I am currently reading a series of books called ‘The Zion Covenant’ by Bodie Thoene. The books are set in pre-Second World War Europe – Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, as well as in London and Palestine. The stories tell of the experiences of Jews who were in those countries at that time. I had wanted to read these books for some time, as I happen to know many of the towns where they are set – Vienna, Jerusalem, London, and to some extent Berlin, Munich and Prague.

It was only recently that I managed to get hold of copies of the whole series, but I now know that God wanted me to be reading them at this time, after October 7th in Israel, and to draw the clear parallels between Nazi Europe’s treatment of her Jewish citizens and the Hamas terrorists’ treatment of Israeli Jews.

Clear parallels

It is clear that the same demonic spirit motivated both the Nazis and the Hamas terrorists. Jews were dehumanised then, and have been now, leading to slaughter, rape, mutilation of bodies, burning of babies, destruction of property and looting – the list could go on and on.

It is clear that the same demonic spirit motivated both the Nazis and the Hamas terrorists.

It is interesting to note that during the Second World War, there was a close connection between the Nazis in Europe and the Arab leadership in Palestine, the result of a meeting between Hitler and Haj Amin Husseini in Germany. But what was the attitude of ordinary citizens in those countries towards what was happening to the Jews? Some actively helped Jews, even endangering their own lives. But the vast majority looked the other way, ignoring what was going on often under their own noses. And many actively joined in!

They looted Jewish shops during and after Kristallnacht (‘the Night of Broken Glass’); they attacked Jews on the street, at best verbally, but often physically; and they deliberately abused those who had been their Jewish neighbours. And to our shame, for those of us who call ourselves Christians, many churches in Germany were also complicit in these behaviours – such actions were even encouraged from some pulpits, where a Nazi-fied version of Christianity, presenting Jesus as an Aryan, was adopted.

What is ‘proportionate’

So, how did the nations respond to the Hamas massacre of Israelis on October 7th? They were very quickly forgotten or were simply disregarded. Human rights organisations, UN Women, the Red Cross and many others, turned their attention instead to attacking Israel and the IDF (Israeli Defence Force), which sought to protect our citizens from such atrocities ever happening again, and accusing them of disproportionate response, and even of genocide against the Arabs!

Had we entered isolated Arab communities in Gaza, and tortured and killed the elderly, families and babies, that would have been ‘proportionate’.

However, any honest examination of the facts of this war, albeit cursory, would expose these allegations as ridiculous. Had we entered isolated Arab communities in Gaza, and tortured and killed the elderly, families and babies, that would have been ‘proportionate’. Instead, the Israeli army took great pains, acting against the interests of their own safety, to warn Gaza’s citizens to evacuate the areas where they planned to attack. The IDF has provided medical equipment for Palestinian hospitals - hospitals that Hamas has been exploiting for many years as covers for their military activities, hiding their fighters, weapons and equipment in and underneath the buildings, and using patients and staff as ‘human shields’.

Britain’s role

For the UK this matter goes even further. In fighting the Nazi threat, Britain felt obliged to drop bombs on Dresden, Hamburg and other German towns in order to defeat the Nazi evil. Many ordinary citizens died. No one then accused Britain of genocide against the Germans. Churchill’s actions were understood and supported. And of course, the Germans were also bombing major towns in Britain. The Allied pilots did not relish causing the death of so many civilians (as film evidence reveals that the Hamas terrorists did), but they understood the necessity of it.

What about British actions in Palestine? The history of the British Mandate in Palestine has been deliberately swept under the carpet and forgotten. The British Mandate government had severely curtailed Jewish immigration, in order to appease the Arabs in the Land and their nationalistic aspirations. When Europe’s Jews had nowhere else to escape to, Britain closed the gates to then-Palestine, arresting and imprisoning any Jews they caught trying to enter (apart from about 30,000 who had managed to acquire official permission to do so). The British chose to side with the Arabs.

The British found themselves fighting against God!

Of course, as we know, the State of Israel was established anyway, as this was always God’s express purpose, outlined throughout the Bible (1Chron 16:15-18; Ps 105:8-11, etc). The British found themselves fighting against God! It is significant to note that during those years, and the years following, the great British Empire crumbled completely, and ceased to exist. Coincidence?

Global ignorance

And now, once again, the citizens of the UK and elsewhere are taking to the streets to support the Arabs, against the Jews, and chanting “From the River (Jordan) to the Sea (Mediterranean), Palestine shall be free!” Most of them do not understand that this slogan supports eliminating every Jew and the whole state of Israel, replacing these with a ‘Judenrein’ (Jew-free) Arab state of Palestine, without any Jews or Christians, synagogues or churches.

They are supporting the genocide of all Israelis. Here, it has to be said that many of Israel’s citizens are Christian or Moslem Arabs, who live and work in Israel, not only in manual labour, but as doctors, lawyers, and even judges and members of Parliament. And yet it is Israel that they accuse of apartheid and genocide!

No Arab ‘Palestine’

In 1948 there were Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Some of the Jewish families had been in Israel for many generations – hundreds, even thousands of years. On the passports of both David Ben Gurion and Golda Meir at that time was written clearly: ‘Palestinian’ as their nationality. The newspaper of the Jews was called ‘The Palestine Post’, and their national orchestra was ‘The Palestine Symphony Orchestra.’

Since 1947 the Arabs have refused every offer of a Palestinian state, as it was conditional on existence alongside a Jewish state.

At that time, however, very few of the Arabs in the Land had been there that long; they were mostly migrant workers. Since 1947 the Arabs have refused every offer of a Palestinian state, as it was conditional on existence alongside a Jewish state. Once Israel was founded, the Jews called themselves ‘Israelis’. It was only in the 1960s that the Arabs appropriated the term ‘Palestinian’ as referring just to Arabs. This was an act of deception to convince the world that the Jews stole or occupied ‘Palestine’. Arabs never ruled Palestine. A nation of Palestinians, who owned a state called Palestine, never existed. The British, the Turks, the Byzantines, the Romans, the Greeks, the Babylonians, the Assyrians and others ruled Palestine, but it was never an Arab country.

Blessings and curses

According to the Bible, the Lord says: “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3).

History verifies this. All who have come against Israel have ultimately been destroyed. Many of the attitudes in the Britain of today towards this conflict do not bode well for her future. She would do well to remember that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Beverley Bayliss is a British-Israeli Messianic Jew living just outside Jerusalem. She made Aliyah to Israel from the UK in 1999 with her husband, and they have two sons in their 20s, both on the autism spectrum. Beverley is a teacher by profession, but she also enjoys singing, acting and writing.