[32] But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. [34] Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.John 4 : 32, 34
AFP
Sat, April 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM GMT+33 min read
With food scarce in the besieged and war-battered Gaza Strip, some desperate families have turned to eating sea turtles as a rare source of protein.
[9] On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: [10] And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, [11] And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: [12] Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. [13] And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. [14] But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. [15] And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.Acts 10 : 9-15
Once the shell has been removed, the meat is cut up, boiled and cooked in a mix of onion, pepper, tomato and spices.
“The children were afraid of the turtle, and we told them it tasted as delicious as veal,” said Majida Qanan, keeping an eye on the chunks of red meat simmering in a pot over a wood fire.
[26] But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. [27] And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Matthew 15 : 26-27
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“Some of them ate it, but others refused.”
For lack of a better alternative, this is the third time 61-year-old Qanan has prepared a turtle-based meal for her family who were displaced and now live in a tent in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza largest city.
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.Jeremiah 8 : 7
After 18 months of devastating war and an Israeli blockade on aid since March 2, the United Nations has warned of a dire humanitarian situation for the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.
Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid, which the Palestinian militant group denies.
The heads of 12 major aid organisations warned on Thursday that “famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts” of the territory.
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“There are no open crossings and there is nothing in the market,” said Qanan.
[30] But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. [31] And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? [32] They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. [33] For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. [34] The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! [35] But wisdom is justified of all her children. [36] And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. [37] And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, [38] And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.Luke 7 : 30-38
“When I buy two small bags (of vegetables) for 80 shekels ($22), there is no meat,” she added.
Sea turtles are internationally protected as an endangered species, but those caught in Gaza fishermen’s nets are used for food.
Qanan mixes the meat with flour and vinegar to wash it, before rinsing and boiling it in an old metal pot.
– ‘Never expected to eat a turtle’ –
[2] Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. [3] Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Isaiah 55 : 2-3
“We never expected to eat a turtle,” fisherman Abdel Halim Qanan said.
“When the war started, there was a food shortage. There is no food. So (turtle meat) is an alternative for other sources of protein. There is no meat, poultry or vegetables.”
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The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began on October 7, 2023, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Fighting has raged in Gaza since then, pausing only twice — recently during a two-month ceasefire between January 19 and March 17, and in a previous one-week halt in late November 2023.
The World Health Organization’s regional chief Hanan Balkhy said in June that some Gazans were so desperate that they were eating animal food, grass, and drinking sewage water.
Hamas on Thursday accused Israel of using “starvation as a weapon” against Gazans by blocking aid supplies.
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Fisherman Qanan said the turtles were killed in the “halal” method, in accordance with Islamic rites.
And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. Mark 1 : 17
“If there was no famine, we would not eat it and leave it, but we want to compensate for the lack of protein,” he said.
But the masses of the people turn away their ears from hearing the truth and are turned unto fables. The apostle Paul declared, looking down to the last days: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:3. That time has fully come. The multitudes do not want Bible truth, because it interferes with the desires of the sinful, world-loving heart; and Satan supplies the deceptions which they love. GC 594.2
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