European women are to blame for being
raped by Muslim men. Such is the latest position—the latest apologia—being
offered by those dedicated to exonerating unde-sirable
Muslim behavior, par-ticularly in the context of
welcoming more Muslim migrants into the West.
by Raymond
Ibrahim breakingisraelnews.com |
On Oct. 14, 2018, seven Muslim migrants
raped a teenage German girl in a park, after drugging her at a disco in
Freiburg. (She at least survived; in a similar case that occurred a week
earlier in Italy, the drugged rape victim was left murdered.)
Bernhard Rotzinger, the police chief of Freiburg, responded
by saying,
“We cannot offer citizens an all-risk insurance [against crime], but I can advise
this: Don’t make yourself vulnerable by using alcohol or drugs.”
Similarly, after mobs of Muslim migrants
sexually assaulted as many as one-thousand women on
New Year’s Eve 2016 in Cologne, Germany, its mayor, Henriette Reker, called on
the women, the victims—not their male rapists—to make changes: “The women
and young girls have to be more protected in the future so these things don’t
happen again. This means they should go out and have fun, but they need
to be better prepared, especially with the Cologne carnival coming up. For
this, we will publish online guidelines that these young women can read through
to prepare themselves.”
Such advice against alcohol, drugs, and reckless
behavior would be more welcome had it not been made under duress. As
things stand, it is a copout. Or, as a November 8 report discussing
the rape in Freiburg puts it, “The focus on prevention is a good thing, but
also shows how German authorities and media barely hold the migrant crisis
responsible for the disaster that is unfolding in Germany. Political correctness
has caused officials to put the blame for the criminal acts on the women
instead of Merkel’s guests.”
These are hardly the first times officials
“put the blame for the criminal acts [of Muslim men] on the women.”
Nor is this phenomenon limited to Germany. For instance,
after a 20-year-old Austrian woman waiting at a bus stop in Vienna
was attacked, beat, and robbed by four Muslim men—including one who
“started [by] putting his hands through my hair and made it clear that in his
cultural background there were hardly any blonde women”—police responded by telling
the victim to dye her hair:
"At
first I was scared, but now I’m more angry than
anything. After the attack they told me that women shouldn’t be alone on the
streets after 8 pm. And they also gave me other advice, telling me I
should dye my hair dark and also not dress in a provocative way. That means I
was partly to blame for what happened to me. That is a massive insult.
Likewise,
Unni Wikan, a female
professor of social anthro-pology at the University
of Oslo, insists that:
“Norwegian
women must take their share of responsibility for these rapes,” because Muslim
men found their manner of dress provocative. The professor’s conclu-sion was not that Muslim men living in the
West needed to adjust to Western norms, but the exact opposite: “Norwegian women
must realize that we live in a Multicultural society and adapt themselves to
it.”
So
much for the feminist claim that women are free to dress and behave as promiscuously
and provocatively as they want—and woe to the man who dares cite this as
justifying male sexual aggression. Apparently this
feminist refrain does not apply to Muslim men.
But perhaps the greater irony of all these
excuses is that, from the very start of Islam 14 centuries ago, European
women—even chaste nuns—have always been
portrayed by Muslims as sexually promiscuous by nature.
This is easily discerned by examining medieval
Muslim perceptions—and subsequent treatment—of European women, as documented
throughout Sword and Scimitar:
Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West
Consider Muslim views concerning neighboring
Byzantine women, who came to represent all European/Christian women to Islam.
As one Western academic of Muslim origin (rather euphemistically) explains:
The
Byzantines as a people were considered fine examples of physical beauty, and
youthful slaves and slave-girls of Byzantine origins were highly valued. . . . The Arabs’ appreciation of the Byzantine female has
a long history indeed. For the Islamic period, the earliest literary evidence
we have is a hadith (saying of the Prophet). Muhammad is said to have addressed
a newly converted Arab: “Would you like the girls of Banu al-Asfar [the yellow (haired) pale people]?”
Muhammad’s
question was meant to entice the man to join the Tabuk campaign against the Romans
and reap its rewards—in this case, the sexual enslavement of attractive women.
In other words, as “white-complexioned blondes, with straight hair and blue
eyes,” to quote another academic, Byzantine women were
not so much “appreciated” or “highly valued” as they were lusted after. [All
quotes in this article are documented in Sword and Scimitar.
by Raymond Ibrahim] .....
California Incarcerated
Fire-fighters Earn Only $2 a Day.
As
wildfires spread across California, some 9,400 firefighters were working around
the clock in November 2019 to control the blaze. Yet one segment of these firefighters
are only getting paid $2 a day for their work.
Around 1,500 incarcerated firefighters are
fighting the wildfires as part of California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) ‘volunteer’ firefighting program, called
the Conservation Camp Program.
As inmates, they earn a meager $2 a day
— $3 if they fight active fires that put them on 24-hour shifts. For
comparison, California’s civilian firefighters make an average of $73,860
per year plus benefits while working the exact same shifts, fighting the
exact same fires.
As TIME reports, incarcerated
firefighters are also at an increased risk of injury:
More than 1,000 inmate firefighters required
hospital care between June 2013 and August 2018, according to data obtained by
TIME through FOIA requests. They are more than four times as likely, per
capita, to incur object-induced injuries, such as cuts, bruises, dislocations
and fractures, compared with professional firefighters working on the same
fires. Inmates were also more than eight times as likely to be injured after
inhaling smoke and particulates compared with other firefighters.
Three inmate firefighters have died as a
result of injuries sustained in the Conservation Camp Program in the last two
years. Between February 2016 and July 2017, a boulder crushed one inmate, a
120-foot tall tree crushed another, and a third sustained a severe cut to his
femoral artery.
That leaves inmates deciding whether to participate
in the volunteer program with a tough calculation: will they benefit from doing
something good that could help them get a job when they’ve paid their debt to
society? Or will they end up with injuries that make it even harder to get back
on their feet upon completing their sentence?
California’s
conservation fire camp program for inmates was founded initially as a way to provide
support for firefighters during World War II. The idea is that it would teach
inmates skills they can use post-incarceration.
“Our young men tend to have limited
real-world job experience, so a benefit that they get here is learning the job
skills that are necessary to work for an employer in the real world when they
are released,” explained Jim Liptrap, the acting superintendent of CDCR’s
Pine Grove conservation fire camp.
However, former inmates say getting hired
as a firefighter isn’t always a reality. Much of this has to do with a rule that
individuals convicted of felonies cannot obtain EMT (Emergency Medical Team)
licenses until they have been out of prison for 10 years. EMT licenses are
required by most of California’s 900 fire departments.
“It’s interesting that I’m able to do
everything alongside the paid firefighters right now, from treating patients on
the scene and also putting out fires and extricating patients from vehicles,”
said former inmate Ramon Leija. “But when it comes to
applying, I’m not offered the positions.”
The Source of
Israel's National Resilience - Melanie Phillips (Jerusalem Post)
With Iran's
regime entrenched through its proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, Israel now
faces a genocidal enemy on three simultaneous fronts. In the face of these
dangers, the resilience of ordinary Israelis is astonishing. There can surely
be no other country which, despite its state of permanent embattlement, remains
so cheerful and full of hope about the future.
This is
because, despite the manifold divisions in Israeli society, the people pull
together against their foes. Israel is able to defend itself in the way it does
because it sees itself as a nation, governing itself in a land with which it
has an unbreakable bond.
The
writer is a columnist for The Times (UK).
Druze Anchorwoman
for Hebrew News at Israel Public Broadcasting
Felice Friedson
(Media Line-Jerusalem Post)
Druze news
anchor Gadeer Mreeh, who reported
news at the Arabic desk at the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation, has
become the nation's first non-Jewish woman to anchor the Hebrew news broadcast.
After her
appointment, she said, "The spiritual leader of the Druze community in
Israel, Sheikh Moafaq Tarif, called me and I cried.
He said, 'I'm proud of you. You symbolize a Druze woman who tried and succeeded
in her career while continuing to maintain your unique identity.'"
"The
Druze are a success story of a minority in our integration into Israeli
society. We have the highest percentage of people enlisting in the army,
80%."
"We
have people holding very high-ranking positions in security units, in the IDF,
the Prisons Service, in the Border Police. The coordinator of government
activities in the territories is Druze. We have a Druze communications minister....Today, we have 1,000 Druze females who do national service."
Purim
- The Feast of
Lots - will
be celebrated on March 21. The Fast of Esther is on March 20. Normal work can
be done on these days.
Polish Nun Who
Helped Hide Vilna Ghetto Rebels during Holocaust Dies - Stuart
Winer
Cecylia Roszak, a Polish Catholic
Dominican nun who was honored by Israel for helping to hide Jewish resistance
fighters in her convent during World War II, died last week aged 110. In 1938
Roszak traveled with a group of nine nuns to Vilnius in Lithuania to set up a
new convent. According the Yad Vashem Holocaust
Memorial page dedicated to Anna Borkowska, the mother
superior of the convent, the sisters took in 17 members of a Jewish underground
movement that formed to fight back against the Nazi extermination of the Vilna
ghetto's Jewish residents. Borkowska smuggled the first hand grenades into the community.
Borkowska was arrested in 1943 and the convent was closed
down. She and Roszak both survived the war. In 1984 Yad
Vashem gave the members of the convent, including Borkowska
and Roszak, its Righteous Among Nations award, which honors non-Jews who risked
their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. (Times of Israel)
Iran's Great Nuclear
Deception:
New Details on the Capture
of Iran's
Nuclear Archive - Ronen Bergman
In the middle of the night of
January 31, 2018, Mossad agents broke into a secret vault on the outskirts of
Tehran, while their commanders watched from afar. The large room contained 32
huge Iranian-made safes, each 2.7 meters (9 feet) in height. The safes were
loaded onto heavy container-like installations, on wheels that can carry
massive weight. The documents were secreted behind two different doors - a
heavy iron door inside the facility and another iron door equipped with an
alarm system and cameras at the facility's exterior wall. Only a handful of people
in Iran even knew that the Iranian nuclear archive was inside this warehouse.
The agents
knew how to disable the alarm system and break through the iron doors, but they
did not have time to break into all the safes. The two dozen agents who took
part in the break-in retrieved about half a ton of intelligence material. When
the break-in was discovered, about 12,000 Iranian security personnel went on
the pursuit. In the end, the material was extracted from Iran and no one got
caught.
The
biggest surprise was the massive amount of information stored on 182 CDs. The
Iranians documented everything: the equipment, the construction of secret
plants and sites, the experiments, detailed presentations on the project's
progress, goals and stages, and even themselves, during nuclear experiments.
It was a
mega-scam. For two decades, Iran denied having a military nuclear program. But
the contents of the safes tell a completely different and undeniable story. For
years, Iran has been engaged in a covert nuclear project.
The
documents also demonstrate the weakness of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which Iran signed and the IAEA failed to enforce.
Under the UN agency's nose, Iran succeeded in conducting a secret military
nuclear program over a long period of time (and Israel claims Tehran continues
to do so today). If Iran is not violating or planning to violate the nuclear
deal, why keep such a detailed archive allowing it to resume its nuclear effort
from where it left off (assuming they actually stopped)? (Ynet
News)
Airbnb's Ban on
Israeli Communities in West Bank Is Shameful - Brendan O'Neill
u
So alongside being the only country that pop stars refuse to play in, and the
only country whose academics are boycotted on Western campuses, and the only
country whose dancers and violinists cannot perform in cities like London
without gangs of people screaming them down, now Israel is the only country
that has been politically punished by holiday app cum conscience Airbnb. Why is
it OK to rent a holiday apartment in Turkish-settled Northern Cyprus but not in
Israeli-settled parts of the West Bank?
u
In addition, Airbnb also rents apartments in Moroccan occupied Sahara, China
occupied Tibet, and Russian occupied South Ossettia
and Crimea. It is only apartments being
offered for rent by Jewish people who live in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank)
that are delisted.
u
But we shouldn't be surprised. It is always only those people. Israel is always
singled out. That is why they boycott it, rage about it and take to the streets
about it in a way they never do about Turkey, Saudi Arabia or anywhere else.
They hate Israel more than any other place.
u
And then they wonder why some people think there is a whiff of anti-Semitism to
this peculiarly passionate contempt for Israel. They wonder why some people
think the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is a thin one, and that
perhaps the special hatred for Israel might have echoes of the older special hatred
for Those People.
u
We aren't talking about straightforward criticism of Israel here. We are
talking about the singling out of Israel above all nations for a ceaseless and
intense program of boycotting, protesting and hysterical accusations. Show me
the gathering of 100,000 people in London to criticize any other country and
then I'll buy the idea that Israel is just being criticized as all other states
are criticized.
u If you treat the Jewish State as nastier and more insane
than any other state, then please do not feign surprise when anti-Jewish
sentiment increases. (Spectator-UK)
Record Number of Tourists Visit Israel
in 2018:
The
number of incoming tourists surpassed 2017's year’s record of 3.6 million in
November and the Tourism Ministry is projecting entries will exceed four
million by 31 Dec 2018. For the country’s domestic tourism industry, that translates
into NIS 18 billion in revenue since January 2018. The record comes on the
heels of another achievement reached in October 2018– when 486,000 tourists arrived,
setting a high mark for entries in a single month. That number is 19% more than
the previous incoming tourism record set in April 2018, according to the
Central Bureau of Statistics. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin attributed the
recent records to his ministry’s innovative marketing activities. Since
January, entries from certain European countries have soared in comparison to
the same period last year, including an increase of approximately 90% from Poland,
40% from the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary, and 35% from Italy. Significantly
more tourists also came from Holland, Germany, Spain, and the United States.
(J. Post) Prophecy
coming true! “Your gates will always stand open,
they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth
of the nations.” Isa. 60:11
Iran's Rouhani
Calls Israel a "Cancerous Tumor" Created by the West
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday called Israel a
"cancerous tumor" and a "fake regime" established by
Western countries. Iran's leaders frequently condemn Israel and predict its
demise, but Rouhani rarely employs such rhetoric. (Al Jazeera)
EU Calls Rouhani's
Remarks on Israel "Totally Unacceptable"
The Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security of the European Union
External Action said Monday in Brussels: "President Rouhani's remarks
bringing into question Israel's legitimacy are totally unacceptable. They are
also incompatible with the need to address international disputes through
dialogue and international law. The European Union reiterates its fundamental
commitment to the security of Israel, including with regard to current and
emerging threats in the region." (European Union)
Netanyahu:
Rouhani's Remarks Prove Need for Sanctions Against Iran
Commenting
on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's remarks, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said Saturday evening: "Israel knows very well how to defend
itself from the murderous Iranian regime. Rouhani's slander, which calls for
the destruction of Israel, proves yet again why the nations of the world need
to join in the sanctions against the Iranian terrorist regime which threatens
them." (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Israel Eyeing Ties
with More African Muslim States -
Tamar Pileggi
A senior Israeli official told Channel 10 that Chadian President
Idriss Deby's visit was
laying the groundwork for normalizing ties with the Muslim-majority African
countries of Sudan, Mali and Niger.
Separately, Hadashot TV
reported Sunday that Prime Minister Netanyahu has secured assurances from Oman
that airlines flying to and from Israel - including national carrier El Al -
would be permitted to fly over the kingdom's airspace. (Times of Israel)
Czech President in
Israel to Open Offices in Jerusalem -
Herb Keinon
Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic, arrived on Sunday for a
four-day state visit during which he will inaugurate an office in Jerusalem
that he said will be the precursor to moving the Czech embassy to the city.
Zeman opened the Czech House in November, which will house Czech cultural,
investment, trade and tourism offices. East and Central European countries inside
the EU that have hinted at an interest in moving their embassies to Jerusalem
have come under heavy pressure from other EU countries against the moves. (Jerusalem
Post)
Netanyahu's Vision
for the Middle East Has Come True - Anshel Pfeffer
and
Davide Lerner (Ha'aretz)
· Representatives
of Arab League member states at the MED 2018 conference in Rome last Thursday
either ignored or downplayed the Palestinian issue. Instead, on the stage and
behind the scenes, there seemed much more appetite for normalization with
Israel.
· Oman's
Foreign Minister said it quite clearly when he called on the Arab world to
"come to terms with the reality that Israel is a fact of life in the region,"
and therefore should have its share of "rights as well as obligations."
· Even
Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, seemed
to realize that this wasn't a venue for Israel-bashing and refrained from mentioning
Israel in his talk.
· One
senior Middle Eastern diplomat commented that "the basic fact is that, for
better or worse, the world isn't bothering Israel anymore about the
Palestinians. It's a total change of paradigm."
Purim
is a wonderful celebration with the reading of the Book of Esther. Queen Esther
saved the Jewish people from a genocidal massacre. It is celebrated this year
on March 21.
British Prime
Minister Theresa May Launches Scathing Attack on Anti-Semitism
- Joe Millis
Prime Minister
Theresa May launched a scathing attack on anti-Semitism at Monday's Sara Conference
on anti-Semitism. "I have no time for equivocation. Anti-Semitism is
racism - and any 'equality' movement that indulges or ignores it is not worthy
of the name."
"The research published at
today's conference, showing that Jewish women politicians are more likely to
attract the attentions of far-right hate groups, was deeply disturbing... These
attitudes are not limited to the far right. As is so often the case with
anti-Semitism, bigotry directed at Jewish women also comes from those who would
never consider themselves to be racist, including within the women's rights
movement itself. Some Jewish women have been told that they're not 'real'
feminists unless they publicly disavow Israel's right to exist or been thrown
off pride marches for flying rainbow flags that feature the Star of
David."
May said her government was
"removing all hiding places for anti-Semitism, becoming the first
government in the world to adopt the [International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance] IHRA's working definition - and all its examples... Freedom of
thought and freedom of speech have never meant freedom to abuse and freedom to
threaten. Anti-Semitism and misogyny have no place in this country."
(Jewish News-UK)
USA Rejects Netanyahu's Request to Allow Pollard to
Immigrate to Israel: The United States Justice Department rejected an official request
from PM Netanyahu to allow Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to serve out the remainder
of his parole time in Israel. The report said Netanyahu had been working for
months with the American Justice Department to try and ensure Pollard’s
transfer to Israel, but the request was denied due to “the severity of
Pollard’s crimes.” Pollard's poor health was also rejected as a reason for
permitting him to move to Israel.
Netanyahu's
office responded to the report that he remains committed to bringing Pollard to
Israel and would continue his efforts to that end. Pollard was paroled on 20
Nov 2015, after having served 30 years in prison for passing classified
information to an ally. As part of his parole conditions, Pollard remains under
a 7 pm to 7 am curfew in his New York home, he cannot leave New York, and he
wears a GPS monitoring system so his location will be known. (J.Post)
Pollard
was imprisoned for 3 decades for having passed information to Israel about
terrorist activity. His prison term has been viewed by many as glaringly harsh.
He was sentenced to life in prison on one charge of passing classified information
to a friendly nation, a crime generally punished with a 2 to 4-year prison
term. Please pray for Pollard’s health, which is deteriorating. Intercede that
Pollard and his wife may be able to make their home in Israel soon.
news@visionforisrael.com
Editor's Note: The USA and Israel had a mutual intelligence
agreement, whereby each country would share with the other country intelligence
information vital to the other country's security. Israel abided by this
agreement, even turning over tanks manufactured by the USSR that had been captured
by Israel in the Lebanon incursion. However, our USA government at the time of
Jonathan Pollard's arrest was withholding intelligence vital to Israel's
security, such as Saddam Hussein's production of chemical warfare.
The
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the
Mount is called a "sermon," not an "oracle." This was Yeshua preaching and teaching on the Law,
not Yeshua creating a second or new Law... What we study in
Deuteronomy will help set the context, not just for the books that immediately
follow it, like Joshua and Judges, but for the B'rit
Chadashah (Newer Testament) as well. By the way,
the word Deuteronomy is Greek, not Hebrew. In Hebrew, this book is
called D'varim, which means "words,"
as in the words of Moshe. (Submitted by
Zollie Byrd)
Thoughts
on Reincarnation
and
Resurrection
Dr. David Stern
Quite apart from
being false, belief in Karma and reincarnation attenuates responsibility for
one's actions. Anyone who believes in reincarnation cannot take sin seriously.
This is because in his view, the transgressions of this life can be made up in
subsequent ones, and eventually every soul will achieve liberation from the
"wheel of Karma." In other words, there will be no Day of Judgment
when sinners must account to God for their actions and receive what their deeds
deserve (as taught in Hebrews 10:25b-29; John 5:27-29; Acts 17:31; Romans 2:5-16; 1 Cor. 3b-15; 2
Cor. 5:10); so that there is little motivation for ethical behavior here and
now in this present existence. Moreover, a common vulgarization of the Karma
doctrine lets people
excuse their present sins as a consequence of bad Karma in past lives, so that
they shouldn't be held responsible now ("my Karma made me do it").
During
heightened tensions between Israel and Hamas, I encountered a troubling but
familiar tactic used by anti-Israel activists: wielding the term “Zion-ism” as
a blunt instrument against Israelis and Jews. Among the first to use the term
Zionist as a slur or code word for Jews were the Soviets who carried out
persecution, including executions, against Jews under the guise of
anti-Zionism.
Martin
Sampson The Toronto Sun |
In a 1969 Encounter magazine article, historian
Seymour Lipset recounted the words of Martin Luther
King Jr. to students criticizing Zionism in King’s presence. “When people
criticize Zionists, they mean Jews,” said King. “You’re talking anti-Semitism.”
King understood that just as the term “Jew” (a neutral noun, like Catholic or
Italian) was misappropriated as a slur by anti-Semites, so is the word
“Zionist” often misappropriated today.
While I’m not Jewish, I work within the
Jewish community, and I’ve learned that Israel matters to Jewish Canadians not
only because it is central to Jewish history,
but also because it’s central to a Jewish future.
Of course, one need not be Jewish to be Zionist.
I am secular and come by my Zionism accidentally. But Zionism is at the core of
Jewish experience. Most Jews are Zionists. And most Jewish Canadians believe
that supporting Israel’s existence is compatible with knowing and respecting
the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people. What leads me to believe
in Zionism leads me to support two states for two peoples. Yet, I consistently
observe that those who use Zionism as a slur in the false name of Palestinian
solidarity do not know or respect the legitimate national aspirations of the Jewish
people.
If you’re not Jewish and are puzzled by Zionism,
you may benefit from the following:
First, definitions matter. According
to the Oxford English Dictionary, Zionism is “a movement for (originally) the
re-establishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in
what is now Israel.” Most Jews agree this is an accurate description of the
movement for Jewish national self-determination. In my experience, many
anti-Israel activists reject it and choose to mischaracterize it to suit their
needs.
Second, Jews view Zionism not simply
as a political movement but as a survival strategy. If ever there were a people
in need of a state, it is the Jewish people: the world has proven— repeatedly—
it is incapable of protecting Jews.
A Jewish colleague once related to me that
to be Jewish is to be prepared for the next eruption of violent anti-Semitism.
For years, she calculated who among her neighbours
might hide her family in an anti-Semitic crisis. She recognized how, in
Cana-da, this was irrational, but she persisted, understandable given that the
Holocaust is a painful living memory. She confided this to a friend who was
also a senior Israeli military officer who responded that, now that there is an
Israel, she didn’t have to do that anymore. I was struck by the tragic truth
this story revealed: had there been an Israel in the 1930s, the Holocaust would
not have happened.
The third is that efforts by anti-Israel
activists to sever Judaism from Zionism are preposterous. A common refrain from
those who reject Zionism is they “have no problem with Jews, it’s Zionism they
oppose” — a deceitful verbal misdirection about which all people of conscience
should be aware.
Jerusalem is mentioned more than 600 times
in the Jewish Bible. Jewish ritual, from the prayer liturgy to the Passover
Seder, is filled with references to Israel. And this connection extends well
beyond religion. For most of the secular Jews I have met, Judaism — and, by
extension, a relationship with Israel — remain central to their lives. And as I
said, most Jews are Zionists.
When anti-Israel activists reject the right
of the Jewish people to self-determination or call Zionism racist, this is
ruthlessly insulting to most Jews. It’s also anti-Semitic according to the most
widely accepted standard for identifying Jew hatred: the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of
anti-Semitism.
As I wrote after the Pittsburgh atrocity,
non-Jews should stand against anti-Semitism not only because it’s the right
thing to do, but also because what starts with the Jews never ends with the
Jews. The fight against anti-Semitism cannot be divorced from the battle over
the term Zionism, where Israel has become the “Jew” among nations.
Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.
We should all care because a world without Israel would be a terrifying place,
one where the anti-Semitic project would have achieved one of its darkest objectives.
It’s time for all people of good will to reclaim “Zionism.”
Martin
Sampson is Vice President of communications at the Centre for Israel and Jewish
Affairs (CIJA)
Dutch Christian Boat Maker Aims to Sail His
Replica of Noah’s Ark to Israel:
For two years, the world’s
only seaworthy life-size replica of Noah’s Ark has been wowing passengers
traveling along Holland’s Maas River. Built according to the specifications detailed
in the Hebrew Bible, the 390-foot-long vessel towers to a height of 75 feet. It
boasts enough wood to fell 12,000 trees. And its distinct form dominates the
coastline of the small town hosting it deep in southern Holland’s Bible Belt.
Dwarfing
even some modern-day cruise ships, the ark instantly became an international
tourist attraction when it was completed in 2012 after four years of
construction. But the man who built it, the devout Christian businessman Johan Huibers, can’t wait to take the mammoth to Israel — a
country whose problems and successes, he said, are always on his mind. “My
preferred destination for the ark is Israel,” Huibers,
60, told JTA earlier this month on the forward deck, which features a life-size
statue of a giraffe. His love for the Jewish state and people, he said, flows
from the same impulse that compelled him to raise nearly $5 million to build
the ark. “It may sound scary, but I believe everything written in this book,
cover to cover,” he said while pointing at a copy of a translation into Dutch
of the Hebrew Bible. “This is a copy of God’s ship. It only makes sense to take
it to God’s land.” (JTA)
Paul's
Background and
Torah
Perspective by Tim Hegg
The majority of studies on
Paul have taken on a similar perspective—one
well entrenched in the contemporary church. This perspective might be generally
characterized as follows:
u When
Paul came to faith in Jesus, he underwent a conversion from one religion (Judaism)
to another (Christianity). He left the works based
religion of Judaism for the new grace-based religion of Christianity.
u In his
conversion, he came to realize that Judaism was based upon works because it
continued to cling to the Law. Thus, he taught against the Law (Torah) in order
to unshackle the people from its burden and bring them to see the liberty of
grace in Jesus.
u As the
Apostle to the Gentiles, he consistently led them away from Torah, fearing they
might be trapped in its legalism the same way his own people were.
But can such a
perspective be honestly maintained if Paul is read objectively? Did he convert to Christianity? Did he
invent Christianity? Did Christianity as we know it even exist in his day? And
what about the many times he appeals to the Torah as proof of his message? How
could he describe the Torah (Law) as "holy," "righteous,"
and "good," and commend its message as "spiritual," while
at the same time teaching it as burdensome and something to be avoided?
In The Letter Writer, Tim
Hegg reveals a different Paul—one who
maintained his Jewish identity and love of Torah; an Apostle of Yeshua the
Messiah who not only lived an obedient Torah-life himself, but expected those
he taught to do the same. In
The Letter Writer, Paul is seen to be
both the Apostle of grace and of Torah, because the Torah, when received in the
context of faith in Yeshua, is God's revelation of sanctifying grace.
Editor's Note: The words in the
above column are from the back cover of Tim Hegg's
book, The Letter Writer. It is available from:
TorahResource.com
4105 N 25th
St, Tacoma WA 98405
JERUSALEM, Israel – President Donald
Trump has arguably been one of the most pro-Israel US presidents in a long
time; yet much of the American Jewish community opposes Trump. Why is that?
Julie Stahl CBNNews.com |
Author David Rubin tackles that question in
his new book, Trump and the Jews. Rubin is an Orthodox Jew and an
American-Israeli. The former mayor of the Israeli community of Shiloh, Rubin
and his son were also victims of a terror attack years ago.
"Trump is the best president in
American history for Israel. We've had some good ones," Rubin told CBN
News. "Before the State of Israel was re-established, George Washington,
John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, these were people who were believing
Christians who recognized that Israel is important, that Israel is God's
country and that they have to stand with Israel – and that it's good for America to stand with Israel. Trump has
surpassed them all."
Among Trump's accomplishments, Rubin said,
are taking a pragmatic approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by canceling
the Iran deal; moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and announcing the closure of
the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington.
According to a recent report, published by
the Israeli think-tank, The Jewish People Policy Institute,
the Trump administration is frustrated by the fact that American Jews are not
rallying around the president, given his sweeping support for Israel, the Jerusalem
Post reported.
Rubin said he wrote the book to explain why
such a large segment of American Jews vote for Democrats, with the exception of
the American Orthodox Jewish community, while so many Israelis favor President
Trump.
"You have to look at the history of
American Jewry," Rubin said. "The American Jewish community came to
America mostly in the early part of the 20th century. They were very poor. They
lived in slums, mostly in New York. It took a long time until they started to develop
and to prosper. They worked long hours. They abandoned the observance of the
Jewish Sabbath so that they could work."
Rubin said his own grandfather was an immigrant
from Russia who had abandoned the Sabbath observance to support his family.
There are thousands of cases like this, he said.
Rubin
said they were connected with the labor unions and therefore leaned more toward
the Democratic Party.
"In this, we had the secularization of
the Jewish community," he continued. "Today, the Jewish community is
the most secular of all the Jewish communities in the country and because of
that, they've lost their biblical roots. They're not biblically connected anymore."
"Unfortunately, what has happened to
the Democrats in recent years is they've adopted the far-left extremism, which
is anti-Israel," he said. "If Israel isn't top on your list of priorities,
then you're going to go against Israel. In addition to that, there's the
immigration issue."
In
stark contrast, polls show that Israeli Jews are very favorable toward the
president. So why the difference?
According to Rubin it's all about Jewish
identification. "In Israel, we have wall-to-wall,
across-the-political-spectrum support for President Trump. Israelis love
President Trump. They think he's doing a great job. It includes secular
Israelis. Those who lean a little bit to the left of the political spectrum,
they love President Trump also. They think he's doing a great job. And why is
that? Because they're Jewishly identified," he explained.
Orthodox American Jews also have that
identification and that's why they are supportive of President Trump, he added.
"President Trump is on the right side of history, and the right side of
history is standing with the Jewish people," Rubin said.
"It's good for America to be connected
with Israel. If that American-Israel connection ceases to exist and that bond
ceases to exist, then it's going to be bad for America also," he said.
How Peace Will
Come to Israel
info@tjci.org
Former Congress woman Michele Bachmann said: “There is no greater
proof of God’s Word than the existence of Israel…
"In
my lifetime, I have witnessed the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy. When you
let that sink in, within our modern era, we are witnesses of prophetic fulfillment.
The Bible isn't done. There are still more events to come …The prophets wrote
that they longed to live in the days you and I are living in. Ezekiel,
Jeremiah, the great prophets—they were able to foretell these days that are
upon us. We get to live these days that are upon us. That should give us
greater joy of what is yet to come."…
We've seen it in the United States, even
from a political perspective, as President Harry Truman recognized Israel in
1948. The United States, at that time, became the military and economic superpower
of the world. Prior to the mid-1940s, America was not the military and economic
superpower of the world. So, in many ways, the United States has been put on a
tremendous pathway of blessing.
I believe also, too, with President Donald
Trump recognizing and declaring Jerusalem as Israel's rightful eternal
undivided capital, that also puts the United States on a pathway of blessing.
And why? It's because we're agreeing with what the Bible says. It isn't that we
have a Republican president who did something right or a Democratic president
who did something right. It's the fact that our governmental leaders are agreeing
with Scripture. And that is blessing our country. The more we understand
Scripture, and the more we understand what our role and obligations are under
Scripture, and we walk out those obligations, we will be blessed. It's the
combination of belief plus obedience that equals blessing.”…
As the authoritative Word of God, the Bible
should be even more trustworthy. The Bible isn't done. There are still more
events to come. They will happen as they are prophesied, including the Second
Coming of Messiah, Jesus Christ. We know that is going to happen. Because of
that, that should cause us to live our lives differently, to view God
differently and to view His Word differently. That's really what this is
about—recognizing, appreciating and understanding how true and trustworthy
God's Word is. Israel is the greatest miracle of the Bible, and it is the greatest
indicator that the Bible is true.”
Report: Egypt,
Saudi Arabia Push Arab Nations to Trade with Israel Yassir Okbi (Maariv-Jerusalem
Post)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who met on Monday, resolved to
encourage Arab nations to establish economic relations with Israel,
London-based Al-Arabi Al-Jadid reported
Thursday.
Evangelicals Are
Behind Brazil's New Pro-Israel Policy (JNS)
A grassroots revolution has been taking place in
Brazil. Masses of people began flocking to the country's evangelical and
Pentecostal churches. Evangelicals in Brazil grew from 6.6% in 1980 to 22.2% in
2010. Today, they constitute an estimated 27% of the population. The
evangelical caucus in Brazil's Congress is among the largest with nearly 200
members
Middle East's Jews
Were Victims of Ethnic Cleansing - Liat Collins
I live in an area of Jerusalem's Katamonim
neighborhood fondly referred to as the "Kurdish enclave" thanks to
the Kurdish and Iraqi Jews who compose the bulk of the local population.
Further down the road is a large pocket of Moroccan and Tunisian Jewish
families. Anyone who thinks that Israel is some kind of Yiddish-dominated
culture planted in the Middle East is in for a surprise. The descendants of
Jews from Arab lands now make up more than 50% of the Jewish Israeli
population.
After the creation of the state
in 1948, more than 800,000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands and came to
Israel (compared to 711,000 Palestinian refugees). The Arab world took revenge
on the Jews living among them with devastating riots and anti-Jewish measures.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, "259,000 Jews fled from
Morocco, 140,000 from Algeria, 100,000 from Tunisia, 75,000 from Egypt, 38,000
from Libya, 135,000 Jews exiled from Iraq, 55,000 from Yemen, 34,000 from Turkey,
20,000 from Lebanon and 18,000 from Syria."
Jews had first settled in what
became Arab lands following the Babylonian conquest of the Kingdom of Judea,
more than 2,500 years ago. Their communities predated Islam by 1,000 years.
Today, only 4,000 Jews remain in Arab countries. In other words, the Jews are
the victims of ethnic cleansing.
I recently asked veteran
Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi about Jews from
Arab lands who had moved to Israel as a result of persecution. Ashrawi responded, "They can't be refugees in their
own homeland." (But at least she acknowledged Israel as the Jewish
homeland.) (Jerusalem Post)