Christians Targeted
For almost a year, I have been warning Christians that it became too dangerous to travel by bus through the Sinai in Egypt to Israel. Today, Sunday 16 February 2014, that warning became a sad reality when a bus with 32 South Korean Christians was blown up by terrorists just 250 meter from the Taba border post. They were all from the same church in South Korea and were on their way from the St Catherine’s Monastery in South Sinai to Israel. In this tragic attack, 5 people including the bus driver were killed and around 15 injured (at time of writing this article).
Two important aspects need to be highlighted. Firstly, Al Qaida-linked terrorist groups have been operating in the Sinai since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. The stated goal of these groups is to fight the government of General Abdel Fattah al Sisi in Egypt and eventually the destruction of Israel. They certainly know that tourism and especially Christian pilgrimage to Israel is a major contributor to the Israeli economy.
Secondly, Christians and especially group leaders, travelling through Egypt to Israel should keep themselves abreast of the dangerous and fluid situation in Egypt. The nearly 100,000 Christian Copts that fled Egypt since the overthrow of the Mubarak regime should be a warning sign. Although it is understandable that Christians want to visit certain sites in Egypt, I strongly suggest that Christian pilgrims avoid travelling by road from Egypt to Israel.
Sunday’s attack could mark a shift in strategy of the militants: to target tourists and economic targets and not just Egyptian police and soldiers. It will also have grave consequences for the Egyptian economy.
The irony is that Christians are persecuted in about every country in the Middle East. They are fleeing from Egypt, Syria and Iraq. The only country where Christians feel safe is in Israel. Then we have the strange anomaly – the South African Council of Churches which represents all the mainstream churches in South Africa, supports sanctions against Israel and branded Israel as an Apartheid state. Palestine Kairos and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) are also affiliated with the SACC. Both organizations are vehemently hostile against Israel and also support divestment and sanctions and are affiliated with the World Council of Churches as is the SACC.
It seems that Christians are not aware of critical developments in the world or in their immediate environment. If not, why the silence when a leading Christian organization bound them in by biased and unbiblical decisions? Are we not aware of the danger to poke God in the eye? That is exactly what many Christians do by attacking Israel with the destructive BDS campaign (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), which the SACC and by proxy the member churches of the SACC endorsed.
Are we going astray, because of a lack of knowledge? Good and evil, true and false has become so blurred that we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit more than ever before.
Click to watch a video report of the bus attack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm1dGJhDiJU