Attack in the Old City

By | August 12, 2007
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Walking through the Old City, I often noticed the many security cameras mounted high on the walls of the alleyways.  I wondered if anyone was watching, and if so, how they kept from falling asleep.  This weekend that footage came in handy, when an Israeli Arab grabbed the pistol of a security guard and shot him.  That footage is now online, but before you watch it, a few words.  What you’re seeing is footage from multiple cameras, stitched together so you can see the full progression of the event.  Initially you see the attacker following the guards.  Later you see the gun grab, and then a few shots of the shootings.  If you’ve spent much time in the Christian Quarter, you may recognize the streets.

You can watch the video here, as released by the Jerusalem police.  If you’re a parent or you are going to Israel in the future, you should watch this instead.

A few words about the attacker.  He was an Israeli Arab, which means that he is an Israeli citizen (and was all of his 29 years).  Some will suggest this even means that all Israeli Arabs are evil and Jew-killers.  There are many reasons why this is false, including the reality that those who initially helped the wounded Jewish soldier were Arabs.

There’s another reality that must be noted, however.  The funeral of the attacker was held in Kefar Manda (near the real Cana, and a city I’ve been in several times).  Here is what the JPost said about the funeral.

Khatib, who is survived by his pregnant wife and young daughter, was buried on Sunday in Kafr Manda in a funeral attended by thousands, carrying green Islamic Movement flags.

The funeral began with a speech by Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch. “Those who murdered Ahmed Khatib are criminals, terrorists and cowards” he said. He also promised that those responsible will be cursed by Ahmed’s blood.

Ahmed’s father, Mahmoud, said that the security tapes were a fabrication, claiming that police had told him that evidence was still inconclusive. He blamed the security guards for his son’s death, but said that ultimate responsibility lay with the Israeli government.

In my opinion, the response of the thousands of Israeli Arab citizens is much more troubling than the attempted murders by one of its members.  These Arabs are not “oppressed West Bank Palestinians” who “had their land stolen.”  They have lived in Israel for 60 years and have received benefits as citizens.  This strongly suggests to me that the best possible peace deal with the Palestinians will not end Israel’s struggle with Arabs.

Israel has two problems, as I see it.  The first are those in and around her who desire her destruction.  The second is an absolute rejection of the only One who can save the nation.  According to Scripture, the first will be resolved when the second one is.  Unfortunately, Israel is trying to solve the first without realizing that there is the second.

15 Years

By | August 8, 2007
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Fifteen years ago today a couple of young kids stood in front of a church and promised love until death.  Today we are celebrating that commitment and God’s faithfulness.  This morning we went to the Dallas Arboretum.  Tonight we’ll eat something you can’t get in Israel: a good steak.

Kingdom of Priests, revision

By | August 6, 2007
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I got word yesterday, from the best possible source, that the revised edition of Kingdom of Priests, by Eugene Merrill, will be out in the spring.  I, however, am not going to tell you who bought me lunch at a great little Tex-Mex restaurant.

IBEX Alumnus Killed in Iraq

By | August 3, 2007
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Yesterday the army announced that Jason Kessler was killed in fighting in Iraq.  From the News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington:

A 29-year-old Army Ranger from Fort Lewis was killed Monday in northern Iraq, the military said Thursday.

Cpl. Jason M. Kessler, a college graduate and veteran of two previous Iraq deployments, died after his tactical vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, according to Department of Defense press releases.

He was assigned to C Company of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment from Fort Lewis. Officials at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., said they could provide no further details about the incident.

Kessler was from Mount Vernon in Skagit County. He graduated from Mount  Vernon Christian High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita, Calif., the Special Operations Command said in a press release. He was also studying philosophy at the University of Washington.

He enlisted in the Army in 2005 and completed infantry and airborne training and then the Ranger indoctrination program, all at Fort Benning, Ga. He was assigned to the Fort Lewis Ranger battalion in August of that year.

He is survived by his parents, C. Michael and Pamela Kessler, his brother Mark, his sister Katelyn, all of Mount Vernon, and his long-time girlfriend Erin Jacobson of Kirkland, the Army said.

Kessler is the fourth Fort Lewis Ranger to be killed in the Iraq war.

Jason was at IBEX in the fall of 1997.  He was a bright student who was one of a very small number that chose to take the dreaded archaeology class with me.  He excelled in his studies and in his campus job.  I gave him some difficult tasks but he was always faithful and careful.  That he later qualified in the elite Army Rangers is not a surprise to me.  May the Lord comfort his family and Erin in this hard time.

jason_kessler
Jason at IBEX, fall 1997

Update (4:00 pm): A friend sent a bio of Jason (pdf) by the Army Rangers.  Jason was an amazing guy.

A Troubling Question

By | August 2, 2007
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The fact that this issue is one of the most difficult that I wrestle with on a daily basis will certainly reveal something about my character.  But I am willing to humble myself in order to seek greater clarity on the matter.  Perhaps I missed this lesson in an English class one day, or perhaps I am just inordinately clueless, especially given that I send about 5,000 emails a year and still haven’t figured it out.  In any case, I would value any intelligent insight.

What is the purpose of the closing line?  Or how does it function?  What exactly does it mean “Sincerely” – am I not sincere if I don’t use that?  Is it better to use “Yours sincerely”?  It seems that some of these are mere formalities and not to be taken too seriously, but if someone signs their note with “Best regards” and I use “Regards,” is that an insult?  What are “regards” anyway?  Is “Best wishes” a way around saying that you have regard for someone?  Or is it all a simple formality that I shouldn’t spend any time thinking about?

Last Year's War

By | August 1, 2007
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This time last year a lot of the discussion on this blog concerned the Israel-Lebanon war (now dubbed by Israel the “Second Lebanon War” even though there is no official “First Lebanon War”).  It’s interesting then what one Hezbollah official had to say yesterday.

“The cease-fire acted as a life jacket for the organization [at the end of the Second Lebanon War],” a Hizbullah officer said in an interview aired by Channel 10 on Tuesday.

In the interview, the unnamed officer said Hizbullah gunmen would have surrendered if the fighting last summer had continued for another 10 days.

The officer shown on Channel 10 said the organization’s gunmen had been running low on food and water and facing rapidly diminishing arms supplies.

The officer also said that many Hizbullah commanders were ordered to hide before the war started, and that the gunmen who remained were forced to fire Katyusha rockets from inside urban populations because of the IDF’s efficiency in destroying launchers minutes after a launch had been detected.

He said that when the gunmen relocated to cities and villages, they knew innocent civilians would be hurt as a consequence. (Source: JPost)

Hindsight of course is 20/20, but there were plenty of people who thought that the war ended prematurely without Irael accomplishing its objectives.  This view from the other side suggests that Israel should not have stopped when it did.  What will Israel do next time?

Where'd My Group Go?

By | August 1, 2007
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I’ve lost students on trips before, but never this bad:

An Israeli tour guide picked the group up from the airport and took them straight to Caesarea. From there, they made their way north to Nazareth, the guide reporting his suspicions from the first when the leader, dressed as a priest, did not correct one of his “charges” when the latter exclaimed that Yeshu was born in Nazareth. Their first stop in Nazareth was at the Church of the Annunciation. “When we went inside – eight of the group suddenly disappeared,” said the guide. “I asked where they were and their colleagues said that they’d gone to buy scarves to cover their heads out of respect for the church. I retraced my steps, but I didn’t see them.” While the guide was off looking for the eight “lost sheep,” the others were also disappearing. “At first I was left with eight, then with five, then with three, and finally all the group had disappeared.” Having appealed to the police, he opened the suitcases left behind in a search for their passports – to discover that the “heaviest” contained only two items of clothing. “‘It was clear to me that this was something organized,’ said the abandoned guide. ‘They’re most likely no longer in Nazareth – someone probably came and picked them up and took them to the center of the country.'”

Much more seriously, episodes like this are very bad for African believers who want to come and study in Israel (such as at the Home for Bible Translators).  The government is very slow to grant them visas, and episodes like this one is a reason why.

(In case it is not clear, Africans and others from third-world countries have been known to “disappear” on their trips to Israel in order to live and work in a nation that is much more prosperous.)

Source: Caspari Center Media Review

One Day, Two Services

By | July 30, 2007
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So far the move hasn’t been real difficult physically, because until you get a place to live, you can’t do a whole lot. But you can look for a church, and we have been. Someone told me that the Dallas area has 65,000 churches, and so I doubt we’ll visit them all. Though if even half of them bought the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, making our budget wouldn’t be a problem.

Today we visited two churches, one morning service and one evening. Both were Christian churches, and both were evangelical. They are located within a few miles of each other and each service lasted about one hour. I think both have solid theology and I think we could be members of both happily. Even so, there were some radical differences.

  • For one, I wore blue jeans, an old polo shirt, and hiking boots. For the other, I wore new dockers, a new polo, and dress shoes.
  • For one, I was overdressed. For the other, I was underdressed.
  • For one, if I had been dropped in from the sky, I would have thought I was at a rock concert with special lighting and all.
  • For the other, there was singing, but no instruments.
  • For one, they met in a high school auditorium. For the other, they met in a distinguished chapel building.
  • One is pastored by a guy I’ve never heard of. The other was led for many years by a well-known and very good Bible teacher.
  • One had an attendance at the first service of a couple thousand. The other had about 50.
  • One had about 8 treadmills on the stage. In the other, no one got on the stage or stood up front the entire service.
  • One had 3 classes for each year of age of the child, based on month of birth, with loaner beepers and security tags. For the other, the kids went to the adult service.
  • One did not have hymnbooks. The other had three hymnbooks in the pews and we sang from all three.
  • One appeared to be perfectly scripted. The other had not one thing planned other than observance of the Lord’s supper.
  • One was quite comfortable in every way. The other had me confused (and potentially embarrassed) in something I’ve done in church for 30 years.
  • One had a biblical, but non-expository, message. The other had a couple of brief exhortations from Scripture.
  • One had a message delivered by the executive pastor (usually they’re “executive” because they can’t preach) and from a communication standpoint, it was excellent. The other doesn’t have a pastor.

I thought that I was going to be able to say that at neither church did someone initiate greeting us. That was true at the first church. I think it would have been true at the second church except that we went with friends who introduced us to others (and to the entire congregation). Everyone who has ever mentioned the second church to me has commented on its unfriendly nature. It should be noted that our experiences with being greeted is not a regional factor, as might be the case in an area like New England. In two previous churches we visited, people were very friendly and initiated a lot.

Very interesting. In case you didn’t figure it out, all of the comments above listed first were of the morning service and all of the “other” were from the evening service. Some in the DTS world may know which churches we visited, but my preference is that you not name them in the comments. If we choose to go to one or the other, I may delete this post.

Not the Kingdom

By | July 27, 2007
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Some people love Israel and think that the country can do no wrong.  I think that as with most things, the more you know, the more problems you see.  Today there were three articles in the Israeli news that caught my attention.

A man was fined 500 shekels for wearing a seatbelt under his arm.  The U.S. might not be above such idiocy either, but the fact that there are such laws and such judges is disturbing.  Also, a law was passed requiring all bike riders to wear helmets. There may be helmets in heaven, but there will be no helmet laws.

Yesterday Israel bulldozed the home of an Arab citizen in Ein Rafa, a community next to Abu Gosh.  According to the story, they arrived at 5 in the morning without any immediate warning.  If it was a Jewish owner, do you think they would have bulldozed the house?  Not a chance.

An entire company of Israeli soldiers was suspended after a group car-jacked a Palestinian taxi.  It seems that they didn’t want to patrol on foot.  They also shot an unarmed man (his spade was mistaken for a gun), but they did not stop to check his status.  Two observations on this story: the fact that the army suspended the unit and that the newspaper reports the story are things you would never see in a neighboring country.  This reflects positively on Israel.  On the other hand, what is the discipline level at when soldiers would do such a thing?  For sure, this isn’t the first time this unit violated basic human rights.

And I hope you weren’t swimming in the Sea of Galilee this week.