Israel

February 26, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Just Another Day in the Age of Pandemics!

Let’s start by looking at a simple definition of the word “pandemic”. According to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, pandemic means: “occurring over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affecting a significant proportion of the population.” The idea is that a pandemic is an epidemic that spreads fast and wide, often out of control for a while and decimating large segments of the population. So yes, Covid-19 definitely qualifies as a pandemic, much like the 1918 Spanish flu was. It has now been one year since we officially started to fight our twenty-first-century pandemic. Who knew that two weeks would turn into 52 weeks, with no real sign of complete eradication at this time. So, we fight, we adjust, we comply and we hope for the best. This seems to be the “current normal”, not the “new normal” because if we look at the last twelve months, “new normal” emerged at a pace that has been difficult to follow. We have had to get used to an ever-evolving sense of “new normal”.

Interestingly enough, Covid-19 has been linked to the Jewish people in more ways than one, and none of them in a good way. Many will claim that the accusations against Israel and the Jewish people, related to Covid-19, are simply ludicrous and unfounded. I agree with that statement, but nonetheless, the accusations abound and those believing them are not necessarily a minority. The truth is, that Israel is at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 and probably is the country that has vaccinated the largest number of its citizens, but let us not allow the facts to stop Israel’s foes from spreading rumors, blood libels and false accusations.

• 20% of all English people believe that Jews created Covid-19:As people were surveyed, according to The Oxford Coronavirus Explanations, Attitudes, and Narratives Survey (OCEANS), “Presented with the statement “Jews have created the virus to collapse the economy for financial gain,” 5.3% of the interviewees “agreed a little,” 6.8% “agreed moderately,” 4.6% “agreed a lot,” and 2.4% “agreed completely,” while some 80.8% did not agree with it at all.”
• People accuse the Jews of using the vaccine to control the world population: The CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, is a Greek man of Jewish ancestry. This is enough for crazy conspiracy theorists to claim that the Jews created the vaccine and will use it to streamline the world population and control the world. This is in line with the same theories advanced in 1904 in the hoax “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”.
• Vaccination is compared to Auschwitz policies: Piers Corbyn (brother of antisemitic Labour Party member Jeremy Corbyn) produced and distributed a leaflet equating the use of the vaccine to entry into Auschwitz-Birkenau by changing the entry gate sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work makes you free) to “Vaccines are the safe path to freedom”. Using what happened to Jews during the Holocaust as fuel to motivate anti-vaxxers is morally despicable.
• Ohio men accuse Jews of being the real plague: During a street protest in Columbus, Ohio against Covid-19 restrictions, two men displayed a sign of a rat looking like a Jew with an Israeli flag. The sign also said: “the real plague”. This is strongly reminiscent of the accusations against the Jewish community during the Black Plague of 1348-51 when Jews were accused of poisoning the wells of Europe simply because of the smaller number of Jewish casualties due to kosher laws and liturgical hygiene.
• Social networks abound with antisemitic memes about the Jews either being or controlling the virus: Vicious attacks on Jewish people and on Israel are everywhere on social networks and most of them are not being censored because of the First Amendment. I am all for claiming Freedom of Speech as long as we are consistent and do not allow for double standards. Unfortunately, this is far from being the case.
• Rashida Tlaib claims that Israel doesn’t vaccinate Palestinians: She tweeted, “It’s really important to understand that Israel is a racist state, in that they would deny Palestinians like my grandmother access to a vaccine, that they don’t believe she’s an equal human being who deserves to live.” The opposite is true. Israel has offered vaccines to Palestinians and many have accepted them. The Palestinian Authority also refused a recent planeload of vaccines from the United Arab Emirates, simply because it was coordinated with Israel for distribution.
• Saturday Night Live comedian claims Israel only vaccinates Jews: On February 20, SNL host Michael Che said: “Israel is reporting that they’ve vaccinated half of their population, and I’m gonna guess it’s the Jewish half.” It really looks like using the blood libel to demonize the Jewish people is still in fashion. Incidentally, Michael Che has repeatedly insulted Jewish people before, but he is very careful not to denigrate other minorities. Entertainers have been fired for less than this. SNL used to be a funny satirical comedy show, but that ship sailed a long time ago.

I could keep going and show more examples of the same nature, but I think that the case is made. While the world is busy fighting a pandemic, it is also ignoring another one. The new antisemitism is a virus of pandemic proportions. Why is it being ignored by so many? Probably because people don’t feel that it concerns them since they are not really affected by it. Many people might not be antisemitic per se, and as a result, they don’t feel that they are responsible to do anything. At first glance, there seems to be no vaccine against the virus of antisemitism. People simply carry the antibodies, or they don’t. People of goodwill–Christian or not– will identify the hatred of antisemitism and will expose it and fight, because to them it is the most natural thing to do. In a sense, they are the ones who naturally carry the antibodies against antisemitism in all its forms.

Then, you have those who might not be antisemitic by commission. They would never accuse the Jews of manufacturing a virus or monetizing a vaccine for ulterior motives. Yet, as they remain unaware or uninterested in the anti-Jewish tropes propagated by antisemites, they softly contribute to the problem. We live in a world where we can no longer sit on the fence and go about our simple lives without getting involved. We ought to speak-up against hatred any chance we have.

However, what if there was a vaccine, or better yet – a real cure against the pandemic of antisemitism? What if there was a way to look at the world that would not allow for hatred, racism, or antisemitism? Well, I believe that there is a way for us to interact with one another with civility and respect. That way is found by those who place their trust in the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah. Now, I know that some people will accuse me of bias or blindness when I say that Christianity is the only safe worldview for treating people equally, fairly and ethically. After all, isn’t the New Testament antisemitic? Isn’t it where we read about the synagogue of Satan? Sure it is, but in context, it isn’t even speaking of Jewish people! But, hey, if we can find a verse associating the Jewish place of worship and the devil, we’re in great shape to demonize the Jews and claim full immunity under the guise of the Christian banner.

This certainly does a great disservice to true Bible-believing followers of Yeshua and His teachings. If we believe the word of God to be true, and we should, then, the Jewish people are truly painted in different light throughout all of scripture. We are described as: The apple of God’s eye (Zechariah 2:8), daughter of Zion (Zephaniah 3:14), God’s chosen people (1 Kings 3:8), a treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6), a holy people (Deuteronomy 7:6), God’s hidden ones (Psalm 83:3), a great nation (Genesis 12:2) and beloved (Romans 11:28).

When asked about the greatest of all commandments by his Jewish audience (and there are 613 in the Mosaic Law), Yeshua responded with those powerful words, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The fact that many people have hijacked, and corrupted Christianity doesn’t disqualify the claims of Yeshua and the validity of the faith. We are indeed together in our unprecedented fight against the current pandemic of Covid-19, but sadly there is plenty of room for improvement for a concerted fight against the oldest, long-lasting pandemic of antisemitism.

February 19, 2021 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

PURIM: God Is Sovereign Even Behind-the-Scenes

Thursday, February 25, 2021, marks the celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim. Jewish people around the world will gather to recall God’s protection in days of old. This is a time when people eat special foods, dress up and read the Megillat Ester or scroll of Esther in the synagogue, where a lot of noise is made at the calling of the names of the three main protagonists: Mordechai, Esther and Haman. Gifts are often exchanged as well as donations made to charity.

• PURIM IN THE BIBLE: The first time we read about Purim, is at the end of the book of Esther–a book about God’s miraculous preservation of the Jewish people–even though this is the only book of the Bible where God is never mentioned by name. This doesn’t prevent God from orchestrating an incredible story of survival, redemption and blessing, albeit behind-the-scenes. The story of Purim is also a very strong post-Genesis example of God’s promise to Abraham to bless those who bless him and curse him who curses Abraham (Genesis 12:3). Haman, the archenemy of the Jews built gallows to hang Mordechai, and at the end, he and all of his sons were hanging on these very gallows…A curse for a curse! People ought to take the promise made by God to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 very seriously. In a sense, it is God’s foreign policy when it comes to Israel, and it has proven absolutely true all throughout history (biblical and post-biblical).

Haman’s approach to the “Jewish problem” is worth looking at from the perspective of Satan, the ultimate enemy of the Jews. Early in the scriptures, in Genesis 3, Satan came up with a master plan: Use people – even Eve – to destroy the Jews on a global scale – and antisemitism was born! The reason? Satan is very familiar with the message of the Bible and with God’s master plan for the world in general and for Israel and the Jewish people in particular.

Satan knows that the day that the Jewish people recognize Yeshua as their long-awaited Messiah as told in Zechariah 12:10, will usher in His return, but that will also mark the beginning of the end of Satan’s career of hatred and destruction. In an attempt at postponing it all–since he cannot prevent it, Satan is the mastermind behind the longest hatred. He is the creator of antisemitism and he continually subcontracts his hatred against the Jews to various groups through the ages, making the most irrational thoughts, words and deeds appear very rational to those who listen to him. The book of Esther tells us the story of how Satan used Haman to go after the Jews. He could have succeeded, but God is greater, even behind-the-scenes.

In Esther chapter 3, Haman puts his curse against the Jews in motion, and because of one Jew, namely Mordecai, Haman seeks to destroy all of them. We start seeing the irrational behaviors promoted by an antisemitic heart. Haman seeks to destroy ALL THE JEWS of the Persian Empire where many of them lived at the time.

In a sense, Haman tried to make antisemitism a government-sanctioned policy, something that will be picked up again much later in history by Nazi Germany. We read in Esther 3:1-2, 5-6 “After these events, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage…. When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Furthermore, in verse 8, Haman proceeds to give the reason why the Jews are not wanted in Ahasuerus’ kingdom, and that is simply because THEY ARE DIFFERENT. “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.
Because of his hatred for one man who happened to be Jewish, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews of the kingdom. This was a very extreme decision, driven by an irrational desire to hold all people of the same ethnic group responsible because of one of theirs who actually wasn’t guilty of anything but faithfulness to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Haman was on a mission to destroy all the Jews.

However, he also realized that his endeavor would require some logistical finesse, so in Esther 3:9-13, we read that he asked the king to issue a decree for the destruction of the Jewish people, knowing that a royal decree cannot be canceled or ignored. Not only did he ask for the decree, but he also committed to financing the whole project out of his own wealth. “If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business,…And letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.

While it might not be obvious at first glance, the process by which Haman sought to annihilate all the Jews within his reach and the one used by Hitler and the Nazi regime have many similarities. Consider the parallels between Haman and Hitler in these five points:
• One Man’s jealousy led to uncontrolled hatred (3:5)
• Targeted hatred became global hatred (3:6, 13)
• Hatred was apparently caused because of non-conformity (3:8)
• Attempted annihilation of the Jews was structured and organized (3:9-13)
• Funds were spent and financial wealth was provided for the perpetrators (3:9, 4:7)

Fast forward to the 1930s and 1940s, and we see how Hitler developed his well-organized “factory of death” against the Jewish people.

• PURIM in the 1940s: Soon after coming to power, Hitler quickly banned the celebration of Jewish festivals including Purim. In a speech delivered the day after Kristallnacht, in November 1938, Julius Streicher (1885-1946), Hitler’s“Director of the Central Committee for the Defense against Jewish Atrocity and Boycott Propaganda” declared that since the Jews killed 75,000 Persians in the days of Esther, the same fate could befall the German people and so the Jews had to be stopped. Streicher was also the publisher of the virulently antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer. After the war, he was never accused of any actions or orders against the Jews but for thoughts and words published in his newspaper and as a result, he was convicted of “crimes against humanity” and sentenced to death. The Nuremberg military tribunal declared, “Streicher’s incitement of murder and extermination at the time when Jews in the East were being killed under the most horrible conditions clearly constitutes persecution on political and racial grounds in connection with war crimes as defined by the Charter, and constitutes a crime against humanity.”

Again, the “curse-for-a-curse” biblical principle was applied to Streicher, who, on October 16, 1946, was executed on the gallows at the end of the Nuremberg Trials. Streicher’s final words before he was let down into the gallows trap door was “Purim Fest 1946”, as his final claim that the Jews were out to get him. It would have required a certain knowledge of the Jewish lifestyle and festivals for Streicher to even make that parallel.

As to Hitler’s obsession with the destruction of all European Jews, history is our witness that all methods used by Haman–as irrational as they might have been– were also used by Hitler.

Hitler’s jealousy led to uncontrolled hatred. It is hard to pinpoint why Hitler was so against the Jews. There have been rumors that he had some distant Jewish ancestry, and also that he was mad at the Jewish doctor who unsuccessfully treated his mother who died of cancer in 1908. There is also the possibility that Hitler took his lead from the Muslim Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (1921-1937) Amin al-Husseini. All these are nearly impossible to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, but the fact that almost a whole country of Germans was ready to follow one man into his evil agenda of destruction says a lot about our sinful nature.

• Targeted hatred became global hatred. Whatever hatred Hitler had against one Jew or a few of them, it should have never led to his desire to kill all of us. Yet, the ghetto that separated and ostracized the Jews eventually led to the Einsatzgruppen (death squads responsible for mass shootings of Jews after they were forced to dig their own graves). When shooting people was deemed inefficient and psychologically damaging for the SS officers (you read it right!), large trucks and vans were outfitted with engines that pumped carbon monoxide into the sealed compartment filled with Jewish people. Even that method proved to be too slow for Hitler who developed the concentration camps that became the death camps. The rest is history. That is of course if you don’t buy into the ludicrous Holocaust Denial theory.

• Hatred was apparently caused because of non-conformity
The fact that the Jewish people had survived so much hardship and violence against them for centuries was probably a mystery to Hitler, but possibly a reason why he loathed the Jews so much.
The Jewish people have survived through the ages and continue to hold many of the ancient customs and traditions. To Jewish people, identity is often synonymous with survival, so Jewish rituals and customs are critical. This would appear as non-conformity, but while they might be strictly religious at home and in their own community, Jewish people have always been willing to contribute to society wherever God placed them in the diaspora. Jewish ingenuity has proven that beyond the shadow of a doubt over the years.

• Attempted annihilation of the Jews was structured and organized
Hitler’s “Final solution to the Jewish question” was further organized at the time of the Wannsee Conference in Berlin in 1942 when Reinhard Heydrich took leadership of it to make sure that various government ministries all complied and worked together. The meeting itself only lasted 90 minutes, but it further sealed the fate of European Jewry

• Funds were spent, and financial wealth was provided for the perpetrators
Much money was needed for war and to maintain the infrastructure of the death camps into which Hitler fed the Jewish people. Forced Jewish labor, taxes on Jews and confiscated Jewish wealth were factors in how Hitler financed the war and the Holocaust. Eventually, even those resources ran dry. Hitler was not a very good military commander, but he was very stubborn with his destructive obsession with the Jews. Towards the end of the war, this might have cost him more than he wished, when resources used for the transport of Jews were not available to fight at the Russian front.

PURIM IN 2021: Satan knows that he cannot succeed, but he tries without ceasing. He has indoctrinated much of the world against the Jewish people, creating antisemitism and making it the oldest and most enduring form of hatred against a people group. While he keeps sub-contracting his hatred to different groups of people, the danger remains the same and the Jewish people continue to be the “scapegoats of humanity”. The same approach used in biblical days and during Hitler’s reign is used today by historical revisionists, BDS promoters, Christian Palestinianism proponents and all other enemies of Israel and the Jewish people. If they had their way, Israel would be erased from the map and the Jewish people completely eradicated from existence and from history. But in a very “Purimesque” ending, the Jewish people will continue to flourish as promised by God Himself in Jeremiah 31:35-37 and Israel will prevail because of God.

Be it during biblical times, during the 1930s and 1940s, or even today, through thick and thin, God has always had Israel in the palm of His hand. Even though He was absent by name in the book of Esther and it felt more like “the eclipse of God” during the Holocaust, He never reneged on His promises. So, we can celebrate Purim with confidence and with joy because the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Who was behind-the-scenes in the days of Esther, has our back and still keeps His word today.

Chag Purim Sameach! Happy Purim!

January 29, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

BDS directly affects Israel but should concern all of us!

Boycotts, censorship and cancellations have become very popular words in 2020. From “Cancel Culture” to “Social Network Censorships” to “Boycott, Divestment & Sanction (BDS)”, people are being exposed to what it means to have our civil liberties reduced, altered, or even revoked. We are being exposed to the danger of such actions and the repercussions they will have on us and the next generations. Of all of these attempts at crippling our freedom, the BDS movement is most likely the least of them when it comes to affecting Americans. Outside of a certain segment of the evangelical community–vocally and militantly pro-Israel–the rest of the Church and most Americans either don’t care or don’t know about BDS. If you are one of my subscribers, this might only be a refresher, but this bears repeating.

BDS isn’t an invention of the Church, but it has become increasingly attractive to many Evangelicals, where some believe that it is a valid, yet a peaceful, way to protest against Israel. There are several problems with that train of thought, but let us first look at the source of the BDS movement. You might be surprised by what you discover.

It is ironic that most of the people taking such a political stand have very little knowledge of how it got started and by whom. This movement was started on July 9, 2005, by the Palestinian civil society and orchestrated by the current leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian BDS National Committee. Omar Barghouti is co-founder of and the main spokesperson for BDS. His organization claims that Israel must meet three obligations for BDS to stop:
1.   Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands occupied in June 1967 and dismantling the Wall;
2.   Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3.   Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

Too often, there is an unspoken expectation from the Palestinian side. Much of the “not-so-hidden” agenda of the Palestinian Authority is focused on the destruction of Israel and the Jews. At the time that the Palestinian people were invented in the mid-1960s, the problem of refugees didn’t exist. The Jewish people abandoned the use of the term Palestine when Israel was declared a State in 1948. The word became exclusively descriptive of the Arab side and was adopted by Arafat when he created the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization).

The creation of a Palestinian narrative that has been purported over the last 50 years of historical fabrications has helped the world turn on Israel. However, the Palestinian Authority doesn’t really care about the well-being of even their own “citizens”. If they did, they would never use some of their own people as human shields or use schools and hospitals to store weapons and explosives. They are obsessed with the demonization of Israel, the turning of David into Goliath! If they succeed, they are just one step closer to appearing justified when they attempt to annihilate Israel. It is actually quite scary to see how much the West has been swayed towards the Palestinian agenda over the last few decades. Although, some of the Palestinian agenda has been pushed back recently by the signing of the Abraham Accords and the additional countries joining ranks in establishing formal relations with Israel.

The Palestinian Authority takes great pains to misinform, or simply not inform, the people they are trying to influence with the facts surrounding their standoff with Israel. The proper word for it is “propaganda”! The hope is that most people would accept their lies and historical revisionism simply as facts, and too often they do! UN Resolution 194 contains one short paragraph out of 15 on compensation to refugees – not even Palestinian refugees in particular – but refugees in general. People truly need to verify statements before they buy them and then sell them back as facts. Interestingly enough, the only specific identifying term used in that resolution is “Palestine”, and within the context of that 1948 document, it is clear that it refers to the geographical area known as Israel, not a people group.

BDS was born out of a Palestinian desire to enroll otherwise unengaged and apathetic people in their fight against Israel. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas’ goal might be the total destruction of Israel, but that is not a good marketing technique to recruit supporters for their agenda. Creativity calls for other means of striking the Jewish people.

What if they could get support from different groups of people? This would greatly advance their agenda, wouldn’t it? BDS does just that and it does it well, in the government, the entertainment industry, the universities, and even some Christian denominations such as The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) whose General Assembly voted in the spring of 2014 to divest from three companies engaged in business within Israel (Caterpillar Inc., Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola Solutions). This is the same PCUSA that unsuccessfully tried to blot out the name Israel from their prayer and hymn books in 2014, leading to a split within the denomination.

Originators of BDS count on the altruistic feelings associated with boycotting for a social justice issue. It becomes easy for anyone to feel good by refraining from buying Israeli products. This seems like a peaceful and worthy protest that could (from their perspective) make a difference and force Israel away from occupation, apartheid and crimes against humanity. Of course, the current BDS supporters are plagued with decisions to boycott that force them to be very inconsistent at best. Divestment is usually a matter of reinvesting your funds elsewhere, and there are plenty of opportunities for such a move. When it comes to boycotting, it is a bit trickier, especially if you want to be consistent and do it with integrity. People will easily stop buying Jaffa® oranges or Osem® cookies from Israel, but don’t ask them to stop using the Intel® chip in their personal computers or their mobile phones altogether (both originated from Israeli ingenuity). The boycott crosses into academia and entertainment as well as business.

BDS proponents often nip the pro-Israel narrative in the bud by loudly condemning Israel, which has become the hip, liberal mantra du jour, even though their own narrative is flawed and biased. Christians don’t want to be labeled as “haters”, especially of Jews. What they may do is find an easier way to participate in BDS rather than an all-out boycott. Divestment can be done silently. When sanctioning comes, they will have to make a choice – and I pray it is a decision based on biblical insight.
• BDS uses a false premise of Israeli occupation and apartheid policies. It is our responsibility to expose their lies and educate those who don’t know BDS or who believe that it is a cause worth fighting for.
• BDS proponents are inconsistent in their boycott and need to be made aware of their hypocrisy or ignorance about Israel’s contribution to the modern world (and the list of those contributions keeps growing every day), not to mention all the everyday products used by millions.
• BDS sends the wrong message to a lot of people thinking that they are helping to make the world a better place when in fact they are supporting anti-Israel, anti-Semitic terrorists.
• BDS counts on people’s ignorance and natural desire for justice to sell their falsified agenda of Palestinian victimhood.

BDS is dangerously infecting the masses with the wrong idea about Israel. It is evident that Israel isn’t “100% squeaky clean” when it comes to politics, but they are a far cry from the picture that BDS is painting. People might have different opinions on how antisemitic the BDS movement is, or if it even is, but one must wonder why BDS aims at stopping Israel from their “crimes” against Palestinians, and yet, they are turning a blind eye to all the other countries where real crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansings are taking place. What an obvious case of a double-standard!

BDS becomes very dangerous when it reaches the political realm and can turn into official policymaking and even bills and laws. Recently, the Biden administration picked Mr. Maher Bitar as the Senior Director for Intelligence on the NSC. The NSC or National Security Council describes itself as follows, ” The National Security Council (NSC) is the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his or her senior advisors and cabinet officials.” Maher Bitar’s résumé includes a very long list of anti-Israel involvement, BDS support, radical Islamist terrorism, and plain and simple antisemitism. Shouldn’t the Senior Director for Intelligence on the NSC be an unbiased intelligence professional?

BDS might be only aimed at Israel with its destructive agenda, but it is the symptom of a much greater threat to Western civilization. We can and must expose it, denounce it and fight against it.

Additionally, another thing we can do is to make sure that we do our best to buy Israeli products in the USA to beat the BDS proponents at their own game. There are sites offering a partial list of what BDS wants you to boycott. While the mentioning of this list doesn’t mean that this author endorses all of it, you will undoubtedly find plenty of brands that you already support; just review them, keep at it, and tell others. This would be a strong application of Genesis 50:20 when Joseph proved to his brothers that what some want to use for evil, God can turn around and use for good: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

What BDS proponents, by commission and omission, too often have in common is a lack of a biblical approach to Israel and the Jewish people. Biblical truth provides a solid foundation for Israel. It describes a people created by God through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the twelve Tribes of Israel as well as precise land boundaries starting early in Genesis 12 and continuing through chapters 15, 17, and following. Zionism isn’t this evil colonialism feeding on Arab blood, yet without a biblical backbone, Zionism lacks the strength to fight the hypocrisy, hatred and double standard of the BDS campaigns around the world. BDS relies on the Bullying, Delegitimizing and Slandering of Israel and does it on a foundation of lies that can be debunked. If truth really matters, let us speak up! So instead, let’s Buy, Defend and Support Israel, Israeli products and corporations.

January 22, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Remember, Retell and Resist!

Here we are again, approaching the day that the international community has chosen to remember the Holocaust. It is different from Yom HaShoah (Day of the Catastrophe) which falls annually, a week after Passover in Israel (started in 1953). Each year, on January 27, the international community remembers the Holocaust in various ways from synagogue services to vigils to educational events that include Holocaust survivors or scholars. Survivors are dwindling down to a few thousand globally. Considering that anybody born at the onset of the war in 1939 would be eighty-two-years-old today, most survivors of the Holocaust are in their late eighties or early nineties. Soon, they will all be in our memories. Or will they?

Remembering the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during World War II by observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day is critical. This is an anniversary that was set up by the United Nations. Living at the time of history nearing the complete loss of the remaining survivors of the Holocaust, remembering the uniqueness of the Holocaust is crucial to the future of humanity in general and the preservation of our global Jewish community in particular. The motto of “NEVER AGAIN” arose soon after the closing of World War II and has been the ongoing creed of all those who want the Holocaust to be remembered.

Many people are displaying what could be called “Holocaust remembrance fatigue”. Questions arise like, “Why do people see the Holocaust as such a unique event in the history of mankind?”, “Why are we talking about the Holocaust again?”, “Could we also remember other genocides?”, “Was the Holocaust exaggerated?” These are all great questions. But considering that a large percentage of millennials cannot name one concentration camp and cannot even say how many Jewish people died in the Holocaust, we cannot remain silent.

Why do people see the Holocaust as such a unique event in the history of mankind?
It has been argued by many that the Holocaust stands as a unique event in the history of humanity. Recently, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem has been at the center of a controversy with the possible appointment of a new chairman. Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to appoint Effi Eitam as the new head of Yad Vashem and has received a lot of criticism for it. For now, Eitam’s nomination is on hold because of some of his words and actions against Palestinians during his tenure in the IDF. It is clear that Yad Vashem needs a strong voice to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust to the next generations, but people are divided on the uniqueness of the Holocaust. Some believe that it was a terrible genocide that must be remembered like the Cambodian genocide (1975-79), the Armenian genocide (1915-22), or the Rwandan genocide (1994). Incidentally, these three horrific carnages amount to 5.8 MM death total, which is less than the Holocaust alone. However, numbers are not everything; because any way you look at it, one death is one too many! All the genocides of history are tragic events showing how the deep depravity of the human race has led many to commit heinous crimes against their fellow men. There are no excuses for any of them.

I belong to the group of people who believe that the Holocaust was very unique and as such, holds a special place in the somber pantheon of crimes against humanity. My intention is not to minimize the atrocities of any of the other genocides of history. Every other genocide was a result of one people group declaring hegemony over another people group and committing ethnic cleansing to push that group into oblivion, or at least to get them to leave the area. This why I believe it was unique.

Only during the Holocaust were the victims hunted down by Nazis way beyond German borders. That is why it is unique. In any other genocides, the potential victims had an opportunity to move to a different area or even emigrate to another country and many did. In the case of the Holocaust, Nazis went out of their ways to round up all the Jews they could find in Europe. How far did they go? As far as the railroad systems of Europe would allow them. Cattle cars packed with over 80 people with no food, water, or sanitation were brought to camps and ghettos inside and outside of Germany. Foulness and humiliation soon followed, and many died during the journey. No visible Jew was safe anywhere in Europe. This obsession that Hitler had with bringing Jews back to their death was possibly a factor in his final defeat. In “The Destruction of European Jews”, Historian Raul Hilberg quotes Heinrich Himmler who from 1943 onwards, was the Chief of German Police and Minister of the Interior, including the Gestapo and the Waffen-SS. Himmler was clear about his destructive goal. As Jews were being decimated and a potential war labor force with them, he was quoted saying, “Economic questions should not be considered in the solution to the Jewish question.” Hitler and his cohorts were so possessed with eradicating all Jews from Europe that they ignored everything else.

Why are we talking so much about the Holocaust?
A lot of people, including some Jewish people, feel that the Holocaust is discussed too much and too often. Frankly, I wish that I wouldn’t have to discuss it so much, but I do. Nobody ever questions the Fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476 or the coronation of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, as that would be irrational since it has been part of history for so long. Nobody ever doubted Sir Winston Churchill or Albert Einstein ever existed, because there are so much film footage and photographs of them. Yet, the Holocaust is now being put into question. Regardless of the myriad of recorded first-hand accounts, photographs, newsreels and artifacts, some people have the audacity to claim that it never happened. They are known as historical revisionists or Holocaust deniers. They write books, make movies and appear on TV programs, doing their very best to inculcate upon the uneducated minds of many the idea that the Holocaust was a hoax or at the very least Jewish propaganda to steal the land of Palestine and illegally settle the Jews in it. This is why I continue to speak about the Holocaust. Not to mention that one of the six million Jewish victims was my maternal grandfather Maurice Weinzveig, taken by the Gestapo out of his Paris home in the summer of 1942 to die a week later upon arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

What about the nonchalant use of the swastika by teenagers who tattooed it on their shoulders and posted their selfies on social networks? They either knew what it represents, ignored it, or worse… they used it as a slap in the face to the Jewish community. They possibly didn’t know exactly what it means, which is another reason why Holocaust education must go on. If we don’t, between the ignorance, fatigue and malicious deconstructing, in twenty years or less, the Holocaust will have become a myth that might not even get a mention in history books. God forbid!

So, now what? We all have to become Holocaust advocates and fight antisemitism as if we were the last person who believed in that fight. In that process, we are guaranteed to find more like-minded people who see the importance of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism and all other kinds of xenophobic habits.

As much as I believe that the Holocaust must be taught starting in Middle school and upwards, it is upon us to educate ourselves and share our knowledge within our own family units and various spheres of influence. We cannot wait for or rely on others to take on this important task. Here are a few things you can do to make sure the Holocaust is never forgotten and that the call of “never again” will be remembered:

Listen to a Holocaust survivor: As time passes by, for most of us, it can be challenging to meet one in person. The powerful work of the staff at The Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation brings many testimonies from survivors on video, and by virtue of that medium, renders their unique stories eternal. Additionally, the Steven Spielberg Shoah Foundation has over 54,000 video testimonies of survivors that are there to stay. Every single one of them is poignant and memorable in its own way.

Visit a Death Camp: Walking alongside the one-way train tracks and through the eerily empty barracks and on the death-camp grounds will leave an indelible mark in your memory. The Death Camps are the gruesome monuments left over from one of the darkest periods of mankind’s history. If at all possible, everybody, and most definitely every Christian should walk through one of them once in their lifetime.

Visit a Holocaust Memorial Museum: There are several Holocaust Memorials in the United States. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. or the Simon Wiesenthal Center/Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles are just two of the most impactful and fruitful in their respective communities and nationally. The list is much longer and warrants several different visits if possible.

Read an account of the Holocaust: From survivors’ accounts to biographies, historical accounts and even poems, the choices are many. Every human being should read the short but life-altering account of Elie Wiesel’s time at Auschwitz-Birkenau retold in Night, his story of resilience and survival against all odds. A detailed and accurate account of the Holocaust can be found in Lucy Dawidowicz The War Against the Jews or in The destruction of the European Jews by Raul Hilberg. If you are not a reader, you can always watch Schindler’s List.

It is our duty as human beings to remember the Holocaust, retell its history to the current and future generations and resist antisemitism by speaking-up against those who deny that it ever happened. Don’t rely on others to remember the uniqueness of the Holocaust! Don’t wait for someone else to come alongside or speak up in your place. speak up and remember because it is the right thing to do!

January 4, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Antisemitism 2020: A Year in Review – Part II

As I have been monitoring antisemitism domestically and globally for over two decades, I always review what events have made each year unique from that perspective. 2020 is no different. Events varied from wake-up calls to challenges to crimes, and they were both domestic and global. Keep in mind that even a global act of antisemitism has many ripple effects that will reach the United States. In my previous post, I reviewed January to June 2020, let’s review the rest of the year now:

July 2020: Israel’s Right to the Land

When the world struggles with a pandemic and increasing racial/cultural riots, Israel takes second place on the news. Don’t quote me wrong, there is still plenty of antisemitic rhetoric to be heard, and acts against Jews still abound. But, somehow, there had been a bit of a respite. That was until the approaching deadline for Israel’s annexation of territories from the West Bank became news. The day for the move was July 1st, but Benjamin Netanyahu decided to delay it a bit. Historically and politically, the 1917 Balfour Declaration followed by the 1920 San Remo Conference really made it clear that the land then known as “Palestine” belonged to the Jewish people. I see three reasons why this is true:

Biblically, Israel owns the whole land: Going back to the book of Genesis, God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:18-21; Leviticus 25:23.)

Prophetically, Israel needs the whole land: There is an important factor that plays out in the future of the Jewish people. It is known as the Law of Return, which was passed in 1950 in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament.) The Jewish people are also promised by God that in the future they will all return to the land, even in unbelief. In other words, a Jewish person’s spiritual connection of lack of, to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has no bearing on God’s promise to bring the Jewish people back to the land in the last days (Ezekiel 36:22-28.)

Geopolitically, Israel runs the whole land better: With their proverbial head in the sand, most people do not realize how much better life in Israel can be for all people. This tiny sliver of land in the Middle East truly is a beacon of light in a very dark place. It is recognized as the only true democracy in the whole region.

August 2020: The Abraham Accord and the Antichrist

From a human perspective, in a region that has been punctuated by wars since Israel’s birth as a modern nation on May 14, 1948, seeing peace between Israel and Arab neighbors is highly unexpected and very exciting. There has been a “proverbial” hatred between Arabs and Jews for at least 75 years. It’s complicated! But from a human perspective, peace is good. As long as we understand that humanly speaking, peace simply means the absence of war.

At the end of the day, the world is quickly getting ready for the Antichrist (Daniel 9:26-27), but the world is also ready for the Messiah. It is up to those of us who know the difference, to teach those who would be tempted to follow the Antichrist, and lead them to the only true Prince of Peace known as Yeshua of Nazareth

September 2020: It’s All the Jews’ Fault

As 2020 went on, just about everything has been blamed on the Jews. This is nothing new, as we have been the scapegoats of humanity for centuries.

Covid-19: The Jewish people have been accused of creating, causing and even spreading the virus to the world for two reasons: To “take over the world” and to “monetize” the vaccine/cure that they have developed. This hardly explains how Israel has been suffering from two huge spikes of new cases of Covid-19.

The Protests/Riots: Some people found it interesting to spread the rumor that American police officers were being trained by IDF officers in using methods that include the way George Floyd was choked to death. The group known as US Campaign for Palestinian Rights came up with that unfounded accusation.

October 2020: A Jewish Cabal!

QAnon: The strange attraction that people have for the mysterious group known as QAnon is also leading people to blame the Jews. It is supposed to ANONymously expose the international Jewish cabal to destroy Donald Trump and take over the world. The fact that it is based on a hoax from 1904–The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion- that has been debunked over and over, doesn’t seem to stop QAnon adherents. They claim that the Rothschilds are behind the whole agenda of controlling the USA behind the scenes.

November/December 2020: Hope Only in God’s Word

Bible Prophecies are directed by God Himself for the benefit of mankind. From that perspective, almost 30% of the Tenach (Old Testament) is prophetic, and almost 22% of the B’rit Hadashah (New Testament) is prophetic.

Now, let’s look at the one world event that we are living through today that is a guarantee that we are in the last days. I am speaking of the regathering of the Jewish people to the land of Eretz Yisrael. God promised to restore the land of Israel and He did when He allowed for the birth of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948. Beyond the restoration of the land, He also promised in Ezekiel that the Jewish people would return to it in the end times. Ezekiel 36:24 is clear, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.” This speaks of the physical restoration of Israel and it has literally been happening in front of our very eyes for the last few decades. Additionally, In Ezekiel 37, the prophet is given a vision known as “the vision of the valley of dry bones”, in which he is told that Jewish people will return to Israel. This is about Israel’s national restoration, which is controlled by the God of Israel.

But the national physical restoration is only part of this world event because we will also see the spiritual rebirth of Israel as we read in Ezekiel 36:25-27. There are still some unknown elements to the end times, but, what we need to know, is that as we see the Jewish people repopulating their ancestral biblical land, we are living in these end times for sure, and this should encourage us and motivate us to share the Gospel with our people.

in 2021, let us all commit to learning more about the Bible, Israel, end-times and antisemitism so that we can make a better difference in our fight against the oldest hatred!

Happy New Year!

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