FAMINE IN GAZA: CONNECTED EXTREMES IN A DISCONNECTED WORLD
The IPC’s global hunger monitor says Gaza has already surpassed the first two criteria that define a famine- food shortage and malnutrition – and mass death will begin “imminently” without an immediate aid surge. But the global tragedy we are witnessing is not only because of war, hatred and extremism. The challenge is our connected extremes in a disconnected world.
GAZA – A PANDEMIC OF THE MIND
There is a new pandemic sweeping the globe. I suffer from it, you, as reader, suffer from it and every other human being suffer from it. This time, unlike the 2019 COVID pandemic that affected the lungs and restricted human movement, it affects the mind and restricts human reasoning. It’s called CONFIRMATION BIAS, perhaps better described as MYSIDE BIAS.
GAZA, THE GOOD SAMARITAN AND THE IDIOSYNCRASY OF JESUS
Today, two thousand years later, the setting of the Good Samaritan is fairly much the same as Gazans suffer beyond human understanding. Religious leaders, Christians, and politicians walk past, look at the broken bodies, quote scripture, fulfill their religious duties, shake their heads, shrug their shoulders, and carry on fulfilling the law. Ironically, their zeal for fulfilling the laws of Moses make them break the laws of Christ.
ISRAEL’S RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF: The 3 laws of a just war
Many Christians, with firm convictions that Israel is acting purely out of self-defence in Gaza, are good people acting in good faith. However, most of our thinking is often, for various reasons, warped by motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, and this leads us to replace complexity with simplicity. This is just human nature. The answer is not that simple though.
THE PALESTINIAN CRY: Through Lebanese Lenses
When observing the Gaza conflict, it, therefore, becomes an absolute necessity to listen to those who are directly affected, to those for whom the war is not a news broadcast but a deep reality – to those with skin in the game. It’s important to consider this context when discussing the conflict in GAZA.
A LIFE IN GAZA: great value BUT little dignity.
On 7 October 2023, when Hamas crossed the southern borders of Israel and killed 1,139 people, a moral question arose that sadly escaped the lips of many believers: What is the value of a human life? On that fateful day, value and dignity collided – and, sadly, value won.
THE GAZA CONFLICT AND BUBBLE-BASED-BELIEVERS
We now live in a season of bubble-based-believers. The conflict in Gaza has subtly turned Bible-based believers into bubble-based believers. It has alienated followers of Christ and firmly placed us into “bubbles” of allegiances. If you are in the crowds today don’t disregard the words of your Saviour. It still applies today to Hamas as much as it did to Nero and the Roman persecutors. Times might have changed but Christ didn’t, and neither did His teachings.
“STATISTICS IN GAZA DON’T BLEED” – Think again
“Statistics don’t bleed”, or at least, so the saying goes. This is the sad reality of Gaza today. So how do we explain the enormity of the situation in Gaza without simply mentioning numbers? Consider the following …
GAZA – Creating space for the God of love
Here is a sobering thought: love cannot coexist or be contained in the same heart that is filled with fear, suspicion and hatred. We cannot have Christ and not have unconditional love. It is as simple as that. If you hate Hamas, the space for a God of love is occupied.
JUSTICE AND COMPASSION: The challenge is in the balance
How do we respond to the conflict in Gaza? Do we seek justice with punishment or justice with compassion? Only one will lead restoration.