JEWISH, NOT ARAB, ROOTS IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA!
by Hillel Fendel

US President Obama’s demand that Israel not settle Jews in the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria ignores thoroughly-documented Jewish roots in the Land of Israel, and in Judea/Samaria in particular.

Yoram Ettinger, a former liaison for Congressional affairs in Israel’s Washington embassy, lists in the latest of his periodic position papers some of the evidence showing that Judea and Samaria has Jewish, not Arab, roots.

Ettinger negates Obama’s claim – enunciated during his June 4, 2009 speech at Cairo University – that “the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in” the Holocaust. For one thing, Ettinger notes, many world-renowned travelers, historians and archeologists of earlier centuries refer to “Judea and Samaria,” while the term “West Bank” was coined only 60 years ago. Jordan gave the region this name when it occupied it after Israel’s War of Independence. No nation on earth other than Britain and Pakistan recognized Jordan’s claim to Judea and Samaria.

Among the travelers, historians and archeologists who referred to Judea and Samaria are H. B. Tristram (The Land of Israel, 1865); Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad, 1867); R.A. MacAlister and Masterman (“Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly”); A.P. Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, 1887); E. Robinson and E. Smith (Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1841); C.W. Van de Velde (Peise durch Syrien und Paletsinea, 1861); and Felix Bovet (Voyage en Taire Sainte, 1864). Even the Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as official British and Ottoman records until 1950, used the term Judea and Samaria, and not the West Bank.

Ettinger goes even further back, and says that the name “Palestine” was given to the Holy Land for the sole purpose of erasing the previous name of the country – Judea – from human memory. The Romans, whose plan this was, similarly sought to extinguish Jewish presence in Jerusalem by renaming it Aelia Capitolina.

When speaking of “Palestinian national rights,” it must be similarly kept in mind, Ettinger notes, that most Arabs residing today in Israel – anywhere between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean – have their origin in a massive 19th-20th century migration from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and other Moslem countries.

Finally, Ettinger says that almost all Arab localities in Judea and Samaria have retained Biblical Jewish names, thus reaffirming their Jewish roots. Examples include the following: Anata is Biblical (and contemporary) Anatot, the dwelling of the Prophet Jeremiah. Batir is Biblical (and contemporary) Beitar, the headquarters of Bar Kochba, the leader of the Great Rebellion against the Roman Empire, which was suppressed in 135 CE. Beit-Hur is the biblical (and contemporary) Beit Horon, site of Judah the Maccabee’s victory over the Assyrians. Beitin is biblical (and contemporary) Beit El, a site of the Holy Ark and Prophet Samuel’s court. Bethlehem is mentioned 44 times in the Bible and is the birth place of King David. Beit Jalla is biblical (and contemporary) Gilo, in southern Jerusalem, where Sennacherib set his camp, while besieging Jerusalem. El-Jib is biblical (and contemporary) Gibeon, Joshua’s battleground known for his command to stop the sun and moon (Joshua 10:12). Jaba’ is the biblical (and contemporary) Geva, site of King Saul’s son Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines. Jenin is the biblical (and contemporary) Ein Ganim, a Levite town within the tribe of Issachar. Mukhmas is biblical (and contemporary) Mikhmash, residence of Jonathan the Maccabee and site of King Saul’s fortress. Seilun is biblical (and contemporary) Shilo, a site of Joshua’s tabernacle and the Holy Ark and Samuel’s youth. Tequa is biblical (and contemporary) Tekoa, hometown of the Prophet Amos.

In another of his posts, Ettinger has negated the US government position that a Palestinian state is the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that its formation would resolve the situation. He cites proofs from recent history showing that Arab antipathy to Israel not only predates Palestinian concerns, but often sidesteps such interests.

Israel’s war for its independence in 1948-1949, for instance, was conducted by the Arab countries at the expense of Palestinian aspirations. Though Egypt conquered Gaza, and Jordan took Judea and Samaria, and Syria claimed the Golan, in none of these areas was a Palestinian government allowed.

When Egypt conquered the Gaza Strip, it proceeded to prohibit Palestinian national activities and expel Palestinian leadership. Not only did Jordan not grant Palestinian independence to Judea and Samaria, it actually annexed these areas to its own country. When Syria occupied and annexed the Hama area in the Golan Heights, the Arab League outlawed a provisional Palestinian government there.

In short, it can be concluded that Arab “rights” to a state in Judea and Samaria are historically weak and were long ignored by other Arab countries.

RUSSIA BUILDS KEY NAVAL HQ IN SYRIA: MISSILE PRESENCE WORRIES ISRAEL! (DEBKAfile Special Report)

Russian warships will use Syria’s Tartus as main naval HQ for four seas!
A high-ranking Russian navy source reported that the Soviet-era naval maintenance base near Tartus in Syria is to be expanded and modernized to become “fully operational.” DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Russia is building the facility up as its main sea base for operations in four seas: The Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The upgrade of Russian port facilities at Tartus, its only foothold in the Mediterranean, will automatically enhance Moscow’s strategic interests in Syria and Bashar Assad’s regime.

The Russian source said that the 50 naval personnel and three berthing floats currently deployed at Tartus with accommodation for up to a dozen warships will be beefed up with a new berthing float delivered by two tugboats from the Black Sea Fleet. DEBKAfile’s sources disclose that those warships will include large vessels such as the nuclear-armed guided missile cruiser Peter the Great and the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.

In September 2008, DEBKAfile first disclosed that the Russian Navy commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky and his Syrian counterpart Gen. Taleb al-Barri, had signed contracts for converting Tartus into one of Russia’s most highly-developed naval infrastructures outside its territory. Its warships based there will be capable of reaching the Red Sea through the Suez Canal and the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar in a matter of days.

Israel is deeply concerned, according to military sources, by the sophisticated air-defense S-300PMU-2 and Iskander-E missile systems the Russians propose to hand Syria on the pretext of installing a shield to defend the facility against air or missile attack. Moscow claims they will remain under the control of Russian crews but, according to information reaching Israel, they will be quietly and gradually handed over to the Syrian army; the Russian teams are in fact instructors.

Russia justifies this, according to DEBKAfile’s Moscow sources, by the deployment of the highly sophisticated American FBX-T missile-interception radar systems at the Israeli Negev base of Nevatim.

Furthermore, Moscow will have its rejoinder for the disputed US deployment of missile interceptors in Eastern Europe. As we reported last September, the Russian Black Sea fleet and new Mediterranean-based warships will coordinate their operations under a single command. They are designed as counter-deployments to the post-Georgian-war US and NATO naval presence in the Black Sea as well as its fleets in other parts of the Mediterranean including Israel’s shores.

TEMPLE INSTITUTE TO BUILD SACRIFICIAL ALTAR ON TISHA B’AV
by Yehudah Lev Kay

The Temple Institute will begin building the sacrificial altar on Thursday, Tisha B’Av, a fast day when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago.

The sacrificial altar was located in the center of the Temple, and upon it the Kohanim (priests) offered the numerous voluntary and obligatory sacrifices commanded in the Bible.

The Temple Institute, which has already built many of the vessels for the Holy Temple, such as the ark and the menorah, has now embarked on a project to build the altar. Construction begins Thursday in Mitzpe Yericho (east of Jerusalem) at 5:30 p.m.

“Unfortunately, we cannot currently build the altar in its proper place, on the Temple Mount,” Temple Institute director Yehudah Glick said. “We are building an altar of the minimum possible size so that we will be able to transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt.”

Even a minimum size altar will work out to be approximately 4 meters tall, 6 meters long, and 6 meters wide. Workers have collected around 10 cubic meters of rocks weighing several tons already.

The rocks were gathered from the Dead Sea area and wrapped individually to assure they remain whole and are not touched by metal, as the Bible requires.

“The Torah says that no iron tools should be used on the altar’s stones,” Glick explained. “The altar represents a connection to life and to the creation of the world. Iron is the opposite – it is used to build tools of war, death, and destruction.”

The stones will be cemented together with a mixture of sand, clay, tar, and asphalt. Researchers from the Temple Institute visited the Finish glass factory near Yerucham to learn how to create a mixture which would remain as cool as possible under the altar’s unremitting fires and protect the Kohanim, who always worked in the Temple barefoot.

Glick said that Tisha B’Av, a day associated with mourning, is really the ideal time to begin to build the Temple. “People mistakenly think Tisha B’Av is only a day to cry,” he explained. “It also has to be a day of action. We have the ability in our era to begin the construction of the Temple.”

“There are many positive developments recently with regard to the Temple,” Glick added. “Hundreds of Jews visited the Temple Mount this week, and more and more continue to come, after undergoing the requisite ritual immersion.”

Tonight (July 29, 2009) begins one of the most solemn days on the Jewish calendar. It is the 9th day of the Jewish month AV. It is the day that the Temple of Solomon was destroyed in 586 BC and the day the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It is also the day of the terrible massacre of Jewish people in 135 AD to end the Second Jewish Revolt under the leadership of Simon bar Kochba.

It is also the day that Jews were expelled from England in 1290 AD, and the day that Jewish people could no longer live in Spain under Queen Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand – in 1492 AD, the same year that Christopher Columbus left Spain to discover America. It is also of some interest that World War I started on this day.

This is a day of fasting (from sundown on July 29 until sundown on July 30). No weddings are performed during the three weeks of mourning from Tammuz 17 until Tisha B’Av. This day in Jewish history and tradition causes Jewish people to abstain from eating and drinking, bathing, the wearing of leather footwear, and even marital relations. It is customary to sit on the floor until after midday, and Torah study is restricted to laws of mourning and passages that deal with the destruction of the Temple. No Jewish people will purchase new clothes on ths day and they will not listen to music.

On of the features of this day is the reading of the Book of Lamentations, which describes the mourning of the Jewish people over the destruction of the Temple of Solomon by Babylon. One of the passages in Lamentations 3:22-23 reads: “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”

One of the beautiful beliefs about this day is that the Jewish sadness and mourning over what happened on this day in history will one day be turned into joy and rejoicing at the coming of the Messiah Who will build a future temple that will never be destroyed (Zechariah 6:12-13).

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

He also wrote in Titus 2:13: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

OBAMA CALLED “RACIST” IN JERUSALEM RALLY!
by Hillel Fendel (Israel National News)

An estimated 1,500 people crowded a Jerusalem square on Monday evening, holding the first of what is likely to become a series of anti-Obama rallies and protests against unrelenting American pressure upon the Israeli government.

No fewer than four top US government officials are in Israel this week – “just a coincidence,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said – to bring a message of “Stop building in Judea, Samaria and northern and eastern Jerusalem” to the Israeli government. Among them is special Obama envoy George Mitchell. The slogan of the rally, on the other hand, was, “Yes to Israeli independence, no to American dictates!”

“Yes, there is a new Middle East, and there is change: G-d Almighty has taken His people out of exile and brought them back home to its land! And woe unto those who would interfere in this process!

Among the speakers were rabbis, Knesset Members, and other public officials. First to address the crowd was Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, Dean of Yeshivat Nir Kiryat Arba and a former Knesset Member. Acknowledging that Obama promised to bring “change,” and that President Shimon Peres has long spoken of a “New Middle East,” the rabbi said, “Yes, there is a new Middle East – G-d Almighty has taken His people out of exile and brought them back home to its land! He has brought them to independence, to settlement, to life in its land that has now come to life once again! This is the ‘change’! And woe unto those who would interfere in this process of change!”

Addressing U.S. President Barack Obama directly, Rabbi Waldman said, “You are a racist! How dare you tell Jews that they can’t live in this place or in that location? We’re finished with such periods in our history!”

Expressing opposition to the blatant American intervention in Israeli policies, the many home-made signs at the protest declared messages such as: The Land of the Bible belongs to the People of the Bible – Obama: No You Can’t! Yes We Can Build Settlements! – Warning: American Jews are in Danger – Obama, deal with Iran – Israel belongs to the Jews – Jordan is Palestine – Israel Won’t Fold – Let My People Grow!

Chanan Ben-Ari, 21, told the crowd, “Good evening to you, heroes of the Land of Israel… and good evening to you, as well, Mr. Prime Minister. I have just completed my army service, and I was married eight months ago, and to our great sorrow – we are unable to find a caravan in which to live in the very town in which I grew up, Karnei Shomron! And it’s not just me – an estimated 1,400 young couples are estimated to be leaving Yesha every year because there are no homes to be had! Not only in Karnei Shomron, but also in Ariel, and in Beit El, and in Kedumim, and Ofrah – this is the quiet expulsion that is going on! And it’s certainly not that I don’t have the right connections, as my father Herzl is the mayor of Karnei Shomron, and my uncle Michael is a talented Knesset Member, but the simple truth is that there are no homes to be had! I call on you to rebuff the American pressure and allow Jewish families to build once again.”

Gershon Mesika, Chairman of the Shomron Regional Council, said, “The dispute here is not only over settlements or outposts – but over the whole country! The Arabs don’t want us anywhere in this land; they want us only in the ocean! … Mr. Obama: Remove your hands from the Land of Israel! You must understand this simple truth: The Land of Israel belongs to the Nation of Israel according to the Torah of Israel.”

“The fact that America treats the State of Israel as a banana republic, and the American willingness to abandon us in exchange for Islamic PR approval around the world, brings us here.”

Yakir Segev: “We need not rely only on our leadership to do the right thing. Rather, if Netanyahu has a strong public behind him, then he will be able to hold fast.”

MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh), head of the National Union party, led the crowd in chanting, “Mitchell, go home! Mitchell, go home!” Taking note of the Central Bureau of Statistics report noting strong population growth in Judea and Samaria, Ketzaleh repeated his call for increased population growth: “I am a Kohen (priest) and I therefore bless you that every family that can should have another child this year!”

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union), “We never had any expectations from Obama, for we didn’t vote for him. But there were many Jews who voted for Netanyahu and had expectations from him. But ever since I saw him vote in favor of the Disengagement four years ago – even though he knew that it was bad for Israel – I knew we could not count on him. … and now he thinks that he can establish a demilitarized state for Arabs in the heart of the Land of Israel. Don’t let him make that mistake! He needs your protests! And even more so do the Likud MKs who voted against the Disengagement need your support. If you are strong, then they will arise one by one and oppose this destructive, suicidal program. The government plans to uproot outposts and to freeze construction in Yesha, and in Jerusalem as well – but it’s up to us! We can tell Netanyahu from here, ‘Stop now! Before you lose your government!’”

Danny Dayan, head of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria, reminded the audience of the various actions Israel took despite American pressure – the preemptive attack of the Six Day War in 1967, the attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor, the annexation of Jerusalem and the Golan, and others – and “in their merit, we are here today. Therefore, those who say we can’t withstand American pressure have evil intentions and are ignorant of the truth.

Chananel Durani, mayor of Kedumim, declared that his town would continue to build, despite the difficulties.

MK David Rotem (Israel Our Home) and Nissan Slomiansky, past and apparently future MK from the Jewish Home party, also addressed the protest rally, after which the participants walked to the nearby American consulate carrying torches.

US OFFICIALS EXPECTED TO INCREASE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL!
by Yehudah Lev Kay

A parade of four senior U.S. officials due in Israel this week are expected to increase pressure on Israel to agree to a construction freeze in Judea and Samaria and avoid any action against the Iranian nuclear threat.

The special U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, landed in Israel Sunday after a short visit in Damascus. He will meet with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday and with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

Mitchell has spearheaded U.S. President Barack Obama’s efforts to pressure Israel into a construction freeze in Judea and Samaria, but Netanyahu has so far maintained that building for ‘natural increase’ must be allowed. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly told EU officials last week that Israel would soon agree to a freeze.

The U.S. State Department said Mitchell would continue to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian Authority conflict in his visit. “He wants to be clear that, you know, all sides are creating the conditions, putting themselves in position so that when we begin a formal negotiating process, we’ve put ourselves in the best position to have a successful outcome,” State department spokesman Phillip Crowley said.

Today (Monday), U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is to land in Israel and will meet with Netanyahu. Aides said his visit would focus on Iran, and Gates is expected to tell the Israelis that Obama is serious on ending Iran’s nuclear program, and that his offer to Iran for negotiations is not open-ended.

Later in the week, U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones and White House Iranian affairs expert Dennis Ross will meet with Netanyahu. The White House said the two would “discuss the broad range of issues in our relationships with Israel and the Palestinian Authority building on discussions special envoy Mitchell and Secretary Gates will have a few days earlier.”

American officials said the convergence of four senior officials on Israel in one week was “coincidental.”

Netanyahu also downplayed the significance of the visits on Sunday morning. “These visits are taking place as part of the ongoing relationship between Israel and the U.S.,” he said. “Even in friendly relationships there are different opinions. We want to reach understandings so we can achieve our common goals – peace, security, and development in the Middle East.”

DAHLAN: “ARAFAT DECEIVED THE WORLD”
by Hana Levi Julian

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief terrorist Yasser Arafat successfully deceived the world about his commitment to wholesale murder, according to a Palestinian Authority lawmaker. Senior Fatah official and PA legislator Muhammad Dahlan announced his belief in a July 22 interview broadcast on PA TV (Fatah) that terrorism is “a legal right,” adding that “the international community affirms it for us.”

In the interview, translated by the Washington-based media watchdog Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), Dahlan said he “lived with Chairman Yasser Arafat for years. Arafat would condemn terror by day while at night he would do honorable things. I don’t want to say any more about this.”

Arafat was awarded the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize along with then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin and then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.” Arafat was included in the award due to the belief that he was a sincere participant in the peace process — a belief based on his public condemnations of terror.

In his acceptance speech at the Nobel award ceremony, Arafat informed the Swedish monarch and the panel that granted the prize that “Peace, for us, is an asset and in our interest.” But within the very same speech, he also insisted on a “comprehensive withdrawal from the West Bank (Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip)”, that Jerusalem be internationalized, and that all PA terrorist detainees and prisoners be freed so “that their mothers, wives and children may smile again.”

According to Dahlan, the PA does not oppose armed conflict, but is merely biding its time. He told the interviewer “it is the responsibility of the leadership to use violence when it wants, in the proper place and at the proper time. We cannot leave it in the hands of youth who use their own judgment This is the difference between using this right, and just anyone using it.”

The PMW noted in its report that the very forces that will be available to fight Israel “in the proper place and at the proper time” deemed by the PA leadership, are currently being trained by U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, and fully supplied by surrounding Arab nations.

US POLICY: JEWS IN EASTERN JERUSALEM ARE UNWANTED “SETTLERS”
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

The United States State Department has made it clear that Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem are “settlements,” which U.S. President Barack Obama has called “illegitimate.”

U.S. officials previously have used the term “settlement” to describe the Har Homa neighborhood, opposite the neighborhood of Gilo on the southern end of Jerusalem. Like French Hill, Ramot and eastern Talpiot, it was restored to Israel in the Six Day War in 1967 and officially annexed to Jerusalem in 1980. Approximately 300,000 Jews live in these neighborhoods.

The Obama administration has not stated whether it makes a distinction between building in Har Homa and the other neighborhoods.

Reporters covering the daily State Department press briefing have recently asked tougher-than-usual questions concerning what they see as the United States trying to determine the future borders of a Palestinian Authority State instead of allowing Israel and the PA to negotiate directly.

In Tuesday’s session, reporters peppered State Department assistant spokesman Robert Wood with questions on how the Obama administration can continue to insist on a halt to all building for Jews in eastern Jerusalem as well as Judea and Samaria in light of solid support from within Israel for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu told the Cabinet this week that Israel has complete sovereignty over all of Jerusalem and decides issues such as building permits. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon declared on Tuesday, “Israel will continue to operate in accordance with its vital national interests… Our right to rule and develop Jerusalem is irrefutable.”

Even Intelligence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, one of the most dovish Likud Knesset Members, who previously has favored the idea of surrendering the strategic Golan Heights to Syria, took up the cause for Jerusalem Tuesday.

He asserted that the U.S. is obligated by informal commitments by former President George W. Bush, who wrote to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that large population Jewish centers, such as Gush Etzion and Maaleh Adumim, will remain part of Israel in any final agreement with the PA. Washington recently has lumped eastern Jerusalem with Maaleh Adumim as “settlements.” The Obama administration has rejected any commitment to the promises because they were not part of a formal agreement.

“It is of great importance to us that what the previous U.S. administration agreed to is not overlooked,” Meridor told reporters. “This is how countries take upon themselves obligations.” He added that the “oral understandings” are “binding on us and them.”

Reporters at the State Department noted Meridor’s and Ayalon’s statements, mentioning that Ayalon said Israel must act in line with its national interests and its rights in Jerusalem.

Wood replied, “No one is asking Israel to act outside its national security interests. What we’re asking both parties to do is to fulfill the Roadmap obligations,” although the American proposal does not state anything about Israel’s unilaterally ceasing construction for Jews in eastern Jerusalem or anywhere else.

Israeli media jumped on Wood’s statement that it is “premature” to talk about financial pressures to force Israel to bend to American policies, but the context of his comment was a direct reply to a question and was not a hint that the Obama administration is considering such a step.

“I think we’ve been very clear with regard to settlements,” Wood said. “They need to stop, and that includes natural growth. I don’t have anything more to add to that. The Israelis are well aware of our position. And we’ll obviously continue to have talks with the Israelis on this subject and other issues, but our policy remains the same.”

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell is to arrive in the region later this week for more talks with Israel and the PA on the issue of building for Jews in eastern Jerusalem as well as Judea and Samaria.

250 RABBIS SIGN LETTER TO OBAMA: HANDS OFF JERUSALEM!
by Gil Ronen (IsraelNN.com)

Heads of the Pikuach Nefesh rabbinical committee have begun collecting the signatures of Rabbis in Israel on a letter to United States President Barack Obama. The letter demands that Obama cease talking about ending Jewish construction in Jerusalem and stop pressuring Israel in that direction.

In a reference to the upcoming “nine days” which culminate in Tisha B’Av, the Rabbis tell Obama that “during these days, in which the Jewish people mourn the destruction of Jerusalem and marks the disgraceful memory of its destroyers, we are certain that you, Mr. Barack Obama, do not want to enter that disreputable list of those who raise their hand to strike Jerusalem and those who live in it.”

The Rabbis note that during his visit to the Middle East, Obama showed “impressive erudition” in the Koran. “As one who is familiar with the Koran, you surely know that the city of Jerusalem is not even mentioned in it once,” they said.

JEWS PRAY TOWARD ONE PLACE!
“The Arab and Muslim world never recognized Jerusalem as belonging to it,” the letter went on. “On the other hand, all of the world’s nations knew for thousands of years that the Jews pray toward one place only – the holy city of Jerusalem.”

The Rabbis added that even putting aside the city’s enormous sanctity and importance for the Jewish people, there is no real political logic behind any concession to the PA. “Since Israel began negotiations, withdrawals and concessions to the Palestinians, the entire world is witness to the justice of the Jewish Law (Halacha) which determines that any such concession will entail another round of bloodshed and deepen mistrust and dangers,” they agreed.

The Rabbinical letter ends with a clear request: “If you, Mr. Obama, wish to leave any chance at all for peace and quiet in the Middle East, take your hands off the Holy City of Jerusalem right now!”

Two hundred and fifty Rabbis have signed the appeal, and efforts are being made to collect the signatures of almost every single Rabbi in Israel before the letter is sent to Washington.

Mike Fryer is a pastor in Wales and an active advocate for Israel throughout the UK. His thought-provoking article calls upon Christians all over the world to wake up to the dangers of anti-semitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the church itself. This article is a must for all Christian Zionists. Please forward this article to everyone you know and urge them to join with us in combating ignorance within the church and promoting the support of Israel in churches all over the world.
Christian Anti-Semitism Today!
By: Pastor Mike Fryer

WHO IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO ISRAEL?

When we think about the enemies of Israel and the threat that exists of another major war against Israel, Islam is always in the forefront of our minds. Today a ceasefire is in place between HAMAS and Israel, yet Kassam rockets are being fired daily from Gaza into Southern Israeli communities which have been established on land that has, until now been undisputed.

Increasingly more sophisticated rockets are fired by Muslim fundamentalists based in Gaza under the oversight of HAMAS, which is a universally recognized terrorist group governing the region. HAMAS have said, and still maintain the position, that they will not end violence against Israel until every Jew has been forced into the sea and all Israel becomes an Islamic state. There are many other terrorist groups that hold similar aspirations such as Hizbullah and Al-Qaeda.

However aggressive these fundamentalists are I must ask the question, in light of historical and current information, who is the greatest threat to Israel? Before I progress I want to clarify that, when I go on to refer to “Christendom”, I am referring to Christianity as a religious system accepted and authorized by the State. I am not referring to Bible-believing Christians who follow the governance of God rather than the governance of the state and the accepted religious traditions and social practices of their nation. Christendom does, however, include many mainstream church organizations and, of course, it’s leaders.

As a student of Christian anti-semitism I can write much about the early church Fathers, efforts to destroy the Jewish roots of Christianity. I can spout the wrongs of the removal from Christianity of God’s Appointed Feasts and Festivals in favor of pagan Feasts and Festivals, the motive for which was anti-semitism. I can speak about the early Christian Apostles who taught and practiced “Torah” (regulations given by God in the first five books of the Bible) and were murdered or beaten for doing so, just as was the Apostle Paul.

The constant referencing to Palestine and not Israel by Christian Scholars has over centuries, established in the minds of ordinary people an end to the state of Israel. The Crusades and the Inquisitions, the blood libels and forced conversions all took place under the umbrella of Christianity but the most horrific fact is that, without Christianity, the Holocaust could not have taken place.

So what about Christendom now? Since 1948 and the establishment of Israel, those Christian theologians who once taught that God had finished with the Jews and Israel and that the church has replaced them, are now faced with the fact that He obviously hasn’t.

Christendom in the 21st century is neither able to use violence as she has throughout history, nor to advocate violence. It is not accepted practice to repeat some of the pre-second World War rantings of European church leaders who, at the end of the 19th century published in papers such as the Vatican Daily Osservatore Romano, which reported, “Antisemitism ought to be the natural, sober, thoughtful Christian reaction against Jewish predominance.” The article continued, “True antisemitism is and can be in substance nothing other than Christianity, completed and perfected in Catholicism.”

I ask the question however, what is the acceptable practice of Christian Anti-Semitism today? Many in Christendom today are using charity and good works to re-enforce in the minds of many Muslim fundamentalists that Islam has the right and even a duty to take land from the Jewish people and establish a homeland for themselves. They are referring to land, which the Jewish people by right, by International law and by religion are entitled to possess.

“Christian” organizations such as Sabeel and Christian Aid speak openly in favor of a Palestinian homeland and use terms such as an “oppressive Israel regime” and “Israeli Occupation”; Church denominations such as the church in Wales, the Anglican Communion, Methodists and Presbyterians have all spoken of divestment of Israel and support the Palestinian cause to create another state within the confines of the land of Israel. These and many other church organizations, such as the Vineyard, are encouraging governments to negotiate with terrorists to bring about a two state solution, and they do so in the name of peace. They have eagerly moved away from the term anti-semitism and now use the term anti-Zionism. What is the difference? By using the former you can be called a racist and prosecuted but the term anti-Zionism is not perceived in the same way and although it means the same it is, in this current Political climate, “acceptable”.

Many Christian organizations seem to ignore the plight of Jewish communities who are the target of air strikes every day. Many thousands of pounds are collected monthly by some church groups in order to send aid to a Palestinian Arab people who, in reality, would be far better off living under an Israeli social system instead of the system they have today, which has been proved to be corrupt by aid and finance going directly to their leaders instead of it being given to ordinary families. What message does all this give to the terrorists who are bombing and launching air strikes against Gods chosen people?

For the last two years Bloomsbury Baptist Church London has hosted a Christmas carol service by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign who wrongly and unjustly slam Israel and her efforts to defend herself. This year St. James Church Piccadilly also hosted the PSC. PSC changed the words of christmas carol’s to insult Israel and these two Churches readily gave PSC a platform for such blatant anti-semitism. Despite Christians for Zion members writing over sixty letters to Bloomsbury Baptist Church these two large well-known churches representing Christendom today simply collaborated with the PSC to abuse a nation that God calls the Apple of His Eye.

In the town in which I live an anti-Israel play was performed at our local theater. I led some other Christians for Zion supporters as we stood at the door to the theater and gave out leaflets, not criticizing anyone but stating facts. Many local church leaders and Christian groups attended the play and were obviously opposed to our stance. We found it difficult that many who teach from their pulpits that we are always to seek truth actually ignored the truths in our message. Sir, Winston Churchill said “Men occasionally stumble over truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” This seems to be what many who hear the message about God’s plans for Israel actually do today.

Christians supporting Palestinians and a Palestinian state say that they are acting in the name of humanitarianism. If humanitarianism was a real issue then their criticism would be against HAMAS who have only one goal and that is the murder of every Jew in Israel. There would be at least some recognition that the plight of ordinary Palestinians is caused by their own terrorist leaders. There would also be some discussion about the plight of the Jewish communities who are trying to live in peace on undisputed territory near Gaza.

The opposite is the case however; one Quaker leader told me that HAMAS was a good charitable organization in need of full support and that Israel was the aggressor. What was her motive for such a statement when we hear James Lindsay, former legal counsel for UNRWA, who issued a report recently, which included the following; “No justification exists for millions of dollars in humanitarian aid going to those who can afford to pay for UNRWA services. In addition, UNRWA should make the following operational changes: halt its one-sided political statements and limit itself to comments on humanitarian issues; take additional steps to ensure the agency is not employing or providing benefits to terrorists and criminals; and allow the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), or some other neutral entity, to provide balanced and discrimination-free textbooks for UNRWA schools”.

You won’t see this report published by Christian Aid or expounded by Stephen Sizer the Anglican vicar heading up Sabeel here in the UK. He won’t report the facts that UNRWA is funded by the U.S. (31%) and the European Union (nearly 50%) — only 7% of the funds come from Muslim sources and that huge amounts of this aid from both Government and Christian sources are diverted into the pockets of terrorists. These Christian anti-Israel organizations won’t publish that UNWRA has been stopping aid going into Gaza recently because HAMAS is stealing it. However they still collect monies from Christian congregations and send it to Palestinian organizations who do not keep account of it’s final destination and are known to use it to manipulate ordinary Palestinian Arabs to hate Jews.

Three years ago I attended a meeting at which a church in Wales Canon was speaking about the situation in Israel. There were a number of clergy present, none of whom knew me. I listened to lie after lie encouraging the audience to sympathize with Islam and the Palestinian people, and to see Israel as an aggressive regime, hell bent on persecuting the Palestinian people. At the end of the presentation there was a time for questions. At the conclusion of a stream of pro-Palestinian questions, I asked some pertinent questions which showed that the speaker was aware that he was not telling the truth about the actual matters he was referring to. The meeting was immediately stopped and worried clergy, thinking I was a journalist surrounded me in an effort to find out what the purpose of my attendance was.

On another occasion I was asked by a large Christian organization, the Iona community, to speak at their Annual conference. They had been given information that I was a regular visitor to Israel and, as the theme of their conference was Israel, they thought I might have something to say. The first three speakers presented their anti-Israel rhetoric and then I stood to speak. When I began to outline my presentation the meeting became hostile and after a short time the conference organizer stopped my presentation and apologized that they didn’t know they had invited a “Christian Zionist” to speak.

I don’t believe it is the case that Christendom has changed its spots and put 1700 years of anti-semitism behind it. If it were true that Christendom has changed then churches and Christian organizations all over the world would be uniting to condemn the terrorists who are trying to take land by violent means. They would be doing all they could to support the Word of God through the prophets and supporting the legal right for Israel to live in peace.

Christendom remains the largest faith organization in the world with 2.1 billion Christians, the next largest being Islam with 1.5 billion. The Christian West has authority and power over some issues concerning Israel and certainly the ear of many of the Worlds Governments, including the U.S. and the U.K. and yet Europe and the USA are bowing to a call by Islamic countries for a two state solution, which in effect is giving in to terror. Is this again Christendom expressing through various governments and Fundamental Islam her old prejudices?

Replacement theology and succesionism teaches that the church has replaced Israel. The Jewish people, having established a Nation in Israel as a Biblical and legal homeland, opposes the churches teaching at all levels. Therefore, if Christendom continues to support a Palestinian State and curse Israel, we can only conclude that the motive is the same as it always has been, and that is to destroy the right of Jewish people to live in Israel and persecute them as the underdogs, in order to support the argument that God has left and forsaken them. This time however Christendom appears to be using Islamic terror to do it’s dirty work.

I can only conclude that Fundamental Islam is another weapon in the armory of Christendom that for nearly two thousand years has attempted to destroy the Jewish nation and their right to a homeland.

The book of Zechariah tells us that the nations who punish Israel beyond the punishment allotted by God will be destroyed. Joel tells us that God will judge the nations that divide Israel. I am a Bible-believing Christian who on the face of it, may seem to many of you anti-Christian, in truth I have such a fear that the offense we cause God will bring us into the most severe and dreadful judgment and I want Christians from all around the world to unite and Bless what God is doing rather than curse His work.

During the years preceding, and during the entire period of the Holocaust, the majority of Christians in Europe remained silent and became bystanders as the worst atrocities in history took place. We cannot afford to stand by in our churches and allow Israel to be ignored, abused or opposed by a twisted or misinterpreted theology. We cannot stand by whilst ministers in Christian churches or Christian organizations encourage and fund a concerted effort to destroy Israel and those who support her.

Please be brave enough to speak out and activate your beliefs because today we make our history. Unless we change our position, Christendom will continue to be seen as the world’s greatest threat to Israel.