Israelis and Palestinian-Arabs are in conflict. I watched our local CNA News for real information, but I did not get the truth. Instead, CNA is engaged in false reporting. Yesterday, CNA reported that the Palestinian-Arabs used rockets to respond to Israeli air raids. I immediately knew that was false, and upon checking, it was as I suspected. Israel was responding to rocket attacks from Gaza.
The Issue
There is always a starting point of any conflict. It is not who is more badly
bruised that determine right and wrong, and here and is many other cases, it is the issue of who created the conflict.
The current conflict began in an area in East Jerusalem called Sheikh Jarrah. In 1948, Jordan captured East Jerusalem including the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. All the Jews were driven from their homes in East Jerusalem. That is why East Jerusalem is occupied by Palestinian-Arabs when Israel captured it in 1967. There was no international protest against the Jordanian actions of ethnic cleansing of East Jerusalem and the theft of Jewish property. Jordan then proceeded to issue title to some of Jewish homes.
In 1967, Israel regained control over the whole of Jerusalem. What would you expect Israel to do with the Palestinian-Arabs? To the victor the spoils! But Israel has many left-leaning people. So Israel decided to recognize the
Palestinian-Arab title to the property even if it is issued by Jordan! Even then, there were some properties without proper titles. They were leased properties. Israel respected these leases, and the Palestinian-Arabs were allowed to continue their leases until the leases run out.
Leading to 2021. There are four properties in Sheikh Jarrah where the leases run out. The occupants also refused to pay any more rent. At the same time, they refused to move out. This is when they received eviction orders. The illegal occupants refuse to evict, and the homes are about to be seized by force.
The Palestinian-Arabs use this incident to stage massive protests. The world media is presenting this as a land grab by Israel. This is only about a country enforcing its real estate laws. If Jews occupy homes without title and without lease, they too will be evicted. In Singapore, if your HDB lease runs out and you refuse to move out, you too will be evicted. That is what governments of sovereign countries do. The government must have the power of coercion because there are many who will refuse to obey the law unless coerced.
Israel was generous in victory over East Jerusalem and did not engage in ethnic cleansing like Jordan. Instead Israel allowed the Palestinian-Arabs to live out their leases, and did not drive out those with proper titles, even when it was a Jordanian title. The world media is perverting this into Israel’s land grab.
The conflict
The conflict started Friday May 7. I draw your attention to a report by Al
Jazeera on how the conflict started (1). The Palestinian-Arabs went to the Al Aqsa Mosque to pray in large numbers, and there was heavy Israeli police presence. “Video footage from the scene shows worshippers throwing chairs, shoes and rocks towards the police and officers opening fire.”
It is clear that the gathering in huge numbers at the mosque was to prepare for a protest or an attack of some sort. Israel allowed these large numbers but increased police presence. There is also the issue of how Sheikh Jarrah properties are used to call for an uprising. It would be foolish not to have enhanced law enforcement.
Al Jazeera reports that it was the worshippers who started the conflict, and it was the police who responded to it. It tries to understate the actions of the attackers as “throwing chairs, shoes and rocks towards the police” (emphasis mine), as if these items were not hitting them, but only thrown in the general direction. It is also apparent the chairs and shoes are not weapons of offence and they are included to understate the Palestinian-Arab attack.
Al Jazeera also said that “and the officers opening fire.” This is an admission that the police action was in response to the rock attacks, but stated so the reader can perceive it as simultaneous action. But it also suggests to the reader that the Israeli police shot live rounds at the protestors. The truth is that they shot rubber-coated rounds (you will find this in many news reports). What we see here is a classic case of riot control without the use of lethal force or real ammunition (unlike in Myanmar). This is the necessary and restrained use of force for the control of a murderous riot (unlike the peaceful protests in Myanmar).
The Palestinian-Arab protest was not limited to the Al Aqsa Mosque area. It
was also in the Sheikh Jarrah area and in the roads leading to Al Aqsa which the Israeli police closed off to prevent reinforcement to the Al Aqsa crowds.
May 8 until today. The Palestinians held more protests and started firing
rockets from the Gaza area. To date, around 1,500 rockets have been fired
usually in barrages of about 100 each time. Most of the rockets were
intercepted by Israel’s “Iron Dome,” but invariably some rockets got through.
I wonder what will happen if Singapore is attacked in this way by a
neighboring country. I think an all-out war seems likely. There are many video footages that show you the rocket barrages. In response, Israel targeted the buildings where the rockets came from, and all the institutions that supported the Hamas that made the attacks possible.
Israel knows that there will come a time when there will be a cease fire or an end to conflict. What they cannot afford is to become weaker than their
enemies at the time of the cease fire. Israel’s military doctrine in conflict is to degrade the enemy’s infrastructure more severely than their own infrastructure degradation, so that Israel can build back faster. Otherwise Israel would get weaker with each conflict and will be at a disadvantage in the next conflict.
Morality of Conflict
We also need to point out certain aspects of the morality of conflict.
The first is that the Palestinian-Arabs target civilian population while Israel tries hard to avoid civilian casualties; like giving 1 hour warning for the people to clear out of the building before destroying it. Of course, this means some military assets will also escape. Israel is willing to let the guilty go free rather than kill the innocent.
The second point is that the Palestinian-Arabs deliberately attack from civilian areas and deliberately mix civilians into their point of attack. This is to gain the support of the foolish media that will start accusing Israel of killing civilians, which invariably happens when stubborn or suicidal civilians remain in the targeted area. On the other hand, the media chooses to ignore the Israeli civilians killed by Hamas.
The third point is that the protestors will attack the police and then hide in the mosque. When the police fire tear gas into the mosque, it is then depicted as Israel attacking a holy site. This is also the perverted reporting found in the Guardian and other agencies. In reality, Israel has the right to destroy the holy sites that are so abused.
The fourth point is that the media is anti-Israel. There are only a few news
agencies that will give a balanced report. One anti-Israel western news agency is the BBC. Locally, the CNA is also anti-Israel. This is seen in their deliberately skewed reporting that will not say who started the fight. In the case of CNA, it was deliberate false reporting to say that the Palestinian-Arabs were responding to Israeli air strikes.
The fifth point is that the politically correct statements that call for deescalation or cease fire by all parties, are disingenuous. All that is needed for peace to return is for the Palestinian-Arabs to stop their rocket attacks, and Israel will stop their air strikes.
The sixth point is that you cannot trust the videos that claim Palestinian-Arab civilian deaths. Many of these are staged and the “dead” are very much alive, they are only acting. They have special photo ops to win the public, and some are caught red-handed doing it. These are commonly called Pallywood clips (2).
What is your role?
I don’t have a dog in this fight. At least not in the direct or intimate sense. But I have a concern for you to know the truth against the lies of the media, and for what God wants to do through Israel to bring blessings to the world. I see myself in two roles:
Share the truth with you by refuting the lying media, and I hope you will share this with others also.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6).
So, let us now pray as Scripture enjoins us.
(Yahweh Tsebaoth) LORD of heaven’s armies, LORD Almighty,
Look upon the sons of Israel with your favor as their enemies seek to harm,
destroy and kill them. Deliver them from the evil that has come upon them.
Bring justice to the land where your chosen people live.
Lord God, grant your people the peace of (Yeshua Hamashiach) Jesus Christ, your Son, our Prince of Peace. Holy Spirit, speak to the hearts of the sons of Abraham, both the sons of Israel and of Ishmael, that they may know Jesus, confess him as Lord, and find true peace.
LORD Almighty, Yerushalayim, even all Israel, is in turmoil again. Bless it. Rule over it. Let your peace overshadow it. LORD of heaven’s armies, bring peace to Yerushalayim. Amen.
(1) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/7/al-aqsa-worshippers-protestpalestinian-evictions-in-jerusalem
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