DEATH TO ISRAEL" DEMONSTRATION! YOU'RE KIDDING
Ron Ross
BFP News
1 September 2006
Salt Lake City (USA) has okayed a demonstration to be called "Death to Israel." The organiser is a 52 year-old defence attorney who says all Jews should be moved to the state of Virginia (USA) and that region declared a concentration camp.
If the approval comes under the "freedom of speech" banner, someone should move quickly to bring wisdom and common sense into the interpretation of that privilege.
After "Death to Israel", what then? "Death to Blacks!"; "Death to Irish-Americans!"; "Death to grey-haired old men!" Freedom of speech was never meant to allow hate-speech to ignite deadly fires. We face a world imprisoned by expectations of communicators to be "politically correct." Which means very few people tell the truth anymore. We are expected to communicate in such watered-down language that diplomats are the greatest waste of money on the planet, followed closely by politicians and some clergy. .
Whatever happened to "The Truth will set you free?"
Dr Wafa Sultan is described as "an amazing and courageous Arab woman." She appeared on Al Jazeera television a few months ago and shocked everyone. She criticised Islam.
This lady debated two prominent Muslim scholars. She stunned them all by saying: "The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling." .
That was enough for the scholars to be stunned but her next statement must have had the viewers looking for the smelling salts. She said: "Humanity owes most of the discoveries of science in the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen one Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people."
The world of Al Jazeera must have been rocked by so much truth from one courageous lady. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wafa_Sultan)
The headline in today's Jerusalem Post (1 September, 2006) said: "Israeli Leaders Should Quit."When was the last time you heard of such a headline in Iran or Saudi Arabia or Egypt?
There's a clue in that headline that helps us understand why the Arab world hates the very existence of Israel.
Democracy?
What Arab leader wants his people to have enough authority to overthrow him?
Not one! I once had an Australian journalist challenge what he called my bias toward Israel as compared to the Palestinians. I said to him, "I will pay you airfare to the Middle East. I want you to write a story while you are there. You can either write a story criticising the Israeli Prime Minister while you are living in Jerusalem, or you can write a story criticising the Hamas Prime Minister while you live in Ramallah. Which one would you write?"
Of course he chose Jerusalem. You cannot write the criticism of Hamas and live safely in Ramallah. Even today Palestinian journalists are striving to overcome the censorship imposed on them by the ruling factions.
And so we come to the Salt Lake City defence attorney who is hosting the "Death to Israel" demonstration. What's the issue for the American people? Shouldn't he be permitted to "do his thing?" After all this is freedom of speech isn't it?
The Bible clearly says, "Those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed." (Genesis 12: 3) This verse has deep meaning for the Christians who may not even know it comes from the Jewish Torah. It is a promise of God which is simple and very clear.
Did God mean what He said? Or is He just like those other leaders who say the politically correct thing when He's in Israel but doesn't mean what He says when He's speaking to folk in other parts of the world? It's the kind of speak Yasser Arafat made famous! Maybe God's like that!
Kings, Emperors, soldiers, empires have come and gone and Israel remains. God meant what He said. So if Salt Lake City hosts "Death to Israel" demonstrations, who will God hold accountable?
I believe in circumstances like this one, "judgment begins in the house of the Lord." It begins with the people who have been given The Word!
We are instructed to show His love to His chosen people. The covenants and promises of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob remain real today no matter what politicians or the media say.
Our Road Map is the Bible
If we believers see anti-semitism rise up against the Jewish people and we remain silent we repeat the same tragedies that opened the door to the Holocaust.
The church heard the rantings of Hitler and said next to nothing.
Now leaders like the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling for "Israel to be wiped off the map." Hizbollah, Syria and Hamas follow that agenda.
An American defence attorney is hosting a "Death to Israel" demonstration. Pamphlets calling for the same thing were distributed in the last four weeks by Islamic fundamentalists in Sydney, Australia.
The church is still silent. Why do we wait for politicians to respond? The church has the Bible. Christians are said to worship, "The Word become flesh!" Shouldn't we stand on that Word?
Oh, we pray for the blessings of the Lord and yet we live in such a way as to bring the Genesis 12: 3 curse upon us.
May the Lord mount His throne and bring us back to Him, to serve and honour Him the way He has commanded. We may yet be blessed and indeed we could yet make a difference as He commissioned us to do.
The world needs that to happen soon.
Links:
Salt Lake City will allow local defense attorney Robert Breeze to hold a "Death to Israel" demonstration Wednesday despite concerns from the Jewish community.
The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 August, 2006, http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_4242208
Dr Wafa Sultan speaks to Islamic Clerics on Al Jazeera
Video Link: http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null
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Three years ago he joined Bridges for Peace in Jerusalem to establish international radio news and an audio service webcast at www.bridgesforpeace.com Ron was Sports Editor of WINTV for 20 years before joining the full-time missions. You can contact Ron at : ronrossbfp@hotmail.com |
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