Dec 1 2014 Incitement…from the WestIn recent weeks, the Israel Security Agency uncovered a plot by Hamas terrorists to assassinate Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. According to one report, they had already begun gathering operational intelligence and weapons.
Meanwhile, a Hamas leaflet showed a cartoon-type illustration of a wave of water bearing-down on an Orthodox Jew. In the wall of water were a car, a knife, a meat cleaver, and a gun. All weapons used to try and kill Jews recently in the latest insane wave of violence directed at Jews, by Palestinians. The title of the illustration was “The Jerusalem tsunami.”
On November 23, near the Gaza border, north of the Jabaliya refugee camp, a Palestinian named Muhammad Halawa was killed by the IDF. Palestinian media reported Halawa was killed while “trying to catch birds.” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri charged that this was a gross violation of the lull agreement between Israel and Hamas, and “called on the international community to take responsibility.”
All these incidents, so tragically common in Israel and the Palestinian territories, are part of a fabric of propaganda that is aided and abetted by Western sources that coddle the Arabs. We live in a time (who hasn’t in the past 4,000 years?) when the hunting and killing of Jews is not considered to be evil by the vast majority of people. I have long maintained that these “little” terror incidents are in fact huge in their implications.
Take one more, for example.
According to a report on the Facebook page of the Israel Police Force:
“There was a double stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem. A 45 year-old Israel man was stabbed in the chest with a knife; he said Arabs had attacked him. Another man sustained minor injuries. Investigation revealed that the two, who had left their yeshiva, were attacked by four Palestinians, who stabbed them with sharp instruments and fled. The Israeli
security forces conducted a search and detained four young Palestinians from the Old City of Jerusalem.”
I’ve been in the Old City many times, all through it, and the thought of bloodthirsty Palestinians planning violence is unacceptable. Yes, tourists are relatively safe; the terrorists usually know the difference between a camera-carrying fellow from Milwaukee and a yeshiva student, but the narrow alleyways and nooks and crannies make for perfect hideaways.
Where is the outrage from Western leaders over all these incidents? The answer of course is that they don’t exist. Not even a massive bloodbath like the infamous Dolphinarium slaughter of 2001 prompted much in the way of outcry.
As I often do, I must say again: where are the evangelical leaders in America who will condemn, wholly, the targeting and murder of Jews?
The Israelis complain often about the incitement to violence from the Palestinian Authority. But isn’t gross silence and indifference from Western leaders, including elitist evangelical leaders, also a form of incitement? A hands-off approach so long as it’s only Jews being murdered?
I have long believed that at the root of the silence is a simple dislike of Jews. This comes from all denominations: the mainline churches “liked” Jews who were survivors of the Holocaust, because that madness was simply beyond the pale. However, they did not like Jews with guns, the IDF, and especially after the Six Day War, the tolerance from the liberal churches waned.
But even in the so-called conservative denominations, I know leadership — from the SBC and the Assemblies of God — that clearly seems to have a problem with Jews. They might acknowledge and even embrace much of prophecy. They might have some respect for Israel as an ally in the War on Terror.
In their hearts, though, they harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. Somewhere in the childhoods, or in seminary, or around the dinner table, they heard that Jews control all the money in the world, or foment violence in order to prosper. Or they’ve heard that Jews “killed Christ.”
All these dark spots on the hearts of professing Christians add up to one thing: stepping aside when Jews are being hurt.
Look at Jimmy Carter. How can the man teach Sunday school and embrace (literally!) Hamas terrorists? How can evangelical leadership gurus like Brad Lomenick and Gabe Lyons allow anti-Israel speakers at their conferences? How can Dr. Russell Moore of the SBC talk out of both sides of his mouth where Israel is concerned, even sounding eerily like a Replacement Theology guy when discussing Israel? What about the faculty at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, closely aligned with the Society for Pentecostal Studies — a group associated with Dr. Paul Alexander, a virulent critic of Israel? When Alexander was scrutinized by the top AG leadership for his liberal stances on homosexuality and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, several SPS members privately expressed solidarity with Alexander.
Do rank-and-file Christians understand what is going on in “conservative” circles? At every turn, liberal and leftist ideology is seeping into the fabric of church life. And in this narrow focus of violence toward Jews and hatred of Israel, the trends are deeply troubling.
Let me be frank. Stalwart pro Israel leaders like Noah Hutchings at Southwest Radio Church are in the winter of their lives. Who is replacing them? Not enough apologists and pro Israel leaders. In fact, the “replacements” are center-left ideologues who privately (and soon, openly) have a bone to pick with Israel.
Let me give you one final example for now, to help you understand the networks.
Cameron Strang, publisher of Relevant magazine, has had his photo ops with Barack Obama in the White House. Why would the 30-ish Strang be invited to a shindig at the White House? Because Team Obama knows who the influencers are among young people, and Strang, in the pages of his magazine, never misses an opportunity to bash Israel.
This is what we are facing in the not-too-distant future. An age in which the gathering forces against Israel and her capitol, Jerusalem, grow more menacing.
And fewer seem to care.
jim@prophecymatters.com
