Shalom Dear Friends,
This month we would like to alert our readers to a disturbing trend that is prominent in Europe (so far we have not seen it in the United States) and is contributing to the isolation of Israel (Zechariah 12:3). Volunteers from their vantage point in Europe are distributing this article to the Christian community in their country.
IT’S JUST FASHION! OR IS IT?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/5/56/MuhammadHasan.jpgThe Keffiyeh is a common headdress worn by Arab men. With its long history and many forms, today it has become the symbol of Palestinian nationalism. So why and how has this become such an enormous trend for youth worldwide?
And what should our response be as pro-Israel Christians?
Copyright World Economic Forum
(www.weforum.org) swiss-image.ch
Photo by Remy SteineggerYasser Arafat was chiefly responsible in popularizing the Keffiyeh during his reign as leader of the Fatah movement, which was founded in 1959.
Westerners started wearing keffiyehs around the start of the first Intifada, which was a Palestinian uprising in the late 1980’s. They were mostly college students who wanted to stand up with the Palestinians against Israel.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/7/76/SaidSis.jpg
The Keffiyeh didn’t enter into worldwide fashion until late 2008, during Operation Cast Lead, an Israeli military operation aimed at ending rocket fire from Hamas in Gaza and stopping the import of arms into the territory. Worldwide media went into a frenzy of anti-Israel rhetoric, bringing sympathy for the Palestinian struggle into nearly every home on the planet. Soon thereafter, being in support of Palestinians and opposing Israel became the new “cool”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Leila_Khaled.jpg Today you can see young people wearing the Keffiyeh in all corners of the world. Most wear it as a political or fashion statement, some wear it because it’s trendy and cool, and others just think it’s a nice scarf. It is so common that it has entered schools, churches, and Christian homes.
Hezbollah poster
Aotearoa at pl.wikipediaThe Bible clearly teaches that the people of Israel hold a unique place in the plan of God. As Christians, we are to pray for Israel, bless Israel, and to stand with Israel when the world turns against it. We do not hate Arabs, and the point of this article is not to incite hate or fear, but rather to simply raise social awareness. We should show love to every people, and we should know the difference between political declaration and fashion.
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“It’s just fashion! It’s just a scarf! Why be so strict?”
Why be so strict? Ever heard of Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine? How about Yasser Arafat, Khalad Mashal, Sheik Achmed Yassin, Hassan Nasrallah, or Mahmaud Achmadinijad? These groups and these guys are not our buddies! And we in no way support them or stand in solidarity with them. In a world of ever-growing secularism and massive infiltration of worldliness into the church, why not be strict? There are plenty of symbols that we are very careful not to associate ourselves with.
So what is the Keffiyeh? Is it a way to declare peace and brotherhood or is it a superficial fad lacking social awareness? You would think that the more people know, the less we would see the Keffiyeh, but unfortunately, the opposite is true. Today the world loves to turn right into wrong and wrong into right. It seems that supporting truth will never be a cool fashion.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROJECT
Our foreign language translation project continues to move along at a steady pace. The Russian language pages are 75% completed. We have also received a generous donation that has allowed us to fully fund the remainder of the Russian pages. Thank you Lord!
The Hebrew language pages are at the 9% mark with the first section being translated. Our second section is awaiting funding.
You may have seen that our Internet web site was unavailable for part of December and that all the foreign language pages were not in place. Unfortunately, we suffered an Internet melt down in the middle of December for some unknown reason. Chiara has been diligently rebuilding our Internet site. We prioritized her work to the English pages first, then the foreign language pages. Rest assured all the foreign language pages will be back in place soon.
UCI BIBLE BOOKTABLE – 2010
As we compiled our UCI Bible Book table statistics for 2010, we were amazed at what the Lord allowed us to do. Briefly it breaks down like so (remember, each number represents UCI students, individuals each with their own story, joys, and heart aches).
Bibles (English, Foreign Language, Old Testaments and New Testaments)—562
Gospels of John—2,910
Christian Literature (DVD’s, Tracts, Books, and Church Information)—208
Decisions for Salvation—Sarah, Mary, Robby, Chun, Benjamin, and George. (Pray for their growth!)
Please pray for the salvation of—Michael, Y.J. (Muslim), Norman, Jacob (LDS), Chinese Student, Roxanne, Irene, Salah (Muslim), Ricky, and three religious Jewish girls.
Students asking for prayer—Kelsey, Jessica
Thanks for being part of our ministry team.