Biden: Only two-state solution will guarantee Israel’s security

The Times of Israel, March 8, 2024

Event

The U.S. and Israel stand at a diplomatic and military crossroads. Israel says it needs to finish the war against Hamas in the key Gazan city of Rafah, yet the U.S. is threatening that Israel won’t be able to use American weapons if Israel launches its military campaign against the Hamas stronghold.
On the northern border, Hezbollah continues to fire rocket volleys on Israeli communities. In his State of the Union address, President Biden put the burden on Israel to protect Gazans.

“Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population like cowards under hospitals, daycare centers, and all the like. Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,”

Biden declared. He added what he says is the solution:

“As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution (between Israel and the Palestinians) over time.”

Comment

Turmoil in the Middle East poses a risk to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid and might help Trump into office again. The conflict between Israel and Hamas is impacting politics around the world.

In the UK there has been a recent byelection that has seen an ultra antisemitic candidate have a landslide win. Such was the shock, the prime minister delivered a speech condemning the vote in front of No10. All this is causing nations to rethink their support of Israel. There is growing pressure to unliterally declare a two state solution – in other words divide Israel in two and have half the land as a Palestinian State and half for Israel. But it will not bring peace – it will only bring more war.

Joel 3 says that the nations have “parted” or “divided” my land. In the following verses we read of all nations being gathered to Israel to battle – it is coming….

Bible quote

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted [divided] my land. (Joel 3:2)

The nations may well announce a division of the land – but in the next verse God says

“what has Philistia to do with me?”

Weekly World Watch, Andy Walton

British parliament plunged into chaos over Gaza cease-fire vote

Politico, February 21, 2024

Event

Angry MPs staged a walkout in the House of Commons Wednesday night and vented their fury at Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, as a symbolic vote on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas descended into chaos. MPs had been set to vote on a motion from the Scottish National Party calling for an “immediate” cease-fire in Gaza. The SNP used its dedicated “opposition day” in the Commons to push the motion. But Hoyle intervened to allow the opposition Labour Party — which feared a rebellion from its own MPs amid pressure over its response to the conflict — to put forward its own amendment to the motion, which also backed an  “immediate humanitarian cease-fire” but included softer language on Israel’s conduct in the war.

The Prime Minister gave his own views on the Gaza votes controversy in a short broadcast interview on Thursday afternoon.

“I think the important point here is that we should never let extremists intimidate us into changing the way in which Parliament works. Parliament is an important place for us to have these debates. Some people may want to stifle that with intimidation or aggressive behaviour.”

Comment

The chaos seen in Britain’s parliament was down to one thing – fear. MP’s are fearful of the violent consequences if they are not seen to be backing Gaza and the Palestinians. It has come to light that many MP’s are receiving threats if they don’t vote ”the right way” and condemn Israel.

A staff member for an MP said it was “only a matter of time” until “the worst happens”. This is why the UK prime minister said that some want to stifle debate though intimidation and aggression.

The Bible says that Jerusalem would become a burdensome stone for all people and those who try to move it will be cut to pieces. In other words Jerusalem will become an insolvable issue that brings destruction.

Bible quote

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:3)

Don’t forget the Hamas war is about Jerusalem. They call this conflict The Al Aqsa Flood – Al Aqsa is the Muslim name for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Weekly World Watch, Andy Walton

Putin affirms ‘unwavering support for the Palestinians’

Israel National News, July 2, 2023

Event

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation on Saturday (July 1), discussing the latest developments and ways to boost bilateral ties, the Xinhua news agency reported. During the phone call, Putin extended Eid al-Adha greetings and wishes to Abbas and the Palestinian people, the report said.

Being briefed on the latest developments of the Palestinian Arab–Israeli conflict, Putin affirmed Russia‘s

“unwavering support for the Palestinian people in achieving their aspirations for freedom and independence by establishing an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Abbas, for his part, expressed his keenness to restore stability to Russia and wished the country further progress and prosperity. Putin has in the past expressed a desire to host an Israeli-Palestinian Arab summit to revive the stalled peace talks between the sides, but nothing has materialized yet in this regard.

Comment

Mahmoud Abbas the Palestinian Authority chairman has regular meetings with Putin. Last October he met Putin urging Russia to take an active role in resolving the conflict with Israel. He told Putin he mistrusted Washington and wanted Putin to take a greater lead in negotiations.

Abbas said he was “completely satisfied” with Russia’s position towards the Palestinian Arab people. This week they have spoken again and once more Putin has said the Palestinians have his full backing and that he sees east Jerusalem as becoming a future capital for them. In Ezekiel 38 we read that

“after many day thou [Gog] shall be visited.”

The word ”visited” means

“sought after, needed, required.”

Putin has been visited and is being sought after to get involved with Israel….

Bible Quote

After many days thou [Gog] shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.  (Ezekiel 38:8)

Andy Walton

Weekly World Watch

This week’s WWW is ready to download. Please click on the red button below to download as the usual powerpoint. Or click the blue button to download as a PDF.

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Preceding

The corpus separatum and Mahmoud Abbas

At UN, Abbas Gives Israel One-year Ultimatum

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Additional reading

1. Palestine 1787-1917-2006 – Maps and Christian population
2. Former president says American Jews are ungrateful for all he has done for Jewish state
3. European Eye on Radicalization: How An Opposition Victory Could Affect Turkey’s Relations with Non-State Actors in the Middle East
4. Signs of the times – “Gaza – once more a flashpoint”

New Iranian and Hizballah bases south of Damascus

Event

Two new military centers are under construction south of Damascus by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Hizballah, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. They are designed to consolidate their access to Lebanon and the Golan.

Satellite and Western intelligence have recorded the new projects. Acting for Iran, the Imam Hussein Brigades, an Iraqi militia assigned by the IRGC to the Damascus region, began in mid-June building a string of bases in the Khan al-Shih district. Twenty kilometers away, Hizballah has been constructing on the large tract of land it occupies another network of military facilities south of the Syrian air force’s Mezzeh Military Airport. All this construction work is designed to bring Iran’s military and its proxies closer to the Israeli border, the Golan and Lebanon. The Iraqi militia is focusing its effort on new military staff headquarters and hangars for storing weapons and ammo not far from its own bases at Zaynab, where Iran has established its main command center in Syria.

Comment

This report in Debkafile (an Israeli military intelligence website based in Jerusalem) brings together a number of key themes in the Bible in relation to the initial inner ring war. This war that precedes the Gogian invasion is a conflict between Israel and her immediate, surrounding neighbours as detailed in Psalm 83, Isaiah 17 and Zechariah 12.

Piecing the puzzle together we can see the likes of Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Palestinians etc launching a coordinated assault on Israel especially in the north. Syria is also involved and Damascus in this war is completely destroyed. Iran is the nation behind this war as it funds and directs all elements of the inner ring war. A great void is left in the Middle East with the demise of Syria. Gog descends into that void…

Bible quote

A prophecy against Damascus:

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.  The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; (Isaiah 17:1-2 NIV)

Andy Walton

Weekly World Watch

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At UN, Abbas Gives Israel One-year Ultimatum

Haaretz, September 24, 2021

President Mahmoud Abbas used his UN General Assembly address on Friday to warn that the Palestinian Authority would reverse its recognition of the 1967 borders and push to press charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court if the country did not withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem within one year.
In his pre-recorded speech, Abbas said that he is

“ready to work throughout this year on the delineation of borders and solving all final status issues under the auspices of the international Quartet and in accordance with United Nations resolutions. If this is not achieved, why maintain recognition of Israel based on the 1967 borders?”

Referring to the Oslo Agreement, Abbas said Palestinians

“remained committed to all of its elements to this day,”

whereas

“Israel has not honoured its obligations under the signed agreements and has evaded participating in peace initiatives and instead pursued its expansionist, colonial enterprise, destroying the prospect of a political settlement based on the two-state solution.”

Andy Walton in his Weekly World Watch comments:

Back in 1993 the Oslo accords were signed between Israel and the PLO. The accords created a Palestinian Authority (PA) who would have limited self governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The accords did not create a Palestinian State – but left sensitive issues such as state borders, Jerusalem etc to be decided in further agreements. In return the PLO recognised Israel’s right to exist inside the borders created in 1967. But now the leader of the PA has issued an ultimatum of one year to sort out the issues of the borders and Jerusalem. And if they are not sorted they will cease to recognise Israel’s right to exist – which could lead to the initial inner ring war.

Bible quote:

They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.  For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee. (Psalm 83:3-5)

97-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor scoring high on TikTok

Tik Tok a youngster gadget

We know already of Hadassah Tirosh who has amassed over 2 million followers on TikTok, where she proudly and openly shares about her Jewishness. She is not only Jewish, but also a Mexican Israeli trans content creator. whose early content, which begins in December of 2019 was posted under her previous name, David, who she remembers fondly and has taken the time to thank for helping her become the person she is today — she’s seen proudly wearing different colourful kippahs, her Star of David necklace and being generally proud and open about her Jewishness.

In 2021 Tik Tok is the seventh most used in the world, with the majority of its users being millennial and Gen Z. But it might be a very high surprise to find a 97-year old lady being a “hipster”.
Lily Ebert isn’t your typical 97-year-old. In June, after only joining the platform earlier this year, Ebert reached 1 million followers on Tik Tok and has now amassed over 1.2 million in total.
How?
Ebert is a Holocaust survivor and, together with her great-grandson Dov Forman who runs her account, is teaching the internet about her remarkable life and experiences as a survivor of Auschwitz and how she made a life for herself after liberation.

Lily Ebert from the camps

Lily Ebert, born in Bonyhád, Hungary on 29th December 1923

Originally from Hungary, Lily Ebert, the eldest of six children in a happy and loving family. When the Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944, her family got to face the worst nightmare one can wish for.

Shortly after Germany invaded Hungary, Lily, her mother and her siblings were sent to the ghetto, and soon after were put on a train, crammed into dark and almost airless cattle wagons, to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Lily at the age of about 4 or 5 had received from her mother a small gold pendant. Even then it wasn’t very expensive or unique but young Lily was very pleased with her present and now in the camp she did not want it to be taken by the Nazis. The small pendant had gone hiding, safe inside the heel of her mother’s shoe. Lily and her mother wore the same size of shoe and as they arrived at the camp her mother asked Lily to swap shoes with her.

Although this happened over 70 years ago Lily can still remember her arrival at the camp. After the long and terrible journey, ‘everyone was half-dead’. They were ordered to climb out of the train and stand together five in a row. There was a man with a stick in his hand. It was Dr Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who became known as the Angel of Death for his brutal experiments on inmates, though at the time Lily didn’t know who he was. With one movement of his hand Dr Mengele sealed the fate of the people before him. He sent people right or left — to life or to death. When they had arrived, Lily and her two sisters Renee and Piri were sent in one direction, while her mother Nina, brother Bela and sister Berta were sent to the left, the way to the gas chambers and crematorium. Lily never saw them again.

Lily had put on her mother’s shoes and was ordered to take a shower, whereafter her hair was cut, and their remaining belongings were stolen. It was her only remaining possession and a reminder of her happy childhood. It was a link to her murdered mother and a symbol of defiance. The Nazis would not be allowed to steal it! The Nazis left them with only their shoes, not having any idea of what was hidden in the heel of Lily’s shoe, the tiny pendant Lily’s last link with her mother. When the shoes wore out, she placed the pendant in her daily ration of bread. After about four months in Auschwitz, the sisters were transferred to an ammunition factory near Leipzig. The pendant went with them.

March to liberation after a human and a viral war

When the Front started closing in on the area, they were forced to leave Leipzig and sent on a two-day march. After seeing and suffering unimaginable horrors, on the second day of the march, April 13, 1945, they were finally liberated by Allied forces.

Lily tried to rebuild her life. She wore the pendant every day in memory of her murdered family. Eventually, she married and had children. In 1953 she was reunited with Imre, one of her brothers, who had been imprisoned in a Nazi labour camp. In 1967 she came to London with her husband and three children.

Having become a proud grandmother she came to face another life-threatening struggle: COVID-19. In January, she struggled with a brutal bout of the virus, but true to her nature, she fought through. For her it was her second chance to be alive.  It was then that her great-grandson Dov Forman decided to share a photo of his great-grandmother to Twitter celebrating her miraculous recovery.

Dov Forman

My 97-Year-old Great Grandma, Lily Ebert BEM – Auschwitz Survivor, has just recovered from Covid- 19. Today she went on her first walk in a month after making a miraculous recovery. A fighter and survivor

The response was extraordinary; the photo has since been retweeted over 17,000 times and has received more than a quarter of a million likes, with people from all over the world responding to send their well-wishes and express their admiration for Lily’s strength and bravery.

Finding viral fame

On the back of this unexpected reaction, Dov set up a TikTok account for Lily. At first, their videos mainly consisted of Dov introducing his great-grandmother and encouraging people to follow the account in order to have her story reach as many people as possible. But once they started building up a following, people quickly began expressing an interest in the details of Lily’s extraordinary life.

Soon enough, the account became dedicated to answering followers’ questions about the Holocaust and Lily’s experiences of it, with questions ranging from asking what they ate in the camp, to what happened to babies that were born there, and what the sleeping conditions were like.

She also remembered some Hungarian poems and recites them on the application.

No human anymore, but just a number

Though it is not always easy to answer all the questions she gets, she finds it a necessary act:

“Of course it is hard but if I could survive it, I can talk about it. And for the future, to ensure that something similar [to the Holocaust] cannot happen again, I have to talk about it.”

Lily’s most viewed video, now with over 20 million views, shows her answering the question,

“How did it feel to get your number in Auschwitz?”

Revealing a faded tattoo on her left arm, Lily confidently tells her followers:

“My number is A-10572. That is what I was, they did not call us by our name. We were no longer humans. We were only a number and we were treated like numbers.”

The video now has over 29,000 comments from people expressing their solidarity with Lily and gratitude for her honesty and strength.

Downsides of Tik Tok and Twitter, also platforms of hate talk

However, despite the overwhelmingly positive reactions and encouraging words of support, like all social media platforms, TikTok comes with its downsides, too. For Jewish creators on TikTok, the fun comes with a hefty dose of antisemitism.

It seems as if the kids on TikTok are churning out a new trend nearly every week. The never-ending scroll of the “For You Page” sends users on a twisting path of all sorts of niches and topics. The app truly has something for every interest, from sea shanty challenges to tortilla wrap hacks to — antisemitic caricatures?

In May, around the time when violence was escalating between Israel and Palestine, Ebert’s account received a slew of hateful antisemitic comments. In one particular instance, under a video of Lily simply wishing her followers “a lovely, peaceful weekend”, and by a repeated similar wish in Hungarian, her native language, she added “Shabbat Shalom,” despite the mundanity and kindness of this video, it quickly became the subject of a swarm of hateful comments. it went even so far that she was called to be responsible for the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Another said, “Happy Holocaust,” while another said,

“Ask her if she thinks the treatment of Palestinians reminds her [of] the treatment she got in the camp.”

Another response was

“Peace be upon Hitlar [sic]”

to one which asked if she believed the treatment of Palestinians reminded her of her treatment in the camps. All of this for a grandmother’s simple greeting. Sadly, this experience of antisemitic hate isn’t exactly unique.

Although these comments were clearly abhorrent, unjustified and unacceptable, like everything else Lily and Dov handled them with the utmost dignity. Posting to Twitter, Dov wrote:

“Over the past few days my great Grandmother (Auschwitz survivor) and I have continued to receive messages of hate on Tiktok and Twitter… We will not allow this to stop us from educating about the horrors of the past, and what hatred can lead to. Hate only breeds hate.”

Hero Magnus, a university student and TikToker, explains how her Judaism-related content would often get slammed by offensive comments.

“The really vicious comments are usually from actual Nazis, and I just block and delete. When I was making a ton of Jewish content, I would get a couple of those on practically every video,”

she explains.

“I often also got casually mean stuff from Christians or culturally Christian atheists who wanted to tell me that Judaism is backwards, cultish or stupid.”

Additionally, Jews of Colour on TikTok experience vitriol both from outside the Jewish community and within.

Shekhiynah Larks, a Black Jewish TikTok creator, describes that, in fact, most of the antisemitism she experiences on the app comes from white Jews and Black non-Jews, not Neo-Nazis.

“When I do receive antisemitic comments, it’s more coded with anti-Blackness at the same time,”

Larks says.

“It’s more people posting ‘free Palestine’ on my page and asking me how I can be Black and a Jew, I’m being brainwashed by white Jews, and that I don’t care about Black people.”

She also notes that many white Jews comment on her videos asking her invasive questions that probe into her Jewish identity and conversion, showing they don’t really view her as Jewish enough.

Aviva Davis writes:

There are many white and white-passing Jews using their platforms to share information and educational resources about systemic racism and anti-Semitism and how one’s identities intersect and influence the way one is treated in society. This is great! Better yet, share resources created by Jews of Color (hint hint, nudge nudge).

Aviva Majerczyk remarks

While the invalidation of Jews of Color is rampant throughout the Jewish community in real life as well, on TikTok, these racist commenters may feel more empowered to voice their backwards views behind anonymous accounts.

Still going strong

Lily Ebert keeps going strong. She still wears the tiny gold pendant and shares its remarkable story with all those who have time to listen.

As part of their mission to teach people about the Holocaust and its devastating effects, Lily and Dov have now co-authored a book together called “Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live.” to come out coming September.

Historian Deborah Lipstadt Assesses the New Anti-Semitism

Historian Deborah Lipstadt has published an accessible and comprehensive book about contemporary anti-Semitism called “Antisemitism: Here and Now.” The book, in which she spells anti-Semitism as “antisemitism” for reasons she outlines—is structured as a series of letters she writes to a fictional student and colleague — both of whom are composites of people Lipstadt has taught and worked with at Emory University in Atlanta.

Lipstadt, the author of books on Holocaust denial and the Adolf Eichmann trial, has experienced anti-Semitism as a result of confronting Holocaust deniers. In the early 2000s, she prevailed in a defamation lawsuit brought by David Irving, one of the more prolific and notorious Holocaust “revisionists.” Her victory was dramatized in “Denial,” a 2016 movie starring Rachel Weisz.

Lipstadt writes that anti-Semitism is challenging to define:

“It is hard, if not impossible, to explain something that is essentially irrational, delusional, and absurd.”

She recently spoke to JewishBoston about her new book and the ongoing scourge of anti-Semitism around the world.

°°°

Is today’s anti-Semitism “old wine in new bottles?”

On some level, it is old wine in new bottles. There are certain aspects of the stereotype which continue to exist and don’t go away. What’s different today is a number of things. First of all, it’s coming from the right and the left simultaneously. That’s different. At the same time, we’ve got a third source, and that is Islamic extremists who have been responsible for dangerous, deadly events in Europe. In some sectors of the Muslim community, it has become embedded among people who wouldn’t think to do anything violent but think evil things of Jews. This combination is different, but the charges are classic.

Actor Rachel Weisz and author Deborah Lipstadt on the set of their film “Denial,” a Bleecker Street release. (Photo credit: Liam Daniel/Bleecker Street)

In your introduction, you write, “By the time this book appears there will have been new examples of antisemitism.”

In some ways, the book is a work in progress. I was sure by the time it was published there would have been a number of instances that could have appeared. Five weeks after I hit the send button, Pittsburgh happened.

Speaking of ongoing anti-Semitism, what inspired you to write a book about it?

I wrote an article right after Gaza happened the summer of 2014 for The New York Times op-ed page. What struck me was the degree of anti-Semitism that got mixed up in opposition to that war. But it wasn’t just the war. There was the 2006 murder of Ilan Halimi. In 2012 there were the murders at a Jewish school in Toulouse. Then there was the shooting at the Jewish Museum of Brussels just before Gaza. Anti-Semitism was coming back in a way that deserved attention. The Times article was very popular, and my agent asked where my book proposal was. I sent him a brief proposal as a favor. He came back to me shortly afterward and said he sold the book. That’s how I came to write a book about anti-Semitism.

You talk about what I describe as “low-voltage anti-Semitism” that can happen casually at dinner parties or in dorm rooms. How do Jews deal with that?

While this book has received mostly amazing reviews, like any author, I tend to linger on the one or two negative ones. One of the reviews said I should not have told my fictitious student Abigail that when she encountered anti-Semitism among her roommates to go back and have a discussion. The reviewer said, “I would have told her to find new friends.” That’s the wrong answer. We’ll run out of friends very quickly if we do that. There is a lot of misunderstanding of what anti-Semitism is and what constitutes it. Our job should be to try to explain that to people. However, when you call me a termite [as Louis Farrakhan did] because I’m a Jew, I’m not going to try and educate you anymore. We have to discern between ignorance and what is absorbed from the ethos sphere, and the committed anti-Semite.

What do you say to young Jews participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement? And what are some of the anti-Semitic tropes associated with BDS?

Many people on campus who support BDS probably couldn’t find Israel on a map. I don’t immediately brand every person who supports BDS as an anti-Semite. Some people erroneously equate BDS with their parents’ votes against apartheid. But if you drill down to what BDS is all about it, it calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. That is anti-Semitism. As for the tropes, it’s this talk of power, control and money. It’s the anti-Semitic stereotypes put into a Middle Eastern context. A few days ago, people said the seven Labour lawmakers who resigned over anti-Semitism in their party were being paid to do so by Israel. If that supposition weren’t so dangerous, it would be simply absurd.

(Courtesy image)

Are anti-Zionists and anti-Semites the same?

They are backing into each other. If you look at each of them in 1935 or 1945, they are not one and the same. Bret Stephens had a great article about the difference. I second what he says very much. Look at the division and we now see something quite distinct. We see something that has become this hostility to Israel. Opposition to Israeli policy is not anti-Semitism. It’s important to recognize that. We’re talking about a myopic view that all the troubles in the world are the Palestinians’—the only one at fault in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is Israel. Something is wrong with that.

I recently heard a story about a student in a New York City public high school who asked her teacher to sign a letter of recommendation for a summer program. She brought him the form, and when he saw it was for Israel, he said he wouldn’t write a letter for her. She asked if he would write a letter for a program in North Korea, China, Myanmar or Sudan, and he said yes.

Something is wrong when your singular focus is on one country. Something is wrong when you look at this complicated situation in Israel where there are wrongs on both sides. We see a dedication to Palestinian organizations that have a major commitment to the destruction of Israel within their charters. And you have to ask, why this myopic view? That’s when you come to anti-Semitism.

It’s almost Purim, and your middle name is Esther. Do you feel you have a Queen Esther-like role in the Jewish community?

Someone once sent me a quote from the Book of Esther where Mordechai comes to Esther to tell her she has to approach the king, or our people will be murdered. She initially says she can’t go to the king because she will be killed. But then she does talk to him on behalf of her people. In fighting deniers and anti-Semitism, I don’t feel I’m a queen of anything. What I do feel is very gratified that I’ve been given a chance to do this work. I wish anti-Semitism were an old problem, but there’s an urgency to understand it. People are so grateful and appreciative that I do that. I feel humbled and thankful that I’m getting this kind of reaction. I’m not a Queen Esther, but I have been given a similar gift of being in the right place at the right time. This enables me to contribute to an important battle.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

By Judy Bolton-Fasman for JewishBoston

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Related

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  Holocaust Historian Deborah Lipstadt Prevails in “Denial”

  

  Judy Bolton-Fasman

The false prophets in the present world

When Marcus Ampe received (a few weeks ago) some e-mails from worried brethren living in Israel, fearing attacks from evangelist preachers he on the request of his brethren and in Jesus interested Jews, took away the mentioned articles on his blog “Our World“. Though nothing should have worried sincere people, because in the article was mentioned the good work done by and between Israelis and Palestinians who wanted to opt for peace and a way of living together.

Certain Zionist groups with fundamental christians oppose such a world were Jews, Muslims and Christians would live together in peace. In Israel, the Netherlands, as well as in the United States of America we can hear lots of voices who shout for the return of the Jews to Israel, but this at the cost of other people.

What people should notice by such preachers and by the mega churches which seem to pull more and more people to their church, is what those preachers say in their sermon often goes far away from the Biblical text.

 

Hannes Zegement Grove of Matthew101:disciples for Christ also questions

Did you ever watch some celebrity preacher on tv and thought by yourself, is this guy speaking truth or not? {False Prophets and their empty words}

also here in Belgium we can find on several tv-channels, mostly from the Netherlands, several preachers who are very capable to speak with fire  and with drama. We can not resist to think they are very good performers. But God does not require a priest, pastor or minister to be an actor. Everything what is said about God and His commandments should come out of the heart.

We can not ignore that the last few decades we have seen coming up many more preachers we would consider to be false preachers and even false prophets.

False prophets are becoming more prominent in today’s age of tolerance and rebellion against God. Not many people are interested in God, and the majority who feel something for a god or God love to see a god who fits most their idea of a god or does the best for them. In our days we find the majority of people who want to be religious, looking for an easy religion. They prefer that the religion fits their way of life and would not require to much effort and would offer no consequences. This generation more than any other wants to live however they’d like, without boundaries or authority. Unfortunately, there are plenty of teachers and preachers eager to give the people what they want to hear.

In this world full of adulterers we can say it is like in the ancient times at certain moments, when there was the force of man which was not right. In the past, even God could find profane priests their wickedness.

“11 “For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness,” saith the LORD. 12 “Therefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation,” saith the LORD.” (Jer 23:11-12 KJ21)

Also in the Messianic writings people are warned for the time that would come when people will not endure sound teaching, but would prefer to hear that what they would love to hear and what sounds good in their ears, suiting their own passions.

“3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts. 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned toward fables.” (2Ti 4:3-4 KJ21)

For many the Truth is something very hard to grasp or is something what takes away all their lovely myths and breaks with all their heathen traditions. that is why so many churches, like the Roman Catholic Church, always have adapted their rites to the common traditions of the regions where they tried to convert people to their faith. The Roman Catholic Church is one of the religious groups which succeeded most successfully to adapt their teachings to the wants of the people and providing them enough power to have everyone in their hold.

This culture is eager for an easy religion – one that requires no effort and offers no consequences.For them several protestant groups do have a solution. In the protestant churches of today there are plenty of teachers and preachers eager to give the people what they want to hear — and usually, they end up making a large sum of money off it.

In the last book of the bible (the most difficult one to fully understand), is given a picture of the dangerous evil coming into the time closer to the end of everything. We are told that at the time of the end the evil or the rebellious figure against God (satan) shall become stronger. From that book of revelation, we can learn that in a certain way it shall be those who are against God (the satans) shall have dominion over the earth, and a religious personality will arise and deceive the whole world by means of miraculous signs. This individual is referred to as “another beast” (Revelation 13:11), as well as “the false prophet” (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10).

For some people it may be strange to hear a person could sound like a dragon when he speaks, but that is what we do hear when those fiery preachers raise their voices and try to draw everyone into their story. Their mouths are like the mouths of a Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet the apostle John  could see.

It also might surprise us that the False Prophet is given supernatural power to do things like calling fire down from heaven (Revelation 13:13), and the signs he performs, combined with the demonic words he speaks (Revelation 16:13-14), will cause people to give their allegiance to — and even worship — the Beast. We can find lots of handy word-players and illusionists, using the magic they get from their inner powers in the aim to dupe earth dwellers, getting them to make an image of what they want to believe to be equal with their god and suitable for their way of life and worship. (Revelation 13:14)

From the very beginning the entire world and its cultures came in disobedience to God because of the influence of their own false thinking (evil way of thinking or being the satan). We should know that the world is in deadly antagonism against God, against the way of God, and the people of God because the spirit generated by the unseen prince of this world. It is essential that we stay awake and keep our guard up. Certainly coming closer to the end-times, a time were those who oppose God shall be in the majority, and seemingly stronger. Though we may not be mistaken. The true lovers of God shall recognise their seductive tricks and by keeping to the Biblical Truth shall find enough strength to resist their tempting talk. Even at times that those false preachers or false prophets will wield tremendous religious influence, and will successfully convince most of the world to commit idolatry (Revelation 13:12). Those false preachers shall manage to get enough people to worship the wrong god, also partly because partly people prefer to keep to human doctrines and partly because those preacher can come up with bigger churches and as such seem to be more credible.

The course of this world is combined with the “prince of the power of the air”, and these people who are caught by the attractive words of those false teachers, are seen as being disobedient to God’s Word, though often they think they know some verses and use them as the truth. And so it is gradually, slowly but surely, as we narrow it down, beginning to indicate more and more an evil system that is opposed to God. It is in this sense that it is used in those very famous scriptures there in I John 2:15-17.

“15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1Jo 2:15-17 KJ21)

Those who love God should be joining hands with others who also do not love the world’s ways. They know that love of the world squeezes out love for the Father and that is what we can see all over the world happening. At many places we also see preachers who strongly want to convince people that the Father and the son would be one and the same, so that their followers would worship an other god than the God of Jesus Christ and his pupils, who worshipped the God of Abraham, the God of Israel Who is Only One True God. Practically everything that goes on in the world, what we can see, is that most people are wanting it their own way, wanting everything for themself, wanting to appear important. This way we can see that several evangelist teachers are able to isolate people from God the Father and minimise the acts of Jesus, because they tell people no man would ever be able to do such thing as Christ did.

Too many people do forget that God spoke several times to the world by way of true prophets, who told there was going to come a sent one from God, a saviour out of the seed of David (so still had to be born or had to come into existence when they wrote down the Words from God). From the ancient Scriptures we can read there has also been a time that there were shepherds who deceived the flock of Israel and that God His wrath came upon them and the anger of God was not to return until He has executed the thoughts of His heart.

“1  “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” saith the LORD. 2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people: “Ye have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings,” saith the LORD. 3 “And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking,” saith the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days come,” saith the LORD, “that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch; and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 “Therefore, behold, the days come,” saith the LORD, “that they shall no more say, ‘The LORD liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘the LORD liveth who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”” (Jer 23:1-8 KJ21)

“The anger of the LORD shall not return, until He has executed, and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.” (Jer 23:20 KJ21)

We should take that text from the Old Testament serious. It is also something we should remember in these days. Today we can see many preachers who claim to be workers for God, though present to the people another god than the God of the Bible, the One God of Moses, Who is the God of gods. The God of the Scriptures, Israel’s God, also speaks to those so called ‘shepherd-leaders’ who misled and still mislead His creatures. They should know that God not only keeps an eye on His people, but He is keeping His eye also on those who so called speak in His Name. We are told and they are warned, that God keeps track of their criminal behaviour.

For true lovers of God there is the hope and assurance that God shall take over and gather what’s left of His sheep, gather them in from all the lands where God has driven them and He shall bring them back where they belong, and they shall recover and flourish.

The world shall have to come to see that how closer we come to the end times, how more the world shall come to hear real lovers of God telling about the Biblical Truth and the coming Kingdom of God. Though there may be a growing number of false prophets, the Most High Elohim, Jehovah God, shall provide shepherd-leaders to protect His flock and to take good care of them. The world may do a lot for making them afraid, but those who are against such witnesses for Jehovah should know that they won’t live in fear or panic any-more.

God has established a truly righteous David-Branch, a ruler who knows how to rule justly. The followers of that sent one from God, can count on it that their master shall bring justice and keep people united and that in his time Judah will be secure again and Israel will live in safety. And many people shall not fall for those false teachers but dare to tell to the world

“Jehovah our righteousness.  {Or Jehovah is our righteousness } (Jer 23:6 ASV)

Therefore many false prophets will be angry against them, but true lovers of God and true followers of Christ Jesus shall keep telling the world that it is Jehovah

 ‘GOD-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’

So the world has to watch for this. The time’s coming “GOD’s Decree”. and people shall come to see that God really did not sent those coaxers and prophets of deceit.

“ How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?” (Jer 23:26 ASV)

How fearful it must be to fall in the hands of an angry God and this is what is happening, if God is against you, no one on earth and heaven can save you! therefore we should give heed. We should be very careful that we come to know the Biblical truth and are not carried away by the many false teachings and doctrines this world presents to us, and may look very attractive.

God will bring will bring upon those false teachers and their followers everlasting disgrace – everlasting shame that will not be forgotten. We must know that they even shall not be there to go in the promised Land when the Kingdom shall be restored.

“How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,” (Jer 23:26 KJ21)

“therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of My presence. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten.”” (Jer 23:39-40 KJ21)

We must open our eyes and see what is going on in this world and how false prophets are becoming more agitated when they hear biblical truth around them. It even brings them so far they want to attack people (like we could see and feel in Israel).

There are even churches who plays the roll of these prophets and like Jeremiah 23v1-8 will conclude that there are shepherds who destroy the flock of Israel and scatter them. The very same is happening in our day, there are false preachers and churches, missions, and teachers who is destroying the flock of Christ and who deceives the nation and whom is wicked. {False Prophets and their empty words}

If you are in doubt about certain preachers, please look at their way of life and check their words with those of the Bible. You may wonder why so many want to believe the words of man above the words of God

– God is truth man is not, but we reject the word of God and we believe the lying false messengers who proclaim falsely “I have dreamed” or “God came to me and said to me” {False Prophets and their empty words}

Or “I had a vision”. We rather want to believe every person’s vision and not the BIBLE. {False Prophets and their empty words}

What we encounter most in these days is that people do not want to take time to see what is really written in the Bible.

The most common and logical reason for persons to believe any new intriguing message especially if it is a vision etc. is because we do not study the Bible. We do not read it every single day. If we knew God and if we knew what the word of God is saying, we will not be so easily deceived. but our country is and there is one main reason: they do not study the word of God. if they did, they would not be deceived. {False Prophets and their empty words}

There is the big need to study and to listen to the Words of God.

we must observe the scripture and know the content, so we can discern about these things, that we can spot false teachings. That we must repent from our own ways.

We must test the spirit, not just believe anyone but compare them to the word of God. {False Prophets and their empty words}

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1Jo 4:1 KJ21)

The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. (1Jo 2:15-17)

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Preceding

Ideas about Religiosity

Numbers 10:10 Make Your Rejoicing Heard

For Jews wanting to learn more about Jeshua and of other Jews following Jeshua

Need to reject an archaic, racist inspired interpretation of the Bible and animosity against other believers

a Call to stop the growing anti-Semitism

Do those who want to follow Christ to be Jews

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Additional reading

1. Position and power
2. Depression, Anxiety, Pressure and megachurches
3. MegaChurch
4. When there is secrecy involved
5. Engaging the culture without losing the gospel
6. Reasons why you may not miss the opportunity to go to a Small Church
7. Germinating small seeds, pebble-stones, small and mega churches and faith
8. Place for a fifth and sixth house in Christendom
9. Displeasures and Actions of the Almighty God
10. Shariah and child abuse – Is there a connection?
11. Souls and Religions with Nirvana and light
12. Matthew 7:15-20 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The True Disciple #2 False prophets and fruitage
13. Matthew 7:13-23 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The True Disciple #3 Matthew 7:21-23 The ones Jesus never knew
14. Signs of the Last Days
15. Signs of the the last days when difficult times will come
16. Teachings, prophets, wolves in sheep’s covering and a narrow gate
17. Necessity of a revelation of creation 11 Believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God
18. The Way of the LORD
19. Memorizing wonderfully 30 False prophets and false teachers

Loving your neighbour as yourself and Israel and Palestine

“Loving your neighbour as yourself.”

When Nas Daily went home this time, he was fed up with the amount of hate coming out from both sides. So he  wanted to add his take to this conflict and keep it positive while also hinting at the negative.

Nas Daily writes

Making these videos has not been easy. There has been push back from both sides, and that’s great! Is this an accurate reflection of the situation? No, it’s not. I didn’t cover the settlements, violence, attacks, etc. Nas Daily is not a news organization. I wanted to make videos of what I believe in. I don’t believe in making blame-y videos because these usually go nowhere and add nothing to the conversation. I don’t believe in Kumbaya let’s all be happy and merry kind of shit either. I wanted to strike a balance: highlight the positive and the negative without making you feel negative!

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Nas Daily his experience in Jerusalem

Nas Daily finds we need to get more Jewish content in front of Arab Facebook newsfeed. It’s just as necessary.

TheLegoCraftGuy999  finds also that

There are no multiple races. There is only the Human Race. If we only realized this, there will be no wars.

Marcus Ampe writes

More people should show there is a big difference between the lesser group of extremists and fundamentalists and those who are willing to live in a multicultural society where there is place for each other to live in peace and brotherly love.

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A Jew and Muslim walking together side by side down USA city streets

Not only racial discrimination seems to be increasing in many parts of the so called civilised commercial world. In many places of the Northern half-round religious discrimination is also in the lift.

It is good to notice not too many people accept such anti-social behaviour coming to their regions. this might be seen by some candid camera actions some people tried out in several cities.

Though last year a Flemish non-muslim who tried to walk on the streets in Flemish cities in niqab had to stop her experiment because of the heavy negative or insulting reactions she could not bear any more. On her video we could see many intolerable actions from certain people on the street. Also in England the experiment was done to know what it is like wearing the niqab in public. But in some experiments wearing the Muslim attributes in a way gave more protection having the woman being harassed less.

American YouTube personality, actor, singer, director, vlogger and prankster of Egyptian descent Karim Metwaly

In the United States of America, Karim Metwaly, also known by his YouTube username AreWeFamousNow teamed up with Alaaldeen Shehadeh and Moe Zahrieh for some videos that has garnered together over 2 million views since being posted.

Lots of people may think Arabs, Muslims and Jewish people are hating each other. they are not supposed to hate each other and when they are real believers in the One True God that should know that all people, no matter where they live, which sort of peoples they belong to, whatever skin colour they may have, whatever religion they may adhere or have no faith in a god or gods, they all are created in the image of God and should be respected as creations allowed to live here by this Most High Divine Creator.

Believers in the One True God also should know it is a wrong attitude to divide people in labels and to threat the differently. People need to stop with the “We vs Us” mentality. One of the comments of a video of the group was

Why do humans feel the need to categorize and differentiate themselves smh (white, black, tall, short, gay, straight, muslims, christians, israel, palestine) . We are all humans for godsake. We have noses , eyes , mouths , and all of us need food , sleep and water. we have hands and legs , we see the same moon for fk sake. all of you are the same species not lions or baboons . i rlly wish there would be a war between animals vs humans or aliens vs humans. then we will realise how similar we are and then all of us are on the same side {yusuf zulfi}

I’ve watched several of their video’s and some of them where really confronting but like the YouTube stars were pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback, certainly with the video of the man tearing off the scarf of the Muslim girl, it showed that also in the States there are enough wary citizens who do not like asocial behaviour and who want different sorts of people have their own freedom (what to wear, how to and when to pray).

Concerning what Muslim women want to wear it is not bad to listen to Noble Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman from Yemen when she was asked about her hijab by journalists and how it is not proportionate with her level of intellect and education, she replied:

“Man in the early times was almost naked, and as his intellect evolved he started wearing clothes. What I am today and what I’m wearing represents the highest level of thought and civilisation that man has achieved, and is not regressive. It’s the removal of clothes again that is regressive back to ancient times.

Lovely also it was to find reactions from Jews living in Israel who also want love between Jews, Palestinians and others, who say they have no problem with anyone and do hope that one day there will be peace.

Naturally we also should question the reaction of certain Americans who called the police because they saw a Jewish and Arab walking together on the street. On some video’s we can see the neighbourhood watch and/or the police showing up, and in even one video they ask to go away and to stop with the experiment.

Gabriel Rd reacted

People called the police because you were walking down the street in broad daylight? ….just walking down the street? ….And the police actually showed up and checked you out? OMFG what the hell kinda country do you live in? What ever happened to all we hear about American being the land of the free?

In the video where they present a married couple you can see they were met with many stares and unpleasant comments.

“This is wrong on so many levels,”

someone said.

“It’s the wrong picture, you’re making Islam look bad.”

Another person in the Queens neighborhood screamed a profanity and gestured at them rudely. In the Jewish neighborhood, someone called Zahrieh a gay slur, “a stupid Muslim,” and a “terrorist,” while someone else threw a water bottle at the couple.

Yet, in addition to the varied harassment, as in some other experiments, the couples also received some positive feedback.

“I think Jews and Arabs can be friends, I think everybody can be friends,”

two Jewish boys said.

On more than one video we also heard people them understanding we all came from the same source and in a way we all being cousins.

“We’re cousins for a long time,”

a Muslim man said. Others in both neighbourhoods called the sight of the couples “inspiring” and “highly liberating.

Some people do think Arabs/Muslims and Jews hated each other always. They do forget that more than once it were Arabs protecting Jews are taking them in by for example the dangerous actions of the crusaders. In North Africa you had a very huge Jewish community in the Islamic Morocco.

Muslims from Middle East and Africa were also welcoming refugees escaping from European terrorism in 1943.

Abraham Gutman and Dania Darwish, Jewish and Muslim classmates at Hunter College in New York, came up with the hashtag #JewsAndArabsRefuseToBeEnemies.

“With tempers only rising both on the ground and in social media platforms, we thought it would be productive to remind people that they are allowed to refuse to join hateful discourse,”

Mr. Gutman wrote in 2014, during the war in Gaza.

The organization Seeds of Peace, a summer camp for Israeli and Palestinian teens which tries to inspire and cultivate new generations of leaders to transform conflict, is also looking to expand its reach. The camp has more than 5,000 graduates, now moving into leadership roles in their professional fields. Seeds of Peace aims to empower their graduates to make change in various sectors, from women’s rights to technological innovation, in hopes of sustaining peace over time.

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A Muslim woman was racially abused while waiting in a queue at a shop in south London.
Ahlam Saed, 25, filmed the moment she was shouted and sworn at simply because she wore a niqab.
Ahlam Saed says she filmed the abuse because she wanted to show the kinds of treatment some Muslims are subjected to in the UK.

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Please also see the video’s on

Jack The Lad: Jewish and Muslim man walk through the streets of America |

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Preceding articles:

What is Racism??

A last note concerning civil rights

Mass Media’s Deception Causing Division

A charter for a truly free world and why we need it

Daring to speak in multicultural environment

People of different cultures, beliefs and political convictions fraternal together

The Scensual World – Mission & Vision

Entry 2. Unite our voices

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Additional reading

1. Religion, fundamentalism and murder
2. Christian fundamentalism as dangerous as Muslim fundamentalism
3. Exceptionalism and Restricting Laws
4. Vatican against Opponents of immigration
5. 150 Years after the 13th Amendment

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Read also

1. This World was designed to Break You Down | Jack The Lad
2. The World’s Greatest Problem | Jack The Lad
3. Tawakkol Karman Amazing Response To Journalist When Asked About The Hijab | Jack The Lad
4. Dear West: A Poetic Response To Terrorism | Jack The Lad
5. Spot The Terrorist: Orlando Hero | Jack The Lad
6. ‘This is not my Islam‘
7. Islamophobia in the U.S.: A Threat to Justice Everywhere
8. Muslim woman wearing face veil racially abused and called ‘Batman’ in shop
9. ‘Are you ISIS?’ Ahlam Saed Muslim woman wearing veil victim of racist tirade
10. History of the Arabs

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Further related

1. Racism Is not . . .
2. Some preliminary observations on the San Bernardino, California, shootings
3. FBI Confirms ‘The Purge’ Is a Thing, Suggests Black People Stop ‘Freaking Out’
4. First Amendment Violated Again, Christian Goes to Jail, Muslims Get Money
5. Don’t let it define you….
6. Power of words
7. To the Pastors, Ministers, Preachers, Bishops and Priests Who RESIDE Over The So-Called Black Churches…(Part 1)
8. Possible role of religious and racist discrimination in Omar Mateen’s mass shootings in Orlando Florida
9. EEOC Defends “Mark of The Beast” Ruling – Religious Beliefs Don’t Have To Make Sense To Be Protected
10. Religious intolerance may harm India’s economy – business leaders
11. Attack on Hindus
12. Employer’s Religious Beliefs vs. Employee Discriminatory Termination. Who Wins?
13. Modern Day “Stockholm Syndrome”
14. Diversity, Academic Freedom, and Racism
15. World Religion Day: Celebrating Differences and Embracing Similarities
16. Fox, “The Unfree Exercise of Religion”
17. Bielefeldt et al, “Freedom of Religion or Belief”
18. Weekend News & Commentary — February 6–7, 2016
19. “Religious Freedom” Or LGBT Discrimination
20. Gov. Deal Makes About-Face, Denounces Republican Bill #HB757
21. Georgia Governor Vetoes Controversial “Religious Liberty” Bill
22. Coalition of 400 companies fight Georgia’s proposed ‘religious liberty’ bill
23. “As per government policy – No Muslim candidate was invited …”
24. Fourth Circuit to Review “Mark of the Beast” Religious Discrimination Case
25. Missouri Senate Dems Filibuster anti-LGBT Bill
26. Employers are Prohibited from Imposing Religious Beliefs on Employees
27. Trump stokes fear of “the different”
28. It’s OK to Pray for Paris But We Suspend a Football Coach for Praying After a Game
29. Free Speech Apocalypse Unveils Discrimination at Indiana University
30. Read to Know: #IStandWithAhmed
31. Brooklyn Woman Claims Religious Discrimination After Being Booted From Gym Over Attire
32. Parents threaten to sue Washington association for alleged religious discrimination
33. Politics, religion and football . . . Are there Any safe water cooler topics?
34. it’s frustrating
35. Religious Prejudice – Aug. 4th
36. What is the True identity of the so-called Black Man and Woman???

Christianity like Judaism God’s call to human responsibility

The season of Pesach (Passover) is a time for reflection for many people.

Shimon Zachary Klein finds that the relevance of Pesach as a festival of freedom is lost for many reasons. He writes

It is a festival that conjures up obsessions for the “Kosher for Pesach” foods that result in the annual hair-splitting arguments between the secular and religious. The losers are inevitably the secular who have to kowtow to the whims of the religious who have the law on their side. What is free about that? Religious coercion reaches a climax during the Pesach week.Another aspect and one that very few people give a thought is the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. Their limited freedom is even further curtailed. Road-blocks, closures and checkpoints are stricter. The reason is always security. However, the difficulties that innocent Palestinians have to endure are further increased by this “Festival of Freedom”. The Israeli soldiers who are on duty in the occupied territories are even more abusive and insensitive to Palestinians to ensure that the “Festival of Freedom” is not “interrupted” by Palestinians.

It is difficult and even hypocritical to celebrate a festival of freedom while denying another people basic human rights. The settlers in the occupied territories show their presence during this “Festival of Freedom” when they trespass on Palestinian lands. At the same time the Israeli government is still expanding settlements on Palestinian land. Racist rabbis continue their anti-Arab diatribes and this does have much influence for the celebration of Pesach. {Pesach (Passover) – the Festival of “Freedom”}

Today, having a holy week and having listened to the stories how God liberated His people, we in these days of particular times, showing that we are coming closer to the end times, it should be a challenge to all of us as lovers of God to seek new meanings and learning new lessons as to how relevant Pesach remains today.

From the previous writings you could find that it is not enough to celebrate the liberation of the Israelites, who to all intents and purposes, are our ancestors. It is also not enough just to think about the Jewish rabbi who called his disciples together to speak about a new covenant.

English: Omer ceremony – Pesach 2007 , Jewish holidays עברית: חגיגת אנשי אילות לקראת סדר פסח בדשא חדר האכילה.ריקוד אמהות וילדים:שיבולת בשדה., Original Image Name:טקס העומר-פסח 2007, Location:אילות (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many Jews still come together in a very traditional way and even may perform what others consider out dated rituals as to what is Kosher for Pesach and what is not. The religious hair-splitting explanation over what is “kitniot” –“legumes” that are forbidden to be eaten by religious Ashkenazim.

Rabbi John Rosove, J Street Rabbinic Cabinet, Co-Chair brought following message

“As the festival of Passover approaches, we are all challenged, this year even more than most years, to reflect and act on the universal message it conveys — especially in the light of very disturbing trends both in the United States and Israel.

A page from the Haggadah of Pesach printed in Prague, 1527 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The overriding message conveyed through the Haggadah is that it is our duty to experience the story of our liberation from Egypt as if it happened to us personally — and not just a story that happened to our ancestors countless generations ago. As former slaves, our tradition teaches us to be sensitive to the plight of the oppressed throughout history and in our own time. Accepting our role as active participants in that drama, we realize that we have a hand in forging our own destiny and cannot allow ourselves to become mere bystanders.

“We’re taught as Jews despite cruelty leveled against us not to become cruel and hard-hearted ourselves. That is the key lesson of Pesach, and we ignore it at our moral and spiritual peril.”

We are sensitive even to the pain of our enemies, taking a drop of wine out of our glasses for each of the ten plagues visited on the Egyptians, lessening our joy as we recall their suffering.

As our sages have noted, the one commandment in the Torah reiterated more than any other is to care for and love the stranger — for we ourselves were strangers in Egypt. It is repeated no fewer than 36 times.

Perhaps the repetition is necessary because this commandment tells us to do something that is both counterintuitive and very hard to do. It goes against something that is very deep and fundamental within us. We’re hardwired to be loyal to our own tribe and to be suspicious of and hostile to “the other.” When we’re hurting or in distress, some of us blame strangers and pour out our rage on them. It’s happening again, right now, in Syria, Iraq and in sectors of America.

He is not the only one who looks at what is going on at the 2016 presidential campaign in the United states of America where some of the leading candidates have built their campaigns by exploiting the fears and anxieties of fellow Americans. Also on several religious websites, mainly fundamentalist Christian or American right wing Evangelist sites everything is done to bring people against each other and to downgrade one or an other faith-group.

The rabbi rigthly remarks:

They have cynically fomented an anti-immigrant, xenophobic, nativist feeling against Muslims, Hispanics and others.

and sees the same problematic matter in Israel

we see the same phenomenon in the very disturbing recent polls showing that a sizeable proportion of the Jewish population would favor depriving Arab Israelis of their democratic rights or even expelling them from the country. And tragically, Israelis and Palestinians have become strangers to each other, meeting in fewer and fewer places and not currently engaged around the negotiating table.

Yes, Israelis have been subjected to heinous terrorist attacks, rockets, missiles and constant psychological pressure — and we must stand with them in upholding their right to defend themselves and our Jewish homeland — but returning hatred with hatred is not the response our tradition teaches. We’re taught as Jews despite cruelty leveled against us not to become cruel and hard-hearted ourselves. That is the key lesson of Pesach, and we ignore it at our moral and spiritual peril.

This is not who we are as Jews — nor who we can be and should be.

As individuals and collectively, working through organizations like J Street and its many American-Jewish, Israeli and Palestinian allies, we need to change this. We are called upon by tradition to pursue peace and justice and to love compassion. We must see that our neighbors are fellow humans with the same desires and aspirations as us — and we must never abandon our goal of reaching a two-state solution to end the conflict.

That is the great challenge of our time and it is deserving of particular reflection this festival season.

Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the UK, at National Poverty Hearing 2006 at Westminster, London. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the former Chief Rabbi of Britain, Jonathan Sacks, has noted,

“Judaism is God’s call to human responsibility. From this call you can’t hide, as Adam and Eve discovered when they tried, and you can’t escape, as Jonah learnt in the belly of a fish. The first humans lost paradise when they sought to hide from responsibility. We will only ever regain it if we accept responsibility and become a nation of leaders, each respecting and making space for those not like us.”

Also for those who want to call themselves Christian should ring the same bell. Jeshua asked his followers to be messengers of peace. We can not permit it that we again would loose the paradise. It is promised to us, but we can go along the wrong paths and miss that important entrance or small gate to the Kingdom of God.

Christians should take up their responsibility to preach the Good News and to show the right attitude of a lover of God, keeping to the golden Rule of the Agape love.

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Please do read also: Relevance of Observing Pesach Today

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Israeli leaders delight in Europe’s cruelty toward refugees

Many people in the capitalist countries are afraid the asylum seekers will be able to conquer their countries and impose their religion onto them.

The Ethnic composition of Muslims in the United States, according to the United States Department of State based on the publication of Being Muslim in America as of March 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In case they would strongly believe in One True God they should not have to fear the Muslims, because they also believe in the same One God of Abraham.
Though many Christians and Muslims have gone far away from the teachings of the Holy Writings and have given preference to human philosophical writings and human traditions.

Hungarian right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban saying, what many so called Christians also think, that Muslim refugees must be kept out of Europe “to keep Europe Christian,” does not understand that when those Christians would be really following the teachings of Jesus Christ, they should have nothing to fear. Then they also would be able to show the Muslims that they share the love of Christ and worship the same One God of Abraham. But the majority of so called Christians do not believe at all or do not do much with their faith. The majority also has gone far away from the real faith and worships, when they do that, a triune god instead of keeping to that One True God, Jehovah, the divine Creator of heaven and earth.

It is true that the that the people who are coming here grew up in a different religion and represent a completely different culture, but when we can let them feel welcome and show them they do not have to fear our culture and our believes and let them know that in our regions we allow freedom of thought and freedom of religion and that those who come to live here shall have to give those rights of freedom to all people as well, than there should be no problem.
Those who do not want to have others the freedom of thought should know they are not obliged to stay here and can go to other places.

Problem only can arise when the states give in too much and would allow restriction to certain people, like wearing limiting clothing in public, or having imposing of certain religious traditions on others, like allowing sounds coming out of loudspeakers to call everybody to prayer, than others could come to be annoyed or bothered with those Muslims, the same as they can be angry with the bells in the morning of churches, making them awake when they want to sleep.

Protesters from far right organisations hold a banner which reads, “Stop the Islamization of Europe” during their protest against refugees in Krakow (Image: Reuters)

Europe and European culture have Christian roots and nothing should be against it to protect those. but our Judeo-Christian values should be grounded in our faith and be presented by the real Judeo-Christian attitude the God of Abraham would like us to show.

The xenophobic and anti-Muslim views that appear to lie at the heart of current Hungarian government policy and the negative reactions all over Europe clearly show how many so called Christians are missing the lesson of the Samaritan, Jesus told.

The people who call themselves Christian should know they do not have to fear man or other religions, but God. when they really would stand firm in their shoes of faith, they should not have to worry at all about a Muslim invasion, because then they would be able to convince Muslims of their faith. Problem with many Christians is that they went the wrong way, believe in a triune god in stead of the Only One True God and like several sorts of Muslims are carried away by human teachings and traditions instead of keeping themselves to the Biblical teachings.

Perhaps this is a good time for many Christians to consider which way they want to go in this world and how they want to treat other people, in the light of that what God wants from His people.

Let us show our good heart and help those in need, but let them also feel that we do want to help them without them having to rule over us. They should be welcome but have to know they cannot impose their laws over our world. It are they who should adapt to our culture and not we to theirs. When every body makes this clear and when they really got to know this from the beginning there should be no problem. Then they do know what to expect and then they still have the choice to stay or to leave. Nobody of the asylum seekers is obliged to come and live here.

Right-wing demonstrators gather on a square in the old town of in Warsaw (Image: AFP)

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To take note of:

worst refugee crisis since the Second World War

some Israeli officials are quietly reveling in the chaos

Dore Gold, director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, expressed optimism > refugee influx will shift Europe to the right, making it more sympathetic to Israel’s “security” justification for its ongoing colonization of Palestine.

European perspective beginning to sound a little bit more like Israel’s perspective on security issues, compared to what it was in the past

Images of refugees corralled in trains, tracked with numbers on their forearms, locked away and fed like zoo animals in overcrowded camps and blocked with razor wire fences from entering Hungary = recall memories of Europe’s darkest chapter

right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban provoked most widespread revulsion

Orban’s ruling party, Fidesz, smitten with Israel, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party

Orban declared “Likud is our natural ideological partner.”

deaths = direct consequence of European border policies designed to make migration as unsafe as possible

Orban launched a Hungarian Birthright program for North Americans of Hungarian descent => sends young Jews on free trips to Israel in hopes they will immigrate

Fidesz deepened ties with far right + openly anti-Semitic Jobbik party

in Israel, fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football team unfurled a giant banner that read, “Refugees not welcome!”

Netanyahu announced construction of a wall along the Jordanian border to block a potential influx of Syrian refugees => Israel will be entirely walled off.

Of the five states that border Syria, Israel = only one that has not taken in any Syrian refugees for reasons identical to Hungary’s.

Israel barred Palestinian refugees from returning and labeled those who tried to come back as “infiltrators.”

millions of Palestinians continue to languish in squalid refugee camps scattered across the Middle East nearly 70 years later + longest running refugee crisis in modern history

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leaders in Poland appealing to widespread anti-Muslim sentiment among the populace

people have suggested reopening Auschwitz and sending the refugees there

right-wing protesters clutching the national flag assembled on the streets in the capital of Warsaw + chanted slogans including “Today refugees, tomorrow terrorists!“ and ”Poland, free of Islam!“

Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity freedom movement in the 1980s, pledged to host refugees at his home

Gniewino, a county near the Baltic Sea coast =first place in the nation to offer to offer jobs to three Syrian families, with parishioners in the western city of Poznan showing support by collecting over 24,000 zlotys (£4,186) to help accommodate refugees.

Signs reading ‘Refugees welcome’ and ‘No one is illegal’ in Warsaw (Image AFP)

All the Jews should take the words of the leader of the opposition Zionist Union, Isaac Herzog, at heart

“You’ve forgotten what it means to be Jews. Refugees. Persecuted. The prime minister of the Jewish people does not close his heart and the gate when people are fleeing for their lives from persecution, with their babies in their hands.”

And the European citizens should remember the 1st and 2nd World Wars and that what Jesus Christ thought.

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Preceding articles:

Still Hope though Power generating long train of abuses

Daring to speak in multicultural environment

Refugees At The Border- A Blessing Or Burden?

Poster: Please Help The Refugees

The World Wide Refugee and Migrant Crisis and a possible solution for it

Social media and asylum seekers

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Additional reading:

1. Concerning gospelfaith
2. Disciple of Christ counting lives and friends dear to them
3. Do you believe in One God
4. Epitome of the one faith
5. Faith moving mountains
6. Full authority belongs to God
7. God is one
8. God’s design in the creation of the world
9. God’s promises
10. God’s measure not our measure
11. God’s promises to us in our suffering
12. God of gods
13. God’s hope and our hope
14. God’s salvation
15. Hope for the future
16. Incomplete without the mind of God
17. Is God hiding His face when He is seemingly silent
18. Israel in God’s purpose
19. Life with God
20. Looking for blessed hope
21. Meaning of life
22. Miracles in our time of suffering
23. Moving mountains
24. Not sure there exist a God
25. Nurturing a close relationship with God
26. Only one God
27. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
28. Our way of life
29. Plain necessary food of the gospel
30. Reasons that Jesus was and is not God
31. Sayings around God
32. Second exodus
33. Sects, why so many
34. Suffering
35. Suffering through the apparent silence of God
36. Suffering continues
37. Suffering leading to joy
38. Surprised by joy
39. Surprised by time in joys & sufferings
40. Words from God about suffering
41. Working of the hope
42. Seems no future in suffering
43. Vatican against Opponents of immigration
44. Paris World Summit of Conscience, International interfaith gathering #1
45. Meeting to focus on humanitarian issues for Syria
46. Men of faith
47. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #4 Mozaic and Noachide laws
48. Sharing a common security and a common set of values
49. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
50. Faith related boycotts
51. Mocking, Agitation and Religious Persecution
52. Economic crisis danger for the rise of political extremism
53. Americans wrongly informed about situation in Europe
54. Fitting the bill in the North and in the East
55. The Protester named Person of the Year 2011 by Time Magazine
56. Cool Person of the year 2011
57. 2014 Social contacts
58. Rampaging, demolishing sacred sites and cultural heritage
59. Continues Syrian conflict needing not only dialogue
60. Can We Pay The Price To Free Humanity?
61. Public not informed enough about Jihad terrorism in Belgium
62. Are people willing to take the responsibility for others
63. If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for
64. State of Europe 2015 – Addressing Europe’s crises
65. Schengen area and Freedom for Europeans being put to the test as never before
66. Europe’s refugees just follow the ancient routes for the peopling of Europe in the Neolithic
67. Why Russia backs Assad: a view from Russia’s anti-imperialist left
68. Propaganda war and ISIS
69. African misery and women inequality
70. Because of doing too much social work put to silence

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Further reading:

• Israeli leaders delight in Europe’s cruelty toward refugees
• ‘Today refugees, tomorrow terrorists’: Eastern Europeans chant anti-Islam slogans in demonstrations against refugees
• Germany to ‘reintroduce border controls’
• Theresa May under pressure to increase number of refugees in UK
• Hungarian government accused of acting like the Nazis
• Munich has run out of space for refugees, says mayor, as crisis pushes German city to ‘the limit’

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Related articles

• New Book reveals how Christianity, Islam are essentially one religion
• Conservative Pundit Warns Refugees Will Plot Muslim Takeover in the United States
• And now the consequences
• Ben Carson blames ‘PC culture’ for uproar over Muslim comments – video
• Is it important for America to be a Judeo-Christian nation?
• Dr. Ben Carson Believes we Should Not Have a Muslim President
• US & EU IMMIGRATION CRISES: Engineered and Coordinated, Manipulated and Exploited
• Muslim-Jewish council formed to fight for religious freedom in Europe
• Donald Trump’s Twitter Q&A Went Either Very Wrong or Very Right
• Open Source: Charlie Hebdo Mocks Europe’s Response to Migrant Crisis With Cartoons of Dead Syrian Boy

Dispatches from the Underclass

Crossposted from The Electronic Intifada

As most of the world looks on in horror at Europe’s atrocious response to refugees escaping war and persecution in the Middle East and Africa, some Israeli officials are quietly reveling in the chaos.

Dore Gold, director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, expressed optimism that the refugee influx will shift Europe to the right, making it more sympathetic to Israel’s “security” justification for its ongoing colonization of Palestine.

“Israel always faced the problem in the past that its national security perspective was completely out of sync with how Europeans were viewing the emergence of the European community and the borderless world that was emerging,” the American-born hardliner told The Jerusalem Post.

“In the European models that existed 25 or 30 years ago, it is kind of difficult to hear an Israeli argument. But now things may be beginning to change a little,”…

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