The inspiring life of the German martyr continues to challenge Christian indifference

Jesus lifted high in Amsterdam

Lessons for today 

Haman, the Nazis, and the roots of anti-Semitism

As with Haman, threat to Jews comes back on its own head

God’s call to intercession.

The Feast of Purim was celebrated in Jewish congregations last week. The Feast recalls the deliverance of the Jews at the time of Esther. Esther is often used as an inspiration for intercessory prayer. She was called, prepared and dared to go into the presence of the King to intercede for her people who were facing destruction under the hand of Haman.

How appropriate it is, therefore, to consider our own call at this time. The people of the UK are seeking deliverance from the EU, and we are also entering a time in the entire world when the rise of anti-Christian powers are threatening the survival of both Christians and Jews. This, then, is a time when many of us will receive the call to draw near to God.

In so doing, we will become intercessors on behalf of our people and become available to hear the prophetic word of understanding that can be shared with others.

God Looks at the Heart

This is a ministry that requires deep commitment and purity of lifestyle. The character of those whom God calls can be found in the scriptures. For example, in Isaiah 66:2, “on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.” Such character is not made in a moment, but is often the result of a lifetime’s walk with God.

It is a costly walk which results in a broken heart for others, such as when Jeremiah wept at what was to befall his own people. The Jews were about to go into Babylonian captivity – “Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jer 9:1).

This character in us reflects the character of the Lord Jesus, who wept over Jerusalem because of what was coming upon it, and of whom it was said that “in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and was heard because of his godly fear…he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 5:7, 7:25).

We live in a time when many of us will receive the call to draw near to God in intercession.

The Ministry of Intercession

The ministry of intercession was given to the Priests of the Old Covenant, who were called into the Holy Place of the Tabernacle and Temple to make intercession for the people, to hear from God and to go out to teach the people what God was saying. At the time of Ezekiel their ministry was corrupted (Ezek 22:26-31) and this had kindled God’s wrath. Regarding their role of intercession, God said, “I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, but found no-one.”

This is how important the ministry of intercession is. It is a priestly calling that God expects to be taken up. For us, it is not the Levitical priesthood, but the priesthood of all believers (1 Pet 2:9). Jesus is our High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. As we read in Hebrews 7:1-4, this means that Jesus the Messiah, like the Priest Melchizedek in Genesis 14, was appointed by God directly and did not inherit his ministry by being from the Tribe of Levi, as with all the Priests of the Old Covenant.

It was Jesus who answered the deepest call to be intercessor for his people: “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore his own arm brought salvation for him; and his own righteousness, it sustained him” (Isa 59:15-17).

Called into God’s Presence

His call is now for us to join him in his intercessions for the people of this world. John 15:1-8 is a key passage, where we are called to abide in Jesus. Or, using another metaphor, just as Jesus clothed himself in his own salvation and righteousness, so we are to put on the full armour of Ephesians 6 and so put on Jesus (Rom 13:14). In this place of abiding in him or wearing him, we receive the inspiration of God so that our prayers can be in accord with Jesus’ own intercessions (verse 7).

It is in this place of inspired prayer that we can be sure that our prayers will be answered, not according to our human logic but according to the prompting of his Spirit. As such, our prayers are prophetic in nature. In the place of inspired and answered prayer, we will find the prompting of the Holy Spirit as to how to pray, sometimes in “groans that cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26-27).

What a privilege to be called into the very heart of God to fulfil this calling so utterly needful in the world that is shaking about us more and more every day. Like Esther, we must prepare ourselves to enter into the King’s presence and so fulfil our priestly calling on behalf of our people.

You may also be interested in: Prophets as Intercessors and Purim.

The Church has remained silent on Israel for too long

As Jews the world over next week mark a feast they have celebrated annually for the past 2,500 years, it presents a perfect opportunity for the Church to step into the breach on behalf of God’s chosen people.

The feast of Purim recalls the time when a beautiful young orphan queen known as Esther saved her people from annihilation in ancient Persia.

Her identity as a Jew was a secret at the time of her accession to the throne, as the potential for anti-Semitism was so great that the Bible’s account of her heroics only mentions God in code.

But when her guardian, Mordecai, alerted her to Haman’s genocidal plot against all the Jews in an empire stretching from India to Egypt, he challenged her with these words: “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Est 4:14).

Esther knew it would be dangerous to approach the king without being summoned but, just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego risked the fiery furnace rather than compromise their faith, Esther too bit the bullet, defiantly declaring: “If I perish, I perish” (Est 4:16).

Modern Threats

Is it not time for the Church to stand up for the Jews as Esther did? The Church in Germany were, for the most part, silent as they watched Hitler’s anti-Semitic cancer spread.

Thankfully, para-church organisations like Christian Friends of Israel, representing thousands of individual Christians, have until now played the part of Mordecai in their attempt to alert the Church to the dangers.

One of them, Christians United for Israel, has actually launched a campaign called 'Operation Mordecai', warning of the danger posed by Iran (modern-day Persia) to Israel and the West, and is encouraging churches to nail their colours to the mast by showing corporate support for Israel rather than leaving it to individual believers.

Is it not time for the Church to stand up for the Jews just as Esther did?

Israel’s existence – and by extension that of the Jewish people – is threatened once again. First Pharaoh tried to obliterate them, then Haman, followed by Herod and Hitler. Now the likes of Hamas are inflicting their murder and mayhem on Israel’s southern borders while, in the north, Hezbollah have some 120,000 missiles hidden among Lebanon’s civilian population.

At the same time, a harrowing new wave of anti-Semitism is sweeping across Europe and America, while in Britain we are witnessing an unholy alliance between hard-left Labour and the far-right - including Islamists - viciously persecuting innocent Jews.

Time to Stand Up!

The Tory Government has made a start in repenting of past sins committed against the Jews. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has apologised for Britain’s blocking of those trying to escape the Nazi butchers and for its holding of others in detention camps like Atlit, near Haifa, during the 1940s. And Home Secretary Sajid Javid has finally pronounced a full ban on Hezbollah.

But the Church in Britain – as a whole – has badly neglected the Jews. We are not only responsible for the scourge of social engineering now blighting our beloved country, but also for the disgraceful scandal of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party.

Where have the strong Christian voices of support for Israel been over the years? Do we really think God has reneged on his promise of everlasting love for the Jews (Jer 31:3)? Do we realise that such misguided belief gives carte blanche to the sort of unbridled hatred for Israel pronounced by many of those seeking to wrest power from the Conservatives?

Jeremy Corbyn and his close allies – like terror groups Hezbollah and Hamas – believe Israel has no right to exist. It’s time to make amends for our indifference by taking on the role of Esther – intervening on behalf of an endangered people, both in prayer and action.

The Tory Government has made a start in repenting of past sins committed by Britain against the Jews. But the British Church – as a whole – remains silent.

Cursing Turned Around

In modern Persia, the ayatollahs are determined to wipe Israel off the map, using nuclear weapons if necessary. But the tables were turned on the anti-Semites of ancient Persia. Haman literally made a rope on which to hang himself and the evil scheme he had devised came back on his own head. Those who dare to stand against the Jews or their Messiah will surely come to ruin!

Indeed, the tables were turned on Germany, and it all came back on their own heads as their cities were reduced to rubble – Darmstadt, for instance, had its own 9/11 when, on 11 September 1944, the city was destroyed, leaving 12,000 dead and many more homeless.

Similar devastation awaits those who touch the apple of God’s eye today (Zech 2:8).

What it is, how it's celebrated and what it can mean for Christians.

Tomorrow at sundown (11 March 2017) marks the beginning of Purim, one of the most joyous and fun-filled celebrations on the Jewish calendar. Though not an ‘official’ feast of the Lord as laid out in the Torah, being based instead on the story of Esther, it is used annually by Jews worldwide as an opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness and deliverance.

For Christians, it can be an opportunity to show love to Jewish people and to the nation of Israel and to thank God for his unrelenting faithfulness toward them, as well as an occasion to celebrate God’s character and his victory over sin and evil through the death and resurrection of our Messiah, Jesus (Yeshua).

We’ve taken the opportunity to round up some good resources in case you would like to learn more about the festival from a Hebraic and a Messianic perspective.

Understanding Purim: biblical teaching on what it is and how it’s celebrated

• Purim – Feast of Lots. John J Parsons (Hebrew4Christians) looks at the story of Esther and the celebration of Purim, including Hebrew blessings and customs for the occasion, as well as its prophetic significance.
  
• Such a Curse: A Messianic Look at Purim. Mark Stover of Jews for Jesus discusses the curse of Amalek and the blotting out of Haman’s name.
  
• A Mystery in the Megillah. Why is the name of God nowhere to be found – seemingly – in the Book of Esther?
  
• Tribute to the Real Hero: Stephen Katz (Jews for Jesus) discusses the heroic characters of Esther and Mordecai.
  
• The Secrets of Esther the Intercessor: One for Israel looks at the Messianic overtones of the well-known story.
  

Joining in: what Purim means for Christians and how we can celebrate it

• The Scandal of Esther: John J Parsons (Hebrew4Christians) looks at Christian neglect of Esther, anti-Semitism in the Church and what Purim should mean to us.
  
• Chabad ideas: Purim stories, study resources and recipes, all from a Jewish perspective, from Chabad. Also see their resources for kids here.
  
• Purim devotional resources: Use the Messianic Jewish Bible Institution’s resources for your own Purim devotional here and here.
  
• Join a Purim party or event near you – such as Vision for Israel’s Purim celebration (11 March) at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster. Find out more and book tickets here.
  

This coming Wednesday marks the start of Purim - the festival that celebrates the story of Esther and God's deliverance of Israel from destruction.

Purim is a minor biblical and Jewish festival which takes place in February/March in the Western calendar and begins on the 14^th of the month of Adar in the Hebrew calendar. Its theme is the deliverance from destruction of the Jewish people. This year the festival begins at sundown on Wednesday 23 March.

Purim: Instituted by Mordecai

Purim, meaning 'lots', was instituted during the Jewish exile in Persia in the 4^th century BC. Esther 9 explains its origins, from verse 20:

Mordecai recorded these events [i.e. the story about the attempted destruction of the Jews by Haman], and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, that they should celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote to them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. But when the plot came to the king's attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back on to his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.)

Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews – nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants. (Est 9:20-28)

The Story of Esther

A young Jewish woman called Esther was chosen above all the other young women of the Persian kingdom to replace Queen Vashti, who had displeased King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) by refusing to obey one of his commands. Under the guidance of her cousin Mordecai, who brought her up, Esther concealed her Jewish identity and became Queen.

Purim, meaning 'lots', was instituted during the Jewish exile in Persia in the 4^th Century BC.

In a separate instance of heroism, Mordecai found out about a plot against the king and this was recorded in the royal chronicles. However, Mordecai also made an enemy of Haman, the king's vizier, by refusing to bow down to him:

...having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. (Est 3:6)

Haman cast the pur or lot (Est 7:3) to decide the day of annihilation of the Jews. Then he went to King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) and asked for permission to issue an edict saying that on the day chosen by the lot, the Jews in all the provinces of the King's empire should be killed - young and old alike - and their goods should be plundered.

Mordecai asked Esther to approach the king to get him to withdraw the edict, even though she risked her life by doing so. To approach the king without being summoned meant certain death - unless the king extended his sceptre towards the person. Esther fasted three days and nights and then approached the king. He extended his sceptre and she asked permission to invite the king and Haman to a banquet.

At the banquet she invited them to another banquet on the following day. Haman went home in high spirits at the King's and Queen's favour to him, but was angered to see Mordecai still not bowing down to him. So, on the advice of his wife and friends, he built a gallows ready to ask the king's permission to hang Mordecai the following morning. That night, however, the king could not sleep and so he ordered the book of the chronicles of his reign to be read to him. The passage about Mordecai uncovering the plot against the King's life was read to him.

He then found out that Mordecai was not rewarded for this and the next day when Haman came before the king, the king asked him "What should be done for the man the king delights to honour?" (Est 6:9). Haman assumed the king was referring to him and suggested that the king should put a royal robe on this man and have him led through the streets on the king's horse with the proclamation that "this is what is done for the man the king delights to honour".

In the story of Esther, Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai save the Jewish people from the retribution of powerful vizier Haman, by pleading their case before the king, Xerxes.

Then the king ordered Haman to do honour to Mordecai. Haman was commanded to lead the horse and make the proclamation. Mortified, he then attended the second banquet with the King and Queen. At the banquet, Esther asked the king to spare her life and the lives of her people and told the king that Haman was responsible for the decree for their annihilation.

The king flew into a rage and left the room. On his return, he found Haman appearing to molest Queen Esther as he fell towards her begging for his life. The king ordered that Haman be hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Haman's estate was given to Esther and the king issued another edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves against the attack of their enemies, which was still due to take place on the day arranged by Haman (this was because the king's edicts could not be repealed, so an opposing edict had to be issued instead, allowing the Jews to destroy their enemies).

In this way, all the enemies of the Jews were destroyed, including Haman's sons. In Esther 9:20, we read that Esther and Mordecai, who had assumed the position of influence that Haman had held, ordered that the Jews everywhere should celebrate annually for ever more with feasting and great joy the festival of lots, or Purim, and that they should give one another presents of food and give gifts to the poor.

Purim Today

Hamentashen, traditional biscuits eaten on Purim. See Photo Credits.

Today, Purim is celebrated by the Jewish people with a fast on the day before the festival, mirroring Esther's fast, and then a feast. There are five good deeds (or mitzvot) associated with the festival: first, reading the scroll of Esther, then reading a portion of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), third, sending gifts to friends and relatives, fourth, distribution of charity to the poor and finally, participation in a festive meal.

Purim plays are often put on and children (and sometimes adults!) dress up in fancy dress. People eat biscuits known as Hamantaschen (iHamantaschenn Yiddish) meaning Haman's ears (in Hebrew oznei Haman). This may refer to the practice of cutting off criminals' ears before they were hanged.

Purim is thought of as a minor feast, but it occupies a major place in the hearts of the Jewish people because its theme of deliverance from annihilation has had relevance throughout history. It is also popular because it is light-hearted and fun, a time of celebration rather than serious reflection.

Purim is a minor feast, but it occupies a major place in the hearts of the Jewish people because of its theme of deliverance from annihilation.

Blotting out the Amalekites

During the reading of the story of Esther, every time Haman's name is mentioned, everyone will make as much noise as possible. There is a special Purim noisemaker usually known by its Yiddish name, grogger, which makes a loud rattling sound. The idea is to blot out Haman's name.

A Purim 'grogger', for blotting out Haman's name. See Photo Credits.

Why? Well, Haman is referred to as 'the Agagite' in the book of Esther. Agag is from a Hebrew root from which come words to do with fire, flames, fury and anger (appropriate for one who seeks to destroy). Haman is therefore thought to have been a descendant of Agag, King of the Amalekites, who were the arch enemy of the Israelites. Haman the Agagite is said to be the 17^th generation descended from Amalek, son of Elifaz, who was the firstborn son of Esau.

In Deuteronomy 25:19, it is commanded to "blot out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven", and in Exodus 17:16, "The Lord's war with the Amalekites will continue generation after generation". This is echoed in the book of Esther with its command that the days of Purim should be remembered and kept generation after generation (9:28).

In 1 Samuel 15, we read that Saul disobeyed the Lord's instructions not to take plunder from the Amalekites. They were to be utterly destroyed including all their property. Saul disobeyed and took the plunder and because of this the Lord rejected him as king over Israel. So, in Esther, we read that the Jews are very careful not to lay their hands on the plunder of Haman and his sons (Est 9:10).

There is a further connection with the story of Saul here. Mordecai's grandfather was called Kish, as was Saul's father, so it seems that the author of the book of Esther had in mind the story of Saul and the Amalekites by hinting at it in mentioning Mordecai's descent (Est 2:5-6).

Why did Mordecai choose not to bow before Haman? One may infer that Mordecai knew Haman's origins, that he was descended from the Amalekites. Bowing indicates honour towards someone, or even worship - and Mordecai refused to do that to the son of the sworn enemy of the Jewish people. It also explains why Haman wished to destroy all Mordecai's people once he found out he was a Jew and therefore the sworn enemy of the Amalekites. Haman's ancestral line presumably explains his irrational hatred of Mordecai and the Jews. That same irrational and implacable hatred continued to feed anti-Semitism throughout history and continues today, making the story of Esther continually relevant.

The same irrational and implacable hatred of Jews expressed by Haman has continued throughout history and continues today – making the story of Esther ever-relevant.

God Implicitly Present

Purim, like Passover, is a celebration of deliverance from evil, of the redemption of God for his people. Interestingly, however, the book of Esther is unique among the books of the Bible in that nowhere is the name of God mentioned. Similarly, it can sometimes appear to us as though our enemy is all too real and present in our lives and the lives of those around us and that God is nowhere to be found - but God always has his plan of deliverance ready.

There is also no mention of the Jews' religion or religious practices at all in Esther. Yet the presence of God is implied throughout the story by the way co-incidences (or God-incidences) happen to favour Mordecai and Esther. Esther happened to be beautiful and so rise to a position of power. Mordecai happened to hear of the plot against the king and the king happened to awaken one night and be read the exact section from the chronicles which told of this.

Divine destiny surfaces nowhere more clearly than in Mordecai's charged statement to Esther that if she does not help the Jewish people in their hour of need, deliverance will arise from another place. She can use her position to help save her people or she can draw back, but she and her father's family would perish.

Thus the importance of human obedience within the context of divine sovereignty becomes clear. God prepares us, he places us in certain positions, in his perfect timing, then he gives us the opportunity to serve him to accomplish his purposes. This is always the choice: to serve the Lord and prosper, or to disobey him, ignore his call and perish. His will always be done, with or without us. Esther heeds Mordecai's words that she has been placed in her royal position "for such as time as this" (Est 4:14), risking her life to do it but saving the lives of many.

The book of Esther is unique in that it does not mention the name of God – and yet God's presence is implied throughout the story.

Esther and Joseph

The story of Esther is often compared to the story of Joseph. Both rise to positions of influence within the court of a foreign power which holds sway over the Jewish people. Both save their people from death - in Joseph's case from famine - and in doing so risk their own lives. Similar to the story of Esther, the disruption of the king's sleep leads to the release of Joseph from prison (Pharaoh's dream), just as the king's wakefulness in the book of Esther causes Mordecai to be rewarded.

Both conceal their Jewish identity to accomplish the redemption of the Jewish people. Joseph, in particular, is often referred to as a type of the Messiah. Like Joseph, Jesus appears before his Jewish brethren today with Gentile appearance. He has been adopted by the Gentiles and presented in Gentile garb. We look forward to the day when Jesus will thoroughly reveal his Jewish identity and Messiahship to the Jewish people and there will be great weeping and mourning, as the prophet Zechariah indicates, "They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son" (Zech 12:10), just as Joseph and his brothers wept together as they met for the first time in years.

Purim and the Church

Throughout history, God has brought deliverance to the Jewish people from the plans of the enemy. Haman in the story of Esther can be seen as representing the enemy of God's people, the Adversary satan.

The Jewish people have designated many days as Purims, occasions on which the Jewish people were delivered from annihilation in their history. Many such Purims are associated sadly with the Church, particularly with the Christian blood-libel accusation (the totally unfounded accusation that the Jews need the blood of a Christian child for their Passover rites, an abominable and tragic lie which has caused persecution and suffering to Jews over centuries).

The Jewish people have designated many days as Purims over the years, because of repeated attempts through history to annihilate them – many, sadly, associated with the Church.

Purim also caused anti-Semitic feeling historically. A custom in a number of Jewish communities was to burn an effigy of Haman. Christians said that the Jews used this to represent the death of Jesus and that they were killing him all over again. The Christian reformer Martin Luther wrote about Esther that she was a typical despicable Jew, eager to shed Gentile blood. He also wrote:

Do you know, Jew, that Jerusalem and your kingdom, together with the Temple and the priesthood, were destroyed over a thousand years ago?...The exile shows that God is not their God and they are not his people.¹

Luther's anti-Semitism was seized on by Hitler who used Luther's writings (such as his notorious work On the Jews and their Lies) as support for his own programme of destruction. The celebration of Purim today always carries the shadow of the Holocaust, the 20^th Century Haman being Hitler. Sadly, the long shadow of Christian anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism remains.

Today, the celebration of Purim carries the shadow of the Holocaust, the 20^th Century Haman being Hitler.

Most Christians are aware that we are called to watch the signs of the times and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Let us also remember God's sovereign and unchangeable choice of a people and a land for his possession: Israel. It is "for such a time as this" that we must be ready to stand up with the Jewish people against today's Hamans.

References

1 Kaufmann, Y, 1929-30. Exile and the Alien Land, Vol 1, p299.

Jews threatened with another Holocaust

...but does anyone care?

Charles Gardner considers the hatred mounting against Israel on every side.

Seventy years after six million Jews were slaughtered in the ovens of Nazi Germany, a new generation are in grave danger of another attempt at genocide. But just as Churchill’s warnings fell on deaf ears in the 1930s, so today the rest of the world is looking the other way, pretending such a threat does not exist.

This is a constant frustration for those who support Israel, because ignorance leaves people vulnerable to the lies, propaganda and deception spreading like cancer through the corridors of power.

Israel under attack

Israel has been surrounded by implacable enemies wishing to drive it into the sea ever since its re-birth in 1948. Now it is faced with an additional black cloud in the form of Islamic State terrorists who, when they are done with butchering Christians, Yazidis and their own people, plan to turn their full attention on the Jewish state standing in the way of their dream for absolute control of the region.

"Israel has been surrounded by implacable enemies wishing to drive it into the sea ever since its re-birth in 1948."

Israelis have been living under the constant threat of rocket attacks from Gaza and elsewhere for years, along with oft-repeated warnings of destruction from an Iranian government fast developing nuclear weapons. And even as they were diving for cover from Hamas missiles during the recent conflict, they were witnessing the nearby emergence of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), whose declared ambition is the creation of an Islamic Caliphate in the region, to which the Jewish state acts as possibly the only real barrier.

ISIS fellow-travellers Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and Al Shabaab are currently concentrating their efforts on Christians and others in their way as, for the moment, access to the Jewish state is largely blocked by strong defensive tactics. Long may that continue, but when they manage to break through these barriers, as they did in Paris, we see what carnage results.

Western blindness

Through all this, Western leaders continue to deny Israel the right to defend herself. Following the massacre in France of twelve journalists at a satirical magazine known for ridiculing religion, terrorists thought to be linked with Al Qaeda turned on perfectly innocent Jews shopping in a kosher supermarket. Millions turned out in a subsequent rally in revulsion against such an attack on press freedom, but how many among them – including journalists – understood why Jews were a target?

Anti-Semitism did not die with the defeat of Germany in World War II. The baton of this demonic relay has been passed back to Islamic fundamentalists, who have previous form in this department and who relish the prospect of wiping out God’s Chosen People.

      "Through all this, Western leaders continue to deny Israel the right to defend herself."

Western civilisation, including its backbone of democracy and freedom, owes huge cultural debts to the Jews, who gave us the Bible, and who gave us Jesus. But Islamists think they are doing God a service by crushing every notion of freedom under the jackboot of 'Sharia Law', a particularly harsh code of ethics that includes the cutting off of limbs as moral punishment.

In the numerous strict Muslim countries across the Middle East, the populace is enslaved by Islam, prevented on pain of death from converting to Christianity or any other religion. The tragedy is that the Western media has largely fallen for a gigantic lie – that Arabs are the victims of bullying tactics from the likes of Israel, the only democracy in the region. Truth is thus turned on its head.

Duplicity at the top

Among the ‘world’ leaders taking part in the Paris march, in itself a tremendous display of support for freedom, was Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a sponsor of terror. What was he doing there – the man who refuses to recognise Israel’s sovereignty, who sanctions laws which condemn to death any Arab caught selling land to a Jew,¹ and who has also stated that not a single Jew will be allowed to live in his proposed Palestinian state?²

The sometimes duplicitous nature of Arab politics has been explained by former PLO terrorist Tass Saada, who says that lying, for example, is considered to be acceptable if it advances their cause³. As for Iran’s reportedly moderate new president, Hassan Rouhani, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly that “Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing...who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community.”⁴ 

He also reminded them that from 1989 to 2003 the new president headed up Iran’s Supreme National Security Council during which time opposition leaders were gunned down in a Berlin restaurant, 85 people were murdered at the Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires and 19 American soldiers were killed when the Khobar Towers were blown up in Saudi Arabia. Currently they are providing direct support for the murderous Assad regime in Syria.

Yet the West is quick to believe the duplicitous diatribe that speaks of a peaceful purpose for their nuclear programme. As journalist Melanie Phillips has put it, Iran has been protected ever since their 1979 revolution "by a mysterious cloak of denial and paralysis...with the West tragically still in appeasement mode"⁵. 

Meanwhile, the Israeli leader assures the world that he desires peace, but for this to be achieved Palestinians must finally recognise the Jewish state (which they constantly refuse to do) and Israel’s security needs must be met.

"There is no 'occupation' – that is a myth absorbed by a gullible media quick to dance to the anti-Semitic tune of left-wing propaganda."

Protestors campaigning on behalf of Palestinians show their ignorance by talking of 'stolen Palestinian land'. Actually, the coveted West Bank (Judea and Samaria) was originally re-captured from Jordan, not the Palestinians, in a war of self-defence in 1967 – Jordan having annexed the territory from Israel’s allotted land in the 1948 war of independence.

There is no 'occupation' – that is a myth absorbed by a gullible media quick to dance to the anti-Semitic tones of left-wing propaganda. The truth is that Israel is being crammed into a tiny state far smaller than the international community originally agreed upon, and now even long-term allies like Britain and the United States are trying to carve it up further. Shame on them!

However, with Islamic jihadists rapidly changing the game, who knows what future alliances may emerge? It is now not inconceivable that the United States could line up with Iran in a bid to stop the relentless onward threat to the entire region posed by ISIS, not to mention Russia. None of these possible scenarios will allay the fears of Israel.

Silence is not an option

In the face of all this, we dare not remain silent. The annual Jewish feast of Purim (March 4-5 2015) marks their rescue from an extermination plot nearly five centuries before Christ. Only the intervention of Queen Esther, the beautiful Jewish wife of the Persian King Xerxes, prevented the catastrophe. She had been warned by her uncle and guardian, Mordecai, that keeping quiet would be no guarantee she would escape the genocide herself and he suggested that her royal position may well have been “for such a time as this” (Est 4:14).

Behind the plot was Haman, the king’s chief minister (perhaps coincidentally, there is a group with a very similar name today – Hamas – still threatening to destroy the Jewish people). Haman had said to King Xerxes:

There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different…it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. (Est 3:8)

Likewise today, Hamas and many others within the Arab/Muslim world simply will not tolerate the existence of a Jewish nation, not least because they stand in the way of complete Islamic rule of the most strategic part of the world.

This is what the battle is all about: it has little to do with injustice suffered by the Palestinian people, and everything to do with Islamic rule. Hamas opposes all ‘peace talks’ and ultimately wants to establish an Islamic state of Palestine in the entire territory originally set aside for the Jews by international agreement.

"This is what the battle is all about: it has little to do with injustice suffered by the Palestinian people, and everything to do with Islamic rule."

We can choose to remain silent and complacent or, like Esther, we can decide to act and advocate for the rights and protection of both Christians and Jews.

For more on this subject read my book, Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon at £6.99.

Footnote: The Romans re-named Israel 'Palestine' (a corruption of Israel’s old enemies the Philistines) to add insult to injury after destroying their nation in AD 135. Jews themselves were known as Palestinians before Yasser Arafat, in an extraordinary act of identity theft, adopted it for his own fraudulent campaign designed to drive God’s chosen people out of the region.

References

1 PA court: Sale of Palestian land to Israelis is punishable by death, Ha'aretz, 20 September 2010.

2 Abbas: 'not a single Israeli' in future Palestinian state, Jerusalemn Post/Reuters, 30 July 2013.

3 Saada, T & Merrill, D, 2008. Once an Arafat Man. Tyndale House Publishing, IL.

4 Transcript of Netanyahu's UN General Assembly Speech, Ha'aretz, 1 October 2013.

5 Phillips, M, 2013. It's 1938 all over again, 22 November.

Charles Gardner is a journalist originally from South Africa, now living in Yorkshire. He is part Jewish and writes for The Times of Israel.