New Wave of Terror, During Spring Holidays

Passover and Easter are nearly upon us...

and so is the Islamic month-long holiday of Ramadan.  You might not know that Ramadan is on a lunar calendar that doesn't adjust for errors like the Jewish calendar. Our rabbis add an extra month every two or three years. This means that by comparison to modern calendars, Ramadan moves around quite a bit from year to year.  When I moved to Israel in 2002, the holiday was in November and this year it is April 1 to May 1st.  The holiday itself isn't normally a cause for concern, unless you're Jewish living in Israel. The reason is that certain radical Islamic leaders use this important holiday as a platform to spread their hatred and anti-semitism. This isn't to say that most or even many muslims fall into this category. I truly believe that the average Israeli Arab Muslim is a peace-loving kind hearted citizen with good intentions. However, just like in other countries, there are always elements in society with nefarious behavior and in the Middle East this generally leads to terrorism, while in the USA it tends to lead towards street gangs. That is simply the reality.

What you heard in the News...

Palestinian gunmen take part in the funeral of two Palestinians who were shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes, during their funeral in Jenin, in the West Bank, March 31, 2022. (photo credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)
Recently, there have been a number of terror attacks. Eleven Israelis have died in the last week and many more injured. This is a direct response to Israeli diplomats meeting with high level officials from four Arab countries (Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain along with the US Secretary of State). When terrorists are upset at someone, like Egypt, their first and usually only response is to try and kill Israelis. This is what we saw last week, unfortunately. The Israeli government does have very sophisticated networks that help them prevent many such tragedies, but it is impossible to prevent "lone wolf" attacks like these all of the time. 

So how will this new wave of terror affect our family and ministry?

The situation may become less dangerous. The fact that we just began Ramadan has led the experts to predict that it will get worse before it gets better. We hope the experts are wrong. We hope and pray that cooler heads will prevail. However, to be safe, Israelis will now be taking less risks. What does that mean, it means we won't be going out of our way to shop in cities that are predominately Arab, like we used to do, because they have better prices. It also means that we will avoid certain higher risk roads. Other than those two things, most Israelis won't be changing their schedules or plans too much. The important thing to remember about terrorism is that their goal is disrupt our lives. If we let that happen then they win. As a result, Israelis are going to keep doing what they would have been doing anyway. Classes will not be cancelled, activities not halted, unless the police issue a warning.

We have been through this before.

In 2002, when Jason moved to Israel we had a major terrorism wave. Buses were being blown up every week, with passengers on board. Jason still took two buses to work every day. So did everyone else. This is the way we defeat terrorism. There were no close calls, by God's grace, but it really is about His grace and trusting in Him.  That is how we are called to live. These days, more than ever, it is important to be prayerful and trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit and continue to pray for his protection for us.

So, how can you be Praying?

Pray for safety for all those taking public transportation, driving cars, waiting at bus stops, shopping at malls and otherwise trying to live their lives with minimal disruption. Our best defense, as believers is the Holy Spirit keeping us out of harms way, so pray that God would guide the believers and that we would listen. Pray that cooler heads would prevail and the leaders of these terror groups would choose peace rather than war. Pray for God to move on the hearts and minds of those who are desire to hurt Israelis that he would change their hearts, like he did my friend Sayed, when he came to faith. Once Sayed just wanted to hurt Israelis, now he prays for the salvation of the Jewish people. God changed his heart and if he can do it for Saul he can do it for all the Sayeds out there too.

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