Let me say from the beginning that I don’t hate anyone as a general rule. I look for and desire to see the good in every human being as I believe everyone else should do as well. If someone has been influenced by an evil mindset in ideology, then my first reaction is not to commence hating that person but rather to make an attempt to shake that person out of that destructive mindset by using logic and reason, along with a persuasive passion for what is spiritually right and true.However, because this is not always possible regardless of the amount of truth that is placed before certain individuals, and because there are those who will always love the evil inwardly more than righteousness, I believe that there can is righteous-based hatred regarding some humans. I don’t believe in living a life for the sole purpose of hating for any cause as do certain political, religious, and non-religious hate groups. But there are things in this life (including evil devoted people) of whom it's righteous to hate.
God judges hatred along with all motivations of the human heart by His law and not by man’s westernized liberal conceptions. There is a big difference between hating your personal enemy on a personal level for personal reasons, and hating an enemy of God on a spiritual level for spiritual reasons. Examine what the scripture states:
"Do not I hate them, O YHVH, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: They are become mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting." - Psalms 139:21-24. (also see II Chronicles 19:2)
In this segment from the book of Psalms, the psalmist was searching his heart before God in which he was making sure that his godly resistance towards his enemies - in the form of righteous hatred - was in check. In this passage Israel’s enemies are the ones who hates God. For the psalmist, his thought was that if he did not have a "perfect" hatred towards God’s enemies, then his thoughts of not hating God's enemy would be of a wicked way within his heart. From my point of view, the politically-correct secular world could learn volumes from the simple declaration that this psalmist proclaimed and of which the first and second Jewish Temple singers sang the psalm:1
“Do not I hate them, O YHVH that hate thee?” and "I hate them (God's enemies) with a perfect hatred"
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I have heard people say that they may hate the things evil people do but not the person themselves. I agree with that concept in general but not as an overall concept. An individual can sink so much into evil that they become “as one” with their wickedness. There is a place in the realms of evil where a person has sold out "soul" lock, stock and barrel in effect crossing the point of no return where their whole lives can only be devoted as an enemy against God. Such was the case with Pharaoh during the time of the Exodus whose heart become more hardened after each manifestation of the ten plagues of Egypt.
To bring this reality into modern times, I do not and cannot love any part of Adolph Hitler including his very soul. I not only hate the things that he did on earth but I also hate him spiritually as God's enemy as well. How about you? Are you a hater of Hitler's very soul?
Fact: There is no separation between Hitler's soul and his Holocaust deeds that he did on earth both now and forever.
Hitler made a choice to become the image of evil rather than expressing the image of God he was made in. I don’t believe God loves him but rather hates him insomuch that Hitler’s soul (and not just the things he did) is in a place of the eternally damned where he will be forever separated from the God of mercy, justice, and righteousness. So in trying to be like minded with God’s thinking towards Hitler, I hate the expressed devil that Hitler was and forever shall be known. I not only believe that it's a righteous act to hate Hitler, but in fact it would be evil of me or anyone else not to do so as the above Psalm of David plainly points out. Furthermore, the so-called do-gooders who actually love Hitler are the ones most likely to support him and his deeds.
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Hitler is not the only ambassador of evil to walk around in human form. I feel the same way with the likes of other such devils as Yassier Arafat, Louis Farrakhan, David Duke, and now Jimmy Carter who has devoted the rest of his evil life to the cause of Israel's murderous enemy. These men are not simply misguided fools that are followers of evil (a place where true repentance and the turning away from evil are still available to such a person) but they are in fact actual leaders and forgoers of evil for the sole purpose of leading others in their evil!
Since false prophets don’t repent, (no false prophet in the Bible ever did) I have no desire to pray for these men and others like them for a change of their evil ways. Rather, I choose to pray according to God’s promise to them which is for their destruction as God sees fit according to their relentless evil and unrepentant deeds upon this earth.
"And He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slow to repay him who hates Him. He will repay him to his face." - Deuteronomy 7:10 (See also Isaiah 59:18).
Therefore, my Bible-guided prayer is, "May YHVH according to His holy and righteous Torah promise, repay the Arab-Palestinians to their face, along with and all who support them in their terrorist-expressed hatred acts against YHVH's chosen people."
The Palestinians:
There isn't a greater enemy towards the nation of Israel in all the world today than the Palestinians! The Palestinians have taken the title from the German Nazis as "the greatest threat" to the Jewish nation. Mein Kamph gave way to Jihadi - both meaning "my struggles" in both German and Arabic. When Hitler's struggles expired the Islamic struggles picked up the banner. What now is at stake in the conflict between the Jews and the Palestinians that wasn't at stake during Hitler's Final Solution is the possibility of the most evil people in all the earth, worshiping the most evil god (their god Allah), in the most holiest place (Jerusalem and the Temple Mount) in all the world!
The rebirth of Israel as a nation has given rise to Allah (an Arabian deity) wanting to be worshiped by his subjects at the very place designed for the God of Israel to be worshiped (see Psalms 132:13,14). Just the possibility of this scenario alone should show the secularists that there is a God of Israel that holds an everlasting covenant with the Jewish people (see Psalms 105:8-10). For it is impossible to ask for better stage to be set from what we see in the Middle East today to begin an all out "end of the age" showdown between good and evil.
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There has never been of people in modern times besides the Palestinians whose paradigm is terrorism and whose ultimate goal as a people in the world is towards the annihilation of another people based upon their religion and spirituality. What makes this fact all the more significant is that the Palestinians are given the world's support (7.4 billion dollars worth of support recently > http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1207/west.php3) in their terrorist endeavors and annihilation aspirations, and this was after the Palestinians as a people overwhelmingly voted in the party of Hamas to run their government in January 2006!
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There has never been of people in modern times besides the Palestinians whose paradigm is terrorism and whose ultimate goal as a people in the world is towards the annihilation of another people based upon their religion and spirituality. What makes this fact all the more significant is that the Palestinians are given the world's support (7.4 billion dollars worth of support recently > http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1207/west.php3) in their terrorist endeavors and annihilation aspirations, and this was after the Palestinians as a people overwhelmingly voted in the party of Hamas to run their government in January 2006!
World actions of this nature adds a greater significance to the end-time war between good and evil (Ezekiel 38:16-23). Besides the 7.4 billion pledged the to Palestinians, billions of dollars more are added in the form of state of the art weaponry being sold to the enemies of Israel >http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/28/saudi.arms/.
Along with the billions of dollars that the UN is pledging to the Palestinians, the world's plan for tiny Israel becomes very clear! If the nations hadn't taken upon themselves to support Israel's greatest enemies there would not have been a need for Zechariah 12:9 to have been written: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
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To try and understand the depth of the very evil that lies within the Palestinian society, one must look at what they as a society are capable of. The following is a very small and incomplete list as to the kind of things that comes forth from out of the Palestinian people. While viewing this list ask yourself, "Why are the world nations (especially the United States lead by a conservative president) are so desperately seeking to grant these Palestinians (of all people) any kind of a political state?"
Remember, O YHVH , the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
The psalmist is not promoting that idea of killing innocent children for the sake of killing children. That would be what the enemies of the Bible and Israel would have you believe! This is the same mindset that the "Human Rights Watch" tried to sell the world (which the world willfully bought) when they accused Israel of killing 54 children in Qana, Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon-Israeli War. Because of their spiritual state they didn't have the ability nor the will to considered the 4,000 rockets that was shot from civilian locations into Israel to start the war by which was indeed meant to kill as many Israeli citizens including children as possible!
When given over to dark forces the human mind can no longer judge between good and evil. This scripture in the book of Psalms is about God's judgment (of what He will allow to occur) in the form of reaping and sowing. Babylon had "dashed" Jewish babies against stones in their invasion against the Jewish people much like the Palestinians shoot rockets targeting Jewish school children. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6977346.stm The scripture of Psalms 137:7-9 is stating that what the Babylonians did against the Jews would divinely return back to them in the form of the coming Persian Empire. In fact, one could argue that Babylon is still reaping from their deeds of old in today's Iraq!
Likewise, the prophet Ezekiel has declared that Israel's enemies would reap what they have sown at the End of Days (Ezekiel. 35: 5-11). Keep in mind that Psalm 137 is one of the most Zionistic portions of scripture in the entire Bible. In it we find the great love for God's chosen people - the Jews, and for Zion - God's chosen place of worship. But also we find in it a bitter hatred for all those who hate and try to kill God's chosen and possess Zion for their own - kind of like what the Palestinians do.
So why do I hate the Palestinians? Simply put; because God does! Not that every single Palestinian is hated by God, for I know that God loves Palestinians such as Walid Shoebat - a Palestinian who has a deep devoted love for Israel and Israel's covenant with YHVH. But according to the Hebrew scriptures God hates all those who hate His covenant with Israel, which puts the Arab-Palestinians as a people first in line to be hated by God!
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To try and understand the depth of the very evil that lies within the Palestinian society, one must look at what they as a society are capable of. The following is a very small and incomplete list as to the kind of things that comes forth from out of the Palestinian people. While viewing this list ask yourself, "Why are the world nations (especially the United States lead by a conservative president) are so desperately seeking to grant these Palestinians (of all people) any kind of a political state?"
- Among the two great political parties that rule the Palestinians (Al-Fatah in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip) both covenants from both parties call for for an arms struggle and the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel. http://www.iris.org.il/plochart.htm http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/documents/charter.html
- The greatest forms of child abuse in all the world occur among the Palestinians. Children who are barely old enough to speak are taught to Jew-hate with words they don't even understand. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=ZL0C2QvqIlo This gives heed to the saying, "they drink the hatred with their mother's milk"! Just the picture alone (at the top of the article) speaks volumes of the Palestinian society.
- Children TV shows are shown in the name of Shahid (martyrdom). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi-c6lbFGC4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4zgURMOZ6k
- Shahid (martyrdom) for children is glorified of official PA and Hamas television. http://www.pmw.org.il/ASK%20FOR%20DEATH.htm
- An exhibition of glorifying and celebrating suicide / mass murder is displayed with Palestinian gleeful acceptance at Al Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus in September, 2001. http://www.gamla.org.il/english/feature/sbarro.htm This exhibition included many displays of body parts one of which was a bloody set of blue-jean wearing legs with no torso connected, still sitting on a chair. The bombing of Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem in which the exhibition re-enacts hits a little close to home. My wife and I personally eat there three years before this massacre occurred.
- School text books promote anti-Israel and pro shahid-martyrdom. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/patext1.html http://www.edume.org/research/testimonies/2007-05-15.html http://www.pmw.org.il/getresults/political/index.html#i214759
- Women who sends their sons to Jew-murder are given high status in Palestinian society, even to run for a government office. http://www.amitiesquebec-israel.org/texts/mother.htm
- Suicide murderers are glorified all through Palestinian controlled areas, in the form of billboards, street names, names of soccer fields, trading cards, names of hospitals, new babies named after suicide bombers, and children's events, songs, chants, and poems during parades, ect. http://programs.ssrc.org/gsc/gsc_quarterly/newsletter5/content/allen/ http://www.zoa.org/2003/07/palestinian_aut_13.htm Even "Saddam Hussein" whose Scud missiles hitting Tel-Aviv civilian areas brought Palestinian cheers, is honored in the Palestinian city of Jenin> http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53882
- Suicide for the murder of Jews is an accepted norm and is a high form of religious devotion. Outside of martyrdom, there is no guarantee of reaching paradise for oneself and family members. This is one of the reasons candy is passed out in celebration at suicide / murderer's funeral. http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/013234.php
- One Hundred Thousand citizens of the would-be future State of Palestine attended the funeral of Yahya Ayyash (a.k.a. "the Engineer") not to mention the many funerals of other Palestinian terrorist and terrorist spiritual teachers like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin! I wonder how many of these one hundred thousand funeral attendees of Yahya Ayyash would consider themselves Palestinian moderates? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahya_Ayyash Moreover, this Palestinian hero has traffic squares named after him in both Jenin and Jericho with no Palestinian complaints. Imagine that! This issue of glorifying and mass murderer among the Palestinians even became part of "peace" negotiation with such a people. See "article 6" section "h" > http://www.israelmfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israeli+View+on+Palestinian+Security+Commitments.htm?DisplayMode=print
- Palestinians seek to destroy the God of Israel through a revised history of Holocaust and Temple denial, and stand as a barricade between God and His fulfillment of the covenant He has with His chosen people, the Jews. http://www.spme.net/cgi-bin/facultyforum.cgi?ID=1735
Muslim religious fervor has many different facets of Jew-murdering expressions that are fully exposed in the Palestinian society. From passing out candy at shahid funerals to eating flesh and drinking blood of Jewish victims as they did on October 12, 2000 in Ramallah> http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014886.php Yet, the Muslim world has the audacity to vilify Israel as the blood-libel people and state. It is these Palestinians who are on the front lines (even occupying a huge portion of the ancient land of Israel) in the Islamic war against the God of Israel!
The 64,000 dollar question: Does the God of Israel "hate" the Palestinians?
The politically-correct answer would be, "God loves everybody". However, the Bible is never politically correct. The Bible states very clearly that God hated Esau, who like the Palestinians wished to destroy Jacob / Israel.
"I have loved you, saith YHVH. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith YHVH: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated (Hebrew: sanay-ti) Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Malachi 1:2,3
The New Testament correctly applies this scripture of God's hatred of an individual as also to the nation that proceeded from that individual (see Romans 9:12,13). The land that should be considered for a Palestinian state is all contained in the ancient writings of which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about -the Bible. Aside from Mecca, the Palestinian spiritual base is that of Esau's - Mt. Seir in Jordan, which is why the prophecies of Ezekiel against Israel's most vicious enemy is not against the West Bank, for that is Israel's land and not the Palestinians! http://www.danielpipes.org/article/298
Take another look at the list above as to what the Palestinians are capable of and then see if you notice any similarities in the following scripture: "Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end...Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; [sound familiar? > http://inbrief.threatswatch.org/2006/02/palestine-from-the-river-to-th/ ] whereas YHVH was there: Therefore, as I live saith YHVH God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them, when I have judged thee. - Ezekiel 35:5, 10-111
One of the hardest scriptures for most people to understand and one that I personally had an atheist use in trying to discredit the Bible, is Psalms 137:7-9 which reads:Remember, O YHVH , the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
The psalmist is not promoting that idea of killing innocent children for the sake of killing children. That would be what the enemies of the Bible and Israel would have you believe! This is the same mindset that the "Human Rights Watch" tried to sell the world (which the world willfully bought) when they accused Israel of killing 54 children in Qana, Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon-Israeli War. Because of their spiritual state they didn't have the ability nor the will to considered the 4,000 rockets that was shot from civilian locations into Israel to start the war by which was indeed meant to kill as many Israeli citizens including children as possible!
When given over to dark forces the human mind can no longer judge between good and evil. This scripture in the book of Psalms is about God's judgment (of what He will allow to occur) in the form of reaping and sowing. Babylon had "dashed" Jewish babies against stones in their invasion against the Jewish people much like the Palestinians shoot rockets targeting Jewish school children. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6977346.stm The scripture of Psalms 137:7-9 is stating that what the Babylonians did against the Jews would divinely return back to them in the form of the coming Persian Empire. In fact, one could argue that Babylon is still reaping from their deeds of old in today's Iraq!
Likewise, the prophet Ezekiel has declared that Israel's enemies would reap what they have sown at the End of Days (Ezekiel. 35: 5-11). Keep in mind that Psalm 137 is one of the most Zionistic portions of scripture in the entire Bible. In it we find the great love for God's chosen people - the Jews, and for Zion - God's chosen place of worship. But also we find in it a bitter hatred for all those who hate and try to kill God's chosen and possess Zion for their own - kind of like what the Palestinians do.
So why do I hate the Palestinians? Simply put; because God does! Not that every single Palestinian is hated by God, for I know that God loves Palestinians such as Walid Shoebat - a Palestinian who has a deep devoted love for Israel and Israel's covenant with YHVH. But according to the Hebrew scriptures God hates all those who hate His covenant with Israel, which puts the Arab-Palestinians as a people first in line to be hated by God!
As God commanded Israel to hate Amalek that his name be blotted out from under heaven for his deeds in using cowardly acts against Israel in possessing her land of inheritance (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) the modern Amaleks of today should be hated for their cowardly terrorist attacks on Jewish civilians who claim their land of inheritance as well. May Arafat's name and the names of those who support his goal be blotted out from under heaven! Amen? Amen!
"The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity." - Psalms 5:5
"YHVH tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence [terrorist Palestinians] His soul hates." - Pslams 11:5
Do not I hate them, O YHVH, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalms 139: 21-24
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Notes:
1. Psalms chapters 107-150 (the fifth section of the Pslams in the Hebrew Bible) are mostly liturgical psalms for pilgrimages to the temple and festivals.
"The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity." - Psalms 5:5
"YHVH tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence [terrorist Palestinians] His soul hates." - Pslams 11:5
Do not I hate them, O YHVH, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalms 139: 21-24
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Notes:
1. Psalms chapters 107-150 (the fifth section of the Pslams in the Hebrew Bible) are mostly liturgical psalms for pilgrimages to the temple and festivals.
3,878 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 3001 – 3200 of 3878 Newer› Newest»the article continues
"While any civilian casualties in war are regrettable, many deaths can be attributed to the tactics of Hamas and other militant groups when they use civilians as human shields, fire rockets from schools and hospitals, hide weapons in apartment buildings, take cover in civilian homes, and force civilians to stand on rooftops of buildings the IDF has warned it might attack. Despite this, Israel’s civilian-to-combatant death ratio is approximately 1:1, lower than the United Nations average estimate for such conflicts around the world, which is 3:1, three civilians killed for every one combatant.
Palestinian Authority and Hamas Oppress Their People
In addition, Arfuso’s statement about the shirts worn by soldiers is misleading, as it suggests the IDF manufactured and widely distributed them. It did neither. In fact, the IDF publicly condemned the vulgar apparel and took disciplinary actions against the few soldiers who wore the shirts.
Meanwhile, Arfuso’s post conveniently left out the fact that Hamas and Palestinian Authority state media, mosques, summer camps, and textbooks often deny the Holocaust, glorify Hitler, preach and inspire violence against Jews, and characterize them as “apes and pigs.” The glorification of violence, mocking of Israeli suffering, and antisemitism are why so many foreign governments and international organizations have cut off aid to Palestinians until they reform their institutions.
Arfuso also wrote, “When people say #freepalestine, it doesn’t mean that scary Muslims will run into Tel Aviv and ruin the fun dance parties on the beach. … What Palestinians are asking for somebody else’s army to no longer be their government. A government which they hold no right to vote, a government which suffocates them socially, economically, and of course physically.”
This claim fails to take into account the complex geopolitical reality in Israel proper and the disputed territories. Nor does it distinguish between Palestinian Arabs and Arab-Israelis.
Arab-Israelis make up 20 percent of Israel’s population and have the same legal rights as Jewish-Israelis. Not only do they vote in elections, but Israel has never practiced racial segregation. It is the only real democracy in the Middle East, in which Arabs sit in the country’s Parliament and on its Supreme Court.
More than 22 percent of the student body of the Technion, Israel’s version of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are Arab students. Israel also has progressive laws about free speech, equality of the sexes, and LGBT rights. Arabs and Jews not only party together on Tel-Aviv beaches, they work alongside one another as professors, lawyers, doctors, politicians, and scientists, riding the same buses, living in the same apartment buildings, and eating at the same restaurants.
Palestinian Arabs, on the other hand, are generally considered to be those living in the territories. The overwhelming majority live under self-rule of either the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, or Hamas in Gaza. They are not governed by the Israeli government, as Arfuso facetiously insists. Gaza citizens have no voting rights, while the Palestinian Authority hasn’t held elections in the West Bank in 15 years.
A 2018 report by Human Rights Watch detailed the Palestinian Authority and Hamas’ troubling arbitrary arrests and torture of their own people. Arfuso’s claim that Palestinians do not vote and are suffocated “socially, economically, and of course physically,” is correct, but it is at the hands of their own leaders.
Pro-Israel Jews Are Not ‘Fake’ Jews
Perhaps the most outrageous of Arfuso’s assertions was that “the United States (fake Christians in the mid west) and Israel (fake Jewish ppl in the Israeli government) created Hamas SIMPLY for all of you geniuses to believe that hamas is the reasons for the decades worth of occupation, oppression, ethnic cleansing, and MURDER.”
& lastly says
"More than half the world’s Jews live in Israel. To call any of them “fake” is an antisemitic smear meant to deny Jewish nationhood and their more than 3,500 years of attachment to the land. The subtle implication of this claim is that one can be Jewish only if one is anti-Israel. Since 95 percent of American Jews support Israel, by Arfuso’s logic, they are all “fake” Jews.
The conspiracy theory that the United States and Israel created Hamas is also verifiably and laughably false. Hamas was founded during the First Intifada in 1987 by members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as an alternative to the secular Palestinian Liberation Organization. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by multiple countries and international bodies, including the United States, Canada, and the European Union. Its leaders have encouraged Palestinians abroad to slaughter Jews wherever they may appear.
Hamas Wants to See Israel Destroyed
Finally, Arfuso articulated the blatant falsehood that “for years, the Palestinians have recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace/security and only ask for their independence.” In Gaza, Hamas not only doesn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist, but openly calls for its destruction, as well as the annihilation of world Jewry. This call is espoused in its charter, and Hamas officials frequently echo it in public declarations.
In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority has a long history of rejecting peace initiatives and refusing to participate in peace negotiations. In 2000, the Palestinians rejected the Bill Clinton parameters at Camp David, which would have provided full statehood, including all of Gaza, 97 percent of the West Bank, and a capital in Jerusalem.
In 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas even more concessions than were offered at Camp David, yet Abbas never responded. In 2009, President Barack Obama persuaded Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu to commit to a 10-month settlement freeze, but Abbas refused to return to the negotiating table.
In 2014, Abbas once again rejected the Obama-Kerry framework, as the Palestinian leader reportedly told Obama he would never recognize a “Jewish State,” abandon the “right of return,” or commit to “end of conflict.” All of this has led international observers to believe the Palestinians wish to control all of the land, “from the river to the sea,” instead of forging a peace deal and allowing a Jewish state and a Palestinian state to thrive alongside one another.
In perpetuating baseless lies about Israel, Arfuso simply foments animosity and division, and plants a dangerous ideology in the minds of those who know little about the nuanced realities of the conflict. Most certainly, his perversions do nothing to advance the cause of racial justice in America.
Peace can never be achieved between two parties if the goal of one party is the elimination of the other. Peace is about compromise, acceptance, and coexisting, as Arabs and Jews do in Israel."
From the website standwithus.com an article is titled
"Anti-Israel Extremists Exploit the Horrific Killing of George Floyd to Spread Hate"
On June 3, 2020 the article says
Photo: Lisa Daftari/Twitter
(Los Angeles, CA -- June 3rd) -- StandWithUs condemns anti-Israel and antisemitic extremists for using the horrific killing of George Floyd to fan the flames of hate. As we mourn his devastating death at the hands of a (now former) police officer and call for justice, we must also stand against those who exploit this moment to spread antisemitism.
"We have seen rioters vandalize synagogues and anti-Israel groups use social media to scapegoat Jews and Israel for cases of police brutality in the U.S.," said Carly Gammill, Director of the StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism. "Extremists who engage in bigotry and violence undermine the vast majority of peaceful protesters and concerned citizens who are speaking out against racism and advocating for justice. Moreover, those who exploit this tragedy to promote antisemitic or anti-Israel political agendas are enemies of progress. This is a time for unity, not hatred and division."
Some hateful rioters seeking to hijack the mass protests have targeted Jewish communities, even as Jewish leaders expressed solidarity with the Black community's calls for justice. In Los Angeles alone, five synagogues and three Jewish schools were vandalized, as antisemitic slurs were shouted by people driving past. Jewish businesses on La Brea Avenue were trashed. A home-based synagogue in Montreal was vandalized, its Torah scrolls cut up, prayer shawls and tefillin thrown into a toilet, and graffiti painted on the walls.
Additionally, anti-Israel groups have been falsely blaming Israel and American Jewish organizations for cases of police brutality against people of color in the U.S.
This so-called “Deadly Exchange” campaign is based on misleading rhetoric and outright lies about US-Israel police exchanges. In reality, these programs focus on preventing terrorism and saving lives, rather than other aspects of policing. In scapegoating the only Jewish state, anti-Israel groups also conveniently ignore the fact that U.S. police have exchange programs with countries all over the world.
The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and Georgia Council on American Indian Concerns expressed support for U.S.-Israel exchanges and rejected the claims made by anti-Israel activists. Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed also rejected them, telling reporters, “there was a demand that I stop allowing the Atlanta Police Department to train with the Israeli Police Department. I’m not going to do that. I happen to believe that the Israeli Police Department has some of the best counter-terrorism techniques in the world, and it benefits our police department from that long-standing relationship.” This training is crucial because law enforcement and first responders have an irreplaceable role in keeping people safe, especially in an era of mass shootings by white supremacists and other extremists.
Furthermore, falsely blaming Jews for societal injustices is classic antisemitism, which has historically led to violence against Jewish communities. In fact, there is evidence that the antisemitic conspiracy theory promoted by Deadly Exchange helped influence the shooter who murdered Jews in a New Jersey deli in December, 2019.
It is clear that the killing of George Floyd, following the shootings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, has once again ripped open deep wounds in America, particularly for the Black community. We must come together and drown out those who shamelessly exploit this pain to divide people and spread more hate."
From the website dailybruin.com an article is titled
"Submission: Jews not to blame for Palestinian displacement"
By Inbar Goren and Tali Moore the article says:
May 26, 2016 12:11 am
"It is said that most lies are “lies of omission.” This is when someone simply fails to mention critical facts about a particular situation, purposely misleading the reader to the wrong conclusion. The opinion submission “Palestinian ethnic cleansing from Israel is ongoing, must be stopped” that appeared in the Daily Bruin on May 16 certainly has more than its fair share of omissions. However, the piece is unique in the audacity with which it misrepresents the truth, venturing into the more blatant form of lying in which boldfaced fabrications about complex historical events are presented as undisputed fact.
The authors of the article tell us that the Palestinians were forcibly “driven from their homes during Israel’s 1947-1949 campaign of ethnic cleansing.” The serious charge of ethnic cleansing against Israel – a term used to characterize genocides in Rwanda and Armenia, mass atrocities in Congo and the Holocaust – is not just baseless. It is hateful and discriminatory, leveled in our university’s primary public forum, the Daily Bruin, to demonize Israel – and create a hostile environment for pro-Israel and Jewish students. It takes all meaning out of the term “ethnic cleansing,” disrespecting those communities who bear this awful legacy.
Shame on the authors for introducing this divisiveness, ignorance and hate to our campus. The editors of the Daily Bruin should have known better than to print offensive and ultimately false accusations without doing their due diligence beforehand.
The whole truth is that an estimated 726,000 Arabs fled their homes during Israel’s War of Independence. That war was instigated not by the Jews but by the Arabs, who rejected the United Nations’ plan partitioning the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Israel accepted that plan, but the Arabs chose war.
The vast majority of Arabs left their villages out of their own free will to avoid being caught in the crossfire of war. They were encouraged to do so by their leaders, who told the Arab public that they would soon remove the Jewish population by force and after which they could return to their homes.
“This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades,” declared Arab League Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha. “It does not matter how many (Jews) there are. We will sweep them into the sea.”
In the years that followed Israel’s establishment, more than an equal number of Jews were expelled from Arab countries. More than 850,000 Jews lived in Arab countries at the time of Israel’s establishment. These were ancient Jewish communities that had lived on their land for thousands of years. Less than 4,500 Jews live in the Arab world today.
Thriving Jewish communities that had existed since antiquity were destroyed overnight. Arab leaders murdered Jewish leaders, expelled Jewish communities, and stole Jewish property. About 100,000 square kilometers of land owned by Jews in Arab countries were confiscated by Arab leaders. This amounts to five times the size of the state of Israel.
Yet, there was a critical difference in how these two groups of refugees were treated. Israel integrated the Jews kicked out of Arab countries, making them an integral part of the country’s social fabric and future success.
No Arab country, with the exception of Jordan, has provided the opportunity for Palestinian refugees to earn citizenship. Throughout the Arab world, severe restrictions continue to be imposed on Palestinians. For instance, in Lebanon, Palestinians are not allowed to own land or enter certain professions, like medicine and law."
From the website timesofisrael.com an article is titled
"Retired NBA great Charles Barkley calls out Black celebrities for anti-Semitism" the article dated July 19, 2020 says
‘Y’all want racial equality. We all do. I don’t understand how insulting another group helps our cause,’ he says after several athletes, stars post anti-Jewish conspiracy theories
By MARCY OSTER
Today, 1:16 am 1
Charles Barkley poses for photographs with a sculpture honoring him at the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball training facility in Camden, N.J., Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
JTA — Former NBA star and current analyst Charles Barkley has become the latest sports star to speak out against anti-Semitism among Black celebrities.
“Listen, DeSean Jackson, Stephen Jackson, Nick Cannon, Ice Cube,” Barkley said in a video tweeted out by NBA on TNT, where he serves as a studio analyst during pre-game and halftime shows.
“Man, what the hell are y’all doing? Y’all want racial equality. We all do. I don’t understand how insulting another group helps our cause. And the only person who called y’all on it was Kareem,” he said.
Barkley was referring to retired NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who decried anti-Semitism in an essay last week. He went on:
We can’t allow Black people to be prejudiced also, especially if we’re asking for white folks to respect us, give us economic opportunity, and things like that.
I’m so disappointed in these men but I don’t understand how you beat hatred with more hatred. That stuff should never come up in your vocabulary, and it should never come up in your heart.
I don’t understand it. I’m never gonna accept it, and I’m asking you guys, I’m begging you guys, man, you guys are famous, you’ve got a platform. We’ve gotta do better, man. I want allies. I don’t want to alienate anybody and to take shots at the Jewish race, the white race — I just don’t like it ’cause it’s not right.
And I had to call them on it ’cause it’s really — it’s really been on my heart.
Most of the people Barkley called out have apologized for their comments. NFL star DeSean Jackson apologized earlier this month after posting anti-Semitic quotes attributed to Adolf Hitler and Louis Farrakhan. Former NBA player-turned-podcaster and Black Lives Matter activist Stephen Jackson defended DeSean Jackson before walking back his own anti-Semitic tweets.
And actor and television host Cannon offered his “most deepest and sincere apologies” to the Jewish community for the “hurtful and divisive words” he used in an episode of his podcast.
Rapper Ice Cube, on the other hand, has doubled down on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories after tweeted out an anti-Semitic mural last month."
God Bless Charles Barkley & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for speaking out
Anyone Remember the episode of "Law & Order" titled "Blood Libel" which first aired on
January 3, 1996, this episode showed the ugly nature of Jew Hatred & Anti-Semitism in the Public School System in America & New York City , From the website Imdb.com it says
Blood Libel
TV-14 | 1h | Crime, Drama, Mystery | Episode aired 3 January 1996
Season 6 | Episode 9
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Blood Libel Poster
An anti-Semitic teen is accused of killing a Jewish teacher. His defense attorney argues that the accused is really the victim of a Jewish conspiracy.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writers: Dick Wolf (created by), I.C. Rapoport (teleplay by) | 2 more credits »
Stars: Jerry Orbach, Benjamin Bratt, S. Epatha Merkerson | See full cast & crew »
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Title: Blood Libel (03 Jan 1996)
Blood Libel (03 Jan 1996) on IMDb 7,4/10
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Cast
Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach Jerry Orbach ... Detective Lennie Briscoe
Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt ... Detective Rey Curtis
S. Epatha Merkerson S. Epatha Merkerson ... Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston Sam Waterston ... E.A.D.A. Jack McCoy
Jill Hennessy Jill Hennessy ... A.D.A. Claire Kincaid
Steven Hill Steven Hill ... D.A. Adam Schiff
Chris Cooper Chris Cooper ... Roy Payne
Jeanne Ruskin Jeanne Ruskin ... Alice Marsdale
Jackey Vinson Jackey Vinson ... Matt Hastings (as Jack Vinson)
Lee Wilkof Lee Wilkof ... Dr. Alvin Sabloff
Mark Zeisler Mark Zeisler ... Richard Kovax
Zach Grenier Zach Grenier ... Mr. Aronson
Santiago Douglas Santiago Douglas ... Eddie Camarillo
Mike Mearian Mike Mearian ... Judge Horace Busey
Liz Larsen Liz Larsen ... Lana Halstead
See full cast »
View production, box office, & company info
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Storyline
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of Sarah Aronson, a high school art teacher who is found dead after hours in her classroom with the school locked and the alarm system on. The police initially focus on one of her colleagues, math teacher Richard Kovaks, after they learn Sarah had become aware Kovaks was selling higher grades to some of his students. When he has an alibi for her time of death they focus on four students who put a cryptic anti-Semitic slur in the high school yearbook. Student Matt Hastings is charged with murder and hires Roy Pane to defend him. Pane has defended white supremacists in the past and his defense is that there is a Jewish conspiracy to frame his client. Written by garykmcd
From the website , tvtropes.org it says about the Law & Order episode "Blood Libel"
"Recap / Law And Order S 6 E 9 Blood Libel" and it says:
Recap
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Late at night, a custodian named Johnny Cobb sits in a room full of machinery at a high school. He is talking on the phone to a friend, Jackie, and discussing romantic plans. Cobb gets another call and takes it. This second call is a Mr. Aronson, who, after confirming that Cobb is about to leave, asks if his wife is still around the building. Cobb says that he doubts it but he will check before he leaves. He goes to Sarah Aronson's room, an art studio, and enters through an unlocked door, but when he turns on the lights, he finds her dead on the floor.
A uniformed officer tells Curtis that Cobb found the body at about 9:30. No one else was in the building, and the alarm was set. Cobb tells Briscoe that he saw Aronson alive at 7:00. Briscoe asks if Cobb checked on Aronson the first time that her husband called; he says that he walked by the classroom and saw that the lights were off, so he assumed she'd left. He went in the second time because he noticed that the door was unlocked, but Aronson always locked up when she left. He confirms that Aronson often works late, and sighs that it's unfortunate that such a good person as Aronson was killed. Briscoe says thanks Cobb and gives him a pat on the back as the officer takes him away from the crime scene. Curtis coughs, and Briscoe says that he thought Curtis would call in sick.
"Can't afford to give up the sick days before Christmas."
"Okay, so when I get your cold, is your wife going to make me chicken soup?"
—Reynaldo Curtis and Lennie Briscoe
Briscoe takes Curtis into the art room and tells him Aronson's name, that she was twenty-eight, and that she taught art and art history. He adds that CSU Technician Bailey placed the time of death as two hours previous, about 7:30. Bailey says that Aronson was strangled with her handbag strap, and no money or valuables were stolen. Curtis wonders if it was a sexual assault, but Bailey says no. Bailey notes that Sarah is bloody but has no visible wounds, so the blood must have come from the attacker. Curtis asks if Aronson had a weapon.
"Yeah, we found a piece of chalk."
—Lennie Briscoe
He tells Bailey to bag Aronson's body, and he and Curtis walk away a few steps. He asks Curtis if he took art in high school; he says he took physics.
"An art teacher, who'd she ever hurt?"
"Yeah, an algebra teacher I could understand."
—Reynaldo Curtis and Lennie Briscoe
The next day, the detectives talk with the principal of Aronson's school, Dr. Alvin Sabloff. Sabloff says that Aronson taught at the school (called Advanced Studies) for three years and was very active regarding clubs and sports teams. He thinks that a criminal from the neighborhood broke in and killed her; there were break-ins the previous year during which equipment was stolen and rooms were vandalized. Curtis notes that nothing was stolen or vandalized, and Briscoe says that there's no sign of a break-in. Sabloff doubts that anyone at the school would kill Aronson. Briscoe says there surely must be some problem students, but Sabloff responds that all students at the school are recruited from the best and brightest in the city, so they don't let in bad people. Curtis points out that the building alarm didn't go off, so whoever killed Aronson must have turned it off before leaving. He asks who has a key to the alarm, and Sabloff responds that the faculty and some staff members have one, but he insists that the police are looking in the wrong direction if they suspect a staff member of murdering Aronson. He points out that Aronson herself had a key, so whoever killed her could have used that to escape."
The tvtropes.org entry for "Blood Libel" continues :
Mr. Aronson tells the detectives that Aronson told him that she was having dinner with Lana Halstead, another teacher. She was supposed to return home by 9; when she didn't, he called Cobb. He asks when he can recover the body, as the Aronsons are Jewish and he wants to arrange the funeral before the Sabbath. Briscoe says that they'll tell the coroner to hurry. Curtis asks why Mr. Aronson called the school if he thought his wife was eating with a friend. Mr. Aronson replies that he called Halstead first, but Halstead told him that his wife never showed up and guessed that she was grading at Advanced Studies. Curtis asks if Mr. Aronson thought his wife was having an affair. He rejects the possibility that she was doing this, but does say that they'd been getting a lot of hang-up calls in the past two weeks.
"Once a man called, asked for Sarah, and they wouldn't leave a message."
—Mr. Aronson
Mrs. Aronson laughed off the calls, and Mr. Aronson can't think of who made them.
As they walk through a park, Halstead tells the detectives that she was supposed to eat dinner with Aronson and isn't covering for her. Briscoe tells her that lying won't help Aronson, but she insists that she is telling the truth.
"Sarah was not the type to have an affair."
"My experience is, it's an equal-opportunity character flaw."
—Lana Halstead and Lennie Briscoe
Halstead says she'd have known if Aronson was cheating on her husband. Curtis brings up the phone calls and mentions that one of them was from a man, which stuns Halstead to the point where she stops walking and sits on a bench. Halstead finally says that Aronson was having issues with the Advanced Math teacher, Richard Kovax. Kovax, according to Halstead, mentored Aronson during her first year, and while she held no romantic feelings for him, he hoped they were closer than just friends. Kovax has been with the school for eighteen years and is involved with all of their important fundraising opportunities, so, says Halstead, he's become arrogant.
Kovax tells the detectives that he got along with Aronson and that she had no problems with him. Curtis asks why she talked about him with Halstead, so Kovax says that he doesn't know.
"I may not be God's gift to women, but I'm not surprised I'm a topic among the female staff here."
"Well, we got the impression that your animal magnetism wasn't on the agenda."
—Richard Kovax and Lennie Briscoe
& continues
"Kovax says that Aronson was smart, exciting, and a great artist, so he paid attention to her. He begins to say that Aronson may have mistaken that for something deeper, but Curtis interjects to say that she might have found it sinister, and demands to know if Kovax called her at home. He cautions him not to lie, since the police can just look it up. Kovax says that he may have called her during the previous week to discuss the outreach program. Curtis asks for an alibi, and Kovax says that he was at the gym, warming up for a session with his personal trainer. He remained there, he says, until 10.
The trainer says that Kovax has a regular appointment from 8 to 10. She arrived at 7 and went to the whirlpool to work on her knee. She saw Kovax at 7:50. She didn't notice any defensive wounds on him, but he usually wears a sweatshirt when he works out anyway so that people don't see a scar on his chest from a bypass surgery. Asked about his mood, she says that he's been in a bad mood for the past few weeks, including the previous night. The trainer thinks that his girlfriend dumped him; Kovax used to come in with her, but she switched her time slot right before Kovax became grumpy. Curtis notes that this is when Aronson started receiving the hang-up phone calls. He asks for the girlfriend's number.
At Architectural Maneuvers, Kovax's ex-girlfriend says that she knew Kovax would get in trouble, but didn't think that it would come so quickly. Briscoe asks what would get him in trouble, and she says that he was dating one of his students.
"So, what happened? Did he run off with her to Vegas?"
—Kovax's girlfriend
Briscoe asks if she really means it, and the girlfriend says that, when she was at his house a few weeks prior, he went outside for a moment and someone left him a message. The message came from a young girl, Mattie, and it was an apology for getting Kovax in trouble. Mattie had tried to keep some secret of his, the message claimed, but hadn't been able to thanks to Sarah Aronson. Kovax told his girlfriend that she was jumping to conclusions, but she didn't believe him and left him.
"I know I didn't phone my high school teachers at home on Sunday mornings."
—Kovax's girlfriend
& continues
"At the precinct, Curtis thinks that the girlfriend is right, but Briscoe, on hold on the phone, says that women often suspect adultery or cheating for no good reason. He also notes that they don't know Mattie's actual age. Van Buren comes in with the analysis of the blood found at the scene.
"The perp's male, most likely Caucasian."
"So far that's me."
—Anita Van Buren and Lennie Briscoe
The blood also indicates a predisposition to diabetes. Curtis says that, if Kovax had a bypass, he might have also had diabetes. Briscoe gets taken off hold and is given some information — a Mattie Braverman is a student in Kovax's class. He also gets her address. Curtis says that Kovax could only have gotten in one kind of trouble with a sixteen-year old girl, but Briscoe is still skeptical and wants to ask Kovax what happened. Van Buren vetoes this, telling them to ask Braverman first in case they're wrong. Briscoe says that Van Buren would be better at asking a young girl about her love-life, and she takes the paper with Braverman's address.
Van Buren leads Braverman into a conference room at the precinct, saying that it shouldn't take long. Braverman says that she's willing to look at photos, but she didn't see anyone odd at the school on the day that Aronson was killed. Van Buren says that Braverman isn't there to look at photos. She asks about Braverman's relationship with Kovax. Braverman pretends that Kovax is just a teacher of hers, and when Van Buren reveals that she knows about the message Braverman left him, Braverman denies even knowing Kovax's number. Van Buren threatens to look at her phone records, and then threatens her directly if she doesn't tell the truth. Braverman is silent, so Van Buren says she needs to get Braverman's mother.
"This is a murder investigation, and you're a material witness. The less you cooperate, the worse it gets."
—Anita Van Buren
Braverman stops Van Buren and begs her not to get her mother involved. She reveals that Aronson, her advisor, had called her in a few weeks ago to talk. Aronson had noticed that she (Braverman) was getting A's in Advanced Math, Kovax's class, but Aronson knew that Braverman wasn't that good at math and had gotten C's and worse the previous year. Aronson had thought that Braverman was sleeping with Kovax for better grades, and had threatened to go to the administration about it. Braverman hadn't been sleeping with Kovax, but had been paying him off for better grades, and confessed this to Aronson so she wouldn't tell the administration that she was sleeping with him.
"Excuse me?"
"I was giving him $300 a semester. I had to, to bring up my GPA. Or forget about Vassar!"
—Mattie Braverman
& continues
"Van Buren looks at her disapprovingly, so Braverman says she can name a half-dozen other students who are also paying off Kovax. Braverman finishes by saying that Aronson told her that she'd confront Kovax.
In interrogation, Kovax says that he's won teaching awards, so his students are getting good grades because he's a great teacher, not because he's selling them. Briscoe says that they don't believe him; Braverman's friends back up her story. Curtis calculates that Kovax makes over $4000 a year just off of Braverman and the half-dozen she knows of. Kovax wants to invoke his right to an attorney.
"You say the word, we'll let you make the call. Right after we book you for bribe-receiving. And murder."
—Reynaldo Curtis
Kovax says that he didn't kill Aronson, and that Sabloff saw him leave the school an hour before Aronson died. Curtis points out that Kovax could have returned later. Briscoe says that Kovax's blood is all over the classroom, and wonders if Aronson fought back while he strangled her. Kovax says that his blood can't be at the crime scene because his blood type is O-Negative.
"Thanks for the cooperation, Richard. It's my duty to inform you that your blood type matches the type found at the scene."
—Lennie Briscoe
The detectives go to arrest Kovax, but Kovax stops them, offering to explain. He admits that Aronson told him that she knew what he was doing. He says that he told her he would stop, and did so, telling his students that he would no longer accept their money. However, he also told them that it was Aronson that was making him stop. He continues, saying that, a few days ago, Aronson told him that she was getting anonymous threats.
"She wanted to know who was responsible. I told her I didn't know. I teach seven classes, it could have been any one of thirty kids."
—Richard Kovax
He swears that he didn't kill Aronson. Curtis then lets him know that they just tricked him.
"Well, we believe you, Mr. Kovax. Turns out we got everything mixed up. Your blood type doesn't match after all."
—Reynaldo Curtis
Sabloff shows the detectives Aronson's locker, where she kept spare clothes. They break the lock and find an envelope with threats.
"Open your big mouth, Jew bitch, and you'll die."
"Hitler was right. Burn with the rest of the mud people."
—Notes
& continues
"The third note is an image of a man with a swastika tattoo beheading a kneeling, pleading woman.
The detectives have an art expert from the Met compare the third note to drawings made by Aronson's students, to see if he can determine who drew the note. He says that her students are very strong in technique but are corrupted by their heavy metal music into drawing evil things. The expert determines that the note was drawn in one continuous line in the freehand calligraphy style, and was definitely inspired by Japanese sumi-e painting. He finds a drawing on one of the walls in Aronson's studio with a very similar style to the note, down to the particular way the folds in each figure are drawn. The one on the wall bears the name Edward Camarillo.
In interrogation, Camarillo is defiant.
"Yeah, I drew an angel for a school project. Is that some kind of violation of church and state?"
—Edward Camarillo
Camarillo is a white boy of Spanish heritage. The detectives get angry at his attitude. He says that someone must have copied him when they made the note, and denies drawing it. He also denies harassing Aronson, but Briscoe says that Kovax confessed that he sold grades to Camarillo. Camarillo says that Kovax is lying and that he earned his grades in math.
"Oh yeah? how 'bout a little pop quiz, Eddie? Let's see. You're eighteen. Why don't we add twenty-five to that, 'cause that's the going rate for murder."
—Lennie Briscoe
Camarillo turns to Curtis and says something in Spanish, and Curtis grabs Camarillo, pulls him up by his lapels, and tells him not to mouth off. He threatens that, if the fingerprints on the drawing match Camarillo's, Camarillo will be sent to jail and raped in Sing Sing. Camarillo maintains his ignorance, about both the note and the identity of the murderer. He adds that his dad will verify that he (Edward) was working in the family store that night.
Curtis tells Van Buren that customers at the shoe repair place that Mr. Camarillo owns verified that Edward was there until 8:00 PM the night of the murder. Camarillo's parents, though, were furious when the detectives showed him the drawing he sent Aronson. Curtis says that it's out of character for Camarillo — his mother lent the detectives Camarillo's yearbook, and Camarillo had numerous honors. Briscoe looks at the yearbook and sees the 'favorite quote' from Camarillo — 'LAL.' None of them know what it means, so they look for other people with similar quotes. A Randy Ashton has the quote 'KIL', and Ashton and Camarillo are both on the wrestling team, so they look up the quotes for the remaining wrestling team members. Rick Niels' quote is 'KES,' and the last one, from Matt Hastings, is 'LKI.' Van Buren writes down all the letters, and they try to figure out what they mean.
"A secret code for wrestlers?"
"Maybe we get Vanna White in here."
—Reynaldo Curtis and Lennie Briscoe
& continues
"Van Buren guesses that it's one single message, and Curtis suggests putting the quotes on one line, in the order of the students' names.
"KILL ALL KIKES."
—Randy Ashton, Edward Camarillo, Matt Hastings, and Rick Niels
At wrestling practice, Niels and Ashton (two white boys) say that the quotes were a joke to see if the yearbook editors were paying attention. They deny any knowledge of either the notes or the murders, and leave to shower. Outside, they talk to Hastings, another white boy, who says that the quotes were free speech.
"That doesn't cover death threats, Matt."
—Reynaldo Curtis
Hastings says that he never threatened anyone.
"Oh yeah. 'Kill all kikes.' I guess you meant that in a nice way."
—Lennie Briscoe
Hastings protests that it was a joke, arguing that Ezra Pound and Hemingway made fun of Jewish people. He leaves as well.
In his office, Sabloff is dismayed at his students' actions. Curtis says that Camarillo has an alibi, but the other three are suspects. Sabloff recalls that, about a month ago, he came by the school at night and saw Hastings leaving through the front door. Hastings said that he was working on a science project and had gotten a key for the alarm from another teacher, Ms. Miller. Miller later denied giving him the key. Sabloff had assumed that Miller was lying to avoid being reprimanded for giving a student a key, but now he believes her.
"You took a student's word over hers?"
"Not just any student. Matt Hastings was in the top one percentile. He was class president last year. There was talk of making him valedictorian."
—Lennie Briscoe and Alvin Sabloff
Curtis tells the prosecutors that they tried, and failed, to obtain a search warrant for Hastings' home. Fingerprints were found on the notes, but none of the four students had ever had fingerprints taken, so there was nothing to compare the note fingerprints too. Curtis says that they have blood found at the crime scene, but they can't force Hastings for a sample. McCoy points out that the blood was found to indicate a predisposition to diabetes. Diabetes can be detected in urine, but Curtis says that doesn't help, because they would need a warrant to force Hastings to give them a urine sample. McCoy says that the school can ask the wrestling team to submit to a drug test; the police can then use the urine from the test to see if Hastings has diabetes. Briscoe is surprised that this would be allowed, but Kincaid cites a recent Supreme Court decision allowing the testing of high school athletes without a warrant.
At the school, the police make a note when Hastings' sample is brought in. Sabloff tells a Board of Education lawyer, who is watching the proceedings, that he should be uncomfortable at the proceedings.
"These students have rights."
—Alvin Sabloff
& continues
"The lawyer says that the Board was okay with it.
A forensic technician says that the school had very few drug users; one student tested positive for THC, and one for alcohol.
"We're looking for sugar."
"Sugar? My mother warned me, one day the sugar police would show up."
"Yeah, well, we finally got here. So, did you find any?"
—Reynaldo Curtis, forensic technician, and Lennie Briscoe
The technician explains that, whenever someone tests positive for alcohol, another test is run to see whether the alcohol was produced externally (in liquor, for example) or within the body (as can happen with diabetic people). Hastings' urine has sugars produced internally, indicating that he has diabetes.
In Hastings' home, his father Joe demands to know what's going on, but Briscoe tells him to stay out of it. Hastings is arrested for murder.
In a conference room, Hastings' attorney, Alice Marsdale, says that this is a free speech issue.
"You know, Jack, I half-expected to look out your window and see Tiananmen Square."
—Alice Marsdale
McCoy thinks that this is ridiculous.
"He's a political prisoner?"
—Jack McCoy
McCoy says that William Kunstler would be spinning in his grave (see: White Rabbit (episode)). Marsdale says that Kovax and Camarillo were both viable suspects, asks why McCoy is targeting Hastings, and answers her own question, saying that Hastings expressed viewpoints that McCoy found abhorrent. Kincaid says that Hastings' crime had nothing to do with his opinions, but rather with his action of killing Aronson because she stopped him from getting good grades from Kovax. Hastings says that he could have gotten good grades with Kovax anyway if he just worked harder; he paid him, he says, because he was lazy, not incompetent. Marsdale tells Hastings to be quiet, and they argue briefly, before Joe Hastings interjects that Matt was home with him that night. McCoy doesn't believe him, and instead says that, if Hastings admits that other people were involved, McCoy will ask that he get leniency.
"Did I ask for a handout?"
"You should."
—Alice Marsdale and Claire Kincaid
Kincaid says that Hastings' fingerprints were found on one of the threats that Aronson received. Hastings says that he was just trying to scare Aronson into letting Kovax continue with his grade-selling scheme, so Kincaid continues by saying that his blood was found at the crime scene and that Sabloff told them that he (Hastings) has a key to the school. Hastings says that Miller gave it to him, but McCoy says that Miller disagrees.
"If you're going to kill people, you shouldn't advertise the fact in your yearbook."
—Jack McCoy
& continues
"Marsdale calls the yearbook quotes a dumb prank, and says that McCoy acted worse when he looked at Hastings' urine sample — in fact, she calls it a Fourth Amendment violation. She's moving to suppress the drug test results.
"Trampling on the rights of a minor. How low can you get?"
—Alice Marsdale
In court, Marsdale says that the Supreme Court only allowed warrantless drug tests of high school athletes in order to combat drug use; the purpose was not to identify murder suspects. McCoy says that the search was for illegal drugs and was properly conducted. Marsdale doubts that the police could be looking for drugs but come up with diabetes, so McCoy says that the predisposition for diabetes was in plain view. He explains how sugars indicating alcohol were found in Hastings' urine; further testing, to determine whether the alcohol was imbibed or produced internally, indicated that Hastings' body had produced them. Judge Horace Busey agrees with McCoy, so Marsdale moves to her next argument, that the precedent ruling only allowed random testing, and this test was not random. She cites the affidavit of the technician who administered the test (and who also did the sugar analysis), which indicates that the officers singled out which individual they were interested in. McCoy says that the officers only asked for the number of Hastings' sample when the samples were collected.
"There was no intent to corrupt the testing procedure."
"I don't care about their intent."
—Jack McCoy and Horace Busey
The drug test is suppressed, as is all of the evidence found because of the test (such as the blood match to the crime scene and fingerprints on the notes, as they relied on samples that were only obtained from Hastings because he was arrested based on the drug test), and the case is dismissed.
Schiff gripes about the error.
"These officers. A couple of Chatty Cathys."
—Adam Schiff
McCoy says that the officers were desperate, as the drug test was their only option. Schiff says that they still have the yearbook and the threatening notes, so they can rebuild the case. Kincaid notes that the police found hate literature in Hastings' room, as well as hate music.
"White power music."
"Let me guess: Wagner."
"Yeah, you won't be hearing this at the Met."
—Claire Kincaid and Adam Schiff
& continues
"She reads the lyrics, which are about killing Jewish people. Schiff notes that these things happen in free societies, and asks about Hastings' alibi. McCoy says that his dad is saying that Hastings was home all night, so Schiff tells them to start there.
At her job at a hospital, Mrs. Hastings says that she came home on the night of the murder at about 11, and Joe and Matt were both there. Matt's sister, Carlie, had a sleepover at a friend's house. She is sure that Matt was home, because Joe told her so, plus she trusts Matt.
"[Matt]'s nothing like they say in the papers. Those people think we're all anti-Semites."
—Mrs. Hastings
Kincaid asks who 'those people' are, and Mrs. Hastings just says that Kincaid knows what she means. Kincaid brings up the yearbook, so Mrs. Hastings says that Matt was just trying to get a rise out of people. She says that Matt feels unhappy because he's a minority at Advanced Studies. Kincaid then wants to talk about the hate literature, so Mrs. Hastings says that Matt just reads voraciously.
"He doesn't have a problem with Jews. For God's sake, he was seeing a Jewish girl."
—Mrs. Hastings
The ex-girlfriend, Loren Nadel, tells Kincaid that Matt used to praise Jewish people when he was dating her; he repeatedly talked about how intelligent they were. She initially found it flattering, until she heard that he'd told his friends that he was dating her to improve his own image — he thought that she'd help him become friends with the other Jewish students. This mattered to him because he wanted to become class president and have other positions that would improve his college application. He did get into Princeton with a scholarship, so Nadel thinks that his plan worked. Kincaid asks if they broke up because Nadel was tired of being used, and she says yes. He denied it, she says, and he blamed the other Jewish students for spreading lies about him. She concludes by saying that this was typical for Hastings, in that he never took responsibility for his own actions. Kincaid repeats her question as to whether or not Hastings is an anti-Semite. She says that he is, and that he gets it from his parents.
"Like one time his dad starts asking about this family, the Abramsons. Like all us Jews were supposed to know each other or something. He said that they cheated him out of his printing business and that it was their fault he couldn't afford to send Matt to prep school."
—Loren Nadel
& continues
"Nadel doesn't think that Hastings could have killed Aronson, despite his anti-Semitism. She thinks that it's more Niels' and Ashton's style. As for Camarillo, he just follows Hastings around. The two of them had been friends since freshman year, and used to break into the school on the weekends to lift weights. Kincaid asks how they got past the alarm system, and Nadel says that Camarillo made a key at his dad's store.
In interrogation, McCoy override Camarillo's denials and threatens to charge him as an accomplice to murder. Briscoe adds that this has a twenty-year sentence. McCoy offers leniency in exchange for Hastings. Camarillo says that he can't betray a friend, but Curtis points out that Hastings is a white supremacist and so doesn't respect Camarillo (who is Spanish).
"That's you, Eddie. That's you and me. We're the mud people."
—Reynaldo Curtis
Camarillo says that he has Spanish ancestry, which counts as white to him and Hastings, but Curtis rejects this. He says that, if the white supremacists get their way and get rid of all the other ethnicities, the Spanish will be next. This convinces Camarillo, who says that Aronson recognized his drawing and told him (Camarillo) privately that she'd give them a chance to turn themselves in. Hastings knew that this would cost him his scholarship, so he said he wanted to talk to Aronson. Camarillo thus lent him his key. McCoy authorizes Hastings' re-arrest.
Marsdale enters McCoy's office to complain.
"I'll never doubt the law of averages again. Arrest someone often enough, and sooner or later, it'll stick."
"It had more to do with the law of inevitability."
—Alice Marsdale and Jack McCoy
Kincaid adds that, once Camarillo told the lawyers and police what he knew, all of the other evidence was re-admitted under the 'inevitable discovery' rule. McCoy says he's willing to discuss a plea, but Marsdale says that she's not there to talk about that. Rather, she's informing McCoy of Hastings' new lead council, Roy Payne. Payne enters the room as Marsdale introduces everyone.
"Roy Payne? You recruited a Klan lawyer."
—Jack McCoy
Payne shrugs this off, saying that he only filed some briefs for The Klan but isn't actually a member. He says that he and Marsdale will argue that Hastings is being framed by Jewish conspirators in order to cover up the real murderer, Kovax (who is also Jewish).
"The Jews got together to protect him. And I'll prove it."
—Roy Payne
McCoy says that a judge won't even let him present this case.
Payne argues to Busey that they're within their rights, and furthermore, have an obligation to present an alternate theory to the crime if they have one. McCoy interjects that such a theory must be credible and not a paranoid fantasy. He says that there's no evidence supporting such a claim. In response, Payne says that the lead detective (Briscoe) is Jewish, that a Jewish suspect (Kovax) was dismissed from investigation for no good reason, another Jewish teacher (Halstead) lied to implicate Hastings, and that the forensic technician was also Jewish and let his evidence be contaminated. McCoy says that the only goal of the defense is to confuse the jury. Busey agrees that the case is offensive, but says that the objection is premature. He'll weigh the evidence before it's presented to the jury, to see if Payne can produce an offer of proof."
& continues
"As everyone leaves, Payne catches McCoy and says that everyone is into conspiracy theories, because they help people make sense of an irrational world. McCoy says that the theories are what make the world irrational. He says that Payne has no proof, but Payne responds that he has reasonable doubt.
"You go outside with me right now, we'll ask twelve people on the street what they think about Jews. And all I need's one."
—Roy Payne
At voir direnote , Kincaid asks a Mr. Carson if he's ever used a slur to describe a Jewish person. Carson says that he might have, but never did so to someone's face.
"I respect the Jewish people."
—Mr. Carson
Payne asks Carson if he has Jewish friends. Carson does not, but does have a Jewish landlord. Payne asks a Mr. Baron if he had ever been the victim of a racially-motivated attack. Baron has not. Payne then asks if Baron is Jewish, and McCoy leaps to his feet with an objection. Busey has them go to his chambers.
McCoy tells Busey that a juror can't be excused based on race or religion, so Payne has no business asking the question. Payne says that Hastings has a right to know if Jewish jurors can set aside their bias in this case. The two argue, with Payne continuing to make offensive statements.
"I simply want to put them under heightened scrutiny."
"Mr. Payne simply wants to exclude them. That's unconstitutional, even for preemptory challengesnote ."
"If I find some unbiased Jews, then by all means, they're welcome to stay. Anyway, this issue won't come up very often. Most of them are smart enough to avoid jury duty in the first place."
—Roy Payne and Jack McCoy
Busey tells Payne to be quiet, but then tells McCoy that he has to allow for bias, and that Jewish people could well be predisposed to dislike or disagree with Payne's defense. Payne can inquire as to whether jurors are Jewish.
Later, Kincaid vents to McCoy and Schiff that Payne already won by making the judicial system complicit in Hastings' bigotry. McCoy says that it's Payne's bigotry that was relevant in the argument.
"Only difference between Payne and Hastings is a law degree. Turn back the clock, he'd be drafting the house rules at Auschwitz."
—Jack McCoy
Schiff tells them to stop complaining about Payne's anti-Semitism and to focus on the case. He doesn't want the case becoming an argument over whether Hastings used slurs or not. Kincaid says that Hastings used the word 'kike' and meant it, and she guesses that he called her that word when he killed her. Schiff says that Aronson was destroying his scholarship.
"He would have killed her if her name was McGinty."
—Adam Schiff
& continues
"He orders them to make sure the jury knows that Hastings had motives besides anti-Semitism to attack Aronson.
A forensic technician, Mr. Rosen, testifies that blood at the scene matched Hastings' blood. The odds that the blood came from another person were one in one million people. Payne asks Rosen when the test of the blood at the crime scene was conducted (specifically, whether the test was performed before or after Hastings' arrest). Rosen checks in a binder and finds that the test was conducted after Hastings was arrested. Payne asks who gave Rosen the blood sample from Hastings; according to the binder, it was Briscoe. Rosen also has to admit that Briscoe also had access to the blood samples from the crime scene in the lab. Rosen finally admits that it's possible that Briscoe had access to the blood samples from the crime scene before the test was performed.
As Curtis testifies, Briscoe enters the courtroom and sits in the gallery. Curtis is saying, in response to McCoy's question, that he accompanied Briscoe to the lab to drop off the blood sample. Payne, on cross-examination, then asks if Curtis was with Briscoe the whole time, or if he ever went to the bathroom, made a phone call, or was otherwise distracted. Curtis admits that he called the precinct to report their location, and this took about a minute. Payne reiterates that Curtis was not with Briscoe for that moment. Payne then asks if Curtis was convinced, after Kovax's interrogation, that Kovax was no longer a suspect in the crime. Curtis admits that he was not, and when asked why, says that he had a strong motive and a weak alibi. Payne asks if he and Briscoe talked after Kovax's interrogation, and then began to look for other suspects, and Curtis admits to this.
"So is it fair to say you were overruled by your senior partner?"
"Objection!"
"Withdrawn."
—Roy Payne and Jack McCoy
He then asks if Briscoe is Jewish; Curtis says that he does not know.
Sabloff testifies that Kovax was the go-to person for asking foundations to donate money to the school. Payne asks how much money Kovax raised. When Sabloff won't answer, saying he doesn't know, Payne asks for (and receives) permission to treat Sabloff as hostile note . Payne asks if the school received nearly three million dollars due to Kovax's actions. Payne reiterates that Kovax was a great teacher and fundraiser, and so was a valuable asset to the school. Payne asks if Sabloff told Briscoe this, and Sabloff says that he did. Payne then asks if Briscoe called him to ask about Kovax's whereabouts on the night of the murder. Sabloff remembers this; it was when he told Briscoe that he'd seen Kovax leave at about 6:30.
"And that's when you learned, your top fund-raiser was a murder suspect."
—Roy Payne
Sabloff says that he only learned of this from Briscoe, but Payne accuses him of fabricating the alibi. When Sabloff denies this, Payne says that Sabloff only remembered that Hastings had a key to the school after he learned that Kovax was a suspect. Sabloff contends that he only didn't mention the key earlier because he didn't believe one of his students could be involved in the killing, but Payne has him admit that he changed his mind on this once he saw the yearbook message.
"As a Jew, your passions were so inflamed by that message, you made up a lie to implicate my client, isn't that true?"
—Roy Payne
Sabloff says that this is absurd, but Payne keeps going, saying that Sabloff and Briscoe made up Kovax's alibi. Sabloff denies this.
"Jews don't conspire with each other to protect Jewish criminals. It's ridiculous."
—Alvin Sabloff
& continues
"Payne, beginning to shout, brings up the case of Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish man who was convicted of spying on America for Israel. McCoy objects on the grounds of relevance, but Payne keeps going, steadily getting louder, asking if Sabloff knows of campaigns by American Jewish organizations to free Pollard. McCoy demands that Busey do something, and Busey sustains the objection. Payne ends his questioning. On cross-examination, McCoy asks if Sabloff lied to the police or anyone during the case, and he says no. McCoy asks if Kovax is still raising money, and Sabloff again says no; he was fired as soon as the school found out about him selling grades.
Outside, Briscoe asks McCoy when someone will begin to rebut Payne's allegations about his corruption. McCoy says that he knows it must be annoying, but that other attorneys have questioned Briscoe's integrity. Briscoe says that, after twenty-five years as a police officer, he's used to being accused of planting evidence, but Payne's arguments are a new low.
"What I resent is the implication that anything, besides my badge, dictates the way I do my job."
—Lennie Briscoe
Briscoe wants to testify. McCoy says he won't call him. Briscoe says that it's too late for that, but McCoy won't budge.
"I repeat, Detective: this trial's not about you. I'm sorry."
—Jack McCoy
McCoy and Kincaid turn to leave, but Briscoe stops them by saying that only his mother was Jewish. His father wasn't, and he was raised Catholic.
"But like you say, it's not about me."
—Lennie Briscoe
In court, Hastings says that he was at first fine with most of the other students at his school being Jewish, but that he soon learned that they saw themselves as superior to him. He testifies that he was called a 'goy' as an insult because he was Christian, that the Jewish students acted like they knew more than him, and that they didn't care about his opinion. He adds that the staff were biased against him too; he says that he should have captained the wrestling team, but the spot went to a boy named Stan Shatenstein. Payne asks if Hastings tried to get along with the Jewish students, and he says that he did, even going out with Nadel, but she broke up with him because other Jewish students spread rumors about him.
"See, I don't have a problem with Jews. They have a problem with me."
—Matt Hastings
Payne ends his questioning.
McCoy has Hastings read the message that he and the other wrestlers put in the yearbook.
"Can you explain what you meant when you put that message in your yearbook?"
—Jack McCoy
Hastings protests that it was a joke, and furthermore, it was Niels' and Ashton's idea, and that he just went along with it.
"So you're not to blame, that's what you're saying?"
"Yes."
—Jack McCoy and Matt Hastings
Hastings, when asked about the threats to Aronson, says that they were Aston's idea.
"Also not your fault?"
"That's right."
—Jack McCoy and Matt Hastings
McCoy then asks about the scholarship, asking who gets credit for that. Payne objects and McCoy withdraws. He instead asks what Hastings thought when he learned that Aronson had found out that he'd sent death threats. Hastings testifies that he didn't know. McCoy asks if he worried about losing his scholarship; Hastings again says no. McCoy presses, asking if he'd worried about having to go to a community college. Hastings says that this situation would never happen. McCoy begins quizzing him on where other students are going to college. A Michael Tobis, McCoy says, is going to Brown. Asked about John Pesner, Hastings admits that he knows that Pesner is going to Harvard. He also knows that a Gary Chaikin is going to Yale. McCoy asks if most of the Jewish people in Hastings' class were going to Ivy League schools, and Hastings acknowledges this."
& Continues
""And where did you think you'd be?"
"I don't know."
"Well, you wouldn't be at Princeton, would you?"
—Jack McCoy and Matt Hastings
Hastings says that he didn't think of that, but McCoy keeps going, saying that he couldn't even blame anyone else this time.
"Your fault! You bought grades. You sent death threats."
"No!"
—Jack McCoy and Matt Hastings
Hastings maintains that he's being framed, so McCoy asks who is framing him. Is it, McCoy wonders, the same Jewish people that 'stole' his father's business? Payne objects, but McCoy doesn't wait for a ruling, instead saying that Hastings' stupidity landed him in this trouble. Busey begins to tell McCoy to be quiet, but he won't listen.
"Sarah Aronson doesn't have a damn thing to do with it!"
—Jack McCoy
Hastings cracks.
"No! It was her fault! That kike was going to ruin my life!"
"As in the kikes you joked about killing."
—Matt Hastings
& lastly says
"In the gallery, Mr. Aronson watches. Meanwhile, Hastings still denies killing Aronson, and McCoy ends his cross-examination. Later, Busey finds that the jury is deadlocked, and declares a mistrial. Hastings, thrilled, hugs Marsdale. He then goes to his parents while Marsdale and Payne begin to talk quietly.
Later, McCoy, smiling, says that Marsdale is willing to discuss pleading out the case. It seems that Payne won't be available for the retrial.
"He got his headlines. He's hitting the Klan lecture circuit."
—Jack McCoy
Schiff is amused, and smiles. Kincaid knocks and enters the room. CNN just interviewed a juror; the vote was eleven to convict, one to acquit.
"I wonder which one."
"Well, whichever it is, they blended right in."
—Jack McCoy and Claire Kincaid
Schiff says that it doesn't matter.
"What else is new? Next case."
—Adam Schiff From the "Law & Order" episode titled "Blood Libel"
From the website unitedwithisrael.org an article on July 8, 2020 titled
"250 Billion Barrels: Israel Discovers Oil Deposits Similar to Saudi Arabia" the article says:
“Tens of billions of dollars” are waiting underground, Professor Eugene Kendall recently told the Knesset.
By Aryeh Savir, TPS
"There are about 250 billion barrels of oil in oil shale in Israel, similar to the amount of oil Saudi Arabia has, Professor Eugene Kendall told the Knesset, calling on it to leverage the resources.
“We know where they lie,” Kendall, former head of the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister’s Office, told the Knesset’s Special Committee for Overseeing the Fund for Managing State Revenues from the Tax on Profits from Gas and Oil on Tuesday, and said that a committee that was not authorized to deal with oil decided not to approve even a 20-acre experiment either.
“Tens of billions of dollars lie underground and nobody is doing anything with it,” he added.
Committee head Member of Knesset (MK) Avi Dichter said Kendall’s revelation was “dramatic and has a lot of weight.”
Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen, a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds, from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced.
Oil shale is similar to petroleum and can be refined into many different substances, including diesel fuel, gasoline, and liquid petroleum gas.
Oil shale in Israel is widespread covering approximately 15% of its territory, but is an undeveloped resource, largely because of economic and technological constraints.
According to the Geological Survey of Israel, deposits that could have the biggest economic potential are located in the northern Negev.
Oil shale development in Israel has caused protests among environmental organizations.
However, Dichter said during the committee session that “the economic and state protection problems are no less important than the environmental protection problems.”
From gatestoneinstitute.org an article is titled
"The United Nations' Institutional Racism"
by Judith Bergman
July 19, 2020 at 5:00 am
"There is simply a whopping international double-standard here on what passes as institutional racism and what does not -- and it needs to be acknowledged.
At the very least, people might question whether an organization that has made discrimination against one country in the world one of its operating principles... is worth the exorbitant cost. The United States, for instance, as the organization's single largest donor, in 2018 funded the UN to the tune of $10 billion.
At a minimum, instead of paying a mandatory "slightly less than one-fifth of the body's collective budget" every year, the US -- and the UN -- would fare far better if the US paid for what it wanted and got what it paid for. At present, the UN has long ceased being a force for good and is being used, first, to prop up its majority of un-transparent, unaccountable anti-democratic despots, and second, to perpetuate conflicts -- largely at the US taxpayers' expense.
All those who truly care about the eradication of discrimination and racism should ask themselves why, if racism is unacceptable everywhere else, it should still be a matter of course at the UN.
The systematic discrimination of the United Nations is too obvious to ignore. There is simply a whopping international double-standard here on what passes as institutional racism and what does not -- and it needs to be acknowledged. Pictured: The Secretariat Building at United Nations headquarters in New York. (Image source: UN)
As accusations of "institutional" racism in organizations, professions, universities and cultural institutions continue to make the headlines, no one is calling out the institutional racism of the United Nations (UN).
What is institutional racism? The first entry on Google tells you, "Institutional racism is a form of racism that is embedded as normal practice within society or an organization".
If you google "racism", a Google dictionary defines it as:
"Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized".
The UN counts all the states in the world as its members, and all are ostensibly equal under international law, to which the UN claims to adhere. According to its own rationale, therefore, all the member states in the UN should be treated equally by the organization's various bodies and be judged according to the same standards. If the UN would systematically single out a minority of only one member state to be condemned for alleged human rights abuses for example, while completely ignoring the documented human rights abuses of an entire host of member states, this double-standard would amount to systematic discrimination, or "racism", against that state according to the definition of "institutional racism" mentioned above."
the article continues
"This form of systematic discrimination, or "racism", is in fact what the UN has been engaging in for decades against one country, Israel, a tiny state of roughly 8.7 million citizens – with a landmass roughly the size of New Jersey -- out of a total world population of 7.8 billion people:
The UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the UN Commission on Human Rights have passed a large number of resolutions and decisions against Israel. According to the human rights non-governmental organization (NGO), UN Watch:
"Every year, the General Assembly adopts some 20 resolutions against Israel and only 5 or 6 against the rest of the world combined, with one each on Iran, Syria and North Korea. The General Assembly adopts zero resolutions on systematic abusers like Cuba, China, and Saudi Arabia".
The discrimination is too obvious to ignore. There are 193 member states in the UN. For 20 resolutions a year to be lobbed at the only democratic country in the Middle East, which actually observes human rights and equality under the law -- but only 5 or 6 at the remaining 192 states, which include major violators of international law such as China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Nigeria and Iran -- speaks of an extremely ingrained form of state-sponsored discrimination or "racism".
China, a state of 1.4 billion people, continues to be the number one executioner in the world, according to Amnesty International. The Chinese Communist regime ruthlessly persecutes ethnic and religious minorities, and withholds from its own citizens the most basic human rights, such as freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly, as previously reported by Gatestone Institute. Every one of those rights is enshrined in the UN's own conventions and declarations. In addition, China continues to occupy Tibet, which it invaded in 1950, and where it has moved millions of ethnic Chinese to "Sinicize" the area -- in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying power may not "deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." Even though China is a leading violator of international law and one of the most outrageous abusers of human rights, neither the General Assembly nor the UNHRC has condemned its actions.
There are countless other examples of UN member states who do not live up to even a fraction of the UN's treaties and declarations of human rights, yet those countries are never called out. The UNHRC has not passed a single resolution against Saudi Arabia, for instance, a country of more than 33 million people that largely continues to operate according to medieval human rights standards, despite the efforts of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to effect some reforms. Last year, the kingdom surpassed its own record for executions, according to Amnesty International, when it beheaded 184 people. Saudi Arabia only decided to end flogging a few months ago. The desert country, which takes up most of the Arabian Peninsula, also still operates a male guardianship system, which treats women as legal minors, so that they usually can only travel and perform the most mundane tasks, such as applying for a passport, under the supervision of a male guardian."
& continues
"The UNHRC has not passed a single human rights resolution against Egypt, one of the top 5 most prolific executioners in 2019. There are countless other examples of countries with atrocious human rights records that are not only not called out by the UN and its human rights bodies, but actually serve on those bodies; countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia, which all currently serve on the UN Human Rights Council.
In contrast, Israel's perceived and alleged crimes feature as a permanent item on the UNHRC's agenda, the so-called Item 7 Agenda, so that when the UNHRC is in session, Israel is always condemned. No other country, no matter how wanton its human rights abuses, is singled out.
Israel is also singled out in several other UN bodies, such as UNESCO, which set about systematically renaming ancient Jewish sites as if they were Muslim sites. The area of the Western Wall -- a retaining wall which is all that remains of the Jewish Second Temple that was destroyed by the Roman Legions in 70 CE, was renamed by UNESCO "The Al-Buraq Plaza", after the steed that the Islamic Hadiths wrote carried Muhammad to the heavens and back. UNESCO has also renamed the Jewish sites of the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem and Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs as "Palestinian sites." UNESCO "deeply regrets" that Israel has refused to remove the sites from its national heritage list."
& lastly says
"Even the UN's World Health Organization (WHO), at its annual assembly, assigns Israel its own separate agenda item, number 14. In it, every year, Israel is condemned as a violator of "Palestinian health rights" in the "Occupied Palestinian Territories, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan".
The UN's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) "dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women", also routinely singles out Israel for condemnation for "violating women's rights", while countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Iran, some of the world's most dangerous countries for women, are not even mentioned. Not only is there no condemnation of Saudi Arabia -- where women are still treated as legal minors, and where campaigners for basic women's rights face long prison sentences -- but Saudi Arabia was even elected to the CSW a few years ago to assist in the task of "promoting women's rights".
Regrettably, almost all UN member states, apart from the United States, appear to find this discriminatory treatment of just one country in the world to be completely normal and as matters should be. There is simply a whopping international double-standard here on what passes as institutional racism and what does not -- and it needs to be acknowledged.
Ironically, the institutional racism against Israel at the UN takes the focus away from countries that are in acute need of scrutiny -- which is possibly the reason for its success. Countries where women have few to no rights, where political opponents are tortured and stashed away in prisons or killed, and where people cannot speak their minds freely, get a pass. At the very least, people might question whether an organization that has made discrimination against one country in the world one of its operating principles -- as institutionalized in permanent agenda items and almost ritual condemnations -- is worth the exorbitant cost. The United States, for instance, as the organization's single largest donor, in 2018 funded the UN to the tune of $10 billion.
At a minimum, instead of paying a mandatory "slightly less than one-fifth of the body's collective budget" every year, the US -- and the UN -- would fare far better if the US paid for what it wanted and got what it paid for. At present, the UN has long ceased being a force for good and is being used, first, to prop up its majority of un-transparent, unaccountable anti-democratic despots, and second, to perpetuate conflicts -- largely at the US taxpayers' expense. The money saved could be put to better use repatriating American businesses and protecting the free world from America's most predatory adversaries.
Finally, all those who truly care about the eradication of discrimination and racism should ask themselves why, if racism is unacceptable everywhere else, it should still be a matter of course at the UN." Indeed many have referred to the U.N. as United Nazis or
UNAI , United Nations Against Israel
from the website GotQuestions.org an article titled
"Question: "What is the difference between Israel and Palestine?"
Answer: The region where Israel is currently located was referred to as “Palestine” at least as early as the 5th century BC. Writings from such men as Aristotle, Herodotus, and Plutarch all refer to the land in this area as “Palestine.” This term is believed to come from Masoretic Hebrew biblical texts. Some scholars think that the word Palestine means “land of the Philistines”—the region definitely included the place where the Philistines lived in Canaan—but there is no consensus on that meaning.
The main difference between Israel and Palestine is that Israel is a nation, and Palestine is a geographical region. Palestine has not been, nor is it currently, a nation. The nation of Israel should be distinguished from the land region of Palestine. Before the kingdom of Israel existed, the region was called “Canaan.” The region delineated as “Canaan” or, later, “Palestine” is not necessarily the same as the boundaries for Israel described in the Bible.
After the exodus, God brought the descendants of Israel/Jacob into the land He had promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:17–21; Joshua 1:1–9). Based upon the dimensions of the land found in the Abrahamic Covenant, Israel’s land promise remains yet to be fulfilled; even at the peak of the Davidic kingdom, the territory occupied by Israel did not match the promise. So we have good reason to think the land promise must be literally fulfilled in the future. The land that Abraham’s descendants will one day occupy may rightly be called “Israel” because it is their rightful inheritance.
The word Palestine only occurs one time in the Bible, and only in the King James Version, in Joel 3:4. (Palestina is found in Isaiah 14:29 and 31 in the KJV.) The Hebrew word Pelesheth means “the land of wanders” or “strangers.” That word is found in Exodus 15:14; Psalm 60:8; 83:7; 87:4; and 108:9. It is usually translated “Philistia” and typically refers to a region on the southern border of Syria to the south and west of Canaan.
The name of the region of Palestine has varied throughout history. Prior to AD 135, the Romans called the land “Judea and Galilee.” That changed when Emperor Hadrian brutally suppressed the Jewish Resistance movement and occupied Judea. The Romans began calling the land “Syria Palaestina” after two of Israel’s historic enemies (Syria and Philistia); Hadrian built a temple to Jupiter on Israel’s temple mount, made Jerusalem a Roman colony, and renamed the city “Aelia Capitalina.” For centuries afterward, the land of Israel was called “Palestine,” following the lead of the Romans, and the term Palestine entered our lexicon—the name became so common that respected Bible commentators have used it (e.g., McGee, Pentecost, Chafer, and Ryrie), and some Bible translations use the term (see the section heading for Joshua 11 in the NASB). Prior to their national independence in 1948, Jewish groups adopted the “Palestine” label for themselves: the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was originally called the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, and the original name for the Jerusalem Post was the Palestine Post. Both of those entities were founded in the 1930s.
Today, the word Palestine is still used to designate a land region, but it has also taken on political connotations. Considering the context of the term is important, since Palestine is a label often used by propagandists who refuse to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. Maps published with the nation of Israel labelled as “Palestine” are blatant attacks on the legitimacy of Israel as a modern nation."
Also from gatestoneinstitute.org an article titled
"Germany's Continuing Anti-Semitism Problem"
by Judith Bergman
July 4, 2020 at 5:00 am the article says:
The German government's new report flies in the face of major EU reports... German statistics on anti-Semitism have been the object of criticism for quite some time.
"The majority of [anti-Semitism] cases in Berlin are attributed to right-wing extremists -- without evidence..." — Die Welt, May 7, 2019.
"For a long time, experts have criticized the attribution of the majority of cases to far-right perpetrators... and that too little attention is paid to other groups of perpetrators, such as those from Islamist and other Muslim circles". — Die Welt, May 7, 2019.
Yet, despite problematic evidence and flawed statistics, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is still claiming that virtually all anti-Semitism comes from the far-right. Why?
Despite all these measures, anti-Semitic crime in Germany is the highest it has been in the past two decades. This news alone should raise concerns in Germany that hate-speech laws such as the NetzDG, while severely limiting free speech, are not working. It should also concern other EU countries, such as France, that are looking to Germany as an example to follow.
Anti-Semitism keeps escalating in Germany, and despite problematic evidence and flawed statistics, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is still claiming that virtually all anti-Semitism comes from the far-right. Pictured: Anti-Israel protesters take part in the annual Al-Quds Day march on June 1, 2019 in Berlin. (Photo by Omer Messinger/Getty Images)
Almost all anti-Semitic crimes in Germany in 2019 were committed by right-wing extremists, according to a recently published government report, "Politically Motivated Crime in 2019." In the report, "politically motivated crimes" are divided into right-wing crimes, left-wing crimes, crimes motivated by foreign ideology, crimes motivated by religious ideology and unassigned crimes.
According to the report, anti-Semitic crimes were 13% higher in 2019 than in 2018, with 2,032 anti-Semitic crimes committed in 2019, the highest number in Germany since 2001. According to the report, 93.4% of those crimes were committed by right-wing extremists.
"The biggest threat is still the threat from the right," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said following the release of the crime report. "We must remain alert and tackle it. It is an order of magnitude that accompanies us with concern, with great concern."
The German government's new report flies in the face of major EU reports: In November 2018, the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published a report, "Antisemitism - Overview of data available in the European Union 2007–2017," which quoted the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) as stating that in 2017:
"The main perpetrators of antisemitic incidents are 'Islamists' and radicalised young Muslims, including schoolchildren, as well as neo-Nazis and sympathisers of extreme-right and, in some cases, extreme-left groups".
Germany was among the countries surveyed."
the article continues
"In another major survey conducted by the FRA and published in December 2018, "Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU", it was concluded that:
"With respect to the most serious incident of anti-Semitic harassment, on average, across the 12 Member States surveyed, the most frequently mentioned categories for perpetrators were: 'someone else I cannot describe' (31%); 'someone with an extremist Muslim view' (30%); 'someone with a left-wing political view' (21%); 'work or school/college colleague' (16%); 'teenager or group of teenagers' (15%); 'an acquaintance or friend' (15%); 'someone with a right-wing political view' (13%)".
Germany was among the 12 member states surveyed.
In 2017, the Interior Ministry of Germany published a report by the Independent Expert Group on Antisemitism -- a group constituted in September 2009 based on a decision of the German Bundestag -- about antisemitism in Germany. According to the report:
"[In] the survey conducted for the [Independent Expert Group on Antisemitism in] 2016 among Jews in Germany ... 'a Muslim person/group' is mentioned by far the most frequently regarding... verbal insult/harassment, physical attack... followed by 'a person unknown to me'... only then follow in equal numbers left-extremist and far-right persons/groups. For this difference between the classification of the recorded crimes in the PMK... [the annual report about politically motivated crime] and the perception on the part of the persons concerned, there is currently no plausible explanation."
In June 2019, Germany's domestic intelligence service, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), published a report on "Anti-Semitism in Islamism," the purpose of which was "to raise public awareness of Islamist anti-Semitism". The report states:
"The record of these events shows that anti-Semitic incidents with an Islamist background are not uncommon in Germany. For the period from January to December 2017 alone, more than 100 incidents were recorded, ranging from anti-Zionist sermons to anti-Semitic graffiti to verbal and physical attacks against individuals. Probably this is just the proverbial 'tip of the iceberg'".
Which surveys should be believed? Did all Islamist anti-Semitism just disappear overnight?"
& continues :
"Presumably not. German statistics on anti-Semitism, however, have been the object of criticism for quite some time. Die Welt wrote in May 2019:
"The majority of [antisemitism] cases in Berlin are attributed to right-wing extremists -- without evidence... For a long time, experts have criticized the attribution of the majority of cases to far-right perpetrators... and that too little attention is paid to other groups of perpetrators, such as those from Islamist and other Muslim circles".
According to a May 2019 article in the German Jewish news outlet Jüdische Allgemeine:
"In surveys of Jews in Germany who were victims of anti-Semitic acts, 62 percent of [victims of verbal] insults and 81 percent of [victims of] physical attacks identified Muslims as suspected perpetrators. Nevertheless, 'Sieg Heil' calls at an anti-Semitic Al-Quds demonstration in Berlin in July 2014 were registered as a politically motivated crime with right-wing extremist motives in the police statistics."
The newspaper also quoted Felix Klein, the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Anti-Semitism, as saying:
"I hear from the Jewish communities that the subjective perception of the threat posed by Muslim anti-Semitism is greater than is reflected in the crime statistics."
The Independent Expert Group on Antisemitism, mentioned above, also criticized Germany's statistics in its 2017 report, "Anti-Semitism in Germany - current developments":
"In the police, the old concept of extremism continues to act as a guiding factor, which makes it more difficult to identify prejudice-motivated crimes that go beyond 'the classic pattern of far-right crime'. In particular, this concerns the attribution as 'right'-[wing] as soon as references to National Socialism can be seen. This does not take into account that while Nazi symbols are a general, anti-Jewish means, they are also generally defamatory... [and] used by perpetrators who are not far right-wing politically. Xenophobic and anti-Semitic crimes are basically always attributed to the... right when no further specifics are recognizable (e.g. only the words 'Jews out') and where no suspects are known. This may create... a distorted picture of the motivation behind the crime and the group of perpetrators."
Yet, despite problematic evidence and flawed statistics, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is still claiming that virtually all anti-Semitism comes from the far-right. Why?"
& lastly says
"The rise in anti-Semitism to the highest level in nearly two decades also raises a different issue: Germany has some of the strictest hate speech laws in Europe. In October 2017, Germany adopted a new censorship law, the NetzDG law. It is a draconian measure that requires social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to censor their users on behalf of the German state. Social media companies are obliged to delete or block any online "criminal offenses" such as libel, slander, defamation or incitement, within 24 hours of receipt of a user complaint. Social media companies are permitted seven days for more complicated cases. If they fail to do so, the German government can fine them up to 50 million euros for failing to comply. The law served as inspiration for France's recently passed Avia Law.
In addition, German law enforcement agencies have completed no fewer than five "Action Day against Hate Postings" specifically to crack down on internet "hate speech".
Despite all these measures, anti-Semitic crime in Germany is the highest it has been in the past two decades. This news alone should raise concerns in Germany that hate-speech laws such as the NetzDG, while severely limiting free speech, are not working. It should also concern other EU countries, such as France, that are looking to Germany as an example to follow.
That, however, is not happening. In January, Germany announced new crackdowns on free speech, ostensibly to fight antisemitism, as previously reported by Gatestone. In March, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance -- the human rights monitoring body of the Council of Europe -- published a report that found that Germany, despite its repressive laws, was still not doing enough about hate speech and that:
"... action is required in several areas to effectively prevent and combat hate speech. These encompass awareness-raising, prevention and counter speech, support to victims, self-regulation, the use of regulatory powers and, as a last resort, criminal investigation and punishment".
Germany seems unable to change course. In the meantime, anti-Semitism keeps escalating."
From GotQuestions.org an article that says
Question: "What is the land that God promised to Israel?"
Answer: In regards to the land that God has promised Israel, Genesis 15:18 declares to Abraham, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.” God later confirms this promise to Abraham’s son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob (whose name was later changed to Israel). When the Israelites were about to invade the Promised Land, God reiterated the land promise, as recorded in Joshua 1:4, “Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west.”
According to Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4, the land God gave to Israel included everything from the Nile River in Egypt to Lebanon (south to north) and everything from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (west to east). So, what land has God stated belongs to Israel? All of the land modern Israel currently possesses, plus all of the land of the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), plus some of Egypt and Syria, plus all of Jordan, plus some of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Israel currently possesses only a fraction of the land God has promised."
With all the Jew-Haters & Israel-Haters crying about Israel's plan in July 2020 to apply Sovereignty to
parts of Judea & Samaria, it's important to retype an article that's on the website
GotQuestions.org
Question: "Should Israel be building settlements in the occupied territories, i.e., the West Bank and East Jerusalem?"
Answer: In December 2016 the Security Council of the United Nations passed a resolution that condemns Israel for its building of settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. However, the resolution was nothing but a formal statement of what most nations in the world already believed about the settlements. The United Nations has passed similar resolutions against Israel as far back as 1979. The difference is that these resolutions did not carry the authority of the Security Council. Prior to 2016, the United States had always vetoed any Security Council resolutions against Israel. Israel and its relationship to its neighbors and the West Bank (and Gaza) is a complicated issue. Here is a brief history:
Israel became a sovereign nation in 1948 when the United Nations officially recognized its existence. Immediately, Israel’s neighbors attacked the new nation, seeking to destroy it before it could be established. This conflict became known as the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, and Israel defeated the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. After fighting ended, the nation of Israel stayed within the borders designated for it by the United Nations in 1948. Nineteen years later, in 1967, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq attacked again, with additional help from other Arab nations. In what became known as the Six-Day War, Israel again defeated the attackers. After this conflict, however, Israel seized control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem (from Jordan), the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza (from Egypt), and the Golan Heights (from Syria). Ever since, Israel’s occupation of those territories has been a matter of international debate. Israel gave the Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt in 1979 as part of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, but it still retains control of the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights.
Israel has been building settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank since 1972, although the building of settlements has been greatly expanded in recent years. The Palestinians in the West Bank have protested loudly, claiming those lands belong to them. However, Israel was attacked by its neighboring countries at the behest of the Palestinians. There is a universally understood concept that, if you attack a nation and lose, there are consequences. The attacks on Israel in 1948 and 1967, the countless intifadas, the acts of terrorism, the kidnappings, etc., have all been unprovoked. Israel has never been the military aggressor against its neighbors. When a nation seizes territory from the nations that attacked it, the action is normally seen as a justifiable way for that nation to solidify its defense. In any situation not involving Israel, there would be universal recognition of the nation’s right to control the seized territories.
For some reason, when the situation involves Israel, the international community has always been on the side of the Palestinians and Israel’s Arab neighbors. Why is this? Latent and overt anti-Semitism? The tremendous influence of the Arab nations due to their control of the oil market? Compassion for the Palestinians? It is likely a combination of those and other factors. But none of those factors change the history. Israel suffered an unprovoked attack and occupied those territories in order to better defend itself from future attacks."
& continues
"Biblically speaking, Israel has every right to possess, occupy, and build homes in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Gaza, and far more. All of those territories are well within the borders of the land that God promised to the nation of Israel. Israel currently possesses a fraction of the land the Word of God declares belongs to it (see Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4). Unless the Palestinians are descendants of the tribes of Israel (which is possible), they have absolutely no biblical claim to live on those lands. Whatever the case, they have no biblical basis for preventing the nation of Israel from occupying and building homes in those territories.
GotQuestions.org is decidedly and unashamedly pro-Israel. We do not claim Israel is entirely guiltless in the conflict with the Palestinians. However, whatever crimes Israel has committed are outweighed by the terrorism, crimes, and military attacks perpetuated against it by the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors. The failure or refusal of the United Nations to recognize this is amazing and distressing. There is no adequate explanation for the sheer blindness of the United Nations toward the reality of the Israel-Palestinian conflict other than satanic deception."
Let's also restate from GotQuestions.org
Question: "Has Israel’s territory ever encompassed the promise in Joshua 1:4?"
Answer: In Joshua 1:4 God promised Joshua that the land of Israel would include territory extending “from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.” This territory would include the land from the southern tip of Israel along the Red Sea to the Euphrates River on the east, the border of Syria on the north (land of the Hittites), and the Mediterranean Sea (Great Sea) to the west. As of yet, Israel has not controlled this entire land area.
In Joshua’s time, much of the land of Canaan was brought under Israelite control. In the time of David and his son Solomon (approximately 1000 BC, or 400 years after Joshua), a wide area of land was under Israel’s control or influence. Yet the entire territory promised to Israel in Scripture, both in Joshua 1:4 and elsewhere, has yet to be fulfilled.
Some point to a passage later in the book of Joshua as contradicting the promise of Joshua 1:4. After the conquest of Canaan, the historical account says, “So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43–45). There is really no contradiction. At the time referred to in Joshua 21, all of Israel’s enemies were subdued. No one posed a threat to God’s people. God had given them a right to everything He had promised in Joshua 1:4, and they were authorized to take possession of the entire land—all the way to the Euphrates—as soon as they needed it and as soon as they called on the Lord for aid. The fact that they never did so does not negate the fact that God had kept His promise.
After Joshua’s death, the book of Judges teaches, the Israelites turned away from God. As punishment, God allowed their enemies to increase in power, and Israel lost territory that God had given earlier. Judges 2:14 says, “In his anger against Israel the LORD gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.”
Various judges arose during this period, and there was an ongoing battle for the control of Israel’s territory. Later, during the reigns of David and Solomon, Israel controlled the largest part of the Promised Land to date. After Solomon’s reign, the kingdom was divided into the Kingdom of Israel to the north and the Kingdom of Judah to the south. Both kingdoms eventually sinned to such a degree that God allowed outside nations to defeat them, and most of the Jews were exiled."
& continues
"Yet God was not done with His people, and He restored Israel’s territory. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah document the return of the Jewish people from Babylon seventy years after their exile. The temple was rebuilt, and worship in Jerusalem was re-established. Israel continued in their land until AD 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple and overtook Jerusalem.
It would not be until 1948 that the modern nation of Israel was established following World War II. Now, more than sixty years later, Israel has become a thriving nation and the longest-established democracy in the Middle East. Yet many of its neighbors remain hostile, and a Palestinian movement seeks to develop its own nation within the borders of modern Israel’s territory.
The Bible teaches that God will eventually fulfill the promise to give Israel full control over the Promised Land. Israel’s full territory will ultimately be ruled by the Messiah during the Millennium (Revelation 20:1–6). God’s promises, partly fulfilled throughout history, will have complete, literal, fulfillment prior to God’s creation of new heavens and a new earth (Revelation 21—22; cf. Psalm 72:8)."
Also from GotQuestions.org
Question: "What is the Promised Land?"
Answer: Promised Land is a term designating a region of the world that God promised as a heritage to His people, Israel (Genesis 12:7; 15:18–20). Promised Land is not the official name of Israel’s boundaries, but it conveys a larger meaning. The Promised Land was an endowment from Earth’s Creator to a specific people group, the children of Israel, in which they established their nation. Israel acquired the Promised Land only through God’s guidance and His miraculous intervention in history (Exodus 33:14–16; Psalm 44:1–8; 136:10–22).
The promise of a land for God’s people began in Genesis 12 when God appeared to Abram (Abraham) and told him that he had been chosen to be the father of many nations. God promised to bless Abram and lead him into a land that would belong to his offspring as a lasting heritage. God later confirmed this promise to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26:3) and then to Isaac’s son Jacob (Genesis 28:13).
The boundaries of the Promised Land were from the River of Egypt (the Nile) to the Euphrates (Exodus 23:31). By the time Israel was ready to take the land, hundreds of years after Abraham, it was inhabited by pagan nations: Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Exodus 33:2). When it was time for the Israelites to inherit the Promised Land, God raised up Moses to bring His people out of slavery in Egypt and used Joshua to lead a military conquest of Canaan. The Promised Land includes modern-day Israel, including Gaza and the West Bank, and Jordan, as well as parts of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.
The term promised land has also been applied to any type of satisfying achievement or a state of realized dreams. For example, the World Series might be called baseball’s “promised land.” Or someone may say, “After receiving a significant raise, Joe moved his family out of the projects and into the promised land.” Hebrews 6:8–10 alludes to the Promised Land when it recounts Abraham’s journey to his new home in Canaan and then equates that with our journey toward God’s heavenly city (verse 16)."
& Continues
"Christians sometimes refer to heaven and the future restoration of the earth as the Promised Land. God has promised a glorious eternal home for all those who love Him and have trusted in Christ Jesus for salvation. God’s eternal Promised Land is the heritage of all who come to Him through His Son (John 14:6). A familiar hymn by Samuel Stennett describes the anticipation Christians feel as we move toward our heavenly home:
“On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
O who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.”
From www.barnesandnoble.com a good book people suggest is titled
"Islam Unmasked"
by Dr. Henry Malone, Pastor Reza F Safa, Pastor Reza F. Safa (Foreword by)
Overview says:
"America would learn of Islam's tenets on September 11, 2001 when some of its followers would take off their mask of peace and reveal their true face. Since that day many have become lost in the propaganda war. They have become confused about Islam. They have searched for answers to many questions.
What are the origins of Islam?
Who was Muhammad?
Are Allah and God the same?
Is Islam a peaceful religion?
What is Paradise and who can go there?
Is there equality between Muslim men and women?
What common ground is there between Christians and Muslims?
Islam Unmasked removes the mask of deception and reveals the truth about this ancient religion. Throughout the pages of this illuminating book, you'll learn about the pagan origins of Islam. You'll examine the history of its founder. You'll discover the lies behind its doctrines. You'll see the futility of its practices. You'll find the common ground to talk with Muslims. And you'll realize the power that comes from sharing the love of God with Islam's captives. Islam Unmasked--unmask the lie, discover the truth."
From the website www.timesofisrael.com about the Explosions in Beirut, Lebanon on
August 4, 2020
the article is titled
"Israel TV: Hezbollah apparently wanted Beirut’s ammonium nitrate for Israel war"
TV cites assessment Nasrallah may have intended to use stockpile that caused port blast in ‘Third Lebanon War’, notes cases in Germany, UK where Hezbollah caught with same material
By TOI STAFF
8 August 2020, 1:09 am 15
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An explosion in Beirut's port on August 4, 2020. (screen capture: Twitter)
Hezbollah apparently planned to use the ammonium nitrate stockpile that caused a massive bast at Beirut’s port this week against Israel in a “Third Lebanon War,” according to an unsourced assessment publicized on Israel’s Channel 13 Friday night.
The report was broadcast hours after Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a speech “categorically” denying that his group had stored any weapons or explosives at Beirut’s port, following the massive explosion there Tuesday that has claimed over 157 lives and wounded thousands. “I would like to absolutely, categorically rule out anything belonging to us at the port. No weapons, no missiles, or bombs or rifles or even a bullet or ammonium nitrate,” Nasrallah said. “No cache, no nothing. Not now, not ever.”
Israel has not formally alleged that Hezbollah was connected to the Tuesday blast.
Ammonium nitrate is used in the manufacture of explosives and is also an ingredient in making fertilizer. It has been blamed for massive industrial accidents in the past, and was also a main ingredient in a bomb that destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Last year, reports in Israel claimed that the Mossad had tipped off European intelligence agencies about Hezbollah storing caches of ammonium nitrate for use in bombs in London, Cyprus and elsewhere.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah gives a speech in the aftermath of a deadly explosion in Beirut, on Friday August 7, 2020 (al-Manar screenshot)
The Channel 13 report noted that “the material that exploded in the port is not new to Nasrallah and Hezbollah.”
It detailed Hezbollah’s previous connections to ammonium nitrate, including incidents in Germany and the UK, both widely reported at the time, in which its agents were reportedly found with substantial quantities of the material. In London in 2015, following a Mossad tip off, British intelligence found four Hezbollah operatives with 3 tons of ammonium nitrate held in flour sacks, the TV report said, citing foreign reports. A similar process led to the discovery in Germany of Hezbollah operatives with enough ammonium nitrate “to blow up a city,” the report said. Germany subsequently banned Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
“That’s what Nasrallah intended to do in Europe,” the TV report said. “Regarding what was stored in Beirut port, the assessment is Nasrallah intended to use it in the Third Lebanon War.” (Israel has fought two wars with Lebanon — in 1982, and, following a cross-border raid by Hezbollah in which Israeli soldiers were killed and abducted, in 2006.)"
the article continues
"Meanwhile former Israeli army chief and ex-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon told a Saudi news site that a blast in a large Hezbollah weapons depot at the port preceded the explosion of ammonium nitrate.
Blue and White’s Moshe Ya’alon is seen during a visit to the Gaza border area with other members of the party on March 13, 2019. (Flash90)
Ya’alon, of the Yesh Atid-Telem party, was quoted by the Elaph Arabic website as saying Hezbollah had been aware of the material’s presence there and had control over the port.
He said Israel had warned Lebanon about Hezbollah’s weapons stores and stockpiling of dangerous materials in Beirut and elsewhere in the country. He added that it was up to the Lebanese people to choose independence or continued servitude to Iran through Hezbollah.
A view of the ammonia tank in Haifa on June 30, 2017. (Flash90)
The Channel 13 report also noted that Nasrallah, in a 2016 speech, threatened to fire missiles at an Israeli ammonia storage tank in the northern port city of Haifa. “Lebanon has a ‘nuclear bomb’ today,” Nasrallah said in the speech. “The idea is that some of our missiles, combined with the ammonia in Haifa, will create the effect of an atom bomb.” (The tank has since been emptied out.)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York September 27, 2018, and holds up a placard detailing alleged Hezbollah missile sites in Beirut. (AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY)
And it also cited a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UN General Assembly in 2018, in which Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of storing missiles and other weapons in civilian areas. The prime minister alleged that one such site was “on the water’s edge” in Beirut.
Preliminary evidence released by Lebanese officials indicates that the explosion was connected to 2,750 metric tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate which was left unsupervised in the port for almost six years. Documents allege that customs officials asked to move the vast trove numerous times but never received a reply.
In May, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Jewish state carried out a months-long delicate operation to assess Hezbollah’s operations in Germany and presented its findings to German intelligence and law agencies. Mossad reportedly gave Germany information about warehouses in the south of the country where Hezbollah stashed hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate. Israeli intelligence was also said to have handed over details of key individuals in Hezbollah’s operations in Germany.
A soldier walks at the site of the massive explosion at the port of Beirut, August 6, 2020. (Thibault Camus/Pool/AFP)
The Friday Channel 13 report speculated that Nasrallah is fearful of an international probe of this week’s blast, possibly out of concern that Hezbollah might be implicated.
Supporters of Hezbollah terror group leader Hassan Nasrallah chant slogans ahead of his televised speech in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, January 5, 2020. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)
Amid rising tensions with Israel in recent weeks, Nasrallah had originally intended to address the country on Wednesday, but postponed his speech after Tuesday night’s port explosion sent the country reeling. So far 157 people have been confirmed dead and over 5,000 wounded. Around 300,000 Beirut residents were rendered homeless as the blast tore apart homes miles from the port."
& lastly says
"Israel firmly denied initial speculation that it had anything to do with the explosion, has sent condolences, and offered medical aid. Senior Hezbollah officials speaking on condition of anonymity to Lebanese media have been equally insistent that neither Hezbollah nor Israel were involved"
Many Christian, Jewish & Other Pro-Israel people online have pointed out that these Explosions in Beirut on August 4, 2020 was PROOF of God Protecting Israel and the Jewish People, God keeping ammonium nitrate out of the hands of Ugly Greedy Bloodthirsty Arab Terrorists, that these Explosions on August 4, 2020 was God's Wrath & Punishment upon the Criminal Satanic Demonic Diabolical Wicked Evil Terrorist Regime Lebanon, of course Not every Lebanese Person is Evil, and Israel offered Humanitarian Aid to the Lebanese People, Israel offered to Help Lebanon and the Lebanese People, yet we all know, we all know that if there was a Huge Arab Terrorist Attack in Israel, we all know that Many of the Lebanese people would Literally be singing and dancing in the Streets, praising the murder of innocent Jewish Israeli Civilians, once again Israel & the Israeli Jews are Morally Superior to it's Arab Enemies
From the Ireland Israel Alliance Website www.irelandisrael.ie
an article is titled
"How many times must we debunk the Khazar nonsense?" the article says
"A recent tweet (1) by one of Al-Jazeera’s leading anchors (her name is Ghada Oueiss) has reignited discussion of the Khazar theory and its supposed implications for the claims of the inhabitants of the modern state of Israel to the land of Israel. What’s the Khazar theory, you might ask?
Well, the theory rests entirely on the alleged conversion of an ethnic Turkic race called the Khazars to Judaism towards the end of the first millenium CE – reportedly in the ninth century. These are supposedly the ancestors of many of the ancestors of modern day Israel and – since they’re Turkic – they can’t be “real Jews” who can trace their origins back to the biblical Land of Israel.
This theory is regularly used online by those who oppose the existence of the modern state of Israel. If many or most modern day Jews aren’t descended from the Jews who inhabited that country two thousand or so years ago, then they have no right to live in Israel today.
The Khazar Kingdom was in the general region of modern day southern Russia and the Ukraine – between and north of the land between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. The idea is that these Khazars are the ancestors of the Ashkenazim – the Jews of Eastern and Central Europe, as opposed to, for example, the Sephardim who are descended from Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late 15th century or the Mizrachim whose historic links are to Babylon and the wider Middle East.
For starters, if a nation needs to prove its historical connection to a piece of land in order to inhabit it, then the citizens of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States of America, Mexico – indeed all the countries in North and South America are in difficulty. Also, the Ashkenazim are a minority amongst Israeli Jews with Mizrachim and their descendants comprising a majority of that population. Leaving these issues aside, from a purely factual point of view, the “Khazar” theory is problematic for a few extremely basic reasons.
The historical evidence based on accounts by travelers in the Khazar kingdom is that the conversion to Judaism was restricted to the king and a small portion of the aristocracy. There was no mass conversion of anything approaching the entire population.
There isn't a shred of any evidence in terms of linguistics or names or surnames to suggest the remotest link between the Khazars and the Ashkenazim.
The lack of any significant evidence of Judaic possessions or practices at excavated Khazar sites would back this up."
the article continues
"The genetic evidence strongly indicates that there are elements of ethnic commonality between all the various strands of Judaism regardless of their origins. Were the Ashkenazim to have Khazarian ancestors, they'd be quite distinctive.
In 922 CE, the Arabic writer Ahmed ibn-Fadlan was travelling in the Khazarian kingdom and writes of his impressions and experiences (2). He does indeed confirm that the king is Jewish but Jews represent a minority in the kingdom. Most Khazarians are Muslims or Christians. There is also evidence of very un-Jewish practices such as the ritual murder of the king if he is deemed to have “decayed” mental powers and impaired wisdom. This is backed up by other Arabic writers and travellers such as Al-Masudi and Istakhri (ibid).
Some evidence from burial customs has been put forward by one archaeologist in favour of widespread conversion to Judaism. There was a noted switch from pagan-style burials with the grave packed with the goods and effects of the deceased to the far simpler shrouding of the body (3). But this reveals precisely nothing other than a switch from pagan burial customs. It is widely known that the Islamic community also covers its deceased in shrouds (4). Given the reports mentioned above, surely it’s a sign of a conversion to Islam.
Some readers here might be familiar with the writings of the Israeli academic, Shlomo Sand, writer of the book “The Invention of the Jewish People”. The Khazar thesis is crucial to his view that modern day Jews are not descended from ancient Israelites and the presence of many blonde, blue-eyed people amongst the Ashkenazim is frequently referred to in the discussions of his theories (16).
On the far-right, Professor Shlomo Sand is definitely the favouritest Jew ever (Source: Times of Israel).
Professor Sand tries to get around the difficulties posed by the descriptions of the above Arabic travel writers by proposing that Judaism gradually “trickled down” over a period of 200 to 400 years from the aristocracy (5). Correctly, he points out how in the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries, many parts of the European peasantry had yet to embrace Christianity. However, over the period of many generations, under the impetus of a ruling hierarchy (or a series of changing rulers) that was/were all Christian, Christianity did finally become embedded in all parts of European society. Hence, it would be reasonable to propose a similar process occurring with Judaism in the Khazarian kingdom if time allowed.
Unfortunately for those adhering to the Khazar theory, a few decades after those Arabic travel writers referred to the vast majority of the population being Christian or Muslim, the Khazarian kingdom was effectively wiped off the map in the year 965 by Sviatoslav of Kiev (6) and the entire kingdom subsequently collapsed. So the period of time required for Shlomo Sand’s proposed conversion of all Khazarians to Judaism simply does not exist. Not. Even. Close."
& continues
"There are very few written remains of the language spoken by the Khazars. However, from the few fragments that have survived, it seems beyond reasonable doubt to deduce that the language was Turkic in origin. References to the language from that time by non-Khazars would back that up (14).
Of course, the language spoken by the Ashkenazim was and in some cases still is Yiddish. This language which originated sometime around the 10th century CE in Central Europe has been highly absorptive in keeping with the traditions of a migratory people who would have come in contact with societies speaking a wide range of dialects. Hence, it contains Hebraic, Germanic, Slavic and Romance elements (15).
For the purposes of this Ashkenazim-as-Khazars thesis, there is one glaringly obvious omission from the above list of language groups: Turkic. We are supposed to believe that a Turkic speaking people moved west into Europe and created this language from various other language groups with which they’d hitherto had little or no contact while simultaneously abandoning all traces of their own Khazar language. Indeed, not only did they abandon their language: they also, it seems, abandoned their Khazar names since there is no tradition of Turkic names amongst the Ashkenazim and there never has been.
It’s not the intention of this writer to use a sledge hammer to crack this particularly brittle nut but in the last ten years, extensive archaeological evidence has emerged to sound yet another death knell for this theory – if one can speak of multiple death knells. A Russian archaeologist, Dmitry Vasilyev, has recently – near the Caspian Sea – uncovered what appears to be traces of the capital city of the Khazars (7). The evidence that it is a Khazar city is extensive – from its location, ceramic artifacts and the architecture (8). Crucially, no Jewish artifacts have been found at this site and indeed very few (such as mezuzas or Stars of David) have been found at other Khazar sites proving, says Vasilyev that ordinary Khazars preferred traditional beliefs such as shamanism, or Islam.
Unsurprisingly, the genetic evidence provides yet further confirmation that the Khazars have few if any links with the modern day Ashkenazim. Indeed, what stands out from the research is the degree to which, genetically speaking, the various strands of Jewishness are more closely related to each other than to nearby non-Jewish groups (9 & 10). There was evidence of extensive mixing of Jewish and non-Jewish populations in ancient times (over 2000 years ago) when Jewish communities migrated around the Mediterranean (11). Indeed, at all times, there would have been low levels of intermarriage of Jew and Gentile. However, there is nothing to suggest that anything like appreciable numbers of modern day Jews have their origins in past conversions."
& Continues
"No-one is claiming that every single Jew alive today has a family tree free of non-Jews. There has been inter-marriage – enough to explain the existence of blonde and blue-eyed Jews amongst Ashkenazi people (16). However, no-one should be under any illusions that black hair was universal amongst the ancient Israelites. By all accounts, King David had red hair as did Judas Iscariot (12)
In any case, even in countries such as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia where black hair would be almost universal amongst the non-Jewish population, researchers reported finding members of the Jewish community with blonde hair (13).
The Khazar theory brings together some strange bedfellows. You find the left-wing types who in all other circumstances would eschew with distaste all discussion of race. However, for the purposes of delegitimizing the State of Israel, this and so much more is permissible. Under the same ideological duvet, you also have the far right. They….well, let’s not over-analyze. They just don’t like De Jooz. They never have and they never will. Stormfront.org has for some time been in quite a lather of excitement over the Khazars and Shlomo Sand is definitely their favouritest Jew ever.
In the ongoing campaign to deny Israel’s right to exist, it suits the far right and elements of the left to insist that European Jews are too blonde and blue-eyed – too “Aryan”, if you will. Funny that – a mere 70-75 years ago, 6 million European Jews were murdered for precisely the opposite reason."
& lastly says:
Sources:
1. Al Jazeera anchor promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Twitter
2. Eric Maroney, The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations, Rowman and Littlefield, Publishers Inc, Maryland (2009) page 72
3. Kevin A. Brook, The Jews of Khazaria, Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc (1999) Chapter 4.
4. Muslim shroud burials allowed in new rules
5. Shlomo Sand, The Invention of the Jewish People, Verso Books (2008) page 225
6. Janet L. B. Martin, Medieval Russia, 980-1584, Cambridge University Press (1995), page 16
7. Scholar Claims to Find 1,000-Year-Old Jewish Capital | Fox News
8. AFP: Russian archaeologists find long-lost Jewish capital
9. Tracing the Roots of Jewishness – ScienceNOW
10. The Roots of Jewishness – ScienceNOW
11. Genes tell intricate tale of Jewish diaspora – Technology & science – Science – LiveScience | NBC News
12. Maurice Fishberg and William B. Helmreich, Jews, Race, and Environment, Transaction Books (2006), page 68
13. Maurice Fishberg and William B. Helmreich, Jews, Race, and Environment, Transaction Books (2006), page 66
14. Peter B. Golden et al, The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives, Part 8, Volume 17, Koninklijke Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden (2007) pages 75-84,
15. Andre Vauchez, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Volume 1, Routledge Limited, United Kingdom (2001), page 1565
16. Book calls Jewish people an “Invention” – NY Times
by Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh
From Israelnationalnews.com an article is titled
"Abbas's Anti-Terror Rally Smile Gets Photo-Bombed" the article says
Abbas, head of PLO terror group, stood out at Paris rally with smile, provoking one blogger to create a hilarious set of pictures.
Tags: terrorism Mahmoud Abbas Paris Paris terror attack
Ari Yashar , 13/01/15 19:15
Mahmoud Abbas at Paris counter-terror rally
Mahmoud Abbas at Paris counter-terror rallyReuters
There was much criticism over the decision to invite Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist organization, to the Paris march Sunday against Islamist terrorism following last week's bloody attacks that left 17 murdered.
One picture has particularly stood out from the march, in which Abbas is seen arm in arm with world leaders on the Paris street - however, in contrast to the somber expressions given the horrific attacks last week, Abbas is seen making a wide, eerie smile:
Spot the leader smiling at the anti-terror rally Reuters
So incensed by the mocking smile was Aussie Dave, a writer with the pro-Israel blog Israellycool, that he decided to go on a photo-bombing spree, intersplicing Abbas's image in various tragic pictures. The result is poignant hilarity - judge for yourself (the original blog post can be found here):
Abbas gets photo-bombed Aussie Dave/Israellycool
Abbas's presence at the Paris rally didn't just anger Israelis, evidently it also upset his "unity partner," the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas.
“The participation of Abbas in this event is part of the hypocrisy and political acrobatics that Abbas commonly participates in,” said senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud a-Zahar. “Abbas wants to show that he can fight terror, but he does not even know the meaning of terror."
That "hypocrisy" was vividly illustrated a day after Abbas took part in the march, as his Fatah faction on Monday glorified a terrorist attack from 1978, in which 37 Israeli civilians - including 12 children - were murdered on a bus."
The website jcpa.org on June 17, 2018 has an article by Alan Baker titled
"The Many Ways Palestinians Violate International Law" the article can be found here
https://jcpa.org/article/the-many-ways-the-palestinians-violate-international-law/
If "Palestinians" suffer from Poverty, Lack of Freedom & Lack of Human Rights, etc, it is NOT the Fault of Israel, it is the Fault of the "Palestinian" Corrupt Criminal Leadership,
It is NOT Israel's Fault, if Some "Palestinians" Suffer from Poverty, Unemployment, Lack of Freedom, Lack of Human Rights,etc it is the Corrupt "Palestinian" so-called "Leadership" in the West Bank & Gaza that is too blame, NOT Israel, Israel isn't perfect, but it is Infinitely better than other Nations in the Mideast
From the website chabad.org an article is titled
"Warning the Western World
Brigitte Gabriel: A Lebanese Christian Journalist Battles for Israel"
By Deena Yellin the article states:
"Brigitte Gabriel lectures worldwide about Israel's valiant quest to preserve the ideals of democracy and human rights, she writes books defending Israel's right to exist and has founded an organization dedicated to raising awareness of the threat radical Islamic fundamentalists pose to Israel and Western civilization. She insists that the only way to defeat Muslim extremism is to stand up to it. "The more concessions you make, the more they will pick on you," she said.
Surprisingly, Gabriel is not Israeli. She's not even Jewish. She is a Lebanese Christian.
In fact, the mother of two has even received death threats because of her staunchly pro-Israel views, which she professes loudly and often.
Gabriel didn't always sing Israel's praises. Growing up in an Arab country, she was raised in a culture that espoused that Jews were evil and Israel was the enemy. "I was told that the only time we will have peace in the Middle East is when we kill all the Jews and drive them into the sea," she recalled.
Growing up in Southern Lebanon, that's what many children were educated to believe. But as Gabriel grew older, she encountered experiences that led her to change her mind for good.
In 1975, the Muslims and Palestinians declared a Jihad on the Christians in Lebanon, massacring thousands of Lebanese Christians. At age ten, Gabriel saw her childhood home destroyed. Her family moved to a bomb shelter, where they remained for the next seven years. To stay alive, Gabriel had to eat grass and crawl under sniper bullets to get water from a spring.
The bomb shelter was hit by mortar shells in 1982, leaving her mother badly wounded. She was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment. Gabriel accompanied her.
For her mother, the visit to the hospital was a life-saving experience.
For Gabriel, it was a life-altering experience that would change the way she took in information and the way she would believe the news as conveyed through the news media.
When Gabriel entered the emergency room, she was shocked by what she saw around her: hundred of wounded people, Muslims, Palestinians and Christians being treated by Israeli doctors. The doctors treated everyone according to their injury, not according to their background, said Gabriel, who was in disbelief at the time.
"They didn't see religion, they didn't see political affiliation, they saw people in need and they helped."
Had she been a Jew at an Arab hospital, she said, she would likely have been thrown out to die.
She became friendly with the relatives of the Israeli soldiers in the hospital and, as she grew to know them, she was impressed with their ardent desire for peace and ability to reach out to the enemy.
For the first time in her life, she experienced a human quality that she realized her culture would not have shown their enemy. "I experienced the values of the Israelis who were able to love their enemy in their most trying moments."
It dawned on her then that she had been sold lies by her country about Jews and Israel. "I was betrayed by my country and rescued by 'my enemy' Israel, the Jewish state that is under attack for its existence today."
She had to return to Lebanon to care for her aging parents but vowed that someday she would return to Israel. Two years later, she moved to Israel and, in 1984, began working there as a journalist.
Rising quickly to the position of news anchor for World News, an evening Arabic news broadcast for Middle East Television, she covered the Israeli security zone in Lebanon and the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank."
the article continues
"She married an American journalist and moved to the U.S., where she launched a TV production and advertising company.
After September 11, she founded American Congress for Truth, "I experienced the values of the Israelis who were able to love their enemy in their most trying moments."a non-profit educational organization devoted to motivating Americans to take action against terrorism and the threat radical Islamic fundamentalists pose to Western civilization. While 9/11 had a dramatic impact on most Americans, it struck a particularly sensitive chord with her. "It reminded me that the entire world is threatened by the same radical Islamic theology that succeeded in annihilating the 'infidels' in Lebanon."
Her inside information enlightens unsuspecting Western-thinking audiences. She has appeared on news and radio shows. She lectures all over the world, speaking in several different languages.
Today, she has a sister organization called ACT for America, also a non-profit political activism arm that has grown to 60,000 members and 270 local chapters across America.
Her books, part memoirs and part instructional manuals, "Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America" (St. Martins Press) and "They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It" (St. Martin's Press) were New York Times Best Sellers.
Although Gabriel speaks to many audiences throughout the world, she finds that her biggest fans are Orthodox Jews and Evangelical Christians, "who understand the reality of Arab hatred and don't care about political correctness," she said. "They stand up and cheer for anyone who states the case for the protection of Israel without apologizing for their love of Israel."
And what about her former neighbors back home in Lebanon? Most of them secretly applaud her efforts. Secretly, because if they expressed support for her or for Israel in public, they may be punished by the authorities. "Lebanon was torn and ruined by Muslim radicals. Even though the Christian Lebanese says things against Israel in public, inside their homes they cheer Israel on, hoping Israel will crush the Islamic fanatics. They would never dare express these views in public out of fear of death threats. They write me letters and thank me for speaking out, telling me that I am their voice."
From the website heritagefl.com an article is titled
"A little Lebanese-American Christian defends Israel at the UN"
By Christine DeSouza
the article says:
June 14, 2019
Brigitte Gabriel (holding her book "Rise: In Defense of Judeo-Christian Values and Freedom") with Dr. Daniel Layish at a recent ACT for America meeting held in Winter Springs, Fla.
"It only took Brigitte Gabriel 14 minutes to make her point as she gave a keynote speech addressing the rise of global anti-Semitism before the United Nations in September 2014. She received a standing ovation as she spoke out strongly for Israel.
Spring forward almost five years, and Gabriel, through her organization ACT for America, is still speaking out strongly for Israel, democracy and Judeo-Christian values. She was recently in Orlando to promote her new book, "Rise: In Defense of Judeo-Christian Values and Freedom," in which she pointed out several of the points mentioned at the U.N. talk.
During her U.N. speech, Gabriel defined the "3Ds of anti-Semitism" introduced by Natan Sharansky more than 10 years earlier: demonization, double standard and delegitimization.
Demonization, she explained, is making bizarre claims that have no basis in reality. For example, the assertions that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.
"If they are committing genocide against the Palestinans, why has the Palestinian population increased more than 600 percent since 1948?" she asked. "Israel must be the most incompetent mass murderer in the history of the world!"
When Israel is held to a standard that no other country would be expected to meet, that is a double standard and it is anti-Semitism.
Gabriel stated firmly, "The United Nations has spent years investigating Israel, while glossing over or ignoring massive and continuous human rights violations in Iran, Cuba and China to name only a few."
Delegitimization is to assert that the Jewish people do not have a right to statehood. "Israel has an historic and moral right to exist as a Jewish State. To deny the connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is antisemitism in its purest form."
Gabriel then laid into ISIS and Hamas.
"ISIS persecutes and kills members of every religion, ethnicity, nationalist community they encounter. They mean to terrorize anyone who does not submit to their version of Islam," Gabriel emphatically stated.
Hamas has been waging the same war against Israel for decades. The only difference between Hamas and ISIS, Gabriel said, is that ISIS seeks a worldwide caliphate, while Hamas is focused on the destruction of Israel. Hamas' charter says clearly "Israel will exist and continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it."
Quoting from the Ibn Hanbal compilation of hadith, Gabriel said, "The day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews. ... Stone and trees will say 'there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."
To which she proclaimed, "There is only one problem, in Israel Jews don't hide behind stones and trees. In Israel, Jews stand up and defend themselves. Israel has learned that if someone repeatedly says they will kill you, Israel knows they mean it-the world is just now learning this."
Gabriel encouraged "the civilized world" to band together in solidarity. The goal: to ensure that people of all faiths can live in peace and harmony and that Jews are never persecuted and victimized by barbaric ideologies."
the article continues:
""That Jews can walk in any street in the world with their head held high and say that Israel-the Jewish State and only democracy in the Middle East-will continue to shine as a beacon of light in the darkest region of the world."
In Orlando, Gabriel spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of Christians and Jews about Israel, terrorism and immigration.
With more than 1 million members, ACT educates people about the worldwide threats by ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, the PLO, Boko Haram and any group that will kill those who do not follow their beliefs.
Gabriel has experienced terrorism. Caught in the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s, she lived in a bomb shelter for seven years-from the age of 11 to 17-enduring the attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization. When her mother became ill, Gabriel took her to a hospital in Israel. She was shocked to see Israeli doctors caring for injured Palestinians.
"The doctors did not see religion, nationality, political affiliation. They saw people in need," she told Heritage. "As I got to know about the Jews and their love for life and humanity, I learned how the Jews learned in the Torah how to make the world a better place-Tikkun Olam. That's what drives the Jewish soul, to love people."
Years later, Gabriel immigrated to the United States and became a citizen. She felt safe-until Sept. 11, 2001. After the world saw the planes fly into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, she knew she wasn't safe even in America.
Her 10-year-old daughter asked her the same question she had asked her father in Lebanon, when she was the same age: "Why would they do this to us?" Her answer was the same as her father's: "Because we are Christians. The Muslims consider us infidels and they want to kill us."
It was then Gabriel decided to do something about this hatred and founded ACT for America in 2007. Since then, she addressed the United Nations, members of the U.S. Congress, the Joint Forces Staff College, the FBI and other groups educating and encouraging people to act to stand up against the violence of radical Islam.
ACT has been misconstrued as a hate group. When Heritage asked her about that, Gabriel replied, "You bet your bippy we are a hate group! We hate murderers, pedophiles, those who kill innocent people as at the Pulse night club, mistreat and hang gay people, and perform female genital mutilation."
ACT for America is not a hate group. The website has a non-discrimination, anti-violence police that states: "ACT for America has never, and will never, tolerate any bias, discrimination, or violence against anyone, based on their religion, gender, race, or political persuasion."
ACT for America has also been called anti-Muslim. Gabriel does not point a finger at the 60 percent of American Muslims living peacefully within their communities. She zeroes in on radical Islam that is attempting to destroy our Judeo-Christian values.
Mohamad Tawhidi, an Iranian-Australian Muslim religious leader and Islamic reformer, who is president of the Islamic Association of South Australia, supports ACT's endeavors. He has spoken in support of ACT in Seattle and Virginia Beach and endorsed Gabriel's book "Rise," saying: "Brigitte Gabriel is an icon of American Bravery. Her courageous stands in the face of corruption stiffen the spines of American patriots who want to see their beloved country excel and advance in the best ways possible."
Gabriel is concerned about Americans who will not see the problem-hiding heads in the sand, pretending a problem does not exist or too afraid to be labeled "Islamophobics" when addressing the real cause-radical Islamism."
The article lastly says
""When in the world did you ever see any problem disappearing because people sat along the sidelines and waited for the problem to go away?" she asked."
And Remember this upcoming 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, all American Christian, Jewish and other Pro-Israel people should Vote for Donald Trump !!!! Granted Trump isn't perfect, and yes he has made mistakes at times, No one is perfect, but Donald Trump is Far Far Better for Israel, America and the World that Joe Biden and the Democrats,
Yes to Trump, No to Joe Biden and the Democrats
From www.barnesandnoble.com Another book that looks worth reading is
"Racing Against History: The 1940 Campaign for a Jewish Army to Fight Hitler"
by Rick Richman
Overview
"Racing Against History is the stunning story of three powerful personalities who sought in 1940 to turn the tide of history. David Ben-Gurion, Vladimir Jabotinsky, and Chaim Weizmann—the leaders of the left, right, and center of Zionism—undertook separate missions that year to America, then frozen in isolationism, to seek support for a Jewish army to fight Hitler.
Their efforts were at once heroic and tragic. The book presents a portrait of three historic figures and the American Jewish community—at the beginning of the most consequential decade in modern Jewish history—and a cautionary tale about divisions within the Jewish community at a time of American isolationism.
Based on previously unpublished materials, the book sheds new light on Zionism in America and the history of World War II, and it aims to stimulate discussion about the evolving relationship between Israel and American Jews, as the Jewish State approaches its 70th anniversary under the continuing threat of annihilation.
A book for general readers, history buffs and academics alike, it includes 75 pages of End Notes that enable readers to pursue the stunning story in further depth."
From Gatestoneinstitute.org an article is titled
"Arabs Are Fed Up With the 'Ungrateful' Palestinians"
by Khaled Abu Toameh
August 19, 2020
"It is stupid to burn my country's flag and want me to salute you." — Dr. Waseem Yousef, Emirati academic, on Twitter.
"When I see the flag of my country being burned by some Palestinians because of the peace treaty with Israel – I apologize to every Israeli man if I offended him in the past." — Dr. Waseem Yousef.
"Imagine that in just 17 years, Saudi Arabia paid [the Palestinians] $6 billion and the UAE $2.5 billion. This means that in 40 years, we are talking about no less than $20 billion. I expect that had we spent this money on Israel, its people would have converted to Islam." — From a UAE-affiliated account on Twitter.
The Palestinian leaders' strong condemnation of the UAE and other Arab states that support normalization with Israel has also driven many Arabs to raise the issue of financial corruption of the Palestinian leadership. Some Gulf citizens pointed out that the personal fortunes of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal are worth at least $9 billion, while others claimed that Mahmoud Abbas's personal wealth is estimated at $200 million.
Scenes of Palestinians burning and trampling flags of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and pictures of its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed, have sparked a wave of protests in a number of Arab countries. Pictured: Palestinians in Ramallah burn pictures of Bin Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on August 15, 2020. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
Scenes of Palestinians burning and trampling flags of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and pictures of its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed, have sparked a wave of protests in a number of Arab countries. Their citizens are accusing the Palestinians of ingratitude, treason and hypocrisy.
The powerful reactions of many Arabs to the Palestinian campaign of incitement against the UAE -- after its agreement establish relations with Israel -- are yet another sign of the increased disillusionment in the Arab world with the Palestinians.
The message the Arabs are sending to the Palestinians is roughly, "We are fed up with you and your cause. You people are ungrateful, hypocritical and vindictive. Decade after decade, we pumped billions of dollars into your coffers -- and now you have the arrogance to burn our flags and pictures of our leaders and hurl insults at us."
the article continues
"As Emirati academic Dr. Waseem Yousef wrote on Twitter: "It is stupid to burn my country's flag and want me to salute you." In other posts, Yousef commented on the Israel-UAE deal: "When I see the flag of my country being burned by some Palestinians because of the peace treaty with Israel – I apologize to every Israeli man if I offended him in the past."
Yousef also wrote: "The happiness of the Israeli people with the peace agreement shocked me. I was not expecting it – the peoples want peace".
Most of the Arabs who feel offended and betrayed by the Palestinians are citizens of the UAE and Saudi Arabia who have taken to social media outlets and other platforms to express their disgust with the Palestinians and their Palestinian Authority and Hamas leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Two popular anti-Palestinian hashtags that have been trending on Twitter in recent months are called: "To Hell With You And Your Cause" and "Palestine Is Not My Cause."
The hashtags, managed by citizens of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are basically telling the Palestinians that the Arabs are fed up with them and their failed leaders. The UAE and Saudi citizens are also using the social media posts to express outrage over the Palestinians' growing incitement against several Arab states and their leaders, particularly concerning readiness of some Arabs to normalize their relations with Israel.
"Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were the most powerful supporters of Palestine," noted one of the UAE-affiliated accounts on Twitter. "Imagine that in just 17 years, Saudi Arabia paid [the Palestinians] $6 billion and the UAE $2.5 billion. This means that in 40 years, we are talking about no less than $20 billion. I expect that had we spent this money on Israel, its people would have converted to Islam."
"We spent on the Palestinians what is equivalent of the budgets of five African countries, and in the end they cursed us and accused us of being traitors," replied another UAE-affiliated social media user, referring to charges by Palestinian leaders that the UAE has "betrayed Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem and Palestine" by agreeing to establish relations with Israel.
A number of Saudi and Emirati political activists and academics seized the opportunity to remind the world of the Palestinians' previous meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries, specifically Jordan and Lebanon.
The activists and academics reminded the Palestinians and other Arabs of the PLO's involvement in the 1970 Jordanian crisis, also known as Black September, when the Jordanian Armed Forces clashed with PLO members who were acting as a state within a state in the kingdom.
Tensions between the PLO and the Jordanians reached a peak in September 1970. A week after the failed assassination of King Hussein on September 1, four airliners were hijacked by the PLO's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), prompting the Jordanian government to declare martial law in the kingdom. In the next few weeks, heavy fighting erupted between the Palestinians and the Jordanian army. By the summer of 1971, all Palestinian forces had been expelled from Jordan to Lebanon."
& lastly says
"They Saudis and Emiratis also reminded everyone of the role the PLO played in the Lebanese civil war, which erupted in 1975 and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.
"On April 13, 1975, a series of skirmishes started when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) guerrillas on a bus fired weapons as they passed a church," according to Calude Salhani, a columnist for The Arab Weekly.
"When they refused to be diverted by [Christian] Phalangist militias directing traffic, an altercation took place in which the PLO bus driver was killed. Some time later, unidentified gunmen approached the church in two cars and opened fire, killing four people. That date is now considered the start of the civil war. A major contributor was religion. Another was the presence of heavily armed Palestinian commandos."
The Arab political activists and academic did not forget to call out the Palestinians for their biggest betrayal of all Arabs: Supporting Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
According to some studies, hundreds of Palestinians joined the Iraqi security forces' newly established "popular army" in Kuwait and assisted in the oppression of the Kuwaiti people.
"During the day, the Palestinians hurl insults at the Gulf and accuse the Arabs of selling out [to Israel], but at night these Palestinians go to work in Jewish bars," according to another comment posted under the hashtag "To Hell With You And Your Cause."
Several Gulf citizens have expressed gratitude to Israeli policemen who stopped Palestinians from burning UAE flags and photos of Bin Zayed during Friday prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"A thousand greetings to our [Jewish] cousins," commented Gulf citizen Adnan al-Ameri in response to a video showing Israeli policemen preventing Palestinians from trampling on a poster of Bin Zayed. "By God, they [the Israeli policemen] are more honorable than some of the [Palestinian] homeless. A video that deserves to be retweeted with full force."
The Palestinian leaders' strong condemnation of the UAE and other Arab states that support normalization with Israel has also driven many Arabs to raise the issue of financial corruption of the Palestinian leadership. Some Gulf citizens pointed out that the personal fortunes of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal are worth at least $9 billion, while others claimed that Mahmoud Abbas's personal wealth is estimated at $200 million.
A public opinion poll published last year showed that 80% of Palestinians feel that they have been abandoned by the Arab countries. Judging from the reactions of many Arabs to the Palestinian campaign of incitement against Arab governments seeking peace with Israel, it is safe to assume that this percentage will increase sharply.
The Palestinians are good at making enemies, and this time it seems that they have been wildly successful in earning both the wrath and the disgust of a large number of Arabs. At this rate, the Palestinians will soon wake up to discover that they have more support in China and Europe than in their own backyard"
More Ugly Truth about the UN,
from the website bbc.com an article is titled
"UN staff in Israel sex-act video suspended without pay"
2 July 2020
The UN has been under scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct in recent years
The United Nations has placed two of its workers on unpaid leave over allegations of sexual misconduct in an official car in Israel.
The men were filmed in a UN-marked vehicle on a main street by Tel Aviv's seafront.
In the video, a woman in a red dress is seen straddling a man in the back seat of the car.
The UN launched an investigation into the 18-second video after it was shared widely on social media last month.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN's secretary general, said he was "shocked and deeply disturbed" by the footage.
Now the UN says the men in the video have been identified as staff members of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), UN military observers based in Israel.
The two staff members have been suspended without pay until the investigation into the incident has concluded.
Mr Dujarric told the BBC on Thursday their suspension was appropriate "given the seriousness of the allegations of failing to observe the standards of conduct expected of international civil servants".
"UNTSO has re-engaged in a robust awareness-raising campaign to remind its personnel of their obligations to the UN Code of Conduct," Mr Dujarric said.
Third of UN workers sexually harassed
UN peacekeepers sexual abuse cases rise
The UN has strict policies against sexual misconduct by its staff members.
Staff may be disciplined if they are found to be in breach of conduct rules. They may be repatriated or banned from UN peacekeeping operations, but it is the responsibility of their home nation to take further disciplinary or legal action.
The UN says it has "zero tolerance" for sexual misconduct within its ranks
The UN has long been under scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct by its peacekeepers and other staff. There have been frequent allegations in recent years.
In 2019, there were 175 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against UN staff members, a report said. Of those allegations, 16 were substantiated, 15 were unsubstantiated and all others were still being investigated.
Secretary General António Guterres has pledged to take a "zero-tolerance" approach to sexual misconduct within the UN's ranks." Many other articles about this can be found online, Google it
From the website dw.com an article dated August 18, 2020
the article is titled
"German and Israeli jets mark first joint flyover, honor Holocaust victims"
The memorial event marks the first time ever that Israeli fighter jets have performed such an exercise on German soil. The Luftwaffe chief has called the joint operation "a sign of our friendship today."
Israeli and German planes fly over Fürstenfeldbruck
Israeli Air Force (IAF) pilots and their German counterparts honored Holocaust victims with a flyover of Dachau concentration camp on Tuesday.
The symbolic event was the first time ever that Israeli airforces have trained in Germany and is part of a two-week program of manoeuvres.
Aircraft, including Israeli Air Force F-16s and Eurofighter jets from the German Luftwaffe, also flew over the nearby Fürstenfeldbruck airbase to commemorate the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics that left 11 Israeli athletes, and one German policeman, dead.
Read more: 1972 Munich Olympics massacre - an avoidable catastrophe?
It is the only training exercise the IAF is carrying out abroad this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Luftwaffe chief Ingo Gerhartz described the joint effort as "a sign of our friendship today."
He said in an official statement that it was also a reminder that Germany has a responsibility "to fight anti-Semitism with the utmost consistency" because of its Nazi history.
Donald Greenbaum (right), who was among those who liberated Dachau at the time, met former Dachau prisoner Ernest Gross (left) at the memorial in Liberty State Park, New Jersey in 2015. (picture-alliance/dpa/Ch. Melzer)
WHAT US SOLDIERS FOUND AT DACHAU
Touching reunions in the USA
Years after the Second World War, former US soldiers who were present during the liberation of the concentration camp in 1945 met with former prisoners. Donald Greenbaum (right), who was among those who liberated Dachau at the time, met former Dachau prisoner Ernest Gross (left) at the memorial in Liberty State Park, New Jersey in 2015.
Author: Heike Mund (sh)
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Read more: Israeli Air Force jets land in Germany for first time
Over 200,000 people from across Europe were imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp, some 25 kilometers to the north of Munich, during World War II. Roughly 41,500 people lost their lives at the camp.
The Israeli jets arrived at the Nörvenich airbase near the western German city of Cologne on Monday. "The six F-16 aircraft are taking part in the BlueWings2020 and MAGDAYs exercises over the next two weeks," the German Air Force said on Twitter.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Israeli Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff will join the team to take part in the subsequent memorial service." Many More Articles about this can be found online, Google it
From the website, oneforisrael.org an article is titled
"Can A Nation Be Born In A Day? Celebrating Israel’s Independence Day"
By ONE FOR ISRAEL Staff
"There are two very significant days for Israel that come right after each other – a day of mourning followed by a day of rejoicing. First there is the annual Memorial Day for all those who have died in Israel’s struggle to exist, either in the armed forces or as a result of terrorism. It is a day of solemn recognition that there have been many casualties in the birth and continued existence of the State of Israel. As it often seems to be in the Jewish way of life, the bitter and the sweet are juxtaposed – almost without time to catch a breath. The following day is Israel’s Independence Day, when the nation breaks out into a huge party to celebrate its reestablishment after a 2000 year exile.
The Sound of Sirens
The Jewish day starts the evening of the day before… so Memorial Day officially begins in the evening at 20:00, with a siren that lasts for one minute, and a ceremony at the Western Wall. The next morning at 11:00, a siren will wail throughout the land for two minutes, and everybody will stop what they are doing and stand in silence. Even people driving on highways will get pull over and get out of their car in memory of all those who have perished. 23,816 have been killed in the line of duty leaving many thousands of families bereaved, and at least 3,150. civilians have died as a result of terror attacks.1 There are services to commemorate those who have fallen and to honour their memory. Then later that very evening, the mood shifts 180 degrees, and celebration erupts on the streets for Independence day.
Miracle Birth
The British began to remove their troops towards the end of April 1948. On May 14 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, announced the formation of the new state of Israel. He said,
“The Nazi Holocaust, which engulfed millions of Jews in Europe, proved anew the urgency of the reestablishment of the Jewish State, which would solve the problem of Jewish homelessness by opening the gates to all Jews and lifting the Jewish people to equality in the family of nations.”2
Ben Gurion saw the horrors of the Holocaust as paving the way to the birth of a Jewish State, and he was not alone in making such a suggestion. Would the miracle of the recreation of Israel ever have happened without such an atrocity on a scale that we can still barely comprehend? These questions are impossible for earth-bound humanity to answer, but again, we see the closely bound bitter and sweet, almost too close for comfort.
And what was a day of astonishing joy for the Jewish people was also a day of sorrow and anguish for the Arabs who suddenly no longer owned the land they had been living in for generations. Again, joy and pain uncomfortably closely together. Whilst we can rejoice in God’s fulfilled promises and a new start for Israel, we also know that this day is not an easy one for all of her inhabitants. God still cares deeply for all the peoples of this area and seeks to give them their blessing, hope and salvation. Whilst many Arab Christians will struggle with celebrating this day, there are numbers of Arab believers who truly rejoice in God’s physical restoration of Israel, and seek her spiritual restoration promised in the scripture. This too, is a miracle, and the handiwork of an awesome God."
the article continues
"For God had determined that he would regather his people and plant them back in the land he had chosen for them. And he promised that it would happen in one day flat:
“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. Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.” (Isaiah 66:8-10)
The Amplified Bible notes about this verse give this comment:
“Never in the history of the world had such a thing happened before–but God keeps His word. As definitely foretold here and in Ezekiel 37:21, 22, Israel became a recognized nation, actually “born in one day.”
After being away from their homeland for almost 2,000 years, the Jews were given a national homeland in Palestine by the Balfour Declaration in November, 1917. In 1922, the League of Nations gave Great Britain the mandate over Palestine. On May 14, 1948, Great Britain withdrew her mandate, and immediately Israel was declared a sovereign state, and her growth and importance among nations became astonishing.”
Worth The Wait
“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:3
The church fathers struggled to know how to interpret the numerous references to Israel after hundreds of years had gone by, and the nation of Israel was apparently no more. After the destruction of the temple, the Jewish people were scattered far and wide, and with every passing century it seemed less and less likely that the situation would, or could, ever change. How to make sense of those promises for this nation that seemed to have disappeared for good? The solution they landed upon was to claim all the references and promises should be transferred to the church. Israel had rejected the Messiah, so God had rejected them, and now the church must surely be the true Israel.
“I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means!”
Paul strongly rejects this way of thinking in Romans 11, but it’s easy to see why it did look like a forlorn situation. You and I have the privilege denied to millions of believers who have lived and died before us – we know that this prophecy has indeed finally come to pass. We can know that God’s promises to Israel still stand.
God promised to regather the exiles from the four corners of the earth and he promised to reestablish Israel. It just took an awfully long time. People gave up and got confused during the wait. What a great reminder this is for us to hold on to God’s promises and not give up! Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come."
From the website, blogs.timesofisrael.com an article is titled
"Note to the EU and UN: The Palestinian leopard does not change its spots"
JUL 27, 2020, the article says:
"In 1948 the independent state of Israel was declared. The armies of several Arab armies invaded what was mandatory Palestine, intended to be the Jewish homeland under the San Remo Agreement. Much of Samaria and Judea was captured by the British officered, trained and supplied Trans-Jordanian forces. In 1949 cease fires were declared and armistice agreements entered into between Israel and several Arab states.
Trans-Jordan itself changed its name to Jordan and then renamed the captured area of Samaria and Judea as the West Bank. For the first time in its history, Jerusalem was divided. The Jordanians expelled the ancient Jewish community from the Jewish quarter of the Old City. The Holy Places, being the Western Wall, Rachel`s Tomb and the Temple Mount, were all held by Jordan and Jews and Israelis were not permitted access to their Holy Places despite provisions explicitly permitting access in the armistice agreement. In the Old City, now held by Jordan, 58 synagogues were destroyed and the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives desecrated. Egypt controlled and administered Gaza. The lines (not borders) between Jordan, Egypt and Syria and Israel were set out with a green pen in Armistice Agreements – hence the term “green lines” – without prejudice to the rights, claims and positions of either Israel or Jordan.
In 1967, the above areas were retaken by Israeli forces and Jews were again able to live in areas populated by Jews before their expulsion by Jordan in 1948 and Jews again had access to their Holy Places.
It is the return of Jews to the 6.4 km2 of the Old City of Jerusalem, the re-establishment of Jewish populations in Area C of the West Bank and the unification of Jerusalem (some may add Areas A & B as well; this aspect is not the subject of this article) which is generally referred to, as the “Israeli occupation”.
Since 1967, there has been considerable violence between the Palestinians and Israel. Most critics of Israel take the view “The cycle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians is triggered by the dynamics of the Israeli occupation”.
the article continues
"As shown above, there was no “Israeli occupation” between 1948 and 1967. Thus, according to this theme and outlook, since there was no “Israeli occupation”, these were the years of tranquility and Paradise Regained. The EU and the UN demand of Israel to return to the 1949 armistice lines so that peace and calm in the Middle East would be restored and the Israel – Arab conflict be deemed resolved. After all, the atmosphere in the Middle East before 5 June 1967 was idyllic. For the EU and UN, there was actually no good reason in 1967 for the UN to withdraw troops, for the Egyptians to impose a blockade on Eilat and for Egypt and Syria, subsequently joined by Jordan, to threaten Israel. Let`s just restore 4 June 1967 lines and all the “problems” will be resolved. It is really so simple.
Except that it is not. There was no “Israeli occupation” between 1949 and 1967, not of the West Bank and not of “Eastern Jerusalem”. Al Aqsa was not under any Israeli “threat”. Yet despite the absence of “Israeli occupation”, there were regular and frequent attacks on Israel from the West Bank and Gaza by fedayeen (until 1964) during those years. The fedayeen made strenuous efforts to infiltrate territory in Israel in order to strike Israeli targets in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. John Bagot Glubb, the high-ranking British army general who commanded Jordan`s Arab Legion, explained in his autobiographical history of the period A Soldier with the Arabs how he convinced the Legion to arm and train the fedayeen for free. In short, the “fedayeen” was an armed force, trained and armed by the UK, today still a member of the EU, acting through the Jordanian Arab Legion.
In 1964 the Palestinian Liberation Organization was established and issued its charter for the “liberation” of territory. EU and UN – any guess where? After all, there was no “Israeli occupation”. The area to be liberated was not the area known as the West Bank, occupied by Jordan and available to the Palestinians, nor Gaza, occupied by Egypt and available to the Palestinians but rather the area known as the State of Israel."
& continues
"January 1st, every year is party time in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It’s not the new year which is being celebrated annually with massive demonstrations replete with trampled American, British and Israeli flags and kids toting guns – it’s the anniversary of Fatah’s first attack against Israel. 2015 was a particular milestone in this regard: 50 years since Fatah`s first attack in Israel, against Israel’s water carrier, on January 1st, 1965 – when there was no “Israeli occupation” as defined by the EU and the UN.
In this respect, the enduring celebration of Fatah Day each year provides us all with an important glimpse into the mindset of Palestinian society and its leaders. It should open the eyes of all, particularly critics of Israel`s “occupation” and even the blind EU and UN. It should sweep away any illusions that might still exist about the ultimate aims of the Palestinian “national liberation movement.” Violence has nothing to do with the “Israeli occupation” but with the fact of Israel`s existence. Not only that, but Fatah Day serves as a timely reminder that fedayeen started attacking Israel in 1949 and Palestinian terrorists began attacking Israel in 1965, more than two years before the June 1967 Six Day War, when Israel regained the West Bank as well as the eastern part of Jerusalem.
In other words, the Palestinian struggle against Israel, which is supposedly all about the “occupied territories,” is in fact much earlier, broader and even more sinister. The absence of “occupied territories” did not provide Israel with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force. The violence and terrorism are aimed at the very existence of the Jewish state. The aim of the violence is Existential, not Territorial. And this is why there is no peace. Not because Israelis choose to live in Gush Etziyon or in Hebron or the Old City of Jerusalem, but because Israelis and Jews are not wanted, not in “Palestine”, not in Iraq, not in Libya, not in Algeria and in fact, not anywhere in the Arab world. In and immediately following 1948, 870,000 Jews were ethnically cleansed from most Arab countries. None have been permitted to return.
At least, Hamas is open and honest on its intentions. Its charter calls for Jews to be killed (article 7) and for Israel to be destroyed (in the preamble to the charter). The Palestinian Authority is more discrete but almost daily in its official media in Arabic, in its maps and in its educational system, violence is promoted, murderers are celebrated and there are calls for Israel to disappear."
& continues
"In short, in every single year between 1949, first fedayeen and from 1965 the PLO, attacked Israel murdering and injuring Israelis and destroying property. Between 1949 and 1967, there were about 3,000 incidents of cross-border violence/terrorism, extending from the malicious destruction of property to the brutal murder of civilians. This anti-Israeli violence encompassed both frontier villages and population centers, and was perpetrated, for the most part, against innocent civilians. Below is the list of 449 Israelis murdered in these years by fedayeen and the PLO during the years when there was no “Israeli occupation” and, according to the EU, the UN and others, as a result of which there simply could not have been in the Middle East`s Garden of Eden any “Palestinian Arab violence”.
1949 37
1950 52
1951 41
1952 40
1953 46
1954 41
1955 30
1956 53
1957 19
1958 15
1959 10
1960 11
1961 8
1962 10
1963 7
1964 9
1965 10
1966 10
Total 449
Since 1967, the attacks have continued. In Judea and Samaria alone, in 2019, 2018 and 2017 there were 34, 55 and 82 respectively significant terrorist attacks with 5, 12 and 18 respectively Israelis being killed. In addition, Israel thwarted 560 significant violent attacks in 2019 alone. Gaza borders Israel along the famous 1967 lines demanded by the UN and EU. The 1967 lines did not prevent 1,403, 1,119 and 29 rockets and mortars being fired from Gaza in 2019, 2018 and 2017 respectively. Since 2001, from within the 1967 lines, Hamas has fired about 20,000 rockets at southern Israel despite the absence of any territorial dispute regarding Gaza. The UN and the EU, with their representatives and High Commissioners always attacking Israel, have said nothing and done nothing to prevent, or even criticize, these attacks. Again, silence means consent."
the article lastly says
"A note to the EU and UN: The Palestinians have no dispute with Israel relating to territory. A “two state solution” was available every day of the year for 18 years between 1949 and 1967. The attacks on Israel between 1949 and 1967 took place at a time when there was no “Israeli occupation”, no settlements, not one Jew in Eastern Jerusalem or the West Bank and Gaza and with Jewish visits to Jewish Holy Sites prohibited. Since 2005 attacks take place from Palestinian Gaza although located within the 1967 lines and without any Israeli occupation or Jews in Gaza. These attacks evidence that the dispute relates not to territory or “Israeli occupation” but to the very existence of a Jewish State.
It is clear that the violence of the Palestinians has nothing to do with territory or the dynamics of occupation or a two state solution but with the desire of both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for Israel to “disappear”.
The UN calls to find a mutually agreeable framework for the parties to re-engage. The EU calls for a solution based on international parameters (whatever that may mean). The time has come for the UN and the EU to recognize that the only parameter and framework relevant to Israel are that the Palestinian leopard has not, and apparently cannot and will not, change its spots. Both pre-1967 and post 1967, the Palestinian policy is for violence and terrorism against Israel`s very existence. The policies of the EU and UN strongly promote the Palestinians needing to be rewarded for their anti-Israel terrorism and violence since 1949. Israel is accordingly entitled to take such action as it deems necessary for its security and the safety of its citizens without reference to the UN or the EU. Under the circumstances, it is for Israel, and Israel alone, to determine, implement and control its secure and safe borders." that article was by Charles Abelsohn , Don't fall for the
Countless Anti-Israel LIES being told all over the Internet & Social Media,TV & Newspapers, while Israel isn't Perfect, it's Not the Aggressor in the Mideast,
From the website, edition.cnn.com an article is titled
"This is not just ammonium nitrate," former CIA operative says of explosion" on August 5, 2020 the article says
"Robert Baer, a former CIA operative with extensive experience in the Middle East, said videos of Tuesday's blast showed that while ammonium nitrate may have been present in the warehouse, he does not believe it was responsible for the massive explosion that ensued.
Initial reports blamed the blast on a major fire at a warehouse for firecrackers near the port, according to Lebanese state news agency NNA.
Lebanon's Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, later said that 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years at a port warehouse without safety measures, "endangering the safety of citizens," according to a statement.
Baer said he thinks that there were military munitions and propellants present. He speculated it could have been a weapons cache, but it's unclear who it belongs to.
"It was clearly a military explosive," he said. "It was not fertilizer like ammonium nitrate. I'm quite sure of that."
"You look at that orange ball (of fire), and it's clearly, like I said, a military explosive."
Baer noted that white powder seen in the videos of the incident before the major blast are likely an indicator that ammonium nitrate was present and burning. He also noticed a lot of munitions going off ahead of the larger explosion.
No evidence of an attack: Baer said while he believes the explosion does not look like solely ammonium nitrate, there's still no evidence that this was an attack. The government has blamed poor management and vowed to get to the bottom of it.
"It almost looks like an accident," he said. "It was incompetence, and maybe it was corruption, but the question is whether it was military explosives, who was it going to or why was it stored there?"
Baer isn't confident we'll ever know the truth.
"I've worked in Lebanon for years, and no one is going to want to admit they kept military explosives at the port. It's a stupid thing to do."
Investigation launched: Prime Minister Diab's account appeared to be backed by Lebanon's General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, who said a "highly explosive material" had been confiscated years earlier and stored in the warehouse, just minutes' walk from Beirut's shopping and nightlife districts.
The Prime Minister has launched an investigation into the explosion, saying he "will not rest until we find those responsible for what happened, hold them accountable, and impose maximum punishment."
As yet, there is no clear evidence to suggest the source of the blast."
From the website Shamrak.com an article is titled
"Ethnicity of so-Called Palestinians."
Extracts from: “Bosnia - Motherland of "Palestinians" by Manfred R. Lehmann and “Palestinians ‘Peoplehood’ Based on a Big Lie” by Eli E. Hertz.
Arab Palestinian nationality (which was officially forged in 1964) is an entity defined by its opposition to Zionism (the Jewish national liberation movement) and not by its national aspirations.
Like a mantra, Arabs repeatedly claim that the Palestinians are a native people of Israel. The concept of a ‘Stateless Palestinian people’ is not based on fact. It is a fabrication! The following is a chronology of an ethnic makeup of so-called Palestinians and their origin.
During Ottoman Empire.
Until the Jews began returning to the Land of Israel in increasing numbers from the late 19th century, the area called Palestine was a God-forsaken backwash that was controlled by the Ottoman Empire.
1880-84 Turkish government settles Muslim Cherkesians refugees in the Golan to ward off Bedouin robbers. Other settlers in the area include Sudanese, Algerians, Kurds...
In 1878, an Ottoman law granted lands in Palestine to the Moslem refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Carmel region, in the Galilee and in the Plain of Sharon and in Caesarea. The refugees were further attracted by l2-year tax exemptions and exemption from military service.
The same colonization policy was also directed toward Moslem refugees from Russia - particularly from the Crimea and the Caucasus. They were Cherkesians and Turkmens - leading to their settling in Abu Gosh, near Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights. Refugees from Algeria and Egypt were also settled in Jaffa, Gaza, Jericho and the Golan.
British Mandate: 1917-1947
1923 Having discovered the Golan lacks oil but that the Mosul area in northern Syria is rich in oil, the British cede the Golan to France in exchange for Mosul. At the same time the Trans-Jordan was ceded from Palestinian mandate as well and Egypt was given control of Sinai, Britian and France gain control of the Suez Canal. (82% of Jewish land was sacrificed in the process!)
In 1934 alone, 30,000 Syrian Arabs from the Hauran moved across the northern frontier into Mandate Palestine, attracted by work in and around the newly built British port and the construction of other infrastructure projects. They even dubbed Haifa Um el-Amal (‘the city of work’).
The Ottoman Turks’ census (1882) recorded only 141,000 Muslims in the Palestinian. The British census in 1922 reported 650,000 Muslims."
From the website manfredlehmann.com the article titled
"Bosnia—Motherland Of "Palestinians"
"The current turmoil in former Yugoslavia cannot be understood without knowledge of the region's long history of Balkan wars, ethnic strife, religious persecution and violence. The curious aspect about all this is the existence of a Moslem pocket in the heart of Europe, and how Bosnia came to be the origin of many of today's "Palestinians."
Bosnia, in ancient times, was a Roman province called Illyricum; Christianity was introduced in the Middle Ages. For centuries Bosnia was a football between Hungary, Turkey and Serbia, which fought each other in unending bloody wars. In 1386 Turkey invaded Bosnia. In line with the tenets of Islam, the entire population was forced into conversion. The Pope in Rome preached in favor of war against the Turks, with little immediate effect. But from 1691 on, when Turkey was expelled from Transylvania, Turkey lost one area after another, until in l 878, at the Congress of Berlin, dominated by Otto von Bismarck of Germany, Turkey lost Bosnia to Austria. The result was a stream of Moslem refugees pouring out of Bosnia looking for haven in the Ottoman Empire, because—just as today—the Christian Serbs who had been suppressed brutally by the Moslems were out to take bloody vengeance on the Moslem Bosnians in an effort to settle very old accounts.
This migration of Moslem refugees marked a very important historic milestone in the history of Palestine. The Ottoman rulers adopted a policy of Moslem colonization. In 1878, an Ottoman law granted lands in Palestine to the Moslem refugees from Bosnia. In the Carmel region, in the Galilee, in the Plain of Sharon and in Caesarea, lands were distributed to the Moslem refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The refugees were further attracted by l2-year tax exemptions and exemption from military service.
The same colonization policy as for Bosnian Moslem refugees was also directed toward Moslem refugees from Russia—particularly from Georgia, the Crimea and the Caucasus, called Circassians and Turkmenians—leading to their settling in Abu Gosh, near Jerusalem, and in the Golan Heights. Refugees from Algeria and Egypt were also settled in Jaffa, Gaza, Jericho and the Golan.
Thus, the often-repeated Arab claim that the Palestinians are the descendants of the ancient Canaanites is just a lie. A hundred years ago many of them lived in Europe and other countries outside Palestine. The Jews, however, have had an uninterrupted presence in the Land of Israel during the 3500 years of our history. Clearly, our claim has much more validity and strength. It is not too late for this historic truth to come out and dispel the heavy clouds of vicious propaganda and lies.
The close ties between Palestinian and Bosnian Muslims—also called "Bushnaks," their Arabic, Turkish name—was shown in World War II: The infamous mufti Hajj Amin el-Husseini, uncle of today's PLO member Faisal el-Husseini, set up an "Islamic Legion" consisting of Bushnaks to fight for Hitler. They wanted to help their Palestinian cousins by killing as many Jews as possible so that none would be left to emigrate to the land of Israel after the war.
Now that Bosnia is independent again, it should not take long before her fiercely militant Moslem President, Alija Izetbegovic, will invite the Bosnian Palestinians to return to their motherland!"
From the website israelhayom.com an article is titled
"Was the Beirut explosion intended for Israel?" on August 25, 2020
The stockpile of weapons-grade ammonium nitrate and the collateral damage it caused to the Beirut port may well have been earmarked for the Jewish state.
By Alex Traiman and JNS Published on 08-10-2020 09:02 Last modified: 08-10-2020 13:29
Lebanese confront devastation after massive Beirut explosion
The scene of last week's massive explosion at the Port of Beirut, Aug 5, 2020 (AP/Hussein Malla) | Photo: AP/Hussein Malla
Many of Israel's modern military accomplishments have defied all odds and logic. Surprise victories in Israel's War of Independence in 1948, Six-Day War in 1967 and Yom Kippur War in 1973 will forever stand among Israel's most miraculous and unlikely historical achievements.
Last week, as smoke and debris covers Beirut, Israel may have averted a disaster.
When a massive stockpile of weapons-grade ammonium nitrate exploded in the Beirut port on Aug. 4, it was without a doubt a tragedy of horrific proportions. At least 150 innocent civilians were killed and thousands more wounded. The damage to the city of Beirut, and to Lebanon's main seaport, will take years to repair.
Yet for Israel, there is one major consolation: The stockpile of ammonium nitrate and the collateral damage it caused may well have been earmarked for Israel.
While Israel and the rest of the international community have been offering humanitarian aid to Lebanon in the wake of one of the largest explosions since the Chernobyl nuclear reactor blew in 1986, the greatest aid to the people of Lebanon would be the complete disarmament and expulsion of Hezbollah.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (AP via the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran)
Israel should now be staunchly making the case to the international community that weapons in the hands of irresponsible actors – and particularly international terror organizations – can only end in the death of innocent civilians.
It was only one week prior to the massive explosion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a joint press conference following an attempt by Hezbollah to infiltrate Israel's northern border.
Netanyahu stated, "We take a grave view of this attempt to infiltrate our territory. Hezbollah and Lebanon bear full responsibility for this incident and any attack from Lebanese territory against Israel. Hezbollah should know that it is playing with fire."
When terrorists play with fire, the results are almost inevitably going to turn deadly.
Just several months ago, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency reportedly provided Germany with significant evidence of Hezbollah's weapons storage, including ammonium nitrate. It was this information that led Germany to formally ban Hezbollah from operating in its country.
Similarly, The Daily Telegraph revealed in 2019 that UK intelligence agencies, acting on a tip from a foreign intelligence service (the Mossad according to a senior Israeli official), found some three tons of ammonium nitrate in a raid on four London properties back in 2015. The ammonium nitrate was stored in thousands of disposable ice packs."
the article continues
"In 2019, the IDF published a video detailing Hezbollah's precision-guided missile program. It is currently estimated that Hezbollah has more than 150,000 mortars, rockets and missiles stockpiled for use against Israel.
Security experts have similarly indicated that it was an initial explosion of stockpiled weapons in an adjacent portside hangar that acted as the detonator for the large stockpile of ammonium nitrate.
In 2018, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting, Netanyahu called Hezbollah's stockpiling of weapons intended for Israel among Lebanese civilians "a double war crime."
In 2016, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a chilling speech indicating that an explosion of ammonium nitrate in Israel's Haifa port could carry the same explosive charge as a nuclear bomb.
A Hezbollah march in Nabatieh (AFP/Mahmoud Zayyat)
During the 34-day military conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, the terrorist organization fired approximately 4,000 rockets and missiles against Israel, at a rate of approximately 100 per day.
And Hezbollah has been using explosives to perpetrate terror attacks for decades. A bombing of American and French peacekeeping forces in 1983 killed 307. The explosive blast was reported to be the equivalent of more than 21,000 pounds of TNT.
Acting as a primary state-sponsored terror actor of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hezbollah has wreaked havoc across Lebanon and Syria, and remains the most lethal threat against Israeli population centers.
For the last several years, Iran has been consistently smuggling weapons to its terror proxy, via a land bridge across Iraq and Syria, through Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, and most notably through the Beirut seaport, where the ammonium nitrate was stored in a warehouse adjacent to the water.
While grieving over the deaths of innocent civilians, Israel must be extremely grateful that this stockpile was not detonated anywhere close to its own border. And now seeing firsthand how much damage can be caused by ammonium nitrate, one need only imagine the damage that could be caused should Iran successfully smuggle a nuclear weapon into Hezbollah's hands.
During the first Gulf War of 1991, Saddam Hussein fired 42 Scud missiles at Israel. During the barrage, only one Israeli reportedly died – of a heart attack due to a nearby explosion. The lack of damage to Israel was a phenomenon of miraculous proportions.
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That nearly 3,000 tons of weapons-grade ammonium nitrate likely earmarked for use against Israel will now never reach its intended target is a similar miracle.
Yet despite the severe damage caused by Hezbollah's "work accident," the stockpiling of weapons against Israel remains a grave threat. A campaign to fully disarm Hezbollah must be immediately launched.
For as long as Hezbollah continues to have missiles pointed at Israel, the Jewish state will live in constant fear of attack. Peace in the region will never be reached until Hezbollah is fully disarmed."
From the website JNS.org Another Good Article
"Puncturing the big lie of Palestinian identity" by Melanie Phillips
Their claim to be the rightful inheritors of the land represents one of the most successful, if fiendish, propaganda achievements ever to have been pulled off—to have persuaded millions of people that this ludicrous falsehood is an unchallengeable truth.
(August 29, 2019 / JNS) Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, recently claimed that the Palestinians were the descendants of the Canaanites. “This land is for its people, its residents and the Canaanites who were here 5,000 years ago—and we are the Canaanites!” he declared, vowing that every Israeli stone and house “built on our land” would end up “in the garbage dump of history.”
Any Western Palestinian supporter might have been left somewhat perplexed. After all, it’s an article of faith among those hostile to Israel that the indigenous inhabitants of the land are Palestinian Arabs who have been supplanted by Jewish occupiers.
Since Canaanites were said to have been conquered by the Jews, Abbas is laying claim to Canaanite ancestry to give the Palestinians a prior right to the land of Israel. But if they were actually Canaanites, then they can’t be Arabs, who many centuries later came, as the name implies, from the Arabian Peninsula, just as the Philistines, from whom in other moods the Palestinians also claim to have descended, came from Crete.
Abbas’s argument is, of course, ludicrous. The fact is that the Jews were the only people for whom the land of Israel was ever their national kingdom, several centuries before the creation of Islam.
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The Jews are the only extant indigenous people of the land. Palestinian identity was invented in the 1960s in order to destroy the Jews’ claim to Israel and airbrush them out of their own history.
From time to time, this inconvenient historical truth has been blurted out by Arabs themselves. In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: “There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented!”
the article continues
"In 1977, PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein said: “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity … Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism.”
In 2012, Palestinian minister Fathi Hammad said: “Brothers, half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis. Who are the Palestinians? We have many families called Al-Masri, whose roots are Egyptian. Egyptian! They may be from Alexandria, from Cairo, from Dumietta, from the North, from Aswan, from Upper Egypt. We are Egyptians. We are Arabs. We are Muslims.”
All of this has been totally ignored by Westerners who continue to promote the Palestinians’ fictitious identity. Now, however, a stunning if inadvertent acknowledgement of the truth has emerged from an unlikely source.
Nazmi al Jubeh, an associate professor of history and archaeology at Birzeit University outside Ramallah, told a U.N. conference last June that there was no evidence linking the Jews to Jerusalem.
Thus far, so predictably mendacious. But thanks to the Elder of Zion website, a piece has now surfaced written by al Jubeh in 2006 in which he demolished the myth of Palestinian identity and made plain that it was invented solely to destroy Zionism and Israel.
Not that he acknowledged the Jews’ own history in the land. He made correct but passing reference to the Romans renaming Judea as “Palestina” in order “to challenge the memory of the Jews” after the Romans put down “the Jewish rebellion.”
Yet he didn’t provide the context for this by explaining that the Romans had crushed the Jewish kingdom, which had existed for centuries before being conquered in turn by successive waves of colonial invaders."
the article continues
"Instead, he claimed that the “Palestinian Jews, an essential component of the Palestinian people, started at the beginning of the twentieth century to identify themselves with the Zionist movement, thus separating themselves from the rest of their own people … ”
Despite this egregious and absurd falsification of Jewish history, the striking element of al Jubeh’s account is his admission of what we know to be objectively true—that, from the earliest times, there was no Palestinian identity.
Those living in Palestine from the time of the Romans, he wrote, were “mostly part of a greater regional or international political entity, which usually housed several nations, ethnic groups and cultures.”
Similarly, today’s Palestinians, he wrote, “are the result of accumulated ethnic, racial, and religious groups, who once lived, conquered, occupied, and passed through this strip of land.
“Wars and invasions have never totally replaced the local population in any period of history; they rather added to, mixed with and reformulated the local identity. The Palestinian people are the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Jabousites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Aramaeans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Turks, the Crusaders, and the Kurds, who once settled, conquered, occupied or just passed through Palestine.”
What gave the Palestinians their identity, he said, was their “struggle” against Zionism and the State of Israel. “There is no way to understand this identity apart from the conflict.”
It became internationally recognized as “a symbol for liberation and for the anti-colonial struggle.” Only after the 1967 Six-Day War did the Palestinians start trying to flesh this out by self-consciously developing artistic expression, architecture and local history.
More sharply still, al Jubeh wrote that if the history of the region after the First World War had been different, the Palestinians may not have chosen a state in which to express their identity.
For decades, they marketed the conflict with Israel as “Arab-Israeli” and not as “Palestinian-Israeli.” The idea of a state of Palestine, he wrote, only emerged in the mid-1970s when Palestinian identity became politicized around the heavily promoted image of “a fighting nation seeking freedom.” This aspiration became the major vehicle in forming the Palestinians’ current sense of themselves.
In other words, Palestinian identity has no meaning except as a movement to deny the right of the indigenous Jewish people to their own homeland.
The Palestinians’ claim to be the rightful inheritors of the land lies at the very heart of the Western animus against Israel. It represents one of the most successful, if fiendish, propaganda achievements ever to have been pulled off—to have persuaded millions of people that this ludicrous falsehood is an unchallengeable truth.
All the malicious libels and distortions thrown at Israel by Western foes to delegitimize and destroy it rest on this historical lie. Claims that Israel is occupying another people’s land, that its actions are illegal, that it behaves with the cruelty and ruthlessness associated with colonialist invaders—all of this and more rests upon the belief that the Palestinians are the rightful inheritors of the land.
It is the foundation stone of a cause that Western liberals believe defines them as anti-colonialist defenders of the rights of indigenous peoples.
But it’s the Palestinians—and behind them the Arab and Muslim world—who are intent on colonialism and depriving the Jewish people of their rightful and historic homeland. And it is support for that ignoble cause more than any other that has destroyed the moral compass of the West"
A person typed the following comment online in response to an article saying
saying "Don't Conflate being Pro-Palestine with Anti-Semitism"
the person typed
"Yeah, when literally thousands of Palestinians show up at the borders of Israel every day, shouting "From the River to the Sea, all of Palestine will be free" while vowing to tear out the hearts and livers of any and all Jews they encounter in the process, that should not be misinterpreted as being Anti-Semitic. Neither should their daily terror attacks or their terror tunnels and the many times they and their like-wise NOT Anti-Semitic friends (like Iran) threaten Israel with extinction. It just happens to be coincidental that the one obsessive focus of "Anti-Zionist" organizations that people like Ms. Davis support happen to target the one sole majority Jewish nation on the entire planet for their demonizing, delegitimizing and destructive efforts. That should not be interpreted as Anti-semitic in the least. Nor should it count that these Pro-Palestinian activists have little to nothing to say about the 4,000+ Palestinians killed so far by Assad, or the fact that Hamas executes Palestinians for crimes such as "Homosexuality" and "Collaboration with the Enemy"--or that both the PA and Hamas consider the crime of a Palestinian selling his or her own land to a Jew to be an offense worthy of the Death Sentence. Because, you know, none of that has to do with Anti-Semitism...it's all about the welfare of the Palestinian people." Supporters of the so-called "Palestinian People" are the biggest Hypocrites, Liars, and Losers in the World , they support Palestinian Lies & Ignore the the Truth of Israel, and how Israel is NOT the bad guy in the Mideast Conflict
From Israelnationalnews.com an article is titled
"Why do the Arabs hate the Palestinians so?" the article says
The Arab world, for many reasons, is not at all interested in giving the Palestinian Arabs a state. The Palestinian Arabs don't really want one either, because why kill the "refugee" goose that lays the golden eggs?
Dr. Mordechai Kedar is a senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University. He served in IDF Military Intelligence for 25 years, specializing in Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups and the Syrian domestic arena. Thoroughly familiar with Arab media in real time, he is frequently interviewed on the various news programs in Israel.
In Israel, and in much of the Western world, we tend to think that the Arab world is united in support of the Palestinians, that it wants nothing so much as to solve the Palestinian problem by giving them a state, and that all the Arabs and Muslims love the Palestinians and hate Israel. This, however, is a simplistic and partial point of view, because while It is true that many, perhaps even the majority of Arabs and Muslims hate Israel, there are a good many who hate the Palestinians just as much.
Their hatred of Israel stems from Israel's success in surviving despite wars, terror, boycotts and the enmity aimed at the Jewish state; it stems from the fact that there is an existing Jewish state even though Judaism has been superseded by Islam, the 'true religion.' It is exacerbated by Israel's being a democracy while they live under dictatorships, because Israel is rich and they are poor, because Israel is Paradise compared to Arab countries, many of which resemble nothing so much as the last train stop before Hell (see Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan – and the list goes on) …and most importantly, because Israel has succeeded in areas in which they have failed, and their jealousy drives them up a wall.
But why should they hate the 'unfortunate' Palestinian Arabs? After all, the Arab narrative says that the Palestinian Arabs' land was stolen and they were forced to become refugees. The answer to this question is complex and is a function of Middle Eastern culture, which we in Israel and most Westerners neither understand nor recognize.
One of the worst things in Arab eyes is being cheated, fooled or taken advantage of. When someone attempts to cheat an Arab - and even more so, if that person succeeds – an Arab is overcome by furious anger, even if the person involved is his cousin. He will call on his brother to take revenge on that cousin, in line with the Arab adage: "My brother and I against my cousin - and my brother, my cousin and I against a stranger."
the article continues
"Regarding the Palestinian Arabs, first of all, many are not originally Palestinians at all. They are immigrants who came to the Land of Israel from all over the Arab world during the British Mandate in order to find employment in the cities and on the farms the Jews had built. These immigrants still have names such as "Al Hurani (from Huran in southern Syria)", "Al Tzurani (from Tyre in Southern Lebanon)", "Al Zrakawi (from Mazraka in Jordan)," "Al Maztri (the Egyptian)" and many other names that point to the actual, geographically varied origins of the so-called Palestinians. Why, ask the other Arabs, should they get preferential treatment compared to those who remained in their original countries?
Starting with the end of the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, the politics in the Arab world began to center on Israel and the "Palestinian problem" whose solution was to be achieved only by eliminating Israel. In order to help succeed in that mission, the Arab refugees were kept in camps, with explicit instructions from the Arab League to keep them there and not to absorb them in other Arab countries.
UNRWA ensured that they were provided with food, education and medical care without charge – that is to say, the nations of the world footed the bill, while the Arab neighbors of these eternal "refugees" had to work and provide food, education and medical care for their families by the sweat of their brow. Refugees who were supplied with free foodstuffs, such as rice, flour, sugar and oil, for the use of their families, would often sell some of it to their non-refugee neighbors and make a tidy profit.
Those living in the refugee camps do not pay municipal taxes, leading to a significant number of "refugees" who rent their homes to others and collect exorbitant sums in comparison with those renting apartments in nearby cities, thanks to this tax exemption. In other words, the world subsidizes the taxes and the refugees line their own pockets .
In Lebanon, several refugee camps were built near Beirut, but were incorporated into the expanding city, then turned into high class neighborhoods with imposing high rise apartment buildings. Someone has profited from this change, and it is not the man in the street, who has every reason to feel cheated.
The Palestinian "refugee" camps located in Lebanon have been taken over by armed organizations, from the PLO to ISIS, including Hamas, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front and organizations of Salafist Jihadists. These organizations act viciously towards surrounding Lebanese citizens and in 1975 brought on a civil war that lasted for 14 long years of bloodshed, destruction and saw the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their villages to lives of horrible suffering in tent camps all over the country' Many took refuge in Palestinian "refugee" camps, but the Lebanese refugees received less than 10 per cent of what Palestinian Arabs received, causing much internecine jealousy and hatred."
& continues
"In Jordan, in 1970, the Palestinian Arabs, led by PLO head Yassir Arafat, attempted to take over the country by establishing autonomous regions of their own, complete with roadblocks and armed Palestinian Arabs in the country's north that challenged the monarchy. In September 1970, known as "Black September", King Hussein decided he had had enough and would show them who is boss in Jordan. The war he declared against them cost thousands of lives on both sides.
Meanwhile, in Israel, 20% of the citizenry within the pre-1967 borders is made up of "Palestinian" Arabs who do not rebel or fight against the state. In other words, the "Palestinians" living in pre-1967 Israel enjoy life in the only democracy in the Middle East, while the Arab countries sacrifice their soldiers' blood to liberate "Palestine." Is there a worse case of feeling that you are being exploited than that of an Arab soldier putting his life in danger for this meaningless cause?
Worse still is what every Arab knows: Palestinian Arabs have been selling land to Jews for at least a century, profit immensely from the deals and then go wailing to their Arab brothers to come and free "Palestine" from the "Zionist occupation."
Over the years, the Palestinian Arabs were given many billions of euros and dollars by the nations of the world, so that the yearly per capirta income in the PA is several times greater than that of the Egyptian, Sudanese or Algerian man in the street. His life is many, many times better than that of Arabs living in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen over the past seven years.
On a political level, the Palestinians have managed to arouse the hatred of many of their Arab brethren: In 1990, Arafat supported Saddam Hussein's Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In revenge, Kuwait, once it was freed of Iraqi conquest, expelled tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of whom had been employed in its oil fields, leaving them destitute overnight. This led to an economic crisis for their families in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, who had been receiving regular stipends from their sons in Kuwait."
& lastly says
"Today, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad are supported by Iran, the country abhorred by many Arabs who remember that airplane hijacking and the ensuing blackmail were invented by the Palestinian Arabs who hijacked an El Al plane to Algiers in 1968, fifty years ago, beginning a period of travail still being endured by the entire world.
Despite the 1989 Taaf agreement that ended the civil war in Lebanon and was supposed to lead to the de-weaponization and dissolution of all the Lebanese militias, Syria allowed Hezbollah to keep its arms and to develop its military power unrestrainedly. The repeated excuse was that the weapons were meant to "liberate Palestine" and would not be aimed at the Lebanese. To anyone with a modicum of brains, it was clear that the Palestine story was a fig leaf covering the sad truth that the weapons were going to be aimed at Hezbollah's Syrian and Lebanese enemies. "Palestine" was simply an excuse for the Shiite takeover of Lebanon.
Worst of all is the Palestinian demand that Arab countries refrain from any relations with Israel until the Palestinian problem is solved to the satisfaction of the PLO and Hamas leaders. However, a good portion of the Arab world cannot find any commonalities that could unite the PLO and Hamas. They have given up on achieving an internal Palestinian reconciliation, watching the endless squabbles ruin any chances of progress regarding Israel. To sum up the situation, the Arab world – that part of it which sees Israel as the only hope in dealing with Iran – is not happy at the expectation that it must mortgage its future and its very existence to the internal fighting between the PLO and Hamas.
And let us not forget that Egypt and Jordan have signed peace agreements with Israel, have moved outside the circle of war for the "liberation of Palestine" and have forsaken their Palestinian Arab "brothers," leaving them to deal with the problem on their own.
Much of the Arab and Muslim world is convinced that the "Palestinians" do not want a state of their own. After all, if that state is established, the world will cease to donate those enormous sums, there will be no more "refugees" and the Palestinian Arabs will have to work like everyone else. How can they do that when they are all addicted to receiving handouts without any strings attacked?
One can say with assurance, that 70 years after the creation of the "Palestinian problem," the Arab world has realized that there is no solution that will satisfy those who have turned "refugee-ism" into a profession, so that the "Palestinian problem" has become an emotional and financial scam that only serves to enrich the corrupt leaders of Ramallah and Gaza"
From the website nationalreview.com an article is titled
"Islamophobia Is a Myth"
By BRENDAN O'NEILL
January 9, 2015 7:39 PM the article says:
Why do liberals fear the working class and ignore anti-Semitic murder? Because they are bigots.
The British press has never seemed as out of touch as it is today. All our broadsheet papers are packed with pleas to the people of France, and other European populations, not to turn into Muslim-killing nutjobs in response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The Guardian frets over “Islamophobes seizing this atrocity to advance their hatred.” The Financial Times is in a spin about “Islamophobic extremists” using the massacre to “[challenge] the tolerance on which Europe has built its peace.” One British hack says we should all “fear the coming Islamophobic backlash.” And what actually happened in France as these dead-tree pieces about a possible Islamophobic backlash made their appearance? Jews were assaulted. And killed. “Don’t attack Muslims,” lectures the press as Jews are attacked.
Across Europe, among the right-thinking sections of society, among the political classes, the response to the massacre of the cartoonists and satirists has been the same: to panic about how Them, the native masses, especially the more right-wing sections of the French population, might respond to it. The blood on the floor of the Charlie Hebdo offices was still wet when brow-furrowed observers started saying: “Oh no, the Muslims! Will they be attacked?” It’s the same after every terrorist attack: from 9/11 to 7/7 in London to last year’s Sydney siege to Paris today: Liberals’ instant, almost Pavlovian response to Islamist terror attacks in the West is to worry about a violent uprising of the ill-educated against Muslims. The uprising never comes, but that doesn’t halt their fantasy fears. What’s it all about?
The unreal, unhinged nature of this elite preemption of mass Muslim-bashing has been thrown into sharp relief by the foul events in Paris over the past few days. The massacre of journalists by Islamists was followed today by a violent hostage-taking in a kosher shop in Port de Vincennes by a gunman reported to be part of the same small cell of Islamic extremists from which the Kouachi brothers, who shot up Charlie Hebdo, sprung. Why invade a kosher shop? Well, it’s very likely there will be Jews in there, and if there’s one thing Islamists love more than executing those who insult their prophet, it’s attacking Jews. The kosher-shop siege and hostage situation is now over, and while the information coming out of France is sketchy, Reuters says four of the hostages — who may well have been Jews — are dead. So the gulf between the fears of he multicultural elite and the reality on the ground in France is colossal. “Leave Muslims alone,” they plead as the news wires report that four kosher shoppers have been killed. Many European observers seem far more exercised about the possibility of Islamophobic violence than they are by the reality of anti-Semitic violence."
the article continues
"It’s not surprising that there is such a gaping chasm between liberals’ hand-wringing over a potential violent and sweeping Islamophobic backlash and what is actually happening in France and elsewhere. Because the idea of Islamophobia has always been informed more by the swirling fantasies and panics of the political and media elites than by any real, measurable levels of hate or violence against Muslims. Yes, some dud grenades were thrown into the courtyard of a mosque in the French city of Le Mans after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, though mercifully they didn’t explode and no one was around to be injured. That is a foul act and the person or people who did it should be found and punished. But fears about widespread anti-Muslim violence, about the spread of toxic Islamophobic hate through the streets and in workplaces, are unfounded, because their driving force is the anti-natives, anti-pleb prejudices of the elites rather than any hard evidence of extreme hostility to Muslims.
Liberals’ angst about violent anti-Muslim uprisings always proves to be empty. So after the 7/7 Tube and bus attacks in London, there were wide and wild warnings of a violent backlash against the Muslims of Britain. Journalists predicted bloodshed. National Health Service workers were encouraged to keep their eyes peeled — i.e., spy — for any signs of anti-Muslim agitation among their patients. But there was no spike in anti-Muslim crimes. According to Crown Prosecution Service crime figures for 2005–06, covering the months after 7/7, only 43 religiously aggravated crimes were prosecuted in that period, and only 18 of those crimes were against Muslims. “The fears of a [post-7/7] rise in offences appears to be unfounded,” the Director of Public Prosecutions later admitted.
After the Boston Marathon bombings there were loads of media panic about the “ignorance and prejudice [that arise] in the aftermath of a terrorist attack” and concern that Muslims in America would get it in the neck. But Muslims have not been assaulted en masse by stupid Americans in recent years, including in the wake of 9/11. According to federal crime stats, in 2009 there were 107 anti-Muslim hate crimes; in 2010, there were 160. In a country of 330 million people, this is exceptionally low. After the Lindt café siege in Sydney at the end of last year, there was once again heated fear on the pages of the broadsheets about dumb Aussies going crazy and attacking brown people. Nothing happened. No mob emerged. Muslims were not attacked."
& lastly says
"
COMMENTS
Islamophobia is a myth. Sure, some folks in Europe and elsewhere no doubt dislike Muslims, just as other losers hate the Irish or blacks or women. But the idea that there is a climate of Islamophobia, a culture of hot-headed, violent-minded hatred for Muslims that could be awoken and unleashed by the next terror attack, is an invention. Islamophobia is a code word for mainstream European elites’ fear of their own populations, of their native hordes, whom they imagine to be unenlightened, prejudiced, easily led by the tabloid media, and given to outbursts of spite and violence. The thing that keeps the Islamophobia panic alive is not actual violence against Muslims but the right-on politicos’ ill-founded yet deeply held view of ordinary Europeans, especially those of a working-class variety, as racist and stupid. This is the terrible irony of the Islamophobia panic: The fearers of anti-Muslim violence claim to be challenging prejudice but actually they reveal their own prejudices, their distrust of and disdain for those who come from the other side of the tracks, read different newspapers, hold different beliefs, live different lives. They accuse stupid white communities of viewing Muslims as an indistinguishable mob who threaten the fabric of European society, which is exactly what they think of stupid white communities"
Yet Another Article about the Myth & Lie of Islamophobia is from the website
archive.boston.com titled
"The ‘Islamophobia’ myth"
By Jeff Jacoby
Globe Columnist / December 8, 2010 the article says:
‘IS AMERICA Islamophobic?’’
When that provocative question appeared on the cover of Time in August, the accompanying story strained to imply, on the basis of some anecdotal evidence, that the answer might be yes. The FBI’s latest compendium of US hate-crimes data suggests far more plausibly that the answer is no.
“Where ordinary Americans meet Islam, there is evidence that suspicion and hostility are growing,’’ the Time article said. “To be a Muslim in America now is to endure slings and arrows against your faith — not just in the schoolyard and the office but also outside your place of worship and in the public square, where some of the country’s most powerful mainstream religious and political leaders unthinkingly (or worse, deliberately) conflate Islam with terrorism and savagery.’’
Time published that article amid the tumult over plans to build a Muslim mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero in New York, and not long after a fringe pastor in Gainesville had announced that he intended to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The piece noted that a handful of other mosque projects nationwide have run into “bitter opposition,’’ and it cited a Duke University professor’s claim that such resistance is “part of a pattern of intolerance’’ against American Muslims. Yet the story conceded frankly that “there’s no sign that violence against Muslims is on the rise’’ and that “Islamophobia in the US doesn’t approach levels seen in other countries.’’
In fact, as Time pointed out, while there may be the occasional confrontation over a Muslim construction project, “there are now 1,900 mosques in the US, up from about 1,200 in 2001.’’ Even after 9/11, in other words, and even as radical Islamists continue to target Americans, places of worship for Muslims in the United States have proliferated. And whenever naked anti-Islamic bigotry has appeared, “it has been denounced by many Christian, Jewish, and secular groups.’’
America is many things, but “Islamophobic’’ plainly isn’t one of them. As Time itself acknowledged: “Polls have shown that most Muslims feel safer and freer in the US than anywhere else in the Western world.’’ That sentiment is powerfully buttressed by the FBI’s newly released statistics on hate crimes in the United States."
In 2009, according to data gathered from more than 14,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, there were 1,376 hate crimes motivated by religious bias. Of those, just 9.3 percent — fewer than 1 in 10 — were committed against Muslims. By contrast, 70.1 percent were committed against Jews, 6.9 percent were aimed at Catholics or Protestants, and 8.6 percent targeted other religions. Hate crimes driven by anti-Muslim bigotry were outnumbered nearly 8 to 1 by anti-Semitic crimes.
Year after year, American Jews are far more likely to be the victims of religious hate crime than members of any other group. That was true even in 2001, by far the worst year for anti-Muslim incidents, when 481 were reported — less than half of the 1,042 anti-Jewish crimes tabulated by the FBI the same year."
the article continues
"Does all this mean that America is in reality a hotbed of anti-Semitism? Would Time’s cover have been closer to the mark if it had asked: “Is America Judeophobic?’’
Of course not. Even one hate crime is one too many, but in a nation of 300 million, all of the religious-based hate crimes added together amount to less than a drop in the bucket. This is not to minimize the 964 hate crimes perpetrated against Jews last year, or those carried out against Muslims (128), Catholics (55), or Protestants (40). Some of those attacks were especially shocking or destructive; all of them should be punished. But surely the most obvious takeaway from the FBI’s statistics is not that anti-religious hate crimes are so frequent in America. It is that they are so rare.
In a column a few years back, I wrote that America has been for the Jews “a safe harbor virtually without parallel.’’ It has proved much the same for Muslims. Of course there is tension and hostility sometimes. How could there not be, when America is at war with violent jihadists who have done so much harm in the name of Islam? But for American Muslims as for American Jews, the tension and hostility are the exception. America’s exemplary tolerance is the rule." Again there is No Massive Wave of Hate Crimes Against Muslim or Arab Americans,
From the website moazisrael.org an article is titled
"The Church History They Don’t Teach You"
For a Jew, discussing belief in Yeshua usually focuses on how Christians who claimed to represent Yeshua have proven to be the most significant existential threat to the Jewish people. It is a dark and sad history, but a history that, once realized, can be redeemed in our day!
By Shira Sorko-Ram
JULY, 2020 the article says:
"LAST YEAR A CHRISTIAN MINISTRY POSTED A VIDEO ON FACEBOOK SHOWING A PREACHER WALKING DOWN A MAIN STREET IN JERUSALEM DECLARING THE GOSPEL. The street happened to border what is arguably the most religious Orthodox Jewish community in the world. He used a Bluetooth mic with a speaker hanging from his belt and a cameraman following behind to capture “the action.”
“Furious Jews threatened to stone us for preaching the Gospel,” and, “angry men, teenagers and even the IDF tried to stop them but essentially had no legal leverage,” the text above the video post read. I’ll set aside the obvious—that any loud person walking down a pedestrian street is going to get on peoples’ nerves even if he’s selling ice cream. But this man wasn’t selling anything sweet. He was selling Christianity.
Had this preacher taken time to study what Jews have endured from Christianity for nearly 2000 years, he would have more appropriately come humbly, begging for forgiveness from the Jewish people rather than declaring that Jews need to convert—or else.
Today when Jews explain why they don’t believe in Yeshua—the list begins, but doesn’t end with the Holocaust, the Crusaders and the Inquisition. For a Jew, discussing belief in Yeshua rarely relates to the actual person of Yeshua. It focuses on how Christians who claimed to represent Yeshua have proven to be the most significant existential threat to the survival of the Jewish people.
It is a dark and sad history, but a history that, once realized, can be redeemed in our day!
The Good ‘Ole Days
For a full generation after the crucifixion, Jewish followers of Yeshua crisscrossed the land of Israel, preaching the glorious news that Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, had come to earth to die for the sins of His people, the children of Israel. Some estimate there were at least 50,000 Jewish believers in Jerusalem, in a city of about half a million people. That is far more than all of the Jewish believers in the land of Israel today. The former Israeli statesman and scholar, Abba Eban, went further, and wrote that he believed around one third of all Jerusalemites were followers of Yeshua.
Soon, a number of Jews, led by Shaul (Apostle Paul) were commissioned by God to take this amazing news to non-Jews. The number of non-Jews who abandoned their pagan lifestyle for the new message began to grow and grow into the hundreds of thousands throughout the Roman Empire.
Then came the year 70AD. Three days before Passover, as Jerusalem filled with masses of Jewish pilgrims who had come for the holiday, Titus surrounded the city with three Roman legions. They besieged the city for four months until the Roman army breached the walls.
Rome ravaged Jerusalem and burned down the Temple. Starving Jews who survived snuck out of the city, hoping to find food. Some of those who were caught were sold as slaves. The rest, some five hundred a day, were crucified. Those who were fortunate enough to escape, fled to areas around the Mediterranean. Those who remained in Judea would be eradicated by the next Roman ruler, Hadrian. By the end of his rule in c. 138 virtually all evidence of Jewish believing communities had vanished."
the article continues
"The New Gospel
Nevertheless, the New Testament seeds sown by the Jewish followers of Yeshua in fertile Gentile soil had taken deep root and began to sprout, despite heavy persecution by the Roman Empire. Though all the books of the New Testament had been written by now, circulation among new Christians was slow and uneven. As the numbers of Christians grew while the number of Jewish believers almost disappeared, the first hints of anti-Semitism became discernable.
As a result, just 50 years after the last Apostle died, Justin Martyr (who was martyred by the Romans) allowed a hateful, unloving, and even jealous spirit to enter his life. He asserted that the Jews were a blind and stubborn people, clinging to a now defunct faith.
Justin’s dual influence as a Christian hero and inciter against Jews affected the mainstream of Christian thought by planting the sinister seed of Christian anti-Semitism. It would grow into a monstrous, inseparable axiom of the Roman Catholic church.
The Judensau (Jewish sow) image was replicated in carvings, paintings and church architecture throughout the Middle Ages. It depicted Jews suckling milk from a pig’s teats while a Rabbi eats its excrement from behind. As recently as February of this year, German courts refused to have a sculpture of this image removed from a protestant Church–sighting the historical nature of the building. Credit: Wikipedia
Fathers of the Faith
The Church Fathers listed below are revered for the growth and expansion they brought to Christendom. However, despite what good influence they may have had, their expressed hatred toward the Jewish people not only cost countless Jewish lives, but is probably the saddest case of repaying evil for good in recorded history. Many Christians today would be surprised to realize some of the most widely accepted Christian doctrines were birthed during these dark times.
Origen of Alexandria (c. 184-254) was one of the earliest voices to blame the whole nation of Jews for the death of Christ. He also insisted Christians were the “true Israel.” These two declarations soon became precepts in Roman Catholic Church doctrine."
the article continues
"Tertullian (c. 155-240) followed suit and argued that 1. Christians have taken over from the Jews as the people of God, 2. The New Covenant replaces the Old Testament: circumcision, observance of the Sabbath and the temple sacrifices belong to the past, and 3. The Church is now the (sole) heir to the promises of the Old Testament.
Eusebius of Alexander (c. 270-340) saw good reason to want to convert the Jewish people, but simultaneously detested what they represented as the people who rejected the Messiah. He once gave a sermon beginning every paragraph: “Woe to you, stiff-necked and uncircumcised, from being the Elect of God you became wolves, and sharpened your teeth upon the Lamb of God. Hell…shall imprison you with your father the devil.” With an invite like that, it’s no wonder he drew no interest from Jews.
Emperor Constantine who ruled from c. 306-337, became a Christian, absorbing the growing hatred toward Jews from his advisor, Eusebius. His position of power allowed him to act on the animosity the Church Fathers had for the Jews. He forbade mixed marriages, decreed a separation between Easter and the “dirty” Jewish Passover. Conversion of a Jew to Christianity was always encouraged, though the conversion of a Christian to Judaism was punishable by death.
By the end of the 4th Century, hatred of the Jewish people was in full bloom.
John Chrysostom, (c. 347-407) the renown theologian preached, “Eight Sermons against the Jews” in which he asserted, after a long list of crude insults, that for the Jews there is “no expiation possible, no indulgence, no pardon.” He declared that, in accordance with the sentiments of the saints, he hated both the synagogue and the Jews, as demons dwelled in both.
Chrysostom’s sermons were written down verbatim by his audience and subsequently circulated throughout the Christian world. These sermons are considered to be the turning point in the history of Christian anti-Judaism.
During World War II, the Nazi Party in Germany used Chrysostom’s work in an attempt to legitimize the Holocaust in the eyes of German and Austrian Christians."
& continues
"Martin Luther (c. 1483-1546), one of the most influential Christian leaders in history, was the founder of the first Protestant movement. In his early life, he wanted to convert Jews to Lutheranism (Protestant Christianity). His early writings express empathy towards Jews who had been badgered and forced to become Christians by Catholic authorities:
“If I had been a Jew and had seen such dolts and blockheads govern and teach the Christian faith, I would sooner have become a hog than a Christian. They have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs rather than human beings; they have done little else than deride them and seize their property.”
Yet in his later years, Luther himself would tire of the Jews’ continued rejection, and wrote that Jews were “full of the devil’s feces … which they wallow in like swine.”
He argued that Jewish synagogues and schools should be set on fire, their prayer books destroyed, rabbis forbidden to preach, homes burned, and property and money confiscated. “These poisonous envenomed worms should be drafted into forced labor or expelled for all time.” And concluded, “We are at fault in not slaying them.”
In his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer wrote:
It is difficult to understand the behavior of most German Protestants in the first Nazi years unless one is aware of two things: their history and the influence of Martin Luther. The great founder of Protestantism was both a passionate anti-Semite and a ferocious believer in absolute obedience to political authority. He wanted Germany rid of the Jews. Luther’s advice was literally followed four centuries later by Hitler, Goering and Himmler."
& Continues
"England – The Crusades
The end of the 11th century saw the rise of the Crusaders—essentially the militant wing of the Church. They were on a mission to conquer the Muslim-occupied land of Israel for Christianity. But on the long road to the Holy Land, Crusaders found it in the public interest to round up and lock Jewish families in their synagogues, burning them alive. Some accounts record the Crusaders marching around the burning synagogues singing worship hymns.
At times, burning Jews and their possessions was sometimes seen as a waste. So the Crusaders would sell captured Jews as slaves and take their possessions. Some Jews were converted by force to Christianity. Many chose to die rather than join the idol-worshiping Church. Still others who were selectively left alive committed suicide fearing the horrors awaiting them.
The attacks found public support as false stories of Jewish depravity were spread. The murder of a 12-year-old English boy in 1144 generated a new kind of rumor. While Jews were a fantastic scapegoat for any bad situation, the story behind the murder would mutate until Jews would be blamed all over Europe for their annual ritual of murdering Christian children and using their blood to make Matzoh for the Passover. The accusation was especially offensive as Jews have strict laws against consuming any blood—let alone human sacrifice. But the masses believed it and now Jews were not only evil, they were a threat to Christian families. To this day, many in the Muslim world believe this fabrication known as Blood Libel.
In the year 1290, in the middle of this mayhem, King Edward I of England expelled all Jews from the Kingdom of England. Yes. Every single British Jew was thrown out of the country. Most were only allowed to take what they could carry. For almost 400 years, Britain was void of Jews. The same hatred toward Jews was replicated in France, Germany, and across the entire European continent."
& continues
"Jews who refused to convert or leave Spain were called heretics and could be burned to death on a stake. – Credit: Wikipedia
Spain – The Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition is remembered even today for its brutality and thoroughness. Few people know this, but of the hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Spain in the Middle Ages, the majority converted to Christianity as a result of violent persecution, known as pogroms in the late 14th century.
There were few things the hierarchy and the common people agreed upon; the need to convert Jews to Christianity, however, was one of those few things. So, in the summer of 1391, a public mob had gathered outside the Jewish community in Valencia demanding that all Jews convert. A riot broke out. Of the 2500 Jews present, 200 were converted on the spot, the rest were murdered. The city of Seville was next with 4000 Jews murdered. Similar riots continued across Spain.
Jews who converted were known as “conversos,” but those who continued to secretly practice their Jewish faith were called “Marranos” (swine). To make sure these conversos, or “new Christians,” stayed true to their new faith, the Catholic monarchs established the Holy Office of the Inquisition in 1481. Their role included the standard duty of purging the fakers by torture, death or exile. Of course, offenders were always given a last chance to renounce their evil ways and be baptized.
Finally, in 1492, after 100 years of Church leaders struggling with who is really a Catholic and who is not, the new Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand had had enough. Jews and Marranos were to be exposed and expelled. This decree brought with it one final wave of Jews who gave into Catholicism. Those who chose exile would wander for years from region to region in search of a safe place to exist. Some fled to Portugal but were soon expelled. Others escaped across the sea to South America. According to DNA* tests today, Modern Spaniards and Portuguese have an average 20% Jewish ancestry DNA! In Latin America, the figure is even higher: 23%, where many Marranos fled. This gives a scientific window into the massive number of Spanish Jews who were forced to convert and were absorbed into the Christian population."
& Continues
"Russia – The Pogroms
If it’s possible to rate on a scale, the Russian Orthodox Church (which separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 11th century) was perhaps the most consistently hostile to the Jews who lived among them.
Of course, the first option was always conversion to Orthodox Christianity. Though having rejected that, Jews were rarely allowed to live in or near the rest of the Russian people. This resulted in highly isolated Jewish communities. Despite the segregation and discrimination, Jews excelled in every part of society where they were allowed to participate, including education.
However, while Europe entered the Reformation and Renaissance, Russian rulers bore down on their Jewish citizens. In 1791, Catherine the Great drew a circle around an area in Russia, and ordered all Jews to live only there. Five million Jews who were scattered all over Russia were forced to leave behind everything and move to this area called the Pale of Settlement. Still, the hate festered and mobs of rioters led by Church leaders would invade the Pale and attack the Jewish shtetls (villages), killing, raping and stealing.
During the period 1880-1920 these pogroms were rampant and over two million Jews fled Russia. Some 50,000 of them landed in Israel and became the early pioneers who built the infrastructure for what would become the State of Israel. Ari Sorko-Ram’s mother fled Russia during this time, as well. The boat she was on attempted to dock in Israel but was denied entry. Eventually sailing from France, she ended up in the United States. She wouldn’t live to see it, but the youngest son of her seven children, Ari, would eventually immigrate to Israel. He would fulfill her dream of planting the family roots in their ancestral land, and would become one of the pioneers of the Messianic movement in modern Israel."
& lastly says
"Thousands of Evangelical Christians from dozens of countries march through Jerusalem in solidarity with Israel. Israeli security forces smile as a Christian from the UK stops to bless them. – Credit: Dreamstime
In conclusion, it is very important to remember that by no means did all who called themselves Christians despise the Jewish people. In addition, Christians—and Christianity—have come a long way since the Dark Ages. Since the birth of modern Protestant denominations—the ones who have walked out their faith based on the Word of God, not church doctrine—have shown, by far, the most love for the Jewish people. However, if you know what to look for, you can still find an anti-Jew residue in modern church ideology. And entire denominations still exist that exclude and even shun Israel’s place in God’s plan.
Most significantly, however, Israel is still reeling from this history. Wounds of thousands of years don’t heal overnight. If anything can be said about Jews who did not recognize the gift of Yeshua, it is that out of devotion to the God of Israel they rightly rejected the idolatrous and heretical religion that was being forced on them.
While the Lord had always planned to use the Jews to reach the world and the world to, in turn, reach Israel, it is clear the enemy had its own plans. First, in order for God’s plan to succeed, Israel had to exist! Exterminating Israel from the earth would render God’s word void; as such you will find this evil pattern repeat itself throughout history even before the dawn of Christianity. Second, knowing the Church’s calling to provoke Israel to jealousy (Romans 11:14), what better way to render that calling void than to make the mere mention of the Church a stench in the nostrils of Israel?
These facts don’t change the truth that Jews need Yeshua for the same forgiveness of sins as anyone else who desires to be reconciled with the Father. But it does mean this is a history that won’t be overcome with a smile and a handshake.
It will take intentional humility, compassion and patience to rebuild bridges based on love and trust—not with the demand of “conversion” but for sheer gratitude towards the people who brought the knowledge of God to the world. Today, though Israelis still consider Christianity taboo and even dangerous, they do recognize the change in overall attitude and even use the term Evangelical to differentiate between the traditional Church and “born-again Christians” who love Israel.
It’s not a complete healing but it is a good first step towards the plan God had from the beginning.
*The American Journal of Human Genetics"
From the website Memri.org an article about the late Ahmed Deedat is titled
"South African Muslim Scholar Ahmed Deedat: I Hate the Jews, Americans; If I Had an Atom Bomb I'd Drop It on Israel in a Minute - Archival"
#6282 | 08:57
Source: The Internet the article says
"In August 1991, the South African Muslim scholar Ahmed Deedat said that he hates the Jews and the Americans and that he wanted "to see something done to the Jews, and something done to America." "If I had a laser gun, if I had an atom bomb, and if I could aim it on the Jews – Israel – I would do it," he said. Deedat, who died in 2005, claimed to be "intoxicated" by Saddam Hussein, praised him for his threats against the U.S. and Israel, and said that he was "prepared to overlook" Saddam's sins because he was going to "fix America right" and "fix the Jews right," but that Saddam "has lost the road." These statements were made in the framework of a series of lectures given by Deedat in the UK in 1991, titled "Mother of All Injustices" – a play on Saddam Hussein's pledge of the "mother of all battles" – which dealt with the question whether Gulf countries could rely upon the help of the U.S. and the West in driving Saddam out of Kuwait. Deedat was in favor of such Western intervention. In the course of one of the lectures, Deedat showed photographs of a tour he had made in the Dhahran military base in Saudi Arabia, where he had lectured to U.S. soldiers. The excerpts presented here are from lectures delivered at the Young Muslims Youth Camp in Worcester on August 11, 1991, and at the Islamic Cultural Centre at Regent's Park Mosque, London, on August 4, 1991.
Ahmed Deedat: "I hate the Jews. We all hate the Jews. Me, personally – I don't hate individual Jews. I hate Israel for what they are doing to my people, my sons and daughters. I hate them for that. If I had a laser gun, if I had an atom bomb, and if I could aim it on the Jews – Israel – I would do it."
Audience member: "Say: 'Allah Akbar!'"
Audience: "Allah Akbar!"
Ahmed Deedat: "In the process, my Palestinian brothers and sisters will die – to me, Allah will give them reward on the other side, but I would do the job, I wouldn't wait for one minute. By Allah, I wouldn't wait for one minute, if I had it. I hate the Jews for what they have done – they robbed my people of the land, and now what they are doing to my brothers and sisters, my children. I hate them for that. And by extension, I hate the Americans. It is America that has caused all this problem. At the end of November, 1947, America forced this resolution to the United Nations – partitioning Palestine. Did you know that?
[...]
"We are not only fighting the Jews. We are fighting America. The whole world now... We have reached the stage where the whole world realizes that injustices are done by the Jews against the Palestinians. The whole world... And they pass resolutions. America, the godfather of Israel, vetoes it. 81 vetoes against resolutions by the whole world... The whole world is on one side, America and the illegitimate bastard child is on the other side, and they veto. They veto, veto, veto.... 81 vetoes. How do you feel? How do I feel? Frustrated."
the article continues
"
"Now, my senses are not there. I want to see something done to the Jews, and something done to America. This is my feeling, everybody's feeling. So now my brother [Saddam Hussein] comes along, and he says: 'Mother of all battles.' That's the declaration he made: 'Mother of all battles.' He gave the start. Now everybody is [saying] Mother of this, mother of that... 'Mother of all battles.' And it intoxicates everybody, including me. Although I said: 'This is not right, what he has done is not right,' but now he is promising me that he is going to send the American boys and girls back in body bags. For a change, after 81 vetoes... And Israel – he says 'I will burn half of Israel.' How did you feel? How nice.
"After 42 years, we have a brother now. He is going to do the job for us. That's what he said. I don't know whether you remember. 'Sons and daughters of the Americans – I'll send them back in body bags.' And Israel: 'Half of Israel, I'm going to burn it.' He has committed many sins, Saddam, but I am still prepared to overlook them – me, you, I think everybody. Look, because of him, one million Muslims died between Iran and Iraq. That's normal. We'll overlook that. He's raped Kuwait – we'll overlook it. He's killed the Kurds, poison-gassed the Kurds – men, women, and children, 5,000 in Halabja – we'll overlook it. He has been arming General Aoun in Lebanon to kill the Muslims – I say we will overlook it. He is going to do our job for us. He is going to do our job for us. He will fix America right. He will fix the Jews right.
[...]
"But he lost the road. Instead of going to Israel, he goes to Kuwait. No, he lost the road, and that is pitiful."
[...]
Audience member: "You talked about justice in your speech, and how important it is that we mustn't let our emotions get in the way. But then you went on to do exactly that, by saying that you would drop an atom bomb on Israel. How can you say that, and where in the Quran and Sunna does it say that we are allowed to indiscriminately kill women and children, who may very well be innocent?"
& Continues
"Ahmed Deedat: "My dear sister, I was talking emotionally. This is how I feel. But if I had it... If we were Muslims and we were at war with Japan, during the Second World War with Japan – and you know it will cost you half a million lives before you can subdue Japan... The alternative was: Either you throw the atom bomb and save your half a million, or allow half a million to die. I, as a natural person, a sensible person, I would be prepared to drop the atom bomb.
"But now, with regard to all your piety, religiosity, and spirituality, my dear sister – I have no answer. What you would do – I don't know. But I, if I had that thing in my hand, I would give an ultimatum: the immediate release of the Palestinians, immediate declaration of undeclaration of Israel... Immediate. If not – I'm giving you warning... I'm giving you warning... If you don't listen, I say you're gonna get it – exactly as America gave [Saddam an ultimatum to withdraw] until January 15. Similarly, I say: 'Now, I won't wait for such a long period.' I say: '24 hours. I want a declaration immediately.' If I had the thing that I press the button and I could destroy the country, I say: 'Look, this is what I would do.'
"And I am no angel, I am telling you. I am not a Sufi, a spiritual person – nothing. I am just an ordinary human being, like any other Muslim. I say this is how my mind works and this is what I would do. On that higher level of standards, I leave it for better people to talk, discuss and debate. I am not fit for that."
Audience member: "You did not answer my question. Is there evidence in the Quran and Sunna to support what you say? What does Islam say on the subject?"
Ahmed Deedat: "You will ask the scholars, they will answer you.
[...]
"I don’t like the Jews – not as a people, but what the nation is doing to my brothers and sisters – I hate them for it. I hate that Israeli nation for what they are doing to my children. If I had the atom bomb, and if I could direct it onto that nation – I would do it. It will kill some Palestinians too. I say: Just too bad. Allah will give them Paradise on the other side, Allah willing. I believe that – martyr, martyr. But I will do it, because the wrongs that they are doing – I hate them so much. And by extension, I hate the Americans, because they created the problem.
[...]
"My dear brothers, I am telling you now, I am warning you, if this is how you behave, like little children, like the Christians behave, I am going to close the meeting, and I am going to walk out. And you'll say: 'Deedat ran away.' I am prepared to answer you. I am not running away. If you want to deliver lectures – the man tells you: 'Come along and organize, they'll listen to you.' Ask the question, and I will answer.
"Now there you are – like little children. The only time I came across an audience like this was in India – Indian Christians, like little puppies... Indian Christians – they behave like this. May Allah forgive me. My time... Discipline, discipline... This is 'the best nation brought forth [as an example] for Mankind.' Allah says: 'You are the best nation brought forth [as an example] for Mankind.' "
& lastly says
"[...]
"Discipline, brothers, discipline. Man... Look... I went and lectured to the Americans, just before coming here, in Dhahran [in KSA], at the military base. I have got pictures here. And you watch the people, the Christian Americans... There are video tapes that will be available. The discipline, the attention with which they are listening... You pay the guy 10,000 dollars each to sit like this, and this is how you must look at the speaker. And you will digest and absorb everything that he says.
"I say, the guys couldn't have done it. Ten thousand dollars each – they couldn't have done it. But the Americans – the discipline that they have, it overwhelms you. Man, I take off my hat to the people. They are given a hearing... It is undermining their religion. What I am saying is undermining his religion, and yet he is prepared to applaud you if he has got the right... If he feels that you had a logical answer, but he doesn't accept your conclusion, but still he applauds you. Here, my brothers... 'My turn, I put my hand up first' – like little puppies, like little children. Why do you behave like that?"
Good that Ahmed Deedat is Dead, Thank God he is dead and rotting in Hell !!!
Also from memri.org an article is titled
"Kuwaiti Imam Sheikh Naji Al-Kharas: All Arab Peace Agreements With The Jews Are Null And Void Because You Cannot Abolish Jihad; Permanent Peace Agreements Are Impermissible" on August 21, 2020
#8232 | 01:13
Source: The Internet - "Sheikh Al-Kharas on YouTube"
Kuwaiti Imam Sheikh Naji Al-Kharas said in a Friday, August 21, 2020 sermon that was uploaded to his YouTube channel that all the Arab peace agreements with Israel and the Jews, including the Camp David Accords, the Oslo Accords, and the Jordan-Israel peace agreement, are null and void because they "abolish the Jihad." He elaborated that it is impermissible to sign a permanent peace agreement with the enemy.
Sheikh Naji Al-Kharas: "The Arabs have tried to negotiate and sign peace agreements with the Jews. Obviously, all these agreements are null and void. They are all null and void – the Camp David Accord, the Oslo Accord, the [Jordanian-Israeli agreement] of Wadi Arabah, and the ensuing agreements. Why are they null and void? Because they abolish the jihad. You are not allowed to sign a permanent [peace] agreement with the enemy. If you sign an agreement, it must be temporary, and that's it. Nobody said one can sign a permanent agreement. This won't be found in the Quran or the Sunnah. Can one abolish the jihad? The jihad must not be abolished." We documented before on this Zionism-Now Blog how Kuwait is the Fattest, Most Obese Nation in the World, lots of Fat Arabs, Fat Ugly Arabs in Kuwait, Fat Arab Terrorists who Hate Israel, America and the Entire Western World
From the website NJ.com an article is titled
"The call for a ‘one-state solution’ is a Trojan horse for antisemitism" Updated Aug 21, 2020; Posted Aug 21, 2020
By Gil Troy the article says
"When the Greeks gifted a wooden horse to the city of Troy 2,700 years ago, it was a deceitful political tactic that exploited goodwill by cloaking nefarious pursuits in ornate gesture and rhetoric. Today’s Palestinian liberation movement functions very similarly, disguising calls for Israel’s destruction inside messages about “equal rights for all” in a one-state solution. It’s dismaying to see how this gimmick has fooled some Westerners -- and Jews -- including leading UN diplomats, generations of university students, and, most recently, the prominent Jewish writer Peter Beinart.
The ongoing stalemate with the Palestinians proves that Israel – like all nations – is far from perfect, and should be subject to scrutiny. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mishandling of the Annexation debate has both invigorated the true anti-Zionists while allying them with pro-Israel critics of the annexation, who implicitly negate Israel’s historic and legal rights in the Middle East. However, Israel’s missteps over the decades are not worthy of the death penalty. But that’s the reality. A “one-state solution” is no solution at all.
It would threaten the lives of 6 million Israeli Jews by sacrificing Jewish nationalism for Palestinian nationalism. It’s easy to call for the dismantling of the Jewish state from your New York apartment. But living with the actual consequences in the Middle East would be a nightmare.
This anti-Zionist movement has deep origins that continued in the 1970s when the Palestinian-Soviet alliance began to take shape, rooted in their shared hatred for American and Israeli values. With the Soviet Union trying to expand its empire by attacking what it saw as Jew-influenced American imperialism, the PLO and the KGB worked closely to resurrect centuries-old libels. Demonizing the Jew as greedy, manipulative and all-powerful, the Soviet Union financed, trained, and helped deploy PLO terrorists all over the world to target Americans and Jews.
Lt. General Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest-ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the Soviet bloc, claims that “today’s international terrorism was conceived at the Lubyanka, the headquarters of the KGB.” The successes of this Soviet-Palestinian alliance inspired KGB chairman Yury Andropov to spread The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and other antisemitic literature throughout the Islamic world to demonize both Israel and the U.S.
Coached in the dark arts of propaganda, the Soviets helped Palestinians redirect their efforts from a brutal yet honest call for Israel’s destruction to a misleading equal rights masquerade. This effort ultimately spawned the UN General Assembly’s “Zionism is Racism” resolution, passed on November 10, 1975, when a majority of the UN’s 142 nation-states singled out only one form of nationalism -- Jewish nationalism -- as racism.
With this diplomatic victory, Palestinian leaders learned they could achieve far more by hiding their dreams of destroying Israel behind public calls for a secular, democratic state, all while libeling Israel as an “apartheid state” at once embodying colonialism, imperialism, and racism.
Yasir Arafat’s forked tongue during the Oslo Peace Process – continued today by decades’ worth of Palestinian Authority incitement – further mainstreamed these lies. Throughout the 1990s, while negotiating with Israel and the Americans, Arafat talked peace in English and violent Jihad in Arabic. He called for freedom, democracy, and tolerance, while spreading anti-Semitism in schools and imposing a corrupt dictatorship on his own people."
the article continues
"Beyond the bigotry of treating one group of people as if they all agree, it’s false to cast Israelis as comprised of evil whites, especially now that Israel has a dark-skinned Mizrahi majority. Finally, they paint a utopian picture of a binational state “from the river to the sea, " without considering the genocidal implications of what happens to the 6 million Israeli Jews who no longer have a Jewish state. There is no Arab regime today that suggests that Jews would be treated equally with shared sovereignty - and many Palestinians themselves still often resort to violence against their own who might disagree with them politically.
Despite the inconsistencies, this ruse turned the Middle East’s only democracy into the world’s most oppressive state seemingly overnight. Today, as pro-Palestinian students on college campuses casually tweet about “stuff[ing] Jews in ovens” and either deny the Holocaust or regret more Jews weren’t murdered, this sick Soviet strategy of blurring antisemitism and anti-Zionism survives.
Just as these traditional antisemitic libels attack Jews not for what they do but for who they are, the decades of ideological warfare extend far beyond any legitimate criticism of what Israel does, instead attacking Israel for what it is.
The Greeks understood that the Trojans wanted peace so badly they could be manipulated easily. Palestinian propagandists exploit a similar impulse among Western progressives. After nearly three decades of futile Israeli land concessions and “one-state solution” propaganda, Palestinians must accept the Jewish State’s existence and put a swift end to their Jew-hatred for real peace to be achieved. Only then can both sides negotiate how best to accommodate each other’s dreams, without annihilating either side’s national aspirations." It's Very Sad, how even in 2020, Many Jewish Israelis don't even feel safe from Arab & "Palestinian" Terrorism in their own Homes and Apartments, Even in their own Homes & Apartments, many Jewish Israelis in Israel Proper, in Mainland Israel countless Jewish Israelis live in Fear of Arab Terrorist attacks, and in Fear of Israeli Arabs, Arabs who are Citizens of Israel
The Article on NJ.com we just mentioned, about the One State Solution being a Trojan Horse for Anti-Semitism, one person typed online the following comment in reply to that article
the person typed
"The average Palestinian cannot even define what apartheid actually means. Their hearts and minds are too clogged with hatred. Palestinians generation after generation teaches hatred."
We need to realize that Jewish Israelis are NEVER taught Hatred, and sadly in the past Jewish Israelis have been killed by Arab & "Palestinian" Terrorists in their own homes and Apartments, Very sad how Jewish Israelis have been murdered in their own homes & apartments in the past
From the website oxfordstudent.com an article is titled
"We Need To Talk About The Ethnic Cleansing Of Middle Eastern Jews"
International Issues
24th August 2020 Asher Weisz the article says
"In recent days, disturbing reports have come out of war-torn Yemen. That is nothing new. These days, it is strange for a report from Yemen not to be disturbing. Yet this recent news will probably go unreported in the West. Because the subject of this news is a tiny community. The remnant of a community.
On August 16th, The Jerusalem Post reported that Yemen’s remaining Jews, the remains of an ancient and once-thriving Jewish society there, now estimated to be roughly 50-100 in number, would be transferred to safety in the United Arab Emirates. A source in the Yemeni Jewish community had told the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had forced the country’s remaining Jews to sell their land and homes for a low price.
Such actions are unsurprising for the Houthis, part of whose slogan is “Curse the Jews”, and who were rumoured in July, in unverified reports whose authenticity was questioned, to have initiated ethnic cleansing of the Jewish population. Those reports claimed that the Houthis were rounding up and imprisoning the Jews, were pressuring them to leave, and had cut off their water and electricity. The Houthis were also said to have banned the Jews from purchasing food. Israel’s Foreign Ministry claimed that these reports appeared to be false.
Nonetheless, July’s rumours presaged the recent news from Yemen. On August 20th, another chilling report was published in the Post, from news agency The Media Line: the Houthis are ordering at least some of the remaining Yemeni Jews to leave. Details of persecution, of Jews having their movements restricted, of Jews being arrested, were included in this report. One particular detail was no surprise: Ali Qudair, a tribal chief in the Amran Governorate, related that Houthi soldiers had entered a Jewish house and, amongst other questions, had asked about the inhabitants’ supposed links to the State of Israel."
the article continues
"It is fitting that the stamping-out of the last Jews in Yemen should be conducted with much the same method as the ethnic cleansing of ancient Jewish populations from not only Yemen, but also the rest of the Arab world, in the mid-20th Century. For the Houthis’ implicit smear against these Jews is that in daring to exist as Jews, they must be Zionist foreign agents. This was the justification often used to drive Sephardi (North African) and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews out of their homes in the years preceding and accompanying the founding of Israel in 1948.
The wholesale ethnic cleansing of Mizrahi and Sephardi communities, from Iraq to Egypt, from Tunisia to Libya, is a sordid episode in the history of the region which has been cynically ignored by the world.
In those dark years, as the Holocaust and its aftermath engulfed Jews like my family in Europe, their cousins – my cousins – the Mizrahim and Sephardim were violently and ruthlessly ejected from the places they and their ancestors had called home.
With nowhere else to go, these dispossessed Jews sought refuge in the land of their forefathers, Israel. As of 2009, roughly 50% of Israel’s Jewish population was Sephardi and Mizrahi. Yet these are Jews largely unknown to Westerners.
One million Jewish refugees were driven from nine Arab countries and Iran during the 20th Century. The governments and peoples which pushed them out did not just aim to destroy their lives. They aimed to destroy the brilliant history of Jews in the region. Jews had lived in Iraq ever since Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonians exiled them from their homeland in the 6th Century BCE. There, the Farhud, a bloody Nazi-influenced pogrom in 1941, was an early episode in an ever-mounting persecution. The Farhud slew nearly 300 Jews and injured more than 2000. Sporadic violence made it impossible for Iraqi Jews to stay and initiated their flight to Israel.
When, in 1948, Iraq went to war with the new State of Israel, Zionism was criminalized, leading to further state-sponsored persecution. Yet more Jews fled to Israel in great numbers, until, in 1952, Iraq banned emigration. In 1969, nine men were hanged as an alleged “spy ring”. Today, there are fewer than ten Jews in Iraq. That is the story of just one community. Similar stories unfolded in communities across the region, ruining lives and desecrating a unique culture. These were stories of thorough dispossession, usually sponsored and promoted by antisemitic states, hellbent on ridding themselves of the Jews."
& lastly says
"This is the story of Yemen too, a story of a once vibrant Jewish community, smashed to pieces in the 20th Century. For millennia, perhaps as early as the time of King Solomon, Jews flourished in Yemen, despite prejudice and oppression. They developed a rich culture of their own. The 17th Century’s Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, for example, wrote a celebrated canon of 850 poems. He was revered by Jew and non-Jew alike.
As early as 1922, the flames of hatred were being fanned in Yemen: an old law was invoked, forcing all Jewish orphans under 12 to be converted to Islam. When the UN partition plan for a Jewish and Arab state in the British Mandate of Palestine was announced in 1947, a pogrom swept through the port of Aden. It killed an estimated 82 Jews, destroyed nearly all the Jewish shops and four synagogues.
From 1949-50, Israel airlifted the vast majority of the Yemeni community to safety. There, the Yemeni community remain a cultural powerhouse. Now, in the 21st Century, the minuscule remaining fragment of Yemen’s Jews is being crushed, using the same excuses as seventy years ago. Yet again, the same “anti-Zionist” antisemitism is fulfilling its evil role.
Yet again, Jews are being put to flight by hateful zealots and murderers in one of the cradles of Jewish civilization and history.
There is a vile irony to the Houthis’ actions, and those of their predecessors in the 40s and 50s: the same hatred which says that a Jew cannot be a loyal citizen in the countries of the Diaspora, and does not deserve to be an equal citizen, also claims that Jews have no place in Israel, the land of our indigenous roots and the birthplace of our nation. The handful of Jews who, if these terrifying reports are to be believed, are being hounded out of Yemen, are the latest victims of this murderous catch-22. They are the victims of the pernicious hatred which says that there can be no refuge, no rest, no human kindness for a Jew.
When the brothers and sisters of these Yemeni Jews were being expelled all those decades ago, the world did not care. This time, as the latest chapter in the persecution of Mizrahim is written in plain sight, it is time to end the erasure which says that Jewish suffering began and ended in Europe and forgets the Jews of the Middle East." Countless People have said the Arab Nations need to Pay Trillions, TRILLIONS of Dollars in Reparations to the State of Israel for the 800,000 Jews they unjustly kicked out of their
Dumpy Ugly Arab Nations in 1948
From Israelnationalnews.com an article is titled
"Too many American Jews are turning a blind eye to Antisemitism" the article says:
No Jewish organization in the USA (exceot the ZOA) has the fortitude to publicly confront egregious acts of antisemitism.
Tags: ZOA Jerrold L. Sobel BLM
Jerrold L. Sobel , 25/08/20 23:00
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Riots and looting in Oakland, California
Riots and looting in Oakland, CaliforniaREUTERS/Stephen Lam
"To say the United States is living through a daunting, unique period of time might indeed be an understatement. Unfortunately, what’s not unique and remains a constant is the pervasive antisemitism throughout certain sectors of the country and the complicity of many Jewish organizations themselves in this blight.
With all the burning, looting, and rioting going on in American cities, has anyone heard any uproar over the wide scale destruction of Jewish institutions in Los Angeles, this past May? If the answer is no, neither have I. Along with Synagogues, numerous Jewish-owned buildings and stores were defaced and in some cases torched. Many were desecrated with anti-Semitic graffiti, too graphic to repeat.
According to Paul Koretz, Fairfax district Councilman, he "watched the fires, looting, and antisemitic hate crimes and incidents. Under the guise of protests, some advanced their antisemitic agenda.”
He went on to say:
"Across the street from Beth El, the Kosher Mensch Bakery and Kitchen and the Jewish-owned clothing store Go Couture were destroyed. Stores on the fashionable Melrose Avenue, were also damaged, as were multiple Jewish institutions in the area: Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Tivereth Avi/Morasha Educational Centre, Shaarei Tefilah Synagogue, and the Shalhevet school for girls.”
Jonathan Friedman, the owner of Syd’s Pharmacy, stood with his friends helplessly and watched a mob break into his pharmacy on Beverly Blvd. Friedman stated, “They stole all the narcotics..."
Jonathan Friedman, the owner of Syd’s Pharmacy, stood with his friends helplessly and watched a mob break into his pharmacy on Beverly Blvd. As reported in forward.com, Friedman stated, “They stole all the narcotics and damaged the floors and entrance. I estimate the damage is over $100,000.” Absurdly, some would have you believe they were just memorializing George Floyd.
Marnina Wirtschafter, a 26 year old, Jewish resident of Los Angeles, was likewise outraged at a June 2nd rally. She felt it was her duty “to show up for others because "it’s the Jewish thing to do.” Shamefully, she wasn't referring to the aforementioned, antisemitic, pogrom.
Instead both she and another Jewish woman, Kelsey Goldberg, were at a Black Lives Matter march where Wirtshafter further pontificated: “We need to continue to read and uplift black voices. We need to let them know and let your own community know that you are no longer willing to be complacent in racism.” Goldberg, 31, chimed in that she has attended many Black Lives Matter protests and has been involved with social justice activism for several years, attending many such marches. It begs the question, why these young women weren't as outraged over the injustices their fellow Jews had just suffered by the very group they were marching with? Aren’t Jews living in their own town also entitled to social justice and legal justice as well?"
the article continues
"Chutzpah layered on top of chutzpah. Morton Klein the President of the National ZOA had the audacity to answer those very questions, pointing out in tweets what should have been obvious to all: “BlackLivesMatter is an anti-Semitic, Israel hating, Soros funded, racist, Israelophobic hate group.” He followed up with: “I urge the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) to immediately put BlackLivesMatter on their list of hate groups. BLM is a Jew hating, White hating, Israel hating, conservative Black hating, violence promoting, dangerous Soros funded extremist group of haters.”
For expressing what only the willfully blind could deny, Klein was subjected to his sworn enemies giving voice to an anguished outcry of hate Vociferously, he was denounced as a “racist,” “bigot,” and xenophobe.
If you think the recriminations were coming from BLM, you’re sadly mistaken. Sixteen of the fifty one member organizations of the Conference of Presidents issued a separate letter on June 12th condemning Klein’s comments, and called for the removal of the ZOA from the Council of Presidents.
Unsurprisingly, not one word about the antisemitic riots just days earlier was mentioned by any of Klein’s sixteen disparaging groups. It’s not surprising because with the exception of the ZOA no other Jewish organization in the United States has the intestinal fortitude to publicly confront and maintain pressure on egregious acts of antisemitism.
This past December, a black man named Grafton Thomas crashed a Hannukah party at the house of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg in Monsey, New York. Brandishing a butcher knife, he immediately began stabbing five people, one of whom, Rabbi Josef Newmann, succumbed to his injuries. Investigators found handwritten journals expressing antisemitic views, including material about Adolf Hitler, "Nazi culture", and drawings of a Star of David and of a swastika among Thomas's possessions.
With so much evidence of it being a hate crime and over a hundred guests at the party recognizing him as the assailant, you would think it was a slam dunk case. Guess again. This past April 20th, a federal judge ruled Grafton was incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to be hospitalized in a mental facility. He certainly was competent enough to research Nazi culture, cross state lines, seek out the Rabbi’s address, and commit murder, but not enough to stand trial. This dastardly event came on the heels of a 30 year old Hassidic kollel student was stabbed multiple times on his way to Synagogue in Ramapo, New York, two months earlier.
There isn’t a person on the planet that hasn’t heard of George Floyd, so why aren’t the names of Rabbi Newmann and that kollel student equally familiar? I think all unbiased, serious minded people know the answer to this question.
With the exception of the ZOA, a sort of Stockholm syndrome has set in amongst Jewish leadership in and out of congress. They fail miserably confronting the present scourge of anti-Jewish violence, opting instead to support groups such as Black Lives Matter that inspire, and are complicit in the antisemitism we’re now witnessing.
In an article published in, The Jewish News of Northern California, entitled: “Over 400 Jewish Groups and Synagogues Sign a Letter Supporting Black Lives Matter." The opening paragraph reads: “More than 400 Jewish organizations and synagogues in the United States, including a number in Northern California, have signed on to a letter that asserts “unequivocally: Black Lives Matter.
Not one word about the outrages committed against Jewish communities by members and supporters of this hateful group. Worse yet, far too many march in tandem with them."
From the website news.gallup.com an article is titled
"Americans Felt Uneasy Toward Arabs Even Before September 11" on September 28, 2001 the article says:
Majority supports increased security measures even for Arabs who are United States citizens
BY JEFFREY M. JONES
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
"PRINCETON, NJ -- A review of polling data measuring attitudes toward Arabs over the past decade suggests that the American public has generally held somewhat negative views of Arabs even before the recent terrorist attacks on September 11. Polls conducted since the attacks show that a significant minority of Americans report having become less positive toward Arabs. Additionally, about three out of 10 Americans say that in the last two weeks, they have heard negative comments about Arabs living in the United States, and about half to 60% are willing to support increased security measures aimed specifically at Arabs in the United States.
Americans Traditionally Have Not Held Very Positive Views of Arabs
Available historical data suggest that a negative image of Arabs existed before the September 11 attacks. A March 1993 Gallup poll, conducted shortly after a terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center, showed that just 39% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Arabs, while 32% had an unfavorable opinion and 29% had no opinion. An ABC News poll, conducted during the Persian Gulf crisis in February 1991, found that 43% of Americans said they had a high opinion of Arabs while 41% said they had a low opinion. In that poll, majorities of Americans said the following terms applied to Arabs: "religious" (81%), "terrorists" (59%), "violent" (58%) and "religious fanatics" (56%).
A July 1993 Gallup poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans believed that there were "too many" immigrants from Arab countries entering the United States, while just 6% thought there were too few and 24% thought the number was about right. The poll was conducted at a time when most Americans thought immigration on the whole should be decreased. Still, Arab countries topped the list of areas from which Americans said "too many" immigrants were coming to this country, followed closely by Latin American and Asian countries, with African and European countries well behind. Sixty percent of respondents in an April 1998 New York Times poll agreed that "Arab-Americans are more loyal to Arab countries than to the United States," while 26% disagreed.
In 1995, following the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, many Americans believed that Arab terrorist groups were responsible before the investigation uncovered Timothy McVeigh as the perpetrator of the crime. Nevertheless, six in 10 Americans thought media coverage of the bombing had been fair to Muslims and Arabs, while 28% thought it was unfair.
Americans' Ratings of Arab Countries Are Low
Earlier this year, Gallup asked Americans to say whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of 26 different countries around the world. From that list, the four lowest-rated countries were Arabic or Middle Eastern: Libya, Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian Authority. Americans were more positive about two other Arab nations -- Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- but these placed well behind the North American and European countries on the list.
Next, I'd like your overall opinion of some foreign countries. First, is your overall opinion of [RANDOM ORDER]very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable? (How about … ?)"
the article continues
"2001 Feb 1-4
Total favorable
Total unfavorable
%
%
Canada
90
7
Australia
85
8
Great Britain
85
9
Italy
78
12
France
77
17
Germany
75
16
Japan
73
21
Brazil
69
17
Mexico
67
26
Egypt
65
23
Israel
63
32
The Philippines
63
25
Taiwan
63
22
India
58
30
South Africa
57
33
Russia
52
42
Saudi Arabia
47
46
Vietnam
46
44
China
45
48
North Korea
31
59
Colombia
30
59
Cuba
27
68
The Palestine Authority
22
63
Iran
12
83
Libya
11
75
Iraq
9
85
Since the attacks, about half of Americans (51%) now say they feel less favorably toward Afghanistan, 41% feel less favorably toward the Palestinians, and 31% feel less favorably toward Muslims living abroad, according to a September 13 CNN/Time poll.
Attitudes Since the Terrorist Attacks
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted September 14-15 finds that 35% of Americans say they now have less trust in Arabs living in this country, while 63% say their level of trust has not changed. Americans with a high school education or less are more likely than those with college education to say they are now less trusting of Arab-Americans, by a 41% to 32% margin. Additionally, Republicans (45%) are more likely to say they have less trust in Arabs than are independents (29%) and Democrats (33%).
About one in three Americans say that since the attacks, they have heard friends, neighbors, co-workers or acquaintances make negative comments about Arabs living in this country, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. Negative comments about Arabs are apparently more common in conversations involving younger Americans. Four in 10 Americans below age 50 -- including 55% of those aged 18-29 -- say they have heard negative remarks about Arab-Americans, compared to just 18% of those aged 50 years and over.
Other polls have reinforced the conclusion that at least a significant minority of Americans either feel more negatively toward Arabs or perceive that such negative feelings will develop in the country. For example, a September 13-14 CBS News/New York Times poll reveals that nearly half of Americans, 46%, believe that it is very likely Arab-Americans, Muslims, and Middle Eastern immigrants will be singled out unfairly in this country. Forty-three percent in a September 13 ABC News/Washington Post poll said they think the attacks will make them more suspicious of people who they think are of Arab descent. According to the September 13 CNN/Time poll, the majority of Americans say they feel no differently toward Arab-Americans as a result of the attacks, but 27% admit to feeling less favorably.
Many Support Special Security Measures Targeting Arabs in the United States
The increased suspicion of Arabs is evident in Americans' support for additional security requirements for Arabs in the United States, including those who are United States citizens. Nearly six in 10 Americans interviewed in a September 14-15 Gallup poll favored requiring people of Arab descent to undergo special, more intensive security checks when flying on American airplanes. The public is evenly divided about whether Arabs living in this country -- including those who are U.S. citizens -- should be required to carry special identification with them. A Newsweek poll conducted September 13-14 shows that 32% of Americans think Arabs living in this country should be put under special surveillance as Japanese-Americans were following Pearl Harbor, but most Americans (62%) say it would be a mistake to target a nationality group."
From gatestoneinstitute.org an article is titled
"The Lie of "Disproportionality"
by Fred Maroun
May 26, 2016 at 4:00 am
"By making an accusation of disproportionality without defining the meaning of the term, Bernie Sanders and Haaretz betrayed not only the Palestinians and the Israelis, but also their professions. They made false and unsubstantiated accusations while ignoring the thousands more deaths that the Palestinians are inflicting on their own people -- by training toddlers and children for war, using their own people as human shields and failing to provide shelters for them, as the Israelis do for their citizens.
In addition to helping Bernie Sanders attract the naïve and anti-Israel vote, and helping Haaretz attract anti-Semitic readers, unsubstantiated claims of disproportionality divert attention from the fact that preventing more wars requires replacing Gaza's Iranian-backed terrorist regime with a regime that is interested in the well-being of the Palestinians.
As a fourth Gaza war looms on the horizon, we should be aware of the hypocrisy and demagoguery of past Gaza wars: because we are likely to see more of the same.
The Accusation
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a candidate in the Democratic primaries for president, claimed that Israel's response in the 2014 Gaza war was "disproportionate," and Haaretz columnist Asher Schechter agreed. Yet neither Sanders nor Haaretz provided evidence to back that claim.
Schechter made one point worth mentioning: the claim of "extremely permissive rules of engagement during the operation that aimed to protect the lives of IDF soldiers even if the cost was a greater loss of civilian lives." If true, it simply means that IDF soldiers, as all soldiers, have to make split-second decisions, and when they do so in a situation when confronted with Palestinians who appear to be terrorists, they err on the side of assuming they are terrorists in order to protect their own lives. That is not unexpected, and Israel has no obligation to do otherwise.
Israel has repeatedly demonstrated how much it values the civilian lives of the people it is fighting. No other military force drops leaflets, telephones its adversaries and "knocks on the roof" to warn them of an imminent attack, so that civilians will have time to evacuate. Israel values the lives of Palestinian civilians, but naturally, it values the lives of its own soldiers more. Israel has repeatedly demonstrated how much it values its soldiers, for example when it freed more than one thousand Palestinian criminals. Why would anyone expect Israel to suddenly to value its soldiers less when forced to fight terrorism in Gaza?"
the article continues
"What is disgraceful is not that Israel cares about its soldiers, most of whom have families at home -- in many cases dependent on them for their livelihood. What would morale in any military be if soldiers felt they were merely regarded as cannon-fodder, not cared about?
What is disgraceful is that the Palestinian government in Gaza cares less about the lives of its own civilians, who themselves have families, than about killing Jews. This is why the terrorists exploit those civilians as part of their "dead baby strategy," described by American human rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
As Dershowitz has also written, Hamas has a "calculated strategy designed to point the emotional finger of moral blame at the IDF for doing what every democracy would do: namely, defend its civilians from rocket attacks by targeting those who are firing the rockets, even if they are firing them from civilian areas."
No Credible Evidence
There has been no evidence from an unbiased and credible source that Israel's actions in Gaza were disproportionate -- in the laws of war, not meaning that the number of dead on both sides of a conflict have to be the same (which would be nonsense) -- but that the amount of military force to be applied to accomplish a particular military operation may not exceed the amount of force required to accomplish the goal of that military operation: "Loss of life and damage to property incidental to attacks must not be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage ..."
This is not a simple concept, especially for a public not versed in military matters.
Among the biased sources that have weighed in is Amnesty International (AI), which made that accusation in July 2015. The Israeli government explained why AI's conclusion was not valid, but AI's thoroughly documented record of anti-Israel bias already tainted its report.
AI's bias against Israel has also been documented by several analysts, in addition to NGO Monitor: Dr. Yvette Alt Miller and Alan Dershowitz himself. AI's national office denied Alan Dershowitz the right to speak after AI's Columbia chapter had invited him. AI even co-sponsored the speaking tour of a Palestinian activist who promotes violence and who openly exploits his own children to provoke Israeli soldiers.
In addition to the lack of credibility of the accusations, non-Israeli and non-Jewish sources have also reached the conclusion that Israel committed no crimes of disproportionality. During the 2014 Gaza war, Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said, "No other army in the world has ever done more than Israel is doing now to save the lives of innocent civilians in a combat zone". In April 2016, he reiterated that assessment."
& lastly says
"Haaretz's Schechter admits that "Hamas, of course, launched rocket attacks against schools, hospitals and houses. It did so deliberately, with the intent of inflicting death and suffering." Everyone who is not an outright terrorist supporter, including Sanders and Haaretz, agrees that Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorist attacks from Gaza. It is, of course, the duty of Israel to use only the force required to stop the attackers and not much more, but how does one determine if Israel went "too far"?
To the naïve observer, it seems that because far more Palestinians died than Israelis, Israel must be using disproportionate force. This conclusion, however, does not take into account that Israel goes to great lengths to protect its civilians while Hamas encourages civilian casualties in order to gain sympathy, as Dershowitz explains. It also does not take into account the actual meaning of proportionality.
A Betrayal of both Israelis and Palestinians
By making an accusation of disproportionality without defining the meaning of the term, Sanders and Haaretz betrayed not only the Palestinians and the Israelis, but also their professions. They made false and unsubstantiated accusations while ignoring the thousands more Palestinian deaths that the Palestinians are inflicting on their own people -- by training toddlers and children for war, using their own people as human shields and failing to provide shelters for them, as the Israelis do for their citizens.
In addition to helping Sanders attract the naïve and anti-Israel vote, and helping Haaretz attract anti-Semitic readers, unsubstantiated claims of disproportionality divert attention from the fact that preventing more wars requires replacing Gaza's Iranian-backed terrorist regime with a regime that is interested in the well-being of the Palestinians. Sanders and Schechter propose nothing to achieve this. They prefer falsely to accuse Israel of anything that might possibly sound damning, and hope that no one will dig for some truth or ask any questions.
To naïve people, Sanders and Schechter appear thoughtful, compassionate individuals who care about the Palestinians; in fact, they merely are either ignorant themselves or duplicitous. If betraying Israelis and Palestinians equally is what Sanders means by "a more balanced position," all that is disproportionate is their unjustified hostility towards Israel that is also unhelpful to the Palestinians."
Fred Maroun, a left-leaning Arab based in Canada, has authored op-eds for New Canadian Media, among other outlets. From 1961-1984, he lived in Lebanon.
Fred Maroun has pointed out in his article about Arab Evil on gatestoneinstitute.org of
July 10, 2016 titled
"The Arabs Historic Mistakes in Their Interactions with Israel"
Fred Maroun said in this article about Arab Historic Mistakes that
"The Jews are not keeping the Arabs in camps, we are." It's Not Israel or the Jews keeping the Arabs the so-called "Palestinians" in Refugee Camps, it's the Arab Nations who are doing it, it's their Fault as Always, It's always their Fault, Everything is their fault
From the website adl.org an article is titled
"The Role of the Churches in Nazi Germany
Compliance and Confrontation"
by:
Victoria J. Barnett
January 1, 1998
This article originally appeared in Dimensions, Vol 12, No 2 the article says:
"Churches throughout Europe were mostly silent while Jews were persecuted, deported and murdered by the Nazis. Churches, especially those in Nazi Germany, sought to act, as institutions tend to do, in their own best interests -- narrowly defined, short-sighted interests.
The list of "bystanders" -- those who declined to challenge the Third Reich in any way -- that emerges from any study of the Holocaust is long and depressing. Few organizations, in or outside Nazi Germany, did much to resist Nazism or aid its victims.
[I]t has become abundantly clear that [the Churches'] failure to respond to the horrid events...was not due to ignorance; they knew what was happening. Ultimately, the Churches' lapses during the Nazi era were lapses of vision and determination.
Assisting European Jews was not a high priority of the Allied governments as they sought to defeat Hitler militarily. The courageous acts of individual rescuers and resistance members proved to be the exception, not the norm.
To a great extent, this inertia defined the organized Christian community as well. Churches throughout Europe were mostly silent while Jews were persecuted, deported and murdered. In Nazi Germany in September 1935, there were a few Christians in the Protestant Confessing Church who demanded that their Church take a public stand in defense of the Jews. Their efforts, however, were overruled by Church leaders who wanted to avoid any conflict with the Nazi regime. Internationally, some Church leaders in Europe and North America did condemn the Nazis' measures against the Jews, and there were many debates about how Christians outside Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied territory should best respond to Hitler's brutal policies. These discussions, however, tended to become focused more on secondary strategic considerations -- like maintaining good relations with colleagues in the German Churches -- than on the central humanitarian issues that were really at stake.
Churches throughout the world began to address their failures after 1945. Confessions of guilt have been issued by Catholic Churches in France and Germany, and most major Protestant denominations, beginning with the German Evangelical Church's Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt in August 1945 (three months after the war in Europe ended). The early statements were vague, often referring only to the Churches' general lack of decisiveness in opposing Nazism. More recently, however, the Christian Churches have been far more specific -- recognizing that they not only failed to resist Nazism, but actually helped prepare the way for the mass destruction of Europe's Jews through centuries of proselytization, attacks on Judaism, and tacit or overt support for pogroms and other anti-Jewish violence."
the article continues
"These admissions of guilt are part of a difficult process, which still continues, in which Christians try to grasp exactly what happened to their Churches during the Holocaust. The examinations raise a number of questions: Were the Churches, by and large, passive while millions of innocent people were murdered? To what extent can we say they resisted? To what extent were they guilty of active complicity? Most importantly: Why did the Churches respond as they did? These are, obviously, complex questions, historically and theologically.
Factors Shaping Behavior of Christian Churches
Three main factors shaped the behavior of the Christian Churches during the Nazi reign of terror in Germany and abroad. The first was the theological and doctrinal anti-Judaism that existed in parts of the Christian tradition. (Long before 1933, the anti-Judaism that existed within the Churches -- ranging from latent prejudice to the virulent diatribes of people like Martin Luther -- lent legitimacy to the racial anti-Semitism that emerged in the late nineteenth century.) The second factor was the Churches' historical role in creating "Christendom" -- the Western European culture that, since the era of the Roman emperor Constantine, had been explicitly and deliberately "Christian." The Churches' advocacy of a "Christian culture" led to a "sacralization of cultural identity" (as the theologian Miroslav Volf puts it), in which dominant, positive values were seen as "Christian" ones, while developments viewed negatively (such as secularism and Marxism) were attributed to "Jewish" influences. Moreover, particularly in the German Evangelical Church (the largest Protestant Church in Germany), the allegiance to the concept of Christendom was linked to a strong nationalism, symbolized by German Protestantism's "Throne and Altar" alliance with state authority. The third factor was the Churches' understanding of their institutional role. While most Christian religious leaders in Germany welcomed the end of the Weimar Republic and the resurgence of nationalism, they became increasingly uneasy about their institutions' future in what was clearly becoming a totalitarian state. (Moreover, many of the leading Nazis were overtly anti-Christian.) The Churches in Nazi Germany, while wanting to retain their prominent place in society, opposed any state control of their affairs. The Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches sought to maintain some degree of independence by entering into certain arrangements with the Nazi regime. The 1933 concordat, signed by representatives of the Nazi regime and the Vatican, ostensibly secured independence for Catholic schools and other Catholic institutions in Nazi Germany. The Protestant Churches, which were divided regionally, behaved cautiously -- avoiding public confrontation and negotiating privately with Nazi authorities -- in the hope that this would ensure institutional independence from direct Nazi control. Throughout Hitler's Germany, bishops and other Christian religious leaders deliberately avoided antagonizing Nazi officials. When Christian clergymen and Christian women deplored Nazi policies, they often felt constrained to oppose those policies in a muted fashion. Even in the Protestant Confessing Church (the Church group in Germany that was most critical of Nazism), there was little support for official public criticism of the Nazi regime, particularly when it came to such central and risky issues as the persecution of Jews."
& continues
"Anti-Judaism in Germany's Churches
The role of anti-Judaism in Germany's Churches during the Nazi era was a complicated one. Throughout the 1930s, there was ample evidence of anti-Semitism in many of the sermons and articles that appeared in the German Churches' publications. Some German Church leaders proudly announced that they were anti-Semites. Others, who weren't anti-Semitic, nevertheless warned their colleagues against any public show of support for the Jewish victims of the Nazi regime. Christian anti-Semitism often complemented other factors -- notably, the strong nationalism in the German Protestant Churches. The most extreme example of this combination of anti-Semitism and nationalism was the so-called German Christian Movement, a Protestant group that embraced Nazism and tried to Nazify Christianity by suppressing the Old Testament, revising liturgies and hymns, and promoting Jesus as an Aryan hero who embodied the ideals of the new Germany.
It must be said that the Churches' theological attitudes about Jews did not always take the form of anti-Jewish diatribes, or other kinds of explicit anti-Semitism. Often they manifested themselves in their determination to convert Jews, and so Nazi policies confronted the Christian Churches with an unresolvable theological problem: in a society that was determined to eradicate the Jews, the Christian Gospel claimed that the Jews were God's chosen people and should be the special objects of Christian proselytizing. This led to deep divisions among German clergy about what they really believed and what they were supposed to do in their new situation."
& continues
"For the most part, the influences that motivated and guided the German Churches in the Thirties and Forties essentially paralyzed these institutions' potential challenges to Nazism, or led them to implicitly (though reluctantly) support Hitler's regime. The German Churches stumbled, and they stumbled badly. The leaders of the Churches spent a great deal of time delineating a "viable" position: one that would conform to Christian doctrine, prevent their Church from dividing into opposing factions, and avoid antagonizing the Nazi authorities. In any examination of the German Churches' statements from this era, what is most striking is their painstaking attempt to say, publicly, neither too much nor too little about what is happening around them. Needless to say, this ruled out any consistent or emphatic response to the Nazis' persecution of Jews and others. And institutional inaction gave individual Christians throughout Germany an alibi for passivity. More tragically, individual Christians who did express solidarity with the persecuted Jews -- such as the Catholic priest Bernhard Lichtenberg and the Protestant deaconess Marga Meusel -- received no public (and little private) support from their respective Churches."
& continues
"Christian Opposition to the Hitler Regime Outside of Germany
The story recounted in this article up to this point has been, for the most part, a dismal one, but some Christian Churches and organizations outside of Germany did evince vigorous opposition to the Nazi state in the Thirties and Forties. From the beginning of Hitler's regime, the ecumenical Christian movement (its central offices were located in Geneva, London and New York) strongly condemned developments in Nazi Germany that threatened the independence of Christian Churches and the safety of Jews. On May 26 and 29, 1933, twelve hundred American clergymen from 26 different Christian denominations sponsored an advertisement in The New York Times condemning anti-Jewish activities in Nazi Germany. Leaders of the Federal Council of Churches (a Protestant group), located in the United States, sent angry letters in 1933 to their colleagues in the German Churches, demanding public statements denouncing Nazi policies. Between 1933 and 1945, there were six major statements from the leaders of Churches in this country and in Europe (outside the Third Reich) that specifically condemned anti-Semitism and the Nazi persecution of Jews. (Among the officials involved were the Archbishop of Canterbury and Samuel Cavert and Henry Smith Leiper of the Federal Council of Churches in New York.) In November 1938, the three leading Protestant ecumenical organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, issued a statement castigating "antisemitism in all its forms" and urging governments to permit more Jewish refugees to enter their countries. In the United States in December 1938, the Federal Council of Churches and the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a joint condemnation of Kristallnacht, which had occurred a month earlier. (It was the first Protestant/Catholic joint statement on a social issue in this country.) In December 1942, after reports of genocide began to reach the Allied countries, the Federal Council of Churches passed a resolution protesting the "virtual massacre" of Europe's Jews. This was followed by similar protests from the Anglican Church in England and a joint statement by Protestant ecumenical leaders and the World Jewish Congress in Geneva. In Great Britain, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, gave an impassioned speech in March 1943 in the House of Lords, demanding an immediate end to immigration quotas and an increase in Allied aid to countries that offered refuge to Jews. In a 1983 speech delivered at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Gerhardt Riegner, the director of the World Jewish Congress in Geneva during the war (and a man who had participated in efforts to rescue Jews from the Nazis), said that, during the Holocaust, "the human understanding, friendship, and the helping hand" of his Protestant ecumenical colleagues "were the only signs of light in the darkness that surrounded us."
& continues
"These aspects of the Christian Churches' opposition to the Third Reich did not, of course, impede the workings of the Holocaust, or even lead to the rescue of significant numbers of endangered Jews. The actions and pronouncements described here were not part of any long-term, comprehensive and coordinated program. The Christian leaders outside of Germany who spoke out against the persecution of the Jews and against genocide were a minority in the Christian world. They failed to win significant support from their own Church members. There were early attempts (in 1933 and 1934, in the United States and Britain) to establish an interfaith Catholic, Jewish and Protestant network to help refugees from Nazi Germany. These efforts failed, in part, because of the lack of widespread support in the Christian Churches. Throughout the Thirties and Forties, the major Christian refugee offices in Europe and the U.S. received far more financial support from Jewish organizations like the United Jewish Appeal than from their own member Churches.
German Churches Actions Based on Institutional Interests
Throughout the Nazi era, ardent debates took place within the German Churches about where to stand firm against Hitler's regime and where to compromise, when to speak out and when to remain silent. Ecumenical documents show that from 1933 to 1945 there were Christian leaders inside and outside Germany who agonized about what they could do to stop Nazism and help its victims. The historical complexities suggested by these factors should never lead us to condone the Churches' failures during the Thirties and Forties; they can, however, help us to understand the specific nature of those failures so that we may learn from them."
& lastly says
"Perhaps at the heart of those failures was the fact that the Churches, especially in Nazi Germany, sought to act, as institutions tend to do, in their own best interests -- narrowly defined, short-sighted interests. There was little desire on the part of the Churches for self-sacrifice or heroism, and much emphasis on "pragmatic" and "strategic" measures that would supposedly protect these institutions' autonomy in the Third Reich. Public institutional circumspection carried to the point of near numbness; an acute lack of insight: these are the aspects of the Churches' behavior during the Nazi era that are so damning in retrospect. The minutes of German Protestant synodal meetings in 1942 reveal how oblivious the participants were to what was happening in the world around them. While innocent victims throughout Europe were being brutally murdered, Christian leaders were debating what points of doctrine and policy were tenable. This is especially haunting, of course, because the Christian clergy and laity never thought of their respective Churches as a mere institution, but as a religious body witnessing in the world to certain values, including love of neighbors, the sanctity of life and the power of moral conscience.
Reflecting on the failure of the Churches to challenge the Nazis should prompt us to ponder all the others -- individuals, governments and institutions -- that passively acquiesced to the Third Reich's tyranny. Even the wisest and most perceptive of them, it seems, failed to develop adequate moral and political responses to Nazi genocide, failed to recognize that something new was demanded of them by the barbarism of Hitler's regime. Moreover, it has become abundantly clear that their failure to respond to the horrid events in Europe in the Thirties and Forties was not due to ignorance; they knew what was happening.
Ultimately, the Churches' lapses during the Nazi era were lapses of vision and determination. Protestant and Catholic religious leaders loyal to creeds professing that love can withstand and conquer evil, were unable or unwilling to defy one of the great evils in human history. And so the Holocaust will continue to haunt the Christian Churches for a very, very long time to come."
Victoria J. Barnett is a writer and scholar whose work examines the Protestant Churches during the Holocaust. She is the author of For the Soul of the People: Protestant Protest Against Hitler and Bystanders: Conscience and Complicity in the Holocaust. She is also the editor of the English-language edition of Wolfgang Gerlach's And the Witnesses Were Silent: The Confessing Church and the Jews and the English-language edition of Eberhard Bethge's biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Take this Anti-Semite Losers, Science Fiction has a strong Jewish aspect to it
the website heyalma.com has an article titled
"The Surprisingly Jewish Universe of ‘Star Trek: Picard’ "
The Jewish threads woven through the show are a welcome breath of fresh air in the contemporary sci-fi landscape.
By Julia Peterson
July 14, 2020 the article says
"Thirty-three years after Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired, Captain Jean-Luc Picard returned to our screens earlier this year with a new ragtag crew, a daring rescue mission, and a show bearing his name. But Star Trek: Picard isn’t just an ambitious, exciting, often deeply moving show – it’s also incredibly Jewish. From subtle naming choices to major plot points, the Picard showrunners have cleverly woven Jewish culture into nearly every aspect of their universe, even though none of the characters are explicitly described as members of the tribe.
*Major spoilers for the first season of Star Trek: Picard below*
In the first episode of Picard, we learn that the now-retired admiral is haunted by a failed attempt to evacuate members of the Romulan species to safety when their home planet is about to be destroyed. While Picard himself compares the attempted rescue mission to the WWII evacuation of Dunkirk, there is another famous evacuation reference in this plotline as well: the ships Starfleet sends to transport the refugees are identified as “Wallenberg class.”
While this has not been confirmed in the show, it seems likely that this class of ships was named after Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat with Jewish heritage who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. Working with the War Refugee Board, he issued “protective passports” to Hungarian Jews naming them as Swedish citizens to prevent their deportation – even handing protective passes through the doors of an Auschwitz-bound train and saving dozens of lives that day alone, according to a driver who worked for him – and prevented a plan to blow up the Budapest ghetto.
In 1945, Wallenberg went to attend a meeting with Soviet military leaders and was never seen again – he is presumed to have died in 1947. He has since been made an honorary citizen of the United States, Canada, Hungary, Austria, and Israel, and is recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.
While Picard marks the first time Wallenberg class ships have appeared in the Star Trek canon, it seems fitting that Starfleet would choose to honor this wartime hero by having the ships they use to rescue civilians bear his name.
And the ships aren’t the only part of the Romulan evacuation plan with a Jewish influence. The planet Starfleet was hoping to use as a relocation hub is called Vashti. Sound familiar? In the Book of Esther, Queen Vashti is banished for refusing to “display her beauty” at a banquet the king has ordered her to attend. While there are many interpretations of the reasons behind Vashti’s refusal, the fact of her defiance cannot be denied, and echoes of this story show up in Picard as well. The planet Vashti is home to an order of Romulan warrior nuns called the Qowat Milat, an all-female group who believe in total honesty and are incredibly skilled in combat. It seems fitting that the women living on the planet bearing Queen Vashti’s name have trained themselves to never silence their thoughts, motivations, or desires, and can put a sword through anyone who tries to order them around."
the article continues
"The music of Picard also draws on Jewish origins, as well as referencing 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. In Nemesis, Lieutenant Commander Data sings Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” at Commander Riker and Counselor Troi’s wedding, and the song returns near the end of Picard when Data’s consciousness is turned off at his request. Though “Blue Skies” was written by iconic Jewish composer Irving Berlin, that’s not the only reason this music choice feels Jewish to me. Hearing “Blue Skies” play during Data’s death reminded me of the Mourner’s Kaddish, and seemed to fill a similar emotional space when it was time to say goodbye. The version of the song used in Picard is performed by Isa Briones – who plays Data’s twin daughters Dahj and Soji – so the end of Data’s life was marked by a loved one singing about something beautiful without mentioning death once.
But for me, the most exciting Jewish reference in Picard wasn’t the ships or the planet or the music – it was their wonderful, brand-new twist on golem mythology.
Near the end of the first season, the characters are shown a synthetic body that could upload a person’s consciousness, and which cyberneticist Agnes Jurati immediately refers to as a golem.
In Jewish folklore, a golem is a constructed being – usually made of mud or clay – that has been brought to life for some purpose. In the story of the Golem of Prague, widely considered as the “classic” golem narrative, the golem was brought to life specifically to defend the Jews of the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks.
While I do love golem folklore, I often find myself frustrated with how golems are depicted in popular culture – as mindless, destructive, uncontrollable things, rather than beings intentionally created to protect and safeguard a Jewish community under attack. But the Picard writers don’t just honor golem folklore. They innovate. In the final episode, after Picard helps save a group of synthetic life forms from persecution but succumbs to a degenerative brain condition while doing so, his consciousness is uploaded to the synthetic body to save his life. So, rather than the golem being built to protect a marginalized people, in this case a protector becomes a golem – and one built in the image of the people he was protecting, too.
The Jewish story threads woven through Star Trek: Picard are a welcome breath of fresh air in a sci-fi landscape that often leans towards hazily “post-religious” futures, ignoring potential layers of narrative depth and flattening the complex relationship between religion and culture. I have no idea what the next few hundred years will hold for humankind – maybe we’ll be exploring the universe with some version of Starfleet, or maybe we will have taken a different path entirely – but I do believe that Jewish culture will be part of whatever future we fashion for ourselves. Watching Picard, I found a great deal of joy watching future Jewish culture thrive, as I hope it will in the real 24th century, too."
Header image design by Grace Yagel.
Many have said that the character of Dr. Moritz Benayoun on the series Star Trek: Picard is supposed to be Jewish, even though it is never explicitly stated that the character of
Dr. Benayoun is Jewish, the character of Dr. Benayoun is played by Jewish actor
David Paymer , the website jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com has an article titled
"Where no Jewish writer has gone before"
By LARRY YUDELSON
February 19, 2020, 10:00 am 0
"What happens when you put a National Jewish Book Award laureate in charge of a Star Trek television series?
You get a lot of Jewish, you should pardon the expression, Easter eggs.
In 2016, Michael Chabon received the Modern Jewish Literary Achievement Award from the Jewish Book Council for such books as “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” and “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.”
Now he is the lead writer on “Star Trek: Picard,” which catches up with Jean-Luc Picard, the captain of the Enterprise in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which aired back in the 20th century. In the new series, Picard has quit Starfleet after the Federation turned its back on Romulan refugees. The Federation had been spooked by a terror attack on Mars.
Michael Chabon, left, and Moritz Benayoun
Fans watching the weekly series streaming on CBS Direct Access have noted that Chabon seems to have imparted a Jewier touch to the show.
First came what seems to be Trek’s first Jewish doctor, Dr. Moritz Benayoun, introduced as Picard’s long-time physician and friend since before his Enterprise days. Although he’s not specifically labeled as Jewish, Benayoun is a Jewish name. Yossi Benayoun was one of Israel’s leading soccer players, competing in Israel and in England, until he announced his retirement last April. So if you know, you know.
Then came Planet Vashti, home to a group of Romulan refugee nuns. If you think the name of the Purim character is a coincidence, check out the triangular shape of the baked goods they eat there.
And then there were the Wallenberg-class starships used to evacuate Romulans before Federation’s xenophobia set in. It’s an apparent reference to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust."
Which is not to say that “Star Trek” didn’t have Jewish writerly connections from the very beginning. Plenty of screenwriters and actors were Jewish, and the prize for the most Jewish name on the original Star Trek goes to writer S. Bar David, the pseudonym for Shimon Wincelberg, who wrote two of the original episodes featuring Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.
And while Chabon is famous for his alternate history detective novel, “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union,” set in a world where the Jewish state is Alaska, the closest an actual Yiddish writer seems to have gotten to “Star Trek” is the actor David Opatoshu, who had a “Star Trek” role in 1967. David, the son of noted Yiddish novelist Joseph Opatoshu, began his career in the Yiddish theater and appeared in both “Exodus” and “Raid on Entebbe.” the character of Dr. Benayoun first appeared in the Star Trek: Picard episode
"Maps and Legends"
The website intellectualtakeout.org has an article titled
"Muslim Inbreeding is a Huge Problem--And People Don't Want to Talk About It" on November 10, 2017
Marriage between cousins remains rampant in much of the Muslim world. And the results are truly tragic.
By Jon Miltimore 5 ½ min
"Recently I was discussing culture with an educated person whom I respect. Over bourbon, we talked about various matters, including religion. The conversation was interesting but uneventful until he dropped this line.
“You do know half of the Arab world is inbred, right?”
It was a jarring line. It sounded both coarse and false. I politely answered that, no, I was not aware of this particular fact. I must have been smirking, because he persisted. “It’s true. Look it up.”
It was at this point I expressed skepticism. Perhaps he meant some villages in the Arab or Muslim world? Nope, he said.
I said I’d look into the matter, something I did several weeks later. To my surprise, I found an abundance of information on the subject. To my embarrassment, I found that my friend was pretty much right. Reliable research suggests consanguineous marriage rates in many Arab nations are as high as 50 percent.
How did I not know this? I decided to keep investigating.
A Google search of “Islam Inbreeding” will lead one to the case of Salha al-Hefthi, a 17-year-old Saudi girl who was profiled by the New York Times in 2003. Ms. Hefthi’s parents told her how lucky she was to be marrying someone from her own tribe, her paternal uncle’s son—her first cousin. The couple had two healthy boys but their third child, a girl, was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder that usually is fatal. The couple would have three more children born with the disease.
Ms. Hefthi told the Times she had no idea inbreeding often leads to genetic defects. This is not uncommon in Saudi Arabia, which is why genetic disorders are so rampant.
“Saudi Arabia is a living genetics laboratory,” Dr. Stephen R. Schroeder, executive director of the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research, told the Times. “Here you can study 10 families to study genetic disorders, where you would need 10,000 families to study genetic disorders in the United States.”
the article continues
"But it’s not just Saudi Arabia, or the Middle East for that matter. Inbreeding is surprisingly common in many Muslim nations and communities, evidence shows.
About 40 percent of the population marries a cousin in Egypt, according to a 2016 report in The Economist, while the percentage in Jordan is 32 percent.
“Rates are thought to be even higher in tribal countries such as Iraq and the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Kuwait,” says the Economist.
A 2005 BBC survey found that 55 percent of Britain’s huge Pakistani population was married to a first cousin.
There are at least two reasons inbreeding is so common in parts of the Muslim world (in addition to ignorance of its link to genetic defects): tradition and religion.
In many parts of the Islamic world, it’s considered unusual if not offensive to marry someone outside of one’s family or tribe. The pressure to marry a family member can be intense.
A 38-year-old Egyptian woman with two sons suffering from micro-syndrome, for example, explained to the Economist how she was criticized by relatives for allowing her teenage daughter to marry “a stranger” instead of a family member.
But the pressure can go beyond mere criticism. In recent years, European nations have seen young Muslim women killed for refusing to marry a family member. Honor killings, such as this 21-year-old Kurdish woman in Germany who was gunned down at a wedding after declining an arranged marriage with her cousin, are rare. But they demonstrate the emphasis Islamic culture places on “keeping it in the family.”
The precedent for consanguineous marriage comes from the Qur'an itself. Following his military conquests, the prophet Muhammad famously married his cherished daughter Fatimah to his cousin Ali, an act that was shown to be a great honor.
“I have married you to the dearest of my family to me,” Muhammed told Ali.
In fact, cousins are not even considered blood relatives in the Islamic tradition because the Qur'an does not forbid or condemn marriage between cousins. Here is what is said in chapter 4, verse 23 of the religious text:
“Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
As a result of this long religious tradition, convincing Muslims to stop the practice of inbreeding has proven difficult.
“My dad would not accept that being married to his cousin could have affected his children,” said Aisha Khan, a 36-year-old Pakistani woman who lives in the UK and lost two siblings to genetic diseases. “He’d say, ‘The doctors are wrong. It’s in the hands of God.’”
& lastly says
"But inbreeding is an issue that needs to be addressed, some European leaders say. The problem is that genetic deficiencies from consanguineous marriages is taxing European healthcare systems.
The BBC’s research, for example, found that that while British Pakistanis accounted for roughly 3.4% of all births, “they had 30% of all British children with recessive disorders and a higher rate of infant mortality.”
One study found that each year 700 babies in the UK are born with genetic disabilities as a result of consanguineous marriage. Despite this epidemic of genetic defects in babies born from consanguineous marriages, there remains a reluctance in many Islamic leaders to acknowledge the full ramifications of marriage between cousins (see below).
However, it should be noted that one of the impediments to addressing the issue of consanguineous marriage and its side-effects has nothing to do with Muslims. A serious problem, some critics say, is the inability of Western thought leaders to give the issue sufficient attention. Many, it seems, are hesitant to broach the subject, perhaps out of fear they’ll be mocked as xenophobic or portrayed as an Islamophobe. That won’t do, critics say.
“It's a public health issue and we deal with public health issues by raising awareness, by talking about subjects such as obesity, such as drug addiction, such as alcohol,” Ann Cryer, a former British Labour Party politician, told The Telegraph. “But for some reason we're told that we mustn't talk about cousin marriages because this is a sensitive issue.”
The dialogue raises an important question: If we can’t talk about sensitive cultural issues, how are people of diverse backgrounds, faiths, and ethnicities ever going to live together peacefully?"
From the Jerusalem Post website, www.jpost.com an article is titled
"Is Israel stealing private Palestinian land? – opinion"
When Jewish communities (“settlements”) were established, it was done “in good faith,” and with government approval on vacant land. Arabs did not go to court to claim “their land.”
By MOSHE DANN JULY 1, 2020 20:57 Email Twitter Facebook fb-messenger
BULLDOZERS DEMOLISH nine homes in Ofra in 2017. (photo credit: HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90)
BULLDOZERS DEMOLISH nine homes in Ofra in 2017.
(photo credit: HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90)
the article states
"One of the most serious accusations against Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria to “end the occupation” and in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns is that Israel systematically steals or “seizes” “private Palestinian land.” Not only would that be illegal, it is immoral. This seems to be the basis for the High Court’s decision to strike down the Regulation Law.
It is important to remember the reason for the Regulation Law. When Jewish communities (“settlements”) were established, it was done “in good faith,” and with government approval on vacant land. Arabs did not go to court to claim “their land.” Only much later, led by left-wing NGOs, were Arabs encouraged to make their claims.
The humanitarian purpose of the Regulation Law was to protect Jews who had built their homes “in good faith.” Most other countries have similar laws which protect homeowners in cases where the value of what was built far exceeds the value of the land. Destroying the homes of many thousands of Jews to resolve questionable or false Arab land claims would be unfair and unjust. Therefore, compensation was offered to Arab claimants, regardless of proof of ownership.
The source for the charge that “Israel is stealing privately owned land” is not only PLO/PA, Hamas, left-wing and anti-Israel media, and Arab propaganda, but an agency of the Israeli government: Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
COGAT, a unit of the Defense Ministry, is responsible for “implementing government policy in Judea and Samaria.” But COGAT not only “implements,” it also makes policy. And, as a separate independent military-legal administration, it is virtually unaccountable to anyone except the defense minister and the prime minister. They are responsible for this misrepresentation of fact.
COGAT and the IDF legal adviser, in cooperation with the attorney-general’s office, the state prosecutor’s office, the Justice Ministry and the High Court (Bagatz), routinely decide that land claimed by Arabs is valid. These claims, however, are based on massive distributions of state land throughout Judea and Samaria during the Jordanian occupation. They lack supporting evidence of ownership, such as deeds, transactions and actual possession, or usufruct. Nevertheless, COGAT recognizes the claims as valid, thus supporting charges that Israel steals private land.
Based on COGAT’s decisions, which are not reviewed by district courts – the only judicial body mandated to determine matters of land ownership – NGOs supporting Arab claims appeal to the High Court, which relies heavily on COGAT as the government’s authority."
the article continues:
"COGAT defends its decisions by citing the land registry (taba) for Judea and Samaria, which lists names of “owners,” mostly villages and tribes who were given state land during the early 1960s. None of the land was purchased, most of the land was never used, no taxes were paid and the original Arab recipients of land are no longer alive. To whom does this disputed land belong?
ACCORDING TO Ottoman and British Mandate law, gifted land could not be inherited without approval by the sovereign. Moreover, land that was given by the sovereign could be claimed as private only if the land was used continually (usufruct) for 10 years and taxes were paid. Otherwise, unused land reverts to the sovereign by law. Jordan changed this law and registered the land as privately owned, permanently, without conditions.
Since Jordan was never acknowledged as the legitimate sovereign over this territory, its occupation and anti-Jewish laws – including prohibiting non-Jordanian citizens from owning land and incurring the death penalty for selling land to Jews – have no validity; COGAT differs.
The status of land in Judea and Samaria was further confused by former High Court Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, who, at the end of her term decided unilaterally that hazakah, the right to claim title to land by working it and paying taxes applied only to Arabs, not Jews.
Since COGAT considers the land registry for Judea and Samaria “confidential,” it restricts access to it by Jews, making it nearly impossible to challenge Arab claims of private ownership or for Jews to acquire land. COGAT’s secretive procedure is backed by the High Court, which defends COGAT’s rule as a government agency. COGAT refuses to explain why their rules prevail exclusively and why access to public documents is forbidden."
& lastly says
"Regavim, an NGO, challenged the legality of COGAT’s position specifically with regard to land surrounding the Jewish community of Psagot. Regavim claimed that COGAT’s policies discriminate against Jews. The Jerusalem District Court agreed, awarded the case to Regavim, and ordered COGAT to make available land records of the surrounding area; COGAT has appealed to the High Court.
According to Ari Briggs, spokesman for Regavim, COGAT‘s policy restricts access to the land registry for Judea and Samaria only to people who are “connected to the land,” and defines those people only as Arabs. Regavim’s legal challenge is to force COGAT to end its discriminatory policy and allow equal access to Jews. Not only did COGAT appeal to the District Court’s decision, they also forbade access to the land registry by military order – thus transforming what should be a normal administrative process into their own exclusive domain.
Since 2008, COGAT has prevented the operation of a sewage treatment plant between the Arab village of Silwad and the Jewish community of Ofra because, COGAT ruled, it is built on “private Palestinian land” which belongs to the village. The attorney-general and the High Court have ordered that the project – which would serve all residents of the disputed area – be removed.
COGAT also opposes plans to widen the road near the Adam Junction because it infringes on “private Palestinian land.” Asked for details about who owns the land in question, COGAT has refused – and COGAT is “the law.”
The government sought to rectify this discriminatory and undemocratic system by appointing independent courts to adjudicate land disputes and determine ownership, and/or by extending the jurisdiction of District Courts as recommended by a commission of legal experts headed by the late justice Edmund Levy. That was the purpose of the Regulation Law.
The High Court could also require that disputes over land ownership be heard first by District Courts before any appeals, as is commonly practiced in all democratic countries. The High Court’s recent decision striking down the Regulation Law ignores this important first step in judicial procedures and norms. Therefore, the fundamental questions remain: To whom does disputed land belong? Is the Regulation Law legal, fair and just? This is one of the reasons why plans to extend Israeli law and sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is so important."
The writer is a PhD historian and journalist in Israel.
From the website triumphofmercy.com an article is titled
"Has God rejected His People Israel?"
3/11/2020 0 Comments
Picture
Part 1 of 4
by George Sidney Hurd
--
"The earliest Church Fathers, even though they lived after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., were uniformly Premillennial and therefore anticipated that Christ would save and restore Israel as a nation and reign for 1,000 years from Jerusalem upon the throne of David at His Second Coming.[1] However, as early as the late second century some Church Fathers began to deny that there would be any future for Israel. They began to spiritualize the Millennium, applying it to the present age and replacing Israel with the Church. As time progressed, some of the Fathers like John Chrysostom (344 – 407 A.D.) waxed eloquent in expressing their contempt for the Jews. Chrysostom said:
“Many, I know, respect the Jews and think that their present way of life is a venerable one. This is why I hasten to uproot and tear out this deadly opinion… The synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it also is a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts… But when God forsakes a people, what hope of salvation is left? When God forsakes a place, that place becomes a dwelling of demons.”
By the third century even Origin, who taught that every rational being will ultimately be restored to God whether in heaven or on earth,[2] did not allow for the possibility that the Jews should ever be restored as a nation. He said:
“We may assert in utter confidence that the Jews will not return to their earlier situation, for they have committed the most abominable of crimes in forming this conspiracy against the Savior of the human race…hence the city where Jesus suffered was necessarily destroyed, the Jewish nation was driven from its country, and another people was called by God to the blessed election.”
According to these and other Church Fathers, God has utterly rejected Israel as a nation and the Church has once-and-for-all replaced Israel as the people of God. This doctrine has become known as Replacement Theology or Supersessionism. However, as I hope to demonstrate in the following pages, this was not what Jesus and His Apostles taught. After Jesus presented Himself to Israel as their King and Messiah and was rejected by them, He told them that their house would be left desolate - but not forever. He made it clear that the desolation would only last “until” a certain condition was met. He said: “you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" (Matt 23:39). He said that they would be scattered among the nations, however, not forever but only until such a time as they welcome Him as their Messiah and King. He also said:
“And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Lk 21:24)
As with all God’s judgments, His judgment against His people Israel is temporal, only lasting “until…”, and culminating in restoration - not eternal rejection (Lam 3:31-33). And considering the question Jesus’ disciples asked Him on the Mount of Olives just before He ascended, it seems apparent that they understood the irrevocability of God’s promises to Israel better than most theologians have throughout Church history. They asked Jesus if He would restore Israel at that time (Acts 1:6). If God had permanently rejected Israel as a nation certainly Jesus would have corrected them, saying that Israel had been permanently rejected and would be replaced by the Church. But He simply said: "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7). Implied in His reply is the assumption that, in the Father’s time, Israel will indeed be restored as a nation."
the article continues
"The Early Fathers understood from Scriptures like these that, in spite of Israel’s transgression and ensuing judgment, God’s mercy never comes to an end and therefore His unconditional promises concerning the final restoration of the twelve tribes as one nation in their own land were irrevocable. Tertullian (160 to 225 AD) says of national Israel:
“Christ promises to the Jews their primitive condition with the recovery of their country, and after this life's course is over repose in Hades in Abraham's bosom. Oh, most excellent God, when He restores in amnesty what He took away in wrath! Oh, what a God is yours, who both wounds and heals, creates evil and makes peace! Oh, what a God, that is merciful even down to Hades!” [3]
The universality of the Premillennial hope among the Early Church Fathers is attested to by the great Church Historian, Phillip Schaff, in spite of the fact that he was not himself premillennial in his eschatology. He says:
“The most striking point in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene age is…the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years, before the general resurrection and judgment. It was indeed not the doctrine of the church embodied in any creed or form of devotion, but a widely current opinion of distinguished teachers, such as Barnabas (died AD 61), Papias (died AD 100), Justin Martyr (AD 100 – 165), Irenaeus (AD 130 – 202), Tertullian (AD 160 – 225), Methodius (died AD 311), and Lactantius (AD 250 – 325); while Caius (third century AD) , Origen (AD 184 – 253), Dionysius the Great (died AD 264), Eusebius (AD 265 – 340) as afterwards Jerome (AD 347 – 420) and Augustin (AD 354 – 430) opposed it….” [4]
However, with the introduction of the spiritual/allegorical approach to the Scriptures, borrowed from the Greek philosophers in the third and fourth centuries by Origin and other Christian scholars, came a departure from the hope for the Premillennial return of Christ to set up His kingdom on earth. The allegorical hermeneutic allowed for creativity in the interpretation of the Scriptures which gave rise to Amillennialism which denied any literal Millennium and Postmillennialism which taught that the millennial kingdom was now. Consequentially, all of the prophecies concerning Israel’s future kingdom were likewise allegorized in such a way as to make them apply to the Church, which, according to them, is presently reigning with Christ on the earth in the place of Israel who has been permanently rejected by God.
The Replacement theory logically led to the open antisemitism or hatred of the Jews, reflected in the writings of so many of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers from the late third century onward. If one believes that God’s wrath against the Jews is eternal and implacable for having rejected and crucified His Son, it is inevitable that they would in like manner come to hate those whom they believe God Himself hates. History has shown that people always become like the God in whom they believe. If the Church had continued in the revelation of God as seen in Jesus Christ and throughout the Scriptures - a God of love and mercy who does not remain angry forever (Jer 3:12), then the history of the Jews would have read much differently than it does today."
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"The seeds of antisemitism sown by the Replacement Theology of the late Fathers produced a harvest of incomprehensible suffering for the Jewish people wherever they went. They were hunted down and killed or expelled from virtually every country they fled to following the diaspora which began after the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus said that this would happen, and that it would continue until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Lk 21:24). What to me is tragic is that much of this prophesied suffering has been inflicted at the hands of the predominately Gentile Church in the name of Christ!
This same diabolical hatred of the Jews was adopted and intensified by the Reformed Church under the influence of the reformer Martin Luther himself. In his booklet called, “Concerning the Jews and Their Lies” he referred to them as a venomous, miserable, blind, senseless and accursed people who were lazy thieves and robbers and a great plague to humanity. His proposed solution to the problem of the Jews was to burn their houses, schools and synagogues. He said that they should confiscate their money and possessions along with their Talmudic writings, forbidding their Rabbis to teach and compelling them to forced labor.
It should be no surprise therefore, that the Nazis often quoted Luther in order to promote their pogrom against the Jews. In Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” he said of Martin Luther that he was “a great warrior, a true statesman and a great reformer.” In 1924 Hitler spoke to thousands at a Christian gathering in Berlin. He said of Luther:
“Martin Luther has been the greatest encouragement of my life. Luther was a great man. He was a giant. With one blow he heralded the coming of the new dawn and the new age. He saw clearly that the Jews need to be destroyed, and we’re only beginning to see that we need to carry this work on… I believe that today I am acting in accordance with the will of Almighty God as I announce the most important work that Christians could undertake — and that is to be against the Jews and get rid of them once and for all.” [5]"
& lastly says
"Since most of the Christians in Germany at that time believed the Reformed doctrine that God hates the Jews and has forever rejected them as “the Christ killers” they gave Hitler a standing ovation. While Martin Luther was greatly used of God to restore the truth of justification through faith alone, his propagation of the Replacement doctrine and its resulting antisemitism provoked one of history’s greatest tragedies. At the Nuremberg trials the Nazi leader, Julius Streicher, defended himself by saying, “I have never said anything that Martin Luther did not say.”
We as Christians need to acknowledge that the Holocaust was the evil fruit of Replacement Theology with its resultant antisemitism. Sadly, many Reformed teachers treat Premillennial Dispensational Christians who love and support Israel with the same contempt which they have shown towards the Jews. Many Gentile believers are guilty of boasting against the natural branches, thinking that now that we are called the Israel of God, we have permanently replaced national Israel (Rom 11:17-18). As I hope to demonstrate in the next blog of this series, the idea that the Church has permanently replaced Israel is based primarily upon a misunderstanding of Romans 11 where Paul actually argues the very opposite.
[1] See my book entitled “Last Days, Past or Present?” Chapter two: Premillennial Futurism – The Doctrine of the Early Church.
[2] “It is our conviction that the Word will prevail over all the intelligent creation.” Origin, Against Selsum 8.72.
[3] Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3 Irenaeus: Against Heresies Book 3 Chapter 24
[4] Schaff´s History of the Christian Church, Volume 1, chapter 12,158. Chiliasm.
[5] https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/has-the-church-replaced-israel/. We at this blog suggest reading the article on oneforisrael.org titled "Has the Church Replaced Israel ?" of Course the Answer is NO, the Church has NOT Replaced Israel, still the article is a Must Read !!!!!
Also from triumphofmercy.com Part 2 of this article says
"Has the Church Replaced Israel?"
3/13/2020 0 Comments
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Part 2 of 4
George Sidney Hurd
"As we have seen, Replacement Theology is the belief that the Church has replaced national Israel. All the promises which had been given to Israel concerning a future kingdom in their land are spiritualized by Replacement theologians in an attempt to make them apply exclusively to the Church in this age.
What makes Replacement Theology particularly deceptive is that it is partially true. It is true that by virtue of our union with Christ – Abraham’s seed, we Gentiles are now also Abraham’s seed in Him and heirs according to the promise. We Gentiles, although we were wild olive branches have now been grafted in among the true branches while most of the natural branches (those of natural Israel) were broken off that we might be grafted in (Gal 3:14-16,29; Rom 11:17). As part of the new creation in Christ we are of the Jerusalem from above and are called the Israel of God as opposed to natural Israel or Israel after the flesh (Gal 4:26; Gal 6:16; 1Cor 10:18). The Jew/Gentile Body of Christ is the Church of the firstborn ones who are registered in heaven (Heb 12:23).
It is true that Israel has been temporarily set aside for judgment, but as we shall see, they have not been replaced. It is also true that the Church and not national Israel is presently benefitting from the New Covenant which was promised both to Israel and to Judah (Jer 31:31; 2Cor 3:6; Heb 8:6,13). However, Paul makes it clear that the covenant still pertains to them. He said of the Jews:
“I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” (Rom 9:3-5, cf. 15:8-9)
Notice Paul’s use of the present tense throughout. Even though they are under partial temporal blindness, they are still Israelites and the covenants and promises still pertain to them. In the following verses he anticipates that some may ask why, if the covenants and the promises still pertain to them, so few Israelites are benefitting from them. He explains:"
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“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.” (Rom 9:6-8)
Some would argue from this passage that the Church has replaced Israel since the true Israel of God consists only of those who are of the promise, and in Christ we all, whether Jew or Gentile, are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. However, in the context Paul is speaking of his “countrymen” the “Israelites” (9:3-4). It is best to understand his reference here to those that are the true Israel to be referring to the elect remnant of national Israel. Later in the context he shows how the unbelief of his countrymen Israel led to God showing mercy towards the Gentiles. If “Israel” in verse 8 includes the Gentile believers it would be the exception since Israel is mentioned nine more times in Romans and in every instance it is obvious that Paul is referring to Israel his countrymen, and not the Church (9:4; 9:27; 9:31; 10:19; 10:21; 11:2; 11:7; 11:25; 11:26).
In chapter nine Paul demonstrates that God is sovereign and just in hardening Israel because of their unbelief and showing mercy upon the Gentiles. From 9:30 through 11:10 he explains how the gospel of Jesus Christ is “at the present time” a stumbling-block to all Israel except for a remnant of grace because they seek after a righteousness which is by the works of the Law.(Rom 10:3-4; 11:5) God has turned to the Gentiles – a people who didn’t even seek Him in order to provoke Israel to jealousy (10:19-20). “At the present time” there is a remnant according to grace, but the rest of Israel have been blinded (11:5-8). Beginning in 11:11 through the end of the chapter Paul speaks of Israel’s future salvation and restoration."
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"The argument made by Replacement Theologians that the Church permanently replaced Israel falls to the ground in 11:11 through the end of the chapter. Here Paul very emphatically states that Israel’s present condition is only temporal. He then reveals the glorious future which awaits his brethren the Israelites. This passage speaks for itself and is so important for the issue at hand that I will begin by quoting it here in full:
“I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more THEIR FULLNESS!
13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will THEIR ACCEPTANCE be but life from the dead?
16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins (the New Covenant).’ 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are IRREVOCABLE. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:11-36) [1]
Paul begins with the question: “Have the Israelites stumbled that they should fall?” For the Replacement doctrine to be true Paul would have needed to answer in the affirmative, but instead he responds emphatically in the negative: “Certainly not!” Paul then explains that through their transgression God brought salvation to the Gentiles in order to provoke Israel to jealousy."
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"Some English translations here present an apparent contradiction, using the same word “fall” both times in the verse. However, whereas the first word refers to a complete fall, the second word for fall is paraptomati which means “a slip or a transgression.” It was through their transgression that salvation came to the Gentiles. The third occurrence of the word “fall” in verse 12 is paraptoma and likewise simply means “transgression.” However, in spite of the gravity of their failure or transgression, God did not reject them as a nation but rather turned to the Gentiles in order to provoke Israel to jealousy.
To me, verse 12 presents a glorious truth which is overlooked by many. He speaks of even greater riches for the Gentiles than that which we are presently experiencing when Israel is finally restored. He said: “Now if their fall (transgression) is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more THEIR FULLNESS!” The reference to “their fullness” is definitely speaking of the full restoration of Israel at Christ’s Second Coming. The English Standard Version reads “their full inclusion.” In other words, when “all Israel will be saved” (v. 26).
What many have failed to see is that the Church, made up of a remnant of elect Jews and Gentiles of this age, is only the chosen firstfruits of God’s new creation (Jas 1:18; Heb 12:23; Eph 1:12). In the “times of the restoration of all” (Acts 3:21), when the Deliverer comes out of Zion removing all ungodliness from Jacob, God will begin the process of restoring all of creation unto Himself, resulting in Him being all in all in eternity (1Cor 15:28). I consider the doctrine of the final restoration of all in more detail in my book, “The Triumph of Mercy.”
In verse 15 Paul again emphasizes that Israel’s final restoration will result in the perfection of the restoration of the rest of mankind which commenced in this age. “For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will THEIR ACCEPTANCE be but life from the dead?” Both contrasts in verses 12 and 15 emphasize Israel’s future restoration. Their transgression which resulted in their being cast away culminates in their “full inclusion” and “acceptance” when Israel sees the Deliverer come from Zion and they say, “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Luke 13:35).
In verses 16-24 Paul counters the presumption of some that we, the Church, have permanently displaced Israel. In verse 23 we see that, far from Israel having been permanently rejected by God, the Israelites will be grafted in again once the partial judicial blindness is removed and they are given grace to believe (Zec 12:10-11). Then Paul unveils a mystery which Replacement teachers remain blinded to to this very day. He said:
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness FROM JACOB.” (vv. 25-27)"
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"Paul said that the truth he was about to tell them was a mystery. Some Bible scholars define a mystery as a truth previously hidden but now revealed. In a sense that is true, but in another sense a mystery remains hidden. It remains hidden to the carnal or natural mind. Paul said concerning God’s mysteries:
“…we speak wisdom among those who are mature… we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory…no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God… we have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God… But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God…nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Cor 2:6-14)
So we see that, while a mystery is indeed something revealed that was previously hidden, it still remains hidden unless it is revealed to our understanding by the Spirit. It remains hidden to the natural, carnal mind.
What then is the mystery that Paul reveals concerning Israel? The mystery revealed to us is that Israel’s blindness is both temporary and partial, only lasting until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in – until all the elect firstfruits from among the Gentiles have come into the fold. Once the last elect Gentile has come into the fold the Deliverer will come out of Zion and then all Israel will be saved. Zechariah prophecies concerning Israel’s conversion which will take place in a moment when they look upon Him whom they have pierced:
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zech 12:10)
Many think that those who pierced Him will see Him only to afterwards be destroyed by Him taking vengeance for what they did to Him. However, when they see Him whom they pierced coming in the clouds in glory, instead of destroying them, God pours out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem (the Jews) the Spirit of grace and supplication! The revelation of Jesus Christ is for Israel’s salvation – not for her destruction. The result will be a deep national repentance. A nation will be reborn in a day, just as Isaiah prophesied:
“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children… ‘Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her… For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.” (Isa 66:8,10,12)"
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"Here we see that the nation of Israel will be reborn in one day when the Deliverer comes out of Zion and all those who mourned for her in her affliction will rejoice over her with great joy when the Lord saves and restores Israel. In Isaiah 45:15-17 we see that the nations will be ashamed when they see how the Lord saves Israel with an everlasting salvation. (cf. Isa 54:1-8) Sadly, many within the Church who do not love Jerusalem will also be among those who will be ashamed of ever having hated and rejected God’s chosen people Israel.
In Isaiah 66, just before Israel’s deliverance, when they go from being a persecuted people to becoming a nation in a day, we find mention of some of Israel’s brethren who had shown hatred towards them and had rejected them in their affliction. Isaiah says:
“Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for My name's sake, said, ‘let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.’ But they shall be ashamed.” (Isa 66:5)
The “brethren” here probably has reference to Israel’s brethren the Ishmaelites who have hated and persecuted the Israelites to this very day. But certainly it would also include those within Christendom who have hated the Jews and cast them out, thinking they were doing it in the Lord’s name and for His glory, assuming that the Lord was pleased by their ill-treatment of the Jews. When the Deliverer comes out of Zion, saving all Israel, all those who have hated Israel will be greatly ashamed. Needless to say, very few who hold to Replacement theology love Israel and would wish themselves accursed from Christ for their sake as Paul did. (Rom 9:3) Those who harbor hatred in their hearts towards the Jews need to ask themselves whether such hatred has God as its source or Satan who has always hated God’s chosen people.
In verses 28 and 29 Paul explains that, although they are enemies of the gospel, they are beloved of God, because God’s gifts (referring to the land and other promises made to the fathers) and His election are irrevocable. He said:
“Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are BELOVED for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are IRREVOCABLE.” (Rom 11:28-29)
Some tend to think of God’s election in human terms. We often choose someone based upon our limited knowledge of that person. Then later after coming to know the individual better with all his flaws, we may end up rejecting him and choosing another in his place. However, in contrast to us, God inhabits eternity and elects according to His foreknowledge and omniscience. When He chose the nation of Israel their whole history was before Him, just as is the case with His election of each individual."
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"When He chose Israel, He chose them, knowing that they would crucify the Lord of glory. It is impossible for God to go back on His election as we often do, saying, “if I had known that they would do that I would have never chosen them in the first place.” God chooses with full knowledge, not limited knowledge and therefore His election is without repentance. From the beginning, before Israel even went in to take possession of the Promised Land, God revealed that He knew the course they would take throughout the entirety of their history. Nearly 1,500 years before Israel rejected their Messiah, Moses said under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
“And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you… 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.” (Deut 4:27-31)
So, before even entering into the Promised Land the Lord told them what would take place in their future. Way back then He told them that in judgment He would scatter them among the nations until the latter days. He assured them that He would never forsake them nor destroy them nor forget His covenant which He made with an oath to their fathers. His gifts and election are irrevocable.
Then, just as he did in the first three chapters of Romans, in verses 30 thru 32 Paul again reminds the Gentiles that they were once equally disobedient to God. This is something that those within the Church who condemn the Jews (or any other sinner for that matter), all too easily lose sight of. We all, whether Jew or Gentile, are equally unworthy and in need of mercy. Paul says:
“For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 EVEN SO these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” (Rom 11:30-32)
Paul says here that even though the Gentile believers were formerly disobedient they received mercy through Israel’s transgression when Israel was set aside for judgment. He then says “even so” or “in the same manner” that the Gentiles received mercy through their disobedience, Israel will also obtain mercy in spite of her disobedience. The very nature of mercy requires disobedience. One who has never disobeyed cannot know God’s love in the form of mercy since mercy is God in love not giving us what we deserve. We only know God’s multidimensional love in the form of mercy through the fall and our disobedience.
Verse 32 presents an amazing truth that most have completely overlooked due to the traditional doctrine of eternal torment for all except for the few who repent and receive God’s mercy in this brief lifetime: “For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” The limiting qualifier “them” is not in the Greek text but was added in the King James Version, giving the impression that only Israel is being referred to. However, in the context of Romans, it is referring to God shutting up absolutely “all” whether Jew or Gentile under disobedience in order to show Himself merciful to all. It is the same “all” who have sinned and come short of the glory of God – the whole “world” of humanity, including both Jews and Gentiles, who are all alike shown to be guilty before God, only to afterwards receive His mercy and be justified freely by His grace upon repenting and putting faith in Jesus (Rom 3:9,19-20,23-24)."
& lastly says
"The universal reach of God’s mercy is even more clearly stated in verse 36 where he summarizes the whole matter saying, “For of (ek, “out of”) Him and through (dia) Him and to (eis, “into”) Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” All who came out of God as to source (which includes absolutely all), exist through Him and will finally be restored or brought back into Him who is their source of being. The word “things” does not have an equivalent in Greek. Even when “all” (pas) is in the neuter form it does not necessarily refer to inanimate objects. Where “all” (pas) is clearly referring to persons, as is the emphasis here in verse 36, it is best to simply translate pas as “all.” Paul summarizes by saying that all, whether Jew or Gentile, will finally receive mercy and be reconciled unto God resulting in Him being “all in all” in eternity (1Cor 15:28).
So, while it is true that Israel as a nation was set aside for judgment and the Jew/Gentile Church of the elect firstborn has received mercy under the New Covenant promised to the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Jer 31:31), the Church has not replaced Israel. Rather, the Gentiles have been grafted into the tree of the Abrahamic blessings in order to provoke Israel to jealousy. Then all Israel will be saved when the Deliverer comes out of Zion and takes away her sins.
Replacement theology is a gross misapprehension of the infinite grace and mercy of God who does not reject forever, nor willingly afflicts the children of men. As Jeremiah says:
“For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” (Lam 3:31-33)
God is a God of love and compassion who only afflicts us when necessary for our correction. The Lord will not reject Israel forever, nor will he cast off any of the “children of men” forever, for that matter. Israel’s blindness will only last until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. After this, the Deliverer will come from Zion to save Israel and reign from Jerusalem over all the nations of the earth. As we shall see in the next blog, there are numerous irrevocable promises to Israel as a nation which have yet to be fulfilled in the end of days."
[1] The English words “them” and “things” are not in the Greek texts obscure the truth of the final restoration of all, both Jew and Gentile.
Part 3 of the article series from triumphofmercy.com is titled
"God’s Irrevocable Promises to Israel"
3/16/2020 0 Comments
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3 of 4
George Sidney Hurd
"In considering whether or not the Abrahamic promises still apply to the Israelites it is important that we first consider the unconditional nature of God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants.
When the Lord told Abram that he would inherit the land and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of heaven, Abram asked Him: “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” (Gen 15:8) In order to reassure him that the fulfillment of the promise was certain the Lord told him to cut some animals in half, placing the halves opposite of each other. This was the manner in which the Chaldeans of that time made solemn covenants between two persons. The two men would pass between the animals which had been cut in half saying: “May the same be done to the one who breaks this covenant.”
However, in order to emphasize that the fulfillment depended entirely upon His covenant faithfulness, the Lord caused Abram to fall into a deep sleep and He passed alone between the animals. This made it clear to Abram that the fulfillment depended entirely upon God’s covenant faithfulness and not the faithfulness of Abraham or his descendants. After that it says:
“On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates — 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (Gen 15:18-21)
There were promises given later under the Law, but they were usually conditional covenants – “If you…then I….” In contrast, the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants was emphatically unconditional. He didn’t say: “If you and your descendants continue in my ways, then I will give you the land.” No. The Lord solemnly swore by Himself with an oath saying: “To your descendants I have given this land.” The fulfillment of the promise was a given, even before Abram had any descendant and before they had taken possession of the land.
It is significant that the Lord here changed the tense of the verb from “I will give” in 13:14-17 to the perfect tense, “I have given.” From this point forward in Scripture He refers to the Promised Land as “the land I have given to the children of Israel.” (Nu 20:24; 20:12; 33:53, etc.) Even when in judgment He sent them into captivity among the nations He still refers to it as “the land I have given you” and promises to restore them permanently in their land afterwards. After warnings of strong and severe judgments, before removing them from the land, He promised their ultimate restoration saying:
“I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them, says the Lord your God.” (Amos 9:15)
This speaks of a final restoration of the 10 northern tribes of Israel to the land after their dispersion, never to be removed from it again.
Some would argue that God said that He would restore them to their land, but that was before they had rejected Jesus as their Messiah. However, there is more than one problem with this reasoning. In the first place, God inhabits eternity, is omniscient and knew that Israel would reject their Messiah when He gave the promise to Abraham. He also knew what they were going to do when He told them that He would bring them back into their land forever.
In the second place, as we already saw, His promise to Israel is unconditional and irrevocable. God through Jeremiah reassured Israel and Judah of His covenant faithfulness to them at a time when the 10 tribes of Israel had already been conquered by the Assyrians and dispersed and Jerusalem was being sieged and its inhabitants taken captive to Babylon. The Lord promised them saying:"
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"For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah, says the Lord. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it… 11 For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I WILL NOT MAKE A COMPLETE END OF YOU. But I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished.” (Jer 30:3,11)
Here God reassures both Israel and Judah that, however severe His judgments may be, they would never permanently lose their national identity as subsequently did the Assyrians and Babylonians and other nations who came against them. The existence of Israel as a people after nearly 2,000 years without a land is a clear indisputable testimony to God’s covenant faithfulness.
It is said that Queen Victoria of England asked Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli for evidence of the existence of God. After a moment of reflection, he replied, “The Jew, your majesty.” Indeed, the only nation of biblical times which still retains its national identity is the nation of Israel. And this in spite of all attempts of anti-Semites to eliminate them throughout the centuries. Israel’s existence is the fulfillment of God’s promise which He most emphatically reiterated a few verses later where, in spite of their sin and apostasy, He swore saying:
“Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): 36 ‘If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.’
37 Thus says the Lord: ‘If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel FOR ALL THAT THEY HAVE DONE, says the Lord.” (Jer 31:35-37)
The Lord’s choice of words here could not have been more emphatic! Nothing Israel has done or might do in the future can cause God to go back on His promise. If the Abrahamic covenant were a conditional covenant, as was the Mosaic Law, then their sins would have constituted a breach of contract and God would be absolved of all responsibility to fulfill His promise. But the Lord by Himself made an unconditional promise to Abraham and his descendants. He then goes on to declare that the then destroyed city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt for the Messiah when He returns better than it ever was before:"
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“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The surveyor's line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.” (Jer 31:38-40)
Here the unconditional promise continues, declaring that in the future Jerusalem will be rebuilt for the Lord, but it describes Jerusalem with a greater glory than it has ever previously known. Even Gehenna, the accursed valley of dead bodies and ashes, will then be holy to the Lord and this new millennial capitol will never be destroyed or conquered again forever. When will this take place? The prophets all speak of it being fulfilled in the latter days. Hosea prophesies:
“For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.” (Hos 3:4-5)
God who knows all things before they take place declares that the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord and David their king after a prolonged time of exile and this will take place “in the latter days.” Again, it is not conditional as merely some potential future event. It doesn’t say, “If they return and seek the Lord,” but rather is a statement of fact, “they shall seek the Lord and fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”
Also, in Micah 4 we see that “in the latter days” Jerusalem will be the seat of world government and all the nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord (Micah 4:1). In Ezequiel chapter 36 onwards it speaks of the restoration of Israel to their land. In chapter 37 we see the vision of the dry bones which represents “the whole house of Israel” (Ezek 37:11). The dry bones are first gathered together before flesh comes upon them and they live again. This would parallel their present gathering into the Land of Israel yet in their unbelief. In chapters 38 and 39 we see that in “the latter years” the armies of Gog will come against Israel when Israel is dwelling safely in their land, but his armies will be destroyed by God (Ezek 38:8,22,23). The reference to them dwelling safely in their land could possibly be the result of a peace-accord put together by the Antichrist, whom they will welcome, thinking that he is their long-awaited Messiah. (Dan 9:27) When the Lord comes from Zion delivering Israel it says that the whole house of Israel will acknowledge Him as their God, and He will restore them:
“So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward… 28 then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord God.” (Ezek 39:22,28-29)"
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"In Ezekiel chapters 40 thru 47 it gives details concerning the Millennial temple in Jerusalem with its measurements and the service of worship. The Millennial temple will not be the third temple that the Jews today are making preparations to build since their plans are patterned after Herod’s temple and the dimensions do not correspond with the Millennial temple described here in Ezekiel. However, they will apparently rebuild the third temple before the middle of Daniel’s 70th week when the coming prince or the Antichrist causes their sacrifices and offerings to cease (Dan 9:27; Matt 24:15; Rev 11:1-2). After giving the detailed description of the Millennial temple, in the latter part of chapter 47 much detail is given specifying how the restored Land of Israel is to be divided among the 12 tribes.
How do Replacement theologians explain such detailed descriptions of Israel’s restoration in the latter days? Many try to argue against the obvious, saying that the promises were conditional. However, we have already seen that God is very emphatic in stating that His promises to Israel are irrevocable, and that, although He will punish them for their sins, He will never go back on His promises to them.
Another approach is to spiritualize all the passages which speak of Israel’s restoration in an attempt to apply them to the Church. However, the practice of spiritualizing or allegorizing the Scriptures, or any other literature for that matter, is a gross violation of common hermeneutics. An author may choose to make use of allegory or any other form of speech to express himself, but it is a violation of hermeneutics, common sense and the author’s intent to convert what the author has written into allegory.
Some argue for an allegorical hermeneutic while others insist upon a literal one. However, a sound hermeneutic is neither literal nor allegorical – it is contextual. In other words, we must interpret Scripture according to the nature of the text itself, just as we would do with any other literature. If the author uses literal speech, we should interpret it literally. If he uses allegory or other figures of speech, we should interpret accordingly. This is interpreting according to context or common sense. When Jesus says, “I am the vine” or “I am the door” common sense tells us that He is speaking figuratively and therefore, rather than taking Him literally or imagining something beyond the context, we look for the truth expressed within the context itself. On the other hand, when He uses normal speech, we understand Him literally.
The practice of spiritualizing or allegorizing the text in order to accommodate one’s particular doctrinal bias, such as Replacement theology, violates common laws of literature and removes Scripture from the realm of objective, knowable truth. Using such methods, it becomes impossible to reason from the Scriptures as Paul did and as Luke commended the Bereans for doing (Acts 17:2,11). Once we begin to Spiritualize the Scriptures it becomes possible to make the Scriptures say anything we wish. Indeed, the primary reason there are so many divergent doctrines within Christianity is the departure from sound, common-sense hermeneutics – “if the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.”
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"Returning to the subject of Replacement theology, many insist that it would be impossible for all Israel to be restored since, according to them, when the 10 northern tribes were dispersed in 722 B.C. they ceased to exist as a people-group. However, the term “ten lost tribes” is erroneous and is never found in Scripture. Even having been conquered and dispersed by the Assyrians, God promised them that He would not make a full end of Israel (Jer 30:11) and that they would never cease from being a nation before Him forever (Jer 31:36).
What many seem to overlook is that all twelve tribes were present and worshipping God at the time of the writing of the New Testament over 700 years after the dispersion. On the day of Pentecost, we see that the devout Jews of the dispersion, representing all the house of Israel, were in Jerusalem for the Passover Feasts:
“And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitudes came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language…. ‘Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know…. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:5, 6, 22, 36)
Here we see that on the day of Pentecost, Jews representative of the whole house of Israel were present in Jerusalem for the Feast (all twelve tribes were referred to as Jews as well as Israelites since the Babylonian captivity). Paul, speaking before Agrippa, presents in his speech something that was common knowledge – there were devout Jews serving God from all twelve tribes in his time:
“To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews (Acts 26:7).”
James wrote his epistle to all twelve tribes of the Jews of the dispersion:
“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings (James 1:1).”
Though not all from the ten tribes returned to the land of Israel (that awaits the latter days) they were definitely not all forever lost, nor absorbed by the nations. And of those that apparently are lost, they are only lost to men, not to God. God’s promise was that they would never cease being a nation (Heb. goy “nation or people”) before Him."
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"The Jewish lineage in biblical times was traced through the father’s line and not the mother’s line. Throughout the Scriptures we see that a child continues to be a Jew even if the child’s mother is non-Jewish as long as the father is Jewish. Joseph married an Egyptian, yet his two sons became the fathers of the two half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Moses married a Midianite. In the messianic genealogy of Matthew chapter one, we see that Rahab the harlot of Jericho was the mother of Boaz, but Boaz continued to be included in the line of Judah. He in turn married Ruth, a Moabite. So, although there were Gentiles in Jesus’ bloodline that did not exclude Him from being a legitimate descendent of Judah and thus qualified to be the Messiah as a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah. God knows the paternal descent of every Jew and is fully capable of distinguishing them and drawing them back into the land and unto Himself.
There are millions of devout Jews in the world today who know they are Jews but do not know with certainty of which tribe they are. Some conclude that because their surnames are Levi or Cohen that they are of the tribe of Levi but even that is not conclusive. Genealogical records cannot be traced back more than a few generations. Israelites have been banished from many nations, persecuted, slaughtered, and obligated to embrace Christendom or the Muslim faith, further complicating things (for a timeline showing how the Jews have been trampled underfoot by the Gentiles see the following link: [1]). It is a miracle that they remain a distinct people after so many attempts to destroy them. Many modern-day Jews have continued to practice the Jewish faith as passed down from their ancestors even though they may not know of which tribe they are descended. Be what it may, God knows their paternal descent and will draw them back into their land in the latter days.
When God speaks of His people as “the whole house of Israel” in Ezekiel He is referring to all 12 tribes of Israel and not only the 10 tribes that separated from Benjamin and Judah after the end of king Solomon’s reign. Ezekiel, writing after the 10 tribes had already been dispersed and Judah was captive in Babylon, wrote concerning their future restoration as one nation in their own land. He was commanded to prophesy saying to them:
“Thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.” (Ezek 37:21,22)"
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"The Scriptures are very clear and emphatic concerning God’s promises to Israel and Judah. The promises are so clearly unconditional in nature that any attempt to negate them would make God out to be a liar. They are so detailed and specific that any attempt to make them allegorically apply to the Church would be ludicrous. Those who deny that God’s promises to the nation of Israel still apply to them would do well to heed the declaration God made through Balaam’s prophesy when he wanted to curse Israel: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num 23:19)
Some, ignoring the context and flow of the book of Hosea, take certain declarations made against Israel in Hosea as evidence that God has once and for all rejected and divorced Israel. Hosea prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam just before the northern kingdom was conquered and dispersed. In order to communicate His heart to unfaithful idolatrous Israel, He told Hosea to marry a harlot. It is a heartrending story of love and betrayal, but most importantly it illustrates God’s covenant faithfulness to unfaithful Israel. Hosea had children with her, but she continued in her adulterous ways and finally left him, returning to her harlotries. She sank so low that she became a sex slave. To illustrate His covenant faithfulness to His adulterous people Israel, the Lord tells Hosea to buy her back and take her unto himself and love her again as his wife. He said to Hosea:
“Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.’ 2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. 3 And I said to her, ‘You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man — so, too, will I be toward you.’
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.” (Hos 3)
In Hosea God expresses to adulterous Israel both His jealous anger and His unfailing love and faithfulness to them. Anyone who has deeply loved an unfaithful mate can readily identify with what to others may seem to be contradictory statements in the book of Hosea.
In chapter one the Lord says that He will no longer have mercy on Israel but will utterly take them away (1:6). He told Hosea to tell them: “You are not My people, and I will not be your God.” (1:9). Then in the very next breath He says:"
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“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
‘you are not My people,’ there it shall be said to them, ‘you are sons of the living God.’ Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel! (Jezreel, “the Lord’s sowing.’) Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’” (1:10 - 2:1)
Right after saying to Israel, “You are not my people and I will not be your God,” He tells both Israel and Judah that in the future they will not only be received by Him as His people but they will be called sons of the living God and that they will be gathered together and come up out of the land because the Lord will sow them there, never to be uprooted from their land again. Then, in the following verse the Lord tells Hosea to say to his brethren that they are His people, and to his sisters that mercy is shown. Even in His wrath God remembers mercy! (Hab 3:2).
Paul later quotes this passage, expanding it to include the Gentiles who are now sons of God and joint heirs through faith in Christ, Abraham’s seed (Rom 9:25). Replacement theologians interpret this as meaning that we are now the people of God to the exclusion of national Israel. However, reading the development of Paul’s argumentation through to Romans chapter 11, it is evident that he is referring to the inclusion of the Gentiles but not to the exclusion of national Israel. We Gentiles, as wild olive branches, were grafted in, but when the Deliverer comes from Zion removing ungodliness from Jacob, all Israel will be saved and restored (Rom 11:25-28). Israel and Judah will be reunited as one nation and David shall be their king (Hos 3:5; Jer 30:9).
In chapter 2 of Hosea, verses 2 to 13, the Lord renounces Israel as His wife and delivers her over to the consequences of her own adulterous ways. However, once again we see that, beginning in verse 14 thru the end of the chapter He later allures her and leads her into the wilderness where He speaks words of comfort to her. I believe that the wilderness represents the time of Jacob’s trouble or the Great Tribulation (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Rev 12:13-14). In their affliction they will seek the Lord (Hosea 5:15-6:1). Then again, as in chapter 1, there is a full reversal in which God takes her back to be His wife forever:
“And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me 'My Husband,' and no longer call Me 'My Master,' I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” (Hos 2:16, 19-20)
Again, it is the very same Israel He divorces and casts off that He later betroths forever, rather than it referring to the Church replacing Israel. The Church, the Bride of Christ, will be married for the first time to Christ as a chaste virgin, becoming the wife of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem. In contrast, Israel is here received back as Jehovah’s wife to possess their earthly inheritance in the Land of Israel. This is made abundantly clear in the verses that follow in chapter 3 where it says that they will abide many days without a king but will return to the Lord and to David their king in the latter days. (Hos 3:4-5)
Again, in chapter 5 we see the Lord rejecting not only Israel but also Judah, however not permanently but only until they seek Him:"
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"For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to My place TILL they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” (Hos 5:14-15)
This is clearly not speaking of Israel being replaced by the Church. It is the same Israel and Judah that are scattered and taken captive who will later seek His face in their affliction. The following verses clearly speak of their restoration:
“Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.” (Hos 6:1-2)
Again, it is clearly the same Israel whom the Lord has torn in judgment who will later seek Him for healing and revival. While this and other passages referring to God’s dealings with the people of Israel may have a secondary application to us within the Church, its primary reference is to national Israel and Judah – not spiritual Israel. Many promises and prophesies concerning Israel are first applied to the Church in order to provoke Israel to jealousy, but their full fulfillment awaits the time of their full restitution.
Some Replacement theologians argue that Christ replaced Israel as the true Israel of God since “Out of Egypt I called My Son,” (Hosea 11:1) is applied to Christ in Matthew where it says: “When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Matt 2:14-15)
However, as we continue reading in Hosea it is evident that, although Christ is identified with Israel, He doesn’t replace Israel. Christ going into Egypt and being called out of Egypt back into the Land of Israel contrasts Israel’s failure upon leaving Egypt with Christ’s obedience much like the contrast between Adam and Christ, the Last Adam, but Christ doesn’t replace Israel. This becomes evident as one continues reading in Hosea. For example, verse 5 says: “He (Israel) shall not return to the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent.” Later in the chapter He speaks of how He will not always be angry with Israel but will show mercy towards them in the end:"
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“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. 9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror.” (Hos 11:8-9)
Those who think that God would permanently reject Israel for all that they have done forget that God is a God of mercy who does not cast off forever nor willingly afflicts the children of men. In His mercy God promises that He will bring them back into their land from the nations where He scattered them in His anger. He says in the next verses:
“They shall walk after the Lord. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, then His sons shall come trembling from the west;11 They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses,’ says the Lord.” (Hos 11:10,11)
In the 19th and early 20th centuries Replacement theologians ridiculed Premillennial Dispensationalists for insisting upon the normal, literal interpretation of these and numerous other passages prophesying the restoration of Israel and Judah in their land in the latter days but they insisted on believed it simply because the Bible said it, even though it seemed impossible at the time. One would think that now, seeing that Israel is a nation and they are returning to their homeland, all would recognize that God is fulfilling His promise to Israel. But sadly, as with the brothers of the rich man in hades, some will not believe even if one were to rise from the dead.
It should be clear to any unbiased student of the Word that God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants, the children of Israel, are unconditional and irrevocable. We as Gentiles should be thankful that in God’s mercy, we have been grafted into the olive tree, becoming heirs of the blessing of Abraham. But we should not presume to have replaced Israel. God clearly still has a glorious future in store for His people Israel."
Part 4 of the article series on triumphofmercy.com is titled
"Should we bless National Israel Today?"
3/17/2020 2 Comments
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George Sidney Hurd the article says
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“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:2-3)
In the previous blog we saw that the covenant that God made with Israel was emphatically unconditional and therefore irrevocable. In spite of this, those who hold to Replacement theology would say that the Church has replaced the nation of Israel and therefore all the promises to national Israel were either conditional and forfeited by them upon rejecting their Messiah, or else they somehow became spiritually applicable to the Church only.
Some would say that the promise only applied to Abraham, since the Lord here simply says, “I will bless you.” However, the blessing he received requires that the promise include his descendants as well. In verse 7 the Lord extends it to his descendants when He said: “To your descendants I will give this land.” This promise must be fulfilled through his posterity since he did not himself possess it. In Genesis 17 the Lord reconfirms His covenant in a manner which clearly includes his descendants:
“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Gen 17:7-8)
So, we see that the covenant made to Abraham was also made to his descendants. It is important to note that it includes the permanent divine title-deed to the land of Israel which is presently being re-inhabited by the people of Israel in our day. The promise is that the land would be their everlasting (olam) possession. The land has always pertained to the Israelites from the moment God made His covenant promise to Abraham. It is theirs as a permanent possession - not so much because of the use of olam which simply means “indefinitely,” but because of the irrevocability of God’s unconditional promise to Abraham.
As a matter of fact, the nation of Israel has yet to come into possession of the Promised Land in its entirety. God specified the boundaries of the land which He gave to them:
“On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates — 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (Gen 15:18-21)
As one can see, the Israelites have yet to possess all of the land which the Lord has given them. The largest amount of the Promised Land they have possessed so far was during the time of Solomon’s reign but that falls far short of the promise, as we can see in the map below."
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"Did God forget His promise to give them all that territory? Did He revoke His promise made to Abraham? No. In Ezequiel God specifies how the land is to be divided among the tribes of Israel in the Millennial kingdom. Before doing so He reaffirms His covenant faithfulness to Israel in having given the land to Abraham and his descendants:
“You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance.” (Ezek 47:14)
In spite of the irrevocability of God’s promise to give Israel the land, some today still deny that Israel’s presence in the land has any prophetic significance. It is nothing short of a miracle that after 2,000 years of dispersion and over 50 attempted genocides they not only continue as a people group, but the nation of Israel has been reestablished in their own territory with many practicing Jews who speak in their revived ancient Hebrew tongue. Furthermore, all attempts of the surrounding Arab nations to drive them into the Mediterranean have only resulted in Israeli victories of biblical proportions.
Can we reasonably say that this is all nothing more than coincidence? I don’t think so. The Lord said that they would be scattered among the nations and remain without a national identity until the latter days when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Lu 21:24; Ezek 38:8; Hos 3:4-5). If this isn’t a fulfillment of prophecy, then what are they doing back in their land? While most of them will continue in unbelief until they look upon Him whom they pierced when the Deliverer comes from Zion, they are being brought back into the land as in Ezekiel’s prophesy of the dry bones and from there they will be brought to life, just as was prophesied (Ezek 37:1-14)."
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"It is understandable that many in the world who do not know God and are ignorant of His promises and the biblical history of Israel could say that the Land of Israel does not rightfully pertain to the Jews. But, how can we as Christians deny their inalienable right to the land which the Lord promised them with an oath? (Ex 13:5-7; Ex 32:13)
So, we have seen that the promise of the land was irrevocable and perpetual, extending beyond Abraham himself to include his posterity. What then about the promise to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse him? Does this promise extend to his posterity as well? I think that both the Scriptures and history clearly indicate that such is indeed the case.
When Isaac blessed Jacob (Israel) he made it clear that the blessing of Abraham was passed on to him and then to his sons who made up the 12 tribes of Israel. The blessing clearly extends beyond Jacob to include all his descendants:
“Let peoples serve you, (Jacob Israel) and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!” (Gen 27:29)
In what sense could it be said of Jacob that peoples and nations served him and bowed down to him? In what sense did his brethren bow to him and serve him during his lifetime? He had only one brother, Esau. However, his brother had descendants who have always been enemies of the Israelites. To spite his mother, Esau married the daughter of Ismael. Most of the Arab nations who have opposed Israel’s descendants to this day are the descendants of Jacob’s brother, Esau. The majority of those who call themselves Palestinians today are in reality not descended from the Philistines as claimed, but are largely the descendants of Ismael and Esau or the brethren of Jacob. At any rate, the promise given to Jacob clearly extends to his posterity since its fulfillment requires descendants. While Esau’s descendants may refuse to serve Israel in this age, we see that all the nations will serve them when the Millennial kingdom is established from Jerusalem:
“For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined.” (Isa 60:12)
Later, when the Israelites approached the Promised Land, Balak asked Balaam to curse Israel so that he could defeat them. However, the Lord told Balaam that he was only to speak the words He gave him to say concerning Israel. Each time he sought to pronounce a curse against Israel he prophesied blessings instead. In his third attempt to curse Israel the word of the Lord that came from his mouth was:
“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel!.. 8 "God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones and pierce them with his arrows. 9 He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? 9 Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.” (Num 24:5,8-9)"
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"So, here we see that not even the Mosaic covenant, which was conditional and came four-hundred years after the promise made to Abraham, invalidated His unconditional promise to the house of Israel. When Israel sinned against God, He judged them as His people. Indeed, Israel has been under God’s judgment since the Diaspora. However, even in His judgments He curses the very nations He uses to judge them. He made a full end of the nations of Babylon and Assyria for what they did to Israel even though they ultimately carried out His purposes in the judgment of His people (Jer 20:12; 30:11; 46:28).
To me, God’s judgment of His people is comparable to a father who out of love punishes his child for correction. Imagine if someone were to misinterpret your punishment of your child for hatred and decided to do you a favor and beat-up-on your child. Wouldn’t you become indignant of their attitude and actions against your child? The Lord reassured Israel and Judah in the midst of His judgments against them that He would always be with them and will take vengeance against their enemies saying:
“I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. 11 Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. 12 You shall seek them and not find them — Those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing.” (Isa 41:9-12, cf. Isa 49:25-26)
Later the Psalmist pronounces blessings of peace and prosperity upon those who love Jerusalem but the curse of ruin and destruction upon those who hate Zion:
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and companions… Let all those who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back. Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up.” (Ps 122:6-8; 129:5-6)"
& continues
"I would ask the reader: “Do you pray for the nation of Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem?” “Do you love Jerusalem for the sake of our brethren, the Israelites?” I can assure you that if you have hatred and contempt in your heart for Israel you do not have the Lord’s heart for His chosen people. Some would say that they are no longer His people, but Paul still referred to the Israelites as the people of God whom He foreknew or foreloved even in their blinded state. Paul said:
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not!... God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew (foreloved)… Concerning the election THEY ARE BELOVED for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Rom 11:1-2,28-29)
Should we not fear lest we find ourselves hating those whom God loves? God loves all mankind but seeing from eternity His heart goes out in a particular way to the small despised and oppressed nation of Israel. As the nations in their pride and sin did not want to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to the desires of their sinful hearts, but of Israel He said:
“You only have I known (intimately) of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:2)
As His own, He disciplines them and scourges them when necessary as any good father, but woe to those nations who curse her or rise up against her. Look at history and you will see that the nations or individuals who bless the little nation of Israel are blessed, whereas those who curse her are under a divine curse.
Living in Colombia, bordering with Venezuela, I was grieved upon hearing Venezuela’s dictator Hugo Chavez publicly curse Israel saying: “I seize this opportunity to once again condemn the state of Israel from the depth of my soul and from my very bowels. Accursed be the state of Israel! Be accursed, terrorist and assassin!” A few months later he announced that he had cancer in the pelvic region. On March 5, 2012, less than two years after cursing Israel, he died. Today, what was just a few years ago the most prosperous nation of South America, is in a state of total collapse. One might argue that it is just a coincidence. However, history shows that God is the avenger of those who come against His people Israel. As Zechariah says of those who come against God’s people, the daughter of Zion, “he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” (Zech 2:8). This was said of His people in a time when they were under His judgments. We should not presume that we are at liberty to curse and abuse the apple of His eye simply because they are presently in unbelief and under God’s disciplinary judgments."
& lastly says
"We, as the wild olive branches who were grafted in against nature should not boast as if we were chosen in the place of Israel, but rather we should have a reverent fear, recognizing that God has not permanently rejected the natural branches (Rom 11:19-25). They will be grafted in again and ultimately all Israel will be saved because God has sworn with an oath to bless Israel and as pertains to His promises to Israel, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent” (Num 23:19)."
We at this blog Proudly say, Good that Hugh Chavez is Dead, Thank God that stupid Turd Hugo Chavez is Dead ,
His Death brings Glory to God !!!
We made a slight spelling mistake in the last Post,
"We at this blog Proudly say, Good that HUGO Chavez is Dead, Thank God that stupid Turd Hugo Chavez is Dead,
His Death brings Glory to God !!!" Hugo Chavez was a Turd , a Stupid Ugly Turd
From the website blogs.timesofisrael.com
"The Nobel peace prize of 2021 should go to Israel" by Fred Maroun
SEP 11, 2020, the article says
"In her book, “My Life,” former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir wrote about an international conference during which she walked towards a delegation of Arab leaders and tried to introduce herself, only to be totally ignored. I read that book many years ago, yet I still remember that part because this gesture and its rejection are so symbolic of Israeli-Arab relations since Israel declared its independence in May 1948.
Meir traveled to Jordan in 1948 disguised as an Arab woman to urge King Abdullah to keep his promise to not attack Israel, but to no avail. In 1969 when she became Prime Minister, she urged the Arabs to make peace. She said, “If Nasser chooses New York for negotiations, it’s all right. If he wants to go to New Jersey, that’s fine too. If he says Geneva, we agree. I’m even prepared to go to Cairo — how about that! — to sit down at the table. Arab officials will have to overcome the shock of meeting us not on the battlefield but at the negotiating table. Suppose we want to return territory we have taken. To whom? We can’t send it to Nasser by parcel post.”
Golda Meir at Kibbutz Shefaim in Israel on July 24, 1950 (credit: Theodore Brauner / Wikimedia Commons).
On May 17, 1965, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol presented in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, a plan to make peace with the Arab world. The Arab states never bothered responding.
Before that, in 1947 when the United Nations passed a resolution on a partition plan for a Jewish state and an Arab state, despite opposition to the plan from a significant number of Jews, including Menachem Begin, later to be Prime Minister of Israel, the Jews under the leadership of David Ben Gurion accepted the plan.
Ben Gurion, Meir, and Eshkol were Labour politicians, but all Israeli Prime Ministers, including right-wing politicians, made many attempts at peace with the Arab world.
In 2002, in response to the Arab Peace Initiative, Likud Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared his willingness to attend the Arab League Summit in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in order to present his own proposal for peace in three stages: A ceasefire, an interim agreement granting the Palestinians territorial contiguity without naming final borders, and finally the establishment of final borders to be “determined by the future relations between Israel and the Palestinians and in the spirit of UN resolutions… 242 and 338”. Sharon received no response."
the article continues
"In 2016, Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to negotiate peace based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. He said, “The Arab peace initiative includes positive elements that can help revive constructive negotiations with the Palestinians. We are willing to negotiate with the Arab states revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in the region since 2002 but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two peoples”. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi responded with a total rejection of Netanyahu’s offer.
This is only a miniscule sample of the many attempts made by Israel to reach peace with the Arab world. Israel has been relentlessly and almost always unsuccessfully trying for 72 years to make peace with the Arab world, to the point where many Israelis question the wisdom of continuing to try. In the Israel/Egypt peace agreement, one of the rare cases so far where Arab states agreed to make peace with Israel, Israel gave Egypt back land that was three times the size of Israel. This agreement, which was negotiated by Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin, is probably the largest land-for-peace compromise in history.
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and their delegations at Camp David on September 17, 1978 (credit: Jimmy Carter Library / Wikimedia Commons).
The Israel-United Arab Emirates peace agreement announced on August 13, 2020, is the result of Israel’s stubbornness in pursuing peace for many years, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s years-long efforts at developing Israel’s relationship with key Arab states. In 2018, Netanyahu’s efforts became widely known and started to bear fruit. Netanyahu also kept an eye on peace with Israel’s direct neighbors, the Palestinians. He said, “I believe that if we have peace with the broader Arab world, it will help us get to peace with the Palestinians”.
In addition to Netanyahu’s efforts that led to this point, the Israel-UAE agreement would not have occurred if Netanyahu had not agreed to suspend annexation of parts of the West Bank, and if he had not gone along with a UAE purchase of cutting-edge weapons from the U.S., including F-35 fighter jets and Reaper drones.
No country has ever received the Nobel Peace Prize, but in theory it can happen since either an individual or an organization can receive the award, and a country is an organization. Alternatively, the award should be given to Netanyahu, not only for his personal efforts towards peace, which are by themselves remarkable, but also because he is the representative of Israel, a country that has pursued peace more vehemently and more consistently than any other."
From the Website, jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com an article is titled
"Message from Sam Levinson"
By WARREN BOROSON
July 22, 2010,
Dear Abby ran this in her column:
SAM LEVINSON’S ANSWER TO AN ANTI-SEMITE.
“It’s a free world; you don’t have to like Jews, but if you don’t, I suggest that you boycott certain Jewish products, like the Wasserman test for syphilis; digitalis, discovered by a Dr. Nuslin; insulin, discovered by Dr. Minofsky; chloral hydrate for convulsions, discovered by Dr. Lifreich; the Schick test for diptheria; vitamins, discovered by Dr. Funk; steptomycin, discovered by Dr. Z. Woronan, the polio pill by Dr. A. Sabin and the polio vaccine by Dr. Jonas Salk.
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“Go on, boycott! Humanitarian consistency requires that my people offer all these gifts to all people of the world. Fanatic consistency requires that all bigots accept syphilis, diabetes, convulsions, malnutrition, infantile paralysis and turberculosis as a matter of principle.
“You want to be mad? Be mad! But I’m telling you, you ain’t going to feel so good!”
Followup:
DEAR ABBY: Your recent column, in which you quoted the late, beloved Sam Levinson, contained an error.
In listing some outstanding contributions to medical science made by Jews, Levinson credited a Dr. Z. Woronan with the discovery of streptomycin.
Abby, I hope the Nobel Committee in Sweden doesn’t hear about this, because in 1952 they awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine to Dr. Selman Abraham Waksman of Rutgers University for discovering streptomycin!
However, Dr. Waksman belongs on that list because he, too, was Jewish."
From the website whyjesusdied.com an article is titled
"Critique of "2nd Holocaust" eschatology" the article says
"There appears to be an increase in the numbers of those who believe that the Nazi Holocaust was just a foretaste of another, worse Holocaust that God himself will bring upon the Jewish people who have not responded to the "Gospel". As the primary author of this website I emphatically disagree with that position.
Consider these quotes from a web book by Art Katz called "The Holocaust -- Where was God?": (paragraph numbers added for ease of reference)
(1) this present generation of Jews is going to suffer devastation on a world scale that will eclipse the Nazi era....
(2) This is the process of our last days’ sifting as prophesied in Amos 9 and Ezekiel 20:33. We are going to suffer double for our sins but our God has said, "I will restore." How urgent, then, to believe that the God who promises judgment and fulfills it is also the same God who promises restoration and will also fulfill it. He is the same God who fulfills what He speaks and what He promises. Not to believe God’s judgment as the fulfillment of His word now is to nullify all hope of believing for His future intervention then. This is the scenario of the last days, namely, the restoration of Israel by the unmitigated grace and mercy of God—so totally undeserved.
(3) We Jews are the epitome of what man is. We are the statement, in our humanity that should forewarn men everywhere. God has chosen to use us as the witness people to demonstrate Himself, if not by our virtue, then by our vice. Our condition as a nation remains unchanged until now and will remain so until God Himself changes it and gives us a new nature like unto His own. That is salvation. Modern times have not changed anything. The disposition of our hearts is fixed, and only God can change that, and this is why He would have all men to be converted. It is not to "Christianity" that God wants us to be converted, but to Himself, to the Life and character of God which alone is righteous. To relish anything else as alternative is to embrace death....
(4) The nations are unconsciously waiting for our restoration to God, for we have a theocratic destiny as a "kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6 NKJV) and "a light to the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:6f NKJV). No one can carry our calling but we Jews, all the more glorious for God to accomplish, seeing that our failure to fulfill it has been so evident everywhere throughout the generations. God is waiting for us to own the death of our Messiah, and, by that acknowledgment, set in motion our salvation. But if we plead exemption in any measure, then we are lost without hope. The power of our deception needs to be broken, as well as our self-justification that opposes God, so entirely summed up in our continuing rejection of Jesus of Nazareth.
(5) This same God is going to give us a historical opportunity to recognize our pathetic and dismal failure. Those who survive this tribulation shall never again fail, because God will give us a new heart by taking the stony one out and giving us a heart of flesh, and He will give us His Spirit. He will write His covenant in our inward parts, and we, from the least to the greatest, shall all know God. This is the consummation and the end of the age to which we are fast coming. By that life and that Spirit, we shall bless all the families of the earth. We shall proclaim the mercies of the Lord, and His great love toward us, forever. In the end, He will save a remnant of us out of our last afflictions and restore us to Zion to be a people for His name, "for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3b NKJV)."
the article continues
"A Friendly Critique
Having just discovered Art and his exuberant Bible studies, I am happy to find another person who loves and believes the Word. There is much that we agree on, including the facts that (1) there is a glorious future planned by God for the entire world, and (2) Israel is destined by God to play a leading role in that future.
Here are the areas in the above presentation that I must take issue with. It is offered as an encouragement to "rethink your end-times paradigm" -- appropriate and I believe necessary for all Messianic Jews as well as Evangelicals who are presently imploring Jews to turn to Jesus now, before Armageddon -- as they would say, "before it's too late for the unbelieving Jews"....
(1) I disagree that another Holocaust is planned. The Shoah of the 1930s and 1940s was, I believe, the "dregs" of the cup of God's wrath as respects the Jews, described in Isaiah 51:22. God says in that prophecy that he has taken that cup out of their hand, and they will "no more drink of it again." Isaiah goes on to predict that afterwards, those who oppressed and persecuted the Jews will drink the full dregs of God's wrath. In proof that the period of wholesale death of Jewish people is over, what has been the result? Three years after the Holocaust ended, the nation of Israel was resurrected. First time in human history that an ancient nation, with the same religion, same language, and same lands, has been resurrected. The scriptures are clear that once the nation of Israel is regathered, they will never again be scattered or destroyed or plucked up. They are in Eretz Israel for good.
(2) In my view Amos 9 does not apply to the future. The part that Art refers to, about Israel being pursued and punished by God, has already been fulfilled on the pages of history. The punishment by God of Israel was completed in 1878 when her Jubilee returned, she began to be regathered on her land. This regathering begins in verse 11 of the Amos 9 prophecy. The old dwelling place of David has been raised up, the ruins have been reinhabited. The goal of verse 12 is well along the way to fulfillment (verses 11 and 12 explain the overarching goal, while 13-15 describe specific steps toward that goal)."
& continues
"Amos 9:13 says, "the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes he that sows seed". This refers to the great change in God's work worldwide, which this website talks so much about. The reaper refers to the harvest of the Christian era -- the Christian workers who are winding up the Christian age, gathering the good fruitage into God's barn and gathering the bad fruitage into bundles for burning -- not hell, but destruction as organizations that can get away with publicly claiming they are God's organization on earth.
The treader of grapes is an allusion to the process described in Isaiah 63:1-4 and Revelation 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, in which the wicked, rotten fruit of Christianity -- the geopolitical "harlot" churches that have been in bed with the world system -- will be exposed, crushed in a "winepress of God's anger" and eventually destroyed as organizations. Already the large, mainstream organizations are hollow shells of their former selves. It appears to us that most of the true spiritual fruitage left these churches decades ago, landing in one or more of the less-institutional movements that have sprung up since the turn of the 20th century. And gradually, over the coming few decades, I believe Scripture predicts that most of the rest of what pass for "Churches of Christ" will likewise shift focus away from the spiritual activities that the New Testament emphasizes for Christians, and focus instead on political influence. As a result, we will increasingly see the true spirit-led sons of God seeking situations that more nearly resemble the early Church model, while those who are more worldly at heart will keep addressing societal concerns and lifestyle issues in their church activities. This is one reason we are excited about the "house church" movement. It is a sign of the harvest, the time when God's people "come out" of Babylon, (Revelation 18:4) is nearing completion."
& continues
"In Amos, the reaper and grape treader -- the work of harvesting and crushing the fruitage of the Christian era, is overtaken by the "plowman". What is this? I believe it is the forces at work planting seeds for the next age in God's plan. Part of what a plowman does is destructive -- turning the field upside down. So the 20th Century, with its revolutions and wars, sounds like a pretty good fulfillment of the concept of a "plowman." But the positive part of plowing is what comes after -- sowing seeds. What seeds does God want to sow? What fruitage does he want to see in the world in the future? What will the next age be like?
The Planting of the Lord
The new world that God is already planting seeds for will be a time when all people are shepherded by Messiah, when the dead will be resurrected, when the earth will yield its increase, when Jerusalem will be the seat of government of God on earth.
What needed to happen first? Well, Israel needed to come back to its land, for starters -- that is what Amos is concerned about. And so as the Christian era has lapsed into materialism, internal conflict, and decline, the Jewish world has been reborn and rejuvenated by the forces God has raised up. These forces have not all been pleasant for the Jews -- Jeremiah 16:16 describes some of them as "fishers" who would try to lure Jews from around the world to the land of Israel -- apparently Zionism, world economic conditions in the late 19th century, and the Balfour declaration. And then Jeremiah predicted "hunters" -- evil people who would hunt the Jews. The Nazis and their friends. Still, the net result of all that has been the regathering of the Jews, just as Amos predicted, on their "old heaps" -- the same villages, often the same name, right on top of the ancient cities. Where else can you go in the world and dig below your basement to find the remains of your ancestors?
Amos finishes his prophecy with a verse that should prove to Art and everyone else that God is not going to allow Israel to be destroyed again -- verse 15."I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says Yahweh your God".
Israel today is, pound for pound, the greatest source of the kinds of seeds God is planting for the next Age, the age of Messiah. There, scientists and inventors, thinkers and philosophers are making daily advances in medicine, farming, ecology; seminal thought about how humans think and how sustainable communities should be structured; labor-saving advances, nanotechnology, electronics, genetics.
These are all tools and peaceful advances that will be very needed when the earth's population is swelling toward 15 or 20 or 30 billion, because of the resurrection of all the people who have ever lived. God, working through man's mistakes and ingenuity, is preparing us all for the time when the whole world is at rest, and quiet. They will break forth into singing when they find themselves living in a restored and completed globe, where waste places and deserts will have been transformed. Expect the human race to fit without exploitation into an environmentally sound, sustainable co-existence on this beautiful globe with the entire creation that God has designed for mankind's perpetual enjoyment."
& continues
"Back to the Critique
I agree with paragraph (3), except to state that there is much more in God's plan for national prominence for the Jewish people than using them as a bad example. They are valued and loved, and they have much to teach the world because of the patience and hopefulness and humility they have already gained from their years of diaspora. Who is more self-effacing, more fair-minded, than the Jewish people? Who is more committed to the underdog than the Jewish people? What nation in history has ever treated its enemies as well as the Jewish people are treating those today who are sworn to her destruction? God has put this stamp of love and mercy upon their characters by his plan of bringing "tribulation and anguish ... to the Jew first". And he has had long patience, waiting for this precious fruit of the earth to be developed. He is not going to destroy it.
Going on to paragraph (4): I agree with the first half, that God has indeed called the Jews to be a light to the Nations. Those promises are sure -- and they are going to happen regardless of whether individual Jews fully believe and cooperate with what God is doing. But I must take issue with these words: "God is waiting for us to own the death of our Messiah, and, by that acknowledgment, set in motion our salvation. But if we plead exemption in any measure, then we are lost without hope."
God is not waiting for anything. God is working all things after the counsel of his own Will, and it his will and expressed statement that "all Israel shall be saved." Because the Jewish people were, as expected by God, unable to fully accept the 1st-advent Jesus as their Messiah, God blinded them partially, "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in". In other words, the thing God has been "waiting for" (actually, working for) is the completion of the Christian church. That work is almost done. As soon as it is, the fullest possible program of blessings and transforming events will come to the Jews so fast it will make our heads spin. Yes, it's true, there will be one last "Armageddon" just after the true Church is finished... and it will involve some bloodshed, both among Jews who will be attacked by the invaders, and among the invaders who will die under God's miraculous intervention. But there is significant, profound, reliable "hope" for ALL of the folks involved even in that battle on the world's stage. All of them will be resurrected very soon thereafter, the first cadre of the restored world of mankind.
Paragraph (5) is the most troubling of the comments, I believe, in what Art Katz has written: "Those who survive this tribulation shall never again fail." What a sad omission of the grace and promises of God! I respectfully must disagree and state the grand promise of God to be intended for all Jews, including those who will not have recognized the place of Jesus in God's plan at his first advent before the dramatic events promised by the Jewish prophets.
Here are five prophecies which should clearly show that Jewish people will be converted and redeemed after the "Great Tribulation":
& lastly says
Jeremiah 30:2-22, where God promises their salvation and restoration while acknowledging their sins and need of corrective action on his part;
Ezekiel 16:42-63, where God states that after he has punished them for their sins by sending them into captivity among the nations, his anger will depart from them, and he will be quiet toward them. (I believe this state of affairs has been fulfilled since the late 1800s). And though they have still not believed and repented yet, he promises he will bring to pass redemptive and transformative experiences that result in his final conclusion: that he will indeed restore them and forgive them for "all that you have done."
Romans 11:25-26 promises that the "partial blindness" which God placed upon the Jewish people will be "turned away" by the "Deliverer" out of Zion. I believe this is the Church of Christ, completed and reigning from heaven during the Messianic age. Jesus died for the Jewish people, and in due time he will look on the travail of his soul, and be glad because of its amazing success in reaching everyone he died for.
In Zechariah 12:10, the event that causes the Jewish people to look upon the One whom they pierced, and mourn for him, is not an effort at preaching, or a web site. It is God, pouring the spirit of grace and supplication upon their hearts. That opens their eyes to what they had simply been unable to see before. God controls when the Jews will be able to see certain things that are not obvious to them now. It is God who has permitted Satan to blind the minds of the vast majority of the human race, too. (2 Cor. 4:4)
And in Ezekiel 36:16-38, God makes it clear that he is going to transform the former sinners of Israel, just wipe them out and bring his blessings to the "survivors". Isaiah (25:6-8, 60:1-8) makes it clear that the redeemed, corrected, blessed Jewish people will become a light to the entire world.
Christians should therefore get in step
with God's timing
Because of these sure promises of scripture, I believe Christians, especially Messianic Jews who have a close natural communication bond with the Jewish people, should stop antagonizing the Jews and filling them with fear of yet another holocaust. Instead, let's comfort them, (Isaiah 40:1-3) encourage them to disregard the geopolitical pressures that are trying to make them give away the land God gave them. If we feel conscience-bound to tell whatever government we live under that they should support Israel, fine... but all Christians should bear in mind that the word of God makes it clear that in due course Jerusalem will be a burdensome stone to all nations, and that all lovers of Israel among the nations will forsake her. That is God's plan, and the Jewish people should be fortified with the testimony of their prophets that this will happen, and they should hang in there until the next, happier phase of God's plan comes to fruition."
From Newsweek.com an article is titled
"Woke Racism: 'Jewish Privilege' "| Opinion
PAUL MILLER , PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HAYM SALOMON CENTER
ON 7/21/20 AT 6:30 AM EDT Paul Miller the article says
"On a recent Sunday afternoon, #JewishPrivilege was trending on Twitter. What does this even mean?
To be a Jew in America apparently means you are privileged to be the most targeted ethnic and religious group in the country, according to the FBI. Jewish students on college campuses have had the privilege of being victimized in more than 175 incidents of anti-Semitism so far this year, notes the anti-Semitism watchdog group AMCHA Initiative. Is it a privilege that in 2019, over half the hate crimes in New York City were committed against Jews? Maybe it's growing up hearing stories about your relatives murdered by the Nazis, or during the pogroms that ravaged the Jews of Eastern Europe. Anti-Semitism is a "privilege" only in Orwellian doublespeak.
This latest form of Jew-hatred began just a few years ago. I recall flyers posted on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago in the spring of 2017 that read, "ENDING WHITE PRIVILEGE STARTS WITH ENDING JEWISH PRIVILEGE." The flyers depicted Jews at the peak of a pyramid of wealth, claiming that 44 percent of Jews were in the top one percent. The horror in this story is not the falsehood of the statistics, but that the goal of the flyers was to elicit hatred toward Jews.
The flyers reflected a disdain for Jews shared by anti-Israel organizations on campus and their leftist allies who preach "intersectionality," proffered as a common bond of all putatively oppressed groups. This ideology links Muslim groups with radical feminists and progressive organizations whose goals might have nothing in common other than an abhorrence of Israel and Jews who don't fall in line with their far-left ideology.
If there is any silver lining in the anti-Jewish trend that is the "Jewish Privilege" Twitter hashtag, it's that Jews from across the political spectrum took to social media and fought back. Jews reclaimed the hashtag by sharing their encounters as Jews, and the anti-Semitism they have experienced.
But the fact that in 2020, Jews had to take to modern media platforms to combat Jew-hatred, is disturbing. "#JewishPrivilege" was used by so many to express hatred for the Jewish people that it was publicized by Twitter as a trending hashtag.
#JewishPrivilege is the voice of the woke racist—the college-age, hip bigots who protest against police and vandalize statues of historical figures. Practitioners of intersectionality, they have bought into the age-old blame-the-Jews mentality. White privilege is bad, and Jewish privilege is even worse.
But this new hatred is only the tip of the iceberg. Jewish privilege "means always having to say you're sorry"—sorry for all the sins immortalized in centuries-old canards that continue to flourish in America and around the world.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan used his annual Criterion Speech to blame Jews for the ills of the world, preaching hate-filled lies about Jewish control and power to over a million people on YouTube. One wonders how many new woke bigots were born out of his fire and brimstone about "Satan"—Farrakhan's trademark reference to Jews."
the article continues
"While Farrakhan was spewing his hate, DeSean Jackson of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles shared a vile anti-Semitic quote falsely attributed to Hitler.
Right before the Farrakhan and Jackson tirades, Nick Cannon, host of the Fox show "The Masked Singer," sat down with longtime anti-Semite, rapper Richard Griffin, for an anti-Semitic gabfest. After outrage by the Jewish community and a few media outlets, Cannon reluctantly apologized. But the damage was done. How many young people absorbed the hate and ignored the apology?
#JewishPrivilege is not the only new weapon of anti-Semitism. Blaming Jews for global tragedies has resurfaced anew in the age of COVID-19.
According to researchers at the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University, the pandemic has "unleashed a unique worldwide wave of anti-Semitism [that] includes a range of libels that have one common element: The Jews, the Zionists and/or the state of Israel are to blame for the pandemic and/or stand to gain from it."
A study conducted in May by Oxford University found that over 19 percent of the British public believe that Jews are responsible for the pandemic. No privilege in one-fifth of the population blaming you for a deadly virus.
Jews are in a lose-lose situation. Israel is a worldwide leader in the race to treat and cure COVID-19. Yet every anti-Israel government, from the Palestinian Authority to the Iranian regime, blames the Jewish state for the virus' spread. Iran even claims Israel created an extra deadly strain just for the Iranian people.
It's disturbing enough that millions, if not more, blame Jews for the virus. If the Israelis cure COVID-19, the anti-Semites will have a field day. The old libel of Zionist control and profit will dominate news headlines, be embraced by radical leftists and far-right groups and have its own hashtag on Twitter.
The concept of a privileged class—whether white privilege, Jewish privilege or Black privilege—must be called out for what it is: racism."
From the website askdrbrown.org an article is titled
"What Jewish Privilege Really Looks Like"
Posted Jul 22, 2020 by Michael L. Brown
"What began on Twitter as an attempt by antisemites to expose alleged Jewish privilege in America quickly became a platform where Jews could share their own stories of suffering and pain. Contrary to the claim that Jews control the media, the banks, and the governments of the world, Jews have often been the first to suffer, the first to be persecuted, the first to exiled, the first to be killed. That’s what Jewish privilege really looks like.
Writing for the Times of Israel on July 15, Stuart Winer explained that, “The Twitter hashtag ‘#JewishPrivilege’ has been used by anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists for years, but over the last few days has instead become a locus for personal accounts highlighting discrimination faced by Jews over the centuries and today.”
The tables were dramatically turned, as one Jew after another posted his or her experience with antisemitism. Yes, Jewish privilege meant that Jews have been privileged to suffer in nation after nation simply for being Jews.
It is true that Jews in America today are among the best educated and most prosperous members of our society. But that is hardly through some kind of privileged status.
Not only so, but financial prosperity and exalted social status have certainly not been the norm throughout Jewish history. Rather, Jewish privilege through history often looked more like Tevye and his family in Fiddler on the Roof: dirt poor, excluded from the best jobs, second-class citizens, and having to flee for their lives because of the latest pogrom.
Jews, then, have been especially privileged to excel in the following categories.
1) Jews have been exiled from more countries than any other people group. There’s not even a close second. Antisemites will tell you that this is because Jews are so evil. But of course!
2) Jews have been hated longer than any other people, and many scholars have referred to antisemitism as the world’s longest hatred, dating back at least to the third century BC. Today, more than 2,300 years later, it is just as vibrant and deadly as ever. What sustains a hatred for so long?
3) Jews have been demonized by more different groups from more different backgrounds than anyone else. This includes being demonized by both Christian leaders and Islamic leaders, white supremacists and black supremacists, atheistic Communists and irreligious Nazis. That’s why antisemitic black leader Louis Farrakhan could say in 2018, “I’m not an anti-Semite. I’m anti-Termite.” And then, less than two weeks later, a white supremacist could slaughter Jews in a synagogue, shouting, “All Jews must die.” This is what Jewish privilege looks like."
the article continues
"4) Jews are the subject of more conspiracy theories than anyone else – what a privilege! – including claims that we created and spread COVID-19 in our day. To quote a Times of Israel headline, “Tel Aviv University think tank says libels blaming Jews and Israel for pandemic are spreading, as crisis sparks new iterations of old hatred.” In the same way, when the Black Plague decimated Europe, Jews were accused of starting the plague by poisoning the wells with a mixture made of spiders, lizards and the hearts of Christians mixed together with the sacred elements of the Lord’s supper.
5) Jews have the privilege of being specially singled out by the United Nations for accusation and censor. As noted by Ben-Dror Yemini in his book, Industry of Lies: Media, Academia, and the Israeli-Arab Conflict, “in 2012, the UN General Assembly passed 22 resolutions against Israel, in contrast to four against the rest of the world. In 2015, the General Assembly adopted 20 resolutions singling out Israel for criticism— and only three resolutions regarding the rest of the world combined. As of 2010, since its inception in 2006, the UN Human Rights Council has adopted 33 resolutions against specific countries, of which 27 were against Israel. In 2013, the Council adopted 25 resolutions, four for all the other countries in the world and 21 against Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world were victims of tyrannical regimes, and countless massacres and pogroms were committed. Israel did not commit even a fraction of these misdeeds, but it has been condemned more than any other country, perhaps more than all other countries combined.”
In keeping with this, in 2015, “At the closing of the 59th UN Commission on the Status of Women, only one political resolution was passed - one that accuses Israel of mistreating Palestinian women, in all aspects of life.”
And last July, “Israel was the only country named . . . as a violator or trouble spot by the 54-nation UN Economic and Social Council during the session, according to the UN Watch organization.”
That is Jewish privilege in a nutshell."
& lastly says
"As noted on February, 2018 on The Conversation website, “Antisemitism is on the march. From the far-right demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, with their ‘Blood and Soil’ chants and their ‘Jews will not replace us’ placards to attacks on synagogues in Sweden, arson attacks on kosher restaurants in France and a spike in hate crimes against Jews in the UK. Antisemitism seems to have been given a new lease of life.”
To be sure, the Bible speaks of the Jewish people being chosen by God for a special mission. And religious Jews, in particular, take suffering as part of their calling and a result of their mission.
But let us put to rest this notion of some kind of world-controlling, world-dominating, privileged Jewish status. The opposite has been the norm for millennia.
That’s what Jewish privilege really looks like."
From www.barnesandnoble.com Another book Many Christian Supporters of Israel should read is
"Christian Antisemitism: Confronting the Lies in Today's Church"
by Michael L. Brown Ph.D.
Available for Pre-Order. This item will be available on February 2, 2021
Overview
"Hate isn’t a thing from history.
The Jewish people and Israel have been described as “a dominant and moving force behind the present and coming evils of our day”; “a monstrous system of evil…[that] will destroy us and our children” if not resisted; and a group that seeks “the annihilation of almost every Gentile man, woman, and child and the establishment of a satanic Jewish-led global dictatorship.” What’s worse is that these comments were all made by professing Christians.
In Christian Antisemitism, respected Messianic Bible scholar Michael L. Brown, PhD, documents shocking examples of modern “Christian” antisemitism and exposes the lies that support them. Carefully researched, this book shows that church-based antisemitism is no longer a thing of the past. Rather, a dangerous, shocking tide of “Christian” antisemitism has begun to rise. In Christian Antisemitism, Dr. Brown shows you how to stem this tide now and overcome the evil of “Christian” antisemitism with the powerful love of the cross!
This book will show you how to confront everyday antisemitism in all areas of your life and become a champion for the people of Israel."
We at this blog say RIP John Lewis
From the website jewishworldnews.org an article is titled
"John Lewis and the Jews: An enduring alliance"
JUL 22, 2020
U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). Credit: Flickr.
By RON KAMPEAS the article says:
"WASHINGTON (JTA) – When John Lewis, the civil rights icon and congressman from Georgia, died at 80 on July 17, Jews in America and abroad lost an ally of nearly six decades.
Lewis never tired of telling folks to “get into good trouble,” to defy the authorities and the conventional wisdom. It was a creed that guided him as he helped organize the 1963 March on Washington; that led to police severely beating him in Selma, Alabama, in 1965; and that underscored his 33-year career in Congress.
He also had a close relationship with the Jewish community dating to the 1960s, fortified by alliances he forged throughout his congressional career. Many Jewish leaders on both sides of the aisle lauded Lewis when he announced his cancer diagnosis last year and mourned his recent death .
Here are six Jewish moments from Lewis’ long and storied career working toward justice in America.
Praying With His Feet
That Selma March. It started with 12 men and women joining arms and leading others across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Among those 12 were Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. The rabbi was asked after the march whether he found time to pray. Heschel famously answered: “I prayed with my feet.” Lewis, then 25, was alongside them.
Coalition-building
There’s a narrative that the unity that defined the Black-Jewish alliance in the 1960s dissipated by the 1980s, in part because black leaders like Andrew Young and Jesse Jackson vocally embraced advocacy for Palestinians.
If that was the narrative, Lewis did not seem to be reading the book. In 1982, he worked with the American Jewish Committee to found the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition. It was an alliance that culminated in 2019 in the founding last year of the Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus.
Let My People(s) Go
Jews have been hesitant at times to link Jewish suffering with that of African Americans. Lewis was not. At a mass Washington demonstration in 1987 calling for the liberation of Soviet Jewry, Lewis did not hesitate to make the connection.
“I stand here not so much as a member of Congress but I stand here as a human being,” Lewis said. “Almost 25 years ago I participated in a march here for jobs and freedom. Hundreds and thousands of members of the Jewish community marched with us then. I think it’s fitting for me to be with you today.
“Our message, the message of the black community, is one that is very simple. We are saying to President Reagan, Mr. President, tell Mr. Gorbachev to open the doors, open the gates and let the people out. I said that as long as one Jew is denied the right to emigrate, as long as one Jew is denied the right to be Jewish in the Soviet Union, we all are Jews in the Soviet Union.”
Spurning Farrakhan
In 1995, Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan set out to convene black men in Washington, D.C., at a rally meant to extend the symbolism of the 1963 March on Washington.
Some prominent figures from the civil rights movement attended the Million Man March on Washington, including Rosa Parks, but Lewis said he would not because of Farrakhan’s track record, which then as now included anti-Semitic comments.
“I cannot overlook past statements by Louis Farrakhan — and others associated with the Nation of Islam — which are divisive and bigoted,” Lewis told Newsweek at the time. “Although its general goal of encouraging African American men to be responsible is sound, the march is fatally undermined by its chief sponsor.”
the article continues:
"Boycotting Netanyahu, Supporting Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015 accepted an invitation from then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, to speak in Congress against President Barack Obama’s Iran policies.
Boehner, who had not consulted with Democrats in Congress or the White House about the invitation, framed Netanyahu’s speech as a more serious take on Iran, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus saw it as an all-too-familiar dis: The white man was pushing the black man out of the limelight.
Pro-Israel groups and figures also had been caught by surprise by the invitation; nonetheless, the prospect of a boycott appalled them, and they set about trying to persuade Democrats to turn up. Lewis would not have it — but he emphasized his support for Israel in his decision not to attend the speech.
“I am saddened that the speaker would threaten this historic position, bipartisan support of our Israeli brothers and sisters, by this action,” he said.
Israeli officials joined the chorus of worldwide leaders mourning Lewis. “The U.S. lost a hero. Israel lost a friend,” tweeted Dani Dayan, the outgoing consul general of Israel in New York, along with a picture of a 2015 tweet from Lewis himself saying, “I don’t take a backseat to anyone in my commitment and support of Israel.”
The Right To Boycott
Lewis was opposed to the movement to boycott Israel, but — his thoughts cast back to the business boycotts that helped propel the civil rights movement — he was fiercely defensive of the right to boycott.
He opposed state laws and proposed federal laws that would penalize boycotters and joined two freshmen congresswomen who back the movement to boycott, divest and sanction Israel in sponsoring a resolution affirming the right of Americans to boycott, a resolution centrist pro-Israel groups lobbied against.
Co-sponsoring the resolution was “a simple demonstration of my ongoing commitment to the ability of every American to exercise the fundamental First Amendment right to protest through nonviolent actions,” he said at the time.
“I want to make it very clear that I disagree strongly with the BDS movement,” Lewis said in the same statement. He put his words in action, co-sponsoring a resolution that condemned but did not penalize the BDS movement.
Jewish and Israel-related groups mourn Rep. John Lewis
By JACKSON RICHMAN
(JNS) – Israel-related and Jewish communities expressed their condolences over the passing of civil-rights icon and longtime congressional Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on July 17 after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
“It is with inconsolable grief and enduring sadness that we announce the passing of U.S. Rep. John Lewis,” his family said in a statement. “He was honored and respected as the conscience of the U.S. Congress and an icon of American history, but we knew him as a loving father and brother. He was a stalwart champion in the ongoing struggle to demand respect for the dignity and worth of every human being. He dedicated his entire life to non-violent activism and was an outspoken advocate in the struggle for equal justice in America. He will be deeply missed.”
& continues
"Although Lewis, who represented Georgia’s 5th Congressional District from Jan. 3, 1987 until his death, sent mixed signals when it came to Israel, such as co-sponsoring a resolution for and against the anti-Israel BDS movement, he was known to be a friend of the Jewish community.
He spoke out against Louis Farrakhan, saying that the Nation of Islam leader’s rhetoric was “divisive and bigoted.” Lewis refused to join Farrakhan’s 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C.
In a statement, officials at the Jewish Federations of North America noted being “heartbroken to learn of the passing of John Lewis, our longtime friend and partner. With unshakable commitment and determination, Congressman John Lewis reminded us every day of the power of gentleness, humility and optimism. He risked his life in the name of racial justice, helped lead the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, and served as a member of Congress representing the people of Georgia for 33 years.
“America is better off because of John Lewis,” they continued, “and his legacy will live on forever in the many people he inspired to live up to his example.”
“From the [1963] March on Washington to Black Lives Matter, Rep. John Lewis committed his life to the fight for justice and equality,” said World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder in a statement. “He led by example, from his commitment to nonviolent protest to his unflinching belief in our nation’s capacity to become a more perfect union.”
“Through it all, he understood the importance of building bridges of empathy between communities. He was a lifelong ally of the Jewish people, a loyal supporter of the State of Israel, and a vigilant voice against anti-Semitism,” said Lauder. “At a time when some nefarious forces are stoking division between the black and Jewish communities, we should look to the model that John Lewis set for us and remember that black-Jewish unity is the best way to achieve justice for both peoples.”
‘An unwavering ally of the Jewish community’
Democratic Majority for Israel said in a statement that Lewis, who was one of 10 children born to sharecropper parents, “risked his life to make America better, and we are forever grateful for his moral leadership and his tireless fight for a more just society.”
& lastly says
“Although we lost him at a time when we need him so much, he’ll continue to be an example to all of us. Congressman Lewis built deep ties with the Jewish community as partners in his righteous fight for civil rights,” it said. “In an iconic photo, Mr. Lewis walked with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1965 March on Selma.”
That march led to the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which eliminated systemic barriers for black voters.
“John Lewis inspired us to do better, as Jews and as Americans. He will forever inspire us to continue the fight for racial justice and to build a better future for the next generation. He will be deeply missed,” tweeted the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
John Lewis inspired us to do better, as Jews and as Americans. He will forever inspire us to continue the fight for racial justice and to build a better future for the next generation. He will be deeply missed. https://t.co/KpPwDGvvMz
— ✡ Jewish Dems ???? (@USJewishDems) July 18, 2020
“Lewis set an example for our country that will long outlive him. His work for equality had profound effects on the lives of not only African-Americans, but other minority groups, like American Jews,” Republican Jewish Coalition spokesperson Neil Strauss told JNS. “For that, all Americans owe Lewis a debt of gratitude. We hope that Lewis can rest in peace knowing he made the world a better place.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) called Lewis “a heroic fighter for justice and human dignity” who was a “steadfast ally of the Jewish state who was instrumental in gaining passage of The Jerusalem Embassy Act” in 1995.
“Freedom has lost a powerful ally and the pro-Israel community has lost a stalwart friend,” said AIPAC in a statement. “We extend our condolences to his family, his colleagues and all those who were inspired by his extraordinary life of bravely striving for justice.”
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend Congressman John Lewis. History will rightly record his tireless pursuit of justice, his bravery, his statesmanship and his unending selflessness and kindness,” tweeted J Street.
We are grateful for the wisdom @repjohnlewis shared, the inspiration he provided and the example he set. Our country has yet to fully comprehend the wrongs that he set out to right — nor the magnitude of the gift he gave us by doing so. May his memory be a blessing.
— J Street (@jstreetdotorg) July 18, 2020
“Congressman Lewis was truly a larger-than-life figure who will be dearly missed by all,” wrote the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “He will be remembered for his courage, perseverance and faith in America. He leaves a legacy which will stand the test of time.”
In a mass email, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs stated that Lewis “was an unwavering ally of the Jewish community. His most sincere, heartfelt love was for humanity. Not only HIS people, ALL people seeking justice” stated Lois Frank, past JCPA chair and a friend of the Congressman for many years. “For a man of such celebrity, this humble and gracious spirit prevailed. His neshama [‘soul’] was pure … one of a kind.”
Lewis is survived by his son, John-Miles Lewis. He was predeceased by his wife, Lillian, who died in 2012."
Again, RIP John Lewis , we miss you, this article says John Lewis always told people to "Get into good trouble" But We at this blog Say No One get into Trouble, always be Peaceful, Non-Violent & Law Abiding,
From the website todayintheword.org an article is titled :
"Are the Jewish people still God’s chosen people? Since most Jewish people don’t believe in Jesus, haven’t Christians become the chosen people?"
This question assumes that the church is the new people of God and that the Jewish people are has-beens in the plan
of God. To understand the status of Jewish people who do not believe in Jesus, it is necessary to examine Romans 11:28–29.
Romans 11:28 asserts, “As far as the gospel, they [the Jews] are enemies for your sake.” This does not mean that Jewish people are enemies of God or Christians; rather, it refers to their opposition to the gospel. Except for a remnant of Jewish people who have become followers of Jesus (see Rom. 11:1–6), tragically, most Jewish people do not believe in Jesus and reject the good news that Jesus is the Redeemer of Israel. Despite this, however, Jewish people continue to have a special status as God’s people. This unique national identity (which is different than their spiritual status) has three aspects.
First, Jewish people remain God’s chosen nation. Romans 11:28 continues: “but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.” The word election means “choseness.” This refers to God’s choice of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their physical descendants to be the people through whom God would make His name known throughout the earth.
One might ask: Aren’t believers in Jesus chosen? Yes—Ephesians 1:4 says that believers were chosen before the foundation of the world. But that refers to God’s spiritual choice for salvation, not God’s national choice of Israel. The Jewish people are still God’s chosen people.
Second, the Jewish people remain God’s beloved nation. They are loved not because of anything intrinsic in themselves but because of God’s commitment to the Patriarchs. God loves Gentiles, too—John 3:16 says God loved the world. But God has a special love for the Jewish people, just as I care about children but I have a special love for my sons.
Third, Jewish people retain God’s unbreakable promises. Romans 1:29 says that God’s gifts and calling to the Jewish people are irrevocable, including the gifts mentioned in Romans 9:4–5 (adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants—including the land covenant—the law, temple worship, promises of the Abrahamic covenant, and Jesus the Messiah of Israel). Every promise that God made to Israel still belongs to the people of Israel. One day, when the nation turns in faith to Jesus (cf. Rom. 1:26), God will fulfill every one of them."
Dr. Michael Rydelnik
BY DR. MICHAEL RYDELNIK
The website free.messianicbible.com has an article titled
"Are the Jewish People Still the Chosen People?"
Jerusalem (Photo by Reinhardt Konig) the article says:
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)
The Jewish People are often called the Chosen People, a term that has caused many to accuse God of favoritism and the Jews of being smug elitists who think that God prefers them over all other nations and peoples.
“Chosenness” is so strongly associated with favoritism and arrogance that even some Jewish people reject this term. Yet, the idea of God choosing Israel runs throughout Scripture. Here are a few verses:
“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham My friend.” (Isaiah 41:8)
“You His servants, the descendants of Israel, His chosen ones, the children of Jacob.” (1 Chronicles 16:13; see also Psalm 105:6)
“For the LORD has chosen Jacob to Himself, and Israel for His peculiar treasure.” (Psalm 135:4)
An Orthodox Jewish couple enjoy a bite to eat in Jerusalem. (Photo by opalpeterliu)
An Orthodox Jewish couple enjoy a bite to eat in Jerusalem. (Photo by opalpeterliu)
Though the Nazis called it “religious racism,” there is truly no ethnocentric elitism in being among the chosen. Anyone from any background can convert to Judaism and become one of “the Chosen People.”
Contrary to feeling smug and favored, observant Jews are keenly aware that chosenness deflates any sense of significance.
“The closer you are to G-d, the more you sense your insignificance. While being buddy-buddy with a human leader inflates your ego, a relationship with G-d bursts your selfish bubble,” the Chabad website explains. “Because G-d is an infinite being, and all delusions of petty self-importance fall away when you stand before infinity. Being close with G-d demands introspection and self-improvement, not smugness.” (Chabad)
Due to the persecution that the Jewish People have endured because of a perceived elitism, a perhaps more common sentiment to being chosen is expressed best by Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof:
“I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?” he asks God.
Understanding God’s choosing of Israel is central to having a firm foundation in God’s providential plan.
Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (Screen capture)
Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (Screen capture)
Abraham is Chosen
“Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” (Genesis 18:18–19)
While we automatically think of Israel and the Jewish People when we hear the term Chosen People, that call actually began with one man—Abraham.
Only 400 years had passed since the Great Flood; the world itself was not yet populated by a great variety of people living in powerful nations. Nations at that time were more like city-states. And they were rife with paganism and polytheism. Mankind was lost.
God called Abraham out of one of those cities to a land that He would show him. Abraham didn’t know where that land was located. He trusted God’s direction and promise that he was to become a nation that would bring the truth of the One True God to the world.
He believed God and headed for the Promised Land.
This was the start of the Chosen People. God chose one man and that one man chose God.
Scripture does not tell us if God called another person before Abraham. It does tell us that Abraham chose to accept God’s promises and put feet to faith."
the article continues
"Abraham’s Journey to Canaan, by Pieter Lastman
Why God Chose a People
Within that promise to make Abraham a great nation is a promise to bless the nations that bless the people who descend from Abraham. God goes beyond that, however, promising that all the nations will be blessed through this nation.
God chose to reach out to the entire world by choosing Israel to represent Him, beginning with Abraham.
We see a similar assignment by presidents of nations who choose a group of ambassadors to represent him. With such chosenness comes great responsibility to correctly express the ideas and carry out the plans of the president. But they do not do this solely for the benefit of the president. The president and the ambassadors work together to serve all the people of the land.
Likewise, choosing Israel was not about God favoring one nation over another. It was about manifesting His love to the entire world—and He chose Abraham as His first ambassador to carry out His plan.
Jewish boys pray at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem.
Jewish boys pray at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem.
God longs to have a relationship with each and every person individually. That is why we were created. The Almighty longs for each of us to know Him.
His plan for communicating His identity to the world and repairing the relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden would be carried out through Israel. Within the larger scope of Israel, His plan has been at work through many people and events: Moses, the Torah, the Prophets, and in the fullness of time, through Messiah Yeshua.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
As God promised Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2)
Casting nets on the Sea of Galilee (Photo by Israel Tourism)
Casting nets on the Sea of Galilee (Photo by Israel Tourism)
Israel became a conduit of God’s blessing to the world and the path for the world to reach God.
A son of Israel, Yeshua, would manifest this blessing further as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:32)
Israel reveals the heart of God, as well as the ways and depth of His love; this unique beauty within God’s relationship with Israel draws humankind to Himself.
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”‘” (Zechariah 8:23)
With His identity forever linked to Israel, God’s reputation is wrapped up in Israel’s destiny. "
& continues
"The Chosen People and the Messiah
Biblically aligned Believers, defined by their personal relationship with Yeshua, understand that “salvation is from the Jews.” (John 4:22)
That salvation would come through the Messiah (Anointed One), for whom the Jewish people have waited for millennia to be revealed.
According to Jewish tradition, a possible messiah is born in every generation—someone who could rebuild the Lord’s Temple, restore Jerusalem, bring back the dispersed exiles to the Land, and set up a just and righteous government to judge between the nations. (Isaiah 11:11–12; Jeremiah 23:8, 30:3; Isaiah 2:2–4, 11:10, 42:1)
Thirteen years ago, the Vatican affirmed this expectant wait of the Jewish People in a 2002 document entitled The Jewish People and the Holy Scriptures in the Christian Bible, written by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI, 2005–2013).
The document stated that Catholics should see the Old Testament as “retaining all of its value, not just as literature, but its moral value.” (NYT)
“The expectancy of the Messiah was in the Old Testament, and if the Old Testament keeps its value then it keeps that as a value, too,” said Ratzinger’s spokesman, Joaquín Navarro-Valls.
Yeshua Unrolls the Scroll in the Synagogue, by James Tissot
Yeshua Unrolls the Scroll in the Synagogue, by James Tissot
Although the Jewish People pray daily for the coming of the Messiah as foretold in the Tanakh (Old Testament), Believers know that Israel has already had the privilege of her Messiah’s coming—to Bethlehem, the town to whom Micah prophesied:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)
Yeshua publicly declared that He was the Anointed One when He read this prophecy from Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.” (Isaiah 61:1–2; Luke 4:18–19)
God’s message of salvation and redemption, which Yeshua taught in His three years of ministry, was directed to the Chosen People, specifically. During Yeshua’s ministry, He was conscious that He “was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)"
& Continues
"Yet, Yeshua ministered to all who put their faith in Him as the Messiah. He also instructed His Jewish followers to reach out to all peoples.
“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved.’” (Mark 16:15–16)
God’s plan of spiritual redemption through Yeshua HaMashiach is available to all who repent and believe that Yeshua released us from sin by His blood (Isaiah 53; Revelation 1:5). Believers now await the second coming of Yeshua when He comes to defend Israel and reign from Jerusalem.
“On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zechariah 12:10; see also Isaiah 53:5; Revelation 1:7)
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in Jerusalem
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in Jerusalem
Have the Chosen People Been Replaced?
Yeshua’s labor of love for the House of Israel led to the labors of the first Jewish Believers who spread the message of God’s Kingdom to the Gentiles. That message caused explosive growth in the numbers of Gentile Believers in the first centuries.
Perhaps from a place of superiority, jealousy, or religiosity, members of the Church claimed to be the “true Israel,” evicting God from His established identity as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Their loveless condemnation of the Jewish People for discounting Yeshua as Israel’s Messiah ironically led to the Church discounting God as Israel’s God.
God has not, as some Christians insist, disassociated Israel with His promises or abandoned His covenants with His Chosen People.
He is a covenant-keeping God, true to His word. That is good news because if God would break His unconditional covenants or any of His promises to Israel, He would break them with us as well.
God, however, is not a human who would change His mind.
Israeli school children take a break during a school field trip.
Israeli school children take a break during a school field trip.
Those who say God is done with Israel point to the covenant at Mount Sinai when God promised: “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5–6)"
& Continues
"Of course, the Chosen People broke their promise to do everything that God had spoken: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” (v. 8)
Therefore, to some people it seems quite obvious that Israel forfeited their right to be a holy nation—except that goes against God’s promise.
God promised that no matter how disobedient Israel became, God would not forget the other covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
“In spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 26:44–45)
The covenant to Abraham was unconditional. No “if … then’s.” In fact, Abraham was asleep when God cut the covenant, so no mutual promise was made by Abraham to do anything to keep the covenant. The promises in the covenant are made by God forever even if Israel breaks His conditional covenants:
“The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1–3)
Other important promises in the covenant involve ownership of the land and its heirs:
“This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. … I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” (Genesis 15:4, 7; see also Genesis 12:7; 13:14–17; 15:1–21; 17:1–21 and 22:15–18)
No matter what, God assured us that He will keep His covenant that was made with Abraham and continued through Isaac and Jacob.
Abram Guarding His Sacrifice, by James Tissot
Abraham Guarding His Sacrifice, by James Tissot
A Persecuted Chosen People
Israel’s chosenness is also delegitimized through the accusation that the Nation of Israel and the Jews are conspiring to rule the world.
This idea was published in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion during the Russian pogroms of the early 1900s when thousands of Jews were murdered and millions lived in isolated poverty.
In 1935, Dr. Arthur Baumgarten, professor of criminal law at the University of Basel, proved that the book contains 176 passages plagiarized from Maurice Joly’s fictional Dialogues in Hell.
Of course, if God has chosen a people to be His ambassadors and to ultimately bring forth the salvation of all mankind, we can be sure that the enemy of God is working overtime to make God appear to be a liar and to make His people into racists who want to conquer mankind, not save them.
An Israeli Orthodox family at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. (Photo by Reinhardt Konig)
An Israeli Orthodox family at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. (Photo by Reinhardt Konig)
The continual attempts to delegitimize and annihilate the Jewish People throughout history are of supernatural origin although carried out by a great number of people.
The sooner the world will open their hearts wide enough to see that God used Israel to bring monotheism to the world, along with an enduring system of ethics and morals that influences many cultures worldwide, the sooner the nations will understand what a great debt of gratitude they owe the Jewish People.
The world has clearly been impacted through God’s choosing Israel, and continues to be impacted through Yeshua, the Word of God, and the unconditional promise that those who bless Israel will themselves be blessed:
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” (Genesis 12:3)"
A Good Video on YouTube is Titled
"Professor Azmi Bishara: There Is No "Palestinian Nation", Never Was !"
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Translation:
"Well, I dont think there is a Palestinian Nation at all.
I think there is an Arab Nation, I always thought so and I didnt change my mind.
I dont think there is a Palestinian Nation, I think its a Colonial invention Palestinian Nation.
When were there any Palestinians? Where did it come from? What
I think there is an Arab Nation, I never turned to be a Palestinian Nationalist, despite of my decisive struggle against the Occupation.
I think that until the end of the 19TH century, Palestine was the South of Great Syria."
Several years ago a Person typed the following Truthful Comment on a Pro-Israel website
The person typed
"The Arabs under Israeli administration have more civil and political liberties than Arabs under any Arab administration . There are also alternative solutions which have been suggested. The problem really is that no one really cares about the political and civil liberties of these disadvantaged people(apart from Jews) and especially not their own leadership , or they would’ve found a solution by now. As you have already clearly pointed out the real objective of all the political activism is the destruction of the Jewish state ."
Another person typed the following accurate truthful comment on an online debate about Israel , the person typed
"Palestine *doesn’t* exist; there is no country by that name.
That said, let’s look at the question you seem to be asking; is there a historical basis for a Palestinian national identity?
Hard to argue that there is. Like most of the Arab world, and indeed like most post-colonial regions, lines have been drawn on a map without great regard for history. Identities which were largely based on clan, tribe, religion or ethnicity have been ignored.
So, the question really is; is there a historical Palestinian identity based on clan, tribe, religion or ethnicity?
Well, no there isn’t. Those Arabs who, prior to the founding of Israel, lived in what is now Israel didn’t speak a distinct Palestinian language or share a distinct Palestinian religion. They were Arab. Like the Arabs who then lived in what is now Jordan. Or Syria. Or Egypt. Or …
That may not change current reality … the post-1948 construct of Palestinian national identity is with us, for better or worse. But yet another question arises; why then are Palestinian claims for a state treated more seriously by the world than say, Basque, Tamil or even Aztlan claims?
I would argue that it’s a result of the world’s (1) dependence on oil, (2) fear of Muslim fundamentalists, and (3) deep-seated discomfort with Jewish self-determination. And of course, the willingness of the PLO to use indiscriminate terrorism." To Protect that person's privacy, we at this blog will not type their name
From the website jewinthecity.com a article is titled
"You Know The Talk Black Parents Have With Their Sons; You Never Heard Of The One Jews Have"
by ALLISON JOSEPHS July 14, 2020 in CURRENT ISSUES, FEATURED, PHILOSOPHY the article says:
"By now you have likely heard how most Black parents warn their sons that one day they may have a run-in with police and that they will be more likely to end up hurt or dead because of the color of their skin. Black parents will instruct their sons to minimize conflict and confusion, so that nothing in the interaction gets escalated. It must be terrifying for a young Black boy to understand what he may be up against one day.
I didn’t grow up knowing about this horrible phenomenon, but it is important for the world to understand the Black experience so we can be more sensitive to it and find ways to reduce any inequality that exists in something as mundane as driving a car. Our world moving towards more understanding and compassion is a wonderful thing. Much of that begins when people who have experienced hardships because of their race, religion, ethnicity, etc. share their stories firsthand.
But I realized recently, with the uptick in antisemitic attacks and anti-Jewish content being promoted online, and the tepid response the world has to it (despite being outraged when any other minority is mistreated), that many gentiles don’t understand the Jewish experience well enough. And perhaps it’s because we haven’t properly explained what it’s like to be a Jew.
The confusion seems to be how Jews could be considered a minority and protected from hate speech when we seem to be doing pretty well. I recently touched on this issue when I wrote about the DeSean Jackson antisemitism scandal. I was speaking to a Black man about shared experiences of Jewish and Black people. We were explaining and listening. It was a very moving and meaningful conversation. And any time either of us spoke about something the other had experienced, there was a sense of building bridges and deepening our understanding of one another.
But he said there is one thing he just can’t figure out, “how could the Jews who pass as white have any oppression in the world today?” This is not the first time this question has come up, and perhaps it’s why there is less empathy for the Jewish experience if it seems like it is the “white experience.” In fact, in both white supremacist circles and the far left/pro-BDS circles, there is a canard of “Jewish privilege” and “white Jewish privilege. Our enemies on both sides agree that white-passing Jews have it best. I explained that our lack of privilege is not in our skin color or our education or socioeconomic status – it’s in our security – or lack there of.
Which leads me to the talk that many Jewish parents have with their children, but no one ever discusses. I don’t mention this to claim that this experience is exactly like the Black experience – it’s not. But it is crucial that we explain it because it is not openly spoken about and it my hope that by sharing more about our firsthand experiences, more understanding will come about."
the article continues
"I had never even thought about it before as a thing because it was part of my knowledge for as long as I can remember, but after writing about how insecure we Jews feel in our position in the world, and seeing how many readers personally reached out to me to say this point struck a chord with them, I realized that I learned this information at a young age and it was verbalized to me in a conversation with my mother. I spoke to some Jewish friends who told me their mothers had a similar talk with them. It went something like this:
We are hated. We have always been hated. We have been thrown out of, persecuted, and murdered in almost every place we have ever lived. Things may be good here for now, but things were good at other times too and that changed. When Jews are hurt, we stand alone because Jewish blood is cheap.
Other people told me the talk included having passports ready at all times, in case we have to flee on the turn of dime. For Jews who are raised Orthodox, the talk includes being extra vulnerable due to their their dress and the Jewish institutions they frequent. Parents discuss what escape plans they can consider. For more modern Jews, a yarmulke can be replaced with a hat. For Hasidic Jews, there is no way to blend without making a drastic change. This is the most targeted group and members of this group have been attacked with increasing frequency in the last few years."
& lastly says
"From an early age, I knew I was different, and I was called out for those differences by non-Jewish classmates, even though I went to public school and looked the same and dressed the same as everyone else. Today as a religious Jew, I feel a target on my back and on the backs of family and friends, as attacks on Jews who dress Jewishly and visit Jewish institutions have been climbing for the last many years and seem to be picking up again this week, with an assault on a man in New York and the mugging of 4 teens in Baltimore.
For every Jewish person reading now and thinking “What’s she talking about? My parents never sat down and formally told me this,” I’m going to prove 80% of you wrong. 80% of Jews attend a seder each year. A seder exists so that the story of the Jewish people can be passed down from parent to child. In fact, the seder is laced with all sorts of random things: like some fathers wear a kittel (a white robe) just so kids will ask why, we wash our hands before eating a vegetable (karpas), just so kids will ask why. There are the four questions recited by the kids themselves – to get the kids asking questions. The idea is to engage the younger generation so they know where they come from, and this is the story the children are told:
From the beginning, our ancestors were idol worshipers…so said the Lord, God of Israel, ‘On the other side of the river did your ancestors dwell from always, Terach the father of Avraham and the father of Nachor, and they worshiped other gods.
The words “On the other side of the river” describe where our forefathers came from in a literal sense. But it is more than a location. When the hagaddah (which is quoting the Torah) says “the other side,” it is the first reference of Jews as being “othered.” In fact this word “other” (ever) is such an essential part of our identity, it is the root of the word “Ivrit” – which means “Hebrew,” the language of the Jewish people.
But not everyone got that lesson, because you need to know some Torah to know the meaning, so here’s the part that is plain for everyone to see: “And He said to Avram, ‘you should surely know that your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and afflict them four hundred years.
And it is this that has stood for our ancestors and for us; since it is not [only] one [person or nation] that has stood [against] us to destroy us, but rather in each generation, they stand [against] us to destroy us, but the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hand.”
We have been strangers in a strange land over and over again. First we were enslaved in Egypt, and then in every generation, our enemies try to destroy us: over and over and over again. So whether you got a formal talk like some of my friends and I did, or if you just celebrated a single Passover in your childhood, you got the talk. You knew that we were different, that we were hated, and that our position has never been secure and would never be secure in exile.
People may not realize this, but as Jews, we live with the constant anxiety and fear that we or one our loved ones could be subjected to a random antisemitic attack at any time, as well as the notion that while the U.S. has been a safe and gracious home for us for hundreds of years, one day, yet again, the tides will turn, and we’ll have to flee.
As the world continues to correct the mistakes of the past, learn about the atrocities many minorities have had to endure, they should be sure to include Jews on the list. While many of us appear to be well-off now, we have been carrying this insecurity about our safety for thousands of years. We hope the good people of the world will make the effort to understand that while we may not fit the minority narrative they’re used to, that it doesn’t make our pain or fear any less valid."
From the Website Jewsdownunder.com it says
Quote of Note: PLO Leader Zahir Muhsein
Michael Lumish 31/12/2013 10 Comments 2,763 Views
"Zahir Muhsein told the following to the Dutch newspaper Trouw in a 1977 interview:
The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism for tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.
The fact of the matter is that “Palestinian” is neither an ethnicity, nor a nationality. Palestine was never an Arab-Muslim country, but merely a region within the greater Ottoman Empire.
More and more I am convinced that the biggest mistake that Israel ever made was in acknowledging the “Palestinians” as a separate and distinct people. They aren’t. They are a small part of the much larger Arab-Muslim nation that controls well over 99 percent of the Middle East, the landmass that they conquered following the death of Muhammad in the 7th century.
The Arab conquerors of that part of the world placed Christians and Jews into positions of submission as “protected” peoples and kept us that way from the 7th until the 20th centuries. The alleged emergence of a brand-spanking new people, the so-called “Palestinians,” came about not out of any genuine national aspirations, but in order to present a competing claim to the 3,500 year old historical Jewish homeland. This emergence of the so-called “Palestinians” was not an organic process, but derived from conscious political decisions from PLO and Soviet leadership.
According to Mr. Muhsein, “the Palestinian people does not exist.”
Who are we to argue?
Nonetheless, if the very point of “Palestinian” people-hood was something other than trying to rob the Jewish people of our homeland after persecuting us for 13 centuries, I would be more than happy to welcome them into the greater family of nations. However, since the “Palestinians” only emerged as a group for the purpose of doing the Jewish people terrible harm, within living memory of the Holocaust, I see no reason whatsoever in acknowledging them as a distinct ethnicity or nation, particularly given the fact that they are not a distinct ethnicity or nation. Nations do not come into existence for the sole purpose of destroying other nations and even if they sometimes did, those whom they seek to destroy are under no moral or ethical obligation to assist them by recognizing them."
Also from jewsdownunder.com an article is titled
"Palestinians: The Invented People."
Jews Down Under 17/08/2014 13 Comments 6,325 Views, the article says:
“The history of the Palestinian people goes back as far as”… This is where Arab “historians” disagree.
Some say the “Palestinian people” have a proud 4000-year history; others say 10,000 years, 30,000 years, and even –don’t laugh- 200,000 years, which makes the Neanderthals pretty young people compared to the “mysterious Palestinians”. But although Arab historians do not agree on the “insignificant” details like the age of the “Palestinian people”, they do agree that this people is incredibly ancient-far more ancient than Jews, Romans or Greeks.
In the glorious history of the “Palestinian people”, there is only one “small” problem; nobody in history ever found them.
File:Sennacherib.jpg
In 721 BCE, Assyria conquered the Kingdom of Israel. This is a historical fact nobody denies. Of course, the “Palestinian people” heroically fought against the aggressors and caused them heavy losses? Well, not exactly. Not a single Assyrian Chronicle, not even a single clay tablet, mentions this noble people. Could it be that hundreds of thousands of “Palestinians” were heroically fighting the Assyrian invaders – and these invaders did not even notice it? At the same time, those same Assyrian Chronicles are full of reports about the battles with the Israelis. So, Assyrians very well found Israelis, but did not notice any “Palestinians”?
Well, Assyrians did not notice any “Palestinian people”. Most probably, because the King Sargon II was a Zionist. And what about Babylonians? The same mystery awaits us when we start reading the Babylonian Chronicles about the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah between 597 and 582 BCE. Jews are there at every second page. And “Palestinians”? There is not a word about them. Babylonians did not find them, either.
But of course Persians found “Palestinians” and left to us the detailed description of this wonderful people, of its rich culture, interesting habits, language…? Alas. They did not. The Persian Chronicles are telling us about Jews, about how Cyrus granted them the permission to return to Jerusalem, about how Persian satraps ruled in Judah and Israel… But about the “Palestinians” – not a word.
What makes the “quest to find Palestinians” even more amusing is that Alexander the Great passed all along the coast of Palestine from Tyre to Gaza in 332 – but did not find a single “Palestinian”: only Jews.
Where the heck did the “Palestinians” hide?
Well, OK, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, even Alexander the Great: it was so long ago! But what about the scrupulous and methodical Romans? The same story.
Image result for Romans divided Judah and renamed it Palestine, about how they renamed Jerusalem in Aelia CapitolinaRomans explain in great detail how they were besieging Jerusalem, scrupulously informing us about how Jews were desperately defending it. They describe the Jewish revolts and how they quelled them and provide information about how Jews were fighting against them in Masada, about how Romans divided Judah and renamed it Palestine, about how they renamed Jerusalem in Aelia Capitolina…They tell us about a lot of things – but they do not say a single word about some “Palestinians”. "
the article continues
"Moreover, although they renamed the land in “Palestine”, they went on calling its inhabitants as they were called for thousands of years: Jews. So, “Palestine” became the official name of the land, but its inhabitants remained Jews.
Just a moment, and where were the “Palestinian people” when Arabs came?
Its a million dollar question. Modern Arabs say they are “Palestinians”. And what did the Arabs of the 7th century, those who conquered Palestine, say about this?
Do you know any document written in the period of the Arab rule in Palestine that would say a word about some “Palestinians”? I do not. And nobody does, because such a document does not exist.
The situation becomes really amusing! Arabs today are foaming about how their forefathers lived in Palestine since the Time Immemorial, and their forefathers did not have any idea about their glorious and ancient past there.
Image result for Seljuks, Mamluks, Ottomans- the Turks ruled in Palestine for 600 yearsWell, after all, the Arab rule in Palestine did not last long. Just 300 years after the Arab conquest, Turks –first Mamluks and then Ottomans- threw them out. Under various names – Seljuks, Mamluks, Ottomans- the Turks ruled in Palestine for 600 years. Quite enough time to find such a numerous and glorious ethnic group as the “Palestinian people”. Did the Turks find them? Alas! The Turkish official statistics accurately puts the number of Jews, Arabs, Circassians and Bosnians in Palestine, providing detailed information about the number of Muslims, Christians and Jews – yet they never mention any “Palestinian people”.
Ok. Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Persians and Arabs did not happen to notice any “Palestinian people”. Turks, in those 600 years they ruled in Palestine, did not find them either. And where was this incredibly ancient and unbelievingly heroic people hiding after 1917? The numerous League of Nations Commissions (later UN Commissions) did not find them; all the League of Nations documents of that period are only about Jews and Arabs, but there is not a word about any “Palestinians” as a separate people.
Maybe the politicians of the Western countries talked about “Palestinians” then? No, they did not."
& continues
"Delegates from 11 nations went to the area and found what had long been apparent: two conflicting groups, Arabs and Jews, whose national aspirations could not be reconciled. “Palestinians”? Who are they?
But the politicians of the Arab counties, of course… Alas. The politicians of the Arab countries were very clear on this subject.
“We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geographical bonds.” (First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations, February 1919)
The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations submitted a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947 that said,
“Palestine was part of the Province of Syria,” and that, “politically, the Arabs of Palestine were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity.”
In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine:
“There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria.”
“Palestine and Transjordan are one.”
King Abdullah, Arab League meeting in Cairo,12 April 1948
So the Arabs in the 1940s did not notice any “Palestinians”. Moreover, they did not “notice” any “Palestine” either!
OK. In the 40s, the Arab politicians did not find any “Palestinian people”. It’s no surprise; nobody could find them.
But maybe they “found” this mysterious “Palestinian people” later? They did not.
Syrian President Hafez Assad addressing the Palestinian leader, the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and “Father of the Palestinian People” Yasser Arafat, explained to him:
“You do not represent Palestine as much as we do. Never forget this one point: There is no such thing as a Palestinian people, there is no Palestinian entity, there is only Syria. You are an integral part of the Syrian people, Palestine is an integral part of Syria. Therefore it is we, the Syrian authorities, who are the true representatives of the Palestinian people.”
Of course, the Palestinian leader, “Father of the Palestinian People” and so on, rejected these insinuations with indignation and… Actually, no, he did not."
& lastly says
"Moreover, Arafat himself made a definitive and unequivocal statement along the same lines as late as 1993, when he declared that,
“The question of borders doesn’t interest us… From the Arab standpoint, we mustn’t talk about borders. Palestine is nothing but a drop in an enormous ocean. Our nation is the Arabic nation that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and beyond it…The P.L.O. is fighting Israel in the name of Pan-Arabism. What you call “Jordan” is nothing more than Palestine.”
Not long ago, Azmi Bishara (the ex-Knesset member exiled from Israel for passing sensitive information to Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War) who is anything except Israel’s friend said the same: there is no Palestinian people.
“The truth is that Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.”
– King Hussein of Jordan, in 1981
“Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine; there is only one land, with one history and one and the same fate,”
Prince Hassan of the Jordanian National Assembly was quoted as saying on February 2, 1970.
Abdul Hamid Sharif, Prime Minister of Jordan declared in 1980,
“The Palestinians and Jordanians do not belong to different nationalities. They hold the same Jordanian passports, are Arabs and have the same Jordanian culture.”
But the Arabs, who lived in Palestine since, as they assure us, the Time Immemorial, of course did not let Syrian and Jordanian dictators deprive them of their proud Palestinian past? You will be surprised, but they let them. And they had very serious reasons for this.
Do you know that until 1950, the name of the Jerusalem Post was THE PALESTINE POST?
That the journal of the Zionist Organization of America was NEW PALESTINE?
That the Bank Leumi’s original name was the ANGLO-PALESTINE BANK?
Image result for ANGLO-PALESTINE BANK
That the Israel Electric Company’s original name was the PALESTINE ELECTRIC COMPANY?
That there was the PALESTINE FOUNDATION FUND and the PALESTINE PHILHARMONIC?
And all these were JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS, organized and run by JEWS.
In America, the Anthem of the Zionist youngsters sang “PALESTINE, MY PALESTINE”, “PALESTINE SCOUT SONG” and “PALESTINE SPRING SONG”.
Until the mid/late 60s, to call an Arab a “Palestinian” would mean to insult him because until the mid/late 60s, the word “Palestinian” was commonly and unanimously associated in all the world with Jews, and the entire world knew: Palestine is just another name for Israel and Judah, like for example Kemet was just another ancient name for Egypt. Arabs who lived in Palestine identified themselves as Arabs and were insulted when someone called them “Palestinians”: we are not Jews, we are Arabs, and they used to respond.
Let’s Set Things Straight
There is a country in the Far East. The people who live there, (and they have lived in this country for many centuries), poetically called it “The Land Of The Rising Sun”. Then the Western travelers and geographers came to this country and gave it another name. Why? Maybe they were not poets, or maybe they came there on the sunset, or maybe they could not pronounce the original name in the original language… Did the people who lived there change because Western travelers and then politicians and journalists started to call their country by another name? No. They were those same people and they went on calling their country “The Land Of The Rising Sun”.
And the West calls it Japan.
There is a country in the Middle East. The people who lived there for many centuries called it “Eretz Israel”- The Land of Israel. Then the people from the West came- and gave to it another name. Did the people who lived there change? No. They were those same people and they went on calling their country “The Land of Israel”.
And the West calls it Palestine."
From the New York Post Website, nypost.com a good article worth reading is headlined "Donald Trump may be the most pro-Jewish president ever"
By Josh Hammer October 22, 2020 | 7:20pm
Enlarge Image
President Trump has strengthened the US-Israel alliance. Anyone can look it up, a good article worth reading !!!
While Trump isn't Perfect, he is better than Biden and the Democrats
We at this blog remember Irene Harand, the Austrian Human Rights Activist
From Wikipedia it says about the late Irene Harand Irene Harand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Irene Harand (6 September 1900 – 3 February 1975) was an Austrian human rights activist and campaigner against antisemitism.
Harand was born a Roman Catholic in Vienna and was an early organiser of protests against Nazi Germany's persecutions of Jews. She started the Harand Movement, an organisation Weltbewegung gegen Rassenhass und Menschennot (World Movement Against Racial Hatred and Human Suffering) in 1933 and actively campaigned throughout Europe before World War II.
Though not opposed to the Austrofascist rule of Engelbert Dollfuß and his Fatherland's Front, Harand fought against antisemitic sentiments and Nazism. To counter Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf, she wrote a book named Sein Kampf - Antwort an Hitler von Irene Harand (His Struggle - the Answer to Hitler from Irene Harand).[1]
In 1937, Irene Harand published a series of anti-Nazi poster stamps (oversized, unofficial stamps often used at the time in promotions) portraying the contributions made by Jews to civilisation over the centuries.[2]
When Nazi Germany invaded Austria in 1938, Harand was in London lecturing; it saved her life as the Nazis had set a price for her capture of 100,000 Reichmarks. She then emigrated to the United States, where she established the Austrian forum, which after the war was the basis for the Austrian Cultural Forum, of which she became the leader.
In 1969 she received the honorary title of a Righteous among the Nations from the state of Israel for her resistance against the Nazi anti-semitism. Harand died in New York in 1975 and her ashes are buried at Feuerhalle Simmering in Vienna. In 2008 a square in the Vienna district of Wieden was named in her honour." RIP Irene Harand
From goodreads.com a good book for people to order is titled
"Hitler's Lies"
by Irene Harand
liked it 3.00 · Rating details · 10 ratings · 0 reviews
"First published in Vienna in 1935, Hitlers Lies by Irene Harand,is a challenge to the arguments,assumptions and actions of the German dictator,Adolf Hitler. The original german language version of the book was called Sein Kampf-Antwort an Hitler von Irene Harand(His struggle-The Answer to Hitler from Irene Harand).In this book Harand explodes the myth of racial and national superiority.She deals with lies about the Jews which formed the basis for Hitler's propaganda, and attacks the persecution of the Jews on the ground that Anti-Semitism debases Christianity.In her own words:The ruthless force of the Nazis has been directed against the Jewish and catholic minorities.Their main attack, however, has been launched against German Jewry, which has had to bar unspeakable torture and humiliation in the Third Reich. they foster and unleash hatred against the Jews and commit wholesale murder to maintain a power they have wrested from others.It,therefore,lies in the interest of truth to make public answer to the Nazi bible, Mein Kampf, (Hitler's Autobiography) and to ascertain whether the main doctrines of this book, upon which the Nazi political state is founded, can bear critical examination before the civilized world. "
From the website, openbible.info a good article to read is titled
"100 Bible Verses about
Protecting Israel"
From blogs.timesofisrael.com an article is titled
"69 Bible Verses Celebrating Israel"
MAY 1, 2017, 6:15 PM the article says:
More than any other topic, the Bible is in love with Israel and nearly every page of the Tanakh bursts with passionate descriptions about the beauty of the Land. Dedicated to honoring the People, the Land, and the God of Israel, www.TheIsraelBible.com highlights the many inspiring passages about Israel. From the thousands of beautiful passages that describe our special land, here are 69 Bible verses to celebrate Israel’s 69th birthday:
It is a Land that the Lord your God seeks out; the eyes of the Lord your God, are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. DEUTERONOMY (11:12)
I will return the captivity of my people Israel, and they will rebuild desolate cities and settle them. AMOS (9:14)
A Land where you will eat bread without poverty – you will lack nothing there. DEUTERONOMY (8:9)
He gave us this Land, a Land flowing with milk and honey. DEUTERONOMY (26:9)
There shall be no woman who loses her young or is barren in your Land. EXODUS (23:26)
This Land shall become yours as an inheritance. EZEKIEL (47:14)
The Jews who went up from you have arrived in Jerusalem. EZRA (4:12)
The people all assembled as one man to Jerusalem. EZRA (3:1)
“Surely God is present in this place.” GENESIS (28:16)
He planted a tree in Beersheba. GENESIS (21:33)
“To your offspring I will give this Land.” GENESIS (12:7)
Sojourn in this Land and I will be with you and bless you. GENESIS (26:3)
We can be fruitful in the Land. GENESIS (26:22)
Do good in Your favor unto Zion, build the walls of Jerusalem. PSALMS (51:18)
David assembled to Jerusalem all the leaders of Israel. I CHRONICLES (28:1)
They came to Hebron wholeheartedly, to crown David king over all of Israel. I CHRONICLES (12:39)
They found rich and good pasture, and the land was wide open, quiet and peaceful. I CHRONICLES (4:40)
David ascended from there and dwelt in the strongholds of Ein Gedi. I SAMUEL (23:29)
The entire people of the land rejoiced and the city was tranquil. II CHRONICLES (23:21)
There was great joy in Jerusalem. II CHRONICLES (30:26)
Like flying birds, so will God protect Jerusalem. ISAIAH (31:5)
No longer will violence be heard in your Land. ISAIAH (60:18)
the article continues
"Do not give Him silence until He establishes Jerusalem as a source of praise in the Land. ISAIAH (62:7)
For from Jerusalem shall emerge a remnant, and survivors from Mount Zion. ISAIAH (37:32)
I will establish My salvation in Zion, my splendor for Israel. ISAIAH (46:13)
Zion shall be redeemed through justice. ISAIAH (1:27)
The entire Land is at rest and tranquil, they broke out in glad song. ISAIAH (14:7)
On that day this song will be sung in the Land of Judah. ISAIAH (26:1)
The desert will be glad and blossom like a lily. ISAIAH (35:1)
Shake the dust from yourself; arise and sit, O Jerusalem. ISAIAH (52:2)
You will yet plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria. JEREMIAH (7:4)
A king will reign and prosper and he will administer justice and righteousness in the Land. JEREMIAH (23:5)
Return, O Maiden of Israel, return to these cities of yours. JEREMIAH (31:20)
I brought you to this country of farmland to enjoy its fruit and bounty. JEREMIAH (2:7)
I shall take you one from a city and two from a family and I will bring you to Zion. JEREMIAH (3:14)
And they will come and sing joyously on the height of Zion. JEREMIAH (31:11)
Fear not, O Land; exult and be glad, for God has done great kindness. JOEL (2:21)
Every place upon which the sole of your foot will tread I have given to you. JOSHUA (1:3)
Jerusalem will be settled beyond its walls. ZECHARIAH (2:4)
You shall emerge from the vineyards and take a wife from the daughters of Shiloh. JUDGES (21:21)
For from Zion shall come forth the Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem. MICAH (4:2)
The people blessed all those who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem. NEHEMIAH (11:2)
Tabor and Hermon sing forth Your name. PSALMS (89:12)
When God will return the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers. PSALMS (126:1)
May you see children born to your children, peace upon Israel. PSALMS (128:6)
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; those who love you will be serene. PSALMS (122:6)
Tabor and Hermon sing forth Your name. PSALMS (89:12)
The dew of Hermon descends upon the mountains of Zion. PSALMS (133:3)
May there be peace within your wall, serenity within your palaces. PSALMS (122:7)
Blessed is God from Zion, He Who dwells in Jerusalem, Hallelujah! PSALMS (135:21)
The built up Jerusalem is like a city united together. PSALMS (122:3)
Jerusalem, mountains enwrap it, and God enwraps His people. PSALMS (125:2)
If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning. PSALMS (137:5)
The builder of Jerusalem is God, the outcast of Israel He will gather in. PSALMS (147:2)
I myself have anointed my king, over Zion, My Holy mountain. PSALMS (2:6)
May Mount Zion be glad, may the daughters of Judah rejoice. PSALMS (48:11)
May God bless you from Zion, Maker of Heaven and Earth. PSALMS (134:3)
God loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. PSALMS (87:2)
God is recognized in Judah; in Israel His Name is great. PSALMS (114:2)
It is He who makes your borders peaceful. PSALMS (147:14)
Dwell in the Land and nourish yourself with faithfulness. PSALMS (37:3)
And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing. ZECHARIAH (8:5)
God will have mercy on Zion again and will choose Jerusalem again. ZECHARIAH (1:17)
‘My cities will once again spread out with bounty.’ ZECHARIAH (1:17)
Go walk through the Land, describe it in writing, and return to me. JOSHUA (18:8)
On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, ‘Have no fear! O Zion, do not despair!’ ZECHARIAH (3:16)
You will arise and show Zion mercy, for the time to favor her, the appointed time has come. PSALMS (102:13)
All the nations will praise you, for you will be a Land of delight. MALACHI (3:12)
Judah will exist forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. JOEL (4:20)"
From the website capmin.org an article is headlined Bible Studies
"The Biblical Basis for America’s Commitment to Israel"
MAY 31, 2011 BY RALPH DROLLINGER
the article says
"I was extremely encouraged to see your response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address last week. Our continuing support of Israel is crucial to our country being blessed by God. Your numerous bipartisan standing ovations brought my heart to tears in light of the biblical implications of our need to passionately stand with Israel….for several reasons.
First, I believe that in a reaping and sowing sense America has wonderfully prospered because our cultural foundation stems from all that Israel has historically provided us relative to scriptural truth. As a nation we have effectively borrowed from historic Israel; there is no doubt the biblical truths of historic Israel have provided the cultural moorings for historic America. One might summarily call this our philosophical union with Israel.
In another sense, we as a nation have been blessed — and will continue to be blessed — because of our national support of Israel. God’s Word contains a clear and absolute promise relative to the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 12:3a, “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.” History vividly punctuates this truth. Whether you are blessed for supporting Israel as has been our nation (President Harry Truman acknowledged the sovereign state of Israel within 11 minutes of the signing of the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948) or cursed for attempting to demolish her like ancient Babylon, Hitler, or the present-day Arab nations, one thing is for sure: This people and country are extra special, set apart by God from all others. No other countries compare.
Given the recent attention on Israel I thought this would be a good time to provide a biblical primer as to why you and our nation should remain staunch allies of Israel. Can you immediately and cogently reason from Scripture why this should be?
INTRODUCTION
There at least three pragmatic reasons why our nation should support Israel:
• ISRAEL IS LEGITIMATE
In 1948 when Israel became a nation, 160 other countries acknowledged it. As a non-racist democracy, even Arabs hold public office in the Knesset and high positions in its military. It is a nation that believes people are made in the image of God and endowed with inalienable rights.
• ISRAEL IS RELIABLE
In an increasingly tumultuous Middle East we need an ally to protect ourselves. Due to the overtaking, crippling religion of Environmentalism in America we have become energy-dependent; our way of life is subject to our ability to import oil from this area of the world. In addition we need a reliable ally due to the nearly-enriched nuclear threat of Iran.
• ISRAEL IS SMART
Many scientific and technological advancements have been achieved by her. Financial management1 and information processing make her a world leader. Now void of earlier socialistic economic tendencies, her free-market, roaring entrepreneurial spirit makes her a world leader and an awesome trade partner. Gildner’s recent book, The Israel Test, documents the historically disproportionate contributions of the Jewish race to the betterment of mankind.2 (This is a must-read and helps to explain why other nations are so jealous of her.)"
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