"White Women are Sluts
and Deserve to be Raped"
The West Adopts
Islam's PerspectiveEuropean 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 Rekercalled 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.

www.freedomunited.org

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").

The Truth
About ZionismDuring 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 perspectiveone 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

Trump and the Jews:
"It's Good for America to 
be Connected With IsraelJERUSALEM, 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)