Foreseeing a potential catastrophe for Christians in Lebanon

Israel - present and future

Ongoing environmental destruction – and ways to help

Further evidence of Britain’s betrayal of the Jews

Shortly after my harrowing visit to north London (see Life from the Dead), my thoughts once again return to the capital in response to news of a massive UK terror plot uncovered four years ago, but only now revealed to the public.

It involved Iran-sponsored terror group Hezbollah, who were reportedly stockpiling more than three tons of explosives (ammonium nitrate) in north-west London but were foiled thanks to a tip-off by Israel’s national intelligence agency Mossad.¹ It is suspected that the incident was kept under wraps in order not to interrupt the Iranian nuclear deal being negotiated at the time.

Kept in the Dark

Christians United for Israel have been warning the British Government for some while, through their Operation Mordecai campaign, of the dangers both to Israel and the UK of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Their executive director Des Starritt, asking why the public have been kept in the dark about the plot, said: “It is unbelievable that, only months after the UK signed the Iran deal, Britain seemingly ignored this new evidence and continued to support it.”

Further asking why it took the Government another three-and-a-half years to apply an outright ban on Hezbollah, he added: “It meant that it was possible for people within the UK to openly support Hezbollah without any consequence whatsoever…”²

And all this on top of a claim by a former leading official of the International Atomic Energy Agency (referred to last week) that Tehran could be as close as “six months away from an atomic bomb”.³

Quite apart from the obvious danger posed to British citizens by our evident appeasement of Iran, it also amounts to further betrayal of the Jewish people, who have most to lose from a nuclear-armed Iran that has repeatedly trumpeted its intention to wipe Israel off the map.

It is suspected that the 2015 incident was kept under wraps in order not to interrupt the Iran nuclear deal being negotiated at the time.

Wasted Opportunities

As I write, I am aware that today (Wednesday, 12 June) should have been the 90th birthday of Anne Frank, the brave German-born Dutch girl whose life was cut short aged 15 by Nazi butchers, and whose poignant diaries have since helped to keep alive the reality of Jewish suffering.

It was at least two years before her death in early 1945 that news of the mass murder of European Jews had reached the UK and elsewhere, and a poll was taken indicating a clear majority (78%) of public support for the admission of Jewish refugees.

According to my friend, Pastor Mike Fryer of North Wales, “the Nazis had made it clear that should the British and American governments be willing to allow them entry, they would be released from Nazi control”.⁴ But at a meeting to discuss the crisis, a British delegate referred instead to a “vociferous minority” supporting Jewish immigration. And the opportunity to rescue millions of Jews was thus, shamefully, lost.

Has anything changed? Britain today is awash with anti-Semitism. When a Jewish lady attending a Palestine Solidarity Campaign meeting in Liverpool four years ago asked a question, someone turned around and said: “Why don’t you get back to the camps?” She reported this ‘hate crime’ to the police, but nothing was ever done about it.

My friend Mike, a former police officer, said he had attended two Israel Advocacy events during the last two years where demonstrators chanted anti-Semitic abuse. But nothing was done at the time either to record or act upon complaints. Mike also gave evidence to the recent enquiry into anti-Semitism within the Labour Party conducted by Baroness Chakrabarti, but again nothing was done about it.

Replacement Theology

Adding further fuel to the fires of Jew-hatred are so-called Christians who have somehow re-invented Jesus as a ‘Palestinian’ and either removed or ignored Israel from their view of the Bible – quite a task when you consider that Israel is mentioned 2,581 times in the Scriptures.

But the students of Dr Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Arab Christian lecturer from Bethlehem who recently spoke in North Wales, are led to believe that “Israel is neither a valid scriptural or political entity”, according to Mike.

Has anything changed? Britain today is awash with anti-Semitism.

Ring any bells? It’s what many Western church leaders also seem to believe. But as Mike points out, Dr Raheb and many like him don’t say much about the persecution in the Middle East of their fellow Arab Christians.

So who’s agenda are they following? It is instructive to recall that the Nazis worked closely with Islamists who were committed, like they were, to the destruction of the Jewish race.

It’s time to shine a light on the darkness, to come clean on our history of betrayal and once more become those who bless the seed of Abraham (see Genesis 12:3).

References

1 The Telegraph, 9 June 2019; United with Israel, 11 June 2019.

2 Christians United for Israel, 12 June 2019.

3 World Israel News, 5 June 2019.

4 www.fathershouse.wales – see also Dr Louise London’s book Whitehall and the Jews. 

Britain toughens up over Iran-backed group threatening Israel.

Amidst the ongoing shame of anti-Semitic revelations surrounding the Labour Party, it is no small comfort to hear of positive moves in the opposite direction from Theresa May’s Tory Government.

Following an apology of sorts from Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt over Britain’s disgraceful treatment of Jews during our charge of Palestine, Home Secretary Sajid Javid this week announced the full banning of Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, who have long been committed to wiping Israel off the map.

The Government has finally accepted that there is no distinction, as previously claimed, between the group’s political and military wings.

Israel the Divider

At long last we are seeing a clear dividing line between the two main parties which, for the past two decades, have become more or less indistinguishable from one another on many important issues, including the dreadful liberal social engineering which has seen the Judeo-Christian values of our society progressively replaced by those of aggressive minorities.

But now – over Israel – a gaping chasm has opened up, and Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn had better watch out. A supporter over the years of the IRA, North Korea, Eastern European and other socialist dictatorships, he has also famously referred to Hezbollah, along with equally frightening neighbours Hamas, as ‘friends’.

This certainly suggests that he shares their vision for Israel’s destruction, as apparently does Seumas Milne, Labour’s head of strategy and communications, who is considered so influential that he has been referred to as ‘Corbyn’s brain’.

According to The Mail on Sunday,¹ Milne’s links with terrorist groups dedicated to destroying the Jewish state are decades old. A party staff member, speaking anonymously, said: “Seumas has been supporting groups that deny Israel’s right to exist for many years.”²

At long last we are seeing a clear dividing line between our two main parties: over Israel, a gaping chasm has opened up. 

A Crisis of the Soul

Javid said: “My priority as Home Secretary is to protect the British people. As part of this, we identify and ban any terrorist organisation which threatens our safety and security…”

It will now be a criminal offence to be a member of, or to invite support for, Hezbollah, carrying a sentence of up to ten years’ imprisonment.³

Much of what goes on within the ranks of today’s Labour Party could surely be interpreted as “inviting support for Hezbollah”. Only last Sunday, Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson revealed he had received 50 new complaints relating to Jew-hatred in the previous week!

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Watson urged his boss to address “a crisis for the soul of the Labour Party”.

As I’ve said before, the position taken on Israel by nations, governments and even individuals or church denominations will inevitably have a bearing on their respective fortunes. This is based on a crucial promise in the early pages of the Bible (Gen 12:3) – that if you bless the seed of Abraham, you in turn will be blessed, but that if you curse them, you will come under judgment.

Britain has been under a curse since the time immediately before, during and after World War II when we refused entry to their ancient homeland for many of those Jews trying to flee Nazi Europe, while at the same time betraying our pledge to resettle them there through repeated appeasement of Arab demands.

Righteous Intervention

But a light has dawned at the Foreign Office, and we pray it will grow ever brighter. However, this is not just a political issue; it is intensely spiritual. And it is thanks in some measure to the efforts of Christians United for Israel UK (CUFI) that we have got this far.

Their current campaign, Operation Mordecai, is aimed at alerting Government to the grave threat posed to Israel and the West by Iran – supporter of Hezbollah, who have thousands of rockets on Israel’s northern border ready to fire at the Jewish state.

It was Mordecai who heard of a plot to destroy the Jews of ancient Persia and successfully persuaded his niece, Queen Esther, to intervene.

CUFI know full well the importance for Christians of standing with Israel. But there is a deafening silence from the Church in Britain as a whole. Israel Today journalist Ryan Jones told me: “It always amazes me how even many Christians still don’t grasp Israel’s importance when they can see how much impact policies and positions regarding the Jewish people have on the politics of the world’s greatest powers. How else can one explain the fact that tiny Israel and the Jews are consistently major election issues in the US, UK and other powerful nations?”

The position taken on Israel by nations, governments and even individuals or church denominations will inevitably have a bearing on their respective fortunes.

For the Gospel’s Sake

Clearly, today’s Jews are also under threat from hard-left politicians gaining momentum in our country. But this predicament is just the latest example of centuries of European persecution, as was brought home this week in a moving personal documentary on the Jews of Leeds by Simon Glass,⁴ some of whose Lithuanian ancestors were taken out and shot, along with the rest of their community, by invading Nazi soldiers.

CUFI and others have helped to unveil a modern plot against the Jews. But this isn’t just about preserving freedom, fairness or even lives. We need to clear the obstacles to the preaching of the Gospel – to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile (Rom 1:16).

When Rees Howells and his Bible College students fought the great battles of World War II on their knees in Wales, they were mindful that Hitler’s regime blocked the path to fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission.

The Marxist, atheist agenda of the rising tide of hard-left MPs is a demonic distraction from our chief calling. And we desperately need to lance this poisonous boil – not as an end in itself, but so that we can concentrate on focusing the attention of both Jew and Gentile on the destiny of their souls.

The Gospel is the absolute priority for our nation. As St Paul wrote: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16).

References

1 The Mail on Sunday, 24 February 2019.

2 Quoted by United with Israel, 25 February 2019.

3 Christians United for Israel UK, 25 February 2019.

4 A Very British History, February 25 2019, BBC4.

Now’s the time for Christians to nail their colours to the mast

Bearing in mind the obvious success of President Trump’s ‘Don’t mess with me’ strategy in getting dictators to the negotiating table, surely lessons can be learnt from this. It certainly gives a whole new meaning to ‘playing the trump card’.

But the stubborn Europeans refuse to take note, or even learn from history. Did not Jesus say that wisdom - and recognition of his Lordship in particular - was hidden from “the wise”, but revealed to “little children” (Matt 11:25)?

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators since learning for the first time last Saturday that the England football team had, in 1938, raised a Nazi salute to Hitler in front of a crowd of 105,000 before a friendly match against Germany in Berlin – on the orders of the Foreign Office!¹

This was apparently designed to pave the way for Neville Chamberlain’s efforts to appease the Fuehrer, instead of squaring up to him as Churchill was later to do.

Fearing Man, Not God

This shameful (1938) episode in Britain’s history was a natural progression of her foreign policy in bending over backwards to keep the Arabs happy throughout the 1920s and 30s when she was supposed to be preparing a home for the Jewish people.

Buckling under the pressure of Muslim-inspired riots over the prospect of a Jewish nation in their midst, Britain betrayed both her international obligation and her own Balfour Declaration promising to do all she could to ensure that Zionist aspirations were met.

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict could well have been nipped in the bud if we had acted with more integrity and courage. And after all these years, Britain is still batting for the wrong side by refusing to follow President Trump’s lead in recognising Jerusalem as the Jewish capital.

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, once again turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country (see Isa 60:12).

Not Taking Danger Seriously

Theresa May and her European allies are also refusing to take President Trump (and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu) seriously over the danger posed by Iran, insisting on sticking to the Obama-led nuclear deal designed to keep the lid on the rogue state’s weapons build-up.

The Ayatollah’s threat of removing and eradicating the “malignant cancerous tumour” he calls Israel² is shrugged off in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s, when Hitler’s rantings were not taken seriously.

Mr Netanyahu says it is “amazing that at the beginning of the 21^st century, somebody talks about destroying Israel – that means destroying another six million-plus Jews…”³

This is the same country that was behind the bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish community centre in 1994, leaving 85 dead, an atrocity that has blighted Argentina ever since.

Our weakness with Iran seems to chime with our stance on its terrorist proxy Hezbollah who, last Sunday, were once again free to parade their hate-filled views on Israel through the streets of London despite ongoing calls for a ban.

Refusing to apply an outright ban on the organization (in recognising separate political and military wings which Hezbollah itself does not acknowledge) is not only encouraging ‘hate speech’ which is supposed to be illegal, but is obviously against the interests of our 300,000-strong Jewish community, as well as Israel.⁴

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country. 

Lessons from East and West

By sanctioning the belligerence of those who seek Israel’s demise, we are certainly not being a blessing to the seed of Abraham, and are thus in grave danger of bringing a curse upon our nation (Gen 12:3). We at least have a chance to begin putting things right later this month when Prince William makes the first ever official visit to Israel from a British royal.

Can we not learn from Brazil where, just a fortnight ago, two million Christians took to the streets of Sao Paulo for their annual March for Jesus? According to one report, the crowd were waving Israeli flags while cheering and praying for the Jewish state.⁵

For the first time in nearly 20 years of the event, Jewish officials were invited to attend. Addressing the gathering, Israel’s consul Dori Goren said: “Attending the march is our way to express our gratitude for the evangelical people and the Brazilian people.”

Argentinian evangelist Andrew Palau, son of Luis, preached the Gospel and a “sea of hands” were raised in response to his call to faith and repentance.

We can also learn from ordinary Iranians, tens of thousands of who have also expressed support for Israel in a Twitter campaign to distance themselves from the opinions of their own regime.⁶

Standing Up for Truth

Christians who know their Bible and are committed to following Jesus are also serious about their love for Jews. For it was they who gave us the patriarchs, the prophets, the Bible itself and indeed the Lord Jesus.

Since God consistently proclaims his unfailing love for his chosen people despite their repeated backsliding, Bible believers naturally follow the same path so that it becomes the case that if you love Jesus, you find yourself also loving the Jew.

Christians are those who follow Jesus – “despised and rejected of men” (Isa 53:3) – and are thus prepared to suffer abuse and ridicule as he did. In the same way they will also be ready to wave Israeli flags, which is to swim very much against the tide in almost every generation.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

So why do British Christians (on the whole) not get the connection between following Jesus and befriending the Jews? Could it perhaps be something to do with Pentecost, which I touched on last week? For Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, would “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

And he also said: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

Notes

1 Daily Mail, 8 June 2018. A copy of the infamous ‘Nazi salute’ photo, reproduced in last Saturday’s Daily Mail, was sent to Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson from his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in response to Johnson’s suggestion that Russia was using the World Cup for propaganda purposes in the same way that Hitler had done with the 1936 Olympics.

2 Jerusalem News Network, quoting Medialine/Jerusalem Post, 6 June 2018. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, later sought to clarify his position by saying that the conflict should be resolved through a referendum among “all real Palestinians including Muslims, Jews and Christians” who trace their roots back to before the creation of Israel in 1948. World Israel News & Associated Press, 11 June 2018.

3 An obvious reference to the Holocaust and the fact that more than six million Jews now live in Israel – Ibid.

4 Reports that Home Secretary Sajid Javid is to “proscribe Hezbollah in full later this year” have raised hopes that the terrorist group will be completely banned in the UK in response to a 17,000-strong petition. Christians United for Israel UK, 13 June 2018.

5 Gateway News, South Africa, 7 June 2018.

6 Jewish News Syndicate, 13 June 2018.

Jews teach the Church what is really important

With anti-Semitism on the rise, and Jews under threat as never before, it is astonishing that the Government is again allowing the staging in London of Sunday’s annual Iranian-backed Al Quds parade.

What sense does it make that, in a country where ‘hate speech’ is supposedly illegal, a march fronted by the Hezbollah terrorist group – committed to the destruction of Israel – is free to spread its poison?

Among the cheerleaders, and one of the speakers down to address the rally, is Rev Stephen Sizer, who has already been severely reprimanded for his anti-Semitic views by his own Church of England.¹

The whole scenario is an absolute disgrace. And yet Israel’s greatest need is not protection! Bear with me as I will explain in due course.

Pentecost: Passé?

You will no doubt have heard talk of how we are now said to be living in a post-Christian era, with British society largely having rejected biblical values of the past. But I also detect a very worrying trend in the Western Church towards a kind of post-Pentecost line of thinking that appears to relegate its teaching as ‘passé’.

As the disciples of the Lord Jesus were empowered on the Day of Pentecost to spread the Gospel throughout the world, giving life to what is now known as the Church, does this mean that the body of Christ is now in its death-throes?

I detect a very worrying trend in the Western Church towards a kind of post-Pentecost line of thinking.

I have just reviewed the most brilliant book I have ever had the pleasure to read – RT Kendall’s Whatever Happened to the Gospel? – and hereby offer this piece as a brief postscript to the much-beloved preacher’s latest volume.

Whatever happened to Pentecost? Many British churches seem to have stopped celebrating the day, or even mentioning it, although it’s much more than a day anyway – it’s an experience. Even Pentecostals and charismatics, who supposedly base much of their theology on this vitally important feast, seem largely to have abandoned it.

The need for believers to be emboldened with power from on high, for which the resurrected Christ commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem, is rarely discussed. And we wonder why there is a lack of power in our witness.

The Meaning of Pentecost

The Bible feasts, which include Passover and Pentecost (also known as Shavuot), are meant to be celebrated to remind us of key truths and of God’s great bounty and deliverance. Pentecost comes 50 days (or seven weeks) after Passover, is also known as the Feast of Weeks, and is a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest – specifically wheat, the main ingredient of bread.

Jews also mark the occasion to celebrate the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai. And Jesus, the ‘bread of life’ born in Bethlehem (literally house of bread) is the fulfilment of the Law (Matt 5:17). And thus Pentecost is a fulfilment of Passover. Jesus, who died for our sins of which the Law convicts us (Rom 7:7), sends his Holy Spirit to empower us to keep a Law that is now “written on our hearts” and not just on tablets of stone (Ezek 36:26; Rom 2:15; 2 Cor 3:3), thus enabling us to witness boldly for the Gospel.

And so it was that, on the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 souls were added to the body of believers. We absolutely cannot do without Pentecost. Jesus paid a very high price for it. It cost him everything.

Jews for Jesus

Britain is proud to have produced one of the outstanding preachers of 20^th Century Pentecostalism, Smith Wigglesworth, who was illiterate prior to his conversion and subsequently only ever read the Bible. He took the message of the Gospel around the world and raised 14 people from the dead in the process – a modern-day apostle if ever there was one.

Yet today, Pentecost is largely forgotten and considered almost irrelevant; something of an embarrassment even. To their credit, the Anglicans, who in some ways are leading the march towards apostasy, still hold on to the feast.

The need for believers to be emboldened with power from on high is rarely discussed. And we wonder why there is a lack of power in our witness!

But Jewish believers are doing much more than that. No doubt partly due to their awareness of the festival’s roots going back thousands of years in their history, they are taking Jesus’ words seriously, and literally, as – empowered by the Holy Spirit – they share the good news, beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8).

Jews for Jesus had specifically chosen the feast of Shavuot to preach the Gospel in the streets of Jerusalem, just as the apostles had done 2,000 years ago. And while they are not claiming that 3,000 souls responded, dozens decided to follow Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus) as they learnt how he had fulfilled Messianic prophecies in the Tenach (our Old Testament). And hundreds more were willing to discuss his claims to be the Messiah of Israel.

One woman, when reminded of what happened in Jerusalem with Jesus, was shocked, and said: “I need to read those prophecies about the Messiah as soon as possible, because although I always believed in God, I did not know about them.”

The general openness was apparently profound, as I have experienced myself. David Brickner, of Jews for Jesus, wrote in their June update:

Of course, the key to success for those first disciples who began in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago was the power of the Holy Spirit. That is still true for Jews for Jesus and anyone else who wants to do God’s work in His way…I don’t know how much more time we have before the return of the Lord, but just like those first Jews for Jesus, we cannot just stand gazing up into heaven (referring to Jesus’ ascension).

Israel’s Greatest Need

Al Quds rally in Tehran, Friday 8 June. London's counterpart rally is due to be held on Sunday 10 June. See Photo Credits.

Israel is currently surrounded by implacable enemies who have vowed to bring about their annihilation. This is why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the target of a recent assassination plot, is warning Theresa May and other European leaders of the danger posed by Iran.

Yet their greatest need is not defence. For God, who brought them back to the Promised Land in fulfilment of ancient prophecies, also plans to restore them to a living relationship with him. And when they are back with their Lord, the Lord will come back to the world (Zech 12:10, 14:4).

Indeed, as Israel comes to know that he (Jesus) is the Lord, the nations too will understand this truth (Ezek 36:23). And none of this would happen without Pentecost.

References

1 Anti-Israel vicar, Stephen Sizer, to speak at London’s pro-Hezbollah Al Quds rally. Christians United for Israel, 4 June 2018.

We must make up our mind whose side we’re on

Fine-sounding words are not enough. Actions speak much louder. The Apostle James berated those who boasted about their faith when it wasn’t matched by their deeds (James 2:14).

Britain’s new Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has said the United Kingdom “will always be Israel’s friend” and spoke of how the Jewish state is a “beacon of light and hope in a region where there is so much hatred and hurt”.

In addressing the Conservative Friends of Israel’s annual parliamentary reception, he also hailed “the wonderful blooming of democracy that is Israel”.

I was heartened by his resounding praise for the Jewish state, and do not doubt his sincerity, but he is part of a Government that in recent days has refused to follow US President Trump’s lead in recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and which also continues to desist from applying a full ban on the Hezbollah terrorist organisation.

Mixed Messages

Both these actions encourage Israel’s enemies to believe they have our support for their bloodthirsty jihad (holy war) against the Jews, illustrated once more on Monday with the brutal stabbing to death of a 29-year-old Israeli rabbi at a bus stop in Samaria. Itamar Ben-Gal leaves a wife and four children.

This followed last month’s murder, also in Samaria, of a 35-year-old rabbi and father-of-six in a drive-by shooting outside Nablus (the biblical Shechem, home to Joseph’s Tomb and Jacob’s Well). Ten children in the area are thus left fatherless in the space of a few weeks.

Fine-sounding words are not enough – actions speak much louder.

At best, we are sending out mixed messages, the modus operandi of Palestinian politicians who have often been caught saying one thing to their Arab audience and quite another to the English-speaking world (for examples of this, see Palestinian Media Watch).

A view over Nablus (the biblical Shechem), where a Jewish rabbi and father-of-six was murdered. Picture: Charles GardnerOh yes, I know that diplomats are charged with seeking peace and should try, if at all possible, to accommodate all parties, but appeasement will only ever succeed in putting off the evil day of reckoning which, when it comes, will be much more difficult to unravel. The current Israeli-Palestinian conflict is itself an example of the persistent failure of short-term deals made to keep the ‘peace’ with Arab parties ever since the Balfour Declaration was published 100 years ago.

Instead of getting on with it and immediately implementing its declared goal – the resettlement of Jews from the diaspora in the Promised Land – we dithered and dallied for decades in a fruitless effort to please all parties. The enemies of Israel saw it as weakness, which they exploited to the hilt with violence that had us chasing our tails looking for a way out of the awesome responsibility we had been given.

Enemies on All Sides

Now, just days after marking Holocaust Memorial Day in Parliament and all over the country, we hear of rising anti-Semitism in Britain, Ireland and France.

The Community Security Trust, in their annual report on anti-Semitism, said there were 1,382 such incidents in Britain in 2017 – the highest annual figure since it began gathering data in 1984.¹

Our Government’s actions encourage Israel’s enemies to believe that they have our support.

In Paris, an eight-year-old boy was attacked in the second assault on Jewish children in the area in three weeks, drawing condemnation from French President Emmanuel Macron, rightly concerned at the prospect of losing yet more citizens as a result.² France has Europe’s largest Jewish community, but many have made Aliyah (emigrated) to Israel in the wake of increasing anti-Semitism in recent years.

The Irish Parliament, meanwhile, is considering a Bill that would boycott goods produced by Israeli companies based in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights, with up to five years’ imprisonment awaiting offenders.³

Quite apart from the fact that such a boycott would also harm Palestinian workers, it is a shocking form of anti-Semitism which, not surprisingly, provoked anger from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with reported intervention from the United States. The Parliament has now postponed voting on the Bill, which is likely to be re-visited in the summer.

Falling into the Trap

From Britain’s point of view, the situation is aggravated by worrying in-fighting among the ranks of the Conservative-led Government – mostly over Brexit – which could open the door to a Labour Party with its own problems with anti-Semitism.

The Bible says: “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order” (Prov 28:2).

The current Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an example of the persistent failure of short-term deals made to keep the ‘peace’ with Arab parties.

The Irish, like the South African Government, have clearly fallen into the trap, set by Palestinian propaganda, of seeing Israel as an ‘apartheid’ state. South African diplomat Clinton Swemmer told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that apartheid, once used to describe black disenfranchisement in South Africa, now applies to Israel because of its policies towards Palestinians.

He said: “Israel is the only state in the world that can be called an apartheid state.”⁴ But as Dan Diker, of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, points out, Swemmer is speaking for many who know little or nothing about Israel and never lived through apartheid. “There is not even one point of similarity (between apartheid South Africa and Israel),” Diker said, adding: “Our parliament, Supreme Court, universities, bathrooms, hospitals and everything else in Israel are fully integrated.”⁵

At the end of the day, the word of God is clear, “For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling…” (Ps 132:13).

Notes

1 Christians United for Israel, 2 February 2018.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 United with Israel, 25 January 2018.

5 Ibid.

Middle East foreign policy contrast of ‘special relationship’ partners

Britain’s dithering contribution towards peace in the Middle East was well illustrated by last week’s Parliamentary debate on terrorist group Hezbollah.

While it was heartening that MPs on both sides of the House called for a complete ban on the organisation, it was hardly surprising that no action was promised as ministers resisted pressure to proscribe the organisation’s political wing.

Worse still, the advice to their MPs from the Labour leadership – Her Majesty’s official opposition – was as shameful as it was lame, explaining that outlawing Hezbollah in its entirety could hamper diplomatic efforts towards peace.

False Distinction

Britain applies a distinction between the organisation’s political and military wings, with the former effectively allowed to freely operate in the UK despite its declared intention to destroy Israel. Whereas the United States, France and even the Arab League apply a full ban, and the terror group itself does not accept this distinction.

The poorly-attended debate was secured by Labour Friends of Israel chair Joan Ryan who said Hezbollah was “driven by an anti-Semitic ideology that seeks the destruction of Israel” and that the UK distinction was “utterly bogus”.¹

But Security Minister Ben Wallace and his shadow, Nick Thomas-Symonds, defended the Government’s position.

Hezbollah’s ‘political’ wing is allowed to freely operate in the UK, despite it being designated a terrorist organisation by the US, France and most Arab League nations.

A Hiding Place for Terror

All this obfuscation comes amid increasing ignorance and denial of history, with the Polish parliament passing a Bill banning reference to their country’s involvement in the Holocaust.²

Labour MP Ian Austin criticised his leader Jeremy Corbyn for having referred to Hamas and Hezbollah as ‘friends’ back in 2009, adding that Mr Corbyn had later explained that he had used the term in a ‘collective way’. But Mr Austin said these groups had made it clear they had “absolutely no interest in the peace process”.³

Joan Ryan later told Jewish News: “It is deeply disappointing that the government has yet again refused to act decisively against Hezbollah.” She said such anti-Semitic terror groups should have no hiding place, yet the UK was continuing to provide them with one.

London’s ‘Hezbollah Problem’

It's worth pointing out that Hezbollah is backed by Iran – the world’s leading sponsor of terror organisations – who have fired 23 ballistic missiles (16 of them with nuclear capability) since signing the 2015 nuclear deal designed to maintain peace in the region.⁴

Meanwhile former Israeli Ambassador to the UK Ron Prosor said Hezbollah had been given freedom to operate in Europe and elsewhere by the alleged distinctive wings⁵ and Conservative MP Theresa Villiers said they posed “a serious threat to the citizens of the UK”, adding that a new poll revealed that 81% of Britons support a full ban and that the annual Al-Quds Day march through central London, during which anti-Israel protestors wave Hezbollah flags, was “a scandal” and “an embarrassment”.⁶

American counter-terrorism expert Dr Matthew Levitt has said that “London has a Hezbollah problem”, explaining that Britain’s partial ban was not working and had resulted in the organisation carrying out illegal activities including drug-running and fundraising for military campaigns.⁷

Britain’s partial ban is not working and has resulted in Hezbollah carrying out illegal activities including drug-running and military fundraising.

Jihad is Political and Military

CALL TO PRAY: U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence is proud to stand with Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Picture: Charles Gardner

I believe the debate was really about war and peace; the Hezbollah flag features a machine-gun and does not distinguish between its so-called armed and political wings. Not surprisingly, therefore, the organisation has no wish to discuss peace – they are, after all, engaged in jihad (holy war), as their flag demonstrates.

And on this and other points, the British Government is dithering. We can’t make up our mind whether to support war or peace in this instance and so we sit on the fence while Iran’s terrorist proxy builds up further weapons with which to bring murder and mayhem to the Jewish state.

It’s a bit like the dithering we demonstrated in the years during and after the Holocaust itself (as a television documentary screened on the More 4 channel on Sunday 28 January showed⁸), shelving promotion of a gruesome film, including particularly harrowing scenes, for fear it would demoralise the German people in the wake of their crushing defeat. The Americans at the time, under the direction of legendary Hollywood producer Alfred Hitchcock, went ahead with a condensed version incorporating some of the British army footage.

US Leading by Example

And what a contrast we see again today in the way the United States handles the Middle East diplomatic impasse head-on and with unusual clarity – by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announcing that the US Embassy will move there by the end of next year.

Vice-President Mike Pence, in making this announcement to an Israeli parliament (the Knesset) willing even to give up precious land for peace, littered his speech with biblical references as he spoke to a packed room, emphasising the Bible’s command to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

The British Government can’t make up its mind whether to support war or peace, so we sit on the fence while Iran’s terrorist proxy invests in murder and mayhem.

Paraphrasing Psalm 122:6f and Zechariah 3:10, he said: “The USA is proud to stand with Israel and her people, as allies and cherished friends. And so we will pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that those who love you will be secure, that there be peace within your walls and security in your citadels. And we will work and strive for that brighter future, so everyone who calls this ancient land home shall sit under their vine and fig tree, and none shall make them afraid.”⁹

What’s it to be? War or peace?

Notes

1 MPs clash over move to fully proscribe Hezbollah as a terror group. Jewish News, 26 January 2018.

2 Netanyahu slams Polish Holocaust bill, says ‘one cannot change history’. World Israel News, 28 January 2018

3 See note 1.

4 Edson, R. Iran has fired 23 ballistic missiles since start of 2015 nuclear deal, explosive report shows. Fox News, 25 January 2018.

5 Prosor, R. Hezbollah is a clearly a terror organisation. Parliament should treat it as one. The Telegraph, 25 January 2018.

6 See note 1.

7 Bentham, M. Hezbollah agents ‘run drugs on London streets’. Evening Standard, 25 January 2018.

8 Night Will Fall.

9 Full transcript of Pence's Knesset speech. Jerusalem Post, 22 January 2018.

Disaster awaits if we don’t stand with the Jewish nation.

The moral backbone of the UK Government is once more being tested – this time on the crucial issue of whether or not we will stand with Israel in her time of need.

Stalked by terror and threats on every side, the Jewish state is potentially in as great a peril now as its people were under the Nazis, with an estimated 120,000 missiles pointed at Israeli cities by the Iran-sponsored, Lebanese-based terror group Hezbollah.¹

And supporters of this vile enemy of democracy have been allowed to march through the streets of London waving an intimidating flag featuring an assault rifle, and calling for the destruction of Israel!

De Ja Vu in Parliament

In the wake of a petition signed by over 10,000 people calling upon the UK Government to ban Hezbollah which Home Secretary Amber Rudd has promised to consider, a House of Commons debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was called on Wednesday.

It was perhaps aptly summed up by the sense of de ja vu expressed by one participant as ‘two-state solution’ mantra once more echoed through the chamber.

But Israel clearly still has friends in the UK who understand their predicament. Conservative member John Howell made the point that no lasting peace was possible if Palestinians continue to be indoctrinated to hate Jews and Scottish Conservative Ross Thomson called for a full ban on Hezbollah, adding that Israel was “truly a beacon of democracy in a troubled region”.

Israel clearly still has friends in the UK who understand their predicament.

Fellow Conservative Theresa Villiers added that glorifying terrorists was part of the problem, mentioning how 25 Palestinian schools had been named after them, and quoting PA leader Mahmoud Abbas as saying, “We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem.”

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt commended Labour’s new MP for Peterborough, Fiona Onasanya, for blaming man’s frailties rather than religion for causing these problems after she had referred to the UK Parliament’s motto, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain” (Ps 127:1) – inscribed into the stone floor of the central lobby and written in Latin.

Unfortunately, the general misunderstanding of Israel being the ‘occupying power’ skews the narrative in favour of the Palestinians, whereas in truth the Jews are entitled to every square inch of Judea and Samaria – and much more – according to the terms of the international treaty signed at San Remo in Italy in 1920.²

Need to Ban Hezbollah

The aforesaid petition, launched by Christians United for Israel (CUFI), follows the 18 June Al-Quds march through central London during which anti-Israel protestors carried Hezbollah flags.

The terror organisation is banned throughout the world – including by the Arab League – but only its military wing is proscribed in the UK. This provided the legal loophole allowing marchers to show their support for its political wing. Yet, by its own admission, Hezbollah does not differentiate between its political and military wings.

The general misunderstanding of Israel being the ‘occupying power’ skews the narrative in favour of the Palestinians.

“If Britain is to genuinely say ‘no to terror’ then all terrorist organizations must be banned without compromise,” says CUFI UK executive director Des Starritt. “Following the Arab League and the United States in proscribing Hezbollah is one simple step that the UK Government can take in ensuring that extremism will not be tolerated in this country.”

Indeed, what is so complicated about that?

The organisation shamelessly calls for the destruction of Israel and now has “more missiles below ground in Lebanon than the European NATO allies have above ground,” according to Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.³ “Hezbollah has placed these positions next to schools and other public institutions, putting innocent civilians in great danger,” he said.

In fact, Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot says “every third or fourth house” of southern Lebanon’s civilian population is being used as a human shield for terror activities.⁴

Meanwhile mortar shells have been fired across the Israeli border from the Tehran-backed Syrian army, increasing the prospect of global conflict, possibly also involving Russia.⁵ And Iran’s long-held aim of wiping Israel off the map was graphically demonstrated at the UN where a photo was shared showing their use of a Jewish ‘Star of David’ symbol as a target for a ballistic missile test.⁶

Our Fates Are Intertwined

It’s time our politicians faced up to the fact that the terror tactics we have recently witnessed in Manchester and London were first used on the streets of Israel. Now even Muslim London Mayor Sadiq Khan has reportedly sought help from Israel on security matters.⁷

The Bible says very clearly that if you bless the seed of Abraham, you will be blessed; but that cursing will bring judgment (Gen 12:3). In the days leading up to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, Britain ruled the waves and it was said that the sun never set on our empire. But in the last 100 years, during which we have repeatedly betrayed Israel, we have not only lost our empire, but have fallen into decadence and confusion.

Surely we are not suggesting that Israel deserves terror, but we don’t?

The terror tactics we have recently witnessed in Manchester and London were first used on the streets of Israel.

Speaking of the future glory of Zion, the Prophet Isaiah wrote: “For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined” (Isa 60:12).

And it’s also worth noting that former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has urged support for Israel on the basis that “if it goes down, we all go down”.

He argues that the Jewish state is at the cutting edge in the battle between militant Islam and the West and, in a Times article, concludes: “Israel is a fundamental part of the West which is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not our fate is inextricably intertwined.”⁸

Notes

1 IDF: Hezbollah has forces in ‘every 3rd or 4th house’ in Lebanon. World Israel News, 22 June 2017.

2 See elsewhere on this site for details.

3 See note 1.

4 Ibid.

5 Avni, B. Why Iran and Israel may be on the verge of conflict – in Syria. New York Post, 27 June 2017.

6 Halon, E. The target for Iran’s recent missile test? A Star of David. Jerusalem Post, 28 June 2017.

7 E.g. See here and here.

8 Aznar, JM. Support Israel: if it goes down, we all go down. The Times, 17 June 2010.