{"id":842,"date":"2016-05-18T11:26:08","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T15:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/isittheendoftheworld\/?p=842"},"modified":"2016-05-18T11:27:57","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T15:27:57","slug":"independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/isittheendoftheworld\/2016\/05\/independence-day.html","title":{"rendered":"Independence Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who has ever heard of such things?
\nWho has ever seen things like this?
\nCan a country be born in a day
\nor a nation be brought forth in a moment?
\nYet no sooner is Zion in labor
\nthan she gives birth to her children.<\/em> (Isaiah 66:8)<\/p>\n

Now that Israel’s Independence Day, her 68th anniversary of the founding of the state, is complete…it’s good to reflect on what the nation has in terms of blessings. For a moment, let’s dispense with all the threats arrayed against the Jewish state. The miraculous nature of Israel’s modern birth<\/a> deserves a huge celebration.<\/p>\n

\u2022Innovation. Israel is a leader in medical, agricultural, and technological advances\u2014that benefit the entire world.<\/p>\n

\u2022Economy. In 2014, Israel’s gross domestic product amounted to more than $305 billion U.S. dollars. Not bad for a first-world economy in a sea of third-world countries ensnared in chaos.<\/p>\n

\"Jewish<\/a>
Jewish youth in Jerusalem, early ’50s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022Military. Despite the threats from Hamas and Hezbollah, the Israel Defense Forces remain robust. IDF officers have gone from (in the early days of the 1950s) earning no salary and growing their own food, to helping develop the “world’s first high-energy laser weapon system capable of shooting down a rocket carrying a live warhead.”<\/p>\n

Israel’s military capabilities are so far ahead of most nations, I think we’d be staggered if we knew the full capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u2022Culture. From a moonscape only decades ago, Israel is dotted today with theatres, museums, art galleries, and much more. World-class entertainment flocks to the Jewish state, and here we must include a nod to the sheer brainpower of the country’s citizens. Everywhere, students lead in math, science, and the arts.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the sworn enemies of the Jewish state, the Palestinians, are set to open a museum dedicated to Palestinian history, in the West Bank. The museum will open with…no exhibits.<\/p>\n

If the Arabs ever manage to lay down their “armed struggle” and harness their own considerable brainpower (something I fervently believe will happen), my oh my, what a paradise the Middle East will be.<\/p>\n

As we celebrate the life of Israel, it is my hope that\u2014even amid the growing anti-Semitism around the world\u2014more and more people will begin to think differently about the Jewish state. Tiny seeds planted in the hearts and minds of men and women and children around the world who have been raised to distrust Israel will one day bear fruit.<\/p>\n

I am certain of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. 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