First the Saturday People, Then the Sunday People

By Jan Markell

Did you know an earthquake struck one area that is the most politically sensitive place on earth? Or is this partly propaganda? Muslim authorities report that the tremor, centered in southern Lebanon and measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, opened a crater on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, adjacent to the Dome of the Rock. Officials from the Wakf blamed Israel for the 6-foot by 5-foot hole, about 3 feet deep, accusing the Jewish State of tunneling beneath the Temple Mount. The Wakf demanded an end to all Israeli excavations in the area. You can view the "holy hole" here.

Hold on! It's Muslims doing most of the excavating in an attempt to destroy the history of Israel found on that Mount. The Wakf's position is that there was never a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount, and they have gone to great efforts to erase archaeological evidence of Judaism's historical ties to the site. There was no independent confirmation that the quake caused the hole, in fact. The photograph was provided by the Wakf, and it is conceivable that the hole was "created" for propaganda purposes rather than as the natural result of the earthquake.

In another story unrelated to this, where is the outrage as to the destruction of the Christians in Gaza? Some 3,000 Christians live among some 1.4 million Muslims who are intent on ridding Gaza of all Christians.

Last week the YMCA in Gaza was destroyed. On October 6 last year, Muslims abducted Rami Ayyad, the manager of Gaza's only Christian bookstore that had been bombed by masked Muslims six months earlier. He died after being repeatedly shot and stabbed.

This is called ethnic cleansing but in many parts of the world, if it is Christians being "cleansed," there isn't much outrage! Yet these Muslims are the celebrated "peace partners" of today. This is the great weakness of Palestinian nationalism. Golda Meir captured it decades ago with her observation that has become a truism: "There will not be peace until the Arabs love their children more than they hate our children." And there can be no peace until Arab textbooks are "cleansed" from the bitter anti-Israel rhetoric that races across every page of every book.

As journalist Stan Goodenough rightly states, "For Gaza's Muslims, ridding themselves of any active Christian presence would be a cherry on top after successfully forcing Israel to remove every single Jew from Gaza in 2005.

And it's not just Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians have been killed or driven out of Israel by Palestinian thugs in other areas such as Bethlehem.

But Gaza is the hot bed. While Christians are persecuted, over 8,000 deadly rockets have reigned down on Israel from Gaza causing death and misery for Israelis. Have you seen these stories coverered extensively anywhere but on the Internet? And where are the "religious Left" and National/World Council of Churches--traditional defenders of the oppressed? It would seem they have a full-time job bashing Israel or urging divestment of all stock in Israel to weaken her economy.

Palestinian crowds have often been heard to chant: "First we'll fight on Saturday and then on Sunday" -- meaning after they rid the world of Jews, they'll move on to the Christians.

Westerners who feel they don't want to get involved with "Israel's problems" need to realize that if they are Christians they are a moving target as well. It would make far more sense for Christians around the world to come to Israel's aid because we share the same enemy. At the same time and perhaps more importantly, we share the same Bible, the same God, and the same writers of the Bible. We even share the same Messiah although many Jews have yet to recognize Him.