Part II: Aftermath and prospect.

Western media coverage of the March of Return peaked in May 2018, but the protests have continued. To date, almost a year later, over 180 lives have been lost and thousands of rioters are still gathering at the border.

The tragedy has played out well beyond the original plan, with much damage done to Palestinians as well as to Israel’s civilians, environment and international reputation. Senior Israeli officers and ministers have summarised the events as a military win but a big PR loss for Israel. This week, the UN has chosen to blame the IDF for its handling of the situation, accusing Israel of possible ‘war crimes’.¹

That said, Hamas has not realised its ultimate goal of storming through the fence and on into Israel, flooding it with 1.9 million ‘returning refugees’. In January, Israel announced the start of a massive upgrade of the border fence, the above-ground part of which will be 6 metres high and equipped with ‘smart’ technology. The new fence will likely minimise violent attempts to break through, but also draw international criticism and be held up as another symbol of Israeli ‘apartheid’.

One Battle, Many Fronts

In recent months, military and intelligence resources in Israel have been split between the ongoing violence at the Gaza border and the discovery of sophisticated tunnel systems beneath Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. One suspects co-ordination by Iran, a major backer of both Hamas and Hezbollah, as the tunnels were constructed partly while the Gaza spectacle was drawing the IDF’s attention.

NBC reports the tunnels’ connection to Hezbollah fighters “coming home from the war winding down in Syria, where they helped prop up President Bashar al-Assad as he battled rebels trying to unseat him. Fears are running high that as the battle-hardened militants return to an estimated arsenal of 100,000 rockets and missiles, they will intensify their focus on their original foe: Israel.”²

Back in Gaza, violent Islamist incitement has only continued. As 2018 was drawing to a close, Khaled Meshal (former Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau) stated on al-Jazeera TV (Qatar):

A country cannot be liberated and rights cannot be restored without resistance. It is not possible. Without resistance, the occupation cannot be defeated or forced to retreat. Every means of power must be put to use…

Today we are being called and preparing to force Israel to retreat from Jerusalem and from the West Bank. Allah willing, this is on the way to its retreat from all of Palestine…The West Bank spans over 5,600 square kilometres, and has mountains and valleys. I'm from there, I know the landscape. It has everything necessary for guerrilla warfare. Why are we not preparing for that?3

To date, almost a year after the March started, thousands of rioters are still gathering at the border and the tragedy has played out well beyond the original plan.

Anti-Semitic rhetoric in Gaza is encouraged by Islamic clerics around the world. On 29 December, on al-Watan TV (Turkey), Egyptian cleric Sameh Al-Juba proclaimed:

Allah forbids you to deal justly and kindly with…those who fight us because of religion and who drive us out of our homes, like what is happening in Palestine…Those must not be treated kindly or justly. Jihad is the only way to deal with those people. It is blood for blood, and attack for attack. [The Quran says:] "Whoever attacks you, attack him in the same way." This gives ample justification for the men of the resistance and the mujahideen in Palestine to retaliate twofold against this occupying enemy, until our countries are purified.⁴

Struggling for Support

Gazans protest against Abbas, 24 February 2019. Mohammed Talatene/DPA/PA ImagesBut, underneath the threats of genocide, the Palestinian cause is struggling. Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank, is ageing and ill. Most Palestinians want his resignation, yet no successor is apparent. The longer this remains the case, the more likely his eventual retirement or demise is to trigger internal instability.⁵

Relations between the West Bank and Gaza – culturally very different enclaves – remain at an impasse, with successive reconciliation attempts falling through. At the end of January, Abbas, with the backing of Egypt, announced increased sanctions against Gaza which will restrict imports, prevent money transfers and reduce openings of the Rafah crossing into Egypt.⁶

The economic pressures are also enormous. The cutting of substantial funding from the USA and Australia has coincided with international backers like Qatar, Turkey and Iran being increasingly distracted by their own issues.⁷ The Arab world is fractured and re-structuring - and leading Sunni states including Egypt and Saudi Arabia are drawing closer to Israel. Meanwhile, in a spat over his rewarding of terrorists and their families, Abbas has refused to accept further tax payments collected on his behalf by Israel, which represent the PA’s most important source of income.⁸

All this, sadly, is likely to mean more violence in the short-medium term, but whether Palestinian leaders manage to deflect it successfully towards Israel, rather than themselves, remains to be seen. Dr Mohsen Mohammad Saleh, a pro-Palestinian political expert from Lebanon, predicts escalation, whichever way things go.⁹ He also predicts a growing role for diaspora Palestinians to champion the cause abroad, even while things collapse at home.

Indeed, since ‘Palestine’ is the ‘cause celebre’ of the Western left-wing, we can assume that whatever happens in the Middle East, in Europe and North America the encouragement of anti-Semitic attitudes and behaviour (e.g. the chanting of genocidal anti-Semitic slogans at such events as the British Labour Party Conference¹⁰) will continue. In the West, the PR war for Israel’s right to exist continues unabated and relatively undisturbed by on-the-ground Middle East politics.

This is because Palestinian aggression is but one manifestation of a global war on Israel, driven by an underlying hatred of the God of the Bible, whose faithfulness to his own promises is proclaimed to the world by the modern re-establishment of the Jewish people in their historic homeland.

Underneath the threats of genocide, the Palestinian cause is struggling.

Remembering Ordinary Palestinians

The victims in all this are not only the Jews, however, but also ordinary Palestinians, especially in Gaza. Though many (not all) continue to support Islamist aggression against Israel, it would seem that the majority know no better – understandably, given the systematic anti-Jewish indoctrination they receive from birth.

98% of the Gazan population are Muslim, living under the sway of imams, with only about 1,200 Christians and no Jews amongst them. There is no free press and disagreement with Hamas results in imprisonment and torture. How can they hear the Gospel, let alone understand Jewish perspectives?

They remain ignorant of God’s promise in Genesis 12:3 to Abraham, whom they revere as patriarch, prophet and ‘Friend of Allah’. That promise is repeated to Jacob in Isaac’s blessing (Gen 27:29), in a variant form to the nation of Israel under Moses (Ex 23:22) and through Balaam (Num 24:9). It promises that God himself is against those who fight against the Jewish people: ‘I will curse them that curse you’.

So far as the Gospel is concerned, the Christian TV channel SAT7 broadcasts in Arabic across the region, but its effects in Gaza are not publicly known. There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is active in the Muslim world, not only through social media and satellite TV but through dreams and visions that are bringing many to Christ.

Our best prayers for the Palestinians should be that the Lord himself will open their eyes to his truth and bring them into real freedom – something the March of Return, even in its most idealistic form, could never have offered.

Part 2 of 2. Click here to read Part 1.

References

1. UN disgraces itself; accuses Israel of “war crimes”, ignores Hamas terror at Gaza border. CUFI, 28 February 2019.

2. Bruton, FB and Goldman, P. Discovery of Hezbollah 'attack tunnels' rattles a northern Israeli town. NBC, 27 January 2019.

3. Former Hamas Leader Khaled Mashal Calls for West Bank "Guerrilla Warfare," States: "I Resist, Therefore I Am". MEMRI, Clip No. 6891, 12 December 2018.

4. Egyptian Cleric Sameh Al-Juba on Muslim Brotherhood TV: The Jews Are Treacherous and Should Not Be Dealt with Kindly or Justly. MEMRI, Clip No. 6945, 29 December 2018.

5. According to some commentators, this instability may have already begun.

6. WATCH: Hatred of Israel not enough to unite Fatah and Hamas. World Israel News, 30 January 2019.

7. Qatar is also showing signs of impatience with Hamas, refusing to pay Gaza’s electricity bill beyond April because key infrastructural investments have not been made. While Qatari cash is still coming into the Strip, attempts are apparently being made to route this into humanitarian needs rather than giving it straight to Hamas. Read more here and here.

8. Israel freezes funds to PA after Abbas refuses to stop payments to terrorists. CUFI, 22 February 2019.

9. Saleh, MM. Political Analysis: The 2019 Forecasts for the Palestine Issue. Al-Zaytouna Cenre, 28 January 2019.

10. According to the Jewish Chronicle, at the Labour Party’s Annual Conference on 26 September, “it seemed there were more Palestinian flags being waved than at a Hamas rally in Gaza, or at the opening session of the Palestinian Parliament at Ramallah. The vote by party members to debate Palestine was the fourth most popular after housing, schools, and justice for the Windrush generation. The subject of “Palestine” gained more votes (188,000) than Brexit and the National Health Service. The chanting by Labour activists included the Hamas and Islamic Jihad slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free”.” 

Exploited idealism and deliberate deception.

Editorial introduction: In the first of two articles, David Longworth looks back over a year of the ‘March of Return’ at the Gaza border.

According to Enas Fares Ghannam,¹ it all started in 2011. A Facebook post expressed the dream of a 33-year-old man in Gaza named Ahmed Abu Ratima. Gazing at a tree on the other side of the barbed fence that separates the Strip from Israel, Abu Ratima had thought, “Why can’t I go and sit under that tree just for a while, like a free bird?” The post asked (rather impractically) what could happen if 200,000 Palestinians headed peacefully to cross the border.

As the Arab Spring swept the region, Abu Ratima and his friends issued a statement entitled ‘The Palestinian Refugees Revolution’, calling all Palestinian refugees to gather peacefully at the nearest point by the Israeli border to call for their ‘rights’. At the time, they were considered crazy. But in 2018, Abu Ratima and his friends found encouragement.

In early 2018, Gazan journalist Muthana al-Najjar, whose family originally hailed from Salama (near Jaffa), pitched a tent near the border. He stayed for over a month, while others began planting olive tree seedlings in the area. But these idealised aspirations were soon taken over by the Hamas authorities.

Public preparations for a mass protest started to appear in February. On the 6^th, Hamas official Isma'il Radwan said that the activity would begin on 30 March and would reach its peak on 15 May, ‘Nakhba Day’.² He stressed that this activity "should take place without clashes [with Israel] in order to protect the young people...The plan of action focused on organizing a march of hundreds of thousands towards the border in order to pressure the occupation."³

Idealism Exploited

On 22 February 2018, the ominous image on the right was posted on Facebook:⁴

The UN symbol and the ‘194’ refer to UN Resolution 194 (of December 1948), which resolved that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date” (my emphasis), the so-called ‘Right of Return’. When the resolution was passed it was envisaging those who had just become refugees, not the millions of later generations.

The key evokes memories of those who left having locked their homes and retained their keys: another powerful symbol of ‘Right to Return’. However, notice that the key is held in a red clenched fist, a not-so-subtle suggestion of aggression.

Note also that the area between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean is entirely covered by the colours of the Palestinian flag. This image therefore denies not only the territories agreed under the Oslo Accords, but also UN Resolution 181, of 29 November 1947, which agreed the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states.

By 28 February 2018 the Great Return March Facebook page featured a much clearer emphasis on violence, as the left-hand picture illustrates (the text reads, ‘We will strike the Guard Fence’, i.e. the international border security fence).⁵ 

Incitement from the Beginning

At the March’s official start on Friday 30 March, an inflammatory Islamic sermon was preached and broadcast on Hamas’s al-Aqsa TV:

We are very near our blessed land, which is being trampled by those descendants of apes and pigs. We are here to embrace the blessed land with our hearts and our eyes, which is being trampled by those accursed descendants of apes and pigs, the remnants of the brutal, savage, and barbaric colonialism, which continues to drain our resources…⁶

So much for the idealist peaceful origins! By 6 April, three Palestinians penetrated the border and planted two improvised explosive devices.⁷

Worse rhetoric was to follow. Two weeks later, at the March venue, Gaza scholar Khaled Hany Morshid, said:

Khaled Morshid, speaking at the March venue. Video initially released on social media, 14 April 2018. Image from MEMRI, used with permission.…when the Jews of the Qurayza tribe violated their treaty with the Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet Muhammad exterminated them…The best way to describe the record of the Prophet's treatment of the Jews is one of violence and force…This is what all the Muslims should know. The relation between us and them is one of eternal enmity. The Jews will never stop this enmity unless the sword of Jihad for the sake of Allah is brandished, and they are made an example of, as was done by the Prophet Muhammad…I call upon every Muslim: Do not stand idly by and let those Jews spread corruption upon the land. Carry out glorious deeds against them!⁸

Social media posts called Palestinians to clash with Israelis after breaching the fence and entering their communities. 'Emad 'Aql, of Gaza, tweeted, "Sderot is only 700 meters east of [the Palestinian town of] Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. The headquarters of the Israeli army is there, and houses about 800 pigs. It can be reached in two minutes on motorcycles or in five-eight minutes at a brisk run…Murder, slaughter, burn and never show them any mercy."⁹

The left-hand image was posted with the following text: "Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, east of Rafah, is only 300 meters from the border. It has turkey pens, a football field and a pool, it houses only 15 families. Pounce on them with knives."¹⁰

Deliberate Deception

By May, things were literally hotting up. Thousands of tyres were burned to create smokescreens for those attacking the fence, while mirrors were used to blind IDF soldiers. Meanwhile, Western media were decrying the injuries caused to ‘peaceful protestors’ by Israel’s defensive actions.

On 13 May, the day before the originally-planned climax of the March, Mahmoud Al-Zahhar a co-founder and senior member of Hamas, was interviewed on al-Jazeera TV, Qatar. Questioned about Hamas adopting Fatah’s ‘peaceful resistance’ policy, he replied,

This is a clear terminological deception…This is not peaceful resistance…when we talk about 'peaceful resistance’, we are deceiving the public. This is a peaceful resistance bolstered by a military force and by security agencies, and enjoying tremendous popular support…This deception does not fool the Palestinian public.¹¹

On 16 May, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, was interviewed for the same channel, saying,

I must emphasize a great strategic goal accomplished on May 14. Our people in Gaza recorded, for the whole world to see, their testimony over the transfer of the United States embassy to Jerusalem and the declaration that Jerusalem is the capital of the occupation entity. On behalf of the Arab Palestinian people and all the Arab and Islamic peoples, our people in Gaza have rejected that decision and that move, by this great activity and by recording its testimony for the sake of history, and by signing this testimony with the blood of the martyrs – our people sacrificed sixty martyrs on May 14, as well as three thousand wounded…Many of them took off their military uniforms and put their weapons aside…¹²

Here we can clearly see the shameless use of ‘martyrdom’ as a motivating factor when inciting aggression against Israel. Sinwar openly admits to satisfaction in the gruesome outcome. Moreover, he also admits that many protestors weren’t ordinary civilians!

The involvement of militants was confirmed in more detail in a broadcast on Baladna TV, Gaza, on the same day, by a member of the Palestinian National Council:

50 of the martyrs were from Hamas, and the other 12 were regular people…What did Hamas gain? 50 martyrs...I am giving you an official figure. 50 of the martyrs in the recent battle were from Hamas. Before that, at least 50% of the martyrs were from Hamas.¹³

Other Tactics

In addition to the above, in the last year tactics have included hand grenades, stones and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) being hurled across the border. Snipers have been in action. Hundreds of rockets and mortars have been deployed.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, by mid-October almost 3,300 acres of forest and 4,000 acres of farmland had been destroyed by incendiaries carried by kites and balloons from Gaza.¹⁴ In the forest nature reserves, thousands of animals perished and conservation work was set back by decades. Earlier, as the wheat harvest was imminent, the loss of crops by farmers was estimated at £1.4 million. On one kibbutz alone, some 320 acres of irrigation equipment was also destroyed. In addition, honey farms, avocado and jojoba orchards were devastated.¹⁵

Sometimes explosives were carried similarly, such as those attached to gaily-decorated helium balloons which landed close to a kindergarten in late December.

Another tactic has been deception by false news reports and the posting of staged video clips on social media. Of one such incident on 4 May, IDF video footage shows a group of Palestinians rushing away a seemingly-injured man on a stretcher; then, after smoke and bushes provide some screening, the man clearly rolls off the stretcher, gets up and walks away!¹⁶ Also in May, the death by tear gas of 8-month-old baby Layla Ghandour was widely reported. By 26 June it emerged that the father is a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade who admitted that his daughter died from a prior condition and that he had been paid $8,000 by Hamas to lie.

Sadly, the damage of these ‘news’ items is done by their high initial impact, with later revisions mattering little.

Conclusions

Whatever the original intentions of the March of Return, it has clearly turned into an ugly, deceitful battle, on the ground and in the media. Next week we will ask where things are now, in 2019, and put the Palestinian ‘cause’ in greater context.

Meanwhile, watchfulness, discernment and prayer remain essential weapons for Christians in the battle for truth.

Part 1 of 2. 

References

1 Ghannam, EF. Despite Israel’s threats of violence, Gaza protesters have peaceful dream. Mondweiss, 29 March 2018.

2 ‘Nakba’ means ‘catastrophe’, originally used by Arabs to refer to the 1920 partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. Informally used by groups of Palestinian Arabs to refer to their displacement during the establishment of Israel by 14 May 1948. Later adopted by the PLO, Nakba Day was inaugurated by Yasser Arafat in 1998.

3 Palinfo.com, 6 February 2018. Obtained from MEMRI.

4 Picture obtained from the official GRM Facebook page by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. Originally posted as the GRM Facebook page profile picture on 22 February 2018 (the profile picture has since been modified slightly, but the original image can also be seen in other photos on social media, such as this one).

5 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue preparing a mass march to the Israeli border ('the great return march'), planned for Land Day, March 30, 2018. Meir Amit, 8 March 2018. Picture obtained from the official GRM Facebook page, February 28, 2018.

6 Gaza Friday Sermon: Our Blessed Land Is Being Trampled by the Accursed Descendants of Apes and Pigs - Scenes from Gaza "Return March". Sermon transcript, MEMRI, Clip no. 6500, 30 March 2018.

7 Gross, JA. IDF: Palestinians who breached fence planted explosives. Times of Israel, 8 April 2018.

8 Gaza Scholar Khaled Hany Morshid Calls to Brandish the Sword of Jihad, Fight the Jews - Scenes from Gaza "Return March". MEMRI, Clip no. 6537, 14 April 2018.

9 Twitter.com/imad_aql, May 13, 2018, reported via MEMRI.

10 Picture obtained from Facebook, 14 May 2018. Translation by MEMRI.

11 Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar on Gaza Protests: This Is Not Peaceful Resistance, It Is Supported by Our Weapons. MEMRI, Clip No. 6573, 13 May 2018.

12 Hamas Leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar: Our People Took Off Their Military Uniforms and Joined the Marches… MEMRI, Clip No. 6576, 16 May 2018.

13 Hamas Political Bureau Member Salah Al-Bardawil: 50 of the Martyrs Killed in Gaza were from Hamas, 12 Regular People. MEMRI transcript, Clip No. 6575, 16 May 2018.

14 Thousands of acres of forest land have been destroyed in 6 months of Gaza arson balloons. JTA, 10 October 2018.

15 Zikri, AB. We Flew a Drone Over the Fires Raging Around Gaza. This Is What We Saw. Haaretz, 26 June 2018.

16 Zitun, Y. WATCH: Hamas fakes injuries, uses children in Gaza border protests. Ynet News, 5 May 2018.

Peace was promised for pull-out – but it never came!

As thousands of Palestinian rioters take part in demonstrations against Israel on the border with Gaza, media attention is rarely focused on the Jewish victims of violence living nearby.

The so-called March of Return, during which protestors have hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers trying to safeguard their citizens, is about claiming the right of return for refugees (and their descendants) supposedly driven out of Israel at the birth of the modern state 70 years ago.

Quite apart from the fallaciousness of their claim, which I shall explain, the whole scenario of Hamas-led Gaza erupting in turmoil is a terrible betrayal by Arabs and all those who have supported their aspirations.

Land Exchanged for Rocket Fire

The nations who encouraged former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from the enclave in 2005 in a “land for peace” exchange have blood on their hands.

For there is no peace for those Jewish residents who live within easy rocket-fire of Gaza, as a North Wales photographic exhibition called The Hope graphically illustrates.¹

Having witnessed mortar and rocket attacks while visiting the area as a child, student photographer Grace Fryer visited the Jewish communities of Sderot and Kfar Aza, located just over a mile from Gaza, to record the suffering of children whose daily lives are shattered by the sound of sirens giving them just seconds to find shelter. A number have been killed while others have been traumatised and unable to live normal lives.

Those who encouraged Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in a “land for peace” exchange have blood on their hands - for Jewish residents within easy rocket-fire of the enclave have no peace.

Grace tells the story of 17-year-old Ella Abukasis, who died while protecting her younger brother from shrapnel, and her exhibition includes photographs from the children’s centre her father Yonatan founded in her memory as well as shrapnel from a Kassam rocket recovered after a similar attack.²

“The Israeli communities around Gaza are not only subject to the constant fear of rocket attacks, but also face the reality that terrorists are tunnelling under their homes with the sole intention of taking hostages and killing civilians,” Grace points out.

Grace Fryer with one of her evocative photographs depicting the suffering of Jewish children in Sderot.“There are also times when the rocket fire becomes so extreme that Israel has to enter Gaza to protect her citizens.”

Just imagine if you were living in Kent and were subject to a never-ending barrage of missiles being launched from across the channel. You would no doubt expect your Government to do something about it. Yet Israel is almost always cast as the aggressor when they strike back at the Hamas terrorists causing all this mayhem.

Daily Stress and Fear

When Israel took back control of Gaza from Egypt in 1967, the communities around Sderot built good relationships with the Arabs in Gaza. Jews would sell their fruit and vegetables on the beaches of Gaza while Arab mechanics would repair Jewish cars.

But Yasser Arafat put an end to that when he initiated an intifada (uprising) in 2000. Under his direction, terrorists began attacking Jewish communities in Gush Katif, in the Gaza strip, which is what ultimately led to Ariel Sharon’s withdrawal five years later. With a population of just 8,000, this community produced over 12% of Israel’s dairy and horticultural products.

“The agreement was that if this community gave all their property and business to the Arabs of Gaza, their leaders would stop the terror attacks on Israeli communities”, Grace explained.

“Many in Gush Katif, who were themselves children of refugees from 1948, were forced to leave their homes to live in temporary accommodation in Israel; and they did so in ‘The Hope’ that there would be peace – but it never came!

“Breaking their promise, Gaza-based Arab terrorists began using the very land which had been left vacant for them to fire rockets and mortars into Sderot and the surrounding areas.”

Israel is almost always cast as the aggressor when they strike back at the Hamas terrorists causing all this mayhem.

It’s a terrible and frightening scenario, as you can well imagine, for children playing in school playgrounds, or visiting outdoor markets, stores and synagogues. Nowhere seemed safe, and pain is etched on the faces of those who have never known peace.

Not surprisingly, living with this constant danger takes a huge toll on these communities, leading to family break-up and illness caused by stress and anxiety. And yet none of these difficulties is recognised by the UN, individual governments or human rights organisations.

Web of Deceit

As for the fallacy of the ‘March of Return’, to which I also referred last week , the refugee situation affecting the Palestinian people is a crisis of their own making. It was self-inflicted.

Some 800,000 of them heeded the warning of the surrounding states bent on Israel’s destruction in 1948 to flee their homes, promising their swift return alongside the victorious Arab armies. Israeli leaders, meanwhile, had tried their best to persuade them to stay, but to no avail – hence creating a totally unnecessary humanitarian crisis conveniently used as an excuse to blame Israel for almost everything wrong with the world.

What’s more, there were at least as many genuine Jewish refugees expelled from Arab countries at the same time. And Israel successfully integrated every one of them. The surrounding states, however, still refuse to take responsibility for the welfare of those they persuaded to leave Israel.

As Walter Scott put it, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”

Notes

1 The month-long exhibition, opened on 12 April, is being held at the Theatre Clywd Education Gallery, Mold, North Wales.

2 Leaflet promoting The Hope photographic exhibition – see www.fathershouse.wales

As BLM protests take place across the UK today, Linda Louis-vanReed offers an analysis of the growing movement from an American perspective.

According to its website, the 'Black Lives Matter' movement was originally formed in response to the incident involving young Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on 9 August 2014, the aftermath of which catalysed a new conversation between the African-American community and law enforcement across our nation.

We in the US began hearing the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement being compared with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Young people began to respond to what they considered the need for a new Civil Rights dialogue in this era.

However, BLM has a scattered leadership and is loosely organised. Because each 'chapter' is led by whoever would step forward, regardless of his/her personal background or ideology, the protests have often morphed into a platform for organisations like the New Black Panther Party, the Nation of Islam and the Communist Party. The majority of protesters have been paid, and many have been from out-of-state.

As the organisation, now almost 18 months old, has gained traction, it has become known widely that many of these protesters have been being paid through organisations owned by business magnate and political activist George Soros, who has funded political revolutions in Egypt, Serbia and Georgia, and was instrumental in getting Mr Obama into the White House.

BLM has a scattered leadership and is loosely organised, with local chapters easily becoming a platform for militant organisations.

Do Black Lives Really Matter to 'Black Lives Matter'?

The BLM movement could be an incredible, positive force for change throughout the African-American community, which has suffered the legacy of its enslaved forefathers in this nation for at least three generations.

If, in addition to relations with law enforcement, it was simultaneously addressing the issues of 'black-on-black' crime in urban areas, education and job preparation, health and health resources, substance abuse, family wholeness and programmes to bring hope and help to mothers and grandmothers who are raising young children alone, BLM would, indeed, be following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King and his mission of peace, prosperity and unity.

However, it has been my experience (and that of those clergy, city officials and police around me) that BLM is not interested in hearing the whole truth as it pertains to the circumstances of the unrest.

It does not matter that Michael Brown, Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile each had his own criminal record and each was being stopped by the police with reason of suspicion. It does not matter that black-on-black crime is the number one issue within the African-American community. It does not matter that more African-American babies are aborted every year than any other ethnic group in America. It does not matter that, far from being 'excluded', the African-American community (13% of our population) is gaining wealth and education faster than any other group.¹

What appears to matter to BLM in the United States is represented by what it has become: an outlet for rage, hate and anti-white racism to such an extent as to possibly exacerbate a full-scale race war in the United States.

The BLM movement could be an incredible, positive force for change, but instead it has become an outlet for rage, hate and anti-white racism.

The Fallout

In the 1960s, Martin Luther King was adamant about finding peaceful, unifying solutions to the then-palpable issue of race in America. His solutions were contingent upon prayer, obeying the law, relating to the facts concerning situations as they occurred, and moving forward so that one day, there would be no 'color line'. I have a very dear friend who was there, in Louisville - one of two white men in attendance that day - who can attest to the spirit of love and co-operation that was present when Dr King took the platform.

The American Civil Rights Movement, under leaders like King and icons like Rosa Parks, was used by God to change the hearts and minds of men for generations. Great strides have been made toward eradicating white racism toward blacks. Opportunities on every level have opened toward the African-American community, which were not even being considered in 1950.

Although things are far from perfect for any of us, regardless of colour, it has been my experience that out of the hundreds of white persons I have met over the course of my lifetime, I can name only about seven who are actually racist toward blacks. As for me, the majority of my friends, colleagues and associates are African-American – by God's design, as all things should be.

However, since the advent of BLM the attitude in my 71% African-American community is changing. In the past months I have found myself subject to many more anti-white remarks and even physical threats. People who used to smile and speak now look at me with suspicion. I have had African-Americans literally pull their children away from me and scold them for 'talking to that white woman'.

Since the advent of BLM the attitude in my 71% African-American community is changing; recently I have found myself subject to many more anti-white remarks and even physical threats.

One of my closest friends, a young African-American woman, has a beautiful 11-year old daughter who attends a Christian school. She doesn't understand why, all of a sudden, the colour of someone's skin matters. She thinks it is 'stupid'. This young girl embodies the fulfilment of Dr King's dream. But now, in these last days, when morality is being legislated, God is considered a myth, and conformity to the principles and values of humanism, globalism and pluralism are being demanded of young and old alike, I fear for the tender heart of my young friend.

Prayer for August and Beyond

A few days ago I attended a meeting among the clergy of the Ferguson community concerning the upcoming plans for the commemoration of the death of Michael Brown. We have it on strong authority that BLM will be active in the first week of August, and perhaps beyond.

The call is to prayer. We will prayer-walk streets and businesses. We will pray at home, over the phone and collectively. We will stand among the activists, praying with them as they express their anger and desire for change. We will stand in the precinct with the police, praying for them as they exercise their sworn duties. We will be there, dispensing water, umbrellas, food and shelter if necessary, and the Truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the love that Christ displayed to us.

Behind the mask of every activist, behind every uniform of every policeman, behind every label, there is a person who God created, whom he loves. It is our job, our mandate from Christ, to be responsive to that person.

Until all of us, black, white, yellow and brown, embrace who we are as children of the living God and embrace God's definitions of 'love', 'justice', 'unity', 'freedom' and 'peace', human beings will continue to war against, manipulate, and destroy one another.

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power...never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim 3:2-7, NASV - paraphrased)

Behind the mask of every activist, behind every uniform of every policeman, there is a person who God created, whom he loves.

Time of Decision

Now, as in no other time in the lives of each and every one of us, both in America and the United Kingdom, we face a time of decision. Will we continue to look at the histories of our individual cultures, and the sometimes terrible ways in which those cultures came into conflict with one another, and choose to find a use for that hatred, to allow it to continue, or will we look into the face of Jesus and hear him calling us to reason together?

We who are believers in Jesus Christ have heard his message, which declares that no man will triumph over the Kingdom of God.

On this day, we in the US and the UK must ask God that his will be accomplished. We must lay down our own wills and opinions to champion his cause. Only then will we feel free to love our neighbour. Only then will we gain the understanding we need to stand in the gap in this hour, in our respective nations. Only then can both of our nations hope to remain free.

References

1 Tisdale, S. Blacks in the U.S. Gaining Wealth and Education Faster Than Other Groups. Black Enterprise Magazine, 18 February 2016.

Linda Louis-vanReed reports.

As most of you in the UK may by now be aware, the 'Day of Rage' supposedly planned by the group Anonymous in conjunction with Black Lives Matter did not materialise.

During the week beginning 11 July, 37 cities across the United States were put on alert in response to rumours that protests were to occur on Friday 15 July. Although 'Black Lives Matter' events can be peaceful, it has not been uncommon for people to attempt to use them as opportunities to create an atmosphere of physical violence and chaos.

As we remember all too well from the early days of Ferguson, these attempts often succeed, with disastrous results.

Peace Reigned

By the morning of Saturday 16 July, however, news reports all across the country confirmed that there had been little to no notable activity.

In Washington DC, a few protesters turned up outside the White House, peacefully holding signs, enjoying the lovely weather. In New York City, close to 30 LGBT activists rallied outside The Stonewall Inn (the first national monument dedicated to LGBT rights), then marched to the LGBT community centre on 13th Street.

In Dallas, where just days before five policemen had been killed in a sniper attack, no activity took place. In New Orleans, rumours that protests were to take place at famed Lafayette Square caused businesses to shut down early. Officers were instructed to respond only if there was trouble. But the evening came and went peacefully.

In St Louis police monitored specific high-traffic areas for activity, but only a scant few protesters showed up outside St Louis City Hall. In Ferguson, peace and quiet reigned.

The only activists who claimed to respond directly to the call for a 'Day of Rage' gathered in Oakland, California. As a group of 10 activists swelled to between 100 and 150, they impeded traffic at several downtown intersections. Attempts to obstruct on- and off-ramps along Interstate 880 were thwarted by the California Highway Patrol. No citations were given out during the protests.

In San Francisco a group of protesters gathered near the Mission Police Station, several of whom assaulted a news crew. Three people were arrested on suspicion of battery and resisting arrest. Garbage was thrown into the street and lit on fire, but police quickly extinguished the flames.

The News No-one Reported

The one story that the US press did not hear was that of the thousands of committed, involved Christians who, every day leading up to protest day, petitioned our Father that hearts and minds might be changed, that these plans might be confounded and come to nothing, that his hand would be on our nation and its people.

God heard us, friends, and God heard all of you in the UK who were also moved to respond in prayer for the United States. The eventual peace was, in no small part, a Divine response to our collective intercession. Thank you.

An exciting update from Ferguson, Missouri.

At the end of August, we shared some encouraging news from Ferguson, Missouri, where racial tensions erupted in 2014 over the fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer. Linda Louis-VanReed and Bruce VanReed shared with us about how Christians were using the threatening environment to proclaim the good news about Jesus, and how God was using the prayers of the saints to intervene in the situation.

We now have a new and exciting update to share with you about events in Ferguson on November 24^th, the anniversary of the court decision in favour of the police officer: first a brief note from Linda, then a response from Ferguson's Interim Chief of Police.

Hi, Cliff and Monica –

As always it was lovely to hear from you. Thanks to you all for your prayers and remembrance of us, here in Ferguson, during this past couple of weeks.

Yesterday, November 24, 2015, marked the one-year anniversary of the handing down of the decision in the Michael Brown incident. People have been gathering in small groups (around 5-10 individuals) since Thursday, the 19th, so we were unsure as to how far things were going to go.

But, praise God, so far no big events to report. The demonstrations have been largely peaceful. We had some activity last night, far into the early hours, we understand, in front of the Ferguson police department, but everyone maintained a focused and respectful presence. There were few media. We were driving home at 10PM last night and saw no media trucks.

It does appear as though our continued prayers and commitment to have an open dialogue with the community after last year has had an impact. God's grace and His mercy are boundless.

Hope you two have a beautiful and blessed week.

Yours in Christ,

Louie

Response from Ferguson Police Department

As you may all know, your prayers prevailed. A number of you met at the police station, spoke to protesters (citizens) in a way that allowed for some to gain a perspective about the day's event. In a way that allowed for them to express their constitutional rights. At a meeting, I asked you to pray that we have no violence, no damage, and no criminal activity. I challenged you to stand up and prove that you're the "Moral Authority." Well, it's evident you made a difference. No reported damage, over 150 protesters, no arrest, no one injured, no crimes reported due to protest, and all calls for service were handled.

Because of you, we are well on our way to ensure that your combined efforts will endure. You are very much part of a greater strategy and one that will not only ease tension, but improve our officer's response, and improve their lives. Your work has just begun in my view. And I believe you know there is much more to do. We must continue to improve race relations, improve the quality of life for those less fortunate and be the living embodiment of professional excellence. I can say without a doubt, you mean a great deal to this community. If it was not said before, I am saying it now. THANK YOU! The "Moral Authority" stepped up! I will be leaving, but I have not left you. An old adage commonly said, I'm only a stone throw away."

Andre C. Anderson
Interim Police Chief
Ferguson Police Department