Today is officially day 20 of a conflict in the Middle East that threatens to spiral out of control and involve the economic and geopolitical might of major powers--and it appears Israel has reneged on its promise of a 48 hour reprieve for the Lebanese people from air strikes.

Some of you may wonder why I'm so hard on Israel, and why--in your view--I may be forgetting about the insane and murderous actions of both Hamas and Hizballah which ignited this war.

I haven't forgotten--I do, in fact, lay part of the blame at the feet of those two groups for provoking Israel into escalating the situation to the brink of regional war (as well as for being, in general, quite murderous toward Israeli civilians during the past 6 years) . . . but the responsibility for stopping this war and behaving like a civilized nation-state does not belong to Hamas or Hizballah (neither of which constitute nation-states themselves) but to Israel. Israel has the tanks, Israel has the planes, Israel has the military firepower and the staunch support of the United States--and Israel also has, at present, the initiative.

Ladies and gentlemen, part of agreeing to end a war involves one side (at least one) volunteering to stop fighting! As a state with an army, governmental apparatus, and economy of its own, Israel is the only party to this conflict that can successfully end it by volunteering to lay down its weapons. Hamas and Hizballah are non-governmental entities, little more than stateless militias--they don't have the kind of room to "voluntarily disarm" or "stop fighting" that Israel does in the heat of battle. And in case you're confused about how lopsided this battle is, let me draw up a scorecard for you:

Hizballah: approximately 50 Israelis killed
Hamas: almost no Israelis killed
Israel: hundreds of Lebanese dead, and hundreds of Palestinians dead, plus the seizure of 70 members of the Palestinian Authority government and the destruction of Lebanon--all in the space of 3 or 4 weeks

Does it really seem to you like either one of those first two groups is actually winning here? I've kept track of the casualties via cnn.com over the past 3 weeks, my friends, and it seems that for every member of Hamas or Hizballah that Israel kills, 3 or 4 more Palestinian or Lebanese civilians also die. The United States wouldn't wage a war this way, at least not without rethinking its interest in whatever military objectives it hoped to achieve . . . and to me, this war has appeared to be about nothing more grandiose than revenge.

I don't blame Israel, however, any more than I blame anyone else choosing to unleash bullets and bombs in the Middle East--after all, there are generations of hatred involved there--but I do believe the blame belongs to everyone, and with every passing day of obfuscation, lies, and genocide, I find myself becoming more and more uninterested in the rhetoric aimed at persuading me that one side in this war is any more guilty than others.

My heart breaks at the loss of life in the Middle East, and particularly at the way in which the lives of children in the region are (apparently) considered of no value by all sides. Today I read of yet another careless slaughter of children--the same one that is making headlines today around the world--and what dismays me most is not the fact that even more of the people that God's angels (according to Jesus) constantly intercede for in Heaven are now part of the growing list of the dead . . . but that my government, and particularly the President of the United States, is either too incompetent or too uncompassionate (or both) to lift a finger to stop this madness.

Perhaps my saying this opens me to the label of "un-American" or "unpatriotic" or "anti-Israel" . . . but at this point, I don't give a damn. I have sat by and watched while a war potentially volatile enough to involve Syria and Iran (and--if it does--an exchange of weapons of mass destruction) and another war in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority--both of which have seen the callous (yes, callous) slaughter of unarmed civilians, many of them women and children, has filled my heart with mourning for the innocent dead for 19 days, and I have had it.

As an American citizen, I call upon anyone reading this blog (and I mean you, fellow bloggers) to begin to call our government to account for its outrageous and inexcusable hesitation to call for an immediate cease fire between Israel and its opponents.

I am sick of the President's (and the State Department's) excuses, and I am sick of the Congress competing for who has the most bragging rights for supporting Israel while a war of (to me) dubious merit, unwarranted (and unrighteous) devastation, and utter disregard for the sanctity of human families (and particularly children) perpetuates itself, and threatens to spill over into other countries and other regions of the Middle East.

If Bush calls himself a Christian, then for the life of me, I would like for him to explain why he apparently shows absolutely no concern for those whose angels, as Jesus said, have constant access to the ear of God. Furthermore, I would like to know why the systematic destruction of an entire country--which just recently came out of a civil war and was rebuilding itself--have not apparently reached the ears of either the President, the Vice President, or of the House and the Senate (and by the House and Senate, I mean both the Republican and Democratic parties, which are equally guilty of enabling this damnable debauchery of annihilation, blood, and mayhem to go on unremarked through their enthusiastic support of one of its chiefest culprits).

I call upon anyone in our government to listen to this plea, and I call upon any blogger who stumbles upon this blog and this little blog entry to do something, to spread the word, to raise a nationwide call to our government and our leaders to

STOP

THE

VIOLENCE!!!

Thank you.

I've been reading the meaning of the Koran (that's what Muslims call translations of the Koran, and it's an important point in their beliefs--one has not actually read the Koran if one has read a translation from the Arabic), and I am currently in the second "Sura" (or chapter) called "Baqara" or "The Heifer" (referring to the golden calf that the Israelis constructed in the Sinai while Moses was receiving the Testimony from God).

And I have to say . . . for those of you who are under the illusion that Muslims worship a different God than their Christian and Jewish brethren, I haven't seen one element of the Koran that doesn't echo a profound truth (and/or verse) from either the Old or New Testaments.

The first Sura discusses God's divinity (by the way, "Allah" is Arabic for "God") and as a segueway into the second Sura begins the narrative of the first man and woman on Earth--a narrative that bears remarkable resemblance to Genesis 2-3. Adam, Eve, man's sin, man's callous disregard for his neighbors and the creation God made--all of these are covered quite adeptly (and accurately) in the translation I read.

Then comes the discussion of the heifer (or, to those of you schooled in the book of Exodus, the golden calf;)) which (again) is very adept and very accurate, right down to the description of the Testimony and commandments God gave the people of Israel--which included, among other things, a standing order (through many commandments) to treat the poor and the powerless with respect (charity is something mentioned over and over again in the translation I'm reading, but of course, anyone schooled in the Torah knows that God's version of "charity" in the Old Testament was very radical, evocative of present-day Communism) (if you don't believe me, look up "jubilee" in any version of the Bible on biblegateway.org).

The Koran is mentioned in the translation of Sura 2 that I've read, but it is mentioned as a book from God that "confirms" what has already been revealed via the Old and New Testaments, not as a book that "supercedes" the Old and New Testaments--and I have yet to see any major discrepancies between what I'm reading and the Bible (so far).



I think a lot of the Muslim faith. After all, they have a very keen sense of what it is to obey God (which, sadly, many Christians in America do not), and the disciplines of Islam are, in my opinion, second-to-none, both in the degree of self-control they entail and in their balance (unlike many other religions of the world, Islam only entails 5 disciplines, as opposed to 105 or 1005). And, contrary to what you may believe after watching the news over the past 6 years, they do believe in a God who is merciful (in fact, the translation of the Koran I'm reading describes God repeatedly as "Most Merciful").

It is sad that the Middle East's exposure to Christianity has largely come through violence. I think Muslims and Christians have a lot of common ground, and it would have been very fruitful for both groups to have spent the past 1300 years or so in dialogue and peace rather than as enemies.

I am an American, of American descent (as many generations back as there was an America, and then some)--but my heart has always been in the Middle East. It is a region of great tragedy--from the failed attempt on the part of God's people (Israel) to maintain their place in Palestine in ancient times, to the wars and rumors of wars that dominated the region before and after the Roman Empire, to the failed Christian "New Jerusalem" of the Middle Ages, to the complex rivalrise, hostilities, and identities that have raged across the region over the past century or so. And it is a region of great tragedy, largely because unlike other regions of the world, the Middle East is a place of strong traditions, values . . . and memories.

Ten years ago, something unheard of in a region where people who do not strike back when struck are often dismissed was in the process of happening: a full, complete move across the Middle East toward peace. Personally, I don't care what all of you Rapture freaks out there have to say about Daniel 9:27 and about peace in the Middle East bringing on the end of the world. This region has seen more war, more bloodshed, and more random (and utterly irrational) violence between nations, neighbors, and brothers than I care to comment on in this post, and those deaths (and the violence of the Middle East) are not unimportant in the eyes of God.

It is this particular point of view that I want to address today because it is, I believe, at the heart of why things have come to the point at which they are now in the Middle East. A couple of days ago, on NPR, I heard a Christian leader say, and I paraphrase, that it is a biblical mandate that every Christian support Israel (I believe the exact words he used were "the Bible commands"). Ladies and gentlemen, I have been reading the Bible over and over again for 6 years, ever since I first came to Christ, and I have yet to see one verse saying anything about Christians supporting Israel. I also have yet to read a verse that promises a blessing or special favor from God to be bestowed on Israel's supporters (another teaching that I have personally heard in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex).

The following is the closest thing I can see to a biblical "injunction" on the matter of Christians/Israel:

17If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 20Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
--Romans 11:17-21

Paul's letter to the Romans addressed a specific community of Christians made up of Gentiles (whom he describes in this passage as ingrafted branches) and Jews (whom he describes as the branches that have been broken off). This passage, in particular, calls upon Jewish and Gentile Christians alike to consider the "root" (Christ--the source of their faith) over and above their particular standing as "branches" of the root. In other words, Paul was having the same conversation with the Roman believers that Jesus had with his disciples over and over again, the conversation that almost always began with the question, "Rabbi, which of us is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

Nowhere in this passage is there an injunction (or anything that could be interpreted as an injunction) for believers to support Israel. (In fact, for most of the time in which the New Testament was transmitted and published, Israel did not even exist, so I wonder how such a reading is even possible.) Verse 21 even seems to undercut the idea, pointing out that God (as outlined in the Hebrew Bible) in effect "disinherited" Israel because of its wickedness and stubborn refusal to listen to or obey the God of her forefathers, so that God (as also outlined in the Hebrew Bible) does not show partiality between Jew and Gentile (or, in the Middle East of today, between Jew and Arab) and considers everyone in the world his "people."

In other words, God can "inherit" and "disinherit" whomever he chooses, and it is one's relationship to God via Christ that determines one's "standing," not family or blood or nationhood.

And it seems the words of Christ 2000 years ago about turning the other cheek, loving one's enemies, and sacrificing one's life for one's brothers have gotten lost in the zeal among some Christians to take sides in the current war between Israel and its neighbors.

I will post my own thoughts soon--but for now, I feel the voices of the war's victims speak for themselves:

Your e-mails: Stranded in Beirut

Tuesday, July 18, 2006; Posted: 3:49 p.m. EDT (19:49 GMT)

(CNN) -- CNN.com asked readers who are attempting to evacuate from areas in the Middle East or who have family there to send us their stories. Here is a sampling of the responses, some of which have been edited:

I was born in Lebanon and have lived here for most of my adult life. Not only am I living through the daily war in Beirut that you see on your TV screens, but am also living my own personal war in my head. I have been evacuated from Lebanon three times in the past, the first in 1975. My own war is the decision that I have to make in deciding whether or not I am evacuated again this time. I have made my life in Beirut, which includes my home, my career and my friends/family. The situation here has forced me to rethink not only my safety but also to look at my longer term future in terms of what will be left of Lebanon after the Israelis have finished us off completely...It makes me want to cry thinking what it is I will be staying here for when it is all over.
Jane Jabbour, Beirut

My wife and I are currently in Beirut trying to get back home. Our embassy in Ottawa has told us that "you are trapped, there is nothing we can do, you are at war". The day before, the local Canadian embassy in Beirut told us that if we wanted to leave, we could drive to Damascus Syria. Fortunately we are staying with local residents who said don't do that, it's too dangerous. Two hours later the road was bombed. Our hosts may have saved our lives...There are over 50,000 Canadians currently abandoned here in Lebanon (according to our embassy). I could suggest chartering 10 of the many cruise ships in the Mediterranean, sending some of our ships in Halifax to make sure everyone stays safe, and asking the one country that matters here - Lebanon - if we can move the ships in to get our people out.
J. Konduros, Beirut

It took us seven hours to pass from Lebanon to Syria. All people were trying to leave with their families and it was real chaos...We left Beirut on Friday by road to Tripoli with three buses let by the Spanish embassy.
Javier Ramos Saralegui, Madrid, Spain

We are desperately trying to evacuate and have become more and more disappointed and angry with the way the evacuation is being handled. Every time we call the embassy they say they don't have a plan, yet hundreds will be evacuated today. We hear more about what's going on from CNN than we do from the US government and the American Embassy here. Planes fly very low over us every day and night...bombs drop in Dohi (southern Beirut) and shake the house.
Lina Fleihan, Greensboro, North Carolina

I have family stuck in Marjayoun, Lebanon that cannot reach the ports or Beirut. What happens to them? We have contacted every government office from here to the entire Middle East but the response is the same. No one can help and it seems like they are on their own....We have begged and pleaded with anyone and everyone but our kids still don't have water, food or medicine. But the media is telling everyone that those with medical necessity have already been evacuated. I guess that only means those lucky enough to be near Beirut!
Susan Omar, Clifton, New Jersey

I am an American citizen and a recent college graduate who traveled to Lebanon with my father for a three-week vacation. My father is a Lebanese-American and owns homes here in Lebanon. It is my first trip to Lebanon in eight years. We were enjoying Lebanon and all the country had to offer, we were scheduled to leave for Los Angeles, California, on the 13th Of July at 1 am. However due to the bombings we have been delayed. My father and I have been patiently waiting for the relief from the US embassy to take us out of here, with no luck. It has been seven days of air strikes and the United States seems to care little about the 25,000 Americans that are trapped here. My father has diabetes and a heart condition in which he already received a quadruple bi-pass heart surgery and the embassy has not put him on a priority list...I hope that whomever reads can help express the desperation that us Americans trapped here are feeling.
Kellee M Khalil, Los Angeles

And here are even more human voices, most of them people trying to get away from Lebanon (or, in some cases, people who are stuck there):

Your e-mails: Stories from the crisis
'Like a scary movie ... I just wish I was watching it, not living it'

Wednesday, July 19, 2006; Posted: 5:14 p.m. EDT (21:14 GMT)

(CNN) -- CNN.com asked readers affected by the attacks in the Middle East to share their stories. Here is a selection of the responses, some of which have been edited:

We went down to the port of Beirut this morning to board our escape vessel as told to do. We were there at 8 a.m. ... People were lined up in the sun and some people started fainting. As 11 a.m. approached people started getting panicky and crowded the gate even more. ... Desperate tourists started to climb the gate fence (which by now had been shut on us); they were pushed back. People were putting their luggage over the fence like a mosh-pit. At one stage we heard a child screaming, then we see the child being lifted up over the gate to the other side by the arms. People then started screaming at the organizers (it was all in Arabic so I couldn't understand). The organizers told everyone at about 12:15 p.m. to go home because the boat wasn't leaving ... Shaken and teary, we headed back the safety of our host's home.... This sounds like a scary movie. I just wish I was watching it, not living it.
Jay Konduros, Beirut, Lebanon

I'm a Lebanese citizen, living in a Christian area of eastern Beirut. Every nation is evacuating her citizens but we are trapped here waiting our turn to come. We're not working; we're not going anywhere, we are just praying for Jesus to save us from this evil called war. "What about us?" I ask.
Nathaly Baroud, Beirut, Lebanon

I am a 30-year-old Chilean living in Israel for 4 years, married to an Israeli engineer. We have a baby of 5 months; we live in a kibbutz about 30 minutes from Haifa. I'm afraid that the Israeli Army will call to my husband to help. It is scary waking up in the morning and running to the TV to see if the bombs are falling more near our house. But we have to continue our lives, this is what the terrorists want, to paralyze us with fear, and we are not going to let them win. We already learn to live, letting the security check our handbags in supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, stores, hospitals, etc. to protect us from the suicide bombs.
Rocio Lam, Israel

I am a U.S. citizen currently "living" in Beirut. I was married to a Lebanese national in June of this year. We have not yet filed for his U.S. visa as we did not plan to leave Lebanon until next Christmas. My family in America has pleaded for my return. My heart splits as I see the bombs explode near my new family and home in Beirut.
Melisa Kratz, Beirut, Lebanon

I wanted to post more human voices from the current madness going on in the Middle East (these are also courtesy of cnn.com, which has a web page full of emails from people caught in the middle of the Israel's hostilities with Lebanon:

Your e-mails: Crisis in the Middle East

Monday, July 17, 2006; Posted: 10:50 a.m. EDT (14:50 GMT)

(CNN) -- CNN.com asked readers affected by the attacks in the Middle East to send us their stories. Here is a sampling of the responses, some of which have been edited:

I am alive. We are in a cellar hiding from Israeli fire, but we are alive. We lack water, electricity and bread but we are alive. Our country is in ruins; all bridges and infrastructure are down, but we are alive. My 6-year-old wants the electricity to come on so that he can charge his PSP; to him that's a major issue. To me, we are alive, and that's enough.
Moustafa Assad, Sidon, Lebanon

I live in Haifa, the north sea port of Israel. Today, I lost a good friend, who was killed by the rocket that hit the city. Today, at 9 a.m. the sirens went off, and all of us, scared, went to find shelter. Then, we heard the noise of the rocket hitting its target, not knowing the location and the outcome. I tried to call my friend, who works in the Israeli railway workshop, with no answer. At that moment I felt that something happened to him. I tried a few more times to contact him and his family. I felt anxious and did not know what to do. Then, I got the call from another friend of ours. His voice was crying ... our friend was killed today, among the eight people killed in Haifa. May God bless him. He was so honest, so nice, so young! God, stop this bloodshed!
Nir, Haifa, Israel

I was in Lebanon two weeks ago visiting my family, along with my kids. I returned the end of June but both my boys are still there and were scheduled to return with their grandparents the 24th of July. They are 6 and 9 years of age. I am worried sick and praying for their safe return. No word from the embassy yet on a date for evacuation. I am working on a ticket to Cyprus to meet them there as soon as I know when they will be arriving. They are in Beirut currently and are acting braver than I ever was growing up in the war in Lebanon.
Rana Jaafar, Tulsa, Oklahoma

I am a Canadian living in Israel for nothing to do with political reasons (I met my Israeli husband while traveling in India 5 years ago). I have been living here for the past 3 years (although our permanent plans include settling in Canada). I used to live in Haifa, now I live in the same area (the North) but in a little town called Tivon (30 min south-east of Haifa). I was in Haifa when the bus got blown up and when the U.S. attacked Iraq. It was scary to be here when the bus was blown up and when we had to carry gas masks and there was the threat of biological warfare and scud missiles being launched on Israel. But it was new then. Now it's different. First off, I have a new baby, a 6 month old girl, my first child. Secondly, for the last while the rules of the game were the same. It was Israelis vs. the Palestinians. You sort of knew what to expect and you trusted that the Israeli security forces knew how to handle it and how to protect you, if you obeyed a few basic rules, like making sure you went to public places only if there was a security guard. As well as which, with the building of the separation fence, attacks in the North decreased and we all felt safer. Now, everything has changed and I am very anxious. Suddenly the rules of the war game are completely different. It's not the Palestinians and the Israelis anymore, it's also Lebanon. And through Lebanon it could get worse to include Syria and Iran. The entire region is completely unstable, which has always been the case, but for a while, it was stable in it's instability, everything is being reshuffled now. This sends me to panic at times. It could ignite so terribly fast with all the hot tempers and military strength around here in an area where force is the most frequently used way to get your point across. On the other hand, whatever I think of Israel's politics, it does do a fabulous job of protecting it's citizens. Israel is a strong military with the support of the U.S. Most likely we will be safe. The risk of a car accident is still greater than the risk of a rocket falling on you. And even though I can understand the average Israeli's take of the situation, for me, being a peacefully brought up Canadian, this experience vacillates between being terrifying (when I want to flee) and surreal (if I consider staying). In addition, the area where we are living is very close to an army base and we hear jets flying over at least every quarter hour. This doesn't help my emotions, as it is a constant reminder of the state of war which the region is in. Previously, we only heard the jets once or twice a week!
Ania Taller Tivon. Israel

I am an American Lebanese who lives in Lebanon; my husband lives in the States. We have three children who live with me in Lebanon... Now I'm here in Florida on vacation with my husband. I was supposed to go back to Lebanon at the end of July, but now I cannot. That is not the problem, the problem is that my three children who are only a 6-year-old girl (Millennia), a 5-year-old girl (Aya), and a 4-year-old boy (Jacob) are stranded alone in Lebanon. I and their dad are stuck here, no way to get there to bring them to the U.S.
Carolina Kmaid, Daytona Beach, Florida

I am an Israeli citizen and my parents are currently in the U.S. My mother is very worried and she calls me every day with much anxiety, as things seem even worse when you are far away from the events, especially if you are hooked up so closely to the Internet for a few hours each day. On the one hand I don't want to worry her, on the other, I myself am worried like everyone else, but I try to soften my reports. My mother is considering returning back home from a long-term trip. I work in a basement in Tel-Aviv, which suffers from bad air or lack of air more often than not, but no doubt it is the best place to be if a rocket hits here, like [Hassan] Nasrallah threatens. It's horrible that innocent people are hurt on both sides, but the world must know and understand that people like Nasrallah, [Osama] Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, cannot be reasoned with in a normal manner.
Shlomit Coen Maoz, Tel Aviv, Israel

I am a Lebanese-American who is visiting Lebanon for the summer. I was due to return on the 28th of July but now I am stuck and waiting for the evacuation. Lebanon is an amazing country and it is very sad that it is being destroyed this way. We are all hoping and praying that everyone stops bombing and people will quit dying. I have been lucky to be far away from any of the bombings, but it is sad to hear the jets fly over and to hear the bombs exploding in the distance. I can see Beirut from my balcony and even through the smoke I have faith we will rebuild and we will live again and Beirut will be beautiful again.
Ziad Chihane, Deek El Mehdi, Lebanon

I am 17 years old and I just arrived in Turkey. I escaped Beirut two days ago and it was the hardest decision I have ever made. I decided at 6 p.m. that I was going to leave Beirut via the only road left to Syria and then drive till the borders of Turkey. I stayed 20 hours in a bus full of people worried that we could get bombed at any moment. I feel so bad because I left all the people I love there and they are stuck now! This was supposed to be a very good summer with a lot of musical gigs and a lot of tourists, which was very good for Lebanon. I have no idea what's going to happen, I only hope that all of this madness is going to stop as soon as possible. This can't go on this way! This is the 21st century. How can people still think about war?
Janane, Beirut, Lebanon

On the verge of one of the most successful tourist seasons Lebanon has ever had, this conflict broke out to further burden a population already suffering from poverty and stagnation. It's a shame for a country that could -- and still can -- be a beacon for true democracy in the region to suffer such a setback. As a Lebanese citizen, I lived through all my life among war, death and destruction -- it grieves me now to see my children living in the same conditions I swore I would never let them see.
Iyad Abdelnour, Beirut, Lebanon

I have a 15-year-old child in Israel. He was sent there for five weeks with other children to see and visit the country. We, like many others, are helpless in making arrangements for his return.
Denise Kalt, Franklin, Michigan

I am 16, and I am in Lebanon with my two younger brothers. My parents are frantic with worry, but there is no way out. All major roads in the country have been destroyed. We are stuck, and our embassy is not even answering the phone anymore. We have no idea what is going on. All we want now is to go home.
Jenna, Chemstar, Lebanon

I live in the area that has just been threatened. The situation here is serious because the area a missile may strike is not clear. I feel safe though because we are in a city due east of Tel Aviv, and hopefully it is safer here. For now it is relatively calm. I do volunteer at the police station, and if anything happens in my area I need to go and help. ... I have been living in Israel for a year; I was living in the States my whole life before this. This is my first experience being so close to a war, and it is much different than hearing about it on the news.
Eric, Hod Hashron, Israel

I'm an American citizen vacationing with my father in Lebanon. We were set to leave the 14th of July, but since the bombings are stuck in Lebanon. We find ourselves like the Lebanese people: hostages, terrorized by Israeli bombs, with nobody to defend us. We are frantically awaiting relief from the U.S. Embassy.
Kellee, Los Angeles, California

I came to live in Israel 15 years ago from the United States. At the time I genuinely believed that there was a great opportunity for peace. But now, as I sit here in my home, not far from Haifa, I realize how things have gone terribly wrong and how much things have changed. I used to be a "leftie." Now I am no longer sure how I would define myself. The only thing that comes to mind is "tired and scared." I ask myself, how did this happen? Where did we go wrong? Why are there rockets and missiles attacking all of us? But one thing is for sure, hatred and anger are seeping into my heart. The sympathy and understanding are flowing out. With each Katyusha that lands here, the flow speeds up.
Cheryl, Zichron, Israel

In the zeal to protect regional, global, or ideological concerns, it sometimes becomes easy to forget the all-too-human side of war.

To those of you who have "taken sides" in the conflict between Israel and its neighbors, I submit the following article, published on cnn.com earlier today:



Your e-mails: Crisis in the Middle East

Sunday, July 16, 2006; Posted: 12:30 p.m. EDT (16:30 GMT)

(CNN) -- CNN.com asked readers affected by the attacks in the Middle East to send us their stories. Here is a sampling of the responses, some of which have been edited:

I am sitting in my kitchen eating a falafel, hearing the rockets whizzing overhead. Out in the blue sea I can see the Israeli warships block our port. My six children are terrified, and they are not able to go to school. We are all brothers and sisters in this world. May this war end soon.
Mohammed Abu Sheikh, Beirut, Lebanon

My daughter was studying at the Lebanese American University in Beirut and is a student at Boston College. [The students] have escaped to Byblos with the clothes on their back. She called today in total desperation. The adjoining town of Junieh has been bombed, cell phone towers are down and the Christian enclave they were told would be a safe haven is now under attack. Her plea -- and that of all the students in her group -- was, "Please, mommy, don't let us die here. Everyone is now terrified and desperate. This Christian area of safety is under attack. When are we going to be evacuated?"
Jean Kluck, Farmingdale, New York

I am one of 6 students from Teaneck, New Jersey, who came to Israel for a three-week program from the UJA Federation of Bergen County to work in Nahariya in a day camp for Israelis, teaching them English. We were in Nahariya when the missiles started, and we heard the noises, and even witnessed a field that had been hit by a missile. We spent a total of about eight hours in a bomb shelter, four at night (Wednesday), and four again in the morning (Thursday), and were only then taken out when the roads were "safe enough" for a cab to take us. Where we are now is somewhat of a safer place, but we're still in the relative north. We constantly still hear the missiles hitting, and we see and hear the military planes and helicopters flying above. Initially we were going to be moved in Nazareth, but due to the escalating circumstances, our program has now been cancelled. Personally, I will still be staying in Israel until August 7 as previously planned, but I believe the rest of the kids on the program are being sent home. We're all hoping that the situation improves fast and that Israel and its people will no longer be in danger.
Gavi Lewy-Neuman, Shcania, Israel

I'm Lebanese and I live in the U.S., but I came to Kuwait to visit my parents, and we were all planning on going back home to Lebanon to spend a wonderful summer, as we do every year. But the attacks happened. They destroyed the airports and destroyed every means of transportation for people in the southern villages and towns to leave.

I'm from a small village in the south called Ain-ebel. We do not support Hezbollah, but 15 Israeli missiles hit and destroyed my beautiful village. We are devastated. My relatives are there: my aunt, my cousins and my uncle -- not to mention those Lebanese who were supposed to spend two weeks in Ain-ebel for the summer and leave. Now these people are stuck, in constant fear, under attack. Hezbollah missiles were planted in our village, and they're firing from Ain-ebel's territory without the consent of the people who live there.

The roads that lead to Beirut are destroyed, the bridges that lead to Beirut are destroyed, and everyone is stuck there with no food, no electricity and no water. The people from that village are trying to help our families there by spreading the word that we, those people and towns that do not support Hezbollah or their actions, are innocent. People are hiding in the church, which was renovated not too long ago. It is a big church, but can it take Israeli missiles?

My relatives are scared of dying, are scared of ending up homeless again; we don't not want history to repeat itself. We have had enough. I call on the Lebanese all over the world and the U.N.: Please help my village survive this dreadful act of Hezbollah. I feel betrayed, that nobody is mentioning those people back in my village. Those who have no voice to be heard, I refuse to let them die in vain. Hezbollah is getting out of control to the point of declaring war against Israel, without the consent of the Lebanese government. They are destroying what Lebanon had been trying to rebuild for the past 10 years just for the lives of three prisoners, is it worth it?

I'm not there right now, but I can be their voice. Lebanon will live on. They are fighting each other on Lebanese soil, and this is immoral.
Dana K., Tempe, Arizona

I am of Armenian descent. I have all my relatives in Lebanon. My entire family, including my son and my little nephew, went to visit our relatives. I have been constantly calling them to make sure they are safe. I was frightened when I heard the port in Junieh was hit, because they were at the chalet in Junieh. I went crazy when I couldn't get ahold of them. When I finally got through, they told me they had escaped into a basement. My son was crying for me to help him. He's only 13. My nephews are 5 and 2. I also have a newborn niece. Can you please help us to find a quick escape? I heard Italy and other countries have been successful in taking their citizens.
Rose, Sarasota, Florida

My daughter Lana is going to be 14 on August 1. She went to Los Angeles to visit her father for part of the summer and then after one week got an invitation to go visit her father's relatives and cousins. I felt a bit hesitant, though she has been going to Beirut ever since she was a baby. This time she went with relatives of her grandparents, leaving to Beirut via Paris. I didn't want to disappoint her and say no, so I agreed when her father told me of the trip. I am now very concerned for her safety as well as the safety of the family she is with. They are wonderful people, and I know they are doing everything possible to comfort her. I myself used to go every summer and found Lebanon beautiful and its people full of life despite the past civil war and all of the hardship these people have suffered. As a mother, I feel so helpless and as a human being feel so sad that Lebanon must once again face possible ruin of its sovereignty and the strength it took so long to rebuild. Mr. Rafik Hariri would be so sad to see this country he loved and worked so hard to rebuild return to such a horrible past. May God help everyone reach peace and may God return my beautiful daughter safe and unharmed soon.

Sincerely, a mother wishing to hug her daughter and tell her how much she loves her.
Linda Hageali, Miami, Florida

My wife just spoke to her aunt in Carmiel, northern Israel. Her aunt just came back with her family from vacation only to find her new house hit with a Katyusha, which landed in her daughters' room. Had they not gone on vacation, her teenage daughters would have been dead.
Alex, Staten Island, New York

People are desperate. The telephone number posted only says the lines are full, call back later, and then clicks off. My beautiful daughter and family are trapped in southern Lebanon, in Sidon, now without even cell phone contact. Last news was Israel was bombing randomly in the region. This is unacceptable.
Brenda Rose, Montreal, Quebec

I am a Lebanese American currently staying at my family's country residence in Shemlan, Lebanon, located in the mountains above Beirut. My fiance and I came here with the intentions of writing our graduate school dissertations and enjoying the vibrant city life, beautiful beaches and natural beauty of Lebanon. We now find ourselves watching in disbelief as the bombs fall and smoke billows in the city below us. As I write this I am sitting in the garden, amidst three dozen olive trees, a symbol of peace that now seems so distant. We pray for a resolution and anxiously await news of evacuation.
Patricia Karjian, Shemlan, Lebanon

I am studying at a university in Jerusalem, but I live in Toronto. I want to say that the situation appears to be surprisingly normal here in Jerusalem. People are going about their daily routines as normal, and I am continuing my research and studies at the hospital. I also have a younger sister who is in Tel Aviv doing volunteer work for another week before returning to Toronto. She also hasn't noticed anything unusual there, but we are both keeping up-to-date with the situation. The current situation is in stark contrast to six years ago in Jerusalem, when I was also here during my first degree, during the initial phase of the Second Intifada. At that time, people here were much more affected by the suicide bombings in the city occurring on a near-daily basis. The fear of terror is nothing new to the people here, and I guess it shows in the way people are handling the current situation.
Benji Matta, Toronto, Ontario

The nation of Israel is going berserk, ladies and gentlemen.

I feel like I'm living in the '70s again.

And they're going after Lebanon, a nation that (as anyone with any interest in history, or even the news, knows) has as much control over random terrorist groups operating inside its borders (or anything else, for that matter) as a goldfish would have over a river. Half the nation is (and has been) occupied, if not outright ruled, by Syria for decades, and oh, by the way, Israel itself only recently stopped occupying southern Lebanon back in 2000.

I don't have any sympathy for Hamas and Hezbollah, either (they were asking to get their asses kicked, doing what they did), but it seems like the Israeli government is in the middle of some sort of "postal" episode, and we may end up seeing a full-scale war between Israel and several other Middle Eastern nations by the time everything is finished.

Today I was very saddened (as I have been saddened all week) to learn of the violence that has, once again, broken out between the Israeli Defense Forces and (what is left of) the Palestinian Authority. As a citizen of a country that supports the IDF and the Israeli government as a whole, and as a believer in Christ, I find the events of the past 7 years in the Middle East . . . nothing short of appalling.

Personally, I blame Arafat for getting this slide into chaos started. He had an opportunity to accept a peace compromise with Israel that would have secured the future of his people for all time, and he pissed it all away for a stretch of land that anyone who believes in Christ knows to be absolutely meaningless: the Temple Mount. Let me be blunt here: even if the Israelis were to somehow reconstruct the ancient Temple of Solomon, and even if they were able to annex all of the rest of Jerusalem, it would all be for nothing. And why? Because "God does not dwell in temples made by human hands" but instead dwells in the body of believers via the Holy Spirit.

Arafat had things going for him--he had the world in his back pocket--and he threw it all away on some meaningless agenda. And now human lives are being taken, and have been taken for the past 6 or 7 years, and for what? Can any reader of this blog say to me for certain that what these two armies are fighting for is worth one human life, let alone the thousands that have been extinguished in the current Israeli/Palestinian hostilities?

Arafat, however, is not the only one I blame (yes, Sharon had a hand in what went on, but to me, he always seemed more of an opportunist who took advantage of the situation to make things worse--and besides, we all know he wasn't a peacemaker). No, while Arafat did, through his egotism, begin a cycle of violence that continues (and grows worse) to this day, a larger villain has been orchestrating the demise of peace in the Middle East.

That villain . . . is dispensational Christianity.

I used to be a dispensational Christian. I used to believe in the whole "seven year tribulation/rebuild the temple and rapture the world" point of view regarding eschatology, but the more I read the book of Revelation--indeed, the more I read the Bible, the less it makes sense. I won't even get into the fact that Matthew 24, Daniel 9, and Revelation 13 promise only 3 and a half years of tribulation (before the coming of the Lord). I won't mention that the Bible does not guarantee a rapture of believers in Christ before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, and that the very fact that this has been an issue of such hot controversy among Christians should indicate how fragile the ground on which any eschatologist can make claims regarding the rapture (or any other aspect of the end times) really is. And I won't mention that in the days before Jesus came the first time, there were a great many divergent theories about who the messiah would be and how he would come to Israel--and that, God and humanity not having changed very much during the past 2000 years, it is highly unlikely that Christ's second coming will be any more "predictable".

No, what I intend to focus on in my remarks is the utter lack of regard that dispensational Christianity seems to have for the degree of human suffering in the Middle East. It seems as though the Crusades have been re-inaugurated. Iraq has become, like the Kingdom of Jerusalem was for the medieval Crusaders, our "kingdom of heaven," and the people who live there, the people whose lives were turned upside down by our support of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War (which, by the way, he started), our war against Iraq in 1991 (motivated by our protection of the oil that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had been sending us), a decade of sanctions against Hussein (which only resulted in his rule of Iraq becoming more brutal), and our wanton destruction of Iraq's infrastructure in 2003 (on, it seems, trumped up charges issued against Hussein) . . . those everyday people, those men, women, and children got lost somewhere in dispensational Christianity's zeal for the times of the end to come.

Thankfully, the human equation in Iraq seems to have resurfaced in the national consciousness, and the people of Iraq--the everyday men and women and families of a nation torn apart by our decades of selfish policies--seem to have registered in the minds and conversations of conservative Christians.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the Palestinians.

Or the Israelis, for that matter.

I wonder, would it surprise my readers to know that much of Israeli culture is secular, not religious? To be sure, there is a religious culture in Israel as well, but it is not the dominant culture--in fact, the religious parties in Israel constitute a small minority in the Knesset (Israel's parliament). They allied with Sharon's Likud party for a time, but the agenda of Likud is definitely far more territorial and nationalistic than "eternal". Israeli society, from what I've seen, is quite Westernized, although there is much about European culture that feeds into Israeli society (then again, European culture over the past 2 centuries has been largely secular as well). It is hard for me to believe, as strongly as I believe in Jesus Christ, that my Israeli brothers and sisters would see Christianity as any more threatening (or valid) than any other belief system, though (considering Jewish history), they might be more inclined to see Christianity as a cultural and national source of pain more than anything else.

And what about the Palestinians? I wonder if my readers would be surprised to know how diverse the Palestinian people are in belief, in outlook, and (yes) in religious sensibilities. Among the Palestinians, there are Muslims, Druse . . . and a large population of Christians--and also (in many, and I'd say most cases) a great many people who see themselves coexisting with Israel or at least responding nonviolently to the IDF and the government it represents. The reason why groups like the PLO and Hamas were (and are) so popular with the Palestinians is the same reason why groups like Sinn Fein received support among the people of Northern Ireland: Losing your homeland and being forced to move and live under an occupying regime is not something human beings enjoy.

I've heard the whole line about Israelis only going after "perpetrators" with their eye-for-an-eye policy--but I don't believe it. So many Palestinian children have died during their various intifadah's (yes, I've kept track) that I doubt very seriously the resolve of a structure built by people who look back to the book of Joshua as their model for how to conduct business with other nations to spare the innocent. The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, that those "evil" Palestinians have a legitimate complaint--they were driven off their land (and told by the world to like it), forced to choose between Israeli rule and life in a refugee camp, and (after the Jordanian Civil War) barred from other nations in the region.

They

have

nothing.

And yet . . . they are utterly ignored in the conversations of dispensational Christians--as are their Israeli neighbors.

And the blood continues to seep into the ground, calling out to the God who, I believe, would have us answer the same question Cain once asked of the Lord: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

I love you, JC.