Gaza: Buildings Down – People Out

Israel is aiming to move the population of Gaza to other countries. The more I hear about the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, the more it seems that their endgame is to say to the Gazans ‘There’s nothing for you here now. Go and live elsewhere.’ I can’t see anyone hindering the Israeli aim.

Last Wednesday, Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, spoke to a Webinar organised by the Balfour Project. The Balfour Project is a UK secular organisation, influenced by former UK diplomats to Israel, seeking to redress the damage done by the UK in issuing the Balfour Declaration in 1917. The British Government then Declared support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which would not be against the interests of the existing inhabitants. A fairy tale Declaration of British ability to do the impossible – create a new ‘homeland’ in the historical homeland of other people. The Jewish homeland, now State of Israel, has had to occupy the land, the home, of other people, whether the other people like it or not. This is probably why, in the 1947 UN vote to create the State of Israel, Britain abstained.

Andrea spoke of his visits over many years, and recently, to Gaza. He knows North Gaza, Gaza City, home to 1.2 million people, well. Or knew. Describing his last visit, he repeated his shock that nothing of significant parts of the city he knew remains. No rubble, no indication where the streets used to be. Bare land. ‘A moonscape,’ which Andrea could hardly believe.

No photos are available of the moonscape. Many photos are available of the rubble.

Andrea went on to describe the ‘systematic’ destruction of civil infrastructure in Gaza. 73% of all schools have been destroyed. Both Universities have been destroyed. Most hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Andrea repeated that the destruction has been ‘systematic.’

Andrea lamented the disregard for proportionality in warfare, but did not consider whether the destruction is deliberate policy under a smokescreen of war. His focus, rightly, is on the people rather than the buildings. He, and others, know and feel the immediate needs of people homeless, hungry, injured, bereaved. Concerned observers across the world share the same focus. The urgent need is for aid. Wider, longer-term, considerations are pushed to one side for now.

Andrea did say that the World Bank has estimated that rebuilding Gaza will cost at least $US 20 billion. He said that previous rebuilding in Gaza after previous Israeli assaults has been paid for by the international community. He wondered what would happen this time, though indicated that Israel will probably, again, not have to pay.

In contrast to Andrea and many concerned observers, Israel’s immediate focus is not the needs of Palestinians, but the plight of Israeli hostages. The assault will continue until as many hostages as possible have been freed. By then even more of Gaza will have been systematically destroyed.

What follows? Israel is unlikely to support any rebuilding. They have expended huge effort to destroy, systematically, therefore with intent, with purpose. The Israeli Government will say to the Gazans. ‘There is nothing here for you now. No homes, no schools, no hospitals, no businesses. Go elsewhere.’

In Will Israel allow rebuilding in Gaza? | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com) I explained a common Israeli view I have heard that the Palestinians should have gone elsewhere in 1948 and that their emigration now remains The Solution.

US and Western support for Israel has been strong. It is highly unlikely that this will change. US and Western Governments see the systematic destruction and are more able than I to put two and two together. They say nothing. Support will continue. Israel, and Israel’s endgame, will prevail. Biden’s jetty will be used to embark Palestinians leaving Gaza. If each Palestinian family receives a resettlement grant of $200,000 it will be cheaper than rebuilding. Appallingly sad.

Along with the UK’s fairy tale Declaration, there was a common, Jewish Zionist, 1930s and 1940s fairy tale Call ‘A land without a people for a people without a land.’ Palestine, including Gaza, was always a land with people, as everyone knew. Now the Israeli Government is creating, through the deliberate destruction of buildings in Gaza, a land without a people.

Jesus weeps. For the homeless victims and for the hard-hearted aggressors who will reap what they have sown.

Israel Escalates

A swaggering loud-mouthed PE teacher at my boarding school threw a broken fence post into a wasps’ nest next to the path we took to return from the playing fields. We had to run through a fire storm of wasp stings.

The Israeli Government provoked the Iranian Government by attacking their Consulate in Syria, killing 16 people. Diplomatic buildings are recognised as outposts of that country’s territory. Not only did Israel carry out an attack within the territory of another sovereign nation, (which the US considers their right too), they effectively attacked Iranian territory. All at a time when they need the support of other nations.

The Israeli Government have now called the Iranian response, attacking Israeli territory, without killing anyone, an escalation. Iran knew that their rockets and drones would be shot down. This was severe sabre-rattling. The Iranian Government has declared that they will attack Israel no more – unless Israel retaliates, escalates further. The Israeli Government now vows to retaliate, escalate further, inviting more fire storms against Israel.

And the BBC make headlines about the Iranian ‘escalation’ hiding the original, provocative and unjustified escalation by Israel.

Why Israel’s attack on Iranian consulate in Syria was a gamechanger | Israel | The Guardian

Jesus weeps.

Will Israel allow rebuilding in Gaza?

The Israeli Government is very unlikely to allow substantial rebuilding in Gaza. Why would they destroy all those buildings, only to have them rebuilt? I fear that their thinking is, ‘The people of Gaza now have to find houses, homes, elsewhere, as they should have done long ago.’

As I wrote The Origins and Future of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com), it occurred to me that ‘It looks that the Israeli Government is systematically making the whole of Gaza uninhabitable so all the people have to move elsewhere. I hope this is an exaggerated interpretation.’ This understanding no longer seems so exaggerated because I have remembered what Israeli relatives have said to me of their view of the origin and solution to the ‘Palestinian Problem.’

‘The Palestinians were created by the Arab States’ say at least some Israelis. ‘Before the State of Israel, the people were not Palestinians, they were Arabs. When the State of Israel was created, Arab countries should have given their fellow Arabs homes in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, just as Israel gave Jews from North Africa homes in Israel. Instead, Arab countries condemned their fellow Arabs to refugee camps. For years, Arab leaders have refused to welcome their own people, incarcerating them in poverty as ‘refugees’, in order to make Israel look bad. Many Christian Arabs have seen sense and gone to live in other, Christian, countries. Moslem Arabs need to do the same. Go and live in Moslem Arab countries.

I guess that those with this view now say:
Hamas, through its attack on Israel and its obstinate holding onto hostages, has forfeited the homes of the people of Gaza. Hamas knew what they were doing; they knew that their fire would be met by far greater fire. They didn’t care enough about their own people to ensure they had homes. Releasing all hostages would have retained the homes of Gazans, as Hamas well knew. Hamas don’t care about their own people.

The people of Gaza, made homeless by their own leaders, now simply need to go to homes elsewhere. They are not refugees, they are outcasts from the Arab nations and it is time for the Arab nations to give them proper permanent homes. UNRWA is not needed. Rather UNRWA obscures the reality that these people are denied homes by their fellow Arabs.

The Hindus and Moslems who had to leave their homes on the creation of the State of Pakistan, are not condemned to ‘refugee camps’ near the border of Pakistan. Long ago they were given new homes, either in India or in Pakistan. To keep them homeless would have been playing with people’s lives to make political points which ignore the new reality. The Pakistanis and Indians didn’t do this, and nor should the Arab nations.

The inhabitants of Gaza, and of the camps in Lebanon and Jordan, now need to move elsewhere, as they should have done on 1947/8.

I do not agree with this Israeli view. I do not think the parallel with Pakistan is valid. I think Israel drove Palestinians from their homes and Israel should provide for those they made homeless. Jewish Scriptures contain a clear call to welcome and care for the stranger in the land. If Israelis see Palestinians as strangers in the land they have lived in for generations, so be it. Israelis should still apply the call of Jewish faith and care for them. Israel has welcomed many Jews, they could welcome a good number of Palestinians too.

We see the systematic destruction of the buildings of Gaza. The Israeli Government told the people of North Gaza to leave so that they homes could be wrecked. The buildings, not the people, were the target, although there was little concern about casualties among the people. We can tie this in with what we know of Israeli thinking. The question needs to be asked. ‘What intentions and plans does the Israeli Government have for the rebuilding of Gaza?’

The Origins and Future of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israel is making an all-out attack against Hamas in Gaza after Hamas made a shocking attack against Israeli citizens near the border. Where did all this start?

This week I read Josef Ben Eliezar’s book My Search. (Plough Publishing 2004.) I needed something to read over lunch and this book happened to be on the shelves of the small prison library. The title intrigued me. I knew nothing of the contents.

Josef was a child in Frankfurt when Hitler came to power. His family feared the worst and went to live in Poland. After the Nazis invaded Poland, the family were abused, starved, deprived of valuables, forced to march away from their home in a long line of others, under threat of being shot by soldiers. Eventually Josef was taken, on his own, through Tehran to Israel. Safe passage through a Moslem country.

Josef found it hard to fit into Israeli life, partly because his mother had died of starvation and exhaustion in Poland and he did not know where the rest of his family were. He was also firmly committed to the Jewish community in Palestine, as it was then, and to the State of Israel when it was founded in 1947 by the United Nations. In the war between Jews and Arabs that followed, Josef was an enthusiastic soldier, deserting from his regular army role to join the fiercer Palmach military.

I wanted to fight for the right to live in this land. I was more than ready to fight against the armies of Egypt, Jordan and other countries. I was prepared to give my life to secure the existence of the State of Israel. p67

He knew that fighting for the right to live in the land meant fighting against the people who were already living in the land. Room needed to be made for him to live in the land, room to live in. (The Nazis saw their invasion of Poland and displacement of the people living there as securing their, German, room to live in, ‘lebensraum.’)

Josef was fighting for the right not only to live in the land but to control the land. He refused to be a minority in the land, or have the land controlled by someone else.

My Jewish grandfather, though, thought it better for there to be no Jewish State. My grandmother spoke to a local US newspaper in 1947 saying that they thought the British should continue to control the land. Jewish people could live there if they could buy somewhere to live. My grandfather did not support Jews evicting others nor controlling the land. He had had experience of the aggression of Jewish fighters even against their own people. One of his sons had been targeted because he worked in administration for the British Port of Haifa.

Any illusions Josef had about being able to live in the land in peace were dispelled by Sammy, a man a little older than himself to whom he looked up. He convinced me that the Palestinians would always hate us as part of the Zionist enterprise…. It wasn’t our individual deeds or misdeeds that upset the Palestinians, it was the system, the very existence of the nation of Israel that displaced them. p78

Brutal aspects of the war in which he was fighting also troubled Josef, both at the time and later.

… we were in action trying to take the village of Tantura…. There were rumours that some men from the village were killed in revenge for the massacre at Kefar Sava. I never saw any killing, but even the rumour had an effect on me. p67

Our unit was heavily involved in the capture of Lod near Tel Aviv… After the town was conquered, there was some fighting in the streets, but then basically the entire Arab population was ordered to leave. I still remember those long lines of refugees – men, women and children – fleeing towards an uncertain future. At one point, my unit was searching those who left the town for weapons and valuables. The atmosphere was tense and some of my comrades treated the Arabs spitefully. In that moment, my mind flashed back to my own experiences as a ten-year-old boy fleeing our home in Poland. But here the roles were reversed. One of my comrades struck a Palestinian with his bayonet and I was stung by the memory of my father being struck in the same way by a German soldier…

I saw two of our soldiers – actually just boys – take some Arabs and ask them to dig a grave. They ordered them to go in and took aim at them with their rifles. Several of us shouted at them and they let the men go, but I was shocked that we seemed quite capable of the same things that we had heard from other nations. p68f

Josef’s mentor Sammy could not see peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The renowned Israeli General and Defence Minister, Moshe Dayan, expressed the same view.

Other Israelis have believed in peace with Palestinians and worked for it. Uri Avnery, who also fought in the Israeli War of Independence, called eloquently for peace and founded the Gush Shalom movement for peace. This, and other similar Israeli movements, now have less support in Israel than before. Yitzhak (Isaac) Rabin, Israeli Prime Minister, negotiated seriously with Palestinians. While still Prime Minister, in 1995, Rabin was assassinated. Most Israelis expressed no outrage. Instead, a cold, collective, unspoken ‘I was never comfortable with him. We’re better off without him.’

Since then, Israelis have voted not for peace but for dominance. Now they have a Government intent only on military dominance at any cost. It looks that the Israeli Government is systematically making the whole of Gaza uninhabitable so all the people have to move elsewhere. I hope this is an exaggerated interpretation.

I wonder how long Israel will be able to last like this. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

In the Bible we read of the sons of Jacob, who’s name was changed by God to Israel, returning to Palestine. Their daughter is raped by a local Prince. They respond by massacring all the men of that tribe and taking the women, children, animals as their slaves. Then God summons Jacob, Israel, to a meeting. God says he will continue to look after the family, and says nothing about them living in the land of Palestine. ‘And God went up from Jacob.’ He was now on his own. Disaster upon disaster follows until Jacob and the whole family have to leave Palestine to live in Egypt where they become slaves for many years. Has Israeli bloodshed now also removed their right to live in the land? We will see what God does.

How will Ukraine win?

‘Ukraine will win,’ says Jesus? | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com) But how?

By creative, unexpected, harassment which has far greater impact than imagined. Not so much through force of arms supplied by The West. More through small manoeuvres of surprise and emotional impact. A few people will dream up minor ventures which seem crazy, could well be a waste of time, but make a big impact on already demoralised Russian soldiers. Like the Tigrayans recently ridding their land of Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers.

In September it was reported ‘Russian soldiers are running away, ditching their equipment, asking to surrender.’ https://www.anneapplebaum.com/2022/09/11/its-time-to-prepare-for-a-ukrainian-victory/ Since then, Russian soldiers have been made to toughen up, keep fighting. The underlying sense among most Russians remains a desire to get out of Ukraine, without losing their lives. Russians are used to hearing and saying one thing and thinking, believing, the opposite. In Communist times everyone knew how to repeat Party propaganda, to do what they were told, but carelessly and sloppily. Putin is now trying to recrate the Communist Russian Empire and is thereby recreating the careless and sloppy obedience of most soldiers. Their hearts are not in this fight. Their capacity for killing Ukrainians is stretched to the limit. Worth continuing to pray for the demoralisation of the Russian soldiers.

Despite the reputation of the Old Testament God as blood-thirsty, the actual texts show a God working with, accommodating to, blood-thirsty people, trying to minimise the killing, encouraging them not to rely on military strength.

This God, shown more fully in and through Jesus, is being called on now to help the Ukrainians. We can expect the help He sends to be similar to that given to the Israelites of the Old Testament. and the Tigrayans of today.

In the Old Testament we read of Gideon taking a ludicrously small group of soldiers against the huge Midianite army which had invaded the land. Trumpets blown from very close, clay jars smashed, lights suddenly appearing, all terrified the Midianite soldiers. Helped by previous demoralising dreams and rumours spread by God’s Spirit. The Midianites fled. Judges 7:1-22

We read also of the Israelites being given godly information on the movements and supply lines of enemy troops. This leads to an enemy special military operation which fails because an army of angels blinds them. 2 Kings 6:8-23. The blind army is taken captive and the Israelites are told to feed them and send them home. This time, they do as they are told.

The ungrateful enemy return and besiege Samaria, the capital city.  Food runs out, the people are starving. Then the enemy army flees in unexplained God-sent, terror – 2 Kings 6:24 – 7:20

Expecting God’s surprising, death-minimising, help against an invading army is not magical, fairy story, thinking. Look at the recent invasion of the national Ethiopian and Eritrean armies of the province of Tigray. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Tigrayans drove the Ethiopian army out of their capital and out of their land. The parallels with Ukraine and Russia are notable. Including Tigray containing the ancient centre of the country’s Orthodox Faith.

The Tigrayan victory echoed Biblical victories: Welcome to Independent Tigray and New Eritrea | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com)  The Tigrayans tried to minimise killing, not targeting civilians, feeding and sending back Ethiopian soldiers, as Elisha’s Israelites had fed and sent back their Aramean enemies. Difficult when your enemy routinely attacks, abuses, rapes civilians, your neighbours, cousins, brothers and sisters.

And we Brits remember tenacious, odd, Alan Turing, who thought he could break the Nazi Enigma Code. He was deemed crazy but allowed to try. The course of the Second World War was changed and many lives saved.

(Turing’s intervention was in the tradition of Gideon and Elisha. Bomber Harris’ intervention was in the tradition of King Ahab and King Herod, the slaughterer of the innocents.)

May the Ukrainians be open to odd, out-of-the-box, little ideas. Not exact copies of the initiatives of Gideon and Elisha and the Tigrayans. Fresh, clever, apparently crazy, thinking which aims to impact the enemy while minimising bloodshed. The people who come up with these ideas may be conscious of the God and Father of Jesus leading them. Or may not. Our God can work through anyone.

May the Ukrainians be open to the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, so that they feed and release Russian prisoners of war. No retaliation nor revenge. Minimal killing, especially of civilians. Even though there is a risk that these soldiers may invade again, as they did in old Israel and new Tigray, God has that covered too.

‘Ukraine will win,’ says Jesus?

A few weeks ago, I was having a quiet slow morning. My working week as Prison Chaplain had been satisfying. Delightful looking back over various encounters and prayers with men, their reports of seeing and feeling something encouraging and healing from God. That day and the following were less full. The prospect of relaxed time ahead made me relaxed.

In my imagination, I looked to see Jesus with me. His hands stood out. He too was relaxed, giving the impression that he has everything under control. We talked about a few personal matters Then Jesus continued in the same vein:

Ukraine will win. At the end of the year, the Russian army will be out of Ukraine.

This is to show the world the futility of military force.

Pray for the demoralisation of the Russian soldiers.

I was surprised. These words seemed so clear, definite, predictive. Were they really from Jesus? I cannot say for certain. But the combination of me being relaxed, my strong awareness of Jesus with me and the surprise at the words which came, make me think they probably are from Jesus. Only time will tell.

The war in Ukraine was far from my conscious thoughts. I had not seen any news from Ukraine for days. I had not been wondering how long the war will last. From the beginning, my view has been that the war will last for a long time. If you had asked me earlier that morning when the war will end, I would have said, only after a few more years. I don’t think the message came from me, not even from my wishful thinking. And I am not sure about how a Ukrainian military victory can show the futility of military force.

Jesus speaks today

Jesus does speak to people today, through the Holy Spirit with us and in us. Jesus said that all his sheep, from different flocks, will hear his voice. (John 10:16) Not only Jews, people from every tribe and tongue and language will hear Jesus’ voice. No-one needs to learn Aramaic, Jesus’ birth language, nor Greek the language of the New Testament writers. Everyone hears in their own language.

‘All of us hear in our own language’ was the amazed comment from the crowd on Pentecost Day. (Acts 2:8) The disciples were speaking loud in what seemed to the disciples just sounds but what others heard as the languages of various places from which they had travelled. The Holy Spirit was orchestrating, prompting a gush of various sounds from various followers of Jesus which other people identified as real human languages. One message of that Day was indeed ‘All of us hear in our own language.’ Through the flow of the Holy Spirit, all Jesus’ sheep, from any flock, hear his voice in their own language.

Another comment from the crowd was ‘Aren’t all those speaking Galileans?’ (Acts 2:7) The crowd only heard the disciples, they did not know them nor see them. From hearing them, the crowd knew they were all Galileans – people from the North of the country, near the Sea of Galilee. How did the crowd know? Because of the way the disciples were speaking. The disciples were speaking various languages, all in Galilean accents! They remained themselves and sounded like themselves, although they each turned out to be speaking a language they had never learnt. Another lesson of that Day was ‘The Holy Spirit speaks through ordinary humans, who still sound like themselves.’

Jesus had also identified the Holy Spirit as the carrier of his words: ‘ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’ (John 16:13) When the Holy Spirit speaks through someone, he speaks the words of Jesus. When we hear the voice of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is bringing Jesus’ words to us.

How do we hear Jesus speaking?

The best teaching I know about hearing the voice of Jesus today is ‘Hearing God’s Voice’ by Mark Virkler. 4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice | Communion With God Ministries (cwgministries.org) When I was conversing with Jesus, I was following Mark’s teaching.

Through close examination of the whole Bible, and from wide research among many Christian leaders and teachers, Mark was led to these ‘Keys:’

1  Quieten down.

2  Look to see Jesus with you

3  Welcome, expect, the flow of the Holy Spirit from within you

4  Write out or speak out what comes.

The flow of the Holy Spirit comes in gentle words, impressions, pictures. – ‘pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ‘ (James 3:17) The flow of the Holy Spirit comes from within us, within our personality. The Holy Spirit speaks like us, with our own accents, but purer, kinder, wiser than we are. The flow of the Holy Spirit needs to be voiced, expressed, as on Pentecost Day.

Prophecy

On Pentecost Day Peter explained what was happening, quoting the Old Testament prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.’ (Acts 2:17)

Peter said that what the crowd heard was prophecy.

Jesus speaking to his people today, through the Holy Spirit, is known as prophecy, a gift given to build up the whole Church. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Ephesians 4:11,12)

Christian prophecy, according to Jesus, includes ‘declaring the things that are to come,’ predicting the future. Prediction is only a part of what Jesus says to his people. The Holy Spirit brings all that Jesus wants to say to all his people.

Paul writes that ‘those who prophesy speak to other people for their building up and encouragement and consolation.’  (1 Corinthians 14:3) Although Paul was aware of genuine predictive prophecy through someone predicting a famine, (Acts 11:28) he knew that most prophecy does not predict, but builds up, encourages, consoles. Predictive prophecy is rare.

Paul continues to value prophecy and never indicates that the Church will come to a time when there is no need for prophecy. ‘Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.’ (1 Corinthians 14:1) This is a command from Paul recognised as Holy Scripture, valid for all Christians at all times. Paul has already made it plain that the time when prophecy will no longer be needed will be when we see Jesus face to face, when he returns in glory. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10) Until that time, prophecy, Jesus speaking to his people through the Holy Spirit, will be part of the life of the Church, as much as love.

Paul also writes that prophecy needs to be weighed, tested, examined to consider how genuine it is. ‘Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.’ (1Corinthians 14:29) ‘Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies^]but test everything; hold fast to what is good;’ (1 Thessalonians 5:20,21) There is never certainty about any prophecy. We need most people, especially church leaders, to think it is likely to be from Jesus.

One question to ask of a prophecy is ‘Does it reinforce Jesus’ words recorded in the Bible?’ As prophecy is Jesus speaking today through the Holy Spirit, prophecy should be at least in line with Jesus’ recorded words.

I think that the words which came to me that morning about the war in Ukraine were prophecy. It is up to other people to weigh them, consider them. Mostly, we all have to wait and see what happens.

(It reassures me that some experts have given a similar prediction, of which I did not know until after my conversation with Jesus:

Ukraine war: Five ways conflict could go in 2023 – BBC News )

Roger Harper

Truce and Truth for Tigray

For the Truce to hold, the Truth needs to be told.

On Wednesday 2 November, a Truce agreement was finalised between the central government of Ethiopia, led by the Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, and the leaders of Tigray, the Northern Region of Ethiopia. This Tuesday was the first day for 2 years no-one was attacked or killed.

Both parties agreed to a return to the status quo of 2 years ago, with a Transitional Justice Policy which is to include a full impartial investigation into the last 2 years. Both parties have compromised, so the truce is not welcomed by all those represented by leaders on both sides. If the leaders, especially Abiy Ahmed, abide by the agreement fully, a better future can emerge. But this will be a challenge for Abiy.

The Conflict

In November 2020 Abiy Ahmed mobilised his army to attack Tigray after the Tigrayan regional leadership held regional elections against the ruling from the Ethiopian central government. Abiy Ahmed had refused to step down after his term of office expired. Scheduled national elections were postponed due to Covid 19. The Tigrayans argued that an interim government should be set up, as agreed by all the Regions of Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed refused, insisting that he stay in charge until he is able to arrange elections. The Tigrayans announced and carried out their own regional elections. For Abiy this was a great crime, justifying a military invasion which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

Abiy and the Tigrayans had competing visions for Ethiopia. The Tigrayans had been instrumental in establishing the country as a Federal Democratic Republic. Federal first, with much autonomy to the tribal Regions. Democratic in prioritising regular fair and free elections. With this Constitution, Ethiopia had prospered remarkably.

Abiy Ahmed’s vision was for a centralised, quasi-royal country. Abiy established his own national political party, the Prosperity Party, in opposition to the existing regional, tribal, parties. Abiy set about building a strong centre in Addis Ababa, with new roads, new parks, new palaces, to which all the tribes would contribute and of which all the regions would be proud.

The Tigrayan local elections were taken by Abiy Ahmed as an affront to his vision and his central authority. His declared aim was for regime change in the region of Tigray. He would teach them the lesson that regional autonomy had gone too far. With him, authority and power was primarily in the national centre. He believed that his large national army would ensure the lesson was a short one, albeit harsh. His invasion turned instead into a brutal 2 year war.

The Truce

Now, in the Truce, Abiy Ahmed has reaffirmed Ethiopia as a Federal Democratic Republic and recognised the regionally elected leadership of Tigray, removing his designation of them as terrorists. Abiy Ahmed has gained nothing, except to remain in power. If he continues to press for his centralising vision, he will be breaching his Truce.

The borders of Tigray from 2 years ago also need to be reaffirmed. Enlisting the support of regional Amhara militia for his invasion of Tigray, Abiy allowed or encouraged Amharans to take over part of Western Tigray and to claim this fertile land as their own. Now Abiy has to oust the Amharans back to within their borders of 2 years ago. He will not be popular in Amhara.

Abiy Ahmed has also agreed to allow, facilitate, food and medical aid into Tigray. Today, the WHO announced that this is not yet happening. One of Abiy’s officials said it is happening. Both cannot be speaking the truth.

Abiy Ahmed wants the Tigrayans to disarm. In the Truce, they have agreed to disarm within 30 days, when they consider they are safe. If Abiy implements the Truce Agreement, disarmament will follow. Abiy may well, instead, push for disarmament as a precondition for implementation of the rest of the Truce. He would encounter fierce opposition.

The Truth

The Truce agrees to Transitional Justice truth telling about the last 2 years. Both parties have agreed to establish the truth and follow this with criminal prosecutions as appropriate, all an understood part of Transitional Justice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_justice

The truth about Abiy Ahmed’s flimsy excuse for starting the war.

The truth about Abiy Ahmed encouraging and fomenting vilification, demonisation, of Tigrayans, among other Ethiopians, to justify his war.

The truth about Abiy Ahmed inviting the Eritrean army to assist him in invading Tigray. The truth that, in the early weeks, Abiy repeatedly denied that the Eritreans were involved.

The truth about the rape and pillage, particularly by Eritrean troops, in Tigray. The truth about Abiy Ahmed responding by accusing the Tigrayans of atrocities.

(The dictator of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, sees a strong Tigray as an existential threat to Eritrea. About half of Eritreans speak the same language as Tigrayans. If, through a mass movement or military conflict, Tigray is expanded to include all speakers of Tigrinya, Eritrea would cease to exist. Such a change would only be a copy of what has happened in the former Yugoslavia. Afwerki has dedicated his life to the creation and existence of Eritrea, his own country. He is determined to weaken, to dominate Tigray.)

The truth about Abiy Ahmed ‘using starvation as a weapon of war against Tigray’ according to the United Nations. The truth about Abiy Ahmed sending drones to attack villages and markets.

The truth about Abiy Ahmed sending waves of human cannon fodder against the Tigrayan defences. The truth about the death toll of all sides in this war.

Without this Truth, and more, being told, the Truce cannot hold.

The Future

Will Abiy Ahmed allow this truth to be told? When it may mean that he is the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize to also be tried in the International Criminal Court?

Maybe Abiy Ahmed will find a way of retreating into ignominious but safe retirement.

Will Ethiopia survive as a Federal Democratic Republic? Maybe – but without a central army which can be used again against any one Region. Each Region already has its own militia, as well as its own police force. Maybe the militias will become Regional Armies joined together in a NATO-like National Alliance.

Or maybe Ethiopia will reform into an Alliance of Nations, with a common market and a single currency and an electricity company in which the nations have shares to ensure a balanced supply. See Good new future for Ethiopia? | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com)

May the future of Ethiopia be decided not by war but by negotiation and compromise and agreement. May the peoples of Ethiopia learn fresh ways of loving their neighbours as they love themselves.

Roger Harper

10 November 2022

What is Jacob The Son about?

Favouritism and rivalry in the original Biblical family?

The power of women in a patriarchal society?

Tensions between immigrants and the long-settled community?

The guidance and promises of God to fallible people?

The great dream of the father who gave Joseph his technicolor dreamcoat?

Jacob The Son is about all of these, and more.

Hard to sum up. Hard to categorise.

Expanding the familiar. Breaking fresh ground.

https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

Some readers have said the Introduction explains well:

Many people know that Jacob dreamed of a ladder to heaven. Most do not know the message of that dream and whether Jacob heeded it. Many people know that Jacob cheated his twin brother, Esau, out of his blessing. Most do not know whether or how they were ever reconciled. Many people know that Jacob wrestled with God. Most do not know why God was determined to pin Jacob to the ground. Many people know that Jacob had his name changed to Israel. Most do not know how Jacob connived in the first genocide. Many people know that Jacob gave his son Joseph an amazing coat. Most do not know how Jacob angered Joseph in blessing his sons. Many people know that Jacob was promised blessing in the land we know as Israel / Palestine. Most do not know how he came to die an alien in Egypt.

As well as recounting and explaining the lesser-known times in Jacob’s life, the three parts of Jacob The Full Story portray his thoughts and feelings, his conversations with others, and the background to the Bible account.

Jews have long filled out their Bible stories in a tradition called midrash. Myjewishlearning.com explains: ‘Midrash is commonly defined as the process of interpretation by which the rabbis filled in “gaps” found in the Torah. It is a literature that seeks to ask the questions that lie on the tips of our tongues, and to answer them even before we have posed them.’

Jacob The Full Story carries on and extends the Jewish midrash tradition in a fresh way. Some of the filling out comes from drawing on other parts of the Bible story, for instance the impact of Jacob’s twin brother Esau choosing to marry two foreign wives compared to their father Isaac holding steadfastly to one wife, recounted earlier in Genesis. What would Jacob, and others, have thought about this double marriage? Imagination supplies the answers, creating dialogues of different points of view.

One filling-in, which you will read, is that, when Jacob had to leave his parents’ home, he took servants with him. Jacob’s father, Isaac, is called a very wealthy man. Would his son travel entirely on his own? Jacob’s companions each provide a fresh, prophetic, perspective on his journey.

The words of the companions help to explain the story. Genesis is a ‘show, don’t tell’ book. Genesis shows blessing coming to Jacob after he received the promise of blessing. The writer does not also specifically tell us that each blessing was the fulfilment of the promise. Genesis shows blessing being withdrawn from Jacob. The writer indicates reasons for the withdrawal of blessing within the story, but does not specifically tell us these reasons. In Jacob The Full Story Jacob’s companions comment on the story from within the story. There is more telling as well as more showing, the telling expressing different points of view.

Among the voices we hear more than in Genesis is that of Rebecca, Jacob’s mother. She is one of the great Jewish matriarchs, founding mothers. A long-standing Jewish tradition sees all the matriarchs as prophets, people who could hear God speaking and pass on what they heard to the people. At the beginning of Jacob’s life, before he was born, Genesis tells us that Rebecca was able to go to God, question him, and hear an answer. Jacob – The Son brings out more of Rebecca’s prophetic wisdom.

One question has been how to refer to the God of Jacob. Genesis mostly writes God’s name as YHWH, unpronounceable letters which have long been replaced with the euphemism ‘The LORD.’ (Like saying ‘Her Majesty’ rather than the Queen’s name.) But we are also told that this ‘name’ was first given to Moses, generations after Jacob. ‘The LORD’ is also now a characteristically Christian rendering of YWYH. Many Jews use ‘Ha Shem’ ‘The Name.’ The modern French Bible uses ‘L’Eternel’ ‘The Eternal One.’ I have chosen to focus on the distinctive belief in a single God held by Abraham’s family, including his grandson, Jacob. Instead of ‘the LORD’ or ‘Ha Shem,’ you will read ‘The One.’ In a world where people believed in many gods, each behind one of the many powers in nature, Jacob and his family dared to believe that behind the manifold, sometimes competing, powers of nature, was One God.

In the Bible this God is known as ‘the God of Jacob’, more than ‘the God of Abraham,’ much more than ‘the God of Moses.’ This God has chosen to make himself known through the life of this man. Jacob had his name changed to Israel. ‘The God of Israel’ is the God of the same man.

As Jacob and Israel are the same person, how much is the story of the nation Israel the story of the man Jacob? Is the life of Jacob echoed in the life of ancient Israel, in the life of modern Israel?Read Jacob – The Full Story and decide for yourself.

The God of Jacob is the God of Christians as well as Jews. How are people of all cultures to relate to Him? The Full Story shines light on these questions for all people.

Available at https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son and on Amazon UK

Roger Harper

Jacob The Son – Reactions

Warning! Jacob the Son could endanger your privacy:

‘I was reading Jacob The Son on the Tube to work and enjoying it. Then I laughed out loud, and people turned to look at me.’

If you don’t mind strangers noticing you a little, why not take Jacob The Son with you for the train, the plane, the pool?

https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

AF enjoyed the book:

‘A pacey and entertaining account of Jacob’s early life, struggles and relationships with his parents and his brother Esau. I loved the intriguing idea of “Midrash” or filling in explained in the book’s introduction; the author cleverly and convincingly “fills in” and builds on the biblical story, raising thought provoking questions about faith and perseverance, loyalty and trust.

Jacob’s mother Rebecca is especially appealing as a character and is brought to life via entertaining dialogue with her husband Isaac and sons. What will happen next? The author promises a trilogy which will complete the re imagining of Jacob’s story. I will definitely want to read the next books in the series.’

Marshall enjoyed the book:

‘A Bible story brought to life. This book is an easy read with some lovely touches of humour. It is fun to see the relationships between the characters grow and develop. At the same time it caused me to pause and question. What was life like back then? Have family dynamics and relationships changed over the centuries? Deception! What about faith? Can we hear God today? I’m looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. It is rare to find a book that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Highly recommended.’

Rebecca enjoyed the book:

‘I really enjoyed reading this retelling of the story of Jacob. It was light but true to the story in the bible. It explored personalities and relationship dynamics that made the reading experience richer. I highly recommend.’

Available here: https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

And on Amazon.co.uk

Why Jacob The Son?

Jacob The Son has stimulated interest and questions. See my previous post for book details and the opening pages.:

How long did Jacob The Son take to write?

I have explored and retold the story of Jacob for years. For a whole church weekend in 1999. In an evening of story-telling in a tent in the Gobi desert in 2002. To prisoners since 2014. This novel form began in earnest in September 2016.

Why 2016?

At the Edinburgh Festival that year, Philip Pope was in a reprise of the show Radio Active. Philip is a great musician and composer of TV music. Philip was also a schoolmate of mine, a friendly rival – for French, certainly not music. I wanted to say hello. I also wanted to sound Philip out about a musical about Jacob. The prequel to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has, for some years, been a dream of mine.

Following advice, I left a note in Philip’s pigeon hole, suggesting we meet at the Prosecco Bar after his show. We met by the bar. Philip remembered me and invited me to join him and his colleagues for a drink. He suggested I write to him about Jacob. As we bad farewell, Philip said he hadn’t looked in his pigeon hole.

Philip was bemused by my proposal. I realised that I know the details of Jacob’s story and how it will make a great musical, but others don’t. Better to begin by writing out Jacob’s life.

Why Jacob?

Jacob is flawed. Jacob is buffeted by life and makes mistakes. Jacob has ups and downs and twists, poverty and prosperity, violence threatened and inflicted, rivalry and love. Jacob’s life is much like any fallible human life, like my life. Genesis tells us more about Jacob than any other character. Genesis gives us a detailed skeleton of Jacob’s life and his family onto which vivid flesh and blood can be added.

Jacob is supported and encouraged by God. In the Bible God is known as the God of Jacob more often than the God of anyone else.

Jacob had his name changed to Israel. The Biblical people of God, the people of Israel are the people of Jacob. The God of Israel is first and foremost the God of Jacob.

Why a trilogy?

Jacob The Full Story was going to be one book. I had written beyond his ladder-to-heaven dream, enough for a book. Much more of his life was still to come. Partly to save space, I had summarised  much of his young adult life, living with his parents, including as an economic migrant among the Philistines.

Tracy Chevalier read the draft and said my summary was terrible. I needed to tell the early story fully, with detail.

The rewriting was long. But I enjoyed all the looking in the Bible and in my imagination. I then definitely had enough for one book. The Full Story would be too long.

Jacob’s life has three sections: Life at home until he ran for his life and dreamed of the ladder. Life with Rachel, the love of his life, with her father and her sister, with his 12 sons, until he returned to the land promised to his grandfather Abraham. On the threshold, God wrestles with him. Life back in the familiar hills, until multiple disaster forces exile in Egypt. A trilogy fits Jacob’s story.

The final, least known, section is likely to be controversial. The first 2 sections are great stories on their own, better not initially overshadowed by controversy.

How did Tracy Chevalier come to advise you?

Tracy offered 2 sessions of book editing to an auction for the charity Freedom From Torture. I happened to be at the auction with money a cousin had given me for that charity. The winning bid was the same amount as my cousin’s donation.

What hopes do you have for Jacob The Son?

Of course, I hope many people will buy, read, enjoy, be stimulated by Jacob The Son. Positive comments about my 2 other books have greatly cheered me. I would like more! And, if the musical follows one day, that would be delightful.

https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

Roger Harper