I remember the day when the French media announced that the Jewish Deli Jo Goldenberg in the Paris Jewish quarters had been bombed, it was August 9, 1982. Two men entered the restaurant, threw a grenade and then emptied their machine guns randomly onto the patrons. Six people died and 22 were wounded in what was soon recognized as the worst Jewish death toll in France since World War Two.
Then, two days ago, on March 19, the news came that an unidentified gunman had just shot 4 people at a Jewish school in the city of Toulouse in Southwestern France. A Rabbi from the school, his two sons and another girl were shot to their death by a man who came and went on a scooter. The civilized world is mourning the lives of these innocent people and I personally grieve for Rabbi’s Jonathan Sandler family.
France is currently on high alert. This level of heightened security hasn’t occurred since post 9/11. A manhunt of national proportions is underway while French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that everything will be done to find the killer and bring him to justice. What a test for leadership within 90 days of the next presidential elections!
“This is a national tragedy,” Sarkozy said at the Ozar Hatorah school. “Everything will be done to find who is responsible and to make him pay for his crimes. Hatred must not win.”
In the meantime, many around the world and especially within the Jewish community are speculating as to the motives and/or agenda that drove the gunman to such a heartless, coldblooded massacre. Antisemitism is obviously the first thing that comes to mind when one recalls the horror that took place at the Jewish school. But we must resist the temptation to jump to conclusion out of a desire to show our compassion to our Jewish friends. A crime? Yes. A hate crime? Most certainly! beyond this we must be patient and let the authorities do their work.
It would be very easy for someone like me to quickly draw the same conclusion of blatant anti-Semitism based on my years of research on the subject, yet, the French police, the French anti-terrorist units and the rest of the world do not have enough evidence to clearly paint that picture. And yet, there is more!
It is now becoming pretty certain that the same killer was also responsible for deaths of two paratroopers in Montauban (30 miles away) on Thursday and one more in Toulouse a week prior. The shooting rampage was done by a man on a black scooter and the same weapon was identified in all the crimes.
I am still reluctant to label this carnage solely as an antisemitic crime because the other victims were from the Northwest African region known as the Maghreb and from the Caribbean. Was the killer racist? no question in my mind! Was he deranged? I think he was, considering that he had strapped a recording device on his chest and possibly recorded the whole event! Was it an act of antisemitism? Time will tell and hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to be able to determine if this act was from a radical Islam agenda, a right-wing Neo nazi agenda or simply a mad man on a serial killing rampage.
No matter what we find out, the tragedy remains the same, and those left behind have a duty to fight and expose such hatred. This tragedy, if it proves to have been driven by pure hatred of the Jewish people will only confirm a sad reality that I already have known too well for over a decade now: France is no longer a safe for Jewish people!
In the meantime, God, who never changes, is waiting for us to go to Him in prayer.
My prayer is that the families of the victims (both the paratroopers and the Jewish family) would be comforted by God’s shalom at such a difficult time.
It is hard for me to grasp such cruelty, but then again,
The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
(Jeremiah 17:9)
The Dejudaization of Jerusalem! Really?
The new catchphrase within anti-Zionist circles is the “Dejudaization of Jerusalem”. Historically, it is as ludicrous to attempt to dejudaize Jerusalem as it is to claim that the Eiffel Tower must be “returned” to China!
Jerusalem might be at the crossroads of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but historically and biblically, it is the Jewish capital. For instance, Jerusalem is mentioned by name over 800 times in the Bible ( about 75% of them in the Tenach and 25% in the New Testament) while it is possibly only mentioned once in the Qur’an and not even by name but simply as the place of the “farthest mosque” in conjunction with Muhammad’s “night journey in Sura Bani Isra-il 17.1, and even then, there are no mention of the word Jerusalem at all. It is also referred to in Sura Bani Isra-il 17.7 when mention is made of the “Temple”, and that is it for the entire Qur’an!
So why is it that Muslims are insisting for the acquisition of Jerusalem as one of the most holy sites under Islam? Could it be simply because Jerusalem is the holiest Jewish site and by virtue of that claim both historically and biblically, Muslims must take it upon themselves to “reclaim” Jerusalem? But reclaiming requires a prior ownership and the Bible is clear as to whom Jerusalem belongs to. Every occurrence of the word “Jerusalem” in the Bible has within its context a connection to the Jewish people, the God of Israel or the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And all of this of course, happened centuries before the 622 AD birth of Islam. The Jewish prophet Daniel prayed daily towards Jerusalem while in captivity (Daniel 6:10).
Additionally, a great future awaits Jerusalem and the Jewish people as we can read in Zechariah 8:1-23
According to Canadian Lawyer and author Jacques Gauthier, It has also been proven that by international law that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. Gauthier’s 1300 page dissertation on the topic documents the series of treatises (including the critical San Remo treaty in Italy) that established Jerusalem’s Jewish ownership beyond the shadow of a doubt.
I think that the dejudaization of Jerusalem is simply the next step on the anti-Zionist agenda to delegitimize Israel and the Jewish people. If it can be proven to the world that Jerusalem is the Palestinian capital and as such, must be reclaimed, then the enemies of Israel from the liberal Left to Radical Islam will have justified the eradication of the Jewish people. For centuries, the Jewish people were “A people without a country”, then they were historically and prophetically granted Israel back as a modern nation in 1948. From that moment on, Antisemites and anti-Zionists around the world have worked overtime and with increasing creativity to delegitimize the Jewish people and their right to the land and to Jerusalem. The final goal being: “A country without a people”! The Jewish people that is!
Multiple attempts have been made and have attracted the world’s attention via a myriad of media outlets. The Gaza flotillas, the Durban I, II and III anti-Zionist conferences in the name of “anti-racism”, Mahmoud Abbas’ attempt at a unilateral declaration of statehood at the United Nations in September 2011, UNESCO acceptance of Palestine as its newest member, Christ at the Checkpoint “Evangelical” Conference (see my previous blog entry on that topic) towards “reconciliation” between Israelis and Palestinians and the lists goes on!
And now the world appears to be uniting as 20 countries are joining hands and marching towards Israel under the banner of the “Global march to Jerusalem“ to “unoccupy” Jerusalem on March 30, 2012 as they all converge on the capital. A million people is expected to invade Israel’s borders. The long list of international organizations and personalities bears witness of the agenda being furthered here. Bishop Desmond Tutu and Pastor N.T Wright are amongst the many endorsers.
The promotional video is a mixed collage of world cities appearing to support the cause along with international personalities giving their two-thumbs up. The colors and shape of the Palestinian flag are almost on very frame, not to mention the one-sided message of a Palestinian flag (at 1:24 min.) layering the entire map of Israel. No two-state solution here! You can watch their promo video here.
The actual “peaceful invasion” has yet to take place and it might be thwarted but regardless of the outcome, Israel will be painted further in the corner of the oppressor/invader of Palestine… guaranteed!
There is a great danger here for Israel as the world community is being recruited under the false premise of a peaceful march. One is to wonder what kind of real agenda is being driven when the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is included and Iran is endorsing the event. The potential for confusion and a plethora of opportunities for the pro-Palestinian media will be limitless. Israel is about to be demonized by an international delegation of misinformed militants at best or antisemitic enemies at worst. In both cases, we are getting closer and closer to the day when in accordance with God’s word, the whole world will turn against Israel (even though He will never allow for her complete destruction). We shouldn’t be surprised!
Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will
gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women
ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Zechariah 14:1-2
(see also Zechariah 12:3)
The March to Jerusalem is one more milestone being added to the destructive agenda of hatred promoted by the enemies of those God calls “the apple of my eye” in Zechariah 2:8.
May God have mercy on them as we pray for Israel’s safety and as we also pray for Israel’s enemies and their salvation.
A Tale of Two Brotherhoods!
UNESCO and the Palestinian Pandora’s Box!
Greek mythology tells us that once, long ago, all the evils of the world were contained in a box, sealed and given to Pandora. Eventually, succumbing to curiosity, she opened it and all the evils were released. Of course, the opening and releasing were easy, as to the capturing back of all evil and re-sealing of Pandora’s box, well, that’s a different story!
Late October 2011, a proverbial Pandora’s box was opened when UNESCO decided to include the Palestinian Authority on its roaster of member nations. The approval required two thirds of UNESCO general assembly and passed by 107 to 14 (52 abstentions). Almost immediately, the State Department announced that its funding of UNESCO would cease. It is now clear that the catalyst to the State Department’s decision was the legal requirement to stop funding any agency that would recognize Palestine. Yet, one is to hope that there was also a shred of moral or ethical motivation, but regardless, damage has been done.
The Palestinians are determined to acquire recognition by the U.N., but if they cannot parade through the front door with pomp and circumstance, they will quietly enter through any door that will get them any closer to international recognition. The UNESCO membership acquisition was one of those back doors. There are many more the Palestinians could go through, in their attempt to strengthen their case, and don’t think for a second that they won’t!
UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The organization has many facets, and thrives to make our world a better world through the promotion and support of education, science and culture. For the last decade, it has emphasized “cultural diversity” in an effort to help radically different people groups get along and promote world peace. Conceptually, it is very hard to argue with that, and this is why the world has been giving its support to the organization.
But Pandora’s Box being opened, we can expect the imminent effects of its evil imposed on our world at any time. As a matter of fact, the first blow was given in the form of a Palestinian Youth magazine know as Zayzafouna. It recently came to the attention of a few who care enough to be watchdogs, such as the Palestinian Media Watch who passed the information to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, that the magazine’s February 2011 issue featured an article in which a ten-year-old Palestinian girl said that Hitler told her in a dream: “I killed them [the Jews] so you would all know that they are a nation who spreads destruction all over the world.” The magazine, we are told, promotes democracy and tolerance. Why is it then, that a young girl could write about Hitler being her role model?
To their credit, UNESCO quickly pulled their support away from the magazine, denouncing its hateful article.
As I see it, there might be some benefits to the Palestinian membership at UNESCO. Now that Pandora’s box has been opened and many evils have been released, it is only a matter of time before the next antisemitic deed comes from the Palestinians. This is going to force UNESCO to realize how ludicrous and how wrong their move to accept a group of people committed to the total destruction of Israel was. This is also going to force UNESCO to take sides with common sense, decency and real democracy, a far cry from what Hamas promotes. UNESCO will eventually realize their mistake, but at what cost? It would have been a lot easier and much safer to keep the fox out of the chicken coop, than to hope that the animal would not eat too many chickens before he decides to become a vegetarian.
There is nothing peaceful about Hamas, Fatah or Hizbullah. Why is the world allowing those terrorist organization to pretend that they care? Beats me! But even UNESCO, in its attempt at promoting world peace, (and many of them are definitely worth mentioning), is still falling short of real peace.
Real shalom will only come with the real Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace) and that is Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, who over 2000 years ago at this season was born to die for all of us and give us hope.
Incidentally, as for Pandora’s box, the legend also tells us that when all the evils of the world were released, one item remained in the box, and that item was “hope”!
Just Released: Antisemitism 2.0!
Last week, while speaking at a conference on antisemitism organized by the European Jewish Union (EJU), the American ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman (who happens to be Jewish) made some very disturbing statements regarding antisemitism.
Mr. Gutman explained that we should make a clear distinction between the old racially motivated antisemitism and the new antisemitism that he believes is “…a tension and perhaps even a hatred, largely born of and reflecting the tensions between Israel, the Palestinian territories and and neighboring Arabs states in the middle-East over the continuing Israeli-Palestinian problem.”
So, racial antisemitism (also labelled “traditional antisemitism” by Gutman) is no longer acceptable, so much so that when the old beast shows its head again, the world should be outraged. So far so good Mr. Gutman. We should let the world unite against antisemtism, xenophobia and any kind of racism. I’m in favor of that of course, who wouldn’t be?
But wait, there is more! It seems that “traditional antisemitism” or Antisemitism 1.0 just got a major upgrade. Antisemitism 2.0 is just out. It’s better, faster, stronger and much more damaging. Racial antisemitism is so….20th Century!
According to Mr. Gutman, Antisemitism 2.0, also known as “anti-Israelism” or “anti-Zionsm” is the result of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, but when looking for the guilty party, we should only consider Israel the perpetrator!
Mr. Gutman’s believes that Antisemitism 2.0 is justified because its has a cause. The cause being Israel’s “stubborn criminal colonialism” in Palestine. Arab Muslims have the right to be antisemitic because after all they are the “victims”. And remember, they don’t hate the Jews just because they are Jews ( that would be Antisemitism 1.0). They only defend themselves against the oppressor in Israel, I mean “Palestine” or do they?
The terminology might have changed, but the meaning remains the same.
The target might have a different name, but the goal remains the same.
If Mr. Gutman really believes that the end of the middle-East conflict and of Arab Antisemitism are contingent on Israel’s declaring peace and giving away the Land, he is greatly mistaken. Under Antisemitism 2.0 Jews are at risk worldwide no matter how remote they might be from Israel, the settlements and the land.
When Nazis killed 6,000,000 Jews during World War II, the world didn’t go on a witch hunt to kill all Germans. While Saddam Hussein was a butcher only equaled by a few others like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, civilized people didn’t start rounding up all Iraqis and Iranians to destroy them, because of the guilt of a few. Why? Because the world was able to separate the corrupted from the the decent people.
Yet, when it comes to Israel, the standards are different. Simply put, today when Israel makes a move, all of world Jewry is exposed. God forbid that Israel would make a decision that appears unjust or humiliating to the Palestinians, then it is open season on the Jews of the world. That would be of course, assuming that Israel is even wrong to start with when it comes to her biblical right to the Land.
German attorney Nathan Gelbart, present at the Belgium Conference understood this very well when in response to self-loathing Jew Gutman, he said: “For no other country he would criticize or ask to boycott its goods or academics. And this for one simple reason: Because Israel is the state of the Jewish people, not more and not less.” .
No other country in history has ever been plagued by this disease. This deep-rooted hatred of the Jews is a spiritual weed whose seed was planted by Satan himself.
Antisemitism might be given a new name, it remains the hatred of Jewish people simply because they are Jewish with the ultimate goal of eradicating all Jews from the planet. Evil doesn’t come in different shades when it comes to kill innocent people, it is just plain evil. period!
I am deeply saddened by Mr. Gutman’s statement about my people. I also find it ironic that I am often accused of being a traitor, a renegade and even a self-loathing Jew because I have put my trust in Yeshua (Jesus) as my Messiah (Isaiah 52:13-53-12; John 1:12; John 5:24). But at the end of the day, there is nothing more Jewish than to believe in the Jewish Messiah and there is nothing less Jewish than to accuse our people of being the source for antisemitism. Shame on you Mr. Gutman!
Note: The White House quickly distanced itself from Mr. Gutman’s statement who himself also later apologized for his words. Yet the damage is done and the symptom is of a real disease that must be eradicated.
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