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THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL CAMPAIGN AND CONTEMPORARY ANTISEMITISM

Denis MacShane MP (Chair 2005 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry Into Anti-Semitism)
David Hirsh (Editor, Engage)
Jane Ashworth (Campaigns Director, Engage)
Richard Gold (North West Organiser, Engage)
Philip Spencer (Advisory Editor, Engage)
Panel Discussion

Click here for details on the Engage website

by Shelley Neese, FrontPage Magazine

“It’s a new day in America. The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened!” Pastor John Hagee announced in his booming voice to thunderous applause at the AIPAC Annual Policy Conference last March. What Hagee humbly omitted is that Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a group he formed just over a year ago, deserves much of the credit for arousing the sleepy 50-million-man giant.

To be sure, Zionist Christians are no recent phenomena. Neither is their communal work on behalf of Israel. For the last century, there have been Christian groups supporting Israel through their pocketbooks, prayer, and political power. What changed with CUFI is the visibility and consolidation of the Christian Zionist network. CUFI’s stated purpose is to “provide a national association through which every pro-Israel church, para-church organization, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to Biblical issues.”

CUFI, in a short period of time, has become one of the most important Christian grassroots organizations in America. Hesitant to call itself a lobby, preferring the term ‘national association,’ CUFI is often described as a Christian parallel to the Jewish lobbying-giant American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

With the goal of educating and mobilizing Christian support for Israel, CUFI’s signature event is the annual Washington Israel Summit in July. At last year’s Summit, 3,500 Christians convened on Washington to lobby their senators and congressmen on pro-Israel legislation. For this year’s Summit, taking place 17 July, Hagee hopes for twice as many.

For those who can’t make it to DC, CUFI’s volunteer regional directors organize Nights to Honor Israel which are held year-round all over the country. CUFI’s goal is for “Nights to Honor Israel” to be held in every major U.S. city. Thus far there have been over fifty well-attended “Nights to Honor Israel” which have raised over $10 million for charitable causes in Israel.

In forming CUFI, Pastor Hagee envisioned a united evangelical-Jewish alliance standing in defense of Israel. In his words, Congress must know “that the matter of Israel is no longer just a Jewish issue; it is a Christian-Jewish issue.” For an interfaith alliance to take hold there must be enough Jews who are willing to take CUFI’s hand in friendship. While Christian love of Israel may be unconditional, an alliance must be mutual.

The response to Pastor Hagee and the rise of CUFI among Jews has been mixed, predictably divided along liberal/conservative lines. Rabbis and Jewish community leaders who see CUFI as a negative development are generally more liberal in their domestic and foreign policy agendas. Those Jewish voices to the right are extremely optimistic about the surge in Christian support.

CUFI’s greatest moment of acceptance by the Jewish community was Pastor Hagee’s invitation to speak at AIPAC’s national convention. AIPAC broke policy by having Hagee come for a primetime slot. His impassioned speech brought standing ovations and ended with Hagee leading the crowd in a chorus of “Israel Lives!” The speech was widely covered in the press and repeatedly downloaded via the internet. It brought an enthusiastic response from Jews and Israelis that extended far beyond the walls of AIPAC. Bloggers in Israel sat by their computers crying as they heard Hagee’s words. They realized Israelis actually did have friends in the world. Jews in the U.S. said they needed more leaders in their own communities with half the ardor of Hagee and his Christian Zionists.

Not all those in the Jewish community, however, have seen Hagee’s newfound popularity as a good thing. Rabbi James Rudin from the American Jewish Committee criticized AIPAC for “being so focused on the tactical support [Hagee] offers” and ignoring his apocalyptic claims. Daniel Sokatch with the Progressive Jewish Alliance warned, “To get in bed with the hard Christian right on Israel is a dangerous path.”

Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism wrote a critical article for the Jewish Daily Forward entitled “When we Let John Hagee Speak For Us.” Yoffie claims the closer the organized Jewish community becomes to Christian Zionists, the further away they push younger, more liberal, Jews. The acceptance of right-wing Christian leaders like Hagee might alienate those Jews who are more moderate on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Yoffie says Jewish organizations should rethink their embrace of Hagee and the supportive role they play in CUFI’s “Nights to Honor Israel.”

For most Jewish critics of CUFI there is a deep-seated fear that accepting Christian support for Israel means condoning evangelicals’ opposing religious and political beliefs. CUFI executive director David Brog, himself Jewish, claims that CUFI is a one-issue organization. For Jews and Christians to be partners in the coalition they need only agree on the point of collaboration—Israel.

While debate rages in liberal Jewish circles, there is a notable absence of discussion in the Christian Zionist community. A knee-jerk reaction would be for pastoral circles to ask whether it is in Christian interest to forge an alliance with Jews who have divergent beliefs and agendas. But such a question is irrelevant. Christian Zionists are following a biblical command to love and support the Jewish people and the state of Israel. That love is unconditional.

The new beginning for Jewish-Christian relations is still burdened by 2,000 years of baggage. Rabbi Irving Greenburg in his book For the Sake of Heaven and Earth said “the rearticulation of Christian attitudes toward Judaism and the determination to end the teaching of contempt toward the Jewish religion already constitute one of the great moral cleansing revolutions of all time—in any religion.” Christianity underwent great pains to make things right, breaking with so much history and tradition to purify itself from the evils of anti-Semitism.

If some Jews remain uncomfortable with robust Christianity it is understandable. Christian Zionists must be patient, bearing out consistent genuineness and unconditional love until the wounds are healed. The Christian hand of friendship must remain outstretched to God’s chosen as long as some, or even one, grab hold.

Shelley Neese is the Managing Editor of a DC-based pro-Israel Christian publication called The Jerusalem Connection.

A group called “Dayenu!” will be demonstrating in London in support of Israel on June 9. This is in response to a planned anti-Israeli march by ‘Enough’.

The Dayenu demonstration is organised by Jonathan Hoffman of Totteridge (Sarelnik and veteran campaigner). Mr Hoffman said “Our group includes Jews, Christians, people of other faiths and indeed of no faith. The one thing we have in common is that we cannot bear the thought of thousands of misinformed and misled marchers on the streets of our capital city with free rein to attack Israel . Our name - ‘Dayenu’ - is in response to ‘Enough’.

We also say ‘Enough’ - enough lies, enough Kassams, enough anti-Zionism, enough anti-Semitism, enough boycotts, enough blinkered attacks on Israel regardless of what is happening elsewhere in the world. We are expecting 50 or more and we will be telling the “Enough!” marchers the truth - how Israel is prepared to exchange land for a secure peace but also how Israel gave back Gaza, only to be rewarded with Kassam rockets raining down on Sderot.

“Our demonstration is supported by StandWithUs and the Centre for Vigilant Freedom. Due to the timing, the communal organisations have been limited in the support they feel able to give but we are grateful to them too.

The demonstration will be from 2.30pm at the junction of Arundel Street and The Strand. Police permission has been granted and the police will ensure that public order is maintained.

European Coalition for Israel conference in Brussels concludes: “Enemies of Israel are also a threat to Europe”

Brussels 25 September 2006 – The threat of the destruction of the state of Israel should not only be considered an issue of Jewish concern.
The same forces which are trying to wipe Israel off the map would also want to conquer Europe.

This became clear at the 4th Annual Policy Conference of the European Coalition for Israel in the European Parliament in Brussels last week. Several speakers confirmed that the same militant Islamic forces which are waging a war against Israel would also like to see Europe conquered.

“It may happen through violence or it may happen through natural growth, but in only two generations most parts of Europe will be under Islamic law”, predicted bestselling author and journalist Dr Udo Ulfkotte from Germany.

Ulfkotte has studied militant Islamist groups for over 15 years and have come to the conclusion that they pose a threat to a free and democratic Europe.

When he discovered that the newspaper which he was working for no longer allowed him to report on ideologically motivated violence in Germany he resigned.

Today he is an author and lecturer at the university in Lüneburg Germany where he teaches about the Islamization of Europe.

“What Europe faces now is the same process of islamization as Lebanon did go through already many years ago” said Kamal el Batal from Lebanon. He regretted that the West has not paid more attention to the mass exodus of Christians from Lebanon and the eradication of Christian villages in the south of the country. El Batal spoke about the effective penetration of Hezbollah of all aspects of Lebanese society.

“These terror groups have resources which they are happy to use to infiltrate the population. It starts with small children who are taught in schoolbooks to hate Israel and the west.“ He warned the European audience that we are engaged in a war of ideas. “This war cannot be won by military force but by presenting ideas and values which are more appealing than those of hatred and intolerance”, he said.

“The caliphate ( the rulership of Islam ) is incompatible with European values”, confirmed former French minister of Health Georgina Dufoix. “These values are not only contrary to Judeo-Christian values but are also in contradiction with generally accepted European values such as freedom”, brotherhood and equality”. The Biblical mandate to love one’s neighbor does not mean that you have to agree with him”, she pointed out.

“Europe needs to wake up to reality”, Dufoix stated. “This should not lead us to fear or hatred but to a true soul searching in order to rediscover the Judeo-Christian roots which can again make Europe strong and also appeal to those of other faiths.”

- “Europe has cut off these Jewish roots and missed the fruits”, observed Coalition chairman Willem Glashouwer from the Netherlands. “We cut off our roots when we sent 6 million Jews to the gas chambers but also when we rejected God and Judeo-Christian values in the European constitution”, he said.

The new designated chairman of the European Parliament MEP Hans-Gert Pöttering agreed that it was a mistake to leave God out of the European Constitutional draft. As the chairman of the Christian-Democratic group in the European Parliament he has strongly recommended that God would be clearly mentioned in the new European constitution.

“Only when we know what we ourselves believe can we engage in a fruitful dialogue with those who have another believes and convictions”, he said. Pöttering called for reciprocity in the way that Europe and the Arab world threats minority religions. At a recent trip to Saudi Arabia he had brought up the issue of death sentences to Muslims who convert to Christianity.

Many speakers confirmed that Europe’s lack of support for Israel is an expression of their disconnect with their own Judeo-Christian heritage. Conference host MEP Hannu Takkula summarized the conference in his speech when he stated that “A European Union which is not true to its past will have difficulty navigating in to future.”

The conference was attended by over 100 participants from 17 different nations. European Commissioner for External affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner sent her greetings to the conference where she was represented by her chief of staff Patrick Child.

From Power Line comes news of an encouraging but under-reported rally:

Some 35,000 people rallied across from the United Nations to protest Ahmadinejad’s presence at the world body. The crowd also wanted to show solidarity for Israel and implore the United Nations to enforce Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended Israel’s war this summer with Hezbollah and calls for the release of three Israeli soldiers taken hostage by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Presidents Conference, referred to Ahmadinejad’s Tuesday night speech to the General Assembly, in which he portrayed the creation of Israel as aggression against the Muslim world.

“He’s constantly lied and misrepresented the truth,” Hoenlein said, “and he comes and lectures the rest of the world?”

The rally drew dozens of speakers, including Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, New York Gov. George Pataki and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.

We wish our Jewish readers Shana Tova – a happy new year!

From Gary Bauer:

I have written before about my work with Christians United For Israel (CUFI), founded by Pastor John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. CUFI is an association of pro-Israel churches, ministries and individuals working together to speak with one voice in support of Israel.

CUFI is participating in the Solidarity with Israel Rally in front of the United Nations building in New York City on Wednesday, September 20th.

The rally is being timed to coincide with the expected arrival of Iran’s genocidal “President” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his address to the UN General Assembly.

This is the man who has called for Israel to be “wiped off the face of the map” and whose country is vigorously seeking nuclear weapons technology in blatant defiance of UN resolutions.

I encourage all of you in the New York area to attend this important gathering. If you do not live in the New York vicinity, buses will be chartered from major cities across the country.

This is a critical time for Israel. Christians and Jews must stand together to confront our common enemy of Islamofascism. To find out more information about this important rally, please visit: www.conferenceofpresidents.org.

Albert Square is one of the main city centre venues in Manchester, England. It contains the huge, Victorian town hall and is often used for rallies and demonstrations. It is Manchester’s Trafalgar Square.

On Sunday 30th July it was awash with Israeli flags, placards calling for peace not terror and pledging support for the Jewish State and between 2,500 and 3,000 people most from the Jewish community but some from Christian churches in Lancashire and West Yorkshire.

Manchester’s Jewish community has played a central role in the evolution of Zionism from the 1880s onwards and was an early trailblazer in the renaissance of Hebrew. Indeed the city has a strong claim to be considered a cradle of Zionism so it seemed appropriate that it should be the first to host a major rally in support of Israel in its very heart.

The speakers reflected the community’s diversity - among them were two MPs, a rabbi, the Chief Rabbi of Elad and a representative of the Israeli Embassy - and its unity of purpose in the face of the armed onslaught by Iran/Syria/Hizbollah and the media onslaught by the West’s appeasers of jihadist terrorism. The common themes were, as might be expected, Israel’s desire to live in peace and security, the proportionality of its response to Hizbollah aggression given that organisation’s declared genocidal intentions towards the Jewish people, the tragic inevitablity of civilian caualties as a result of the terrorists’ calculated tactic of using the Lebanese people as ‘human sandbags’ and the sheer scale of the jihadist military build-up as well as the lethal barbarity of the weaponry at Hizbollah’s disposal. Several speakers pointed out that, just as Nazi persecution of the Jews was the prelude to a more general war against civilisation and freedom, so the axis of evil linking Tehran, Damascus, Hamas and Hizbollah intended first to obliterate Israel and then turn on Jews worldwide before moving on to inflict a worldwide fundamentalist caliphate on whoever was left of the rest of us. As then, so now.

In what was certainly the most highly charged moment of the rally we were addressed by Shlomo Goldwasser, the father of Ehud Goldwasser, one of the two IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hizbollah. He made a moving appeal for the return of his son, described the family’s distress and stressed their support for the State’s actions in defence of its very right to exist.

Among the speakers, and something of a star turn, was Revd. Mark Madeley of Anglicans for Israel. He spoke without notes because, as he explained, he wanted to speak from a heart open to God. The impact of what he said could easily be gauged from the number of people who shook his hand and expressed their thanks when he had finished and long afterwards. Here is a brief account of his comments:

“I am very privileged to be here because I love the Jewish people and the State of Israel. I believe my love is given by the almighty as I do not know of any Jewish blood in my family.

Perhaps more importantly for today I am here on behalf of Anglicans for Israel and the many other Christians in the churches across the land who stand by Israel at this time.

I want to apologise from the bottom of my heart for the Church leaders who condemn Israel without reason, without fact and without doing their research. Sometimes their comments are so one-sided that if they were not so sad, they would be laughable. Anyone who knows anything about the Middle East will know that the current conflict goes back much further than the last couple of days.

Of course our hearts go out to all those who have lost their lives in Lebanon and Israel, the latter often forgotten. Our hearts go out to those who have had to flee their homes in Lebanon and Israel, the latter often forgotten and as for the parents of the kidnapped soldiers, I just do not know what to say except we are with you and pray for you.

Please be assured there are perhaps more people in the Christian Church that do stand by Israel than you might realise. We care about Israel because we believe you have a G-d given right to be in the land and to protect your citizens.

I feel so strongly that if it would do any good I would board the next El Al flight to Israel and proclaim this message there too. We stand by you and we pray for you. May G-d bless you.”

Also worth noting is that Dr Irene Lancaster, Academic and Interfaith Adviser to Anglicans for Israel, attended the pre-rally press conference and spoke to Shlomo Goldwasser. Irene is shortly to make aliyah and will settle in Haifa next door to Nahariya where the Goldwasser family live. There is more about Shlomo on Irene’s weblog.

Charles Brickdale (AfI Joint Organiser, Yorkshire)

We are all used to the “Death to Israel” posters and slogans that are the staple diet of anti-Israel rallies. It seems that an Islamist-Socialist marriage of convenience, founded upon an intense hatred of Israel, has taken hold.

So it is heartening to see positive rallies in support of Israel - and with none of the bile and hatred that characterizes their counterparts. The picture below is taken from one such rally in London yesterday, a rally addressed by the Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks.

More pictures can be found here.

As the Presbyterian Church USA General Assembly begins tomorrow, here is a list of Presbyterian Church USA bloggers who are decidedly pro-Israel (with thanks to Larry Rued):

Classical Presbyterian— http://classicalpresbyterian.blogspot.com/
Truth in Love Network— http://blog.pcusaelders.org/
Moral Science Club— http://moralscienceclub.blogspot.com/
Full Court Presby— http://fullcourtpresby.blogspot.com/
Quotian Grace—- http://www.quotidiangrace.blogspot.com/
Noel K. Anderson— http://web.mac.com/noela/iWeb/GA%20upbeat/Blog/Blog.html

…the websites of our most recently-added links:

Catholic Friends of Israel

Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East

Trade Union Friends of Israel

Magen David Adom

Christians for Israel

More links coming soon!