This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47 - And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.

With such strength, knowledge, and confidence in a population standing in defense of freedom, any perpetrator of terror will begin to look exceedingly remote to them. Notice how David did not feel sympathetic to the Philistines or their threatening champion; nor did he attempt to engage in "meaningful" or "robust" peace talks to assuage their desire to conquer by asking Goliath: "Why do you hate us?" For how can a reasonable man reason with a brute who says, "Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field." If only Neville Chamberlain, the once "savior of modern Europe" acted similarly toward  Hitler rather than be fair to German concerns!

David [Israel], did not run from the drums of terror. He instead ran to face them, in full stride and filled with grace and power because of the promise the Lord made to make him [Israel] mighty unto deliverance. David also did not come out swinging, throwing objects carelessly forward at the giant in hope that one would deal the deadly blow. All it took was one sling. One stone. One aim. He won beforehand. This miraculous event reminds me of an ancient Samurai story about a disciple of Japan's greatest swordsmith, Masamune. This excerpt is taken from the novel, The 47th Samurai, by Stephen Hunter:

"A disciple of Japan's greatest swordsmith, Masamune, believes he has finally made a better blade than his teacher. Being vain and ambitious, he demands a competition. The old man resists but ultimately relents. The young man's blade is placed in a stream. Things drift down: it cuts...everything, twigs and leaves and fish. It cuts garbage and paper and bubbles. Everything that floats it sunders. Then the old man's blade is placed in the water. It cuts...nothing. Whatever floats to it is magically diverted. After a time, the young man exults.
I have won! My blade is better! My blade cuts everything, his nothing!
Old Masamune pulls his blade from the water with a smile.
Admit it, Master, says the young man. Mine is better. It cuts everything.
Old Masamune walks away, satisfied.
The young man sees a priest, who has watched the action.
Priest, tell him how much better my blade is. Make him see.
No, says the priest. His blade knew the way. It saw nothing that had to be cut. It brought no harm into the world. It has come to help the world; it is a blade of justice. Your blade, on the other hand, cut everything without discrimination. It is an evil blade. It has no morality. It should be destroyed."

The Master's blade is with Israel, whose steely resolve and military might continues to keep in check the numerous armies that surround them. While Israel possesses the advanced arsenal and weaponry necessary to deliver massive destruction on an apocalyptic scale to its dissatisfied neighbors, it chooses not to. Israel does not claim the deliberate murder of civilians as terrorists do but to the freedom and welfare of its countrymen and the spread of democracy to whomever desires its freeing effects. In truth, as George Washington once wrote, "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." Unlike the West, who cannot comprehend at all what life is like in the Middle East except for what the state-controlled media lay claim to, Israel understands that nothing can ever justify terrorism - toward anyone.  Like the justice blade of Masamune, which is moral and sharp, the world is a better place because of Israel. They remain a powerful force for good in a world gone dark and a true brother and friend to the United States. Sadly, however, many are unwilling to recognize their won sovereignty and their proven and committed efforts to rid the world of terror, viewing them instead as the "Little Satan." The old Psalm rings true, "And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love." (109:5)

Appropriately, on July 4, 1976, after a 53 minute rescue operation in an airport terminal at Entebbe, Uganda, an elite Israeli commando unit successfully rescued 103 hostages, killing all the hijackers who had brought them there by plane along with many of their Ugandan sympathizers. In one week, Israel had been able to formulate a stratagem to rescue their countrymen, gain the approval from their governing body, even attempt at negotiations despite the futility of such an endeavor, only to arrive in Uganda under cover of darkness in one of the greatest rescue missions ever undertaken - all completed in less than an hour. I mention this heroic operation, "Operation Thunderbolt," as evidence for moral clarity, excellence, and the righteous cause of freedom. In the wake of the mission, Israel rightfully received more support for its actions than condemnation. In his address to the United Nations Security Council, Israeli ambassador Chaim Herzog said:

"We come with a simple message to the Council: we are proud of what we have done because we have demonstrated to the world that a small country, in Israel's circumstances, with which the members of this Council are by now all too familiar, the dignity of man, human life and human freedom constitute the highest values. We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over a hundred innocent people - men, women, and children - but because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom."

Imagine how different the world would be if all nations stood in defiance to tyranny and terror with the same confidence that Israel so efficiently demonstrated in their answer to the terrorist actions made against them. In addition, with how David stood before Goliath, solemnly declaring the Lord's assurance that he would be able to "take thine head from thee." I would expect that international terror would no longer be able to function or receive sanctuary from their crimes against humanity; its entire network collapsing under the pulled rug of economic and political influence.

One of my favorite phrases in Latin is the term "Obsta Principiis," which means, "oppose bad things when they are small." This wise maxim would do us well if appropriately applied in all areas of our lives - at home, work, school, community, and nation. We must possess the will to win. Evil is like interest, it never sleeps, therefore it, like freedom, requires our constant vigilance. As Benjamin Netanyahu stated, "We have received a wake-up call from hell. Now, the question is simple: Do we rally to defeat this evil, while there is still time, or do we press a collective snooze button and go back to business as usual?"

It is my prayer and hope that we will lift up our heads, wipe the sand from our eyes and hair, and embrace freedom with our brothers in Israel, demanding from our leaders their support for that great country - at all costs - so that we can share in their grief and defiance as they did with us when our own nation was on fire on 9/11. I love the people of Israel and their unwavering commitment to the cause of freedom and peace. Let us not forget the cost of freedom and to recognize more abundantly the guiding hand of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, who holds our two great nations graven upon his bruised palms by which all things have been and are made possible.

May we never have to bemoan the words, "Blind among enemies, O worse than chains."

Today we are all Israelis.

Long live the fighters

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