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October 14, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 3 Comments

With the Help of UNESCO, Palestinian Persistence Could Succeed!

I lost my respect for the Nobel Prize Academy when in 1994, they awarded a joint Nobel Peace Prize to Yassir Arafat along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin. Such political correctness blinding the committee to the point of painting Arafat as a peace hero in the Middle East was nauseating. Man’s propensity for trusting established humanitarian organizations is often based on a name and /or reputation, but as well intentioned as it might be, it shouldn’t be done blindly. The same principle applies to many United nations agency in general and UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) in particular.

Starting with their motto “Building Peace in the Minds of Men and Women”, we realize that their concept of peace might be different from what we are used to. What they mean by peace is more like social justice, that of course is all relative, especially as it pertains to the Middle East. The hypocrisy is unbearable! I am not saying that UNESCO has never accomplished anything worth its motto, of course not! Yet, along with a lot of other organizations, when it comes to Israel, UNESCO is plagued with the virus of double-standards.

On Thursday, October 13 in Paris at its executive Board Meeting, UNESCO passed a preliminary measure with 24 votes for, 6 against and 26 abstentions including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany amongst others. The measure is a repeat of another one that was adopted in April 2016, and will be put to a final vote in late-October 2016.

The Palestinian authority continues to propose “Palestinian” sites for inclusion on UNESCO world heritage “in danger” list like the village of Battir in the Judean hills. But this is akin to listing Atlantis–with a hard to prove historicity–as a historical site to be preserved. This is exactly what they are attempting to do with the mosque located atop the Temple Mount. They are trying to give historical credence to a site that–while hosting a genuine Muslim mosque– doesn’t have any Muslim historical significance. One must be reminded that the Qur’an doesn’t even mention Jerusalem by name, but UNESCO isn’t going to be bothered by these kind of details!

Yet that is not enough. They also aim at delegitimizing Israel of any historical connection to the land. It would be one thing to claim that Christianity, Islam and Judaism all have a claim to the land one way or another. But what UNESCO is agreeing to do now, is to eradicate all Jewish history. In fact, they are not even mentioning the Temple Mount and the Western Wall by any Jewish reference but instead is calling it by its Muslim name “Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “Haram al-Sharif”, emphasizing its Islamic significance.

The Jewish Temple was there thousands of years before the mosque which was built hundreds of years after the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Temple’s existence can be proven geographically, historically, archeologically and biblically. There is without a doubt–at least for any serious historian– a Jewish connection to Jerusalem.

So the question remains as to why UNESCO is pushing for the islamization of a recognized Jewish site? The resolution passed in April 2016 calls Israel the “Occupying Power”, accuses Israel of the storming of “Al-Aqsa Mosque” but never mentions the throwing of rocks from the Temple Mount onto Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. Also in that resolution is an attempt at making the tomb of the Patriarchs which is located in Hebron, a solely Palestinian site.

UNESCO has a long history of site preservation under the World Heritage program. They have done a lot of good to preserve and teach history to the world and as such have established a reputation that currently allows them to move against Israel without being questioned or challenged, except maybe by a few organizations such as ADL or the Simon Wiesenthal Center . This move has nothing to do with preserving history since it isn’t based on verifiable history. As always in most antisemitic attempts, the move is seldom to promote or protect the Palestinian people but more to demonize and delegitimize Israel.

Considering that the April draft was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan, one shouldn’t be surprised at the anti Jewish sentiment. This recent move by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to have UNESCO completely de-Judaize the Temple Mount and Western Wall would have never take root even twenty years ago, but the PA’s patience, endurance and boldness are starting to pay off.

Israel and the Jewish people do not have much of a voice at the United Nations and/or UNESCO, no matter how rooted in history they are. On the other hand, Palestine continues to move forward on the road to world recognition which puts them closer to their only goal; the complete destruction of Israel. UNESCO is well on its way to become a co-perpetrator alongside the Palestinians. Seriously, if the Jewish people have no historical right to the land and they have nowhere else to go, what prevents the enemies of Israel from finishing the job that Hitler started?

September 23, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Go ahead, build a security wall…Unless of course you are Israel!

Most people have heard about the Great Wall of China, started in the 7th century AD and continued for almost 1,000 years. It was built to originally protect China from repeated Eurasian invasions and continued to be used for border control over the centuries. It measures over 13,000 miles, which is no small feat.

A much smaller wall is currently being erected in the northwest part of France in the town of Calais. It has already been dubbed “The Great Wall of Calais.” This new wall is being completely financed by recently “Brexited” Britain, hoping to protect their autonomy and borders from unwanted, illegal migrants. Calais is situated on the shores of northwestern France and has been a seaport connection between the UK and France for a very long time. Much business has been generated through that two-way venue, as well as much human traffic for work, tourism AND immigration. But lately, it is the immigration aspect of the human ebb and flow that is attracting attention. Britain is worried by the constant influx of African and Middle-Eastern migrants on the shores of Dover.

Thousands of recent migrants congregate in Calais in an area known as “The Jungle.” It is unsafe, unsanitary and very difficult to control. France appears determined to put an end to the camps. In the meantime, Britain is building the wall and “flipping the bill.” Reaction to this 4 feet high mass of concrete along both sides of the road leading to the port has been less than favorable. Even though the wall won’t come to completion until the end of 2016, many think that it is a waste of time, space and money. But the concern is real as migrants build barricades daily to slow down the many trucks on that road and hitch a ride to the other side of the Channel illegally. The area has even been declared a “no-go zone” at night.

The Wall at Calais might or might not become a deterrent for illegal migrants; time will tell. In the meantime, it is receiving a lot of controversial press as well as many opinions about its efficacy or lack of. But one thing that nobody is too concerned about is the potential breech of human rights, unethical aspect of the wall or apartheid attitude of France and/or Britain, like let’s say…..Israel!

Israel has been working on their security fence/wall for several years since 2003. Hundreds of lives have already been saved because of the fence. It has been a very difficult diplomatic and political battle for Israel, constantly accused of being an “Apartheid State.” Comparing Israel to South Africa is far from honest since Apartheid in South Africa was based on racial tension and falsely assumed elitism, while Israel has been building its wall solely for security reasons. Protecting Israeli citizens–which incidentally include many arabs–has been at the forefront of the wall agenda. I am convinced that if Palestinians stopped the bombings, stabbings and suicide attacks, the wall could and probably would go down.

The double-standard used regarding the building of walls (including the recent one started by Saudi Arabia to also protect itself from ISIS terrorists) is upholding. France and England build a wall to protect themselves from illegal migrants who most likely include sleeper ISIS members, and that’s OK! Saudi Arabia builds a 600 miles wall to keep ISIS out, and that’s OK! So why is Israel building a wall to keep terrorists out considered to be a human rights violation?

Israel is the ONLY Jewish state in the world. It is the Jewish State from a political perspective (1948), but from a biblical standpoint, it has also been the Jewish land for several thousands of years prior to that time. It appears as if the whole world is continuing to build its wall around Israel to ostracize the Jewish people into a 21st century ghetto. That’s the most unethical, dangerous and hateful wall of them all, but nobody really says a word or even cares about that one!

August 31, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 3 Comments

Is Reverse Assimilation Changing the Fabric of Europe Forever?

For the last several decades, Europe has been a haven of opportunities for immigrants from a myriad of countries. For various reasons going from political to economic to ethnic, people from all over the world have flocked to the continent, slowly changing the demographics of “Old Europe.”

The reasons for the various immigrants to leave their countries were not necessarily the same as the reasons for the hosting countries to accept them. In many cases like France and Germany in the 1950s and following decades, the hosting countries were interested in cheap labor as well as a labor force that would be willing to take on the tasks that some of the natives deemed unworthy. I grew-up in the 1960s in France where almost all street sweepers and trash collectors were either Arabs or Africans. Immigrants came seeking a better life, they didn’t always get it.

Fifty years ago, there was already a noticeable influx of refugees from Muslim countries. Islam was a reality, but it had not evolved into this multi-faceted ideology punctuating the lives of a newer generation of Muslims. Islam of the 1950 and 60s was harmless. Harmless because it wasn’t political and hadn’t had a chance to get radicalized yet.

Back then, the willingness of most European countries to take in immigrants was somewhat shrouded with naiveté. These destitute and abused people needed protection regardless of their upbringing, countries of origin and/or religion. None of it mattered when it came to provide them with safe haven, and rightfully so–even if there was the ulterior motive of cheap labor. It was the right thing to do then, but is it still the right thing to do now? In theory, YES, but things are much more complicated today than they were fifty years ago.

The unspoken expectation of the hosting countries was that their new influx of immigrants would assimilate. They would learn the language if needed. They would get any job available to provide for their family and they would adopt the culture or at the very least adapt to it. This isn’t to say that they couldn’t remain culturally and spiritually connected to their origins. It is perfectly normal and encouraged to maintain our customs in the home. I am a Jew born in Paris, France who lives in America. I can continue to practice anything Jewish at home or in a congregational setting as well as maintain my French customs and habits if desired, as long as I assimilate within the American culture and society to become a fruitful member of that very society.

Almost every religion and/or ethnic group in the world has understood and accepted these parameters as they moved to different countries to seek better lives. Unfortunately–and this isn’t an attempt at profiling–a section of Islam has done the very opposite. They have refused to assimilate or integrate socially and have forced themselves into self-imposed ghettos. They have re-organized as mini enclaves of Islam in their respective hosting countries, gradually expecting the hosts to assimilate to their [Muslim] way of life. It has been a slow process, vastly ignored by ignorance or by choice. But in the last 10 years, Islamic radicalism has been pushing faster, stronger and further.

We are seeing a reverse assimilation of natives in various European countries. The very countries that were supposed to positively influence the migrants coming to them are being influenced and increasingly “forced” to flex to a foreign ideology that I believe is changing the fabric of Europe forever. This is upside-down assimilation, and in the context of Islam is also known as “dhimmitude.” Consider just a few decisions made by these European countries:

• France will start teaching Arabic in primary school in the fall of 2016.
• The UK has introduced and enforced a halal (permissible food under sharia law) menu in many schools.
• Germany passed the politically correct law “No Means No” to protect women from being raped. The new law is meant to be effective without insulting potential rapists or risking to be called an Islamophobe. Keep in mind that we are dealing with an ideology where women have very little rights and saying no carries no weight at all.
• Sweden and is spending more resources on migrants than on their own people.
• Belgium has allowed Muslim neighborhoods (read “No-Go Zones”) to grow to the point of losing control of these sharia ruled sections of Brussels like Molenbeek.

This reverse assimilation effect that is currently plaguing most of Europe can only lead to the subjugation and Islamization of the continent, unless stricter laws are passed and enforced, and borders better controlled or even closed. Not to mention the potential terrorists freely infiltrating all of Europe, completely unchecked. I fear that most Europeans already feel overwhelmed and that they have given up on fighting back. Most governments realize that they are in a crisis, yet the demon of political correctness has possessed them, muted their voices and tied their hands. They have become the puppets of Islamo-fascism. In many cases like Sweden, France and Germany, the Muslim voting block is now making a difference between victory or defeat for key candidates.

Assimilation and integration of Muslims in Europe has been a complete failure. No-Go Zones do exist against the media’s propaganda telling us that they don’t. The migrant crisis of the last two years has nothing in common with the Muslim immigration of the last fifty years, but Europe is still handling it like it does, that will not work! It is time to wake up, lest you are awakened by the voice of a muezzin in the early hours of the morning from a minaret near you!

June 29, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 9 Comments

Southern Baptists support Israel “for such a time as this!”

The Southern Baptist Convention (the largest evangelical denomination in America), just passed a resolution that boldly proclaims support for Israel. This is not highly unusual for the SBC that has a solid reputation for supporting Israel and the Jewish people. Yet, it comes at a time when other evangelical denominations such as PC USA have chosen to pledge allegiance to the Palestinian cause and are heavily promoting its narrative with whatever baggage comes with it (Christian Palestinianism, BDS, Campus Intifada to name a few.)

The SBC has a long history of biblical support of Israel coming from a rather conservative and mostly dispensational view of the land and its people. That biblical foundation can be found in the new resolution, especially in articles 1-4, 8 and 11 reading as follows:
• The Old Testament declares God’s promise to Abram, “I will make you into a great nation…. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1–3)
• Israel represents the descendants of Jacob as an ethnic, cultural, and national entity (Genesis 32:28)
• The New Testament affirms that salvation is from the Jews and that God’s Word concerning Israel will be fulfilled (John 4:22; Romans 9–11)
• We are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the salvation of Israel (Psalm 122:6–7; Romans 10:1)
• We thankfully remember that we are indebted to the Jewish people, who gave us much of our Bible and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
• At this critical time when dangerous forces are mounting up against the nation of Israel, we recommit ourselves to pray for God’s peace to rule in Jerusalem and for the salvation of Israel, for the Gospel is “God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew” (Romans 1:16).

This 2016 resolution (#5) is different because it is extremely bold. It clearly speaks out against the vile agenda of the new antisemitism. The biblical approach taken by SBC regarding Abraham, the Jewish people and Jerusalem has become somewhat of an expected position by the SBC–not that every single one of its sixteen million members adhere to it in one accord. But this wan’t just a theological resolution, it was also a political move by SBC, as delineated in articles 5, 6 and 9. This is what makes it very unique:
• The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement seeks to isolate the nation of Israel economically and socially.
• We are concerned by anti-Israel activities in this country within certain university campuses, academic and professional associations, and popular culture.
• We support the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign state and reject any activities that attack that right by promoting economic, cultural, and academic boycotts against Israel.

SBC made a bold statement against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement. To date, twenty three US states as well as some evangelical denominations have taken a stand against BDS. More and more people are seeing the destructive agenda of the Palestinian Authority through the BDS propaganda. They are also realizing that it is extremely biased at best and certainly seldom relying on factual truth if ever! I would have liked to see the SBC statement to read more like: “The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement seeks to unjustly isolate the nation of Israel economically and socially. But even without that clarification, their statement is already going further than many other denominations.

Continuing its political stand for Israel, the SBC resolution also denounced the [antisemitic] activities across many American university campuses. This is also known as Campus Intifada and is more present on the West coast in places like UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine. It consists of pro-Palestinian groups gathering on US campuses where antisemitic speakers come to boldly accuse Israel. These are US university campuses you say…So what about Freedom of Speech? I would tend to agree, except that when pro-Israel groups or speakers attempt to speak or simply dialogue, they are harassed and abused with very little disciplinary action from university faculty or management.

It was very brave for the Southern Baptist Convention to put out such a resolution. The current evangelical trend is to not show support to Israel. Christian Zionists are turning into Christian Palestinianists as the biblical narrative is increasingly suffering from historical revisionism. This is why conferences like Christ at the Checkpoint are becoming more and more attractive to mainstream evangelicals including “once reputable” names such as Hank Hanegraaff.

This pendulum swing creates a grave danger for Israel and diaspora Jews at a time when they already suffer from a resurgence of violent antisemitism. Jewish people suffer at the hands of the liberal left, the extreme-right AND radical Islam. Biblical Christianity understood and applied properly should offer a “No-Strings-Attached” sanctuary to Jews worldwide. In light of current events and the rise of End-Times antisemitism, the SBC made a very unpopular move. In other words, they made a biblically correct move, knowing very well that it was politically incorrect. Jews and Southern Baptists might still disagree on who the Messiah is but this obviously doesn’t negate the Southern Baptists’ unconditional love for Israel, simply because the SBC answers to a higher authority and takes the Bible very seriously. They made the right move for such a time as this!

May 1, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 3 Comments

UNESCO and Israel: Factual Truth or Fatal Lies?

The United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was started in 1945 as some sort of “intellectual” agency from the United Nations. Their motto is “Building peace in the minds of men and women.” Over the last 70 years, they contributed to, enhanced and preserved our planet from many different perspectives. They indeed have done much good, but lately, as if possessed by the spirit of multicultural tolerance, political correctness and/or historical revisionism, they seem to be interested in throwing Israel under the bus.

Most people have forgotten or didn’t even know that in October 2011, UNESCO recognized Palestine as their 195th member country. Back then, I warned that this would only open the door to more damage done against Israel and the Jewish people. There is no Palestinian culture, history, language, customs or even foods. All of the above are Arab, not Palestinian. But the pro-Palestinian propaganda has been going for long enough for even an organization such as UNESCO to believe it. If Israel is indeed Palestine (which it is not!), then many if not all Jewish archeological and historical sites will become Palestinian/Muslim sites. That is part of the package of historical revisionism, first you lie about history, then fabricate a story to replace factual truth and finally expose the players within real history to a great danger because suddenly they have been delegitimized.

An agency founded on peace and justice for all is endorsing terrorism and violence and is in the process of rewriting history. On their World Heritage List, UNESCO chooses to list the “Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route” as being in Palestine not Israel. But this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise when we see that since 1978, UNESCO has selected November 29th as “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”.

Then in 2012, UNESCO declared that the Jewish site of Rachel’s tomb was also a Christian AND Muslim site and that to say otherwise would be a hindrance to the peace process. Palestinians decided that the site was holy to them and was part of their heritage, even though Islam was only founded 1500 years ago. The site goes back way further than 1500 years and is mentioned in Genesis 35:19 as the place where the Jewish matriarch was buried. It has zero Palestinian connection!

To add insult to injury, UNESCO decided in 2013 that Israel and the United States–while retaining their membership–will lose their voting power because they had both stopped paying their dues after the 2011 inclusion of Palestine. I guess they [UNESCO] got a bit upset when the US contribution equal to 22% of their total budget stopped. I commend the United States and Israel for taking a stand in an age of cowardice and hypocrisy.

Finally, in what I see as another by-product of UNESCO’s historical revisionism of the last 40 years, they declared on April 15, 2016 that the Temple Mount, the holiest of Jewish sites had no Jewish connection. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you–a bridge, I might add, that has no connection to America! (is that how historical revisionism starts?)

This didn’t go well with Benjamin Netanyahu who immediately and rightfully so declared “This is yet another absurd UN decision, UNESCO ignores the unique historic connection of Judaism to the Temple Mount, where the two temples stood for a thousand years and to which every Jew in the world has prayed for thousands of years. The UN is rewriting a basic part of human history and has again proven that there is no low to which it will not stop.”

One of my professor in Bible college years ago called it the “Salami Effect.” You take a people group, a country or a part of history, in our case Israel and the Jewish people and you start cutting away small truths about them. The slices are so thin that nobody really notices any changes. Eventually, one slice of factual truth at a time, you have delegitimized Israel and the Jewish people.

The last time that the Jewish people were delegitimized was during World War Two, when they were relegated to the status of vermin, virus or even sub-human. The result was the Shoah or Holocaust. If the Jewish people keep losing their land and their history, then they will once again lose their legitimacy as a people, and will be one step closer to being decimated again. Only days before Yom Ha Shoah on Nissan 27, we are reminded of the importance of factual truth!

These moves not only delegitimize Israel and the Jewish people, but hey also embolden her enemies. When Israel makes a legitimate claim, it runs the risk of being countered by people who now have been reassigned legitimacy. All this is being done with absolutely no historical foundation, simply in an attempt to weaken Israel. If factual truth mattered, UNESCO would obviously admit that the Temple Mount existed centuries before Islam was even born in 610 CE. Archeological and historical evidence are here to prove it and it should be exactly what the United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization uses to determine the legitimacy of historical sites. Why is it different for Israel? I think that once again the jewish state is a victim of the ills of double standards. So what exactly is UNESCO trying to accomplish in the Middle East? Are they really applying their motto “Building peace in the minds of men and women” to their actions? How could this possibly be the case?

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