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May 28, 2024
Sondra Oster Baras

On Sunday afternoon, Hamas fired 8 missiles at central Israel.  Sirens were heard in Petach Tikvah, Herzliya, Tel-Aviv and many other cities.  The Iron Dome intercepted most of them, but homes and at least two individuals were hit by Iron Dome fragments.  The missiles were fired from Rafah, the Hamas-controlled city in the southern part of Gaza that has been the focus of so much controversy centered on Israel. 

Rafah is the location of the last stronghold of Hamas.  It may well be where the hostages are being held and where Yahya Sinwar is hiding.  It is adjacent to Egypt where both legal humanitarian aid and illegal weapons are crossing into Gaza.  The international community has been unanimous in its insistence that Israel refrain from entering Rafah.  It has complained that Israel is not allowing enough humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is, in and of itself a total lie. 

Sinwar has heard all of this chatter and answered resoundingly:  He is still in charge of Rafah and he is receiving ongoing weapons via the tunnels connecting Gaza to Egypt. By firing the barrage of missiles to central Israel, Hamas has demonstrated that it is mocking us all.  But for some reason, the international community does not hear or does not want to hear these messages.

The rising levels of anti-Semitism in recent months all over the world have frightened us all.  On Friday, the International Criminal Court issued what amounted to an official declaration of pure anti-Semitism when it confirmed that Israel’s war against Hamas, and specifically in Rafah, could be seen as a war crime.  And to add insult to injury, the UN declared a moment of silence in response to the death of Ebrahim Raisi , Iran’s president, a man so evil that his own people referred to him as the butcher from Tehran.  This is a man who deserves a moment of silence?

There is something terribly wrong in the world today.  Once upon a time, good people knew how to identify evil and could easily distinguish between good and evil.  There were the people who didn’t care about other people, who were racist, prejudiced, who hated certain people groups and tried to hurt them.  And then there were people that stood against these bad people and rose to the defense of the persecuted and downtrodden.

Today, the good people are accused of war crimes. They are portrayed as inhumane, cruel, vindictive, targeting children and innocent civilians.  And the truly evil people, the people who in fact have murdered, raped and tortured men, women and children in their beds, are hailed and honored by normative citizens all over the world.  And this reversal has indeed confused so many. 

Today, good people believe the lies.  They have bought into the lie that Israel is evil.  And all good people want to condemn evil.  The problem is that these good people have lost the ability to identify evil.  It is enough for a social media post to refer to Israel as baby-killers, and people  will believe it.  This is insane!!

Where does that leave us, ordinary people who understand the truth?  Two quotes to ponder.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light  for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20)

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  (Edmund Burke)

Isaiah described a situation in his own generation that speaks volumes to us today.  It is G-d and His holy word that can guide us as we navigate our way between good and evil.  If we don’t have G-d as our guiding light, we may well get lost.  And if we live in a society which has lost its guiding light, that society will easily lose its moral compass and flounder wildly with no direction, with no understanding of the truth.

Edmund Burke gives us a message that guides us to action.  Those of use who still can identify evil dare not remain silent.  We dare not sit back, wring our hands in despair and then do nothing.  If we are truly good men and women, then we have the obligation to do something.  We may not be generals, prime minsters and presidents, or judges at the International Criminal Court.  But we have moral clarity and we have a voice.  We must use it.

What can you do?

• Write to your political leaders and protest their lack of support or outright opposition to Israel.
• Join pro-Israel protests and events to counter the pro-Hamas demonstrations that are dominating public spaces everywhere.
• Reach out to your church community and make sure they are informed as to what is really happening. Challenge your pastor to speak out in support of Israel.  Remind him or her that silence is not an option — sitting back while Israel is being accused of war crimes means supporting the evil that is Hamas.
• Spread the word to family and friends — send them the material you are receiving from all of us at CFOIC Heartland and encourage them to get involved. To educate themselves and then act.
• Invite a CFOIC Heartland representative to your community and work together with us to bring the truth to the good people in your area. We need not convince the evil people. It is enough to convince the good people to step out of their silence and do something!
• Support the work of CFOIC Heartland. Help us spread the word.  Help us support the people who are literally on the front lines of the battles in Israel, who are standing in steadfast commitment to the Land of Israel and to the truth that Israel represents, who are standing against the evil that is Hamas and that threatens them in a very physical way.

Look at yourself in the mirror and remind yourself each day that you may well be the one good person who can make a difference. That you can raise your voice, that you can do something.  I believe in you.  You can truly make a difference.  And may G-d help us all!

 

 

 

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