The Africa Review in Five highlights African current affairs from a Christian perspective. Listen and subscribe through Youtube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Today is Tuesday, October 10th, A.D. 2023. This is The Africa Review in Five, written by DAVID DE BRUYN and presented by Yamikani Katunga.
Israel Up In Flames
Last Saturday, October 7th, marked the beginning of a new war in Israel. Hamas terrorists from Gaza used drones to drop bombs on border posts, neutralising the first line of defence. That was followed by over 2200 rockets that were fired into Israel, overwhelming Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, some rockets hitting Tel Aviv. The third phase of the attack was thousands of terrorists who breached the border fence and came into Israel in cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
Just five kilometres from the border, about 1000 young Israelis were attending an all-night rave. The terrorists surrounded them and opened fire, murdering over 260 young people. Others were rounded up and taken back into Gaza as hostages. Other groups of terrorists went into southern Israeli towns, and went house to house, either murdering people on site or taking more hostages.
When Israel’s first responders arrived on the scene, they too, were targeted. Policemen, firefighters and paramedics were shot at and murdered when trying to protect innocent civilians.
Not since the Holocaust have so many Jewish people been targeted, tortured and murdered. Israel is calling this their 9/11. Israel’s Parliament has formally declared war on Hamas, and reservists have been called up for what will likely be a long and brutal war.
Africa’s response to this unprovoked terror is varied. The ruling party of South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC), did not condemn the actions of Hamas at all. ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri blamed Israel for the attacks, saying “The decision by Palestinians to respond to the brutality of the settler Israeli apartheid regime is unsurprising”. Algeria was silent on the terrorism of Hamas but condemned the “brutal Israeli attack on Gaza” which claimed the lives of “innocent sons and daughters of the Palestinian people who fell as martyrs under the persistence of the Israeli occupation”. Tunisia issued similar statements.
What is chilling about these remarks is that they are reminiscent of how some responded to Germany’s anti-semitic acts in the 1930s. “The Jews had it coming to them” was the sentiment then, and it seems to be returning now.
On the other hand, Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, said that the DRC expressed “solidarity” with Israel, and said his nation was “united to fight terrorism in all its forms.” The president of Kenya, William Ruto, posted on Twitter, “Kenya strongly maintains that there exists no justification whatsoever for terrorism… All acts of terrorism and violent extremism are abhorrent, criminal, and unjustifiable, regardless of the perpetrator, or their motivations.”
How should believers in Africa view the modern state of Israel? The modern state of Israel was created by victorious powers in a just war and has every right to exist and to survive. Modern Israel is like every other nation ruled and populated by sinners – it is not faultless. We should also acknowledge that Muslims, and Arabs, including those that call themselves Palestinian, are also image-bearers, needing salvation.
However, according to Romans 11:28, while the Jewish people (national, ethnic Israel) may oppose the Christian gospel, they are still loved by God for the sake of His covenant promises and still feature in God’s programme for the future. They are temporarily under judgment, but God cares about his ancient people and cares about how others treat them. God told Abraham, “ I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
Even when God judged Israel using other nations, He still held those other nations accountable for their actions against Israel. Nations that persecuted Israel were judged; nations that blessed them were blessed. It is always in the interest of a Gentile nation to treat Jewish people with respect and provide protection for them if they are attacked.
Christians must also recognise the great danger posed to the Jewish people by its enemies who do not want to be accused of being anti-Semitic, and so claim to be “anti-Zionist”. Supposedly they oppose only the land claims of Israel, but this is often a back door to continuing to persecute the Jewish people.
Christians in Africa should exercise caution when criticising the people and the nation that gave us our Bible and our Messiah. And we should outrightly condemn what the Bible condemns: murder and savagery towards our neighbour.
And that’s it for The Africa Review in Five on this Tuesday, October 10th in the year of our Lord 2023. Subscribe to the Missionary Minds podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts. I’m Yamikani Katunga. Be not weary in well-doing.