Tag Archives: Jews

Hopeful Realism for 2024, Part 2

As we look ahead to 2024 and beyond, I hope that all of us can be hopeful and realistic so that we can achieve more than we thought possible, and we can weather the unexpected with grace. Here are some more observations for the year ahead:

Realism: Social media will continue captivating and ensnaring far too many people, draining creativity and energy.

Hope: May we spend more time with family and friends, learn to use a fountain pen, read printed books, and enjoy the outdoors without a phone in hand.

Hopeful realism: May we see more reflections than reactions and more conversations over mere condemnations.

Realism: Jews and Christians will continue facing severe persecution globally, with little notice from non-religious leaders or neighbors.

Hope: People of conscience will realize that each of us must desire and protect for others the liberties we expect for ourselves.

Hopeful realism: Many will consider becoming Christians or renewing their faith as they recognize the cohesiveness and compassion of Jesus. And many Christians will appreciate the Jewish roots of our faith for the first time.

Realism: The American and global economy will continue struggling as significant adjustments take place due to poor planning, risky investments, and changes in labor and production.

Hope: We will see some improvements in interest rates and job growth, due to normal developments and the results of the political desires of investors.

Hopeful realism: As local and state governments face realities, some will wisely tighten their belts and thoughtfully allocate resources, while removing barriers to business expansion.

And finally, your humble author believes that we are on the cusp of a spiritual awakening that will overflow into neighborhoods and nations as people not only have religious encounters in church, but kindly and thoughtfully serve their families, colleagues, and friends as a thank you to the grace of God. For such love in action, some will face persecution. But the pressures of opponents will only increase their fortitude, and once again, we will see the goodness of God on display.

May we all be hopeful realists, with greater expectations of what God can do, sober awareness of our own shortcomings, and a willingness to extend ourselves to others.

It is 1938-1948 Again

I am deeply disturbed by the anger, deliberate deceptions, and outright evil of those that advocate, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine shall be free.” These are all echoes of the horrific events of 1938-1948, as the Jews of Europe were systematically corralled, exiled, stripped of their livelihoods, gathered in ghettos, and ultimately industrially exterminated. From the events of Kristallnacht on November 8-9, 1938, to the blood-curdling jihadist calls for death in 1948, the world stood by far too passively, making excuses and then being shocked when a new Israeli state was victorious.

We have pagan-secular progressives joining with Islamic jihadists on behalf of the “oppressed” Palestinians, forgetting that Israel is a pluralistic democracy (with Tel Aviv among the friendliest cities to the LGBTQ+ communities), the only safe haven for Jews world-wide, and ready for peace at any time. Like the Nazis of the 1930s and 1940s, today’s evil axis projects their intolerance, antisemitism, and anti-liberty ideology onto the only democracy in the region.

I have been asked by many friends to offer a historical perspective on the current war in the Middle East. In this essay, I will offer some context for the current events. At the outset, a few things must be clear:

  • This is not a “both sides are equally good/bad” moment. There is no comparison between Israel’s treatment of her citizens and the populations under her control and the indiscriminate, inhuman killing of innocents by terrorists dedicated to killing every Jew on the planet.
  • For years, people have been subject to the agitation propaganda and phrases like, “the cycle of violence” or “Israel is an apartheid state” or “The Israeli government is fascist or Nazi.” This is absurd on its face, and the ultimate projection of the intolerant ideologies of Israel-haters.
  • The greatest deception of all is, “We don’t hate Jews, just the government of Israel…and Israel is a White, Western, Colonial-Settler invasion of peaceful Palestinian lands”. Israel is a safe haven for Jews from over 80 nations, has over two million Arab citizens, and offers true freedom while surrounded by a sea of Islamic intolerance.

Some important historical markers as we assess the current situation:

  • There has been continuous Jewish presence in Israel for over 3000 years, verified by archeology, artifacts, historical accounts outside the Bible, and the biblical accounts themselves.
  • In 135 A.D., after a failed Jewish rebellion against the oppressions of the Roman Empire, Jews were exiled (again) and the entire region was relabeled, “Palestine” by Roman leaders seeking to eradicate Jewish history and add insult to injury by renaming the land after the Philistines, enemies of Israel from Crete that settled in Gaza.
  • Jerusalem was conquered by Islamic armies in the 7th century, and became a third holy city in the tradition. Jerusalem is NOT mentioned in the Qur’an, but any land conquered by Islam is considered forever Islamic.
  • The Crusades (1096-1291) were the reaction of the West to centuries of Islamic conquest and oppression, including persecution of pilgrims in the Holy Land. These crusades included horrific anti-Jewish campaigns as well.
  • From the 1600s to the end of World War I, the Holy Land was under the rule of the decaying Ottoman Empire, with local chieftains exercising influence.
  • In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a growing Zionist movement called for Jews to return to their ancestral home, and thousands did, legally buying land at exorbitant prices. This movement accelerated with the rise of European antisemitism from the 1880s to 1930s.
  • The Mufti of Jerusalem, Husseini, called for the destruction of the Jews from the 1920s to the 1950s, including serving as Hitler’s voice from Berlin and giving approval to the genocide of the extermination camps. His most fervent disciple? Yasser Arafat.
  • In 1947-1948, In the shadow of the Holocaust, the United Nations carved out a tiny Jewish enclave and a huge Arab state in “Palestine.” Immediately, every Arab nation called for Israel’s destruction.
  • From the Six Day War of 1967 to the present, Israel has offered land for peace (1967, 1978, 1993, 2000, 2008, and even in 2015), relocated thousands of Jewish settlements, and hoped for an end to war…and she is always refused. She gave Gaza to the Palestinian Authority years ago. Instead of a jewel of trade, tourism, and vibrancy, it is an armed camp for Hamas.
  • Yes, Israel has real security measures, including multiple fences. No, Israel is not committing genocide. When you are surrounded by people calling for your destruction, you are just a bit cautious. Israel does not target Palestinian civilians for terrorist attacks. Thousand are allowed to live and work in areas overseen by Israel, and they earn higher wages and receive better medical care.

In light of this history, our first position must not include appeasement, false cease-fires, or capitulation to progressive pressures. We must stand with the nation of Israel, and all Jews, with gratitude for their moral and spiritual legacy, current affirmations of freedom, and that fact that Israel is a beacon of hope in a land of intolerance and radicalism. We must love life more than death, virtue-based liberty more than extremism, and truth over propaganda.

A Vintage Essay on Toleration

Five years ago, I posted these words on Facebook and other locales. All the same problems remain, for reasons enumerated last week. I share this again so we can see that the fight for virtue-based liberty is never done. I want for all others the freedoms I desire for myself. Here is the essay:

Dear California legislators,

In your zeal to condemn conversion therapy and ban resources that suggest LGBTQ+ folks could be led toward “hetero-normative” identity (AB2943), you are creating a less tolerant world. I think many of you mean well, but there are some future consequences if your ideology wins:

Will you ban resources and speech from Muslim communities that welcome converts and encourage traditional roles?

Will you condemn conservative and orthodox Jews for their teachings?

Will you reject other cultural and religious groups that do not share your fluid views on gender?

Oh, one more thing…if one’s identity is chosen and fluid, what can’t someone decide (without coercion) to be straight after a season of gay or bi identity?

Toleration does not mean agreement. I do not want a return to any prior eras and I will defend liberty of conscience/religion, lifestyle and speech for those I disagree with. It is easy to attack the religious traditions that birthed the liberties we enjoy.

It is more virtuous to keep the public square open for real debate and learn living with our deepest differences with civility and respect. Building a future of friendship and cooperation across cultures and ideologies requires love and patience, humility and openness.

Let’s choose full inclusion instead of creating new echo chambers.

Real Questions, Thoughtful Answers, Part 5: The Jews and Israel as Gifts to our World

Several friends and colleagues have asked me to comment on the upsurge of anti-Israel protests throughout the USA and the West, especially the work of the BDS (Boycott-Divest-Sanction) and SJS (Students for Justice in Palestine), and continual United Nations condemnations. Anti-Israel groups claim they are not anti-Jewish – they are just against the injustices perpetrated by the modern State of Israel. They see Israel as an “apartheid state” that denies basic rights to Palestinian Arabs in the “occupied territories.” Some reveal their agenda and question the legitimacy of the nation of Israel, calling it “colonialism” or “a colonial-settler project” or a “Western imposition born of Holocaust guilt.” And these are the mild critiques. Jihadist Islamic groups and leaders call for overt elimination of Israel and the extermination of the Jews as a religious obligation. In the past decade, diverse voices have expressed the wish that Hitler has “finished the job.” How do we respond to these comments?

History helps here.

“Palestine” is a term coined by the Roman Empire in the wake of the Jewish revolts of 66-70 AD and 132-135 AD. Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea were exiled and the entire region was renamed, “Palestine” as an insult to the Jews. The term Palestine arises from Philistine, a group from Crete who settled in Gaza and constantly opposed the people of Israel (See the early chapters of I Samuel for more here, including David’s defeat of the Philistine giant Goliath). Jewish presence in Jerusalem and surrounding regions has been continual for over 3000 years.

Today’s Palestinians have coalesced into a community and they deserve a better government that the current groups that are actually oppressing them, namely the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. This sense of national identity is a creation of the KGB-PLO in the 1960s, uniting disparate Arab groups under a mission to destroy Israel.

Jews have been subject to horrific persecution for most of their history after being exiled from their land. Antisemitism comes in three basic forms: political, religious, and racial. Politically, a variety of empires and nations have distrusted the separateness of the Jews, even if they pose no military or political threat. Religious antisemitism is found in Church history (though NOT in the Christian Scriptures), with far too many leaders of every tradition forgetting the Jewish roots of the faith and misinterpreting the paid mob’s shouts of, “Crucify him!” and “His (Jesus’) blood be on us and our children” as theological license to marginalize and oppress. Both the Qur’an and the Hadith (accepted Islamic interpretations and teachings) often declare the Jews the enemies of Islam and call for their oppression and sometimes death.

All of this terrible history metastasized in the late 19th and early 20th century into biological or racial anti-Semitism, rooted in facile Social Darwinism (Darwin would have utterly rejected these ideas). Historical alienation, exile, pogroms, second-class status, and persecution were minor compared to the eliminationist ideology gradually developed by ethnocentric nationalists and industrialized by the Nazis. The Holocaust was an unspeakable and unprecedented evil that far too many people chose to ignore and still try to either minimalize of normalize.

Concomitant with the rise of this mutation of antisemitism were a variety of Zionist movements calling for a restored Jewish homeland. From the 1860s to the 1930s, thousands made their way to their ancient land, much to the chagrin of some Arab leaders and later the British colonial rulers. Here are some facts about this period, for the current revisionist propaganda wants the world to think that Jews returning to their homeland was some kind of imperialist plot to destroy or displace the local Arab populations:

  • With few exceptions, all lands occupied by Jewish families and settlements were legally purchased from the local Arab populations under the Ottoman Empire. Much of it was desert and swampland, requiring huge amounts of work for it to flourish. Cities like Haifa and Tel Aviv were transformed as international culture flourished.
  • The British Government approved a Jewish homeland in principle with its Balfour Declaration of 1917. A crumbling Ottoman Empire in 1918 left a vacuum filled by European “mandates” and renewed Arab nationalism, including radical jihadist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
  • The League if Nations approved a homeland for the Jewish people during meetings in 1919-1920. In 1922, a plan was approved for a Jewish homeland within the Kingdom of Transjordan, but radicals undermined this.
  • In the 1920s and 1930s, multiple plans for modest Jewish settlements were offered and always rejected – often with violence – by radical Arab leaders, especially the Mufti of Jerusalem (the mentor of Yasser Arafat, supporter of Hitler, with plans to bring the Auschwitz gas chambers to the Middle East).
  • After 1939 the British halted any Jewish emigration, and even at the height of the Holocaust in 1942-1944, they refused to ease their restrictions.
  • In 1947, the United Nations approved a new Jewish state in a tiny section of the Palestinian territories – the boundaries were drawn to limit displacements. May 1948: The Jewish State is formally declared…and immediately Arab armies from six nations mobilize to destroy Israel. This call for destruction is the origin of today’s phrase, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” In other words, death to Israel and exile or death to the Jews therein.

Since her birth, Israel has offered peace on generous terms, but these offers are always rejected. Several Arab states have normalized relations and received the economic and security benefits of an alliance with the only democracy in the region. A few more facts about Israel will help us see through the anger and hatred spewed by anti-Semites:

  • Israel is not perfect, but she is the only pluralistic democracy in the Middle East, with rights of conscience, active political parties, almost two million Arab citizens, and equal rights for women and minorities.
  • Israel is a global leader in humanitarian compassion, medical research, technology, ecological innovation, business development, and cultural creativity.
  • Israel is not an apartheid state, mistreating Arab populations in various territories. She has the challenging task of providing security for her citizens, and finding ways to cooperate with Palestinian leaders desiring her destruction.

Today’s hatreds are really a mishmash of old antisemitic themes joined with agitation propaganda for consumers who are ignorant of history. It is time for thoughtful people to reject the eliminationist slogans and recognize the gift Israel is to our world. Years ago, Israel handed Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority, removing the Jewish settlements and leaving 800 thriving businesses intact to help the new regime. The results? Destruction of businesses and the establishment of a terrorist state under Hamas that constantly proliferates violence against Israel. A few resorts exist and about a thousand jihadist leaders are millionaires while the populace lives in squalor. Meanwhile Israel is blamed for every problem that is the result of a refusal to make peace.

There is no moral equivalence of Israel and the Palestinian Authority government. The former desires peace and democracy, the latter jihad and oppression. Israel is ready for peace, and the PA is led by a Holocaust denier and one of the financiers of the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games of 1972. Yes, there are many narratives of Arabs displaced by war and suffering because of these conflicts. All that can end if moderate voices are heard and peacemaking wins over violence. Let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem and refuse to listen to shrill voices.

The Way Forward, Part Seven: The Gift of the Jews…and Israel

The recent Hamas-initiated violence against Israel has brought antisemitic voices to the public square once again. Thousands of rockets were aimed indiscriminately against a peaceful, tolerant nation. And for inexplicable, but predictable reasons, Israel was blamed for this latest “cycle of violence.” Though Israel is far from a perfect nation, she is the only multicultural democracy in the entire region and has offered generous peace terms for decades to leaders dedicated to her complete destruction. Calling Israel an “apartheid state” (she has nearly two million Arab citizens) and “Nazi-like” is inverted and perverted thinking of the highest order, especially when Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic jihad, and Fatah (The PA military wing) all scream for her utter destruction and praise the policies of Hitler.

Before offering some ideas for peace, it is right that we remind ourselves of the positive contributions of Judaism to our world, even as Jews have faced racial and religious persecutions, pogroms, and the unutterable horror of the Holocaust.

Our Jewish neighbors bring three millennia of monotheism and morality, quests for justice and wisdom, and the foundations of individual dignity and socioeconomic fairness to our world. Christianity is built on these foundations and when it is not linked with coercive power, her adherents have shared with the Jews the values of compassion, love, and liberty. Tragically, Christian persecution of the Jews has been (and sometimes still is) an inexcusable part of her history and theology and was a foundation for the mutation of racist antisemitism that emerged in the 19th and 20th century and turned into industrialized murder by the Nazis.

Our Jewish neighbors have lived in the Middle East for over 3000 years. In spite of enforced emigrations, they never left Jerusalem and the surrounding areas completely. “Palestine” was a manufactured term by a vindictive Roman Empire in the 130s AD as they banished the Jews for their resistance and renamed Israel after their historic enemies the Philistines. The land that is now Israel was under Roman, Byzantine, Islamic/Ottoman, and from 1917 to 1947 British rule. There was never a cohesive Palestinian state or national identity – until Jews began to return to the land of their ancestors in the 19th and 20th centuries.

This return – led by a variety of Zionist movements – was not a military conquest. Land was purchased legally from the locals and with approval of the Ottoman Empire. Often the parcels purchased were of little value – desert and swampland, overpriced urban real estate, etc. With the help of global friends and much hard work, flourishing villages emerged and Jewish culture was revitalized. The end of World War I brought a surge of Jewish immigration, with the initial approval of the British and even the welcome of King Abdullah of Transjordan. With both League of Nations and local approval, a variety of plans were made for a homeland. Several Zionist groups agreed to an autonomous Jewish zone within Abdullah’s kingdom in 1922. Alas, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the leadership of the Mufti of Jerusalem shattered such peaceful plans with their calls for violent jihad. From the 1920s to the present, all attempts at peace (including offering a co-capital in Jerusalem and 96% of territories gained by Israel in her victory of 1967) have been rejected. Yet Israel is blamed for her “occupation” and “oppression.”

Peace in the Middle East will only come when Arab leaders acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as the national homeland of the Jewish people and stop questioning her legitimacy and calling for her destruction. It is chic for some Western progressives to demonize Israel and see Palestinians as the oppressed, even to the point of calling Israel (and by extension all Jews) “White” colonizers! Such ignorance of anthropology, ancient and modern history, and the facts on the ground is appalling. The surge in global anti-Jewish violence is a direct result of such deceptive ideologies and narratives.

The enormous contributions of Jewish tradition and the current State of Israel are gifts to our world. Israeli global compassion, leadership in medicine, science, and technology, flourishing cultural expressions and willingness to cooperate with others are signs of goodness that no agitation propaganda can completely erase. Sometimes there are not two equal sides to every issue. In the case of Israel against the world, our Jewish friends have the high ground. Should Israel be criticized for some of her actions? Yes – and there is no livelier public square than Israeli politics! But turning our ears and eyes away from the real issues will not foster lasting peace.