What Goes Around
We are all well acquainted with the names of people like Corrie ten Boom, Oscar Schindler, and Raoul Wallenburg. Each is distinguished for rescuing Jewish people who were marked for death by the satanically driven Third Reich of Adolph Hitler. Their compassion and courage have not been forgotten by the Jewish people. A street on the grounds of Israel’s national memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, is appropriately named “The Street of Righteous Gentiles.” There, carob trees stand vigilantly over plaques memorializing those Christians and others who did not forget the Jewish people. Nor will these Gentiles be forgotten by Israel.
A popular expression I rather enjoy avoiding is “What goes around, comes around.” In this context, however, it seems especially appropriate. In the 1930s and, 40s, Jews were being killed by the millions. Today the specter of another such episode has arrived on a smaller scale.
The Israel Defense Force has the vacated South Lebanon. Its stay in the Security Zone has exacted a high price. Some five hundred IDF soldiers have lost their lives protecting the Israeli towns along the northern border. Israel’s departure has sounded an alarm and flashed a green light to Hizbollah terrorists to implement their plan to exterminate Lebanese Christians and everyone in the South Lebanese Army (SLA) who has stood with Israel.
Arms and encouragement for the task are being supplied by the likes of Syria, Iran, and other rogue states that believe killing people who disagree with them is a divinely endorsed occupation. If the secular Western media cared to pay attention, they would brand this plot genocide—a word liberal journalists are inclined to use only selectively. But make no mistake about it. What has been planned by Islamic radicals is genocide. They intend to ruthlessly and systematically exterminate all the Christians they have branded as collaborators in South Lebanon.
It is often said that Jewish people have long memories—a quality credited with contributing to their survival. Jewish suffering in Europe and sundry other parts of the world has sensitized the nation to barbarous acts against oppressed people who are unable to defend themselves. When the IDF pullout from South Lebanon was announced, it sparked an immediate flurry of inquiries about the fate of those Christians who would be left behind. Hezbollah’s brutal decree soon roused Israelis into action.
Residents of the town of Metulla in the north of Israel have announced that they are ready and willing to accept ninety-two Lebanese families as temporary guests or, if the situation warrants, permanent residents. Other Israeli towns also soon weighed in with offers to relocate dispossessed families. Nahariya Mayor Jackie Sabag announced that he will host SL A families if the government will provide funds for education, social services, and assistance in obtaining work. For its part, the Israeli government has arranged with a real estate firm to find nine hundred apartments—all located in Jewish areas— for these endangered Lebanese. In a show of solidarity with their Christian brethren, several Christian Arab villages have expressed a willingness to assist the SLA families.
So in the case of Jews and Christians, what goes around does indeed come around. Over half a century ago, courageous Christians in Europe sheltered Jewish people from the fury of the Nazis. Now the Jewish people have the opportunity to return the favor. And they are doing so.
Inherent in this scenario is a question for other Christians the world over. For decades, a pall of silence has prevailed when we receive reports of our brethren being maimed and murdered. It just doesn’t seem possible that such horror could befall believers in a world such as ours, awash in advanced technology and widespread affluence. But irrefutable evidence is mounting that Christians are fair game for slaughter; and we can no longer turn a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands who are suffering persecution, deprivation, and death. The plight of the South Lebanese is a wake-up call, and this is no time to press the snooze button.
