OPERATION AL-AQSA FLOOD. Hamas named it’s attack of Jewish settlers after a place of worship, the silver-domed mosque in Jerusalem. It’s beside the famous gold-topped Dome of the Rock, built 1400 years ago on the spot where many say the Jewish Temple was built. How are we supposed to link what happened in this attack with what happens in mosques, synagogues, churches, and other sacred spaces? People of faith have sometimes viciously killed in the name of God. Christians have. Jews have. Muslims have, and it seems have done it once again.
THIS ISN’T A MAP I WANTED TO MAKE. A map of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
But it gives you a sense of why Hamas operatives were quickly able to execute their plan. They surprised and killed Jews in more than a dozen settlements within easy walking distance from their home, the Gaza Strip, in Palestinian Territory. Rockets hit Israeli cities further away, like Ashkelon and Tel Aviv.
Many Bible students know this coastal territory was home to the Philistines, a warlike people with horse-powered war chariots. They lived mainly in five big cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and the more distant towns of Ekron and Gath. They are the reason Joshua and the first few generations of Israelites (ancestors of Jews) settled in the hills. Chariots were lethal in flatland fields, and they brought to the battlefield a fear factor much like tanks today. But, like tanks, they didn’t climb hills.
I’ll skip giving you a news report about the recent attacks. But I wanted you to see the map, to give you a sense of the geography. It’s a one-of-a-kind map that I thought some of you might find helpful in talking about the topic in Bible studies and in sermons.
Peace to you. And to Jerusalem.
May Israelis and Palestinians one day find peace in this land that left Jesus in tears.
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Thank you for this. This perspective certainly makes it clearer for me.
Blessings to you & yours Stephen.
Thanks, Debra. I think this is the first time I’ve made a map to track with a news story. But late yesterday I got a gentle nudge from what remains in me of the old newspaper journalist. So I spend the night and this morning rushing to create it. These maps take a lot of time to create. Or maybe I’m just slow.
Well you certainly have been given a gift in your talent & enthusiasm, & I am sure many others appreciate it. I thank you for obeying the nudge.