Category Archives: Pro-Israel Campaigns

Buy Israeli, oppose the boycotts

Anti-Israeli Action, Pro-Israel Campaigns

A supporter writes…

I have just come back from a Palestinian Solidarity Campaign meeting at London University Union. You have never heard such vitriol against Israel in your life, believe me. A Jewish Israeli professor from Haifa University, Dr Ilan Pappe, gave the talk and answered questions and spoke about “Israeli soldiers kicking the body of a dead Palestinian baby around like a football”, and “Israeli soldiers speaking of their pride that they have been specially trained to specifically shoot Palestinian children through the eye” among other horrific accusations.

There was also the usual explanation for the suicide bombers. I said my piece using a microphone in front of the hostile 100 people in the room and at one stage I even mentioned the Hamas charter which, along with the Iranian President, calls for the destruction of Israel and one man from the back shouted “good”. I was the only person who spoke for Israel. They all repeatedly called for sanctions, boycotts and disinvestment from Israel. There is now a concerted effort to get the boycotts underway and not to buy Israeli produce at all. I brought home just loads of the anti-Israel literature being handed out.

Please, please do your bit when you can. These people want to harm Israel and the Israeli people. To balance it out please buy Israeli wines and produce when you can.

It takes courage to speak out against such hostile opposition. We endorse his message and hope that people do whatever they can to counter the calls for boycotts and disinvestment.

Netanyahu welcomes Christian support

Christian Churches, Pro-Israel Campaigns

The Jerusalem Post reported last week that Binyamin Netanyahu, former prime minister of Israel, has strongly welcomed the support of evangelical Christians in the United States:

“The greatest support Israel has today is in the U.S. And the greatest support Israel has in the U.S., besides the Jewish community, is that of evangelical Christians,” Netanyahu said at the monthly meeting of the Knesset’s (Parliament) Christian Alliance Caucas, which hosted Hagee on November 7.

“These people support us not because of a shared ethnic identity, but because of a broader partnership based on values,” Netanyahu added. His remarks were almost certain to raise eyebrows among certain liberal Jews in the U.S., who are wary of Israel’s partnership with the Christian right.

“We did not succeed in Israel yet to understand the power the evangelicals have politically in America,” said Knesset Member Benny Elon (National Union), who as a former tourism minister was at the forefront of Israel’s campaign over the last several years to team up with evangelical Christian supporters around the world.

The Knesset’s increasingly influential Christian Allies Caucas, which was established nearly two years ago and now has 14 parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, aims to garner the support of pro-Israel Christians around the world.

What is not mentioned, of course, is the position of many of the mainline churches – though not necessarily their members – that are hostile to Israel and continually promote the Palestinian agenda. The Christian support for Israel is very welcome but there is still a long way to go.

Global campaign to be launched

Pro-Israel Campaigns

A press release from the ICEJ:

ICEJ TO LAUNCH GLOBAL CAMPAIGN ON THURSDAY: PROGRAM FOR CHRISTIAN INVESTMENTS IN ISRAEL; AGAINST CHURCH DIVESTMENT

(JERUSALEM; 16 October 2005)-In response to the mainline Churches organized call to withdraw investments from large corporations with business ties to Israel, the international Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) will launch a Christian investment in Israel campaign at a press conference on Thursday. The ICEJ will reject the divestment approach and map out its plan to strengthen Israel economically.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20th, 10:00 am sharp Int’l Convention Center-ICC Atrium Hall (Binyanei Ha’uma, side entrance closest to the Crowne Plaza Hotel)

Since the outbreak of Palestinian violence in September 2000, organized campaigns have promoted the "divestment" of corporations, universities, private donations and church investment portfolios from certain companies that do business with Israel, as a punitive measure against Israeli policies in the territories.

The Presbyterian Church alone has a $7.5 billion investment portfolio with over 2.5 million shareholders. In August 2004, the Church’s investment committee publicized a list of four international corporations which, according to the statement, support "the Israeli occupation" and threatened to sell the shares it holds in those
companies valued at $60 million. Divestment is a growing concern of the ICEJ as well as Israel officials concerned for Israel’s economic well-being.

The ICEJ is working to reverse these divestment efforts and will announce active measures to counter the situation at the press conference.

The press conference panel will include:

Rev. Malcolm Hedding, ICEJ Executive Director
Dale Neill, President, International Christian Chamber of Commerce
Uriel Lynn, President, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was founded in 1980 as a global Christian initiative to comfort the state and people of Israel as mandated by Scripture.