Archives for 2014
Will the Real Islam Please Stand-Up?
I have been researching, studying, teaching and writing about anti-semitism, Islam, sharia, Israel and the Jewish people for about 15 years. What I am about to say could easily get me pegged as a right-wing-bigoted-racist but I certainly hope that my readers would not give-up until they have read my entire article.
Those verses are real and they mean exactly what they say. Let us also consider the fact that most of the verses in question are normative and not historical. In other words, they are more open-ended than historically linked, and thus still very much apply to the “infidels” to this very day. Consider just a few of those verses below:
Sura 47.4 – “When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and, when you have latid then low, bind your captives firmly. Then grant them their freedom or take a ransom for them, until the war shall lay down her burdens.”
Hamas, Israel and the Anatomy of a Cease Fire!
The current Gaza conflict Tzuk Eitan meaning “strong cliff” also know as “Operation Protective Edge” was officially started on July 8, 2014 between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It is the deadliest conflict between Israel and its enemies in the region since the second Intifada “uprising” that took place between 2000 and 2005. The death toll is now over 2,200 and growing, and much of Gaza has been leveled leaving over 100,000 people without homes.
During this almost two-month long conflict, many attempts have been made to bring it to an end. Various officials such as US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Egyptian government and others have entered the Middle East arena and tried to initiate several cease-fires between Hamas and Israel. Many would agree that the Oslo Accords and the Roadmap for Peace are dead and that a peace process in the Middle East isn’t even on the table at the current time.
There are different levels of international agreements between countries that have been at war with each other either temporary or permanent, unilateral or bilateral. The most fragile, yet most common temporary agreement between two entities at war is the “cease-fire”.
There has been eleven cease-fires since the start of the Gaza War, all broken by Hamas, and several within minutes of being brokered. This makes one wonder about the real motives behind Hamas’ acceptance of these numerous truces? A simple yet sobering message about the cease-fires has been traveling the endless byways of the social networks, and it states: “Israel: ceases, Hamas: fires!”. Sadly, it would appear to be the case.
So the question remains:”What makes this latest cease-fire any different and will it hold?”. I am afraid that the current open-ended cease-fire might just be a short respite, not to rebuild the destroyed civilian infrastructures in Gaza, but simply to reorganize and rearm as Hamas prepares for the next round in their attempt at fulfilling their unaltered destructive agenda. Iran and Qatar have been the main financial backing to supply Hamas with their arsenal and will continue do so.
Even if Hamas is found rebuilding civilian facilities, there is a very good chance that they are doing it to refurbish their missile launching areas with buildings that can be packed with civilians used as human shields. It has been said that “ignorance is bliss”, but in the case of Hamas using their own people as human shields, the willful ignorance of pro-Palestinians and pro-Hamas people turns them into accomplices.
Hamas agreed to this latest cease-fire with Israel, yet both sides have a very different set of expectations. That shouldn’t really be a surprise since there is no moral equivalence between the two parties.
From Hamas’ perspective it appears to be a victory, at least from the public displays of celebration witnessed on the streets of Gaza and even beyond, in Ramallah. Even though Hamas has been severely crippled by the loss of several key leaders in the process, the message from Khaled Mashaal is still clear as he recently said:” this is not the end. This is just a milestone to reaching our objective, we know that Israel is strong and is aided by the international community. We will not restrict our dreams or make compromises to our demands.”
It is an unequivocal fact taken straight from their charter, that Hamas only desires the destruction of Israel. As a matter of fact, ideologically, Hamas lines up with Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and ISIS. Their goals are identical even if some of their methods have various degrees of radicalism.
From Israel’s perspective, it has been a very costly war so far. The death toll is not nearly as high as the Palestinian death toll, but that doesn’t make it right, as common sense and decency will dictate that even one lost life is too many. Prime Minister Netanyahu is receiving a fair amount of criticism from other parts of his government for what appears to be a war that was neither lost nor won, but nevertheless very costly. His ratings are down, yet most in Israel know deep down that this current cease-fire is unstable at best and that it is still under Netanyahu’s leadership that they might soon have to finish the job that was started in July.
Some have suggested that the Gaza War was becoming another war of attrition like the one involving Israel and Egypt between 1967 and 1970. The problem with that concept is that you don’t really deal with terrorists the same way that you deal with a militarized and somewhat “civilized” power. You cannot really deter terrorists; you must defeat them by disarming them and destroying their infrastructure. Period!
At this point, there is not a whole lot that Israel can do to garner support from those who have already pledged their allegiance to the other side. Additionally, the Palestinian authority is conveniently finding itself a few weeks away from their yearly UN visit in September where they plan to demand an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and a huge part of Jerusalem.
As I see it, the current cease-fire might last until the end of September simply because it would serve its purpose into further painting the Palestinians as complying victims seeking a peaceful solution. In the meantime, of course, Hamas will regroup and rearm, making itself ready for the next round of their jihad.
Rabbi Moses Maimonides said in the twelfth of his thirteen articles of Jewish faith: “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry nonetheless, I wait everyday for his coming.”
I would have to join Maimonides in his yearning for the Messiah and the messianic age for the simple reason that only under the banner of Mashiach Sar Shalom will we all see real peace. It will be a peace that includes the absence of war but also goes way beyond that concept to incorporate peace between men and between mankind and Hashem. Isaiah spoke of that redeemer in several places but especially in chapters 52:13-53:12 where Mashiach is described in a powerful and graphic way as having to come for his people once to atone for their sins (Mashiach ben Yosef) and once again to establish His kingdom on earth (Mashiach ben David).
So, in spite of all the cease-fires broken or respected, I declare that I wholeheartedly believe with perfect faith in the coming back of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry nonetheless, I wait everyday for his coming.”
From Zionism to Palestinianism: The Great Christian Betrayal!
by Olivier J. Melnick
It was in 1894, when Hungarian Jewish reporter Theodor Herzl followed the Dreyfus Affair in Paris, it took him no time to realize that anti-Semitism was alive and well. Herzl was shocked to hear “Death to the Jews” on the streets of Paris. Napoleon might have been friendly to the Jews of his time, yet the “Jewish Enlightenment”, also known as the Haskalah, was mostly a failure.
Convinced that the Jewish people needed a state of their own, Herzl published his booklet Der Judestaat (The Jewish State) in 1896. In that small but visionary piece of work, he envisioned Eretz Yisrael and though he received a lot of criticism for it, was convinced that even though hardships and obstacles populated the journey, “Palestine” was the destination. Theodore Herzl, while not the originator or of the concept of Zionism, was definitely the visionary, catalyst, and leader of political Zionism. Ernst Pawel, in The Labyrinth of Exile: A life of Theodor Herzl, explained: “he brought to it leadership, organization and a unique blend of fantasy and practical realism, but his most important contribution by far was the messianic image of himself, his stature in the eyes of the Jews and in the eyes of the world 1“.
And so it was, in 1897 and not without struggle that Herzl organized the First Zionist Congress. As President, he convened six more until 1902. It was in Vienna, in 1897, that he said almost prophetically: At Basle I created the Jewish State. In five years, perhaps, and certainly in fifty, everyone will see it 2“. Add 50 to 1897 and you get 1947…the rest is history!
He also quickly realized that Zionism was a purely political movement in search of sustainability. A morphing into a more practical Zionism was becoming necessary. It eventually led to the birth of “Cultural Zionism”, appealing to a wider spectrum within the Jewish community of that time. Two key players were Ahad Ha’am 3 (Hebrew for “one of the people”) whose vision as the father of cultural Zionism was: “A Jewish state and not merely a State of Jews” and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda who had emigrated to Israel in 1881 and dedicated the rest of his life–not without hardship–to the rebirth of Hebrew as a modern tongue 4.
But as political, practical or even cultural as it might have become, it could be argued that Zionism was, before anything else, a biblical concept. In a sense, we can also say that God was the first Zionist. He created the Jewish people to whom He gave the Torah (Exodus 20) and the Land “from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15). It was only a matter of time before Bible believing followers of the Messiah would support and pray for Eretz Yisrael, becoming a group within Christianity, known as “Christian Zionists”.
While the biblical concept of supporting the existence of Israel and the Jewish people goes back much further, It was again, Theodor Herzl who might have used the term “Christian Zionist” for the first time in 1896. It is also believed, according to Edward Flannery amongst others that the re-birth of Israel in 1948 as well as its growth, had quite a bit to do with Christian Zionists. He stated that “without Christian Zionism, it is highly unlikely that the present State of Israel would have come into being so rapidly as it did 5“.
Christian Zionists have always varied theologically, yet they all maintain a common ground when it comes to certain essentials about Israel and the Jewish people. They all have a vested interest in Eschatology (the biblical study of the last days). They see a clear biblical distinction between Israel and the Church, they believe in the physical return of the Jewish people to Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple and Israel coming to faith in Messiah, amongst other things.
For at least the last 100 years, Christian Zionists have been the one arm of the Evangelical church that maintained a very friendly, positive attitude towards Israel and the Jewish people. Most Israeli Prime Ministers since 1948, have recognized the friends they had within Christian Zionist circles.
Unfortunately, the tide is changing. Christian Zionism appears to be dying worldwide. To be sure, Israel hasn’t lost all of its friends within the Evangelical ranks. Additionally, Messianic Jewish believers, regardless of their acceptance or lack of by the Jewish community at large, do support Israel unconditionally. I am one of them.
This changing tide is known as “Christian Palestinianism” and will turn into a tsunami if nothing gets done. It has already swept a large number of Evangelicals into questioning, disliking AND rejecting any kind of Zionism. Christian Palestinianism is Christian anti-Zionism, and as such it must be confronted.
In her book Eurabia: the Euro-Arab Axis released in 2006, Jewish author and activist Bat Ye’or almost prophetically calls it “Palestinian Marcionism”:”The Christian policy that would eliminate the Jewish source of Christianity by suppressing the link between the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels represents an old and lingering trend, always opposed by the Church. It was first formulated by Marcion, a second-century Byzantine priest of pagan background who was strongly influenced by Gnoticism. Today, Palestinian Marcionism (Palestinianism) paves the way for the Islamization of the Church as it prepares mentalities for an Islamic replacement theology…and encompasses the whole paraphernalia of traditional antisemitism“6.
While Bat Ye’or would claim that Christian Palestinianism is quite ancient –and to an extent she is correct–others such as British scholar Paul Wilkinson see the modern movement as being about 20 years old. He would posit that the modern founder of Christian Palestinianism is Naïm Ateek who started the movement in 1994 when he founded the Palestinian Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center known as SABEEL.
Some of the major proponents of Christian Palestinianism today are leaders such as Naïm Ateek or Elias Chacour. But more importantly, the torch of anti-Zionism is being passed down to people who used to be Zionists or at the very least not anti-Israel. These include British vicar Stephen Sizer who describes Zionism as a “devious heresy”, Professor Gary Burge of Wheaton College in Illinois, or even Liz Hybels (wife of Chicago area Willow Creek mega church senior pastor Bill Hybels). There are many more names I could add to this list.
A tragic example of this destructive ideology is the movie Little Town of Bethlehem (2010) painting the portrait of three men who wanted peace and reconciliation in the region: an Arab Muslim, an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Christian. They promoted their views of reconciliation against all odds. Really, who would disagree with that?
The issue does not lie in the validity of such an aspiration but in how the different sides were being portrayed. Palestinians were being compared to African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement following the leadership of Martin Luther King and fighting the National Guard for their freedom, while Israelis were being painted as the oppressors and invaders of “Palestine”. It is a shame to see that many Evangelical are buying into the lies of Christian Palestinianism.
The same can be said for a more vocally Christian project known as With God on Our Side, directed by Porter Speakman Jr. and endorsed by Tony Campolo and Vice President of World Vision, Steve Haas. It has also received rave reviews from Christianity Today
Christian Palestinianism is Replacement Theology on steroids! With any vestige of the Jewish roots of Christianity eradicated, Israel and the Jewish people will become irrelevant and this is a risk we cannot afford to take! Evangelicals who moved from Christian Zionism to Christian Palestinianism are putting Israel and the Jewish people at risk. Are they no longer reading their Bibles to believe in such lies as Yeshua being the first Palestinian? How can they biblically validate Palestine?
Christian Palestinianism is Christian anti-Zionism which is Christian anti-Semitism in disguise. This shift from Israel to Palestine in the Christian psyche really is a slap in the God’s face and a grave altering of His Word. This is indeed the “Great Christian Betrayal” and I tremble at the idea that these people will one day answer to God and have absolutely no logical explanation for how they treated the “Apple of His Eye”.
What we can AND must do, is support Israel’s right to exist and right to the land. Israel is the only ray of hope in the Middle East as the only true democracy. The number of Israel’s true friends within Evangelical circles is dwindling down. We are becoming a minority, yet one of our members is God Himself, and that, I can live with!
Being pro-Israel doesn’t mean that one is anti-Palestinian, sadly, the opposite is seldom true!
1. Pawel, Ernst: The Labyrinth of Exile: A Life of Theodor Herzl (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, New York, NY, 1989) Page 3.
2. Eban, Abba: My People: The Story of the Jews (Random House, New York, New York, 1968) Pages 335-337.
3. Ahad Ha’am, The Jewish State and Jewish Problem, trans. from the Hebrew by Leon Simon 1912, Jewish Publication Society of America, Essential Texts of Zionism.
4. St. John, Robert: Tongue of the Prophets (Wilshire Book Company, N. Hollywood, California,1952) page 266.
5. Wilkinson, Paul: For Zion’s Sake (Paternoster UK, 2007) page 14
6. Bat Ye’or, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis (Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2006), p. 213.
Was the Gaza War a Media Campaign?
After nearly a month of fighting between the IDF and Hamas and several failed cease fire attempts, a truce was reached. As Israel continues to withdraw its troops over the next few days, the high cost of the Gaza War will be assessed. Palestinian officials released a death toll of 1,830 while Israeli officials announced the death of 64 people. From any perspective, that is 1,894 lives too many!
Netanyahu is willing to meet under the Egyptian leadership but he has made it clear that for the time being, IDF troops will remain stationed by the Gaza border, ready for immediate action if Hamas breaks the truce. Unfortunately, based on Hamas’ track record of nine broken ceasefires in three weeks, this newly reached respite is fragile at best.
The destruction by the IDF of the many tunnels built in the Gaza strip, as well as the many sites used for rocket launching from civilian areas was at least a short-term success. But I fear that its longevity might be more of a dream than a reality as we know that countries like Iran and Qatar are eager to rearm Hamas.
While over 3,000 rockets were fired by Hamas, the 2014 Gaza War was NEVER much of a military campaign but rather a media one. To be sure, Hamas’ desire remains the complete annihilation of Israel through jihad as clearly delineated in their 1988 Charter. They have figured out that they can enroll the help of a biased media that has become so efficient at indoctrinating the clueless masses and corrupt governments against Israel and the Jews. So the result becomes a smorgasbord of unfounded statements that serve only one purpose: the demonization of Israel. Truth is no longer sought!
While the current truce might be short lived, there is little doubt as to the military success of Israel in Gaza. The media war on the other hand– while not the massive success expected by Hamas and its cohorts – ended up being very damaging to Israelis and diaspora Jews. The bias is so obvious that it is nauseating.
Western Media outlets have now become co-conspirators in the criminal campaign led by Hamas. A myriad of photographs are being published all over the press, depicting children’s agony, blood and death all over Gaza. All of it putting the United Nations in an uproar and sending a message of Israel’s crimes against humanity. Yet the vast majority of the photos are either staged or recycled from the Syrian civil war and even Iraq.
The strategic placing of rocket launchers in schools, hospitals, mosques and other areas of Gaza densely populated by innocent civilians has been exposed. It is now clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that like Netanyahu stated so well:” We are using missile defense to protect our civilians and they [Hamas] are using their civilians to protect their missiles.” The premise often used by the rest of the world (mostly liberals) is that Gaza is such a small densely populated area that a high number of civilian casualties is to be expected. Not only does Hamas use civilian areas, but they force civilians to remain in those areas instead of helping them to take shelter. A recently ceased Hamas combat manual revealed that human shields were encouraged if not forced upon people.
The funding received by Hamas could have been used in the building of hospitals, schools and other facilities to serve the Palestinian people. Instead, much of it was re-directed towards the building of a network of tunnels, most of them destroyed by the IDF. In the meantime, the US empowers Secretary of State John Kerry to pledge $47 million to Hamas to help rebuild Gaza. What makes them think for a minute that this time Hamas would actually use the funds ethically? All the while former president Jimmy Carter claimed that Hamas must be recognized as a legitimate political partner in the Middle East. Had he lived in the 1930s and 40s, he would have probably tried to promote the Nazi agenda as a humanitarian effort!
So here we go again on the merry-go-round of disinformation. Postmodernism has rendered truth irrelevant or maybe just relevant in the eye of the beholder.
• If truth still mattered, Israel would receive a Nobel Peace Prize for its handling of the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza War. Instead they are getting scolded for defending themselves.
• If truth still mattered, Hamas would be guilty of double war crimes: against Israel AND their own people. Instead they are being lauded as victims.
• If truth still mattered, a lot of people from the media would loose their job for their nauseating bias.
There is no doubt in my mind that as the “scapegoat of humanity”, from a human standpoint, Israel cannot win. But there is also no doubt in my mind that as “the apple of God’s eye” (Zechariah 2:8), Israel will prevail. The truth must be told and if our voices remain all that we have, let us use them as much as we can!
In closing, consider the reputation of the evil man I am quoting as well as the ramifications of his statement followed by the history we know today.
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