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Home Bonkers About IsraelBy Tony Pearce - Light for the Last Days‘Their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power.’ This was the title of an article in ‘The Guardian’ (20/4/04) by George Monbiot, author of ‘The Age of Consent: a Manifesto for a New World Order’. Monbiot claims that US Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush's Middle East policy. He links the views of these Christians to the belief in the second coming of Jesus as portrayed in the ‘Left Behind’ film series which he considers to be ‘an extraordinary delusion’. This is how he describes this view: ‘Jesus will return to Earth when certain preconditions have been met. The first of these was the establishment of a state of Israel. The next involves Israel's occupation of the rest of its ‘biblical lands’ (most of the Middle East), and the rebuilding of the Third Temple on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques. The legions of the antichrist will then be deployed against Israel, and their war will lead to a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. … What makes the story so appealing to Christian fundamentalists is that before the big battle begins, all ‘true believers’ (i.e. those who believe what they believe) will be lifted out of their clothes and wafted up to heaven during an event called the Rapture.’ He claims that supporters of this view are making this scenario come about by backing the ‘neo-conservatives’ in the Bush administration and ‘demanding ever more US support for Israel, and seeking to provoke a final battle with the Muslim world/Axis of Evil/United Nations/ European Union/France or whoever the legions of the antichrist turn out to be.’ This article is part of a general trend to portray Christians who support Israel as dangerous lunatics who are in the driving seat of power in the USA. The idea is that pro Israel Christians in the USA are shaping events to line up with their view of end time prophecy. The Guardian is the leading ‘liberal establishment’ newspaper in Britain and is constantly critical of Bible believing Christians and of Israel. Interestingly it is extremely uncritical of the mirror image of the ‘Left Behind’ series, which is the Islamic view of Israel and the end of days. In many ways its biased reporting on Israel and the Middle East conflict is helping advance the Islamic cause which sees victory for the Palestinians as the first step towards imposing Islam on the rest of the world. This is a bit short sighted since the victory of the Islamic jihad would result in supporters of most of the other causes which The Guardian espouses – gay rights, feminism, secular humanism etc - being flogged or beheaded. The Islamic view of Israel and the Apocalypse.Israel is in the front line for the jihad aiming at the triumph of Islam. Overthrowing Zionism in Israel is the first stage of a campaign which ultimately sees the whole world brought into submission to Islam. This is based on a view which has the exact opposite conclusion to the Bible’s view of the end of days, although it uses a number of similar details. The Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, not a divine person. They also deny that he died on the cross and rose again. The Muslim Jesus (who is quite different from the Jesus revealed in the Bible – information available on this from us) will come back to convert the world to Islam after a battle over ‘Palestine’ which will result in the victory of Islam. A typical example of the thinking behind this is extract from a sermon by Imam Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi from Gaza, broadcast live on Palestinian TV (12/4/02): ‘The Jews await the false Jewish messiah, while we await, with Allah’s help the Mahdi and Jesus, peace be upon him. Jesus’ pure hands will murder the false Jewish messiah. Where? In the city of Lod, in Palestine. Palestine will be, as it was in the past, a graveyard for the invaders. A reliable Hadith [tradition] says: “The Jews will fight you, but you will be set to rule over them.” What could be more beautiful than this tradition? “The Jews will fight you” – that is, the Jews have begun to fight us. “You will be set to rule over them” – Who will set the Muslim to rule over the Jew? Allah. When the Jew hides behind the rock and the tree, the rock and tree will say: “Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, a Jew hides behind me, come and kill him.”’ ‘We believe in this Hadith. We are convinced also that this Hadith heralds the spread of Islam and its rule over all the earth. Oh beloved, look to the East of the earth, find Japan and the ocean; look to the West of the earth, find some country and the ocean. Be assured that these will be owned by the Muslim nation, as the Hadith says, ‘from the ocean to the ocean.’ He is quoting Islamic traditions which speak of a great battle with a figure known as ‘Daijjal’ (the Muslim version of ‘Antichrist’) which takes place in Lod near Jerusalem as a result of which the Jews will be exterminated, the Christian religion will become extinct and Islam will rule the whole world. The Guardian, the BBC and most of our media tend to turn a blind eye to the power of this idea which motivates the fighters of Hamas, al Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalists around the world. Reporting of events from Israel.While Israel and Bible believing Christians are fair game for rejection and mockery, papers like The Guardian are very circumspect when dealing with Islam. They are also totally biased in their reporting of events on the ground in Israel. At the time of writing this article the event in the news is the conflict in Rafah in Gaza. Most people in the west see TV pictures of houses being demolished, children killed and women weeping and are moved with sympathy for the Palestinians and hatred and indignation against the Israelis. It is not wrong to have sympathy for the Palestinians as people. But it is clear that much of the hatred for Israel that is now widespread in the west comes from ignorance of the facts which are rarely given by the media. Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes in destroying houses in Rafah along the border. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, in his role as EU President, have issued condemnations of Israel after the death of Palestinians in the demonstration against Israel. But who is issuing any condemnation of the people who are responsible for the action in the first place? And how many people in the west who rush to condemn Israel know who is really responsible? The background to the Israeli action is as follows. The town of Rafah crosses the border between Gaza and Egypt. Israel controls a strip known as the Philadelphia route along this border. Palestinian terrorist groups have been digging tunnels under this border, using houses on both sides of the border to conceal the entrances to these tunnels. Since 2002 the IDF has discovered and destroyed 86 tunnels and approximately ten are believed to still be operational. Since September 2000 over 900 Israelis have been killed as a result of Palestinian terrorism with many more seriously injured. These tunnels are used to supply terrorists with means to kill Israelis. Israeli intelligence knows that there are now more sophisticated weapons reaching the Egyptian side of Rafah, including RPGs, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft missiles, waiting to be brought into Gaza via the tunnels. With these weapons hostile elements could target Israeli towns like Ashkelon and bring down planes. The conclusion therefore is: No tunnels, no weapons flowing from Egypt into Gaza, no terrorism against Israel = no need to demolish homes, no children killed, no weeping women. Egypt has signed a peace treaty with Israel and receives billions of dollars in aid from the USA as an incentive to keep the peace, yet does nothing to stop terrorist weapons being smuggled into Gaza. Under the terms of agreements signed with Israel, the Palestinian Authority is supposed to be taking action against terrorism but is in fact a sponsor of terrorism. So why doesn’t the liberal media target some of its criticism on the terrorists who are using civilians including women and children to front their activities and even more on the Egyptian government which is doing virtually nothing to stop this criminal activity from taking place from its territory? Perhaps they think that the Islamic version of the end of days scenario is OK, unlike the Christian one which is not. What about the end of days scenario?Going back to George Monbiot’s original criticism I do believe the Bible version of the end of days scenario and that Israel plays a significant part in this. That does not mean I accept everything in the ‘Left Behind’ series or that everything Israel does is right. Israelis are human beings who make mistakes like everyone else. When they do make mistakes they generally admit them unlike their enemies who glory in killing civilians. It does mean that as a Christian that I should work for Israel’s right to exist and the right to defend her people and nation against those who come to kill, maim and destroy. And Yes, I do believe that there will be an event known as the Rapture, when the Messiah Jesus will come to take those who believe in Him to Himself and that there will be a time of great tribulation leading to Armageddon. So it is a good idea to be ready for that by believing the Bible and believing in Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Maybe in time Mr. Monbiot will find out that this view is not quite so bonkers as his Manifesto for a New World Order!
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