Welcome to the hornets nest on this one! There’s not one undisputed fact in this whole situation. I’ve found that you can’t have a normal conversation about this. Both sides have dug in so deep that it’s like you’re dealing with two completely different universes.

This is good, especially the part about Israel being brought before the Torah. I’ve had a few of the same questions myself, but who will be the one who can objectively delve into this issue? Who can do it without “othering” as you say; with the vested interest of only getting to the truth? We’re all biased to some extent on every issue, but who will be that party dedicated to getting at the truth, even if that means the side they like may come out the loser?

“Was that boat, or the flotilla, properly contacted in advance to say the boats must pass inspection? Is this protocol?”
Let’s see ? armed Israel soldiers board boat armed, relief ship occupants retaliate with items typically stocked on a ship.
“Was Israel within its rights to inspect the boats? Were those on the boat told this would happen if they entered improper areas?”
Being international waters would presume no.
“Was that landing on the boat by Israeli personnel a surprise or expected?”
Expected during daytime and whence a public PR display could be made of Israel refusing relief to a suffering population. Surprise that it was a midnight raid.
“Were the Israeli personnel who landed on the boat aggressive in behavior?”
Boarding a boat against its occupants will with armed invaders would suggest “aggressive” to me.
“Why were the “pro Palestinian activists” using pipes as weapons to beat others? Had those others threatened their safety?”
Fear. Stupidity. Hope of martyrdom.
“Who first initiated violence?”
According to film, Israel fired first shots.
“Does Israel recognize the humanitarian issues among Palestinians? What is Israel doing about it? What are Arab countries doing about it?”
Doesn’t seem so ? implementing a policy of apartheid and forcibly inflicting suffering on a population. The Gaza blockade has been deemed illegal, has it not?
“Do the Palestinians want peace? Do the Israelis want peace?”
In the aggregate, hard to assess, though it certainly seems Israel has taken a hard line against the Palestinians.
“Who are the mediators? Who will the peacemakers be? What will peace look like in the Land?”
Hard to see, but with God, all things are possible.
“Does a stance of advocacy lead to “othering” the other? How can we be advocates and not other the Israelis or the Palestinians?”
Comment #1 summarizes the dilemma ? a “hornets nest”.

I think I pretty much agree with you, but I don’t think I would ever say something as strongly as “We can no longer believe Israel’s becoming a landed nation again had anything to do with biblical prophecy”.
Is the “we” you, Scot? Are you really that sure? I generally have the same opinion as you, but I am open to being wrong about it. God just might doing something that I doubt he is doing.
Or is the “we” all Christians? Do you think all Christians should believe this?
Finally, although I would never state this as strongly as you, I thank you for doing so because of the alternative you provide to so much that is taken for granted among so many evangelicals!

Why couldn’t Israel tell them they would simply search the vessels for weapons and then let them pass. This is now a horrible situation!

Brilliantly worded, Scot! I’m sharing in the Dojo with my readers (jmsmith.org)
Blessings,
JM

There’s so much we don’t know about the circumstances. I did write a piece on what our stance as Christians should be towards Israel: http://www.adamwhitley.com
//AW

Adam, I just read your post and it was wonderful! Very well put. I’m constantly having to explain that Christ’s Kingdom is multinational, thus no one nation has a privileged place in God’s plans.

Don’t really think Israel in the Bible has anything to do with Israel, the modern nation state.
At least from my study of history and modern birth of Israel, which seems to be a far more secular collective of founders, and little in common with OT?
/dodges incoming projectiles?

Very confused by that statement of Israel becoming a landed nation not a fulfillment of prophecy. However, I have been wondering why that bit in there about the generation that sees Israel revived will see the return of Christ. Well, if that is so, then aren’t we pushing it a bit. That generation is well, on its way out?

Great questions.

as your questions suggest . . . i pretty sure we don’t know nearly enough yet to form opinions of right or wrong here.
also . . . i’ve been wondering the same thing asked by Naum above~

thank you thank you! A reasoned voice – at last -on the whole Zionist thing. Israel – like all of us – needs to be brought under light of their own Torah. And the actions of the past decade – if i may be a bit cheeky here – show that they just don’t seem to get it.

Good questions indeed. To some I think I have some idea of the answer, to others not.
I have the impression that this is a conflict, where both sides stick to violence instead of love for the enemy. I somehow can understand it, as both have seen their children killed, literally.
Let me lose some words abot what should a follower of Christ do, because this is exactly my question.
I feel the strong need to do anything about it, my heart is crying, is yelling about what’s going on there. And I do not see exactly what to do (so I read what comes to my attention about it and write the one or other blog article – before you click, it’s a German language blog).
I think the main problem is that both sides have people with hardened hearts as their leaders, and neither would leave this road and confess about the false that has been done to the other. All try to act strong, but reveal their weakness.
I do think there are among both people some, that want all this to end. I hear about Israeli peace activists, I’m having problems finding them on the Palestinian side, but I know there are some among the Middle East christians (remember, many Palestinians are christian, although Arabs in other countries are almost all muslim).
I think, we as followers of Christ have to support those guys, in any way possible. I still don’t see how (prayer is always a good first step). We have to see to connect them one with the other, strengthen their backs, as they face marginalisation in their societies. But first, we have to find them.
Once we’ve found them, they’ll know best what they need down there as support in order to make peace a reality rather than hate.

What might Jesus followers do?
My Master commands: Take up your cross (daily), and follow me.
Crazy follower me wonders: What if 100 (1,000 or 100,000) Jesus followers interposed themselves between the two enemy sides? On either side of the wall, they fast and pray. They announce radical love and grace for all. They weep from with those who have suffered losses, sitting with the mourners in their grief. They subject themselves to assassinate and murder from either side of the wall. From the blood of these cross-bearers, following the Way, the Truth, and the Life, peace arises.
Too crazy

Well … actually.
Since the flotilla was in international waters. And. Since it was flying the flag of, and under the protection of the nation of Turkey, it may therefor be considered objectively an act of piracy that the Israelis boarded the ships at all without the express permission of the Turkish government. That is all according to the International Law of the Sea Treaty. All nations are signatories to this law.
Whether or not the ships were notified is really immaterial. The fact that the Turkish government did not give the IDF permission to board renders that action aggressive on it’s face and gives all aboard the ships the right to defend themselves with whatever means might be necessary. Sort of like defending yourself against a home invasion. Had the Israelis waited til the flotilla entered the waters under it’s control this whole conversation would have a different tone entirely. But. They didn’t. IOW … you can’t shoot at a bunch of people in a car driving down your street because of what you “think” they “might” do. You actually have to wait til they come onto your lawn or into your home before you take deadly force against them … as the Israelis did. It doesn’t matter how great your fear is … you have to wait.
The current iteration of the state of Israel has been a failed experiment from it’s genesis with the Balfour Declaration and the early zionist movement of the late 1800′s. It is a state that was founded on emotional manipulation and cultural co-dependence. The real issues surrounding anti-Semitism were and have never been resolved, we just shipped all the Jews to Palestine and cordoned off a separatist state to take care of them in. What did anyone really think would happen? Did we imagine that the Arabs would sit by quietly like the Native Americans did? I guess we were wrong. And the first thing that ought to perhaps happen is a massive apology … as Jesus-followers. For all the wrongs we’ve done to both Jews and Muslims. And then wait to see what grows out of that.

Dear Scot,
I’m inclined to agree with you, but could you please, please, please give your $0.02 as to why you believe “We can no longer believe Israel’s becoming a landed nation again had anything to do with biblical prophecy” is accurate.

Five ships were boarded without incident. It is hard to imagine then that the sixth, the Mavi Marmara would have been surprised to be boarded. The Jerusalem Post reports that a search of the ship turned up a cache of bulletproof vests, night-vision goggles and gas masks, as well as sling shots and molotov cocktails. Not what one could call relief supplies or humanitarian aid. Israel is not interested in holding up humanitarian aid but it does have a vital interest in keeping weapons an armaments from from coming in.

Matt, if you listen to those who think the modern State of Israel is a fulfillment of prophecy, it often goes to the fig tree parable in the Olivet Discourse. That was then combined with one generation for the whole thing to be wrapped up … and I remember the days in high school when some pretty enthusiastic preachers took on such themes and got most of us pretty excited about what was about to happen.
They were dead wrong; that parable and that generation had nothing to do with the State of Israel (and one generation is more than past … make it two). That text had to do with 70AD and the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans.
I know of no other text that can be brought into play for seeing the State of Israel as a fulfillment of prophecy. One could, of course, resort to the faithfulness of God to promises to Abraham and see it that way. And see such in the regathering of Israel to the Land, but the State of Israel is so secular one would have a hard time seeing it as fulfillment of Scripture.

“Was that boat, or the flotilla, properly contacted in advance to say the boats must pass inspection? Is this protocol?”
Israel did this one better. They offered to take in the flotillas and deliver their shipment directly. Israel was rebuffed.
“Was Israel within its rights to inspect the boats? Were those on the boat told this would happen if they entered improper areas?”
It’s a blockade. How could you possibly not expect, at minimum, to be inspected if you trespass a blockade?
“Was that landing on the boat by Israeli personnel a surprise or expected?”
Reports from the Free Gaza people clearly indicate that they expected it. They even launched press releases to that effect.
“Were the Israeli personnel who landed on the boat aggressive in behavior?”
They were commandos.
“Why were the “pro Palestinian activists” using pipes as weapons to beat others? Had those others threatened their safety?”
Again, commandos
Who first initiated violence?
You trespass a blockade, you initiate violence. When has this not been true?
“Does Israel recognize the humanitarian issues among Palestinians? What is Israel doing about it? What are Arab countries doing about it?”
Israel offered to deliver the humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Arab countries are doing nothing.
“Do the Palestinians want peace?”
No. They elected a terrorist organization at their first opportunity.
“Do the Israelis want peace?”
Yes.
“Who are the mediators?”
Britain. Alternately, whoever is president three years from now. I’ve given up on this administration.
“Who will the peacemakers be?”
Israelis.
“What will peace look like in the Land?”
A strong Israeli state, allied with a strong Iraqi state and (after an inevitable war) a strong Iranian state. They will, in tandem, keep Saudi Arabia under lock and key.
“Does a stance of advocacy lead to “othering” the other?”
I have no idea. There is no such word as “othering”. It means whatever the user intends it to mean, therefore.
“How can we be advocates and not other the Israelis or the Palestinians?”
By treating equal trespasses and equal peace overtures, um, equally. Obviously, we do so by applying American standards for what constitutes just aggression etc…
“Now the big one: How should a follower of Jesus respond?”
By supporting Israel generally, but not unequivocally. It is a sovereign nation, and deserves all the rights that entails, but also with the responsibilities.
“We can no longer believe Israel’s becoming a landed nation again had anything to do with biblical prophecy, so the simple equation that Israel’s behavior is justified because it’s Israel must be jettisoned.”
Jettisoned it is.
“Israel, too, must be brought before the bar of its own Torah.”
Nope. You just jettisoned that standard.
“But how do we as followers of Jesus respond?”
I dunno. My sympathies lie with the nation of people who have been profoundly oppressed over the last century, to the point of near-genocide, and who presently have an entire major religion at least partially devoted its destruction. Call me sentimental.
It doesn’t hurt that they have been a steadfast ally, and that they are also the only nation in that region that doesn’t beat women for the crime of being raped or imprison couples for kissing on the beach.

@Jeff
“The Jerusalem Post reports that a search of the ship turned up a cache of bulletproof vests, night-vision goggles and gas masks, as well as sling shots and molotov cocktails.”
We are, literally, being asked to believe that the Israeli press is concocting lies. Meanwhile, the Free Gaza people are claiming that Israeli troops executed people in their sleep. Welcome to the world of nuance.
@sonja
“IOW … you can’t shoot at a bunch of people in a car driving down your street because of what you “think” they “might” do.”
They didn’t shoot at the boats. They boarded them for purposes of inspection. If, after 9/11, a brigade of Iraqi ships entered international waters 200 miles off the coast of NYC, you can be assured we would inspect those ships. Your property analogy doesn’t really apply.
“The current iteration of the state of Israel has been a failed experiment from it’s genesis with the Balfour Declaration and the early zionist movement of the late 1800′s.”
Define “failed”. Aside from international tensions, driven by anti-Semitism, the state of Israel has been a remarkable success. Compare Israel with Iran, or Indonesia, or Bangladesh.
“Did we imagine that the Arabs would sit by quietly like the Native Americans did?”
Doesn’t matter what we expected. It only matters what we expect. We expect the Native Americans not to engage in terrorist attacks, and we expect the Arab states to tolerate Israel. If either party does not do so, they should suffer similar consequences.

Thanks, Scot. As I said above, I agree with you, but as others have said before, we like to hear your $0.02. At the same time, I appreciate your desire to facilitate (not dominate) the many conversations, here.

Priceless (and important) observation Kevin!
>
Scot, I understand where you’re coming from regarding viewing the current state of Israel as being a fulfillment of prophesy…we cannot be sure that this current state is the fulfillment of prophesy. However, those who view Israel as the unjust oppressor in all things Palestinian have a very inaccurate view of both modern and not-so-modern history as Kevin began to point out in his comments.

Doesn’t Romans 9-11 and Revelation 7 (the 144,000 in the Great Tribulation) suggest that God isn’t yet done with Israel?

Israel is not interested in peace. It is interested in quilting the rest of the world into supporting to, ironically, Holocaust-ing and exterminating the Palestinian people. Israelis use the Troy Horse, America that is, to defeat the Palestinians who has never done anything wrong to be driven out of their homes.
As a Christian i feel ashamed to see my country and my faith supporting the worst crime in mankind. What makes it worst is that it still going on right now.
Where are the Christian values from killing women and children of Gaza? Where is Jesus’ values from the millions of Palestinian refugees who were kicked out of their private lands to end up homeless?
Jesus wold argue to say NO!

“Israel is not interested in peace.”
Do tell.
“It is interested in quilting the rest of the world into supporting to, ironically, Holocaust-ing and exterminating the Palestinian people.”
This wouldn’t merit a response were it not the prevailing attitude (absurd grammar and all) of the left here and in Europe. If Israel were interested in extermination, it would go about it. It has not done so.
“Israelis use the Troy Horse,”
Trojan horse, not troy horse, genius.
“America that is, to defeat the Palestinians who has never done anything wrong to be driven out of their homes.”
Aside from declaring war on Israel.
“As a Christian i feel ashamed to see my country and my faith supporting the worst crime in mankind.”
As a Christian, I would suggest you educate yourself.
“What makes it worst is that it still going on right now. Where are the Christian values from killing women and children of Gaza?”
You do realize that Israel is a Jewish nation, right? As in, however you want to absurdly interpret the gospels so as to mandate absolute tolerance of oppressive violence, it doesn’t really matter?
“Where is Jesus’ values from the millions of Palestinian refugees who were kicked out of their private lands to end up homeless?”
Lost in a cloud of Islamic rule.
“Jesus wold argue to say NO!”
Is Al Qaeda doing spambots now?
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2010/06/unanswered-questions-about-isr_comments.html#ixzz0pf7Tc0rJ

Ted #24,
No. There are other ways to interpret both passages holding a high view of Scripture. To remove them from their contexts and juxtapose them in that way is not good hermeneutics, from where I sit. The NT does not envisage the modern State of Israel, and Revelation is not a time line.
God will be faithful to Israel, because God is faithful. And yet Israel is no longer privileged in the same way as in the OT, because the New Humanity is open to all through the faithfulness of Jesus, the True Israelite/True Human Being (as well as the Second Person of the Trinity). God has torn down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, and anyone can become a part of the People of God (the Church). That is much more the overall thrust of the Jesus, Paul, John and James.
Dana

There was a well known blockade in place (as there was also on the border between Egypt and Gaza, which Egypt lifted yesterday in the wake of this incident, presumably to not be tarred with the same brush), and the organizers of this “flotilla” had been warned repeatedly and urgently to not attempt breaking through it.
The presence of numerous celebrities and even children on board the ships making up this flotilla convinces me that its primary purpose was not to deliver aid but to provoke and achieve just the sort of propaganda victory that it has, in fact achieved.
The question “Was Israel within its rights to inspect these boats” ignores the fact that Israel is defacto in a state of war with the Hamas extremists who have never hidden their intent of destroying Israel.
The European attitude towards Israel, as well as that of the US under its current president, strikes me as that of bystanders who see a man threatened by a pistol held to his head, and tell him to play nice with the man holding the pistol.
Europeans especially should not forget that the modern state of Israel was established in Palestine by them, after some of them had persecuted and destroyed their Jewish population while the others stood by looking the other way for a long time. And all of us should remember that displaced Palestinians in the Gaza and elsewhere are the result not of Israeli policy, but of Arab policy urging these Palestinians to leave their homes in the new state of Israel in order to create a crisis. If it had not been for that policy, Palestine in the 1940s was a sufficiently empty country to permit the peaceful co-existence of the Arab Palestinians with the newly arrived Israelis.

Forgot to say what actually doesn’t need saying, that Israel could have handled this with more restraint and wisdom; by responding harshly to the provocation they have unfortunately played into the hands of the provocateurs.

Was that boat, or the flotilla, properly contacted in advance to say the boats must pass inspection? Is this protocol?
The Israeli gov’t. warned the flotilla organizers before they set sail not to enter the embargo zone. This was done publicly about a week before it happened.
Was that landing on the boat by Israeli personnel a surprise or expected?
I was in Tel Aviv the day it happened. I watched the BBC and France24 coverage. From everything I saw the timing was a surprise but they did expect to get boarded.
Were the Israeli personnel who landed on the boat aggressive in behavior?
I am not too sure I understand your question. But any show of force is aggressive and is supposed to be. Was their behavior aggressive? If you are in a situation when you are not too sure what to expect, some aggressiveness is reasonable given this case.
Do the Palestinians want peace? Do the Israelis want peace?
Of course they do. But I have an unanswered question. Who or what is a “Palestinian”? Too many talking heads think they know. They throw the word around but I wager none of them know. If they could explain who these people are without a lot of rhetoric, we may just gain some actual understanding and we may learn better how to pray.

Jesus followers should put their bodies on the line.
Pray
Fast
Stand between the enemies
Mourn with those from both sides who have suffered losses
Be willing to die
Bear the cross
Seek repentance from both
Love God + Love others as you love yourself
Invite the enemies to live according to the love paradigm
Yet we are Jonah, running away, never taking this path

@Kevin #21 – I believe you completely missed my point. You’ll need to reference the International Law of the Sea Treaty to understand the nuance. I was arguing from an international law perspective wherein nation-states behave somewhat like, but not completely analogous to, individual humans.
From the perspective of the Law of the Sea Treaty, it doesn’t matter what the state of Israel knows or does not know about the intent of the people and/or cargo aboard the flotilla. As long as the flotilla was in international waters and it was sailing under the auspices of a state with which Israel was NOT at war, Israel had no business either boarding OR taking any action whatsoever against those ships WITHOUT the express permission of the flag country (in this case, Turkey). Israel did not have that permission.
Now, to use your example. If there were ships sailing towards NYC from Iran, we would not be allowed to take action against them without either getting permission from the Iranian government or declaring a state of war against Iran. This is the nature of international affairs and we have to abide by it as well as everyone else. If the ships were from Iraq or Afghanistan, or even North Korea (with whom we do not have diplomatic relations) we could engage in some form of action because we are already engaged in war with Iraq and Afghanistan.
In short, just because a nation-state wants to do something and believes it has the right to do something, does not mean it may. Israel may blockade it’s own territorial waters all it likes. And … Israel needed to wait until the flotilla sailed into those waters before boarding those ships. Most of this discussion would be moot if it had waited. But they did not.
I stand by my claim that Israel is a failed state because without substantial foreign assistance (the majority of which comes from the US) the state of Israel would have collapsed in the 1950′s. They are allowed to continue with this system of apartheid and war only because we send them enormous sums of money each year. I don’t have the data and cannot remember where to find it, but remember that in the 1980′s it approached 50% of the Israeli budget each year, if not more. We are keeping food, water, and medicine out of the mouths of women and children the world over to put weapons in the hands of Israeli armed forces and I cannot abide it.

@Ted #24,
You have to make a distinction between believing “Israel” that has received it’s Messiah (become a light to the nations and thus become composed of both natural children of Israel and gentiles who have been “grafted in.”
While exiled in Babylon, God promised through his prophets that he would establish a new covenant with a restored “Israel.” We celebrate this covenant every week in the church when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. So who does this make us?
Read Paul’s argumentation in the book of Romans (like you read any letter – from beginning to end). I think Paul presents a complete and concise view of how to understand unbelieving Israel and believing Israel. Of course, the history of the relationship between Jews and Christians must be taken into consideration so as not to make the present day situation too simplistic. Hope that helps.

@kevin.s (#26)
1. Are you saying a different set of rules and laws apply to Israel? That it’s OK to strike a boat carrying a flag of another nation in international waters?
2. Palestinians != Islamic law, many Palestinians are Christian
3. Extermination? Many would argue that the illegal blockade of Gaza is indeed an act of extermination ? examine the statistics on child health and complete devastation of the economy there. Granted, it’s more nuanced than that (as Egypt, a puppet of U.S. interests, has also acted in accord). Also, many Palestinians forcibly removed from their homes throughout modern Israel history.
Violence is wrong, initiated by either side. But one side has automatic, guided missiles, cluster bombs and does not hesitate to slaughter civilians (not just IMHO, see reports by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations) while the other fights back with sticks, stones, homemade improvisations and martyrdom^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H suicide missions

I think Tim may be on the right track in terms of what Christ-like intervention looks like. Fasting and praying for all. A willingness to sacrifice the body by those feeling led and convicted to.
How does one discern what causes/people to lay one’s life down for? Is that the contemporary, “who is my neighbor?”

@sonja
“I believe you completely missed my point.”
No. I just found your analogy to be incoherent.
“Now, to use your example. If there were ships sailing towards NYC from Iran, we would not be allowed to take action against them without either getting permission from the Iranian government or declaring a state of war against Iran.”
I used the example of Iraq, not Iran. This is where Israel’s status puts it in a tricky position. If any Iraqi ship sailed anywhere near us, we would certainly have searched it, if not outright put it down. We would have declared war, if that were the only way to handle it administratively.
Israel does not have this option, and so they have to tread much more carefully. Did they tread carefully enough? Maybe not, but as a Christian and a citizen of an Israeli ally, I don’t feel compelled to side with Israel’s enemy on a technicality.
“I stand by my claim that Israel is a failed state because without substantial foreign assistance (the majority of which comes from the US) the state of Israel would have collapsed in the 1950′s.”
By this standard, Japan is a failed state.
“They are allowed to continue with this system of apartheid and war only because we send them enormous sums of money each year.”
I find galling this business of casually comparing Israeli’s actions to South African apartheid. Arab citizens have full rights and access to governmental services. This was not, at all, so in South Africa under apartheid. The comparison is ridiculous.
“I don’t have the data and cannot remember where to find it, but remember that in the 1980′s it approached 50% of the Israeli budget each year, if not more.”
Bologna. Israelis receive $2.5 billion in aid annually, which is less than 3% of their budget, and just over 1% of their GDP. These figures are almost identical to those of Egypt. To call a nation illegitimate on these grounds is absurd. You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts, especially when you have forgotten where to find them.
By way of contrast, the Palestinian authority receives $1 billion in aid from the U.S., equal to more than 10% of its GDP, and equal to nearly its entire budget.
“We are keeping food, water, and medicine out of the mouths of women and children the world over”
We lead the world in putting food, water and medicine INTO the mouths of women and children the world over.

@ 20 and 23
Clever but not sound. Jettisoning the notion of the 1948 creation of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy is not the same as precluding it from God’s law. Even if they’re a secular state, all the nations will be judged accordingly. It’d be a lot easier to support Israel’s call for justice, peace, and mercy if they would give justice, peace, and mercy.

“Clever but not sound. Jettisoning the notion of the 1948 creation of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy is not the same as precluding it from God’s law. Even if they’re a secular state, all the nations will be judged accordingly.”
But not in accordance with the Torah. I do not deny that fundamental ethics apply w/r/t Israel. I find Israel’s actions to be fundamentally ethical, especially in light of the actions of their enemies. The Palestinians elected to their government a terrorist organization whose charter includes the destruction of Israel. Commandos searching ships too far from shore doesn’t hold a candle.
If you want to hold Israel to a standard beyond fundamental ethics, then you open the door to the notion that Israel has a God-given right to the region.

“It’d be a lot easier to support Israel’s call for justice, peace, and mercy if they would give justice, peace, and mercy.”
First off, I believe that there are a lot of definitions of “justice, peace, and mercy” floating around that are more in line with personal opinions about what is fair. Secondly, as a nation, Israel has to be concerned primarily about providing justice, peace and mercy to it’s own citizens – which means protecting it’s own citizens from outside threats. In this specific instance, it means inspecting aid ships coming in from the outside to make sure there is nothing that will cause or aid future violence (weapons, bullet proof vests, stun grenades, etc). Now, if Israel wants peace for its citizens then it’s right to presume it shouldn’t try to provoke its neighbors – however when you’re surrounded by neighbors who are hell-bent on provoking you it gets kind of tough.
Finally, I think you’d find that the way Israel actually treats non-militant Palestinians is far more just, merciful and peaceful than your activists would like you to believe. I’ve discovered that most activists I’ve run across or read have an agenda not too dissimilar from most of the Arab world. Which interestingly has been illustrated in this comment thread. Makes me wonder if an Iranian leader has been commenting under an assumed name.

How should we as Christians respond?
In the short term, we should probably reserve judgment (I thought the statements from the UN, US, and Canada were wise not to assign blame yet); so far the main sources of “information” are parties that definitely have their own vested interests.
Going forward, I’d suggest that there ought to be some careful thinking about who we partner with in seeking peace. To be wise as serpents. Unfortunately, Islam contains some deep rooted hatred toward Jews (I’m not saying this is true of all Muslims; but the ‘model’ life of Muhammad, the Qur’an, and the Hadith contain hostility toward Jews) that has been nurtured by the Arab-Israeli conflict. Can we find Islamic organizations to partner with that are genuinely working *for* peace, instead of *against* Israel? To illustrate, this clip from Palestinian television from before the raid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3L7OV414Kk) indicates that some of the people on the boats had a martyrdom mindset; a song that was very threatening to Jews was also being sung–”[Remember] Khaybar, O Jews, Muhammad’s army will return”. I’m sure there were also Christians on the flotilla, but whatever they were trying to accomplish has been overshadowed by the violence–violence that some of the passengers were spiritually prepared for, regardless of who started it. This incident doesn’t seem to have done anything for peace, so I think it’s reasonable to ask in the future which Islamic organizations we could genuinely partner with for peace, without getting drawn into an anti-Israel hatefest. Palestinian Christians probably have a lot to offer at this point, and the wider Church should support them.

Just an interesting update from http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/02/israel.palestinians.aid/ :
“Israel has attempted to deliver humanitarian aid from an international flotilla to Gaza, but Hamas — which controls the territory — has refused to accept the cargo, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.
Palestinian sources confirmed that trucks that arrived from Israel at the Rafah terminal at the Israel-Gaza border were barred from delivering the aid.”
It needs to be noted that Israel has no interest in blocking genuine aid from Gaza. In fact, at the moment the only party actually blocking the aid is the Palestinian “government” (a.k.a. Hamas).
So, how can we as Christians help the Palestinians?
1. Send aid to via the proper channels and don’t use groups that have known violent (aka terrorist) affiliations.
2. Support policies and/or countries that will liberate the Palestinians from being governed by the violent (a.k.a. Hamas).
3. Search out the facts of the matter and have a grasp of history before making assumptions.
4. Pray for the salvation of all involved. Even if an earthly peace is accomplished, without salvation (peace with God), it will mean nothing for the lost Israeli/Palestinian in eternity.

I am interested to know why “kevin s.” takes such joy in belittling others’ opinions and “absurd grammar.” Especially seeing as the “absurd grammar” in the lack of capitalization in his name (and mine, SHOCK!) is no less offensive than that which he points out in the comments of others.
I realize I’m nitpicking, but I wanted to point out to “kevin s.” how ridiculous he sounds when he blatantly ignores some very good arguments and chooses instead to ramble on incessantly from a position of obvious ignorance. Please correct me if I’m wrong, “kevin s.” I look forward to hearing about your personal experiences in this war. How you, your friends and family have all been affected and what steps you are personally taking to making things better, rather than contribute to an already unhealthy Christian view of the current Israeli state.
Also, we must remember that “Palestinian” does NOT equal “Terrorist”. In fact, over 330 thousand of them are Christians! Does “American” equal “War-hungry Capitalist”, just because that’s what many of its citizens are? Gosh, I hope not!

Also, “kevin s.”, how very hurtful of you to refer to this incident on your blog as a “shindig o’ death.” I hope you never have to feel the pain and sadness as the families of these victims (and all of the victims of this conflict). And if you do, I pray that people will be more loving to you than you are being. Statements like that, in my opinion, discount everything you have said regarding this tragedy. You have lost all credibility with your loss of love for others.
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
“kevin s.” – Greatest Commandment – Epic Fail

Jessica states: “Statements like that, in my opinion, discount everything you have said regarding this tragedy.”
So we allow personal feelings to trump facts? Speaking of belittling – isn’t the “epic fail” slogan a type of belittling of epic proportions? Just sayin…
“he blatantly ignores some very good arguments and chooses instead to ramble on incessantly from a position of obvious ignorance.”
Technically this isn’t my “fight” but if you are going to throw around accusations, could you provide some specifics? Which good arguments did he ignore? How is his ignorance “obvious”? In what specific way is he ignorant?
Plus…isn’t calling someone “ignorant” a type of belittling? Or does that standard not apply to the person who is accusing another of belittling?

@Jessica
“I am interested to know why “kevin s.” takes such joy in belittling others’ opinions and “absurd grammar.”
I was responding to an anti-Semitic rant. I make no apologies for my response.
“I wanted to point out to “kevin s.” how ridiculous he sounds when he blatantly ignores some very good arguments and chooses instead to ramble on incessantly from a position of obvious ignorance.”
If my ignorance is “obvious”, please enlighten me.
“Please correct me if I’m wrong, “kevin s.” I look forward to hearing about your personal experiences in this war.”
Huh? So we have to be personally involved in this war in order to have an opinion? That is a ridiculous position.
“How you, your friends and family have all been affected and what steps you are personally taking to making things better, rather than contribute to an already unhealthy Christian view of the current Israeli state.”
Which view is that, and how am I contributing to it?
“Also, we must remember that “Palestinian” does NOT equal “Terrorist”.”
I didn’t say it did. Did you even read what I wrote?
“In fact, over 330 thousand of them are Christians! Does “American” equal “War-hungry Capitalist”, just because that’s what many of its citizens are? Gosh, I hope not!”
And you accuse me of rambling.
“Also, “kevin s.”, how very hurtful of you to refer to this incident on your blog as a “shindig o’ death.”
I would take that discussion to that venue, and address the points I have made here.
“”kevin s.” – Greatest Commandment – Epic Fail”
This is how the Israel discussion goes. Someone lays out the case for Israeli’s actions, responds to the criticisms, examines the nuances. Then the pro-Palestinian side flies into incoherent rage.
“Holocaust-ing”, “you’re obviously ignorant”, “epic fail”… You are not going to bully me into agreeing with you, or into feeling bad about my position.

From my research on the situation, Israel was within their rights and responded in complete lawfulness. The soldiers were attacked and attempted to defend themselves in non-lethal ways until they were fired upon. At that point, they responded to deadly force with deadly force. As someone else mentioned, they are not attempting to prevent aid from reaching Gaza… only weapons that would be used against Jewish citizens.
How should a follower of Christ respond? Sad to see lives so needlessly lost. But fully siding with Israel’s right to exist and their inherent right to defend themselves against their enemies.
That’s just my opinion…

I think a distinction needs to be made here between legal actions and morally correct actions. Israel may have been within their legal rights and Gaza may have been deliberately provoking them, but they could have handled the situation in a much milder way. They do have a responsibility for their behavior, even in the face of irresponsible behavior from the other side.

Katz, five other ships were boarded by the Israelis without incident. Do you the Israelis suddenly decided to be provocative with the sixth? Video of the encounter shows otherwise as stun grenades, chains and other items were rained down on the Israelis in their little Israeli boat.
It is not at all unreasonable for Israel to have a blockade to screen out armament and weaponry while allowing true humanitarian aid through. It is regrettable that this was necessary, but the Israelis are tired of being fired upon with rockets from Gaza.

“I think a distinction needs to be made here between legal actions and morally correct actions.”
The argument that I have seen, here and elsewhere, is that Israel may have been within it’s rights to defend itself, but not on international waters. At present, they are being castigated over what I see as a trifling legal infraction.
The video and reports generally demonstrate that the Israeli’s were not the instigators of violence here. It is not clear to me how the commandos could have handled it better, other than to not allow seven of their own men to get injured.
I finally heard the Nightly News refer to the flotilla mission as one designed to pre-empt a blockade, rather than a humanitarian mission. Maybe this is the event that finally sheds light on the nature of the anti-Israeli propaganda campaign.

Instead of realpolitik why don’t we…
lament for the dead?
grieve for our failure to achieve peace?
cry out to God to deliver us from our sins?
ask for repentance for not seeing the Image of God in the enemy?
invite courageous Jesus followers to take up the cross?
seek Jesus followers who are willing to die along with folks from both sides, demonstrating radical, costly grace?
take pause before playing the blame game? [is anyone else sick of the blame game around this issue? or the blame game period?]
neckties disputed… captca

Kevin … If you’ll read my post again, you’ll note that I included both Iran and Iraq in my example. Since we have declared war on Iraq we have a right to take action upon their ships in international waters at this point. However, we do not have those same rights towards the ships of other nations, which (under international law) much be assumed to be peaceful. I’m sorry you find this so objectionable, but that’s the way international relations are. Nation-states are restrained from evil by the treaties they sign with other nations. In this case, the International Law of the Sea treaty prevails. Since Israel did not receive prior permission from Turkey to board those ships, that boarding was an act of piracy and Turkey (as well as those aboard the ships) may act accordingly.
Our support for Israel exceeds $3B per year or $500 for every man, woman and child living there currently (see http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html ). One may consider that our blind support for every action that the Israeli government makes is our largest security risk. Think about how this is a direct cause for alQaeda recruiting and planning (just as one example) and a cause for keeping oil prices high, etc. The actions which we support and condone have as much to do with our on-going security as do the our own actions in the world … it’s worth considering how changing those might change our outcomes.

I thought that our V.P. Biden had some interesting comments on this situation:
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/02/biden-on-flotilla-raid-what-else-was-israel-supposed-to-do/
As much as I believe that God loves all Middle-Eastern people (and all of the world, actually) equally; as much as I believe that we are called to “one another each other, I agree with our V.P.
Why would we ask Israel to do something that we are not willing to do ourselves? Even while we are to love each other – isn’t it indigenous and naturally built into us to want to protect ourselves and our families? Can you imagine a ship coming into one of our US harbors (or even near the boundaries) that was defying our instructions? Israel offered to assist and was refused. Why are we so quick to jump on Israel these days? In our desire to love and minister to the Palestinian people, we should not pile on Israel. We have to look at all of the facts….and the facts seem to reveal that a large number of the passengers on the 6th boat had terrorist ties.

And shouldn’t we be asking Hamas to “one another” the Israelis? Or what about Turkey? Shouldn’t love and the encouragement to love go both ways?
Why did Hamas refuse the shipment of desparately needed humanitarian goods? If they really wanted to care for and provide for the Palestinian people – wouldn’t they do everything they could to get them into the hands of those who are hurting?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/02/israel.palestinians.aid/index.html

“Our support for Israel exceeds $3B per year or $500 for every man, woman and child living there currently (see http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html ).
I visit this site, and there is a headline: “ISRAEL SLAUGHTERS NONVIOLENT AID WORKERS”, claiming that Israelis immediately opened fire, killing 20 people on the flotillas. That, obviously, is a lie.
Further, the website you are sending me to doesn’t even claim that the U.S. is giving Israel $3B per year. It only estimates (based on what, I have no idea) that it will do so by the year 2013.
Even then, Israel has a population of 7.6 million people. $3B/$7M = $395. If you use the actual figure, the amount is about $325.
At every turn, we have pro-Palestinian resources manufacturing and exaggerating data. You claimed that Israel is a “failed state”, because of the aid it receives from America. A nation with a per capita GDP of $28,393 is failed because $324 of that comes from America. That is what you argued.
As far as the international waters issue goes, it is my understanding that the nation under whose flag ships are set to sail has, then, an obligation to ensure that those ships will adhere to international law. That was clearly not the intent of the Free Gaza flotillas, as the group made clear prior to departure.
So, even on the hair-splitting basis by which you are condemning Israel’s actions, they appear to be in the clear.

Here is a Q&A from Reuters (rather than some cuckoo website) on the legality of Israel’s actions.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65133D20100602
Key quote:
“Under the law of a blockade, intercepting a vessel could apply globally so long as a ship is bound for a “belligerent” territory, legal experts say.”

Kevin … I am struggling to be gracious with you.
I did not entirely get my argument from “a crackpot” website; rather I found a few data points there. My bachelors degree is in international relations. I spent a semester studying at the United Nations where I focused on the Law of the Sea treaty … so I have some intimate knowledge of that. My focus in my degree was on Middle Eastern studies, primarily the Arab-Israeli conflict, so I’ve spent a lot time from that time to this following the whole mess.
I understand that you and I (obviously) have differing opinions on this matter, but there is no need for you to belittle your opponents or their arguments when engaging with them.
I find it interesting that you took your quote out of context – whether the flotilla was 75 miles out or 68 miles out, they were still well beyond any marker that might be considered Israel’s territorial waters. Yes, they were bound for a “belligerent” territory, but boarding those ships with force constitutes an act of war against Turkey (the flag under which protection they were sailing). The blockade is only effective in Israel’s territorial waters; strictly speaking 12 miles off their coast, loosely speaking 24 miles out. I have to wonder which “legal experts” Reuters spoke with …

@sonja
You have considerable qualifications, but you have gotten numerous facts flatly wrong.
“Yes, they were bound for a “belligerent” territory, but boarding those ships with force constitutes an act of war against Turkey (the flag under which protection they were sailing).”
So, it is not an act of piracy, but a de facto declaration of war? Okay, since you are intimately familiar with the provisions of the treaty, I have a few questions.
First, it appears neither Israel nor Turkey are signatories to the treaty to which you refer (and even the U.S. has not ratified it). Can you please, then, explain how it applies here?
Second, it would seem that the flotilla was, ostensibly, protected by virtue of the right to innocent passage. However, Article 19, Section 2(d) cites
“(d) any act of propaganda aimed at affecting the defence or security of the coastal State”
As being prejudicial to the peace and, therefore, not protected. I cannot think of a mission that more aptly fits the description included in this provision than an attempt to stir controversy by violating a blockade.
Third, the treaty delineates a means for settling disputes. It does not contain language about any de facto declaration of war.
Also, you don’t really address any of the points raised in the Reuters article. The argument is that, if ships are bound for belligerent territory, they may be intercepted.
I see nothing, in this treaty or otherwise, that refutes this. In fact, I can’t imagine why any peaceful nation would sign a treaty forbidding them from inspecting ships headed for their own blockade. It just seems like common sense.
Can you explain why the legal experts are wrong, perhaps by citing specific language?