Professor Louis René Beres

Israel and a Palestinian State - Prospects and Risks

$10

Ezra Habonim Niles Township Jewish Congregation, 4500 Dempster, Skokie

Please Join Us Sunday, March 23, 2003, 7:00 PM

Prof. Beres on a Palestinian state:  “The basic problem with the Oslo Accords should now be obvious to everyone.  On the Arab side, Oslo-mandated expectations are nothing more than an optimally cost-effective method of dismantling Israel...  Any Israeli plan for accepting Palestinian demilitarization would be built upon sand...  Israel would do well not to base strategic assessments of Palestinian statehood upon such an illusory foundation.”

Prof. Beres on the “Cycle of Violence:"  “Israeli military reprisals can never succeed by themselves. The number of would-be Palestinian murderers is simply too overwhelming; it is staggering. These twisted young aspirants cannot be stopped by proportionate or even disproportionate Israeli responses. Moreover, so long as Israel does not meekly lie down and die quietly (the American and European Final Solution for the ‘peace’ question), the whole world will inevitably condemn the Jewish State for ‘aggression.’”

The Arab objective is to create a “balance of horror.”  The idea of killing “is savored in almost every Arab context: in family gatherings, in the schools and of course in the mosques. Whatever brings death to ‘the Jews’ is judged to be good, true and beautiful. Violence against Israel need not be specifically purposeful or instrumental. Rather, it is always delightful (in the literal meaning of that word) in its own right.” 

“Israel must understand all this, and take care not to assume routine military reasoning among its Palestinian enemies or its enemies elsewhere in the Islamic world. Israel, which generally assumes enemy rationality in its counterterrorism and war-planning scenarios, can no longer overlook the fact that this assumption is often just plain wrong.”

 For more of Professor Beres' writings click  here,  here and here.

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cosponsored by:

The Dawn R. Schuman Institute

Ezra Habonim Niles Township Jewish Congregation

JCRC of the JUF

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Outliving The Road Map: What We Can Personally Do To Help Save Israel, Louis Rene Beres, The Jewish Press, Posted 9/10/2003


I have been lecturing widely on the risks which the Road Map poses to Israel. Yet, whenever I complete my largely analytic examination of the issues, I am left with a vague feeling of discomfort — a feeling that I have left my audience without enough concrete recommendations for practical action. With this in mind, I now offer the following precise answers to the important question: "But what can I do personally to help save Israel?"

1. Above all, let us never be indifferent to the fate of our fellow Jews in Israel. It is unseemly, to say the least, to continue with our regular entertainments while Israelis are being slaughtered in their own streets by Arab terrorists. I am always troubled, and surprised, that only hours after the latest suicide bomb attack, Jewish friends and acquaintances speak entirely of their vacations, their accomplishments, and their planned shopping expeditions. It`s as if the broad community of Israel, the People of Israel, are merely a minor and dispassionate concern. We need to care more, and to pay attention.

As parents, moreover, we must be sure to share this identification and attachment to our brothers in Israel with our children. If our children are college students, we must awaken them to the obligation and the blessing to see themselves as Jews and to partake meaningfully of Jewish campus life wherever possible. Here at Purdue University, I am the Faculty Advisor for Israel Council at Purdue (ICAP), a pro-Israel advocacy group whose members are predominantly non-Jews. For the most part, our Jewish students don`t want to seem "too Jewish." For them, "fitting in" is substantially more important.

2. We must all act to oppose existential pressures upon Israel, in every customary and permissible fashion available in democratic societies. The Road Map, like Oslo before it, is an example of such misconceived and inexcusable pressures. It represents nothing less than an Arab "Trojan Horse," a device to complete Israel`s Final Solution. The Arabs say so themselves, overtly and repeatedly. What more do we need to hear?

3. We must begin to increase our cooperation with America`s Christian Zionists. Many millions strong, these good people of faith believe, genuinely, in G-d`s promise to Israel. Indeed, their commitment to Israel`s peace and security often exceeds that of most American Jews. Personally, I have been deeply impressed and deeply moved by their unselfish devotion to Israel. And without them, our political voice in the land would assuredly be too weak. Already, the number of Islamic-Americans exceeds the number of American Jews. Wonderful people and organizations — Esther Levens of the National Unity Coalition and Dick Hellman of Christians For Israel Political Action Committee (CIPAC) — are entirely devoted to the cause. [PAC Comment: An example: one man's extremely heartening stand with Israel.]

4. We must recognize, publicly, the unique and unforgivable barbarism of Palestinian terrorism. It can never be acceptable to try to justify Palestinian suicide-bombers by citing to rights of "self-determination" or "national liberation." Leaving aside the inherently flawed argument that Palestinians "deserve" a state, neither international law nor ordinary standards of decency can ever allow deliberate murder of Jewish children. In this connection, the Jewish inclination to "fairness" often goes much too far. Rest assured that in a world of over one billion Muslims, fewer than a handful would ever speak of Jewish rights — including even the minimal right not to be maimed and murdered in schools or buses.

5. We must recognize, immediately, that there is no "cycle of violence" in the Middle East, only endless Arab terror followed by indispensable counter-terror. If the Arabs were to stop their murderous attacks on unprotected civilians, the Israelis would never lift a hand against them. If, however, the Israelis should ever stop defending themselves, the Arabs would murder every Jew in "Occupied Palestine." In response to Palestinian arguments that there is "equivalence" between Arab terror and Israeli counter-terror, we must always recall an essential difference between premeditated murder and required national self-defense.

6. We must learn to read beyond the mainstream press, which is often ignorant of facts on the ground, or — worse — maliciously inclined toward Israel`s enemies. In this connection, American Jews must really learn history — Jewish history; Israel`s history; Arab history. Presently, because there is so much historical ignorance amongst us, that Arab propagandists and their allies normally have an easy time debating the issues. As a professor, I see the difference every day between the intellectual preparedness of the Jewish students regarding history, which is generally weak, and that of the Arab students, which is usually far stronger.

As a beginning, every American Jew should now be reading The Jewish Press and considering vital internet sources such as the Gamla, Arutz-7, Tzemach and Freeman Center websites.

7. We must ALL be willing to speak and write in defense of Israel. This is not just the responsibility of the professors. Heaven forbid: if it were, we would be hearing even more about the evils of Israel`s "occupation" of "Arab land." Here in West Lafayette, Indiana — in my own synagogue — not a single Jewish soul makes a sound about Israel`s survival. Not in the synagogue; not in the wider community. Not a peep; not even a whisper. Nowhere is it written that Jewish doctors, Jewish lawyers, Jewish dentists, Jewish accountants, Jewish furniture dealers, Jewish plumbers cannot speak openly and audibly for Israel. The argument that "I don`t know enough" is simply wrong and inexcusable. If you don`t know enough, make it your business to know more. Now. And if you fear that it will be "bad for business," be ashamed of yourself — justifiably ashamed of your cowardice and demeaned Jewish spirit.

8. We must encourage each other to undertake serious intellectual examinations of the issues, and to exercise imaginative thinking for solutions. To a significant extent, the survival problems faced by Israel have an important intellectual dimension. For example, how to achieve any sort of reconciliation with the Palestinians must draw upon difficult conceptual explorations of both culture and trust. Similarly, as Israel will soon face expanding weapons of mass destruction among some of its state enemies, its leaders will have to figure out optimal strategies of deterrence, defense and preemption.

As Chair of Project Daniel, a small advisory group to the Prime Minister concerned with chemical/biological/nuclear threats to Israel, I can testify to the difficulty of the intellectual tasks before us. Don`t think if you are not a Ph.D. strategist or a member of the IDF General Staff that you are necessarily incapable of making useful observations.

9. We must recognize that Israel now faces — and has always faced — a genuine genocide from its many enemies. It is true, thankfully, that we Jews now have a state to prevent a repeat Holocaust. But it is also true and intolerably ironic that war can now become the instrument of another Jewish genocide. It is now possible to bring gas to the people; it is no longer necessary to bring people to the gas. Moreover, the Arab side has never been subtle about its plans to "liquidate" the Jews (the term they have favored since 1948) and we can assume that if left unchallenged, they will at some point have both genocidal capability and genocidal intent.

Keep in mind here that Israel is half the size of Lake Michigan, and that its Jewish population is largely concentrated along a tiny coastal section of the microscopic country. Keep in mind also that Arab clerics in mosques throughout the Islamic world insist in their weekly sermons that Allah has concentrated the Jews in Israel precisely to facilitate their next annihilation.

10. We must always recall that memory is the heart of redemption and that we are obligated — strongly obligated — never to forget, to honor the souls of the Six Million, of the kedoshim. To do this we must never separate ourselves from the fate of our brothers and sisters in Israel. If necessary — and this is critical — we must sometimes oppose the Jewish establishment in the United States. Let us recall that this Jewish establishment was largely silent during the Holocaust, and that it insisted upon support for Oslo even when it was apparent that Israel`s good intentions would forever be unreciprocated. Nor should we ever assume that Jewish candidates for public office are necessarily good for the Jews or good for Israel, or even that they are honorable or capable in general. Senator Joseph Lieberman is a case in point, a Clinton-like politician who believes only in himself. [PAC Comment: Look who's national vice chairman for Lieberman's Presidential bid.]

Rabbi Eliezer Waldman has written importantly in The Jewish Press of "the eternal flame of Jewish life in Israel." By working for the redemption of Israel, Rabbi Waldman instructs, we work to bring a blessing to all the peoples of the world. It follows that we Jews in this country ought never to see a contradiction between our struggle for Jewish survival in the land of Israel, and our concern for both America and the wider global community. Following Rabbi Waldman`s moving call upon Jewish leaders "to draw their faith from the depths of the Jewish soul," we must now ALL begin to draw our faith from that very same eternal and inextinguishable source. Only then can we begin to act personally to help save the imperiled State of Israel.



LOUIS RENE BERES was educated at Princeton (Ph.D., 1971) and publishes widely on Israeli security issues. He is Strategic and Military Affairs Analyst for The Jewish Press.

 For more of Professor Beres' writings click  here,  here and here.

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Israel's Other Best Friends,  Beth Goodtree, Oct 11, 2004

CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE STATE OF ISRAEL - A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW

by Paul C. Merkley.

Jews who take the time to review the history of the quarter-century which led to the creation of the State in 1947-1948 will learn that the sturdiest champions of the Restoration of the Jews to Israel were Evangelical Christians. The rest of the Western Christian world (Roman Catholics and what is generally spoken of today as “Mainstream Protestantism”) was mostly well-disposed, but with many dissenting. The Roman Catholic Church had powerful objections, but did not feel able, in the light of the general humanitarian advantage that the Jewish cause briefly held in the immediate wake of the War, to compel nations with Roman Catholic populations to oppose. The Zionists’ opportunity to win the hearts of Catholics and mainstream Protestants was brief, created by extraordinary and unrepeatable circumstances: the uncovering of the Holocaust; the intolerable situation of Europe's surviving “displaced” Jews; and the realization that Jews not admitted to Palestine would have to be admitted in vast numbers to the Western democracies. For the moment, the word “Zionism” rang positively for most Christians.

Still, even in 1947-1948, when the desperate circumstances of the European Jews disposed most politicians and most Church leaders to endorse the Zionist solution, there was formidable opposition. In the forefront were spokesmen of the Protestant missionary societies which had worked with creditable success among the Arab populations of the Middle East for over a century. In the United States, these were allied with anti-Zionist Jewish organizations, notably the American Council for Judaism. Then, almost immediately after the initial decisions were taken, mainstream Protestant Churches as well as the Roman Catholic Church began to shift into the ranks of those denouncing the new State - and eventually became overwhelmingly hostile. Had the vote on the Partition of the Mandate of Palestine taken place five or ten years later, the Jewish State would not have come into existence.

When the United Nations agreed to let a Jewish State come into the world, in November, 1947, world opinion was in great part moved by conviction that justice was on the side of the Jews. It is precisely for this reason that we must stress that no conscientious friend of Zion has ever denied that the case for creation of a Jewish state, if expressed exclusively in terms of justice, was a relative one: it was a compelling case, maybe even an overwhelmingly compelling case, but still, like all other matters of justice, a relative one.

Similarly, the argument for Israel's continuing in possession of the territory which she governs today is an argument that can be defended in terms of justice; but no conscientious friend of Israel claims that nobody on the other side is suffering some degree of injustice because of it. The history of the relations between the Churches and Israel has been shaped by the fact that along the line since the war for Israel's independence in 1948-1949 most official spokesmen of most of the churches reworked the moral arithmetic, and came to find more “justice” in the claims of the Palestinian Arabs and less “justice” in the cause of Israel than they saw in 1947-1948.

In contrast, most Christians who define themselves as theologically conservative have remained constant in their preference for Israel’s claims.
This is because for Christian Zionists the case for the Restoration of the Jews in the first place, even though it was manifestly defensible in terms of “justice”, actually stood upon a firmer ground: namely, that it was ordained by Scripture. To have resisted it would have been sin, and in any case would be futile. To support it, brought blessing: “He who blesses thee, I will bless; he who curses thee, I will curse” (Genesis 12:3.)

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Among the most formidable mouthpieces for expression of anti-Israeli rhetoric in the world today is the World Council of Churches. The WCC tends to think of itself as one of the world’s most venerable bodies, but in truth it is about two months younger than the State of Israel, having been founded in August of 1948. During the weeks previous to the Six Day War of June, 1967, when Nasser, the dictator of Egypt, was rallying the Arab world for a war of liquidation against Israel, the WCC remained silent. But immediately after Israel’s victory, the WCC came awake, and announced that it “cannot condone by silence territorial expansion by armed force.” From that day forward, the WCC and its constituent denominational organizations have generally portrayed Israel’s behaviour in lockstep with Arab rhetoric: all subsequent wars have been fomented by Israel, for the purposes of further territorial gain and for the opportunity to incorporate innocent and abject Arab populations. The WCC pressed constantly through the 1970s and 1980s for American official contact with the PLO and denounced Israel’s punitive responses to terrorism and civil disruption. It denounced the Camp David Accords of 1978 for allegedly ignoring the national ambitions of the “Palestinians.” Its consistent line is that “Israel’s repeated defiance of international law, its continuing occupation and the impunity it has so long enjoyed are the fundamental causes of the present violence and threaten peace and security of both peoples.” Just a few days before the al-Qaeda attack upon the United States, WCC representatives attending the UN Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance at Durban, South Africa, led in demanding an official denunciation of Israel for “systematic perpetration of racist crimes including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing.” (WCC Press Releases July 1997, October 4 , 1997, November 1997;March 1998; September, 21, 2001.

The most recent WCC statements on “Israel/Palestine,” together with history of the role that WCC has played in NGO actions and statements, can be found at wcc-coe.org .) Just a little attention to the actual wording of recent World Council Statements on the “Palestinian struggle for liberation” and on the well-known congenital behaviour of Jews and of their political allies everywhere will bring to mind the anti-Semitic propaganda which Hitler sowed throughout the world in the 1930s - not excluding the English-Speaking world. It is language imposed by an imagined Christian duty not to be found in disagreement with the world-view of Islam.

Much has changed in the world since both Israel and the WCC entered it in 1948. The first Report issued by the WCC is called “The Church and the Disorder of Society: A Report from the Amsterdam Assembly of the World Council of Churches, 1948.” Here we read that the present disordered world has to be transformed into “the responsible society” by accepting “God's design.” Amen to that! After a few years had gone by, however, the hearts and minds of Protestant churchmen began to turn more to recognition of the inhibiting effects of “order”: WCC position papers tended now to see “order” and “disorder” in creative mix. By 1968, the Theology of Order was out, and the Theology of Liberation was in. A more “nuanced” view of such matters as civilization and civility now reigns.

Among many other factors at work in this evolution there was the desire to appear more relevant in academic and intellectual circles. The Universities of the West were then undergoing siege by radical student movements, stemming ostensibly from the anti-Vietnam movement, but ultimately from a crisis of self-esteem which took place in the traditional civilization of the West. Courses in Western Civilization were driven to the periphery of the curriculum. A defining moment in this story came at the Uppsala Assembly of the WCC in 1968. Here, the “Program to Combat Racism” was adopted: it called for educational efforts, political and social action, economic sanctions against “racist” regimes, and moral and material support for groups “fighting racism.” This new program caused much offense in conservative ranks because of its explicit adoption of “Third World” rhetoric and Marxist-Leninist insights on imperialism.

Since it first met to consider Man’s Disorder and God’s Design, the WCC has not lost its ambition to be the conscience of the world. Rather, recognizing the low estate to which the Church has fallen in the counsels of politicians and leaders of opinion in the Western world, the WCC has deliberately appointed itself the moral conscience of the world majority. Now the WCC takes its rhetoric from the majority in the UN. It has no patience for History and therefore no patience for legitimacy. All that matters is “justice,” “justice now” - justice understood as leveling everything out, so that all claims are equal. No wonder that it is tone-deaf to Israel!

[PAC Comment: Forward, July 16, 2004: "In an unprecedented victory for pro-Palestinian activists, leaders of the largest Presbyterian denomination officially equated the Jewish State with apartheid South Africa and have voted to stop investing in Israel" -- How wrong they are.  Richard Baehr, Presbyterian Jihad:  "The Church strangely did not pass any resolutions at their General Assembly this year about the slaughter of black Muslims in the Sudan by Arabs, and they never passed any resolutions in prior years, when the Sudanese Arabs chose to slaughter black Christians. They were silent when the Rwanda genocide occurred, as well."]

Jews understand that there will be fluctuations from time to time in the relative justice of the case that Israel can present before world opinion -- as, for example, with regard to what the State perceives to be her security needs vis-à-vis internal and external foes. But Jews cannot understand how Christians, who parade their sensitivity to the situation of the oppressed, can even for a moment toy with the thought that Israel has a doubtful right to exist within the borders that have resulted from her original acceptance of the partition of 1947, improved by result of her enemies’ recurring appeal to the God of war. Most spokesmen of the mainstream Protestant and the Roman Catholic churches seem not to appreciate the place that allegiance to Israel has at the centre of Jewish self-understanding. In an official statement of 1990, the United Church of Christ of the U.S.A. we read: “We do not see consensus in the United Church of Christ ... on the covenantal significance of the State of Israel.” This same United Church document refers throughout to “the State of Israel-Palestine.” When Jews look for an affirmative commitment to the survival of Israel they find instead expressions of commitment to the other side: “We stand in solidarity with Palestinians as they cry for justice as the dispossessed,” says a recent official Presbyterian statement. With increasing frequency Jews hear leading voices of the official churches announcing that the decision to permit Israel to come to birth in the first place was “unjust” and should be reconsidered.

Christian churchmen imagine that statements like these reflect a creditable spirit of even-handedness, but to most Jews the tone is one of menace towards Israel. Is it not obvious, many say, that, beneath all the rhetoric of secular complaint against Israel - its alleged territorial aggressions, its allegedly cruel behaviour towards its “Palestinian” population, and the whole catalogue of its alleged sins against its neighbours and against the world community -- there is a far deeper cause of complaint that draws from the same theological source as did the medieval libels against the Jews of Europe?

Jews are right to ask: if it is true that Protestants and Catholics cannot yet accept that the Jewish state is a state having at least the same “legitimacy” as the homelands of the Italians the Greeks and the Turks, is this because Protestants and Catholics cannot accept that Jews have the same right to call themselves a people? And if so, from what does this refusal follow? Is this neo-anti-Zionism not a genteel reincarnation of the old anti-Semitism?

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There is, however, another side to our story.

When it became evident that organized Protestant bodies were turning towards anti-Zionism (during the 1960s and 1970s), voices of protest were heard inside every denomination. Sometimes groups of the like-minded were formed -- lobby groups, within the denominations and within the delegations to the subsequent Assemblies of the World Council of Churches. Nothing was accomplished on this level; the anti-Israeli forces were too deeply entrenched at the top. Not daunted, Christian Zionists moved their efforts on behalf of Israel into the great and boundless world of para-church, and volunteer organizations appeared, dedicated to expressing Christian concern and organizing political support for the security and welfare of Israel: Bridges For Peace, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Christian Friends of Israel, and many more [PAC Comment:  Also see Christian Action for Israel, American Values, Christians for Israel, AGS Consulting, Catholic Friends of Israel, Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, Haverim, Israel My Beloved, Jerusalem Newswire.]

Christian Zionists can make a case for the justice of Israel’s regime -- in doing which they are helped by pointing to certain powerful extenuating realities:
1. That Israel has always had to contend with the very denial of her right to exist -a minimum condition of peace among neighbours.
2. That Israel remains beset by hostile neighbours -- all of them formally at war with her until very recently, and most of them still -- all of them still condoning and most still sponsoring terrorist activities against her and against her citizens throughout the world.
3. That all of Israel’s enemies outside and inside the territories she governs could have had peace with Israel -- a much smaller Israel -- in 1948, had they had been willing to abide by the world’s decision, embodied in the UN Resolutions of 1947.

Going beyond this calculation of the relative justice of her claim, Christian Zionists argue that Israel has much to commend her stewardship of the land since 1948:
1. She has created and sustained the only democratic system in the region, while being surrounded by hostile despotic regimes.
2. She has achieved a remarkably high standard of living (education, health, economic opportunity, etc.) for all of her citizens, including the Arab citizens, while providing for those in the disputed territories (not citizens) standards of living higher than are enjoyed by the Arab citizens of any of the neighbouring Arab states.
3. She has carried out honorably her responsibilities with respect to access to and respect for Christian and Muslim Holy Places.
4. She can demonstrate the highest levels of cultural and scholarly accomplishments, including conscientious attention to the archeology of the Holy Land, and has maintained the basic freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, and so on.

Yet, for the Christian Zionist none of this is really the heart of the matter. The Christian Zionist is not knocked off his perch when Israel is denounced for rough treatment of the Palestinians, or when a politician is found to have his hand in the till, or when the Mossad carries off a dirty trick, or when instances of brutality occur in her prisons, etc. The Christian Zionist does not have to rework the ethical arithmetic when bad news appears, in order to reckon whose side he is on. To the Christian Zionist, it is a requirement of faith to prefer the blessing of Israel above all passing things. Doing this, he believes, cannot, by definition, ever be incompatible with the will of God.

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PAUL C. MERKLEY is Professor Emeritus of History at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, and the author of two published books on historical aspects of Christian attitudes towards Zionism: The Politics of Christian Zionism, 1891-1948 (Frank Cass, 1998) and Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel (McGill-Queen's U.P., 2001.) A new book, Presidents, Religion and History, is forthcoming from Praeger Publications.

Courtesy of ISRAPUNDIT

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ISRAEL'S UNSHAKABLE ALLIES

JEFF JACOBY, The Boston Globe, May 15, 2003 Page: A15 Section: Op-Ed

PAT ROBERTSON HAS LONG BEEN A BOGEYMAN TO MANY AMERICAN JEWS.
When the Anti-Defamation League published "The Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance and Pluralism in America" in 1994, a third of its 193 pages were devoted to Robertson and the Christian Coalition. "Robertson's repeated references to America as a Christian nation," it said, "insults not merely Jews but all who value religious freedom."

Writing in The Forward a year or so later, Leonard Fein, a prominent Jewish activist, allowed as how "it would be frightfully upsetting, but not very surprising," were the Christian Coalition to propose "that Jews ought not be hired as teachers in the public schools." Going even further, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism denounced the Christian Coalition in 1997 for trying to "diminish fundamental constitutional liberties" by "undermining the Constitution" and "blurring - or erasing - the precious separation of church and state." So when Robertson agreed to speak at Temple Beth Sholom in Framingham last month, it came as no surprise that a number of local Jews complained. "It's scary," Renee Abramson told the MetroWest Daily News. "I mean, this guy uses his show to wage war on whomever he chooses." Outside the synagogue, Robertson was greeted by protesters carrying signs that read "Jews saying No to the Christian Right" and "Robertson is no friend to the Jewish people."

But those inside the synagogue seemed to regard Robertson as a friend. They repeatedly interrupted him with applause and gave him a ovation when he finished. That may have been because they heard him say things like this:

"I had a praying mother who was an evangelical Christian, and I can remember her always saying . . . we must love and support the Jewish people."

And this:

"I went back to the Mount of Olives" - during a 1974 visit to Israel - "and I said before God and the assembled group: `I am making a personal vow. However difficult it may be for me, however unpopular it may be for me, I and those with me are going to stand with Israel in her time of distress and we will be a faithful friend of Israel from this moment on.' "

And this:

"The love that evangelicals have for Israel does not depend on [politics or foreign policy]. We are part of the heritage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we share the same faith and the same principles and the same commandments and the same heroes as the people of Israel."

Remarkable? Not at all. American evangelicals and fundamentalists - the so-called "religious right" - are among the most tolerant and respectful friends the Jewish people have. And when it comes to support and sympathy for Israel, America's beleaguered ally in the Middle East, Christian conservatives are if anything even more ardent and unshakable than American Jews.

Skeptics sometimes claim that evangelicals support Israel only because they believe it will hasten Jesus' Second Coming. But when that challenge was put to Robertson, he didn't hesitate. "I'm sure some people think that - but I'm not one of them," he replied. "I think there's a visceral, heartfelt love in the heart of evangelicals for Israel and the Jewish people."

Indeed, evangelical solidarity has become a hallmark of pro-Israel activism. For instance, this weekend's important Interfaith Zionist Leadership Summit in Washington, a project of Boston's Zionist House, is being cosponsored by a phalanx of conservative Christian organizations. In addition to the Christian Coalition and the Christian Broadcasting Network, the list includes the Apostolic Congress, Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, and the Religious Roundtable. Among the speakers are such prominent American evangelicals as Gary Bauer and Janet Parshall.

Likewise, hundreds of Christians will be taking part in Sunday's "Adopt-A-Family" walk a thon in Framingham to raise funds for Israeli families victimized by terrorism. A project of the same synagogue that hosted Robertson, the walkathon is cosponsored by 17 Jewish organizations - but also by nine Christian ones, including Grace Evangelical Christian Church of Framingham, Christian Renewal Church of Salem, and New England Aftercare Ministries.

Evangelicals are not the only Christians who support Israel or reach out to Jews, of course. (Three Catholic churches are involved in the Framingham walk athon, for example, and one of the sponsors of the Washington summit is the Episcopal-Jewish Alliance.) And no doubt there are some on the Christian right who are indifferent or even hostile toward Jews and the Jewish state.

But there is no denying the obvious: Devotion to Israel and warmth toward Jews are powerful forces in evangelical life. At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world, the friendship of the Christian right is something every Jew should cheer.

Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com.
 

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Christians in Mideast Losing Numbers and Influence - Ethan Bronner
Christians used to be a vital force in the Middle East. They dominated Lebanon and filled top jobs in the Palestinian movement. In Egypt, they were wealthy beyond their number. In Iraq, they packed the universities and professions. But as Pope Benedict XVI wends his way across the Holy Land this week, he is addressing a dwindling and threatened Christian population driven to emigration by political violence, lack of economic opportunity and the rise of radical Islam.
    A region that a century ago was 20% Christian is about 5% today and dropping. In Lebanon, Christians now amount to a quarter of the population. A century ago there were millions of Christians in what is today Turkey; now there are 150,000. In Bethlehem, Christians now make up barely a third of the population after centuries of being 80%. Of the 1.4 million Christians in Iraq in 2003, nearly half have fled. (New York Times)
    See also Some Truths about Palestinian Christians - Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem Post)

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, May 13, 2009]

Iraq's Christians Form New Militias to Combat Islamic Extremists - Damien McElroy
In the five years since the Anglo-American invasion of 2003, about half of the 800,000 Christians who once lived in Iraq have fled the country. Now, civilians in Christian villages in northern Iraq have established their own security in an attempt to deter murders and abductions. "We are facing the threat of wipe-out," said Father Yusuf Yohannes in Karamlis, 10 miles east of Mosul. The security patrols have already had an impact and there is a renewed willingness to resist the demands of Muslim radicals. "Why should Christians face arrest for not fasting in Ramadan?" asked Fr. Yusuf. "Why is it that women should cover their faces if God loves all human beings? We reject these things and want the right to our own culture." (Telegraph-UK)

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, July 30, 2008]

Coal in Israel's Stocking - Clifford D. May
In this holiday season, one of the journalistic conventions one comes to expect are stories blaming Israelis for the problems afflicting the Holy Land. Reuters, the BBC, McClatchy, ABC News all have run pieces in this category in recent days. But the one that troubled me most appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Dec. 24 by Ken Woodward. His op-ed was headlined: "The Plight of Bethlehem: Why Christians can't visit the holy shrines in Jerusalem." According to Palestinian tourism officials, 450,000 foreigners will have visited Bethlehem by the end of this year - a 50% increase over the 295,000 who came last year. Every hotel room was filled.
    Woodward also seems unaware of the extent to which Bethlehem's Christian population has declined since 1995 - the year Arafat's Palestinian Authority took over the West Bank and Gaza as part of the Oslo Accords. Arafat quickly fired the city's Christian politicians and replaced them with his cronies. Woodward singles out the security barrier separating the Christian village of Beit Jala from the Jerusalem neighbor of Gilo, but fails to mention that Palestinian snipers had used locations in Beit Jala to shoot at Israeli men, women and children in Gilo. The writer is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. (Scripps Howard)

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, December 27, 2007]

Christians in the Holy Land - David Pryce-Jones (National Review)
    On a visit to Israel, someone likely to know told me that there are in fact only 14,000 Christians in Jerusalem, including native Arabs and the international religious community. Not so long ago, there were many more.
    The Arab Christians are unable to resist Islamism. Muslims are taking over the Christian quarters of East Jerusalem as well as outlying Christian suburbs like Beit Jala and Beit Sahur.
    In Bethlehem, a town once 80% Christian, Christians are now a disappearing minority.
    Have Christians no place in the Muslim world? Islamist radicals talk about Christians as "Crusaders" as though fighting to the death the wars of the Middle Ages.

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, March 26, 2008]

Muslims Driving Christians Out of Bethlehem, But Media Blame Israel - Aaron Klein
The mainstream media descend upon Bethlehem every year to ignore rampant Muslim intimidation of Christians and instead blast Israel - often with completely inaccurate information - for ruining Christmas. In fact, Bethlehem's Christian population started to drastically decline in 1995, the very year Arafat's PA took over the city. Bethlehem was 80% Christian in 1948, but since Arafat got his hands on it, the city's Christian population dove to below 25%. Some Christian leaders said one of the most significant problems facing Christians in Bethlehem is the rampant confiscation of land by Muslim gangs. "There are many cases where Christians have their land stolen by the (Muslim) mafia," said Samir Qumsiyeh, a Bethlehem Christian leader. (Ynet News)
    See also Nablus's Dwindling Christian Community - Ilene R. Prusher
Nablus' ancient Christian community has been dwindling for decades - from about 3,000 in the 1960s to a mere 700 now - and those who remain had all but gone underground in recent years, in the face of increasing violence and ascendant fundamentalists. Four churches were firebombed 16 months ago following comments made by the pope about the Prophet Mohammed. Half of the city's Christians are Greek Orthodox. The others are Roman Catholic or Anglican. (Christian Science Monitor)

A Creche Without Christians - Nina Shea (National Review)
    Lands that once were the cradle of Christianity have turned distinctively inhospitable to the faith.
    Fiercely intolerant variants of Islam are taking hold in the region, many of them fueled with ideology and funds from Saudi and Iranian extremists.
    From Morocco to the Persian Gulf, we are seeing the rapid erosion of Christian populations, thought to now number no more than 15 million.
    The new survey, Freedom in the World, produced by the Center for Religious Freedom, shows that while some Muslim governments do respect religious freedom, none are to be found in the Middle East.
    Israel is the only "free" country, and its Christian numbers are increasing.

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, December 25, 2007]

Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society - Justus Reid Weiner (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
    Living amidst a xenophobic Muslim population plagued by endemic violence bordering on anarchy, the Christians have shrunk to less than 1.7% of the population in the Palestinian areas.
    This study provides an in-depth look into the nearly uninterrupted persecution of Christians throughout the decade since the Oslo peace process began.
    Read the full report - pdf format (1.4M).

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, Nov 18, 2005]

Expert: "Christian Groups in PA to Disappear" - Etgar Lefkovits
The ever-dwindling Christian communities living in Palestinian-run territories in the West Bank and Gaza are likely to dissipate completely within the next 15 years as a result of increasing Muslim persecution and maltreatment, international human rights lawyer Justus Reid Weiner said Monday. Tens of thousands of Christian Arabs have left the Palestinian territories for a better life in the West, in a continuing exodus. The Palestinian Christian population has dipped to 1.5% of the population, down from at least 15% a half century ago. Bethlehem is now less than 20% Christian, after decades when Christians were the majority. (Jerusalem Post)   
    See also Holy Land's Only Christian TV Station Shuts Down - Ethan Cole
The only Christian TV station in the Holy Land, "The Nativity" (Al Mahed in Arabic), has been broadcasting since 1996, but the station in Bethlehem closed due to death threats to director and owner Samir Qumsieh, trouble with the Palestinian authorities, and overwhelming financial debts. (Christian Post)

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, Dec 7, 2007]

Muslim Gunmen Target Christian in Gaza - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
    Over the weekend, four masked gunmen tried to kidnap Palestinian Christian Nabil Fuad Ayad, who works as a guard at a Gaza City church.
    Nabil's cousin, Rami, was kidnapped and murdered two months ago by the same group, members of the radical Islamic Salafi movement, local sources said.
    The gunmen tried to force Ayad into their car as he was walking in the street, but he managed to escape to a nearby shop. The assailants fired several shots into the air as they fled the scene.
    The Salafis, who have become very active in Gaza in recent months, are totally opposed to common Western concepts like economics, constitutions and political parties.
    They refer to the 2,500 Christians in Gaza as Crusaders and have vowed to drive them out.
    "The latest incident is aimed at sending a message to all the Christians here that we must leave," said a Christian leader. "Radical Islamic groups are waging a campaign to get rid of us and no one seems to care."

[Courtesy -- Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Daily Alert, Dec 10, 2007]