Peace behind the headlines
By Bob Mendelsohn
Given November 19, 2003
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne Club
Introduction
Thank you Richard and Carey for your kind invitation to address
these men at this historic venue. And to speak about a topic that is both hot
and annoying at the same time. I'm humbled to bring this message, as there
are others here who no doubt have a strong handle on this global topic, and
to whom I would love to listen.
Let me read a selection from the Bible, for a word of consideration as
we begin. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they prosper who love
you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces." (Psalm
122.6-7)
Perhaps you watched the television last night, and tested either your
intelligence quotient or your homosexual tolerance capacity. But for the
next thirty minutes or so, maybe this talk will test your biblical, societal,
Jewish and human connections, as we speak about "Peace behind the
headlines."
Polarized media
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that the issue of Israel
is well covered in the press. The war/intifada/occupation is good fodder
for the media and on which many aver their opinions. In just the last few
days The Age has had these articles' headlines:
Sunday, November 16, 2003
US criticises Israeli settlements and wall
United States officials have sent sharp messages to Israel criticising its settlement policy in the occupied territories and the
security barrier it is building along the West Bank, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily reported today. more
Ex-security chiefs blast Sharon
In a joint interview published on Friday, four former heads of the Shin Bet security service delivered a blistering collective
criticism of Israel's tough military policies towards the Palestinians, saying Israel urgently needed a political solution to the
conflict. more
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Wall a 'barrier to peace'
Israeli settlements imperil the future of Israel as a Jewish state and must end immediately, the top US diplomat for the
Middle East said in remarks released yesterday. more
Friday, November 14, 2003
Israel 'ignored' road map
A leaked Israeli Government memo admits Israel failed to honour key obligations under the stalled "road map" for
peace. more
In Australia and dare I say worldwide, no small uproar arose last
month due to the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed and his
almost final commentary on the Middle East lack of peace situation. In his
swan song speech, he blamed the Jews, and wished for our death in the
same sentence. He said, "The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12
million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to
fight and die for them." (text of his speech below)
This odd story is told of 2 Jews at a bus stop in Caulfield reading
newspapers. One is reading the Australian Jewish News; the other the
latest neo-Nazi newspaper. The first was shocked and turned to his friend,
"Menachem, why are you reading such a terrible newspaper?" Menachem
turned and shyly replied, "Listed Baruch, in your newspaper, the Jews are
under-funded and losing yeshivas. Some struggle to keep their head above
media blitzes and military tides against us. There is always another
controversy brewing and we are all tired and worn out."
"This is not news," Baruch answered.
Menachem replied, "Ah yes, but in my paper, the Jews are in charge of
the banks, we rule the media and dominate the world. I prefer this
triumphal view of the Jewish people."
Whimsical as that may be, the diatribes against the Jews by Nazis or Mahathirs
will not produce what I believe we really want in the world, and that's peace. Peace in
the Middle East-- peace between peoples-- peace in our lives.
Who is who in Israel today?
From the Christian perspective, Israel has been a focus for centuries.
Richard Land of the 16 million member Southern Baptist Convention was
reported in the Los Angeles Times as saying "Far more than the Catholic
Church sex scandals, the Mideast crisis is now the No. 1 concern among
evangelical Christians” May 5, 2002
Let's talk about the peoples of the land behind the headlines
•The population of the State of Israel
•79% Jewish = 4.85 million
•15% Muslim = 922,000
•6% Christian, Druze or no affiliation = 376,000
Arab evangelical Christians make up 1.5% of the West Bank
population. They suffer greatly in hostile Muslim controlled territories and
by the Palestinian Authority. They are often suspected as 'collaborators',
almost as traitors to the cause Alex Awad of the Bethlehem Bible College
said, “Christian families who never thought of leaving the country will
now seek a way out…endangering the very presence of Christianity in the
city (of Bethlehem).”
But something you don't hear about is the growth of the Israeli
Jewish Christian movement. The body has grown in 30 years from 350 to
6000, with 80 congregations worshiping in Hebrew, Russian and Amharic.
Evangelism is happening throughout the land. Two publishing houses are
working to make the Messiah known in various languages with much
material. Our Jews for Jesus organization received amutah in 1999, thus we
are registered as a non profit organization, making Jesus known among the
Israelis and anyone else who is listening.
In March, 2002, a 17 year old Palestinian suicide bomber was stopped
at a surprise roadblock on Rehov Han'vi’im in Jerusalem. The checkpoint
was manned by a heroic 19 year old IDF Border Guard, Tomer Mordechai.
Tomer was the only Israeli to die when the cornered bomber detonated the
device that was meant for city-centre Jerusalem, just 3 blocks away. Tomer
had come to faith in Christ the previous year and was publicly baptized on
a Tel Aviv beach just six months before dying in the line of duty. He was
our family in the faith.
The problem of political alignment
Sometimes, political alignment negates our testimony to one or both
communities.
Both Jews and Arabs are suspicious of Christians
Both remember the era of the Crusades
You don’t have to hate Arabs in order to maintain a love for Jewish
people.
Conversely, you don’t have to reject the Jewish people in order to
love and care for the Palestinian people
God is the benevolent Lord over all the earth, and He loves all
people.
Where is the hope of peace?
We are producing a video that highlights something which is
wonderfully exciting. It's the reconciliation of the Palestinians and the Jews
in the only way peace will really come. Not with bloodshed and not with
the ink of treaties. True peace, I believe, comes from one source, the Prince
of Peace, Y'shua, or Jesus as many know him. On this video Arab and
Jewish Israelis discuss the hope of peace. They are working for the solution
to the crisis. Of course, this is not the first such video project out there.
Our Aussie ABC TV chronicled the lives of some young children in
the Land some years ago. They featured the dream that if people were
taught peace from their youth and learned to play together as children that
they would grow up in a different world. They would be the children of
hope or the children of peace. Unfortunately, and as no surprise if you saw
the documentary, the children by the time they were teenagers, hated their
former playmates and wanted only their ruin.
Listen, I was an educator. I taught high school maths in the US before
I became a missionary some 24 years ago. I'm 52 years old. I was taught
and continue to be taught that education is the only answer to the world's
woes. If we could just teach people the right way to live, teach them that
cigarettes are wrong, teach them that killing is wrong, etc. then the world
would be all fixed. My friends at the Melbourne Club, education is not
going to fix the world. Bob the Builder is not going to fix the world. Putting
children into a box in the war-torn land of Israel is not going to fix it. I
believe there's only one hope for the world, the hope for peace was born in
the Middle East some 2000 years ago. His name is Y'shua. He's the Prince
of Peace according to the prophet Isaiah.
I grew up an Orthodox Jew in the US. For me, hope was finding a
good wife, a good career, a good synagogue to join, and the middle class
life of my parents, with slight improvements. But true hope is not getting
all this or tax relief or landing that new job with all the perks and stock
options. Hope is not found in the Rugby World Cup, especially if you are a
Kiwi supporter. Hope is not in the winning of Australian Idol as it finally
terminates tonight. Hope is found in the Messiah of Israel. Simeon was an
old man in the Temple of Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Romans
in 70 CE. He held the baby Y'shua and said the famous "nunc dimittis',
"Now let your servant depart in peace... For my eyes have seen your
salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to
bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." (Luke
2.29-32). Jesus is the hope for the Jewish people and the hope for all people.
It's in relationship to Him that I found peace. Not initially with my
family, as you can imagine, when I told them of my new discovery. Not
initially with everyone I meet and share my faith. But as we carry on and
listen to, really hear, the gentle Messiah, the Man from Galilee, then hear
His commands and ordinances, we have peace. Submitting to the Master of
the Universe is the only way to ensure true lasting peace. Peace between
peoples and peace inside ourselves.
That's what this video project we are producing is featuring. Several
Arab and Jewish settlers pray together. They meet and hug and laugh and
learn the Bible together. The pastor of a messianic congregation is an Arab
Christian. Shmuel Oweida, spoke so tenderly to the family of Abigail Litle,
a 14-year-young Jewish girl who was killed in another bombing there in
March this year. She also was a believer in Jesus. That funeral got global
coverage, but maybe you didn't see it in The Age or the Fin Review.
Not here but there
Thomas Friedman, the New York Times journalist, and author of
Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999) talked about the lenses through which we
look at the situations of the world. He suggested six lenses for
understanding the impact of globalization on a changing world. His
commentary left out what I believe is the most significant lens, and that is
the spiritual or biblical.
Friedman comments on the
1) Political lens - where both sides seek coexistence through
compromise
2) Military lens - seeks a cease fire, domination/ conquest, or surrender
3) Sociological lens - seeks safe neighborhoods and building projects (no
bulldozers) and families 'getting along'
and the 4) economic lens - seeks health care, jobs and good food supply,
but looking through the spiritual lens that is, seeking inner peace with
God and the power to transform the broken inner being. That he leaves
out. But that is the only way to peace which remains.
Conclusion
Gentlemen, I'm convinced that there is a hope for peace. I'm
convinced that it's found by those who love God with all their hearts and
who are willing to pay a price for this peace in relationships with others
who are so minded. In the same way that Y'shua gave himself for others in
a sacrificial method at the end in the crucifixion, I believe true peace will
not be in military campaigns or Peace Now demonstrations. It will be in
humble villages where neighbours pray together and learn about God's
plans for the world. It's in Board chambers where men and women of good
will embrace each other as brothers, not as cousins or devastated
colleagues in war, but as brothers forgiven of their sins and bought with
blood more precious than those of the Irgun or the IDF or the PLO. The
blood of Y'shua is more precious than the lot.
Many of you are Christians and this message is not new to you. I
hope you will want to help us get the message out in Sydney and beyond. I
hope you will want to send funds our way to broadcast the Good News in
Israel and Australia and everywhere. If you would give me your business
card, I will be happy to send you our literature regularly. We can certainly
use your help in this time.
But to the rest I say, The blood of Y'shua is more precious than the
lot. He went to the blood bin for us, then three days later, rose from the
dead, triumphing where men battle and wage war. His peace is internal.
His peace is eternal. And his peace sadly is still the peace behind the
headlines. Maybe today, however, those headlines have been pulled back
and you can see in.
Invitation
If that describes you, and today you are seeing God's plan in His
Messiah, then why not talk to one of the men in charge today, or me or
write to me after this luncheon is over.
Let's talk about how you can find eternal life and peace in being
forgiven of your sins, today for all time. OK?
Richard and Carey, thanks again, and gents, God be with us all and all who
love peace in these troubled and troubling times.