I concur with the sentiments of Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who has called out the Archbishop of Canterbury over his simplistic statement on the Israel-Gaza War.
In calling for a ceasefire, the Church of England prelate had reportedly said: “The misuse of hospitals by Hamas does not justify attacks by Israel. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
But we are talking about retaliatory action in the face of the most brutal assault on Jews since the Holocaust. Yet somehow, instead of Israel being seen as the victim of an unprovoked attack, the focus has switched to the inevitable devastation of Gaza, fanning the flames of virulent Jew-hatred across the world.
Such comments by Archbishop Justin Welby only serve to further fuel the fast-spreading wildfires of antisemitism.
But it’s worth noting that he no longer has the respect of all worldwide Anglicans, most of whom have broken off their links with Canterbury.
His statement coincides with the vote by Church of England bishops to bless same-sex relationships with a special service, on which he abstained. So it’s not surprising that he is missing the mark by a mile on an issue related to Israel.
Liberal churches who treat God’s word with disdain seem naturally to take sides with the Jewish state’s enemy.
As for retaliation, if we Brits were bombarded by a French army intent on plunder and pillage, we surely wouldn’t expect our government to turn the other cheek.
Just as Germany was reduced to a heap of rubble because they touched the ‘apple of God’s eye’, so Gaza is being bombed to ashes because their leaders foolishly chose to follow the Nazis’ example.
Why are woke left-wingers struggling so much to see that we are not simply dealing with a warmongering group ready to negotiate acceptable peace terms, but with a monster of apocalyptic proportions fitting the end-time scenario described in the Bible?
After all, Hamas – both in Hebrew and Arabic which are closely related – means violence. The clue is in the name, with their aim being to slaughter every Jew on the planet. And when they achieve that, the Christians will be next.
What we are witnessing on the streets of London and elsewhere is an outpouring of venomous antipathy towards God himself, a massive rebellion against ultimate authority.
The flood of Noah’s time came because the world was full of violence (Genesis 6:11) – that is, it was full of Hamas. And so it was destroyed, except for the few who kept faith with God.
Significantly, Jesus likened the days leading up to his return to the time preceding the flood (Luke 17:26). We live in a violent world with over 100 conflicts as I write, yet with disproportionately more focus on Israel’s supposed oppression of Palestinians.
But God is building an ark for those seeking safety and salvation from the real oppressors – the likes of Hamas – in the shape of Messiah Jesus who has paid the price for our sins by dying on a cross at Jerusalem and rising from the dead as the first fruits of all who believe him.
The BBC and other mainstream media constantly focus on Israel as the supposed aggressors. But when the RAF bombed Dresden, Darmstadt and other major German cities, one could hardly blame the British for the mass destruction caused. That fell squarely on the shoulders of one Adolf Hitler. Ditto Hamas (and its backers Iran) in the case of Gaza.
Yet after the murderous assault of October 7th, it was devilishly uncanny how quickly the focus shifted to the admittedly terrible plight of Gazan citizens.
As it is, pro-Hamas hatemongers were allowed to take to our streets ad nauseam to stoke up the fires of antisemitism – even challenging our heroic fight for freedom won at such great cost. If a similar situation had occurred during World War II, I should think many protestors (and journalists too perhaps) would have been tried for treason.
I suppose we should have seen this coming. For it was exactly six months earlier, on April 7th, that the British-Israeli family of Rabbi Leo Dee was targeted by terrorists in Samaria. The former north London rabbi suffered the unimaginable loss of his wife and two of his daughters in a brutal assassination depicted by the BBC as simply part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as if the rabbi’s family were combatants.
The BBC are now reduced to describing Hamas as an organisation proscribed as terrorists by our government rather than themselves. In their shocking arrogance and naivety, they can’t bring themselves to admit that the perpetrators of the October 7th massacre might – just might – be of a terrorist disposition.
Former head of BBC Television Danny Cohen has called for a long-overdue independent inquiry into the corporation’s editorial and management failures in its reporting of Israel.
Stephen Daisley in The Spectator cited the case of a Reuters report horrendously skewed, so that whereas the news agency quoted the IDF saying that specially trained medical teams and Arabic speakers were being taken into Al Shifa Hospital to minimise harm to civilians, the BBC reported it as the IDF targeting medical staff and people who speak Arabic!
Israel’s ancient enemy, the Philistines, who lived in Gaza, eventually became extinct in fulfilment of the prophecy of Amos (Amos 1:8) due to their persistent violence against Israel – though they weren’t Arabs, but a Greek sea-faring people.
What we are witnessing is primarily a spiritual, not physical, battle. Many in Gaza are reaching out to God for help and – even before the latest conflict – were being reconciled with their Jewish cousins through the love of Jesus.
Pray for a great awakening to the Prince of Peace who came for both Jew and Arab. Most of us cannot join the physical battle, but we can be spiritual soldiers! “You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6f)
Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; To the Jew First, A Nation Reborn, and King of the Jews, all available from Christian Publications International.
This may be extreme. It’s cruel the torment the hostages and their families have to endure. However, they should recognise that Hamas are exploiting their grief to to destroy more Israelis. Hostage taking is clearly a weapon Hamas uses.
In response, instead of releasing three terrorists for each hostage, Israel might consider executing three terrorists for each hostage lost. Perhaps that will give the families a sense of justice being done.
Christianity is still failing to embrace its Jewish heritage. Like the Philistines it reveres its Hellenistic heritage more, and so becomes God’s and Israel’s enemy. This needs to change. It formally rejected its Jewish heritage at Nicaea in 325 AD. National Israel could call out Christianity for departing from its biblical directives, and insist that Christianity consider Israel as its elder brother. [Luke 15]
The demonisation of Israel and the crowds’ shouting of Jewish people to be slaughtered are reminiscent of the mistreatment the Lord Jesus Himself endured, aren’t they? Only He can and He will vindicate His People in His time.
When I see what is going on in the Middle East and in the world as a whole, Revelation 13:5-10 no longer sounds too far away from the reality.
The important thing for us to remember though is that the Sovereign Lord God is “in control” over the Middle East and over His entire Salvation History.
All media are gutter press and vultures who twist the truth abominably. I don’t have anything to do with them at all! God knows all and His time of retribution is not far off. Look out all you who think God has forsaken Israel.