‘There is no occupation', Arab pastor tells shocked young tourists

An international group of millennials have seen the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a new light after engaging with both sides – and being shocked by what they discovered.

A party of 11 young people from seven nations were brought together for the chance to understand issues from the point of view of those living there.

They were deliberately not primed to view things from any particular perspective in order to allow them to form their own conclusions through interviews and talks with representatives of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Their three-week trip was recorded on film for a feature-length documentary called Quest 4 Truth, now available on YouTube.

It was produced by Generation 2 Generation, a UK-based organisation founded by Andrew, Daniella and Daphne Kirk committed to inspiring the next generation with an uncompromising passion for Jesus and the Gospel.

Impact of Social Media

The group – from Germany, the USA, the UK, Norway, Japan, Brazil and South Africa – were introduced to community leaders in the Palestinian territories as well as in Israel itself.

Not surprisingly, most of them are strongly influenced by social media which generally portrays a narrative of Israel as big bullies of an oppressed people. Media bias had shaped their perception of the conflict, and they were profoundly shocked to discover that the truth was very different.

“I’ve been lied to,” said one. “You realise how false these stories are,” said another.

The Deputy Mayor of Bethlehem, Essam Juha, was forced to explain why a swastika was inscribed into the fabric of the hotel where they met him. He said it was because Israel had humiliated nations in the same way they had been treated.

“It was so hard for me to keep a straight face”, said Marlea, from New Orleans. “How dare they make that comparison [with the Holocaust]?”

Media bias had shaped the millennials’ perception of the conflict, and they were profoundly shocked to discover that the truth was very different.

After hearing how Palestinians see the Israelis as occupiers of their land, they were taken aback by the response of Arab pastor Naim Khoury, who asked: “What occupation?” And as he turned towards the windows, he added: “Where is the occupation? We are completely under the Palestinian Authority.”

The point was further brought home by a member of the group, who observed: “I have not seen one IDF [Israeli Defence Force] soldier, or Israeli flag.”

They also learnt that the throwing of rocks – and even Molotov cocktails – at Israeli soldiers is seen by Fatah, the PA’s ruling party, as non-violent activity.

Visiting ‘the Wall’

A further learning curve involved meeting Col Danny Tirza, architect of Israel’s notorious security barrier built to keep out terrorists, who said he wanted to be the first to begin taking it down when peace finally came. But in the meantime the murder rate from terrorism had been cut by 90%.

He said that those whose land had been split by the wall – only five per cent of which is concrete, the rest being a much more discreet wire fence – are offered compensation, but refuse to accept it for fear of being labelled collaborators.

Graffiti on the wall betrays the true ambition of Palestinian agitators, with a map showing all of geographical Israel as theirs. They have no wish to share the land, or establish a state beside Israel. They want all of it.

As historian Dr Michael Brown put it: “If the Palestinians put down their weapons there’d be no more war; if Israel put down their weapons, there’d be no more Israel.”

An ex-IDF soldier said: “They use our moral standards against us.” As an example, he explained how a terrorist suspect fled to a crowded residential area, knowing they wouldn’t open fire if civilians were at risk. And when the military had the place surrounded, the fugitive duly appeared on the roof in a bid to escape, at which point they shot him in the leg. But while supporting medics were bandaging him up, the soldiers were pelted with huge rocks. Israelis risk death because of the great value they place on life.

Israelis risk death because of the great value they place on life.

The youngsters hear from Israeli-supporting Stand with Us representative Shevy Kass on a visit to Sderot.Evidence of Apartheid?

Further observations on the Palestinians included – “They are victims of their own hatred” and “They are suffering a lot because of radical people in their community.”

In the southern city of Sderot, meanwhile, a rocket-proof playground has had to be built for children so that when sirens warn of regular incoming missiles from Hamas in nearby Gaza, the kids have an immediate bolt-hole.

The group also visited Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust museum where a tearful young British woman, Megan, was visibly shocked by the way her country – in charge of the region then known as Palestine – closed the doors to Jews trying to escape Nazi-occupied Europe. And on the question of Israel practising apartheid – a charge widely disseminated by the liberal left – she added: “I haven’t seen any evidence of it.”

Dr Brown emphasised the need for Israel’s self-defence by saying that anti-Semitism levels are as high now as they were immediately before the Holocaust. A Brazilian member added: “I believe the biggest reason for anti-Semitism is lack of knowledge.” And a German youth said: “The greatest enemy of anti-Semitism is the truth.”

Watch the full documentary by clicking here (Christian version) or here (non-Christian version).

Reflections following the death of Stephen Hawking.

Following the death, last week, of Professor Stephen Hawking, many tributes have been flowing across the scientific world and surfacing in the media. One example comes from the University of Cambridge, where he spent most of his academic career (see here).

When I was at the University of Cambridge in the early 1970s, I would often see him being helped out of his disability vehicle at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. There was already an aura surrounding him - perhaps a combination of respect and wonder at the perseverance of such a crippled young man and an acknowledgement of his sharp mind.

So, whilst agreeing with much that has been said following his death, I would like to add a word of caution concerning the exciting scientific theories of our day.

Taking Hypothesis as Fact

Despite all the hype, there is much speculation that requires us to have discernment in these days of growing deception. Are there really black holes? Is there really such a thing as Hawking Radiation? The popular press frequently takes as fact what the scientific world presents as hypothesis.

Furthermore, when we follow the trail of a theory through to its consequences, we often discover that a scientist is really trying to advance an agenda – perhaps trying to explain the origin of the universe or the nature of life. These experts are trying to find answers as much as the average citizen. The next step is to claim that their theories cancel out a need for a Creator God. This was the case with Hawking – which should be a prompt for us to suspect his entire hypotheses.

The popular press frequently takes as fact what the scientific world presents as hypothesis.

There is so much of this sort of thing rising to the surface today that we must see science as a potential tool for the powers of evil. When a humanistic media reports on scientific theories that feed a humanistic, atheistic mentality, we have to be careful that we are not drawn in to accept what is simply speculation, thinking it fact.

Popular Science

If I were to speak even more strongly, I would say that more and more, public presentations of science are far from good science. One reason for this has been a drive in recent years to popularise science. Richard Dawkins had this remit for some years and this resulted in an out-and-out attack on those of us whose faith is founded on biblical truth. With little opportunity for Christians to respond within a media biased towards his point of view, Christians have talked more among themselves than on a public platform.

Then there is David Attenborough, who for many years has brought to the television spectacular programmes on wildlife and pictures of our planet. With modern-day camera facilities what has been presented has been truly spectacular. Yet, there is a difference between spectacular photography and the validity of a scientific commentary that is more founded on unproven evolutionary theories than on hard science. And so, the truth about Creation is hidden from public view.

Now, another popular presenter, Professor Brian Cox, with his colleagues, has come centre-stage, feeding the public beguiling arguments about the origin of the universe as he presents spectacular images of outer space. Indeed, views about the so-called ‘Big Bang’ origin of the universe and Darwinian evolution are not so much argued as assumed, these days. For many scientists, it is not worth risking their career to argue otherwise.

Scientific Proof…or Faith?

Yet, science can never take us beyond conjecture when the instruments used to investigate theories of the origin of the universe are themselves part of Creation. Thus, all science must start with hypotheses and all proofs must be based on assumptions. Therefore, scientists who claim to have ‘proved’ theories such as the ‘Big Bang’ and evolution (and I might add to this the Theory of Relativity) must have based their ‘proofs’ on assumptions.

All science starts with hypotheses and all proofs are based on assumptions.

Any scientist knows this, but it is a fact that passes the general public by in popular presentations. It is when the assumptions become a sort of faith that we must be even more concerned, and that is where science is taking people today.

Among the basic assumptions of more and more scientists these days is that there is no need to believe in a Creator God. This is the strange ‘faith’ behind much science today, but it is as insecure as the sand on which Jesus warned his hearers that we should not build.

Writing God Out

Just as scientists must have a sort of ‘faith’ in order to claim proof of their theories, so have Christians - though in quite a different way. Secular science’s faith is that there is no God. Our faith is founded on the Rock that is Jesus, who was with the Father at the creation of the universe.

The tool for recognising error in the beguiling scientific atmosphere today is the gift of discernment. We must test all things and the beginning of our testing is to recognise the foundations on which ideas presented to us are built – foundations not of truth, but of belief.

Stephen Hawking was a remarkable man, but he was a man who did not believe in the God of Creation. With all due respect to his amazing life, his humour, his ability to communicate despite severe bodily limitations, he was, nevertheless, a man. We serve the God whom he chose to write out of his scientific theories.

We have abandoned our national plumb line.

Who used chemical weapons in Syria? Who was responsible for the latest atrocity that killed civilians and children? Who can we believe – Russia? Assad? Iran? Turkey? Where can we obtain independent and reliable news reports? These are just some of the questions that people throughout the Western world are asking.

The USA has answered decisively that Assad is to blame so they have destroyed (allegedly?) the airfield from which the attack was (allegedly?) launched.

The pictures we have seen on TV news reports and in our newspapers, show horrific scenes of children suffering breathing problems from chemical weapons and wounds from bombing, but will we ever know who was responsible for these atrocities? Will we ever know the truth?

No Yardstick for Truth

If we have to judge between ISIS and Assad as to who is telling the truth, we really do have a problem. They are both Muslims and the Islamic religion sanctions the telling of lies if doing so promotes their religion. This makes it extremely difficult in any social relationships in mixed communities. You can never be quite sure which standard of truth is being applied.

Of course, we know that truth has been under attack for centuries – evidenced by Pilate’s famous cynical question at the fake trial of Jesus, “what is truth?” But something extraordinary seems to be happening in our lifetime, and in our nation: it is the deliberate distortion of truth. We hear so many reports of ‘fake news’, or ‘alternative facts’ and it is increasingly difficult to separate out fact from fiction, especially amidst a bombardment of tweets, news flashes, adverts and coded messages.

Something extraordinary seems to be happening in our lifetime, and in our nation: the deliberate distortion of truth.

Communication of the truth becomes increasingly complex, even in ordinary everyday things of life. When we listen to news reports on the radio we can never be sure of the veracity of what is being reported. The basic problem is the lack of agreed standards of truth. Without a yardstick, we cannot measure anything. There was even a report last week saying that the marathon that has been run in different places has been inaccurately measured, thus calling into question the times achieved by different athletes.

Amos Faced the Same Battle

The Prophet Amos faced the same battle for truth in the nation of Israel. People were all making up their own standards and the teaching given by Moses was being ignored. Everyone did as they pleased. The poor came off worst. They were cheated in the market by merchants who used dishonest scales or who brushed a lot of chaff and dust into the bag when they were selling corn to the housewife (Amos 8:5-6).

If a poor housewife went to court trying to get justice against a rich merchant, it would be the rich man who won because the judge was corrupt and accepted a bribe before he gave his decision, so the poor were deprived of justice in the courts (Amos 5:12).

Amos was outraged by this and many other things he saw in the nation such as selling the poor into slavery, a father and a son abusing a girl and drunken behaviour (Amos 2:6-8). He took this to God in prayer and got some very straight answers about judgment coming upon the nation.

Checking the City Walls

Amos was not only a righteous man but he was also compassionate and he pleaded with God to have mercy on the people. He had several revelations of what God was going to do and each time he pleaded that this would not happen. Eventually God showed him a picture of a man standing by a wall with a plumb line in his hand and God asked him “What do you see Amos?” “A plumb line,” he replied. Then the Lord said “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer” (Amos 7:8).

Amos knew that there was no further point in arguing. He had seen the city engineer regularly checking the city walls with a plumb line. They were looking for the wall becoming out of line – out of exact perpendicular. In particular, the engineer had to look for bulges.

Our problem is our lack of agreed standards of truth. Without a yardstick, we cannot measure anything.

The city walls were built with an outer and an inner wall of stone with a gap between. The gap was usually filled with rubble which often also contained household rubbish. It was this rubbish that presented a danger because it could sometimes generate heat which could put pressure upon the outer and inner walls causing them to bulge. The bulge meant that the wall could crack and suddenly fall, leaving the city open to the invasion of enemies.

The engineer had to check for the bulges which indicated that there was corruption inside the wall. When Amos saw this, he got the message that God was communicating to him.

There would come a point when the corruption in the nation would become so strong that family life and harmonious community relationships would all be affected by the lies and injustice of corrupt officials and lawless individuals. If the nation went on ignoring the warning signs of corruption and the cracks in the justice system, in family life and in community relations – the outcome would be disastrous. It would happen without further warning, in an instant when nobody was expecting it.

Message to Britain

The Prophet Isaiah had a similar message:

Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly in an instant. It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of the cistern. (Isa 30:12-14) [emphasis added]

This is a message to Britain today. There have been many warning signs over a number of years of corruption among officials in our nation - in the banking industry, among our politicians, in local government and business as well as in family life and community relationships. The savage beating of a young asylum seeker in Croydon has shocked the nation – that there can be such barbaric cruelty and violence among young people in Britain is horrifying.

If our nation goes on ignoring the warning signs of corruption – the outcome will be sudden and disastrous.

But this is simply evidence of corruption in the nation: the breakdown of family life and the abandonment of teaching truth in our schools. When we ceased to teach the Bible in state schools we abandoned the plumb line of truth. Now we are reaping the inevitable rewards of a lawless generation. But it’s no good blaming the young people – we are all to blame!

The only hope for the future is repentance and turning to the word of God for his truth to be enshrined at the heart of the nation. Jesus promised, “When he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). This should surely be the focal point of prayer among Christians for our leaders, both Church and State!