Paul Luckraft reports on Melanie Phillips’ Yom Hashoah lecture.

This year’s Simon Wiesenthal Memorial Lecture was given by journalist and author Melanie Phillips at St John’s Wood Synagogue on 12 April. The theme, as indicated by the title - ‘Time to Leave? Jews in Britain and Europe’ - was an exploration of anti-Semitism, its main causes and current trends.

The talk was powerfully presented and passionately received by a large audience – present among which was our Resources Editor, Paul Luckraft, who brings us this report.

Storm Clouds Over Europe

Renowned social commentator Melanie Phillips, of Jewish heritage, started her lecture by painting a picture of the current climate for Jews in Britain and Europe. The recent realisation that the Labour Party is riddled with anti-Semitism from the top downwards and the latest atrocities in France mean that these are alarming times for Jews. Fear is on the rise again. In 2017 there was the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK since 1985 when records began. Surges like this usually occur in response to Israeli military action - but not this time.

Equally alarming, she noted, are the increasing numbers of synagogues being attacked and Jews being taunted in the streets in countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. This is against the backdrop of the rise of nationalistic parties in Europe and surveys showing that in many countries there is a significant percentage of the population who don’t wish to see Jews in their country - certainly not on their street!

These are alarming times for Jews in Britain and Europe.

Phillips’ sobering conclusion was that it is possible to see clear signs of history repeating itself - a gathering storm similar to that within the Weimar Republic of the 1930s. But this time there are significant differences. In Nazi Germany, anti-Semitism was state policy. This is not the case in modern European countries, but the parties in power seem to be ineffectual in combatting the evident rise in this, the oldest of all hatreds.

Islamic Jew-Hatred

The reasons behind this rise, Phillips argued, also seem more complicated and interconnected than in the 1930s. Some come from the political left, some from the political right and some from the arrival and growth of Islam.

The fruit of the latter, she posited, is growing increasingly apparent in many areas of Western society. For instance, the large number of jihadis now in the UK (25,000), of which 3,000 are under constant investigation or monitoring. Or the level of sexual violence targeting white girls - as highlighted by the Rotherham case, merely one of several such cases in the UK as well as in other countries such as Germany and Sweden. But, she rightly noted, these incidents cannot be adequately reported or tackled nowadays without facing accusations of racism or Islamophobia.

The UK and Europe generally refuse to accept these sorts of incidents (as well as other, directly anti-Semitic ones) as being based on religion. The threats are not acknowledged as being basically Islamic. The charge of being Islamophobic makes it difficult to draw attention to any kind of Islamic hatred – including Jew-hatred.

Not all Muslims, of course, adopt these views, nor would consider doing so. Some also feel under threat from Islamist groups, and do not want to see anti-Semitism increase either. This needs to be constantly stressed, yet these Muslims also feel restricted in speaking out and objecting. Nevertheless, Islam more broadly holds that modernity as found in the West must be destroyed if Islam is to flourish here, and that Jews are a fundamental part of this problem.

The charge of being Islamophobic makes it difficult to draw attention to any kind of Islamic hatred – including Jew-hatred.

Intriguingly, present within European politics and culture is a different, but no less toxic, anti-Western sentiment – the inevitable result of the continent dismantling its own traditional cultures and values. This undermining from the inside out is a threat against which the West, at present, cannot defend itself.

The West’s Cultural Suicide

Phillips argued compellingly that we cannot fully understand anti-Semitism in the UK and Europe unless we realise that the West has ripped up its own cultural foundations. Moreover, the West is now seen as the main oppressor in the world (a view held most strongly by those on the political left). These two facts have changed everything in recent times.

The key driver behind the ascent of these beliefs about Western civilisation was, in Phillips’ view, the Holocaust, which smashed Europe’s belief in itself as a continent of enlightenment and high culture. It wasn’t just the Jews who died in the concentration camps - but the West’s own self-confidence in its values and civility.

As a result, she suggested, the West took an axe to its own roots and began to radically alter the way it operated - especially in areas such as education and the family. Transnationalism became viewed as the best way forward, as nationalistic views were considered too parochial and likely to cause more harm. International groups, such as the UN and EU, were to take precedence over national governments.

This new globalist way forward also meant incorporating a different morality and a sense of multiculturalism as an idealistic norm. Politically, the extreme left became mainstream, as a new version of Marxism was called upon to help reshape our society and culture.

Anti-Zionism: The New Anti-Semitism

Another key event Phillips brought to the attention of the audience was the Six Day War (1967), which fomented a new kind of anti-Semitism centred upon the state of Israel. No longer the victims, Jews were recast as the aggressors. Israel was now to be delegitimised and demonised - not through rational arguments but with a torrent of dehumanising abuse and irrational malice.

Phillips was quick to stress that though this anti-Israel fervour could be called anti-Zionism, in reality it is just anti-Semitism in another form. Any distinction is bogus: the new anti-Zionism cannot be split from its anti-Semitic roots.

Phillips was quick to stress that though this anti-Israel fervour could be called anti-Zionism, in reality it is just anti-Semitism in another form.

Israel is now seen as menacing and powerful, but this, she maintained, is a paranoid delusion. In reality, Israel has only become powerful in order to defend itself. Initially the Jewish nation was accepted by the West, which was crippled with guilt and self-doubt after the Holocaust. Now though, Israel can no longer claim victimhood. They are the aggressors, while the Palestinian Arabs have become the new victim group which demands our support. And this changes everything.

Activists protest in support of the Gaza 'March of Return', New York. See Photo Credits.According to Phillips, victims, by definition, cannot be victimisers. Nor are they held responsible for their own shortcomings. They have a ready-made excuse for their actions – “we’re the victims here!” They are placed beyond criticism and are effectively handed a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ to react however they like to those who are perceived to be victimising them.

Meanwhile, Jews can no longer be regarded as victims. When they emerged from the Holocaust, they were the supreme victims, but since then they have gained power and wealth throughout the world. And this is now resented. Obviously they are intent on taking over the world (and so the old anti-Semitic conspiracies are revived)!

One incredible feature of this diatribe highlighted by Phillips is the appearance of the claim that Jews burnt Arabs in the concentration camps! Here is not just Holocaust denial, but Holocaust reversal.

Victim culture is now at the heart of left-wing politics, and victim culture is essentially anti-Jew. So, Phillips concluded, the Labour Party is caught up in anti-Semitism which is intrinsic to its politics - and will remain so even with a change of leader.¹

Europe’s Lost Soul

Why is anti-Semitism so much on the rise in the West? Because, Phillips argues, the West is in cultural disarray. It is starting to disintegrate, bringing this trouble upon itself.

According to Melanie Phillips, Europe lost its soul after the Holocaust and is now floundering. Immigration policies are creating turmoil, as migration is viewed as inherently a good thing (to say otherwise would be racist). As a result, Islamic ‘no-go zones’ have started appearing in many countries. Traditional cultures have become fragmented and weak. Real threats abound, but governments are helpless, hamstrung by their own policies and beliefs.

Europe lost its soul after the Holocaust and is now floundering.

In such times of transformation and confusion, she noted, prejudices easily arise and old ones will always re-surface. One reason why there is so much Jew-hatred is simply because there is now much more hatred in general.

Europe may be becoming increasingly Islamic, but it will not go down without a fight. Either way the Jews will be caught in the middle and are likely to suffer accordingly. They will continue to be accused of many things, including of fuelling claims of anti-Semitism in tactical pursuit of their own malicious aims.

Is it Time to Leave?

So, is it time for the Jews to leave Western Europe? According to Phillips, it could be said this question is an overreaction based on paranoia, rather than a fair one. Yet the final choice of whether to leave or stay is always a personal one. For individual Jews, the key question may well be, ‘where do I feel safer?’

Although Israel is surrounded by enemies with thousands of missiles pointing in its direction, it is increasingly being said by Jews that they feel safer there than in a continent which seems to be in danger of repeating the grave errors of its past.

A sobering thought indeed.

A video of the Simon Wiesenthal Memorial lecture is now available online. We welcome Melanie Phillips’ insightful social commentary, more of which can be found on her blog, www.melaniephillips.com.

You may also be interested to watch this week’s fiery Parliamentary debate on the rise of anti-Semitism – click here for the full debate.

Notes

1 Moreover, the left asserts that to be anti-Semitic you must be fascist and hence on the right. On that basis it is impossible for those on the left to be anti-Semitic: they exonerate themselves.

Tom Lennie reviews ‘No Go Zones’ by Raheem Kassam (2017, Regnery Publishing).

There has been much heated debate in recent years regarding the extent and effects of Islamic extremism across Europe, with Donald Trump being vilified for daring to suggest that Sweden was experiencing major problems with its steady influx of Muslim immigrants.

The idea that there are actual ‘no-go zones’ in various European cities – Muslim-dominated districts where Sharia law can prevail and from which the police stay well clear - has caused even more contention, many liberal commentators insisting that such ‘zones’ are purely a figment of the ‘far right’s’ imagination.

Both the title and sub-title of this book – ‘How Sharia Law is Coming to a Neighbourhood Near You’ - are deliberately (and perhaps unnecessarily?) provocative. The author, a former senior advisor to Nigel Farage and editor of the Breibart website, is himself an ex-Muslim, being brought up in the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam.

In this his first book, Kassam (now a self-confessed atheist) takes on the role of investigative journalist, as he makes a personal tour of the most potent Islamic community-strongholds across the Western world – or at least across Europe and North America.

Kassam makes a personal tour of the most potent Islamic community-strongholds in the Western world.

Selective Survey

I was surprised that the Kolenkit area in Amsterdam isn’t given a mention, nor one of the Muslim-majority districts of Rotterdam. Instead, Kassam restricts his European survey to four other countries - France (various Parisian suburbs, such as Aulnay-sois-Bois, and the southern town of Beziers), Sweden (particularly Malmo, but also Stockholm), Belgium (the north Brussels district of Molenbeek, home to one of the surviving terrorists who took part in the 2015 Paris attacks which killed 130 people and injured hundreds more), and the United Kingdom. Here attention is focused on the Yorkshire town of Dewsbury and on various parts of London.

Crossing the Atlantic, the areas the author is concerned with in the USA are Hamtramck, Michigan (“essentially an Islamic colony in the Midwest”), and the Californian city of San Bernardino – quite different communities to those investigated by Erick Stakelbeck in his 2011 book, ‘The Terrorist Next Door’.

Conversations On the Ground

Kassam discusses the varying degrees to which these districts truly are ‘no go zones’ – clearly not wholly so, since he himself entered each of them relatively freely, although he was careful in his movements. He converses with local residents of differing ethnic backgrounds, as well as local policemen (whose anonymous testimonies often contradict official police reports) and other intelligent parties. 

Through these, and his own insights, Kassam provides evidence that in each of these districts ‘infidels’ are made to feel distinctly unwelcome, a subculture of resentment is fostered against the very nation that hosts them (and very often houses, clothes and feeds them), every effort is made to ensure that Islamic law governs, and extremism is growing at an alarming rate.

Kassam converses with local residents of differing ethnic backgrounds, as well as local policemen.

A Compelling Read

While the intent is clearly to shock and disturb, Kassam does provide a degree of balance.

He is first to admit that the areas discussed in the book are not aflame (for the most part) with radical Islam. You won’t get flogged if you enter them, and you’re unlikely to encounter screeching Islamist imams on their street corners. As is stated in the foreword, often the people who inhabit such districts are victims of their own community leaders, whose very desire is to create no-go zones and to drive a wedge between migrant communities and native populations.

It’s a fast-moving, compelling read, which also discusses the degree to which socio-economic factors play a role in extremism, as well as the part played by Western media and governments, who constantly downplay the reality of the tensions within such ‘problem’ communities. All in all, a fascinating book.

‘No Go Zones: How Sharia Law Is Coming To A Neighbourhood Near You’ (256pp, hardcover) is available widely, including on Amazon. RRP £20.99. Also available as an audio-book and as an e-book. 

Hope in the midst of scandal, shaking and scepticism.

“You are...terminated!” No, this was not a line from Doctor Who and his eternal battle with the Daleks. It was a message from the President of the USA to the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, given to him whilst he was speaking to his staff.

To British ears this sounds unreal. No British employer would dismiss a member of staff in this peremptory manner. “You’re fired!” only happens on TV shows like The Apprentice. In fact, employment law in Britain protects employees from arbitrary dismissal.

So what’s going on in America? It was known that the FBI were investigating the links between Trump and Russia during the presidential election campaign. Were the FBI getting too close to the truth for President Trump? Political commentators in the USA began immediately to compare this dismissal to when President Nixon did the same a year before the Watergate scandal caused him to resign the presidency.

Even the smallest whiff of a similar scandal is immensely damaging to the President – but it is more than that, it comes at a time when the whole political establishment in Europe and America is sailing in troubled waters that are likely to produce some notable shipwrecks.

France: The People’s Choice?

Just look at what’s happened in France this week! The people have just elected a new president, but nearly half the population either did not vote or spoilt their ballot paper in protest at the choice they were offered. All the candidates from the main parties failed to get popular support in the first round of voting so the choice was between two rank outsiders.

The winner, Emmanuel Macron, only formed his En Marche! party last year. But, Surprise! Surprise! The man who was supposed to be a rank outsider - the populist ‘people’s choice’(especially young people, who have flocked around him) – has been endorsed by the outgoing Labour Party President Hollande and even more emphatically by the former Labour Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who says that the Labour party in France is finished and dead - and he has now joined En Marche!.¹

The whole political establishment in Europe and America is sailing in troubled waters that are likely to produce some notable shipwrecks.

Emmanuel Macron. So, what’s going on? It looks as though the people of France have been fooled by a gigantic con trick. The populist choice, the man who the people have embraced, turns out to be an ex-banker who made a fortune through investment banking, became the Minister for the economy in the outgoing Labour Government and is a stooge of Brussels, an enthusiastic supporter of the EU! How long will it be before the French people wake up and realise that they’ve been conned - the old political elite that has governed the country for decades is still in power!

The USA: Increasing Disillusionment

Is the same thing already happening in the USA? Trump’s 100 days’ honeymoon is over. His election promises have not yet been fulfilled: he hasn’t built his wall and Mexico are not going to pay for it. He has not reformed Obamacare and he’s not even managed to control immigration. The people put their trust in a rich businessman rather than a politician, but will he do any better than the politicians?

We are living in a day of disillusionment. Throughout the Western world, people are expressing dissatisfaction with the ruling elite who have held power for decades. ‘Change’ is in the air. It’s the one thing everyone wants. No one quite knows what it is they do want – they just know what they don’t want: they don’t want what they’ve got!

It’s this air of uncertainty that is hanging over most of the Western nations and can be seen especially in Europe, in America and in Britain, where we are facing a Brexit-driven General Election. But surely Christians should be seeing this as an enormous opportunity! It is an opportunity to present a new and living way! Why are not churches actively leading the way and presenting the way of righteousness, truth and prosperity to the people? Why is there so little evidence of the Gospel in the marketplace?

Declaring the Whole Will of God

We frequently hear from people all over the country who say that in their church they never hear the preacher refer to current affairs or apply the Gospel to the great issues of the day.

No one quite knows what it is they do want – they just know they don’t want what they’ve got! Surely Christians should be seeing this as an enormous opportunity!

I had a Sunday off last month and I went to worship at a local Baptist church, where the Minister preached a message from Ephesians. This was fine - but afterwards I learned that he had been working his way through Ephesians, line by line, for the past two years! However good Ephesians is, it does not give a rounded gospel. Paul, speaking to the Ephesian elders on his last visit to the region said, “I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:27, emphasis added).

Surely it is the whole word of God that is needed in the Church today, if we are to understand what is happening in the world around us and what God is requiring of his Church. There are many churches where the preachers never use the Old Testament, so the whole word of God, especially that delivered through the Prophets, is never heard.

Shaking All That Can Be Shaken

Christians will never be able to understand the word of God for today if they are cut off from the Hebraic roots of our faith. In this magazine, for many years, we have been warning that the days were coming when God will shake everything. There’s plenty of evidence of this happening now, in our lifetime.

Many people have said to us that God would never shake the Church because it is the Body of Christ. But surely it is the people, the disciples of Jesus, who are the Body of Christ – not the institutions that we call churches!

It is the whole word of God that is needed in the Church today, if we are to understand what is happening and what God is requiring of us.

In Hebrews 12:26f we are told that it is God’s intention to shake everything that human beings have created, “so that what cannot be shaken may remain” which will prepare the way for the Kingdom of God.

One of the principles that is embedded in the world of nature, part of God’s Creation, is that seeds have to fall into the ground and die before new life can be produced. It may be that the whole of Western civilisation has become so corrupted that all its major social institutions – the economy (banks), society (political parties) and even the denominations that we call ‘churches’ will have to die for genuine new life to spring from them.

Signs of Hope

But in this time when God is shaking the nations, there are also many signs of new life - especially in the vast and rapid growth of the church in China and Indonesia and other places where Christians have been suffering hardship and severe persecution.

Meanwhile, though traditional denominations continue to decline in the West, there are encouraging signs of new life here as well. In Britain we see:

• The churches that are growing are ones where the whole word of God is preached, where worship is lively and prayer is focused and meaningful.
  
• Increasing numbers of believers are meeting in house fellowships for prayer and Bible study.
  
• Many Christians are involved in practical programmes of outreach into the community, such as street pastors, food banks and holiday clubs for children.
  
• Many are also active in a wide range of voluntary organisations seeking to promote Godly values in society.
  

In these times of enormous social change and upheaval, we not only need to note what is happening in the socio-political and economic spheres, but also to note (and celebrate!) what God is doing through his people.

Clifford Hill looks at the spiritual significance of the French Presidential election.

The people of France are between a rock and a hard place. Who should they vote for to be the President of their country?

Many have said that they will spoil their ballot papers in protest against the impossible choice they are being offered. Do they vote for a "reckless rebel" or a "bigoted racist" - as they are described in the French press? But what has happened to create this incredible situation?

The mainline parties of both the left and the right (the Socialists and the Republicans) that have governed France for decades have been firmly rejected by the people. Their candidates for the President of France were decisively defeated last week in the First-Round contest. So two outsiders, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, have won through to the final round of voting that takes place next week.

One of them will become the President of France. Macron only formed his political party last year and he has no MPs. Le Pen leads a right-wing party and has only a handful of MPs. Neither could lead an effective Government without negotiating complex political coalitions.

What has caused this political earthquake that is in the process of triggering a social tsunami in Europe?

What is happening in France is of great significance. It is part of the same movement that triggered Brexit in Britain and brought Donald Trump to the White House in the USA – it is a movement that is rising among ordinary people in all the Western nations. It is a grassroots ground swell that is rippling through rural communities and urban populations and is slowly gaining in momentum.

What is happening in France and Britain and the USA has enormous significance for Christians because unless we understand what is happening in our lifetime we cannot be effective in bringing the gospel to an increasingly secular population, or even praying effectively.

Many Christians do not realise that God is still active in his Creation.

We have to understand, not only what is happening among people at a human level, but also what God is doing to work out his purposes in our generation. Many Christians do not realise that God is still active in his Creation and if we do not understand what is happening we could be a hindrance to the Kingdom, or actually find ourselves praying against God’s purposes rather than in line with his will. It is essential to remember that God is shaking the nations in order to expose the work of Satan and prepare the way of the Kingdom (Heb 12:26- 29).

Just take a brief look at what is happening in France.

Emmanuel Macron was the Minister for the Economy in the Socialist Party. At 39 he was the prodigy of President Hollande. Just two days before he formed his new political party he casually informed François Hollande that he was going to Amiens to start a youth movement on 6 April 2016. This was seen by political observers in France as part of Macron’s duplicity, that he deserted his Socialist mentors to pursue his personal ambition for power. He is strongly in favour of the European Union and as an ex-banker it is reported that his social and economic policies favour globalisation and big business corporations which makes him unpopular with ordinary working people.

Marine Le Pen is the leader of the National Front anti-immigration party in France. She has vowed that if she becomes President she will close France’s borders and expel migrants with criminal records and those who are a threat to the national security of France. This, of course, has wide appeal in France due to the number of violent terrorist atrocities that have occurred in recent years. None of the mainline parties have tackled immigration in their policies and neither has Macron. Le Pen says that she will take France out of the Eurozone and will also consider offering a Referendum to the French people on membership of the European Union.

The fact that one of these two rank political outsiders will become President of France is a landmark in European history. It results from the grassroots rejection of the ruling elite who are widely thought to care only for their own interests and ignore the interests and the wishes of the ordinary people. It is a kind of peasant’s revolt, similar to Brexit in Britain and the election of Donald Trump in the USA.

The fact that one of these two rank political outsiders will become President of France is a landmark in European history.

The reason for this revolutionary grassroots movement is not hard to see. The gap between the rich and the poor in the Western industrialised nations has been steadily growing in the last two or three decades through the process of ‘globalisation’ and the immense growth of powerful corporations that have no loyalty to their workers in the Western nations. They care only for making greater profits which they can do through employing cheap labour in developing nations and abandoning their Western roots.

Ordinary working people struggling to make ends meet have noticed the vast salaries paid to company bosses who count their pocket money in millions. The people are seeing what they believe is injustice and corruption in the world economic system and they are saying 'enough is enough' – we will not have these people rule over us any longer!

There is something in our human nature that recognises truth and righteousness as good, and injustice, greed and corruption as being wicked.

French voters demonstrate their patriotism. See Photo Credits.This is something that has happened throughout history – there comes a point where people rise up against what they perceive to be evil; because there is something in our human nature that recognises truth and righteousness as good, and injustice, greed and corruption as being wicked.

What most people do not understand is that this recognition of truth and righteousness is part of the activity of God in human history. We can learn this from the history of Israel. There came a point, in the sixth century BC, when the people were suffering under slavery in Babylon where they recognised the reason why God had removed his cover of protection over Jerusalem and let it be conquered by the Babylonians.

There was a spiritual awakening among the ordinary people that it was their own rejection of God and turning their backs upon his teaching that had resulted in national disaster. The Prophet Isaiah recorded this in the form of a prayer:

For our offences are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offences are ever with us and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. (Isa 59:12-15)

The only hope of true reform for the people of France is the recognition of how far they have turned away from the Godly heritage of the Christian gospel.

The only hope of true reform for the people of France is the recognition of how far they have turned away from the Godly heritage of the Christian gospel that has been available to them for centuries. Electing a new President, who does not know God and Jesus as Lord and Saviour, will only compound the problems facing the nation. Further embracing the ungodly values of the EU or raising a fence of ‘protectionism’ around the borders of France will not protect them from national disaster. Only ‘repentance and turning’ can do that.

We, the people of Britain facing a general election, and the people of America facing the possibilities of war in the Far East, should take especial note of the warning signs presently hanging over the people of France. We will not escape the shaking of the nations if we fail to take the opportunity of Brexit and the Parliamentary election to return wholeheartedly to God in prayer and repentance.

Will Theresa May’s judgment about what is best for Britain prove correct?

Mental illness is becoming the go-to explanation in the press for the recent spate of terror attacks. But this approach is not without problems.

Have you noticed that media coverage of the recent terror attacks across Europe has been littered with references to the mental health of the perpetrators? Without necessarily denying links to Islamic extremism, reports also keenly stress the role of psychological instability.

To take a few recent examples, according to the BBC, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the man responsible for the Nice lorry attack, reportedly "had a history of violence and mental instability".¹ Omar Mateen, the 29-year old responsible for the Orlando nightclub attack in June, "was violent and mentally unstable".²

The Ansbach suicide bomber (27-year old Syrian refugee Mohammad Daleel) was reported as having previously received psychiatric care following two suicide attempts, and Adel Kermiche, who murdered French priest Jacques Hamel in the Rouen attack, had apparently received treatment for mental disorders as a teenager.³

London Stabbings

Most recently, this week's stabbing in London led the Met Police very quickly to point to "mental health issues" as a possible explanation, whilst repeatedly emphasising that terrorism is just one of many possible lines of enquiry and that so far there is "no evidence of radicalisation".⁴

Of course, not all recent attacks have been described in this manner. Nevertheless, a cross-media narrative is certainly emerging which holds 'mental health issues' as the go-to explanation for the recent spate of terror attacks in Europe. Only in the last few days have others begun to point out the problems with this approach.⁵

A cross-media narrative is emerging which holds 'mental health issues' as the go-to explanation for the recent spate of terror attacks in Europe.

Complex Concept – Not Catch-All Explanation

The highly complex relationship between mental health and violent behaviour is not well understood. Individuals driven to such terrible actions as we have witnessed in recent weeks must themselves be severely disturbed – mentally deluded, corrupted or oppressed. To deny the presence of psychological problems in this context could be dangerous.

For Christians, belief in the existence of a spiritual realm necessarily provokes questions about the influence of demonic spirits. But the secular press ignores such things and rushes to explain away what is going on purely by a catch-all reference to mental health problems, which though convenient, can be severely misleading.

Will Gore of The Independent has argued that "The media glosses over the specifics in favour of creating a kind of homogenised bogeyman figure: a religious fundamentalist afflicted by mental illness and immune to rationality".⁶ His argument is that the media's first response to any attack is to suspect jihadism, the second response is to expect mental health issues, and the third response is to conflate the two, oversimplifying and demonising them both.

This is visible in the term 'Islamopsychosis', which is gaining traction online, and also in yesterday's Daily Express, which claimed that ISIS might be deliberately targeting mentally unstable people to encourage them to carry out attacks.⁷

The complex relationship between mental health and violent behaviour is not well understood, but the secular press ignores such things.

Explanation or Distraction?

So, whilst our security services are working around the clock to try to understand the complex processes behind radicalisation, the general public are being sold a different and much simpler narrative – these attackers are just crazy religious people!

This sits neatly with the 'Islam is a religion of peace' doctrine; any Muslim who turns to terror is not practising a true form of their faith – they are simply mentally unstable. So the public is deceived and deluded about the incursion of jihad (radical Islam) into Europe. The secular humanist values of multi-faith 'tolerance' remain intact.

But if we ignore the links of attackers to radical Islam, we close down proper debate and divert attention away from the real reasons behind the attacks. We end up blaming mental health for the things we do not understand and dismissing anything beyond our comprehension or in discord with our own worldview.

Mark Brown of The Independent commented yesterday:

When such events break the reasoned quiet and order of our lives, we look for ways to make ourselves safe, ways to fit the shock of such attacks into our existing ways of thinking and understanding of the world. We want an explanation for what feels beyond comprehension...⁸

The 'mental health' narrative is fast becoming the pacifying response that somehow makes us feel more comfortable and in control of a threatening and unpredictable situation. But this leaves us deceived about the full truth and irrationally prejudiced about both Muslims and those suffering from mental health problems.

The 'mental health' narrative is fast becoming the pacifying response that somehow makes us feel more in control of a threatening situation.

Danger for Christians

The great danger of all this cover-up for Christians will be the next stage in the deception. As the secular media begin dismissing all terrorism as the action of crazy religious fundamentalists, this will only be a stepping stone to saying that all religious people are mentally deluded – especially those who can be labelled 'fundamentalist'. This is the final goal of our secular humanist society.

Paul warned about the coming of a great delusion in the last days. In the first chapter of Romans, he spoke of people suppressing the truth about God and creation, leading God to give them over to a depraved mind and them becoming filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity and violence.

When writing to the Thessalonians, in reference to the 'man of lawlessness' being let loose into the world, Paul said that people perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. He said "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness" (2 Thess 2:11).

As terrorism is increasingly dismissed as the action of crazy religious fundamentalists, it will then be easy to assert that all religious people are mentally deluded.

Shine Like Stars

Only a lost and broken world would try to explain away one terrifying problem it doesn't understand with another it understands even less – shifting fear from one base to another.

For Christians, it is important that we guard our hearts, so we do not allow ourselves to be drawn under the powerful, delusional influence of fear currently shrouding Europe. It is also important that we brace ourselves and learn the full truth about Islam – because we're not going to get it from the BBC.

In an increasingly panic-stricken time we are given the opportunity to shine like stars in the universe (Phil 2:15), holding out the beautiful gifts for which the entire world is searching: TRUTH, HOPE and PEACE. It is time for the Church to stop hiding its light under a bowl – the world needs it now.

References

1 Attack on Nice: Who was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel? BBC News, 18 July 2016.

2 Orlando nightclub shooting: How the attack unfolded. BBC News, 15 June 2016.

3 Knife attack raises fears of Isis targeting people with mental health problems. The Express, 4 August 2016.

4 Russell Square stabbings: Man arrested on suspicion of murder. BBC News, 4 August 2016.

5 E.g. Brown, M. Mentally ill people are the collateral damage of news reports about the Russell Square stabbings. The Independent, 4 August 2016.

6 Gore, W. Mental illness has become a convenient scapegoat for terrorism – but the causes of terror are rarely so simple. The Independent, 25 July 2016.

7 See note 3.

8 See note 5.

In the wake of last night's terrible attack in Nice, as the world reels yet again from the impact of such terrible and brazen evil, we ask that you would stand with us in prayer for those affected, their families, the people of France and Europe as a whole.

It is difficult to find words at such a time. Perhaps it is not essential (Rom 8:26). But that does not mean we should do nothing. We must be moved to action as a result of this – whether in word or deed – so that we "shine...like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life" (Phil 2:15-16).

This incident cannot be allowed to become simply 'the latest' in a series, or 'yet another' tragic loss of life. We should mourn with France today. But we should also be seeking wisdom for the leaders of France and the other European nations as they respond to this despicable act of brutality.

Frances Rabbitts

Managing Editor

On behalf of the Prophecy Today Editorial Board

Is there a connection to France's Israel policy?

Although news of the devastation caused by flooding in France and Germany has rightly elicited both shock and sympathy, I couldn't help connecting it with the new 'peace' efforts Europe is trying to foist on Israel.¹

And it now looks like President Obama will be supporting the French plan to impose Palestinian demands upon Israel.

As I've outlined in my book Peace in Jerusalem² in a chapter headed 'God's political storms' – sparked off by controversy over the floods that beset Britain two years ago – natural disasters have accompanied virtually every attempt by the US Government to impose a 'two-state solution' on the Jewish state which would divide the land in direct contravention of God's word.

For God has made clear that he will judge those who scatter his people among the nations and divide up his land (Joel 3:2). And Psalm 83 paints an accurate picture of the policy and intentions of Israel's enemies, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, who say, "Come, let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more" (Ps 83:4). And the same psalm calls on the God of Israel to pursue the plotters "with your tempest and terrify them with your storm" (Ps 83:15).

Psalm 83 in Action

George Bush Snr's 'land for peace' Oslo Accord of 31 October 1991 was followed the very next day by 'The Perfect Storm', as it was dubbed, which ended up demolishing his own home. A year later, on the very day he presided over further moves to push this agreement, Hurricane Andrew – the worst natural disaster ever to hit America at that time – destroyed over 180,000 homes in Florida, causing over $30 billion in damage.

There have been a string of similar such incidents including, perhaps most notably, the terrible floods that struck New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, just as Jews were being evicted from their homes in Gaza as part of a 'peace' plan Israel was pressured into accepting by America and the international community.³ But Gaza subsequently became the launch-pad for constant rocket fire aimed at the destruction of Israel, which is the ultimate aim of the Palestinian Authority and its allies.

The politicians may mock, but the Almighty is watching over his own special piece of property, and Western leaders are invoking disasters on their people, costing many lives and billions of dollars. Yet few apparently see the link with their foolish stubbornness in defying the God of Israel.

Call to Repentance

What is God saying in all this? We have various biblical parallels. When the Tower of Siloam fell (Luke 13:1-5), it was not a punishment for the 18 who died but a general warning sign and call to repentance to the nation and, in particular, its leaders. The prophet Amos (see Amos 4) interpreted signs in Israel, progressive in intensity and affecting both the natural world and the lives of the Israelites, as signs that God was sending as a call to repentance.

In a similar way, the signs today are a call to repentance. The painful experiences of floods, and whatever else may befall a nation at the hand of God, can be understood as both the anger and love of God, calling the nations to repent (in this case specifically concerning their treatment of Israel).

Oh that we too – and our leaders – would seek more than anything to obey the Lord of the universe!

References

1 Others have also made this connection, including the Jerusalem News Network and Breaking Israel News.

2 2013, available from www.olivepresspublisher.com.

3 Ibid.

The Prophecy Today team members wish to express their deepest sympathies for those affected by the recent atrocities in Paris. As the world watches in horror and fear, Clifford Hill asks: how can we respond?

The attack upon Paris was a declaration of war against the West! The co-ordinated attack upon soft targets of unarmed civilians was a cowardly act of brutality that has shocked the whole Western world.

Every Western nation knows that it could happen to them. In every country the question is 'Which city will be the next target?' Will it be London or Washington or Brussels?

Immediate Reaction

Amid all the unanswered questions one thing is certain – the Paris atrocity will not be the last. The Islamists have declared war. But the big question facing Western nations is how should we react? Do we send our armies to the Middle East and blast our way through the complexities of civil war and tribal conflict in a vain attempt to destroy the terrorists in their strongholds?

The immediate reaction of President Hollande was that France would mobilise all her forces to destroy the terrorists, which was very similar to the reaction of President Bush after the 9/11 destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City. He quoted Isaiah 9:10 "The bricks have fallen down but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig-trees have been felled but we will replace them with cedars". But he had not read the previous verse which pours scorn upon such a reaction as driven by human pride. Bush invaded Iraq, which is one of the factors that has led to the present tragic situation in the Middle East.

If we use force to combat force, we will simply use bigger and more powerful weapons of destruction until we reach the ultimate weapons of mass destruction and destroy the world. Humankind has yet to learn the lesson that force is not the answer to force.

Humankind has yet to learn the lesson that force is not the answer to force.

We must stop, and study the enemy. We must not react in haste, or we will encourage a holocaust that will engulf the whole of humanity.

Facing Reality

The huge mistake that all the Western nations have made is to refuse to face the reality of the nature of Islam. We have deliberately suppressed open discussion about Islam and labelled it 'Islamophobia'. We have talked about terrorists as 'extremists' and tried to combat the so-called 'radicalisation' of young men. But all this has been counter-productive and has actually suppressed the truth about Islam.

We have to face the fact that in our ignorance about Islam we have allowed hundreds of mosques to be established across the Western nations where young men are taught that Islam is at war with the rest of the world; they are also specifically taught to hate Jews and Christians who must be either forcefully converted or destroyed. Young men are told that Allah, the god of Islam, requires them to be ready to offer their own lives to achieve such a purpose. This so-called 'radicalisation' is required in the Koran and is a fundamental part of Islam.

The huge mistake of Western nations is to refuse to face the reality of the nature of Islam. Open discussion has been suppressed as 'Islamophobic'.

It was perhaps the Islamist hatred of Jews that was the reason why the Bataclan Theatre in Paris was targeted – because it is Jewish-owned and has staged pro-Israel productions in the past. When the Charlie Hebdo attack took place earlier this year a Jewish restaurant was also targeted.

Different Values

The Western Christian nations have to learn that Muslims live in a totally different world with a totally different set of social values from those that Christians embrace from the Bible.

A Muslim is allowed to deceive and lie if it advances the cause of Islam; they believe that they are serving Allah when killing Jews and Christians and if they die while murdering them they will be rewarded in the life hereafter. This lack of respect for human life is in stark contrast to Judaeo-Christian teaching, where life is seen as a sacred gift from God.

Our Response

How should we react to the Paris atrocities? We should study the teaching of Islam and the history of Muhammad, who indiscriminately slaughtered Christians and Jews and anyone else who opposed him (he would undoubtedly approve of the slaughter in Paris). We need to recognise the spirit that drives those who follow the teaching of Islam, whether it is in the Middle East or in Nigeria or in France.

Most importantly, we should ask seriously: why did God allow this atrocity to happen? Have the Western nations put themselves outside the protection of God by abandoning their Judaeo-Christian heritage - by passing laws that are directly contrary to the Bible - by indulging in practices that are offensive to God?

We should study the teaching and history of Islam, as well as the teaching of the Bible, and we should ask seriously: why did God allow this atrocity to happen?

But we should also study the teaching of the Bible which makes it clear that spiritual forces can only be overcome by a more powerful Spirit. The Apostle Paul says:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 6:12)

He recommends putting on the full armour of God for our own protection and seeking the power of God to overcome the spirit of evil in the world.

It is a very hard lesson to learn, even for committed Christians, that love is actually stronger and more powerful than hatred. Truth, goodness and generosity are more powerful than evil and violence. The battle with Islam cannot be won with human weapons but only through the Spirit of God.

The Bible makes it clear that spiritual forces of evil can only be overcome by a more powerful Spirit – the Spirit of God.