The Convergence of Israel’s Enemies
In 2007, as a result of 6 years of research and one year of writing, my first book on anti-Semitism was published (They Have Conspired Against You: Responding to the New Anti-Semitism). Back in 2000 when I started my research, I quickly was able to identify three different perpetrators of the New Anti-Semitism. All three were coming on the world scene as the Second Intifada (Palestinian uprising) was developing in the Middle East.
The source of anti-Semitism “Old” and “New” has never changed. The battle is not a historical, geographical or even a socio-political one, it is purely a SPIRITUAL battle to completely destroy the people that God chose to call The apple of My eye in Zechariah 2:8.
This spiritual battle has taken many forms over the centuries. It has undergone much morphing from a simple theological construct that created a disconnect between early Christians and Jews, to an all encompassing drive to destroy the Land of Israel and the Jewish People worldwide.
Yes, it has had many historical markers such as the Middle Ages, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Reformation, the Pogroms and the Holocaust to name just the main ones!
Yes, it has seen multiple battlegrounds in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East or North America to name a few!
And yes, it has “benefited” from the ideologies of various political factions over time, from extreme right to extreme left!
But at the end of the day the battle is between the enemy of God–Satan– and the chosen people of God–The Jewish People. Why, because Satan knows that he cannot hurt God Himself, but he knows that you can hurt people the most by hurting their loved ones. Thus God’s enemy will rejoice in the hurting and killing of the Jewish people, simply to hurt God.
As God’s enemy got organized to destroy the Jews, he always subcontracted his destructive work to different groups throughout mankind’s history. Early Christians under the leadership of Church Fathers such as Origen of Alexandria heard statements such as: “We may thus 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.”[1]
John Chrysostom, “the Golden Mouthed Orator” provided early Christianity with additional perfidious diatribes such as: ” The synagogue is worse than a brothel…it is the den of scoundrels and the repair of wild beasts…the temple of demons devoted to idolatrous cults…the refuge of brigands and debauchees, and the cavern of devils. It is a criminal assembly of Jews…a place of meeting for the assassins of Christ… a house worse than a drinking shop…a den of thieves, a house of ill fame, a dwelling of iniquity, the refuge of devils, a gulf and a abyss of perdition.”…”I would say the same things about their souls… As for me, I hate the synagogue…I hate the Jews for the same reason… men who are lustful, rapacious, greedy, perfidious bandits…inveterate murderers, destroyers, men possessed by the devil,… they have surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts, for they murder their offspring and immolate them to the devil. [2]
These early Church Fathers (and many others) set a stage of faulty exegesis from which a play that could be titled “The Fate of the Jews”, has been playing non-stop for the last 2000 years. Different actors, different sets, different locations, but same director!
From the shaky foundation established by the Church Fathers, Jewish history was written, and to an extent continues to be written in blood and tears. From theological differences to the Crusades to the Shoah to the global Jihad.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and the same poison is being dispensed worldwide. It has simply been “repackaged” and it has received a new “Marketing strategy” catering to a much greater audience and thus appealing to a tremendous cross-section of people across the globe.
The three enemies of the Jewish people that I had identified at the turn of the 21th century were Radical Islam, Liberals and Christians. It goes without saying that each group is not equally responsible for the denigration, demonization and annihilation of the Jews.
Yet. it is also is very important to notice the recent shift in the way these three groups of perpetrators are now working together. There has been a convergence of the enemies of Israel happening in front of our very eyes.
When I first identified the new perpetrators, they all fed the beast that is the New Anti-Semitism, but for the most part, even though their hatred was fueling a somewhat similar goal, they were far from working together, at least knowingly. Three unlikely partners in crime were promoting their own agendas against the “perpetual scapegoats of humanity”.
Radical Islam was mostly interested in the COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF THE ISRAEL AND THE JEWS also described by them as “THE LITTLE SATAN” (America being the Big Satan, and next on their agenda).
Liberals were fighting ISRAEL AND THE JEWS in the name of SOCIAL JUSTICE, TOLERANCE AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.
Christians continued to display a “not so subtle” jealousy for ISRAEL AND THE JEWS as they thrived to make God say something He never said and replace Israel in God’s program as the NEW ISRAEL.
Three threads of hatred and jealousy have been pulling individually the Jewish people and Israel towards ostracization and even destruction. The danger was great then and I believe it is greater now. It has become more serious because the three unlikely partners have teamed up. What they were good at accomplishing individually, they are becoming better at accomplishing corporately. These unlikely partners are currently teaming up against a common enemy, ISRAEL AND THE JEWS.
I started to notice some rather mind stretching partnerships recently.
• Liberals are pushing for Islam to become more accepted. The two vastly different ideologies will inevitably clash sooner or later, but hey, later is later so why worry?
• Christians who used to support ISRAEL AND THE JEWS are starting to change their views and are now unashamedly promoting “Christian Palestinianism” as was the case during the March 2012 “Christ at the Checkpoint Conference“. Further delegitimization of ISRAEL AND THE JEWS are on the way. For a superb exposé of Christian Palestinianism, (see this site).
• Muslims and Christians are contemplating a new hybrid faith labelled as “Chrislam“. In reality, Christians are compromising as they perform theological gymnastics to accommodate Muslims. Tolerance as a one-way street will only lead to cultural suicide! It is only a matter of time!
These three threads of hatred and jealousy were pretty strong individually, but now that they have been weaved together, they have picked up momentum and strength as they continue to pull ISRAEL AND THE JEWS towards oblivion. The rope of anti-Semitism appears to be indestructible as it keeps pulling.
THE CONVERGENCE OF ISRAEL’S ENEMIES HAS HAPPENED!
It is not over and I really don’t think that we have seen the worst yet, but even though much of the world is now teaming up against the Apple of God’s Eye, God’s hand is uncompromisingly holding the rope that ISRAEL AND THE JEWS appear to be pulling on their own.
God’s lovingkindness for ISRAEL AND THE JEWS is confirmed by His promise to never allow their complete destruction. We come into this picture as lovers of God and of His people and we have no other choice but to tell them about the salvation that only comes through the death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12, 1 Timothy 2:5, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
A tug of war between the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the enemies of ISRAEL AND THE JEWS , which side do you want to be on?
There is a way to make a difference and it can be done with E.A.S.E….. more on that later!
Demonize Israel in 60 minutes!
On Sunday April 22, 2012 CBS ran a new “60 minutes” segment titled “Christians of the Holy Land”.
The decision to air the piece right between Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) made me wonder if the date hadn’t been selected to further an already damaging agenda of demonization of Israel.
As I watched the piece, I couldn’t help but reminisce on the days when “60 minutes” was drawing viewers because of its unbiased professional reporting of world events…Days long gone apparently! Instead, Bob Simon unashamedly presented a “victimized” community of “Palestinian Christians” suffering undeserved hardships at the hands of the “Occupiers” of Palestine i.e.: Israel. The segment still attracted 13 million American viewers.
This had got to be one of the most biased piece I have seen in a long time. As I try to keep my finger on the pulse of global antisemitism, I have read and heard a lot of diatribes being dispensed and I have come to expect these kind of stories from Radical Muslims, liberals and unfortunately, even some evangelical Christians. I would expect a show like “60 minutes” to cover such a controversial topic as the Middle East crisis, but not to go on a witch hunt like they did.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for many voices of protest to be heard. They came from both sides of the pro-Israel camp: The Jewish Community and the Evangelical community. Incidentally, being pro-Israel doesn’t necessarily mean that one is anti-Palestinian, which is hardly ever true the other way around!
A third into the report, Bob Simon interviewed a Palestinian Lutheran minister who claims that:“The only thing that Palestine has been able to export successfully was Christianity” and further down, he adds:“Christianity has actually on the back a stamp that says ‘Made in Palestine'”. The only time the word “Israel” is ever mentioned, is to describe the “occupiers” or “wall builders”.
Then, Bob Simon continues by making a statement that the viewers have no choice but to accept as undeniable fact: “Israel has occupied the West Bank for 45 years”. Even though most of the world already supports the “Palestinian underdogs”, no other view is even remotely offered as a possible alternative to the land issue. Honest reporting was not on the agenda, taking sides was!
Where was the mentioning of Hamas, Fatah, Hizbullah and the treatment of Palestinian Christians by Palestinian Muslims? NOWHERE in the piece! As the implementation of Sharia Law continues to grow in the Middle East (and globally as well) as a result of the Arab Spring, dhimmitude will increase and freedom will decrease as Radical Islam perniciously injects its barbaric ideology into western civilization. NONE OF THAT was reported, even though it is an integral part of the problem at hand!
Simon spent quite a bit of time reporting on the security fence or “wall” which was built over the last decade and separates Israel from the West Bank. To my surprise, he accurately added:” The wall was built to stop Palestinian terrorists from getting into Israel, and it’s worked, terrorism has gone down 90%”. But he immediately followed by quoting West Bank residents in calling the area an “open air prison”.
I do find it very unfortunate that this wall had to be erected in the first place, separating people and rendering daily activities of Palestinians very difficult to say the least. Yet, with a success rate of 90% against terrorism, who would even consider not having a wall? In all fairness, we must not forget that the wall is as much of an eyesore from the kitchen window of a Palestinian in the West Bank as it is from the kitchen window of an Israeli from the other side.
Towards the end of his report, Simon quotes a document called “Kairos Palestine” apparently drafted and endorsed by a group of Christian activists, and supposedly denouncing Islamic extremism and promoting “non-violent resistance” to Israeli occupation. Upon further reading of the 16 page declaration, it is rather obvious that, as it was penned in the spirit of ecumenism, and was also very one-sided towards Palestinians, thus eradicating all negative connotations about Palestinian Terrorism and promoting violence under the cloack of peaceful resistance. Consider what message they promote on their site as you watch this short promo video for BDS (Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions).
The piece finishes with a bold rebuke of Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren by Bob Simon. At that point, Simon criticizes Ambassador Oren for contacting CBS ahead of airing the “60 minutes” segment. Simon claims that in all of his years of news anchoring, never was CBS asked to reconsider the airing of a show by somebody who “hadn’t yet seen it”. Ambassador Oren appeared to have information leading him to believe that the show wouldn’t be a fair portrayal of both sides of the issue, so he felt compiled to contact the president of CBS, but unfortunately, he seemed caught by surprise when Simon accused him of speaking out of terms.
What CBS and Simon promoted knowingly or not is called Christian Palestinianism and it unequivocally continues to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and right to the Land, as it is adopted by more and more people including many evangelicals.
Real followers of Yeshua (Jesus) cannot ignore the tension and hardships that exist in the Middle East. We cannot ignore the fact that many people are unnecessarily suffering in that region and that we must work together towards a true reconciliation meaning that both side need to be in a positive, peace seeking dialogue. Frankly, I don’t see that really happening until Yeshua (Jesus), the real Prince of Peace returns. But until then we still have a biblical obligation to love our neighbors and even to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us ( Matthew 5:44). True believers CANNOT DEMONIZE ISRAEL WITHOUT DEMONIZING GOD HIMSELF (Psalm 83:3-5):
They make shrewd plans against Thy people, And conspire together against Thy treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”For they have conspired together with one mind; Against Thee do they make a covenant.
Remember the Holocaust Lest We Repeat History!
On April 19th also known as the 27th of Nisan on the Jewish calendar (8 days before Israel’s Independence Day), the worldwide Jewish community will commemorate Yom HaShoah (literally, the Day of the Catastrophe).
While there is no standardized Jewish way to mark this solemn day, Jewish people around the world make a point to remember the memory of their loved ones in various ways. Israel will have all flags at half mast starting on the eve of Yom HaShoah, as well as a siren blast at 10 AM on the day of, for the whole country to come to a stop for 2 minutes. Additionally, a myriad of other official gatherings in synagogues, community centers and even in public arenas, will occur.
For the rest of the world, Jewish communities will join spiritually by attending special services at the local synagogue where the memory of the victims, known or unknown, is brought to the attention of the community. It is not unusual to have a Holocaust survivor come an speak at such gatherings as well as have people read an endless list of names representing a small section of the 6,000,000 Jewish victims.
The important part is the accurate propagation of the memory of “the Catastrophe” more than the method by which it is done.
We must understand that all genocides and attempts at ethnic cleansing are crimes against humanity that must be brought to justice. This being said, the Holocaust was a very unique event in the history of mankind, as it was the ONLY GENOCIDE that included a very thorough and meticulous system to exterminate European Jewry by hunting Jews down in most countries and bringing them back to the Death Camps for extermination. Escaping was near impossible and surviving was no small miracle!
In April of 1945, as Nazi Germany was in collapse and World War II was nearly over, General Eisenhower and some American troops captured the German Camp of Ohdruf (a sub-camp of the extermination Camp of Buchenwald). While it would take the world weeks if not months to fully grasp the full dimension of the Shoah, within a week, Eisenhower requested for other officials and for members of the press to come to Ohdruf and witness the horrific crimes that he had just come in contact with. As Eisenhower saw it, it was critical to gather as many eyewitnesses as possible in order to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust and preserve the facts as facts. On page 223 of the book Dear General: Eisenhower’s wartime letters to Marshall, He was quoted saying:“I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to ‘propaganda.'”
Eisenhower compiled a report including pages upon pages of written evidence and thousands of pictures based on his personal experience, in hope to document the unspeakable and prevent it from happening again.
Unfortunately, and against his heartfelt desire of keeping a painful but necessary memory alive, the Holocaust has been suffering at the hand of deniers, who prefer being known as “revisionists”. They range from mild to severe in their attempt at delegitimizing the Holocaust and making it into exactly what Eisenhower was fighting against: “Jewish propaganda”. The deniers can be found within Islam, liberal westerners and even in some rare cases among self-loathing Jews.
On the eve of Yom HaShoah, I will not lower myself by listing the names of any of those who call the Holocaust a hoax, a Jewish propaganda or a “hick-up of history”, simply because they do not deserve my attention.
These individuals do exist around the globe and as the survivors of the Shoah are rapidly disappearing from our world, these hateful Shoah negationists are gaining momentum. While it is still vastly unpopular to deny the events of the Shoah, I fear the day when political correctness will switch sides on the issue of the Shoah, and it will become unpopular to “offend” anybody with the ” dubious retelling” of the single most heinous crime against humanity.
The Shoah was not a hoax, propaganda or a hick-up of history!
The 6,000,000 Jews who perished were all individuals with potential!
One of them was Maurice Weinzveig my grandfather who perished in Auschwitz!
In their memories and in the memory of the rest of them I will remember Yom HaShoah
“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.
For not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead,
we are also responsible for what we are doing with those memories”
Elie Wiesel
The Emancipation of Antisemitism: Towards a Post-Merah France!
Between March 11 and 19, 2012, France saw the murders of seven people in the Toulouse/Montauban region. The later part of these massacres included a rabbi, two of his children and one more young girl, all at an all-Jewish school in Toulouse. Within three days, the perpetrator had been identified as 23 year-old Mohamed Merah with ties to Al-Qaeda. Early in the morning of March 22nd, Mohamed Merah burst out his bathroom shooting his weapon all across the room at police officers as he jumped out of the window to his death.
The French government, possibly motivated by the nearness of a presidential election, was rather responsive. In fact, French President Sarkozy immediately gave a statement praising the police and French government and presenting his condolences to the families of the victims. He closed his statement by saying:” Our Muslim compatriots have nothing to do with the crazy motivations of a terrorist”.
Mr. Sarkozy is currently walking on the very thin ice of an election year in the European country with the largest Muslim population (between 5-6 million). As much as he might want to tighten the grip on Islam and its blatant refusal to integrate the French Republic and communities, he must use extreme caution so as to not polarize a potential voting block. Simply stated, Mr. Sarkozy is between a rock called INTEGRITY and a hard place called COMPROMISE, so the safest move is to avoid confrontation and speak against unjustified discrimination of Muslims. In the meantime, Mohamed Merah is slowly becoming a victim, possibly a martyr and even worse yet, a hero!
Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post, Caroline Glick, gives us a different perspective about Merah that I unfortunately agree with. I say unfortunately because it simply posits that “justice was not served”. In the case of Merah, instead of sending a rightfully sobering message to radical Muslims about France’s zero tolerance of such acts, it allows for the perpetrator to be praised, elevated and even–at least in people’s minds–exonerated. As a result, his actions have not become a red flag for the lethal components of radical Islam but an encouragement to follow Merah’s model. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the aftermath of Merah’s blood bath:
- March 23rd: One day after the death of Merah, a teacher in Rouen, Normandy told her 12th grade class that Merah was a victim and that his link to Al-Qaeda was invented by the media and Sarkozy. The teacher was immediately suspended, yet damage was done!
- March 26th: Five days after the massacre, a Jewish boy was beaten outside another Ozar HaTorah Jewish school in Paris.
- March 30th: Four days later, Actor/Comedian Jamel Debouze from arab descent finds justification for Merah’s actions in the difficult upbringing that his co-religionists have experienced in the Paris suburbs, while not a word is said by Debouze about the Jewish victims.
- March 31st: Merah’s brother, Rachid Merah is quoted telling the press: “You reap what you sow. They kill our children in Palestine, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, they should recognize their responsibility. The minister of the interior has said that Mohamed was a monster…but I reply that they have created this monster that killed children.” The French government is then held responsible by Merah’s brother.
- April 2nd: Only 11 days after the carnage and a man in Marseille is hit in the face as he exits a synagogue. Antisemitic slurs are yelled at him by his assailant.
- April 4th: Two days later in Marseille, an 85 year old man is attacked by a North African man. He is pushed around and the perpetrator rips his Jewish star medallion from his chest after putting a knife to his throat.
- April 5th: A 35 year old man wearing a yarmulke is shot in the leg as he was walking on the street in Villeurbanne.
- April 11th: Only 20 days have passed and in front of a synagogue in Garges les Gonesses, in the Paris suburb, an individual from the same origins as Merah screamed at Jewish worshipers:”Dirty Jews, I’ll kill you all you dirty race”. He then proceeded across the street towards a group of 3-year olds before being stopped and fleeing the scene. And on, and on and on!
I could continue adding to this tragic list of antisemitic acts in France and actually add to them those acts committed all over Europe. But France is the “litmus test” by which the new antisemitism is being defined. The apparently “unspeakable” actions of Mohamed Merah are already not being spoken of anymore, at least not as symptomatic of a deeply rooted problem of antisemitism. The Jew hatred displayed by Mohamed Merah has been brushed under the rug of political correctness, just in time for the elections at the end of April.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- …
- 127
- Next Page »