As you read this, you have by now realized that the Mayans were wrong about the end of the world taking place on December 21, 2012 (what a big surprise!). You would also have to agree that 2012 was a year packed with many news making events on just about any topic you might have an interest in.
As for me, my topic of interest is Israel, the Jewish People and Antisemitism. I see it as an obligation to keep my readers informed about the unbiased facts on that topic. As I reflect on the past twelve months, I cannot help but notice that 2012 has seen a momentous convergence of Postmodernism, Liberalism and Radicalism against Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. In some cases that convergence of evil forces was done individually and in other cases, corporately. But as it appears, in all cases, it carried the same unjustified hatred, and aimed at the same goal: The destruction of Israel and/or the Jewish people.
While there is no need to dwell on the past and there is really nothing to reminisce on, I believe that it would be helpful to quickly review some of the major events that punctuated the Jewish community worldwide in 2012. So here we go:
January: The Muslim Brotherhood Takes The Stage!
The worldwide fellowship of Muslim known as the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is an umbrella organization (founded in Egypt in 1936) that covers just about all walks of Islamic life from political to financial and from social to educational. They have been in the shadows of a quietly organizing Islam. Their goal is “the mastership of the world” under an all encompassing Islamic Caliphate. Additionally, they are passionately and virulently antisemitic. They toppled Qaddafi and pushed Mubarak while many worldwide still consider them “peaceful”. They continue to establish their bastion of hate and intolerance in front of an apathetic world community. Sir Winston Churchill was spot on when he declared:“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” Back in January, the MB was just taking the stage and it was just a year ago. Oh, how the crocodile has advanced!
February: Anti-Israel Historical Revisionism from the UNESCO!
After the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) officially added “Palestine” to its membership roaster in October 2011, I had great concerns about the start of a campaign of delegitimization of Israel. “Palestine” can now officially rewrite history with the backing of a “bona fide” world organization. Rachel’s tomb in Israel quickly became the topic of a controversy whereby the UNESCO supported the Palestinian claim that it wasn’t only a Jewish site but also a Muslim one. Historical revisionism never comes alone against Israel, it is always accompanied by negationism. Holocaust deniers, as abhorrent as they are, have existed since the close of WWII. Now they might end up having an official platform to spew their venom from.
March: France’s Worst Murderous act of Antisemitism in over 30 years!
In the middle of March, France was shaken by the murder of seven people by Mohammed Merah. At first, plagued by a severe case of postmodern political correctness, France described the killing as a terrible act of violence against innocent victims. But when it quickly became obvious that the killer was motivated by hate and more particularly by antisemitism, facts could no longer be hidden: Merah was an Islamist and was even affiliated with Al-Qaeda. I was very interested in seeing how France would react to this unspeakable act of antisemitism and I was hopeful that it would serve as a major wake-up call for the country where historically, the hatred of the Jews runs so deep into the soil. As it turned out, Merah’s murders helped the new antisemitism morph with the old, creating this unnamed new monster and opening the door for more carnage. Now, all is allowed in the Jew hatred arena!
April: Anti-Israel Bias Hits Prime Time Television on “60 Minutes”!
Towards the end of April, 60 Minutes aired a segment titled “Christians in of the Holy Land“. Bob Simon unashamedly took sides with the “poor Palestinian Christians”. The one-sided piece completely ignored Hamas’ daily rocket showers as well as all the media diatribes and libels against the Israel. There was a time when people looked forward to watching 60 Minutes because of the integrity and professionalism of the show. Bob Simon and his team of reporters are guilty of twisting the truth to get ratings. But is it really about ratings or does it go deeper? This was a bold case of what has come to be known as Christian Palestinianism. We really can’t trust the media anymore, especially when it comes to the Middle East, but we already knew that!
May: UC Irvine Palestine Week is Back with a Vengeance!
Each year in the spring, the University of California Irvine hosts a week long event on its campus introduced as “Palestine Liberation Week”. It has become known as “Hate Week” by many. The week long event is apparently meant to raise awareness about the plight of the “Palestinian” under Israeli occupation. Having attended many meetings, I can honestly tell you that hate and antisemitism are on the agenda much more than reporting the facts about the Middle East crisis (remember what they did to Ambassador Michael Oren in 2010). The likes of British born Palestinian activist Ben White or Muslim activist Amir Abdel Malik Ali had nothing on their agenda but the denigration of Israel. This year I was shocked when I interacted with a Jewish woman holocaust survivor who supported the whole Palestinian propaganda.
June: The Muslim Brotherhood Takes a Bow in Egypt!
With only 51.7% of the votes, Mohammed Morsi was elected President of Egypt in what the world is describing as the first democratic vote in that country in a long time. It is not a secret to anybody that Morsi has a strong loyalty to the Muslim Brotherhood. How these elections can be described as “free” or “democratic” is a mystery to me. Their motto being: Allah is our objective, the prophet our leader, Qur’an is our law, Jihad is our way, Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope, one is to wonder where in that fascist statement can we find any shred of freedom or democracy? With 80 million people, a common border with Israel through the Sinai and a peace treaty dating back to 1978, Egypt is rapidly becoming a major threat to Israel and even to the West under the MB leadership.
July: Germany Bans Circumcision!
Of all the countries in the world, I thought that Germany would be the last one to even think about putting a ban on circumcision. So imagine my shock when I read that a court in Cologne had made ritual circumcision illegal in Germany (a law that affects both Jews and Muslims). Even Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel was embarrassed and vowed to work hard on reversing it. In the meantime I cannot help but think of the “Nuremberg Laws” of the 1930s aimed at slowly ostracizing the Jews from society to the point of having them become a sub-race at least in the eyes of the Nazis and European antisemites. These laws already were inspired by European “Canonical” laws of the Middle Ages. Will history unavoidably repeat itself? Not if we speak up!
August: Advertising War in San Francisco!
A precedent was most definitely set in August when a series of ads against Radical Islam were placed by Pamela Geller (an anti-Islamism activist). Even though I agree with Ms. Geller’s position on radical Islam, some of the words she used in such a short ad might have been poorly selected. My real issue wasn’t really with the ad though, but rather with the decision by the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency to run a counter campaign alongside the ads by Ms. Geller. Never in advertising history has a company used to be a platform for an ad campaign (ie: the bus authority) decided to run a counter campaign against a paying advertiser. I guess when it comes to creativity for the denigration of Israel, the sky is the limit.
September: Barack Obama says NO to Netanyahu and YES to Letterman!
We all have our priorities and when it comes to Israel, Mr. Obama clearly showed his in September when he turned down a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu who was coming to the States anyway and instead made an appearance on the “Letterman Show” and oh, let’s not forget that he also found time to meet with Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi. Less than two months before the elections and in the midst of the Iran crisis (not to mention the rest of the Middle East “Powder Keg”), Mr. Obama chose to snob Mr. Netanyahu and thus made a huge mistake diplomatically, politically and BIBLICALLY. Barack Obama is NO FRIEND of Israel and now that he is back in office for his second term with nothing to prove, we can expect more of the same rhetoric and much worse, considering how bad it already was when he HAD something to prove!
October: More Christian Double Standard Against Israel!
We have all come to expect much animosity against Israel and the Jewish people from places like Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and/or groups like Hamas, Hizbollah, Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. It is another story, and a very sad one I might add, when we see a Christian denomination turning on Israel and the Jewish people. This is exactly what happened last October when the Presbyterian Church USA offcially announced that Israel’s armament from the US should be proportional to their compliance with human rights and/or violations against the Palestinians. The letter they sent to the US Congress was also cosigned by several other “Christian” denominations. NOTHING was ever mentioned about the myriad of rockets sent by Hamas onto Israel or any of the terrorist attacks in the Land. Praise God for the fact that not all Christians share this same view about Israel!
November: Worldwide Media Distortion Against Israel!
The recent “Operation Pillar of Defense” in November reminded us of how biased worldwide media outlet have become over the years when they are reporting about the Arab-Israeli conflict. That bias coupled with the masses’ apathy/ignorance about the topic and fueled by the antisemitic tendencies of our politically correct planet paint a disastrous picture of Israel. Now the victims are being further demonized while the perpetrators become victimized. Add to that the instantaneous communication made possible by the internet and various social networks and millions of people are reached virtually instantly with the libelous tirades of the enemies of Israel. Keeping the world busy with the lies is the best way to make sure they remain uninvolved in spreading the truth, which is part of Satan’s master plan.
December: The United Nations Make a Major Faux Pas!
To top off a year of lies, hate and manipulation that belongs to “Humanity’s Hall of Shame” you can always count on the United-Nations to put their foot feet in their mouth. To nobody’s surprise, 65 years after Israel was reborn as a modern nation, the Palestinian Authority faked its way through a parade of lies and platitudes at the UN. Mahmoud Abbas made lying and being victimized into an art form. The results were historic and foundational to what will soon be the acceptance of Palestine as a voting member of the UN. Only 9 countries voted against the resolution. May God have mercy on the other 188. The UN continued its shameful manipulation by passing 9 anti-Israel resolutions on Dec 18, while NONE were passed against Hamas or Syria (22 total UN resolution against Israel in 2012).
It would be easy after reviewing some of what has plagued my people over the last 12 months, to become depressed if not angry, and I cannot lie to you, I have been either or both at times, but…
instead of dwelling on the lies being dispensed we should dwell on the TRUTH
John 8:32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
instead of complaining about people’s ignorance of the Bible, teach them the WORD
Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
instead of worrying about people being lostwithout the Messiah, introduce HIM to them
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
To all of you my faithful readers and friends, I want to wish a very happy Holiday Season celebrating the One Who was born at this season: The King of the Jews, the Lord of Lords, the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World, YESHUA OF NAZARETH
Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and rich blessings in the New Year!! Great synopsis in your article–as the Lord taught us in the OT, it is good to rehearse and remember so we can learn and draw closer to the great I AM with Whom we have to do.