A recipe that almost worked

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Anglican Friends of Israel

Mixed up in the Middle East (BBC Monday 14 November) followed Reya El-Salahi, model and radio presenter, through Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Because she has a Jewish mother and Arab Muslim Father, Reya sees herself as both Jewish and Muslim and she was eager to learn where she might belong in the great melange that is the Middle East.

There was much to enjoy in the programme which was far more even-handed than the BBC often in over the subject. Reya’s immediate family seemed hostile to Israel – her Jewish mother’s cold rejection of Jewish aspirations to self determination in their ancient homeland would have done credit to any BBC reporter, and her brother travelled to support the Palestinian cause at the height of the second intifada. Despite this, Reya genuinely aspired to even-handedness, speaking admiringly of the dignified young Jewish woman injured in three – or was it four – Palestinian bomb attacks but who nevertheless wanted to live alongside her hostile neighbours in peace, trying to understand their hostility and anger towards Israelis.
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Big Tent for Israel

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Anglican Friends of Israel

Big Tent for Israel

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The Zionist Federation’s Israel Trip

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Anglican Friends of Israel

By Simon McIlwaine, Co-director of Anglican Friends of Israel

Zionist Federation Trip to IsraelThe tour focussed on the rich diversity that is Israel today, with an emphasis on the educational and cultural richness. For me, a highlight was the visit to Bar-Ilan, where both a commitment to traditional religious values and cutting edge work in the medical and life sciences are fostered to the benefit of all, regardless of race or creed.

We felt very strongly that our philanthropic impulses were reenergised in Israel, and I was particularly impressed with the Community Mental Health Clinic run at Bar Ilan which caters for those sectors of Israeli society, both Jewish and Arab, which would struggle to pay for psychiatric services. We met Tel Aviv Mayor (Ron Huldai) and had briefings by Gil Hoffman from the Jerusalem Post and with David Horowitz. We visited Mount Herzl in Jerusalem and the graves of Theodore Herzl, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and (Belfast born) Chaim Herzog. On a visit to Bakery 29 in Tel Aviv-the profits from which help care for lone soldiers of the IDF- we met founder Netta Korin, in Jaffa met with Israeli artist Frank Meisler and had a tour and briefing at the Knesset with MK Otniel Schneller of Kadima.

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The Mis-Education of a Young Evangelical

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Anglican Friends of Israel

By Dexter Van Zile

For the past year, audiences of Christians in the United States and Great Britain have been treated to an anti-Israel extravaganza, With God on Our Side. Produced by Rooftop Productions in 2010, this 82-minute movie purports to be a documentary about Christian Zionism and its impact on the prospects for peace between Israel and its adversaries in the Middle East.

The movie fails as an honest documentary about the Arab-Israel conflict but as piece of propaganda, it succeeds spectacularly. Not only does it portray Israel as born in original sin and singularly responsible for the Arab-Israeli conflict, it provides a model by which young Evangelical Christians in the United States can break ranks with their faith community which is largely pro-Israel and ignore Islamist hostility toward Israel in good conscience.

The centerpiece of the movie is its narrator, Christopher Harrell. Harrell, a twenty-something graphic designer (and recent film school graduate), plays the role of an ersatz Dante as he is led by various Virgil-like commentators through the hellish aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In his journey, Harrell is purged of his juvenile and unreflective support for the Jewish people and the modern state of Israel – which he got from his family. In Harrell’s first few scenes, he is shown undergoing a dark night of the soul, struggling with his conscience and incomplete understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict with a stained glass window in the background or while sitting in a pew.

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The Days of Awe… Al Chait Shechatanu

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Anglican Friends of Israel

by Gerald A. Honigman

Jews began the “Ten Days of Awe” this year on Wednesday evening, September 28th (days are counted Biblically, a la the evening and the morning were the first day). Due to the lunar nature of the Hebrew calendar, the dates fall out differently each year on the Western calendar.

The High Holy Days start with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur each new year, with a confession of sins (Al Chait Shechatanu) committed in the eyes of G_d. Additionally, it is required that transgressions committed against fellow human beings be addressed separately as well. Without a true turning of the heart in attempts to rectify both (t’shuvah), the confessions and fasts associated with the High Holy Days remain meaningless.

In terms of Arab-Israeli politics, Jews have been accused of countless sins by much of the rest of the world. As is noted in terms of yet another Jewish holiday–Passover–Jews consider it regrettable that any hardship has to be suffered by anyone–even enemies sworn to their destruction.
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