Murder outside church points to fresh hope for London community

A fatal stabbing took place just outside a north London church only days before I spoke there about Pentecost last Saturday.

The young man’s family had left a floral tribute beside the pavement and were being comforted by passers-by as we came out of church. Barış Küçük had been taken to hospital after an attack in the early hours of 1 June, but had simply lost too much blood. A man has been charged with his murder.

As in the Days of Noah

The harrowing scene was a stark reminder of the suffering Jesus went through in order to bring us life. And our prayer was that life and peace would emerge from the ashes of this terrible tragedy, the latest in a string of such incidents across the capital where knife crime has reached epidemic proportions.

Political activists were quick to blame cuts to policing, but this is a shallow analysis of the situation. We are living in times of violence compared to the days of Noah, which Jesus indicated would be a sign of coming judgment and of his imminent return (Luke 17:26-30).

There are all kinds of reasons for the murderous mayhem we are witnessing, but chief among them is a turning away from God’s laws, which successive governments have encouraged.

Is it surprising that knives are used freely on the streets when doctors and nurses, charged with our care, are engaged in the legal butchering of unborn babies every single day! We are reaping what we have sown. We have also too often allowed the guilty to go free, with murderers serving ridiculously short sentences before returning to our communities to wreak further havoc.

There are all kinds of reasons for the murderous mayhem we are witnessing, but chief among them is a turning away from God’s laws.

Scene of Reconciliation

This latest outrage occurred just a ten-minute walk from the former Haringey Stadium¹ which, in 1954, witnessed the only significant post-war turnaround in the fortunes of the UK Church. Tens of thousands had their lives transformed by the message of American evangelist Billy Graham, including a young Jewish lady, Helen McIntosh, who later guided me through my early Christian discipleship.

Crowds gather for a vigil to mark the untimely death of Barış Küçük, the latest victim of London's knife crime epidemic. Photo: Charles Mugenyi.It was appropriate too, therefore, that the church I visited stands on the edge of Stamford Hill, home to many Jewish people, some of whom came to hear my talk on Shavuot (Pentecost), a thoroughly Jewish feast which empowered the first disciples of Jesus to ‘turn the world upside down’ (Acts 17:6) with God’s commandments written on their hearts and not just on tablets of stone (2 Cor 3:3).

Pentecost is still available to turn this tense and troubled community around, and I pray that my friends at the church will help to bring the resurrection life of Jesus to the streets of Tottenham and Haringey.

It would certainly be the perfect place to witness the reconciliation between Jew and Gentile the Apostle Paul talks about in his letter to the Ephesians (2:14).

In writing to the Romans, he says both groups are steeped in sin and, in quoting the Old Testament, writes: “There is no-one righteous…no-one who seeks God…their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom 3:9-18).

A return of the fear of God that people felt at those Billy Graham meetings would bring new hope; I am told they used to arrive on train platforms singing hymns. So what is the remedy? How can such reverential fear be restored to communities that have forsaken God?

75 years ago a vicious enemy threatened our freedoms, but while our soldiers fought on the beaches of Normandy, much of the country fought on their knees as they responded to the King’s call to prayer. We must turn to God once more.

How can a reverential fear of God be restored to communities that have forsaken him?

True Freedom, New Life

Jesus, God’s Son, lived a perfect life on earth and was unjustly crucified. He became a substitute for us – for we have all sinned – and by trusting in his sacrificial blood, we are raised to new life and hope (Rom 3:23f).

Just as 33-year-old Barış bled to death through the cruel hands of his assailant, so Jesus bled, for us – and he was exactly the same age! In doing so, Jesus became the ultimate Passover Lamb, fulfilling the picture of how the enslaved Jews were freed from captivity in Egypt by daubing a lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes (as a result of which the angel of death ‘passed over’ them while striking the first-born of the host country who had stubbornly refused to let them go).

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, freedom from sin and darkness comes by marking your heart, figuratively speaking, with the blood of Jesus – which shows that you are placing all your trust for escaping God’s judgment and inheriting new life in what Jesus has done for you.

It will surely open up the ‘Red Sea’ and lead you into the Promised Land of peace and purpose. Not just for this life, but forever more.

Perfect Peace

As well as Pentecost, I also led a session on Job who, in spite of terrible trials, refused to relinquish his integrity and trust in God. One dear woman in the audience confirmed the reality of Job’s experience in her own life. Tragically, she had lost three sons – all in their twenties – and yet, through her faith in Jesus, she had managed to maintain perfect peace through all her troubles!

The Prophet Isaiah wrote: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusts in Thee” (Isa 26:3 KJV).

Notes

1 Now a shopping centre, accommodating the new religion.

Abortion Bill reflects spirit of death gripping the nation

On Ari Fuld’s loss and Palestinian incitement to kill.

Last Sunday, 16 September, a 17-year old Palestinian high-school student stabbed to death a 45-year old father of four who was shopping for groceries at Gush Etzion, south of Bethlehem.

The father was Ari Fuld, an American Jew who had immigrated to Israel in 1994 and held dual nationality, living in the nearby settlement of Efrat.

In spite of his fatal wound, he prevented his assailant from then attacking the female shop assistant, saving her life by shooting and wounding the youth.

The young attacker, Khalil Jabarin, is from the village of Yatta, some five miles south of Hebron and is receiving treatment in Israel’s Hadassah hospital in Ein Kerem. His father had informed Palestinian authorities that he was missing following an argument about skipping school, whilst his mother had notified Israeli authorities of her fears that he was intent on making an attack somewhere.¹

The Fulds and the Jabarins. Just two of many devastated families in the ‘Land of Promise’.

Incitement with Money and Lies

Such attacks are encouraged by the long-term policy of the ‘cash-strapped’ Palestinian Authority of rewarding families of injured or killed perpetrators of violence (otherwise known as ‘martyrs’) with substantial sums. In this case, the Jabarin family is eligible for some £2,500.²

But the situation is also made far worse by incitement to violence from Palestinian leaders and media, wielding claims about Palestinian ‘heritage’ and Israeli ‘occupation’ that are blatant lies. Let’s consider this in more depth.

Such attacks are encouraged not only by the ‘pay-to-slay’ policy of the PA – but also by inciteful lies from Palestinian leaders and media.

‘Al-Aqsa Intifada’

Shortly after Sunday’s attack, Palestinian media claimed that it had been carried out in defence of Al-Aqsa. According to the news agency Donia al-Watan, Ari Fuld’s murder “is a response to warnings regarding the danger of what the occupation is currently doing, and what it intends to do at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”³ What, you may ask, was the connection with Al-Aqsa?

To understand this, we need some background. The so-called ‘Al-Aqsa Intifada’ began in 2015. Between 1 October and 31 December of that year there were 88 stabbings, 32 shootings and 14 car-ramming attacks. Allegedly ‘spontaneous’, it was accompanied by vicious incitement. In early October a Palestinian Member of the Knesset, Haneen Zoabi, had written in the Hamas-affiliated newspaper al-Resalah,

Hundreds of thousands of worshippers should go up to al-Aqsa in order to face down an Israeli plot for the blood of East Jerusalem residents. Today there are actions only by individuals, and what is needed is popular support. If only individual attacks continue without popular support, they will sputter out within a few days. Therefore the outpouring of thousands of our people will make these events a real intifada.⁴

On 9 October, in a sermon at Friday prayers in Rafah (Gaza) which was streamed online, imam Sheikh Muhammad Sallah called on Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to “attack in threes and fours…cut them into body parts…stab the myths about the Temple in their hearts!”⁵

Around the same time, a slew of posts appeared on social media praising attacks and providing advice for how to make them effective. One Gazan, using the hashtag #Stab, posted an anatomical chart on Facebook showing which parts of the body to aim for. Using the hashtag #SlaughteringtheJews, another user posted a message addressed to "our brethren in the West Bank and all of Palestine" who wish to kill "pigs" (an Islamic epithet for Jews) in the quickest possible manner, including graphic advice.⁶

The official PA daily al-Hayat al-Jadida has acknowledged that in the first year alone of that intifada “250 [Palestinian] civilians died as Shahids [martyrs], 161 of them while carrying out stabbing operations against the occupation's soldiers and its settlers” (my emphasis).⁷

The allegedly ‘spontaneous’ Al-Aqsa Intifada has been accompanied by vicious incitement since it began in 2015.

False Claims of Excavation

This year, although the casualty rate is much lower, the Islamic rhetoric has been ramping up again.

In July a member of the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem said on the Palestinian Authority’s official TV channel, "The blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque has no foundations now...Al-Aqsa is now empty of the rocks and that which supports it, due to the Israeli machine that is excavating under it, as rats burrow under the ground only for evil and destruction."⁸

This is pure fabrication – the only excavators of the Temple Mount since 1967 have been Muslims! Yet, a few days later, this was broadcast on PA TV:

The Fatah Movement emphasized that Israel has prepared a plan - and began carrying it out a while ago - to destroy the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque through the ongoing excavations underneath the mosque…[and] that the Al-Aqsa Mosque – above ground, under it, and around it - is a completely Islamic site to which the Jews have no right.⁹

Muslim worshippers during Ramadan, earlier this year. See Photo Credits.The provocative nature of these and many more such statements is recognised by Samir Awad, a political scientist at Bir Zeit University north of Ramallah:

Al-Aksa is a place heavily charged with emotions, people are willing to die for it and become martyrs going to heaven. A lot of Palestinians feel they are defending al-Aksa on behalf of all Muslims. Palestinians consider al-Aksa the gem of their future state. It signifies Palestine itself.¹⁰

Denying History

Denial of the existence of a Jewish Temple is an essential part of the ‘Palestinian narrative’. For example, Mahmoud Abbas said in 2000:

[The Jews] demand that we forget what happened 50 years ago to the refugees – and I speak as a living, breathing refugee – while at the same time they claim that 2000 years ago they had a temple. I challenge the assertion that this is so. But even if it is so, we do not accept it, because it is not logical for someone who wants a practical peace.¹¹

Denial of the existence of a Jewish Temple is an essential part of the ‘Palestinian narrative’.

So much for ‘logic’! Speaking to a journalist at Die Welt in 2001, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri (then Grand Mufti of Jerusalem), said,

There is not the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish Temple on this place in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history…¹²

To make such statements is not only a denial of Jewish history and archaeology, but of Islamic history! The Brief Guide to the Al-Haram Al-Sharif, published in 1924 by the Supreme Muslim Council of Jerusalem, freely states, “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute”, even quoting 2 Samuel 24:25. Much longer ago, Islamic historians and writers such as Abu Jafar Muhammad al-Tabari (9^th Century),¹³ Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi (10^th Century)¹⁴ and Nasir-I Khusraw (11^th Century)¹⁵ all acknowledged the same.

Western Perspective Change

In the West, there is still no official recognition of the ongoing anti-historical brainwashing and anti-Semitic incitement in the disputed territories, especially of young Palestinians, deceiving them into committing atrocities against ordinary Jewish people such as Ari Fuld.

Whether or not Jabarin was acting out of genuine concern for Al-Aqsa, as Palestinian media claim, the claim itself should not go unnoticed as yet another instance of incitement.

When 28-year-old American Taylor Force was stabbed to death in Tel Aviv in 2016, also as part of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the issue of ‘martyrdom’ payments gained widespread media and political exposure in the US, with direct consequences for US-Palestinian diplomatic relations and for PA funding.

In this extraordinary window in international politics, is it too much to pray that blind eyes in Western politics and Church life would also be opened regarding the vicious incitement to violence coming from Palestinian leaders and media? At root it is all part of an intense spiritual battle against God, his covenant People and Land, but if ever there was a time when a change of perspective in the West was possible, it is now.

In the West Bank, the best hope for Palestinian youths is that Almighty God would grant them access to the truth before they reach for a knife. Surely our prayers for “the peace of Jerusalem” should be oriented in these ways.

Postscript: As the latest example of the perversion of truth in Palestinian youth, readers are advised to read about Ahed Tamimi's media tour and compare it with an interview broadcast on Russian TV, translated by Palestinian Media Watch here.

Also recommended:

• This 2-minute video from Boomerang on Palestinian indoctrination of children.
• Melanie Phillips’ recent article for the Jewish News Syndicate about the Western media’s excusal of Ari’s murder and general complicity in Palestinian violence.

References

1 Terrorist’s parents say they alerted PA, Israel before deadly stabbing of Fuld. Times of Israel, 16 September 2018.

2 PA hasn’t yet paid family of terrorist who killed Fuld, but they’ll be eligible. Times of Israel, 19 September 2018.

3 Translation by Palestinian Media Watch.

4 Eldar, S. Bibi blames everyone but himself for recent violence. Al-Monitor, 12 October 2015.

5 Gaza cleric calls on Palestinians to stab Jews, ‘cut them into body parts’. Times of Israel, 12 October 2015.

6 Social Media As A Platform For Palestinian Incitement – Part II: Video Tutorials, Tips For Achieving More 'Effective' Attacks. MEMRI Special Dispatch No.6186, 14 October 2015.

7 Marcus, I and Zilberdik, NJ. Official PA daily admits 161 Palestinians did carry out stabbing attacks during Palestinian terror wave 2015-2016. PMW Bulletin, 6 February 2018.

8 See note 3.

9 Ibid.

10 Lynfield, B. Is the ‘stabbing intifada’ back? Jerusalem Post, 23 July 2018.

11 In Kul Al-Arab on 2 August. Hollander, R. The Battle Over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. CAMERA, 26 March 2010.

12 Ibid.

13 Friedmann, Y, 1992. The History of al-Tabari: Volume XII, The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine. NY: State University of New York Press, p195.

14 Jerusalem mufti: Temple Mount never housed Jewish Temple. Times of Israel, 25 October 2015.

15 Nasir i-Khusrau, Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine. Translated and prefaced by Guy Le Strange. London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1893.

MJR exposes a root cause of violent crime in the capital.

The publicity surrounding the rising incidences of knife crime on the streets of London, which has brought about the tragic deaths of 50 (mostly young) people since the start of the year, has led to much questioning and heart-searching about causes.

The Movement for Justice and Reconciliation (MJR) believes that these are rooted in the legacies of the past. In 2019 MJR will be sailing a replica slave-ship around the UK to bring this legacy to the attention of the public.

Unacknowledged Injustice

While not condoning or excusing knife crimes, MJR wants the general public to be aware that these events are not isolated, and that they cannot be simply explained away as ‘criminality’. For them to be dealt with, they and their mostly young perpetrators need to be understood: and that means looking into context.

We believe this context includes issues of historic cultural legacy, where particular pre-dispositions or mind-sets have been passed down through the generations unseen.

Chair of MJR, Rev Alton Bell, said: “An increasing body of academic research is showing that certain negative behavioural symptoms manifesting in modern society can be traced back in our history to the twin oppressions of colonial slavery and industrial exploitation. These symptoms can include violence such as is being currently witnessed on our streets.”

In 2019 MJR will be sailing a replica slave-ship around the UK to bring the legacy of slavery to the attention of the public.

Wide-Reaching Implications

For those of our communities descended from slaves these legacy issues can include personal problems with identity and belonging but, importantly, the legacy problem is also far more wide-reaching, even systemic.

The racist attitudes – structural, organisational and personal – with which our wider society struggles, and which result in black people being far more likely to be poor or in the prison system, can also be shown to be part of this legacy. The fact that it remains largely unacknowledged, let alone addressed, is a massive injustice.

MJR trustee Paul Keeble said: “Our historical amnesia about the exploitation of African slaves that helped make this country rich, has been an attempt to sweep an injustice under the carpet, but it has just left a huge lump that we keep tripping over as a society. Until we admit it is there and seek to address it, these legacy-related tragedies will continue. We cannot simply ‘move on’.”

Raising Public Awareness

In an attempt to bring the issues of legacy to wider public attention, in the summer of 2019 MJR will be sailing a replica slave-ship, called the ‘Zong’, to a number of key ports with associations with the slave trade.

Through on-board and dockside exhibitions, MJR will seek to inform people about the brutality of slavery and the human cost of the Industrial Revolution that has benefitted us all.

Notes

1. The Movement for Justice and Reconciliation is a registered charity, no. 1161441. More information on the MJR website, or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
   
2. The original ‘Zong’ was infamous for the owners claiming on their insurance for the loss of ‘property’ after 133 slaves were thrown overboard when the ship had apparently got into difficulties.
   
3. The 2019 Zong tour schedule is currently being finalised and is subject to confirmation of funding. Ports of call being prepared include Plymouth, Scilly Isles, Bristol, Ilfracombe, Liverpool, Manchester, Whitehaven, Lancaster.