Gaza conflict taking its toll on civilians
by Michelle A Vu
Posted: Sunday, January 4, 2009, 9:19 (GMT)
As Israel’s assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues, Christian groups are increasingly speaking out against the attacks on civilians and especially children, who make up more than half of the Gaza population.
“It is the most vulnerable – children and other civilians – who experience the greatest suffering in these situations,” highlighted international humanitarian aid World Vision in a statement. “Furthermore, an untold number of children in Gaza and southern Israel live in fear as a result of the broken ceasefire.
“We mourn for all those killed and are deeply concerned with the lasting impact of this violence on the affected populations,” the agency added.
On Saturday morning, the Israeli military dropped leaflets over northern Gaza to warn civilians to “leave the area immediately”, according to CNN. Israeli tanks are crouching on the Gaza border waiting for orders to invade and Israeli ground troops began moving into Gaza on Saturday, according to Israel Defense Forces.
Now in its eighth day, the Israel-Gaza conflict has resulted in at least 421 deaths and 2,200 people injured in Gaza, according to Palestinian medical sources. Israeli authorities say four Israelis have died and 57 have been wounded since December 27.
The latest outbreak of violence in Gaza is the worst in terms of casualties since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Among the civilians caught in the crossfire is the small Christian community in Gaza.
“They (Christians) are not part of Hamas, they’re not Israelis or they’re not Jewish, they’re not Muslim, they’re Christians,” Dr Carl Moeller, head of Open Doors USA, told The Christian Post.
While Moeller readily acknowledges Hamas has “provoked” Israel's attack by firing rockets into its territory, he highlights the amount of return damage to Gaza is “unbelievable”.
“So many unarmed women and children are being killed,” Moeller lamented. “It’s hard to imagine this is just a response to rocket attacks to Israel.
“I think it’s really part of a larger plan of Israel to once and for all eradicate Hamas as a military force.”
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Added: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 22:39 (GMT)
Independent observers and journalists - Joel Rosenberg, Stan Goodenough, for instance - have reported on the Hamas strategy of forcing Palestinian civilians, women and children mostly, into building, like the US Hospital, putting rocket launchers on the roofs of them and firing them to attract Israeli jets to cause an attack! Then Hamas make political propaganda, promoting the victimhood of Palestinians and their current 'suffering', against Israel. And the Western press and govts are swallowing it whole.
Hamas is an Iranian-backed, Hezbollah-supported, anti-Semitic, terrorist group who staged both a coup, against the democratically approved Palestinian Authority, and held a forced a 'democratic' election to ratify its position, then caused the suffering of the Gazan Arabs, blaming Israel, to foment both hatred against Israel, and swell its own ranks. All of this, and more, is recorded fact, though a lot of it was via Israeli intelligence - and, therefore seen as suspect, as we are not allowed to know the raw data - and summarily discounted, or passed over, by the Western secular press (BBC, Sky News, CNN, printed media, ect), and we end up being given the Pro-Islamic Arabian victimhood, anti-Israeli (so-called 'bully-boys', using neo-Nazistic tactics), and not the true, unvarnished truth.
So here it is - Hamas is an Iranian-supported organisation, who uses its own people in a cynical way to destroy the reputation of Israel, and its supporters, and follow the Koranian edict to utterly destroy the Jews in any way possible!
Don't be fooled, check all the news sources, both Christian and secular, and then pray and ask God what His opinion is! Amen.
Chris Maguire, Ventnor, IOW, UK
Added: Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 7:38 (GMT)
Certain things are not in our control and rightfully so. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father". Even sparrows. It behoves us to do what we can do, when we are/have been given the opportunity to do so, and have already been commissioned to do by our Lord, instead of lamenting at this late stage and only voice protest which is not the mandate given us by our Lord.
I appreciate that Christian aid agencies may have already gone into the Gaza strip and the West Bank. Yet, surely, there must be those, many more, who heard His voice, His call, as individuals, church and church groups, [sitting in the comfort and safety of our pews] so that our Lord will not have to, when we face Him, utter to us, "I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."
...and more importantly, to share with those in the Gaza and the West Bank who are willing to receive, the Good News Story.
Let not their blood be on our hands as we have no excuse, when we hear
the ".. voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
and hopefully, your answer, "Here am I! Send me."
In spite of any danger, as "they ...conquered him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."
ong siong kai, Jakarta, Indonesia
