December, 2008

Friends:

You have probably seen the news about the latest conflict between Israel and Gaza. This has been building up for many months with the ceaseless firing of Palestinian rockets from Gaza into Israel. The people who live in Ashdod and the other cities near to Gaza live very anxious lives and several Israelis have been either wounded or killed by these rockets. Personally, I don’t have an opinion about where this may lead.  The goal is to stop the terrorism by Hamas.

The impact on Israel and even on most of the residents of Gaza is unfortunate. Conflict that kills and wounds the innocent is never acceptable. An attempt at peace after 60 years of hostilities is never easy to achieve.

Our United States personnel from the State Department stand squarely behind the attempt of Israel to neutralize Hamas, which is acknowledged by most nations as a terrorist organization. President Abbas, who lives in Ramallah, has said that Hamas must put down its arms and join his government if peace is to be achieved. Instead Hamas killed most of the Fatah policeman in Gaza and took control. It has been chaotic every since.

Egypt and the other moderate Arab states all wish for the Hamas problem to go away. Supporting Hamas is the Iranian government who is no friend to any of the Arab governments, except Syria. We know of Syria’s intent to keep Lebanon as a vassal state and to work with Iran to destroy Israel.

You might notice that there is no outcry from any of the Arab leaders, except Syria and Iran, to stop Israel. That is because, while they will not fight against the Palestinians (Hamas) in Gaza, they will not open their borders to them either nor accept them into their countries. The historic record shows, from the time of Arafat to the present, that the Palestinians, with the help of Iran, nearly always try to destabilize and overthrow the governments who are hosting them.

Does this attempt by Israel to secure peaceful borders affect our travel programs to Israel? Does it affect our work at Tamar? We do not know how many people who might have been thinking about going to Israel with us might put their travel plans on hold. At this time we have not had cancellations as a result of these border problems. This hostile Hamas activity in Gaza does not impact Biblical Tamar Park because the Park is on the East border of Israel near to Jordan, which has always been a quiet border.  Since I have been going to Israel two to four times a year since 1983, I pay little attention to the unrest simply because it is always there.  We stay away from those areas whenever trouble is brewing.  But I also encourage newer travelers to do what they feel is best for them.  I’m personally a bit immune.

Our office receives many positive reports from people and organizations who work with us and have gone with us to Israel. Sharing some of these stories will be a part of some upcoming email messages to you.

We are thankful to all of you who have contributed online. You can visit our website at  www.blossomingrose.org and simply click the “Contribute” link on the left side of the page. It is easy and self explanatory.

God Bless you all as we close this year, hopefully in the black!

DeWayne Coxon,

President