Last July, I published an article regarding a recent court ruling banning ritual circumcision in Germany in which I expressed my grave concern about the decision and its parallel to the Nuremberg Laws of the 1930s.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel immediately expressed her concern about the Cologne ruling and how it would undoubtedly affect freedom of religion in Germany. It sounded good at first. She vowed to find a solution as quickly as possible. While I was temporarily satisfied with her voicing her concern, I was not extremely hopeful that the ruling would be reversed or that a compromise would even be found. Two rabbis have already been charged since the June ruling.
Let me reiterate that by virtue of its very bloody track record with the Jews, Germany is obviously disqualified to make such a move. Not that any country really would even have the right to forbid Jews to perform the age old brit milah (circumcision as ordained by God Himself in Genesis 17:9-14). Angela Merkel also expressed her fear that if the ban was upheld, Germany could become “a laughing stock”. Poor choice of words Madam Chancellor, because this issue is certainly NO LAUGHING MATTER!
It so happens that the next move was made yesterday by Germany when it was declared in Berlin that circumcision wasn’t illegal as long as the parents consented and that it was performed by a doctor and not a mohel (a mohel is a Jewish man, usually a rabbi, qualified to perform the ritual of brit milah). So, doctors YES, but rabbis NO!
What seems to be a victory for the Jewish community –and the Muslim community who also performs ritual circumcisions on boys before puberty–is actually a defeat! Circumcision viewed as a medical procedure might be allowed now, but it sends a chilling message to the Jewish community that they continue to be forbidden to perform it from a religious standpoint, something we have been free to do for thousands of years.
Unless Germany’s federal government decides to intervene and revert the ban, Jews in Germany will continue to be harassed, persecuted and even arrested for performing a religious rite that goes back to Genesis. I see no victory there!
It was only 70 years ago when Germany forced the Jews out of society little by little. Back then, it was socially acceptable to loathe the Jews. We can even say that it was a duty to the Third Reich that every good German ought to perform. Anti-Semitism was the fuel that helped to move Hitler’s war machine. We are only two or three generations removed from that event, and Germany is again dabbling with anti-Jewish laws. The sad part, is that we are not even talking about a revisionist country like Iran, claiming that the Holocaust never happened. We are dealing with a country who took decades to recover from the horrors it inflicted upon my people. And if you ask me, it has not recovered and learned from its horrific mistakes but instead it has gone into an inexcusable state of denial that I label convenient historical amnesia!
But, some will ask: “why see this legal decision as anti-Semitic since it is also affecting close to 4 million Muslims?”. After all, Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit just declared that Berlin Jews can absolutely feel safe in his city and that he can even be seen wearing a kippa (skullcap) in solidarity with the Jewish community. Worry not Jews of Berlin your city is safe! Unless of course you are Jewish and wearing a kippa like the rabbi and his six-year old daughter attacked on the streets of Berlin last week by a group of four youth of Arab descent. What an empty statement of reassurance!
By the way, we have yet to hear about Muslims breaking the law by performing their version of ritual circumcision.
The very country that should proclaim their own version of NEVER AGAIN when it comes to Jewish hatred, is the one restraining Jewish life AGAIN. What a shame! What will happen in other countries who don’t even have the shadow of the Holocaust looming in their own backyard? Germans have conveniently forgotten their guilt as they start to target Jews again while the rest of the world justifies anti-Semitism under the names of anti-Zionism and anti-Israelism.
Germany is sending worldwide anti-Semites a clear message: “If WE of all people can forget the past, reenact it and get away with it, what do you all have to worry about?”
I cannot help but be reminded of the verse found in Hebrews 10:31:
It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God
Those who go after my people like the German government at the current time, will have to answer to God for their actions, while those who love Israel (Genesis 12:3) and help my people, will find themselves in the center of God’s will. Where would you rather be?
Hitler in India: Ignorance or Defiance?
This last week, just when I thought that moral debasement had reached an all time low, once again and to my great dismay, I was proven wrong.
Just a few days ago, the Estonian gas company GasTerm Eesti used a picture of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp entrance stating “Arbeit macht frei” (Work makes you free) on their website with the caption: “Gas heating–flexible, convenient and effective”. In all fairness to them, after they received several complaints from various sources, they decided to pull the photo and issue a statement of apology.
This being said, who in his right mind would want to associate ANYTHING to the stigma of the infamous Auschwitz photograph? Let alone a commercial for gas! This was done with such bad taste that I thought we had reached a record low in human depravity. But wait, it actually gets worse! For this, we must travel 5,000 miles south east of Estonia to Ahmedabad, India.
Rajesh Shah is the young co-owner of a brand new clothing store where he sells Western men’s wear. T-Shirts, shirts, jeans and other iconic fashion elements from the West. I always salute entrepreneurship, but in this case, I must make an exception.
The entire branding of his store (storefront, letterhead, cards, logo, etc) bear the word: HITLER with a swastika in a circle as dot on the i of HITLER.
This raises the question of why would anybody want to use the name Hitler to sell anything unless they are promoting neo-Nazi paraphernalia? To this question I only see two possible answers: Ignorance or defiance.
It is part of who I am to give anybody the benefit of the doubt before I draw any conclusions. so, I will look for any validity in Mr Shah’s claim of ignorance.
Mr Shah claimed that until he opened the store, he really didn’t know too much about Hitler and his legacy. He also stated that it wasn’t until then that he found out about the 6,000,000 people that Hitler killed. Apparently, Shah’s partner had a grandfather who was so strict that he was nicknamed “Hitler”, thus the name for the store.
This would definitely be an unfortunate choice if it was true. But is there truly a younger Indian generation who knows NOTHING about Adolph Hitler? I find this hard to believe! Not to mention the fact that if the name HITLER was used without premeditation and without prior knowledge of the dictator’s legacy of blood and hatred, why in the world would the “i” be dotted with a swastika?
I can already see defenders of Mr. Shah quickly come to his rescue and mention that the symbol originated in India and that maybe he was simply adding an Indian touch to his logo? It is correct that the swastika (meaning “to be good” in Sanskrit) originated in India and goes as far back in history as the period known as Classical Antiquity (8th -7th Century B.C.). This being said, we must also note that the Indian rendition of the symbol is always upright (forming a square) and NEVER TILTED (forming a diamond). The tilted swastika was adopted by the Nazi party (either clockwise or counter-clockwise). And it is of course the tilted one that Mr. Shah chose to use.
Maybe he was not aware of the subtle difference? I sincerely doubt it, especially in light of the additional comments he made about the choice of HITLER for his branding as he went on to defend his choice for such a name:
“None of the other people are complaining, only a few families. I have not hurt any sentiments of the majority Hindu community. If he did something in Germany, is that our concern?”
I feel pretty confident that ignorance can be ruled out and this only leaves one other reason: Defiance. Mr. Shah feels that he has not offended the majority of his people. What about the rest of the world? What about the Jewish community? Have we become so narrow-minded and self absorbed that we only care about our immediate community? Yet Mr. Shah is educated enough to know Western culture and its fashion industry. Does he suffer from selective ignorance or careless defiance?
Mr. Shah most certainly saw some shock value in such a name. He claims that he will change the name only if compensated for his expenses. I don’t see much remorse in that statement!. This also comes from a country where Hitler’s biography “Mine Kampf” is still popular in bookstores and amongst street vendors.
What I see here is a tremendous lack of sensitivity and human decency at best, and defiance against the Jewish people (not to call it anti-Semitism) at worst.
Any way you look at it, Mr. Shah is only paving the way for more insensitivity towards Jewish people and the Holocaust. At a time when survivors of the Shoah are dwindling away, such a position is only reinforcing the liberal agenda of Holocaust deniers, something that we can certainly all do without.
Mr. Shah is the exact reason why I will continue to be vocal about such insensitive displays. To educate, speak up and take action.
UC Irvine Palestine Week 2012: A False Premise but a Real Motive!
For several years, the Muslim Student Union (MSU) at University of California Irvine (UCI) has organized a week-long event introduced as “Palestine Liberation Week”. This year’s theme is “Getting to the Root of the Occupation”. They advertise the event on the MSU website as:
This week, titled “Palestine Liberation Week: Getting to the Root of the Occupation” aims to educate and raise awareness on campus about the plight of the Palestinian people, who have been living under illegal occupation for almost 64 years, with the hope that this knowledge will turn into action.
I am all in favor of education, awareness and call to action, after all this is the reason why I teach and write on the subject of anti-Semitism. But this being said, we must honestly examine both the premise and the motive for such an event. If the event provides a platform for a balanced dialogue with equal opportunities for both sides to presents their perspectives, then we might even start to see some progress. Unfortunately, all I saw was one-sided xenophobia against Israel, Zionism and Jewish people.
THE FALSE PREMISE
I must admit that when I heard some of the speakers for this year’s event and how they promoted the need for justice, equality, tolerance and peace, I could have been impressed if it wasn’t for the fact that they rested their arguments on a faulty premise.
The preconceived notion that has underlined every single UCI anti-Israel event including this one, has been the same and it is the “fact” that Israel has been occupying Palestine for 64 years” (namely since the rebirth of the modern state of Israel). This is hardly a fact! Consider this and the following statements heavily documented in the excellent work by Mitchell Bard titled Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict:
When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to choose Palestinian representatives for the Paris Peace Conference, the following resolution was adopted: We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are
connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geographical bonds. Chapter 1
How about this fact?
In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine:“There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible.Our country was for centuries part of Syria.”The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations echoed this view in a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947, which said Palestine was part of the Province of Syria and the Arabs of Palestine did not comprise a separate political entity. A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council:“It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria.”
Bard continues and asserts Israel’s right to exist as he writes:
Israel’s international “birth certificate” was validated by the promise of the Bible; uninterrupted Jewish settlement from the time of Joshua onward; the Balfour Declaration of 1917; the League of Nations Mandate, which incorporated the Balfour Declaration; the United Nations partition resolution of 1947; Israel’s admission to the UN in 1949; the recognition of Israel by most other states; and, most of all, the society created by Israel’s people in decades of thriving, dynamic national existence. (chapter 1)
TRUTH: PALESTINIAN NATIONALISM IS AN IDEOLOGY THAT ONLY STARTED AFTER WORLD WAR I AND WAS PUSHED TO THE FOREFRONT OF THE MIDDLE-EAST CRISIS BY THE LATE YASIR ARAFAT AFTER THE SIX-DAY WAR. IT WAS DEVELOPED TO SERVE AS THE FOUNDATION FOR THE REAL MOTIVE
THE REAL MOTIVE
The motive behind reclaiming Palestinian land that has been “stolen” by Jewish people is not based on disputed real-estate or historical boundaries, it is simply the best way to invade Eretz Yisrael and eliminate the Jewish people from within. If land mass was the real issue, several of the neighboring Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon or Jordan would have invited the “so-called” Palestinian to come and stay.
Anti-Zionists are painting over an existing canvas in an effort to change the original. They promote a lie banking on the world’s ignorance, apathy and attraction to the underdog, and they are making progress as we can see on campuses such as UCI. Their only goal is the complete destruction of Israel and what better way to do this than the delegitimization of the Jewish people and their right to the land?
TRUTH: ANTI-ZIONISTS ARE NOT INTERESTED IN JUSTICE AND EQUALITY BUT SIMPLY WANT TO STEAL THE LAND AND DISPLACE THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN AN EFFORT TO FACILITATE THEIR COMPLETE DESTRUCTION.
So, they orchestrate events like what is going on at UCI and also takes place on a myriad of other campuses all over the US. This is known as “Campus Intifada” and is part of the Global Jihad against Israel and the West.
Counting on the ignorance of their audience, the organizers invite and promote speakers who’s reputations precede them all.
Ben White spoke twice on May 7, 2012. He is a British journalist and activist who was also a speaker at the recent “Christ at the Checkpoint” in March 2012 in Bethlehem. Neither a Christian nor a Muslim, White distilled lies after lies about the plight of the Palestinians in “Apartheid Israel/Palestine” as he called it. He heavily promoted B.D.S. (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) as a method to cripple Israel. The same Ben White started his career with an article titled “Is it possible to understand the rise of anti-Semitism?” where he was justifying anti-Semitism when quoted saying: I do not consider myself an anti-Semite, yet I can also understand why some are. There are, in fact, a number of reasons.
Mr. White, anti-Semitism is racism against the Jews and you claim that you are against racism. Which racism may I ask?
The next day, on May 8, the main speaker was Imam Amir Abdel Malik Ali who has been a regular guest speaker at UCI. That man displayed no desire for reconciliation and/or dialogue but instead spewed his anti-Semitic venom and propaganda against Israel and the Jewish people.
I am still trying to recover from some of his statements like: “Al-Qaeda doesn’t exist!” This is the same man who boldly supports Hamas, Hizbullah and suicide bombers. So we must ask how these kinds of diatribes can possibly promote anything positive? Why is the Muslim Student Union inviting men like him year after year? Is it possible that the MSU has ties with the Muslim Brotherhood?
Actually, it is a fact as reported in the thorough and very sobering booklet “Muslim Hate Groups on Campus” by Daniel Greenfield (available here)
Let me remind you of the motto of the “Peaceful” Muslim Brotherhood:
“God is our objective.
The Prophet is our leader.
The Qur’an is our law.
Jihad is our way.
Dying in the way of God is our hope.”
Today, on May 9, the speaker was Holocaust survivor gone Palestinian activist Hedy Epstein. I was greatly saddened by the sight of a fellow Jew who survived the Holocaust and yet was sharing the platform with hate mongers such as Ben White, Amir Abdel Malik Ali and the likes. How can a Jew endorse, promote and share ideologies with groups who openly support the actions of Hamas, Hizbullah and suicide bombers? When during the Q&A, I asked Miss Epstein how as a Jew she could associate herself with those who openly want to kill her, her response was that she didn’t know yesterday’s speaker and/or topic, then she quickly changed the subject to Palestinian hunger strike victims. The connection completely escapes me!
Ignorance and/or denial will not protect you from the enemies of Israel and the Jews Miss Epstein, so you’d better watch your back!
In the past, I have been falsely accused of sending my fellow Jews to their death again because of my burden to share Messiah with them. I have been accused of cultural suicide, but frankly, the real suicide is that of Jews like Miss Epstein who hold hands with those who openly desire FOR ALL JEWS TO BE DEAD.
Additionally, some of the “Irvine 11” pro-Palestinian students arrested in 2010 after they disrupted a speech by Israel’s Ambassador Michael Oren in 2010, are also on the schedule under the topic “Giving a voice to the voiceless”. They were pretty loud for a group of voiceless victims if I recall.
Overall, the entire week is nothing but another installment of the anti-Semitic agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and MSU supported by ignorant sheep following the wrong shepherd. How sad to see so many people driven to hatred and often even violence in the name of a false god. The god of the so-called “religion of peace”.
But what is sadder to me is that a university system would allow such displays of racism and bigotry on multiple campuses year after year. If this is what we are teaching the next generation of young Americans, the establishment of Sharia will not even have to be done by force, and this is a pathetic commentary on how corrupted our world has become.
Our human hearts are in need of cleansing and this can only be done by Yeshua the Jewish Messiah.
Anti-Zionists are painting over an existing canvas in an effort to change the original. They promote a lie banking on the world’s ignorance, apathy and attraction to the underdog, and they are making progress as we can see on campuses such as UCI. Their only goal is the complete destruction of Israel and what better way to do this than the delegitimization of the Jewish people and their right to the land?
TRUTH: ANTI-ZIONISTS ARE NOT INTERESTED IN JUSTICE AND EQUALITY BUT SIMPLY WANT TO STEAL THE LAND AND DISPLACE THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN AN EFFORT TO FACILITATE THEIR COMPLETE DESTRUCTION.
So, they orchestrate events like what is going on at UCI and also takes place on a myriad of other campuses all over the US. This is known as “Campus Intifada” and is part of the Global Jihad against Israel and the West.
Counting on the ignorance of their audience, the organizers invite and promote speakers who’s reputations precede them all.
Ben White spoke twice on May 7, 2012. He is a British journalist and activist who was also a speaker at the recent “Christ at the Checkpoint” in March 2012 in Bethlehem. Neither a Christian nor a Muslim, White distilled lies after lies about the plight of the Palestinians in “Apartheid Israel/Palestine” as he called it. He heavily promoted B.D.S. (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) as a method to cripple Israel. The same Ben White started his career with an article titled “Is it possible to understand the rise of anti-Semitism?” where he was justifying anti-Semitism when quoted saying: I do not consider myself an anti-Semite, yet I can also understand why some are. There are, in fact, a number of reasons.
Mr. White, anti-Semitism is racism against the Jews and you claim that you are against racism. Which racism may I ask?
The next day, on May 8, the main speaker was Imam Amir Abdel Malik Ali who has been a regular guest speaker at UCI. That man displayed no desire for reconciliation and/or dialogue but instead spewed his anti-Semitic venom and propaganda against Israel and the Jewish people.
I am still trying to recover from some of his statements like: “Al-Qaeda doesn’t exist!” This is the same man who boldly supports Hamas, Hizbullah and suicide bombers. So we must ask how these kinds of diatribes can possibly promote anything positive? Why is the Muslim Student Union inviting men like him year after year? Is it possible that the MSU has ties with the Muslim Brotherhood?
Actually, it is a fact as reported in the thorough and very sobering booklet “Muslim Hate Groups on Campus” by Daniel Greenfield (available here)
Let me remind you of the motto of the “Peaceful” Muslim Brotherhood:
“God is our objective.
The Prophet is our leader.
The Qur’an is our law.
Jihad is our way.
Dying in the way of God is our hope.”
Today, on May 9, the speaker was Holocaust survivor gone Palestinian activist Hedy Epstein. I was greatly saddened by the sight of a fellow Jew who survived the Holocaust and yet was sharing the platform with hate mongers such as Ben White, Amir Abdel Malik Ali and the likes. How can a Jew endorse, promote and share ideologies with groups who openly support the actions of Hamas, Hizbullah and suicide bombers? When during the Q&A, I asked Miss Epstein how as a Jew she could associate herself with those who openly want to kill her, her response was that she didn’t know yesterday’s speaker and/or topic, then she quickly changed the subject to Palestinian hunger strike victims. The connection completely escapes me!
Ignorance and/or denial will not protect you from the enemies of Israel and the Jews Miss Epstein, so you’d better watch your back!
In the past, I have been falsely accused of sending my fellow Jews to their death again because of my burden to share Messiah with them. I have been accused of cultural suicide, but frankly, the real suicide is that of Jews like Miss Epstein who hold hands with those who openly desire FOR ALL JEWS TO BE DEAD.
Additionally, some of the “Irvine 11” pro-Palestinian students arrested in 2010 after they disrupted a speech by Israel’s Ambassador Michael Oren in 2010, are also on the schedule under the topic “Giving a voice to the voiceless”. They were pretty loud for a group of voiceless victims if I recall.
Overall, the entire week is nothing but another installment of the anti-Semitic agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and MSU supported by ignorant sheep following the wrong shepherd. How sad to see so many people driven to hatred and often even violence in the name of a false god. The god of the so-called “religion of peace”.
But what is sadder to me is that a university system would allow such displays of racism and bigotry on multiple campuses year after year. If this is what we are teaching the next generation of young Americans, the establishment of Sharia will not even have to be done by force, and this is a pathetic commentary on how corrupted our world has become.
Our human hearts are in need of cleansing and this can only be done by Yeshua the Jewish Messiah.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
(Jeremiah 17:9)
And if Messiah is in you, though the body is dead because of sin,
yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
(Romans 8:10)
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!
[2]Bareille, J: Oeuvres Complètes de Saint Jean Chrysostome, Tome 1er (Librairie de Louis Vivès, Editeur, Paris, 1865) Pages 514-582. http://ia700402.us.archive.org/20/items/ChrysostomeOeuvresCompltesT1/ChrysostomeT1.pdf
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