Walk Toward the Light

I want to update you with some thoughts about the current Israel/Gaza flotilla incident which took place while we were in Israel last week and which the news media has broadcast around the world. 
 
Israel’s actions in boarding the flotilla of 6 ships bound for the Gaza Strip were justified on international legal grounds and perhaps unavoidable. Roughly 600 participated in the flotilla which was not led by peace-loving humanitarians. Rather, there is reason to believe that it was backed by groups in nations which are hostile to Israel’s very existence.

Hamas, the group that the U.S. government labels a terrorist organization controls the Gaza Strip and is dedicated in their binding charter of 1988 to Israel’s eradication.* The flotilla’s leaders ignored repeated warnings from the Israel navy to turn back or to put into the Israeli port of Ashdod (the city that  borders Gaza) where the supplies could be off-loaded, inspected, and, if purely humanitarian, sent on to the Gaza Strip as has been done regularly with humanitarian aid.
 
The people of Gaza have regular access to food, medicine and other relief supplies provided by both Israel and Egypt.  Both countries have sought to limit the importation of military equipment that can be employed for military purposes by Hamas.

Let me express again Aglow’s compassion for the people in Gaza, and refugees elsewhere in the Middle East who have, through no fault of their own, been pawns in a game with global implications in the spiritual realm.
 
Please read the recent report (below) from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for further information, and continue to pray for Israel’s security, and for the media to accurately and fairly report the facts of this event.

We will be reporting on our strategic prayer journey to Israel very soon!

* From Article 7 of the 1988 Binding Charter of the current government of the Palestinian Authority Islamic Resistance Movement – HAMAS:  “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews) when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say: ‘O Muslims  there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”

(AIPAC REPORT)

June 2, 2010

AIPAC Resources on the Gaza Flotilla Incident

Dear Friends:

In addition to the AIPAC memo Flotilla Sought Provocation, Not to Provide Assistance that you received yesterday evening, we want to provide you with additional resources as you continue to educate yourself and others about the Gaza flotilla incident and its aftermath.  Numerous members of Congress have already issued statements standing by Israel and supporting its right to self-defense, and we hope others will do the same.

As the world condemns Israel for its defensive steps — taken after Israel tried to avoid confrontation while still allowing the aid supplies to come in — we cannot forget the radical origins of many of the ship’s passengers and organizers.  Ultimately, the flotilla had extremist aims which center on supporting Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and others, sworn to destroying Israel, and a vocal opponent of the Palestinian Authority and the peace process.  We encourage you to take advantage of the following documents as you speak with your audiences.  You may post or share these documents freely. 

“Who was Behind the Gaza Flotilla?” — This backgrounder describes the role the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH)—a group backed by the Turkish government—played in organizing the flotilla and details its relationships with Hamas and other terrorist organizations. IHH is a member of the “Union of Good,” which Israel outlawed in February 2002 and the United States designated as a global terrorist entity in November 2008.  The Treasury Department said the Union of Good was created by the Hamas leadership “in order to facilitate the transfer of funds to Hamas.”
 
“Timeline: The Gaza Flotilla” — This timeline details the series of events leading up to Israel’s interception of the flotilla. Video links demonstrate the true motivations of the flotilla participants and the extent to which Israel went to prevent such an incident from happening.
 
Background on Hamas – Read AIPAC backgrounders on the U.S.-designated terrorist group. Since Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Iranian-backed Hamas—whose charter says that Israel will exist “until Islam eliminates it”—has turned the coastal area into a base for attacking the Jewish state. In the past five years, Hamas has fired more than 7,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians. In 2006 Hamas kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and still holds him captive to this day.

Stay on top of the latest news and analysis by visiting AIPAC’s web site, Twitter feed and Facebook page.