Further shameful acts exposed as Prince makes historic visit to Israel

As evidence has come to light of further shameful acts of anti-Semitism carried out by British officials during its charge over the territory formerly known as Palestine, it is hoped that next week’s Royal visit to Israel will help heal the wounds of those who suffered.

I reported last month on a special ceremony held near Haifa at which UK representatives shared a ‘declaration of sorrow’ for the way our country treated Jews in the years leading up to the re-birth of their nation in 1948.
A more detailed report of that 11 May event has since come into my possession¹ and I am thus able to reveal – exclusively - some shocking facts shared by Holocaust survivors and others attending the ceremony, organised by Love Never Fails, an alliance of Christian groups supporting the Jewish state.

Atlit detention camp (now a museum). Photo Gemma Blech, courtesy Anne Heelis.It took place at Atlit, a former detention camp where Jewish refugees were held as part of British policy to limit immigration to the region, adding further trauma to a people who had already suffered terribly under the Nazis.

Granted a League of Nations mandate to prepare a safe homeland for Jews, Britain instead interred them behind barbed wire complete with watchtowers.

Harrowing Stories of Betrayal

Among those who shared their harrowing stories of the time was Hannah Avrutsky. A survivor of the notorious Warsaw ghetto,² she was hidden in a monastery before being smuggled to the Exodus ship bound for Israel in 1947, only to face a British naval blockade and be sent back to a Displaced Persons’ camp in Germany, where so many of her people had been murdered!

Ben Zion Drutin spoke of being hospitalised after being wounded by the British on board the Exodus and then held in Atlit for six months.

Arie Itamar, who was eight years old on the Exodus, compared Israel to a “betrayed lover” during the Mandate.

Granted a League of Nations mandate to prepare a safe homeland for Jews, Britain instead interred them behind barbed wire complete with watchtowers.

Pinchas Kahane spoke of his parents’ escape from Auschwitz, his birth in a Cyprus detention camp and how Britain prevented them leaving the camps until February 1949, well after the establishment of the State of Israel.

Dr Miri Nehari, whose father had been a leader in mobilising the escape of Jews from Europe after the Holocaust, read out a British telegram to the Polish Government-in-exile asking them to close the borders to escaping Jews.

Brits and Israelis together at the Atlit meeting. Photo courtesy of Anne Heelis.Zehavit Blumenfeld, whose 70^th birthday has coincided with that of Israel’s, said: “I do not forget, but I forgive.” She was born in the Cyprus detention camps where 53,000 Jewish refugees from the Holocaust were interned by the British.

She and others were moved by the warmth and sympathy of the Christians who came to express their sorrow and hope that Prince William’s visit will be an important step towards reconciliation.

The testimonies concluded with stories of British collusion with Arab terror during the Mandate. Noam Arnon, representing the Hebron Jewish Community, spoke on behalf of those who had survived the 1929 massacre there, outlining British complicity.

Zehava Fuchs witnessed the Hadassah convoy massacre as a girl in 1948 when the British had deliberately not intervened to rescue Jewish passengers – 78 people, mainly doctors and nurses, were killed in the attack by Arab terrorists. Zehava is still unable to attend a barbeque as it reminds her of the smell of burning flesh.

Declaration of Sorrow

Rachel Rust, daughter of a former British officer who served in Palestine, confessed her deep sorrow at the cruel treatment handed out by the British army.

On a positive note, Rita Offenbach shared how her mother was among 180 Jewish fighters rescued after being besieged by Arabs attacking their convoy. Another paid tribute to British officer Orde Wingate who is still much loved in Israel for having laid the foundations of the Israeli Defence Force in creating special night squads.

The declaration of sorrow read, in part: “We grieve that [Britain’s policies] led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews who could have escaped Hitler’s ‘final solution’ if the gates to their ancient homeland had been fully open.”

Many Israelis are still waiting to hear an apology from Britain for her betrayal of Israel. There is still a need for much repentance and reconciliation.

Film-maker Hugh Kitson³ expressed sorrow, not only for the failures of the Mandate but also for the fact that today’s British Government fails to recognise Israeli sovereignty over their own capital city.

Many Israelis are still waiting to hear an apology from Britain for her betrayal of Israel in breaking a pledge to prepare a safe refuge for the Jewish people. Israel came into being without our help in the end, but not before many lives were unnecessarily lost due to the delay. There is still a need for much repentance and reconciliation.

Hope Persists

Prince William is scheduled to touch down on Monday for the start of the first ever official visit to Israel by a British Royal, during which he will pay his respects at the tomb of his great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, who hid a Jewish family from the Nazis during the war. It is hoped that the visit will mark a turning point in Britain’s relationship with Israel.

It is certainly encouraging that, according to a senior Conservative source, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid will take steps later this year to fully ban Hezbollah, one of Israel’s most implacable enemies. Since banning the terrorist group in 2008, Britain has continued to recognise its political wing – a distinction not even accepted by Hezbollah, a heavily armed proxy of Iran which has held successive London rallies against the Jewish state.⁴

Also encouraging is Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s condemnation on Monday of the United Nations Human Rights Council over its long-standing anti-Israel bias, demanding the Council drop a controversial agenda item placing Israel under intense scrutiny.⁵

These are indeed steps in the right direction, and we trust and pray that the Duke of Cambridge will encounter true peace as he walks in the footsteps of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

References

1 My thanks to Rosie Ross, Israel’s Love Never Fails representative, for the Atlit report, and to her colleague Anne Heelis for passing it on to me. Further signatures to the declaration can still be made at www.nachamuami.com.

2 Where Jews were herded into a cramped, unsanitary location as a staging post for being transported to death camps.

3 Hugh Kitson’s latest documentary Whose Land? explores Israel’s historic and legal rights to their land.

4 Jerusalem News Network, 18 June 2018, quoting the Jewish Chronicle.

5 JNN, 20 June 2018.

Our second excerpt from Sandra Teplinsky's ‘Why Still Care About Israel?’

Palestinian Injustice

A sad reality is that the War of Independence was not fought without collateral damage to both Palestinian and Jewish civilians. For the sake of perspective, no war can be fought without collateral damage - and in this instance, there would not have been a war if the Arabs had not insisted on starting one. Nevertheless, some Arab families and villages were wrongly expelled or inexcusably overrun by Jewish soldiers.^q In at least one such raid at Deir Yassin, genuinely innocent victims were massacred.³¹ Upon learning of the sordid event, Israel denounced it and sought to compensate the victims.^r

The Palestinian narrative claims that since 1948, Israel has stolen or destroyed over four hundred Arab villages. This figure, based on a recently created map of dubious veracity, cannot be objectively verified. Israeli historians point out that many Arab families who were forced to leave their homes did not actually own the lands or homes they left. Some were long-term renters - for generations - of lands sold legally, but without their knowledge, to the Jews.^s

Moreover - and without diminishing the loss some Arabs have suffered - a large Palestinian state (Jordan) existed just across the border. Those who might be displaced were expected to seek refuge there, just as 800,000 Jewish refugees were forced to leave their homes and wealth behind and relocate to Israel.^t (More on this momentarily.)

No war can be fought without collateral damage - and in 1948, there would not have been a war if the Arabs had not insisted on starting one.

Lacking objective documentation of their plight, Palestinians have amassed global sympathies through a narrative that inverts history.^u Many share tragic personal tales - that prove either unverifiable or outrageously embellished.^v Their stories tend either to romanticize Arab tribal-village life or misrepresent it as a bustling society.^w Sadly, some of these accounts are presented by Christians as honest-to-God facts. Their pitiable tales tug at the heartstrings of any hearer. It’s their personal story, we reason. How can it not be true - and how can we not be deeply moved? Emotions are stirred, then inflamed - against Israel. Gradually, hearts are hardened against the Jewish people and what God is doing with them today.

Jesus loves and died for the Palestinian people: He does not want us to disparage them. We must compassionately acknowledge their suffering and seek a right response to it. But even genuine suffering must be viewed in context to rightly ascertain truth and transform realities justly.

Palestinian - and Jewish - Refugees

Palestinians were not the only refugees to result from the War of Independence. According to official UN figures, over 800,000 Jewish refugees were forced to flee homes and lands in North Africa and the Middle East where they had lived for generations.³² Unlike some Palestinians, they were in no sense “voluntary refugees”. Jews were expelled, stripped of citizenship or both in retaliation for Israel’s declaration of statehood. Arab nations have persistently refused to compensate these refugees for their confiscated properties, valued today at billions of dollars.³³

Meanwhile, during the War of Independence, unincorporated areas proposed by the Partition Plan for a second Palestinian Arab state were illegally annexed and occupied - not by Israel but by Jordan and Egypt. Jordan seized Judea and Samaria, including East Jerusalem, while Egypt staked claim to Gaza.

Now, the Arabs’ publicly stated goal for the war had been to liberate Palestine. But neither Jordan nor Egypt ever gave the territories they annexed back to the Palestinians to liberate them. Instead, the latter were compelled - by their own brethren - to stay put indefinitely in refugee camp limbo.^x Why? you may ask. They would not talk about it; let me explain.

Lacking objective documentation of their plight, Palestinians have amassed global sympathies through a narrative that inverts history.

Israel began offering, as early as 1949, to negotiate for the refugees’ return - and full repatriation - back into the Jewish state. But no Arab leader was willing to negotiate with the Jews. Transacting with Israel, they said, would involve an implicit recognition of her existence. This they had vowed never to do.³⁴ Further, by refusing either to negotiate for the refugees’ return or to absorb them themselves, they could continue the war against Israel in the political realm.^y This they had vowed never to cease doing.

Children in Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza. See Photo Credits.In 1949 the UN established a relief fund (United Nations Relief and Works Agency or UNRWA) to provide for the refugees’ basic needs. Soon thereafter, UNRWA acceded to Arab demands to grant refugee status - for the first time in history - not only to those who fled but to their descendants, indefinitely. This redefinition of “refugee” guaranteed the Palestinian population would dramatically increase over time.³⁵ By 2013, of an estimated Palestinian population of five million, only 30,000 - or approximately half of 1 percent - actually ever left a home in Israel.³⁶

Meanwhile, many billions of dollars have been given to Palestinians by Israel and other nations to provide for their “basic needs”.^z At this writing, UNRWA remains the largest employer in the West Bank, with thousands of Palestinians on its payroll and, according to some, padding the personal fortunes of Palestinian leaders.³⁷

Former UNRWA director Ralph Galloway concluded early on:

The Arab States do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore…as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders don’t give a damn whether the refugees live or die.³⁸

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly noted:

The consistent refusal of Arab leaders to solve this problem is particularly tragic because it would have been so easy to do…That the fifty million Arabs In 1948 could not absorb 650,000 Arab refugees - and have not finished the job even after half a century, and even after the fantastic multiplication of their oil wealth - is an indication of [how] the Arabs have manipulated the refugee issue to create reasons for world censure of Israel.³⁹

Of the situation an Arab American journalist comments:

What are the real roots of this [Palestiman-Israeli] conflict?...That Palestinians want a homeland and Muslims want control over sites they consider holy?...These two demands are nothing more than strategic deceptions. propaganda ploys. They are nothing more than phony excuses and rationalizations for the terrorism and murdering of Jews. The real goal of those making these demands is the destruction of the State of Israel.⁴⁰

Israel began offering, as early as 1949, to negotiate for the refugees’ return - and full repatriation - back into the Jewish state. But no Arab leader was willing to negotiate.

Palestinian Statehood and the Phased Plan

In 1964, Yasser Arafat assumed leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a terror group with the stated purpose to liberate all of Palestine. It was not, however, created to liberate the West Bank and Gaza; this was never the “Palestine” to which it referred. Recall that in 1964, Gaza still belonged to Egypt and the West Bank was governed by Jordan. Since 1964 the Palestinian agenda has been to liberate a Palestine that includes, by definition, every square inch of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River - that is, all of Israel.^{41 aa}

Shortly after the PLO published its goals, Israel fought for her life in the Six Day War of 1967. To the world’s surprise, she defensively acquired Gaza from Egypt and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan. Then, in 1973, Egypt and Syria launched another unprovoked attack, the Yom Kippur War. Again Israel prevailed. As a result of these mounting Arab defeats, the PLO announced its “Phased Plan” the following year. The Phased Plan has never been revoked and still represents Islamist/Arab/Palestinian strategy today.

The Phased Plan refers to the slightly revised goal of liberating Palestine not all at once, but in stages. Phase One is the establishment of an independent, combatant national authority consisting of Gaza and the West Bank. This was to a large degree accomplished by developing the PLO into the PA and by Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. Phase Two is the reconfiguration of Gaza and the West Bank into launching pads for provoking an all-out regional war, in which Israel is wiped off the map.⁴²

This is to be accomplished by military operations, lawfare diplomacy, cyberattack or any combination thereof.

On the Occupation

When Israel pushed back her attackers in the Six Day War and gained Gaza and the West Bank, she acquired land that had been originally allotted to her in 1920. By 1967, however, the areas were inhabited by over a million Jew-hating Palestinians and angry insurgents.⁴³ Israel had no desire to “rule over” them.⁴⁴

The Six Day War ended with UN Security Council Resolution 242, a truce that purposefully did not define borders. Resolution 242 authorized Israel to remain in possession of newly acquired territories until peace was established and final borders secured. It was meticulously and explicitly worded so that Israel would not be forced to withdraw from all the newly acquired territories, back to the boundary lines from which she had just been attacked.⁴⁵

When Israel pushed back her attackers in the Six Day War and gained Gaza and the West Bank, she acquired land that had been originally allotted to her in 1920.

Those boundaries, the 1949 armistice lines ending the War of Independence, were never meant to be permanent. Nor were they intended to substitute for negotiations to determine final borders. In less than twenty years, the lines had proved indefensible,^{46 bb} leaving the middle and most populous section of the country only nine miles wide. With Palestinians having shown themselves unwilling or unable to make peace, some Israeli leaders have termed the 1949 lines “Auschwitz Borders”, referring to a notorious Nazi death camp. Nevertheless, by 2011 the international community would euphemistically call them “pre-1967 borders” and urge Israel to retreat to them - with no enforceable guarantee of peace in return.

After the Six Day War, Egypt and Jordan eventually signed peace treaties with Israel. These nations refused, however, to take back either Gaza or the West Bank. Reclaiming these territories would have betrayed the pan-Arab plan, notoriously reaffirmed after the war,⁴⁷ to leave in place a local population to help destroy Israel. As a result, Gaza and the West Bank remained in a state of perpetual war with Israel, ruled by the increasingly militant PLO. That being the case, Israel was authorized by international law to administratively govern the territories, with quasi-military powers of enforcement, until peace could be achieved. The administration of law and order in a hostile, enemy population in such circumstances is called an occupation.

Some Israelis say, however, that they have not occupied any of these areas because the land rightfully belongs to them under customary international law. Customary international law refers to the body of international law and policy that Western nations have traditionally practiced and followed.

In either case, Israel’s quasi-military administration known as the “occupation” is not illegal. The term “illegal occupation” is a pejorative mischaracterization, intended to conjure up images of oppression and abuse. Admittedly, Israel has not always acted fairly or justly during the difficult course of governing people dedicated to her demise. But to brand her lawful jurisdiction “illegal” or “oppressive” obscures the reality that if Palestinians sincerely accepted Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, the war and the occupation would be history. Allow me to explain.

Peace Negotiations

In 1993, the PLO morphed into the Palestinian Authority under an agreement called the Oslo Accords. At that time Palestinians gained the right to negotiate peace with Israel for themselves.^cc Sadly, rather than pursue a peaceful coexistence alongside Israel, history records how they proliferated terror instead.

Nevertheless, in 2000, Israel offered the Palestinians full sovereignty over 95 percent of the disputed territories, including East Jerusalem, with secured geographic contiguity. There was virtually nothing left for the Jews to give away. But the Palestinians said no. Offering no counterproposal to the offer, they literally walked out on negotiations⁴⁸ and immediately launched a violent intifada (“uprising”) of deadly terror lasting several years.^dd US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, who was present, said the Palestinians’ main objection was the insertion of one critical clause in the agreement: “This is the end of the conflict."^{49 ee} The Palestinians could not end the conflict with anything less than ending Israel.^ff

In 1993, the Palestinians gained the right to negotiate peace with Israel for themselves – but rather than pursue this, they proliferated terror instead.

Yasser Arafat, who signed the Oslo Accords and walked out on the offer of a sovereign state, said (in Arabic): “I do not consider the [Oslo] agreement any more than the agreement which was signed by our prophet Muhammad and the Qurayish.”⁵⁰ Arafat referred to an agreement that established the right, called hudna, for Muslims to fake peace when they are weak so they can wait for better timing to fight when they are strong.^gg Thus an Arab saying goes like this: “When your enemy is strong, kiss his hand and pray that it will be broken one day.”⁵¹

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres signs the Oslo Accords outside the White House, alongside PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. See Photo Credits.Faisal Husseini, a moderate Palestinian leader, compared the whole peace process to a proverbial “Trojan horse”.⁵² From the Arab perspective, it had been designed to fool Israel into letting the Palestinians arm themselves in order to destroy it. Said Husseini, “If you are asking me as a pan-Arab nationalist what are the Palestinian borders according to the higher strategy, I will immediately reply, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea.”⁵³

Perhaps that would explain why, in 2008, when Israel offered Palestinians 93 percent of the territory they desired - including 98 percent of the West Bank - they again said no.⁵⁴ And why, in 2009, PA leaders said they would resume negotiations on the pre-condition that Israel stop all settlement construction - but still refused to talk when Israel complied with their demand. After that, with one perceived betrayal following another, Israelis were not so willing to believe Palestinians were sincere about peace.^hh

In 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu tried to restart peace talks and pleaded at the UN with PA President Abbas to meet face-to-face, without preconditions. Abbas refused, demanding that Israel first agree to an expanded list of preconditions.ⁱⁱ Under the Oslo Accords and other agreements, however, these preconditions were in fact supposed to be the subject of the negotiations. By agreeing to all the preconditions first, there would be very little left to negotiate. So Netanyahu replied with one precondition of his own. He demanded that Palestinians recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. If the PA would agree to the one precondition, Israel would agree to their whole list of them. But the Palestinians refused.^jj

In 2012, Palestinians sidestepped negotiations, and thus breached the Oslo Accords, by seeking to forge a path for statehood in the UN. At the same time, they launched a war from Gaza and a terror wave in the West Bank. In 2013, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon commented on the situation:

This is our history: Every time a proposal was raised to partition the land, the other side started a war. Every time we expressed willingness to give up territory, terror rose to new heights.⁵⁵

In 2012, Palestinians sidestepped negotiations, breaching the Oslo Accords, by seeking to forge a path for statehood in the UN.

Palestinians often say they resort to terror because Israeli proposals do not offer them a universal “right of return”. Israelis reply this is because Palestinians are unwilling to limit the “right” to refugees who personally left Israel; they insist on extending it to every Palestinian in Gaza, the West Bank or anywhere else in the world. Therefore, when Israel has expressed willingness to give them land, Palestinians have sometimes agreed to recognize a country named Israel - but never as a Jewish state.^kk The difference is critical. If Palestinians acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, they relinquish a strategy for turning it into a Palestinian/Islamist one by flooding it with millions of Arabs “returning” there.^ll

The right of return has remained, at this writing, uncompromisable - even though “homeland” is only a few miles away, and even though Palestinians would finally be getting a second sovereign state. From Israel’s perspective, granting several million Muslims, many of whom are murderously militant, permission to immigrate and repopulate the country is tantamount to committing national suicide.

Israeli Settlements

In 2012, the PA began claiming that Israeli settlements were the main reason for the failure of the peace process. In fact, settlements represent only 1.6 percent of the disputed territories,⁵⁶ and 70 percent of settlers live in suburbs adjacent to major Israeli cities, not deep inside the West Bank.⁵⁷ Settlements do not disrupt Palestinian geographic contiguity. Despite public opinion to the contrary, settlements officially authorized by the Israeli government are not illegal under standards of customary international law.^mm To be sure, settlements have been built on lands whose ownership is disputed. But in this dispute, Israel actually possesses the best claim to lawful - if not politically feasible or practical - ownership.ⁿⁿ

Recall that when Israel acquired the West Bank, no state or political entity held legal title to it. The last rightful owner of the land had been Israel, and historically, a Jewish presence has been maintained in Judea and Samaria for thousands of years. After World War I, Britain obtained the land and, through international agreements, returned recognized legal title to the Jews. When the UN offered the land to Palestinian Arabs in 1947, it wrongfully tried to take that title away. But the Palestinians rejected the offer, thereby rendering it null and void.

Years later, Jordan illegally annexed the West Bank, but Israel defensively - and therefore, legally - acquired it from Jordan in the Six Day War. Under international law, the land has been technically “disputed” since 1967.^oo In the future, international bodies may decide to rule on the legality of the territories and settlements built on them. Given the nations’ collective stance toward Israel, it would likely take an act of God for a ruling in her favor to result. Which of course we cannot rule out.

In this dispute, Israel actually possesses the best claim to lawful - if not politically feasible or practical – ownership of the ‘disputed’ territories.

Meanwhile, Israel’s settlement policies are not necessarily perfect. Growing numbers of extremist settlers (and Palestinians) have turned violent, and the violence must be stopped. Some Israelis have tried to stake claim to biblical lands by erecting self-declared, unauthorized outposts. Usually these are dismantled by Israel within a short time. Jewish settlement construction has resulted in genuine hardship for some Bedouin and other Arabs, not always handled properly by Israeli courts.^pp But these proportionately few unfair cases do not make all the settlements illegal. Nor do they provide a reason to suspend peace negotiations, if the parties sincerely desire peace.

Future Palestine

Repeatedly, Israel has demonstrated her willingness and even desire to accept Palestine as a new sovereign state. But as this book goes to print, Palestinians still insist (in Arabic) their state must stretch from the “river to the sea” and encompass all of Israel.⁵⁸ Surveys consistently reveal that a solid majority of Israelis would agree to live alongside a peaceful Palestinian state. (The operative word is peaceful.) But similar surveys consistently show the majority of Palestinians say they would never accept peaceful coexistence with a Jewish state.^qq In 2011, 66 percent of West Bank Palestinians said that while they would accept a two-state solution as a “first step”, they wanted to eventually replace Israel with a single Palestinian state.⁵⁹ In 2012, 88 percent of all Palestinians preferred a strategy of terror, or another intifada, over diplomacy to achieve it.⁶⁰ In 2013, similar polls yielded similar results.⁶¹

As you can see, the root of the Palestinian plight is well hidden beneath the surface tension exposed to public view. Deep-seated realities that will not change unless faced forthrightly are disguised and distorted. I do not minimize the genuine suffering, frustration and injustice that affects some Palestinians. But, fundamentally, these conditions are not the cause of Arab and Islamist enmity toward Israel; they are the result of it. Moreover, injustices have repeatedly come about at the hands of Arab, not Israeli, leaders betraying their own people. That the world faults Israel - and threatens her survival - for a Palestinian plight that is Islamist/Arab generated, is highly unjust.

God wants transformational justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. But justice must be pursued and attained His way - according to righteousness based on truth - however His enemies try to obscure it. He wants us to “test and approve what [his] Will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2) as He restores His ancient covenant people. Toward them we must “not be arrogant, but tremble" (Romans 11:20).

About the author: Sandra Teplinsky is a Messianic Jew who lives in Jerusalem and teaches about Israel. With her husband, Sandra runs a ministry called Light of Zion. Find out more about the book 'Why Still Care About Israel?' on its website.

References

Letters q-qq can be found on this page.

31 Bard, “The Refugees”, Jewish Virtual Library, accessed April 30, 2013; Efraim Karsh, Palestine Betrayed (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010), 122

32 Auguste Lindt, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “Report of the UNREF Executive Committee, Fourth Session”, Geneva, January 29 to February 4, 1957; Dr. E. Jahn, Office of the UN High Commissioner, “United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Document No.7/2/3," Libya, July 6, 1967, as cited in Alan Baker, ed., Israel's Rights as a Nation-State in International Diplomacy (Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and World Jewish Congress, 2011), 50.

33 “Refugees Forever? Issues in the Palestinian-lsraeli Conflict," International Jerusalem Post, February 21, 2003, special supplement; Bard, “The Refugees."

34 Terence Prittie. “Middle East Refugees,” in Michael Curtis, Joseph Neyer, Chaim Waxman, and Allen Pollack, ed., The Palestinians: People, History, Politics (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books, 1975), 66—67.

35 Daniel Pipes, “Peculiar Proliferation of Palestinian Refugees,” Washington Times, February 20, 2012.

36 Donna Cassata, “Defining a Palestinian Refugee,” Associated Press. May 31, 2012.

37 Jonathan Shanzer. “Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment,” Hearing before House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congressional Testimony, July 10, 2012.

38 As cited by Prittie, “Middle East Refugees," 71, emphasis mine.

39 Netanyahu, A Durable Peace, 155.

40 Joseph Farah, speech given at Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania, July 3, 2003.

41 See for example Palestinian Media Watch, “PA Depicts a World Without Israel,” 2011; “Mashaal: We Will Never Give Up Any of Palestine,” International Jerusalem Post, December 14-20, 2011.

42 “Political Plan of the PLO Council," June 8, 1974.

43 Jewish Virtual Library, “Demography of Palestine & Israel, the West Bank & Gaza."

44 See for example Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (New York. Ballantine Books, 2002), 306-27.

45 Jewish Virtual Library, “The Meaning of Resolution 142"; Dore Gold, The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West and the Future of the Holy City (Washington D.C.: Regnery, Inc, 2007), 172-74; Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Disputed Territories-Forgotten Facts About the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” February 1, 2003.

46 Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Israel's Critical Security Requirements for Defensible Borders (Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs).

47 The Arabs' Khartoun Resolutions of 1967 solidified the notorious “Three No’s”: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel. Jewish Virtual Library, “The Khartoun Resolutions.”

48 Benny Morris, “Camp David and After: An Exchange (Interview with Ehud Barak),” New York Review of Books 49, no. 10, June 13, 2002.

49 Ambassador Dennis Ross, in a Fox News interview, as reported by David Kupelian, “The Real Reason Arafat Rejected a Palestinian State,” Whistleblower 12, no. 3 (March 2003): 7.

50 Speech by Arafat in Johannesburg, May 10, 1994 (while Oslo was in effect), as cited in Daniel Pipes, “Lessons from the Prophet Muhammad in Diplomacy,” Middle East Quarterly, September 1999.

51 Kupelian, “The Real Reason,” 8-9; Pipes, “Lessons.”

52 “Faysal al-Husseni in His Last Interview,” MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 236, July 6, 2001.

53 lbid.

54 Reuters and Aluf Benn, “PA Rejects Olmert‘s Offer,” Haaretz, August 12, 2008.

55 Mazal Mualem, “New Defense Minister No Threat to Netanyahu’s Policies,” Al-Monitor, March 13, 2013.

56 See Michelle Whiteman, “To the Media, Building Settlements in Israel’s a Crime,” Huffington Post, December 26, 2012; and Mitchell G. Bard, “The Settlements,” Myths and Facts Online, Jewish Virtual Library, accessed April 30, 2013.

57 Bard, “The Settlements.”

58 “Jerusalem-on-the-Line,” Jerusalem News Network, Prayer Letter, April 3, 2013, quoting Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s speech in Arabic at a rally in Gaza City, March 30, 2013.

59 United Press International, “Poll: Arabs Reject Two-State Solution," July 26, 2011.

60 Elhanan Miller,“88 Percent of Palestinians Believe Armed Struggle Is the Best Way," Times of Israel, December 16, 2012.

61 Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, “Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 47," press release, April 1, 2013.

Why evangelical Christians support Israel

As whipped-up Palestinian rioters cry out for Jewish blood in their days of rage against ‘occupation’ of their land, we should be praying that these dear people, for whom Christ died, would instead call on the blood of Jesus for their redemption.

This is their only hope – and ours too for that matter. As Israel is tempted to quake in fear of the vicious international hatred being vented against them, may they too cry out for help from Elohim who sent his beloved Son to die as a sacrificial Lamb to atone for the sins of all who put their trust in him. The doorposts daubed in lamb’s blood back in Egypt later became a wooden cross where God himself took the punishment we deserved.

In this battle over war and peace, the hordes of hell are being unleashed against the Anointed One and his people. But the Prince of Peace – not the diplomats or politicians – has the solution.

Christian Support is Vital

As believers the world over celebrate Pentecost (Shavuot) on Sunday, I think it is highly significant that a Jerusalem Post writer has credited evangelical Christians (or Christian Zionists as they are also known among Jews) for the current political breakthrough which has seen President Trump move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to the ‘city of the Great King’.

“It is evangelical Christians who are standing with Israel today in ways that Nehemiah could never have dreamed about,” wrote Tuly Weisz on 12 May.¹

In this spiritual battle, the Prince of Peace – not the diplomats or politicians – has the solution.

We’re talking about their influence on the President as well as their love for the Jewish people who gave us Jesus and the Bible including almost the entire New Testament.

Weisz had asked Christian participants of a Jerusalem conference why the embassy move was so important to them. “The answer they gave is that it is foretold in the Bible,” she wrote, citing Old Testament examples of Cyrus and Nehemiah. Meanwhile Israel’s Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett said the move represented a new era in which the international community’s relationship was based on reality and fact, not fantasy and fiction.²

Gentiles and the Gospel

It’s worth noting that those 3,000 who joined the first disciples on the Day of Pentecost in response to Peter’s sermon were Jews and proselytes from all over the known world (Acts 2:5).

An indication of the significant role Gentiles would play in spreading the good news of Israel’s God came with the healing of the centurion’s servant at the start of Jesus’ ministry. The Roman officer had humbly sought the Saviour’s help, only requiring him to “say the word” as he felt unworthy to receive him into his home.

And so the Gospel – to the Jew first (the leper who preceded this incident in Matthew 8) – was now also offered to the Gentile. We hear much about amazing grace, but Jesus was amazed by this man’s faith. The only other time he is recorded as having been amazed was by the lack of faith in his home town (Mark 6:6).

Faithful Gentiles have made an extraordinary mark on the world.

I wonder too if our Lord was also prophesying of a day when faithful Gentiles would make an extraordinary mark on the world.

The beach near Capernaum, where the Roman centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. Picture by Charles Gardner.In Yorkshire alone in recent centuries (I am biased because I live there) I can immediately think of three men who changed the world through their faith in Jesus – William Wilberforce from Hull, a co-founder of the Church’s Ministry among Jewish people who successfully campaigned for the abolition of slavery, Barnsley’s Hudson Taylor, to whom millions of Chinese Christians owe their salvation, and Bradford plumber Smith Wigglesworth, who raised 14 people from the dead as he helped to pioneer the modern-day Pentecostal movement which had such a profound impact on 20^th Century Christianity.

The Power of Prayer

In honouring the Jewish people in both word and deed, we are simply building on the foundation laid by the Apostles. But we mustn’t forget the importance of prayer – after all, a ten-day prayer meeting had preceded that great initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

In terms of the recognition – and restoration – of Israel, the importance of prayer from men like Rees Howells and his Bible College students at Swansea in Wales cannot be underestimated. They had prayed many long hours at the time of the UN vote in 1947 before victory was secured.

In South Africa, although the government stubbornly refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself, many Christians are on their knees praying for the peace of Jerusalem. Farmer friends from where I grew up have just emailed me, saying: “We are extremely excited with the USA’s ambassadorial move to Jerusalem and continue to pray for this beautiful capital as well as for the region. What a privilege to witness what the prophets were only able to see in visions.”

In honouring the Jewish people in both word and deed, we mustn’t forget the importance of prayer.

Those nations who oppose Jewish aspirations are in for a big shock. For they will come to nothing, as Isaiah predicted long ago (Isa 60:12). Even the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign received a bloody nose with victory for Israel’s entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest despite their efforts.

Eyes on Jerusalem

It is significant of course that the United States should take the lead in recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, just as they had done back in 1948 when President Harry Truman was the first to recognise the new-born state. Apparently he took just eleven minutes to do so, but “later regretted that he waited so long”, according to US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.³

In fact, there will come a time – perhaps in the not-too-distant future – when Jerusalem will become the capital of the world (see Zechariah 14:9, 16).

Israel will soon be blessed with a Royal visit from Prince William, second-in-line to the British throne. But at the Second Coming of Jesus, which is surely also not far off judging by the signs (see Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21), they will welcome the King of Kings and Lord and Lords (Rev 19:16).

Come, Lord Jesus!

References

1 Time to start crediting the Christians. Jerusalem Post, 12 May 2018.

2 Jerusalem News Network, 16 May 2018, quoting the Washington Post.

3 JNN, 14 May 2018, quoting Arutz-7.

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.

A day will come when no-one will dare dispute who rules Jerusalem

Predictable fury has erupted in the wake of President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Days of rage, incited by Palestinian leaders, have been accompanied by a chorus of condemnation from European and other political chiefs – with the honourable exception of the Czech Republic and some African countries.

And it’s all about simply acknowledging a fact of history – that Jerusalem has links with Israel going back at least 3,000 years and has long been regarded by Jews everywhere as their capital. But this is disputed by much of the Arab world and beyond.

So, tragically, violence once more spoils the precious scene of Christ’s nativity – he was born in Bethlehem, just five miles from the disputed city – just when billions of believers are about to celebrate his birth there some 2,000 years ago.

Although he was, and is, the Prince of Peace prophesied by Isaiah 700 years earlier, Jesus did also say that even members of the same family would be divided over him (Luke 12:49-53), and it was prophesied over the new-born King that he would be a sign spoken against (Luke 2:34). His promised peace is only felt by those who choose his rule over their lives.

The Nations Rage and Plot

The Bible asks: “Why do the nations rage [or conspire] and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles’” (Psalm 2:1-3).

But the One enthroned in Heaven is not impressed, declaring: “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain” (verse 6).

Although he was, and is, the Prince of Peace, Jesus did also say that even members of the same family would be divided over him.

These ancient words of Scripture perfectly mirror the rebellious, murderous reaction to God’s purposes today. The psalmist adds: “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling” (vv10-11).

Notice the phrase, “let us throw off their shackles”, which speaks of the rebellion against God’s rule through much of what was formerly known as ‘Western civilisation’, built up as such on the foundations of the Christian Gospel.

Faith That Can Move Mountains

Discipleship of the One born in a ‘cattle shed’ in David’s ‘royal city’ comes down to faith in God and the courage of our convictions.

Like him or loathe him, President Trump has chosen to surround himself with advisors who have this kind of faith and know the importance of doing the right thing, even if unpopular and liable to cause outrage in the short term.

I have a wonderful friend from Morecambe called Mollie who has a very feisty, practical faith. When she got burgled recently, and the police called round to take a statement and give her a ‘crime number’, she was told not to expect to get anything back as her case would be filed in a drawer and probably forgotten about.

This is not a criticism of our hard-pressed police, who are short-staffed and run ragged by a spiralling crime rate. However, Mollie would not accept that faithless outlook and boldly declared to the man in uniform that God was able to restore her stolen items.

Next day, to her astonishment, her neighbourhood was crawling with police searching for clues and, in no time at all, she was rewarded for her faith with a pile of returned items, including her precious coat.

Discipleship of the One born in a ‘cattle shed’ in David’s ‘royal city’ comes down to faith in God and the courage of our convictions.

Another inspiring example of faith is that of William Cooke who, as a 15-year-old lad from Yorkshire, went on a short-term mission to Mexico, and while staying at a children’s home there, told his youth leader that God had spoken to him and that he would return to Mexico as a missionary one day. It happened just as he said and today, after nearly 20 years of serving in that country – currently running a home for abandoned children - he and his wife Katie have won state recognition with a $12,000 award for outstanding service to social care.

Jesus said that we could “move mountains” through faith in God (Mark 11:22-25).

Peace On Earth

In fact, “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb 11:6). Israel was built on the faith of Abraham and his seed while punishment in the form of repeated exile followed rebellion against God’s ways and faith being placed in man-made idols.

It’s important to note that the focus of Hebrews 11’s long list of our spiritual forebears who exemplified great faith was not on the things of this world, but on the Heavenly glory to come.

Peace on earth – especially in the Middle East – will certainly not be built on the secular humanist philosophies of Western or any other leaders who seem unable even to settle sharp differences within their own political parties. It will come only by recognising the One who is meant to be what Christmas is all about – ‘the reason for the season’ - the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ.

You can know his peace within your heart today, and you can look forward to the peace he will bring to earth when he returns to reign from Jerusalem (Zech 14:4-9; Isa 11:6-9)! There will be no dispute about who rules the city then.

Happy Christmas!

Author and publisher Peter Sammons takes on the multi-faith agenda.

‘The Empty Promise of Godism: Reflections on the Multi-Faith Agenda’ (Glory to Glory, 2009). Review by Maureen Trowbridge.

In the foreword to this book the author discusses the common view that all religions are essentially the same. “What sort of God do we believe in? Can we logically hold the notion that all religions are sent by God?”

Sammons sets off to explore the claims of the multi-faith ‘godists’ vis-à-vis the authentic Gospel, the true and consistent nature of God and his unique characteristics as revealed in Scripture.

Before opening up the multi-faith agenda, Sammons wisely lays a strong foundation with several chapters on the Bible’s revelations of who God is. Sammons spends time unpacking the Ten Commandments, which show clearly the true heart of God, including the command that “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3).

Then, as the rest of the book unfolds, there are clear explanations of what the author terms ‘godism’ (a more nebulous approach to spirituality that holds that all religions have something to offer but none have a monopoly on the truth) in clear and challenging opposition to the truth of Christianity. All the comments and explanations are backed up by the word of God.

For anyone who is perplexed by, or wishing to respond to, the common belief that there are various paths to God and that no one religion or belief holds all the answers, this is the book to read. The author finishes with the way to find a true faith and with the positive affirmation from Jesus that “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).

I recommend this as an excellent and thought-provoking book for understanding and growing in the Christian faith, especially in the context of postmodern, multi-faith Britain.

The Empty Promise of Godism (382pp) is available from the publisher for £10 + P&P. Also available for free as an e-book.

‘The Prince of Peace; Finding True Peace in a World that Wars’ (GlorytoGlory Publications, 2015). Review by Rev Dr David Moore.

Peter Sammons’ ‘The Prince of Peace’ is aimed at a general readership, readily accessible also to those without any prior knowledge of the Bible. ‘Peace’ is here understood in the wide terms of the Hebrew word shalom (peace, wholeness, wellbeing, salvation, etc) and finds its focus and fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ, the Messianic Prince of Peace.

This understanding enables the author to explore, in a semi-conversational style, a wide range of Bible-teaching: salvation and the Gospel, Jews and Gentiles, Israel in the purposes of God, other religions, world peace and eschatology (including Jerusalem/Zion). As such, it is a little ‘body of divinity’ which introduces the reader to the Gospel, the Bible and Christian theology.

For the more theologically literate Christian, the book is also of interest in that it clearly grows out of the conviction that Replacement Theology distorts the place of Jew and Gentile in the integral meta-narrative of Scripture. This holistic stance provides a key to biblical end time prophecy where there is often confusion over what applies to the Jews and what relates to the Church, the so-called ‘new Israel of God’.

‘The Prince of Peace’ should appeal to both the serious seeker and the thoughtful Christian alike.

The Prince of Peace (137pp) is available from the publisher for £8.99 + P&P.

About the author: Peter Sammons is a writer and publisher based in Essex. His publishing house, Christian Publications International (formerly GlorytoGlory Publications) supplies a variety of books and resources, with particular emphasis on Christian theology, healing and Hebraic roots. As well as books for purchase, the CPI website also hosts free and downloadable resources. Click here to find out more.

Las Vegas, gun control and the Bible.

The USA’s latest multiple shooting atrocity in Las Vegas has hit the world headlines as the worst in a long line of similar incidents of rogue gunmen mowing down innocent civilians. As mourning once again overtakes the US, the big question occupying the media is whether or not President Trump will order a review of the gun laws that allow citizens the right to bear arms.

It will not be an easy decision as during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was reported to have received financial support from the powerful gun lobby groups,¹ which historically have resisted every attempt to change the gun laws. Why do Americans regard it as a sacred right to carry a gun?

The Right to Bear Arms

I remember being shocked when we exchanged churches with an American minister in Los Angeles. He came and took pastoral responsibility for our church in London while I and my family moved into his home in LA and pastored his church for six weeks during the summer holiday. I have done similar exchanges with churches in New York, Vermont, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts and California, and I have a great love for my many American friends. My shock was when the LA minister said that he always carried a gun into church under his cassock and I should do the same!

I had been the minister of a church in Tottenham, a tough district of London, for 10 years: I’d seen street riots and I’d been involved in many violent situations, but I had never handled a gun. In inner-city areas of London with which I’m familiar, gun crime is rare and the majority of our policemen do not carry guns, even in these days of mounting terrorism.

As mourning once again overtakes the US, the media is asking whether or not President Trump will order a review of the gun laws.

Why is it that in the USA, where so many are Bible-believing Christians, even believers not only carry guns, but fiercely defend their right to purchase weapons, carry them in public and use them in self-defence? Is it something to do with their heritage?

Las Vegas Strip.In addition to our prayers for the American people, I would like to offer what I hope is a thought-provoking contribution to the gun control debate that is taking place in America amidst all the suffering and grief of this latest tragedy.

Taking Up the Gun

The USA, unlike Canada, was born in blood. Both the US and Canada were British colonies. Both the US and Canada had issues with Britain and rightly wanted to assert their freedom to determine their own future. The Canadians settled these issues by negotiation, remaining in the British Commonwealth, but the Americans took to the gun in a war that ended in independence in 1776.

Nearly a hundred years later there were issues between the northern and southern states. Once again Americans took to the gun in the bloody civil war of 1861-1865 in which thousands of young men were slaughtered or left carrying life-changing wounds.

Why do Americans regard it as a sacred right to carry a gun – is it to do with their heritage?

In the 20^th Century Hollywood took up the theme of heroism displayed in war and bloodshed, and perpetuated the American romance of conquering the Wild West and playing cowboys and Indians. John Wayne became the ideal type of American manhood with tough talk and a fast gun to settle disputes. Arguably, President Trump is continuing this image of American manhood with his threats to completely obliterate North Korea while pouring scorn on the idea of negotiating with Kim Jong-un.

Inconsistent Ideologies

In complete contrast, Americans are also proud of their historic Christian roots in the coming of the Pilgrim Fathers from Britain who were seeking a place where they could be free to practise their biblical Christian faith. This is recognised in the dollar bill that still bears the inscription ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’.

But the one-dollar bill also bears the image of the Great Seal of America that carries the insignia of the all-seeing-eye of pagan mythology. This symbolises an inconsistency in the American psyche that sees no contradiction in putting together two contrary ideologies.

At root here is a failure to recognise that you cannot be both a Bible-believing Christian whose trust is in God, and one who embraces the values of the world - including solving disputes by conquest and brutal force. The same contradictory attitude is seen in the realm of business and commerce, where monopolist values that trample upon small traders have come to dominate, even spreading into politics (as demonstrated to an extent in the election of Trump - the ideal global capitalist).

Being a Peacemaker

Jesus rightly perceived that we cannot serve two masters with diametrically opposite values. You cannot be a peace-maker if you also have your finger on a gun. The teaching of Jesus was, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Matt 5:21).

Jesus was also consistent in rejecting all forms of violence for the settlement of disputes. He even went so far as to say “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’” (Matt 5:43-44).

Jesus not only taught this but practised it in his own life, deliberately choosing crucifixion rather than allowing his disciples to take to the sword (though Simon Peter tried!) or calling down a legion of angels for his defence.

You cannot be both a Bible-believing Christian whose trust is in God, and one who embraces the values of the world.

Recognising the Danger

I have no doubt that I will be told that the teaching of Jesus is utterly impracticable for nations today, and particularly that if other nations have nuclear weapons, we must too.

But such a policy can only end in an Armageddon-type conflict, which is prophesied in the Bible: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10).

Though we do not know when the ‘day of the Lord’ will come, it may be that Peter also intended this prophecy as a warning of what will inevitably happen if human beings do not pause to reflect upon their actions and repent, calling upon God for his help. There is a promise in Jeremiah 18:7 that if the nations repent, judgment will not fall upon us. But disastrous destruction is inevitable if we do not change our ways. Then, the scenario described by Peter and Isaiah (chapter 24) will actually happen.

The dark clouds of judgment are already gathering on the world’s horizons, with so many nations, groups and individuals being driven relentlessly by the same evil spirit that motivated the Las Vegas murderer. Our prayer is that hearts will soften before it is too late.

We would love to hear from our readers – particularly those in the US - in response to these thoughts.

References

1 E.g. see here and here.

The word 'Jeremiah' has come down the years to mean a foreteller of doom. But this does him an injustice, as Tony Pearce notes in the next of our series on the prophets.

Jeremiah was clearly not one of the more popular preachers of his day. It is unlikely that his diary was full of engagements or that he was invited to leadership meetings planning the next wave of revival. In fact, in his times of dejection he sat alone, lamenting the day of his birth and describing himself as a "man of strife and contention" whom everyone cursed (Jer 15:10).

Plain Warnings

Some might have argued that his isolation was his own fault. He did not go out of his way to make friends and influence people. He denounced his generation as spiritual and physical adulterers "going after other gods to their own hurt", and "like well-fed, lusty stallions, everyone neighed after his neighbour's wife" (Jer 5:8).

He had no time for their hypocritical form of religion in which they kept up appearances of faith in the Lord, while breaking at every turn the covenant he had made with them. He punctured their illusions, particularly the false assurance that, because the Temple stood in Jerusalem, God was under an obligation to defend them from enemy invasion and the deportation that had previously afflicted the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Jer 7:4).

Jeremiah warned his listeners plainly that God's condition for protection was that they amend their ways, that they "execute judgment between a man and his neighbour" and they do not go after other gods (Jer 7:5-6). For 23 years Jeremiah repeated this message, telling the people to repent and turn back to the Lord, upon which change of heart he would cause them to dwell in the land (Jer 25:3-6).

The People's Response

But although he faithfully relayed God's word to them, neither king nor priest, rich nor poor, would listen. Therefore, he said, God would compel them to listen by bringing Nebuchadnezzar against them to destroy the city and the Temple and taking them away captive to Babylon for 70 years (Jer 25:8-11). For this warning he was denounced as an enemy agent come to undermine the confidence of the people, thrown into prison, and left to die. A scroll containing his message - God's prophetic warning — was torn up and thrown into the fire by the king.

It was much more encouraging to listen to those who were prophesying peace, saying in effect, 'It does not matter how you live, laugh, enjoy yourselves, have parties and fun. God will look after you and give you peace, because you are the King's kids.' Jeremiah denounced these men as false prophets, which did little to improve his popularity rating. He prophesied that the sword, famine and pestilence, would come on that wicked generation (Jer 14:12).

The soothing prophecies of peace and safety were much more attractive and acceptable to the people. But they were false prophecies, while Jeremiah's predictions of forthcoming doom on that generation were true, and actually came to pass.

Soothing prophecies of peace and safety were much more attractive to the people - but they were false, while Jeremiah's predictions of forthcoming doom were true.

The catastrophe he had prophesied materialised and Jerusalem and the Temple lay in ruins. But did Jeremiah then point the finger and say, 'I told you so?' No. In the book of Lamentations he wrote, "My eyes overflow with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people" (Lam 3:48). His heart beat with the compassion and mercy of God. Even as he saw God fulfil his word of judgment he knew that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases" (Lam 3:22).

Prophecies of Hope and Restoration

Jeremiah was not just a prophet of doom; he wrote some of the most beautiful pictures describing Israel's restoration, showing the people that there would be a "future and a hope" when they sought the Lord with all their heart.

70 years later in Babylon, Daniel recognised that the word of the Lord through Jeremiah concerning the desolation of Jerusalem had been fulfilled, and in prayer he confessed the sins of the nation (Dan 9). He coupled the disaster which had come upon Israel to the breaking of the covenant which God had made with her through the Law of Moses (Lev 26; Deut 28; Jer 31:32).

Following Daniel's prayer, Jeremiah's prophecies of restoration were fulfilled: the exiles returned from Babylon and the Temple was rebuilt. In the fullness of time the Messiah - whom Jeremiah also prophesied - came to bring in the new covenant made with "the house of Israel and the house of Judah". Through the witness of the first Jewish believers in Jesus, people all over the world can come into that new covenant and enjoy its benefits:

'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts; And I will be their God and they shall be my people...They shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' says the Lord, 'For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.' (Jer 31:31-34)

The Message for Today

The message of Jeremiah is relevant to our time, as we see the approaching judgments of the end times. We cannot "heal the hurt of the daughter of my people lightly, saying 'Peace, peace,' where there is no peace" (Jer 6:14). We cannot make grand promises of coming revival, where there is no true repentance and faith. Whether it makes us popular or not, we must warn of the terrible judgment that is coming on this wicked generation that rejects the word of the Lord.

The Lord Jesus warned of a time of great tribulation coming at the end of this age (Matt 24:21). As in Jeremiah's day there is a reason for this time of trouble coming. Our century has seen a rebellion against God on a scale that is unparalleled in human history. We boast of our technological ability which we vainly imagine has made us 'the Captains of our fate', no longer dependent on God. Yet the very technological advance contains the seeds of our own destruction as we pollute the only planet we can live on and create bigger and better weapons with which to destroy each other.

Whether it is popular or not, we must warn of the terrible judgment coming on this generation that rejects the word of the Lord.

Conscious of the coming calamity, nations and religions are joining hands in a vain attempt to save the world by means of a 'New World Order' backed by a 'Global Ethic' which, it is hoped, will unite humanity. The slogans are attractive and the promises dazzling, but it is a house built on the sand. It ignores the sin problem of humanity and decisively rejects the only solution to this problem - repentance and faith in the one way of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock

"Peace, peace, where there is no peace." "Peace and safety." The voice of the false prophets is as loud in our generation as it was in Jeremiah's. It offers a false peace and a false hope based on human potential and human goodness and reconciliation apart from God revealed in Jesus Christ.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him... (Isa 53:5)

But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been made near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace. (Eph 2:13-14)

The true prophets pointing to the Lord Jesus as the only way to God and warning of his soon coming in judgment face scorn, rejection and persecution as Jeremiah did in his day. They are not welcome at the great international gatherings where political and religious leaders try to sort out the world's problems. In the great ecumenical and inter-faith meetings the Lord Jesus too stands outside the door and knocks, as he stood outside the door of the worldly, self-confident church of Laodicea (Rev 3:20).

Does he also stand outside the door of many great evangelical and charismatic gatherings? David Wilkerson spoke of a "Christless Pentecost" in which phenomena and physical manifestations become the mark of spiritual re-birth, rather than a humble walk with the Lord and a life of service.

How many prophecies of coming great revival, backed by spectacular miracles which will dazzle the unbelieving world into submission, are in fact false prophecies, raising hopes and expectations but ultimately leading to disappointment and disillusion, as did the false prophecies of Jeremiah's day?

How many contemporary prophets of revival will the Lord say, "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings" (Jer 23:21-22).

How many contemporary prophets of revival will the Lord say, 'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied'.

Today God is looking for those who will stand for him in the public place, as Jeremiah did, and say to the kings (political leaders), the priests (religious leaders), the rich and poor alike: "Hear the word of the Lord...Amend your ways and your doings and I will cause you to dwell in this place" (Jer 7:2-3).

First published in Prophecy Today Vol 11 No 6, November 1995.

As we enter into a new year, not knowing what we will encounter, how can we look ahead with understanding?

Looking ahead into the New Year is like driving a car in rain and thick fog with the windscreen wipers going flat out and your eyes straining to pick up familiar shapes and to distinguish signs of danger. But Christians have several weapons in their spiritual armoury enabling them to look ahead with understanding. In particular, they have the Bible and the Holy Spirit, who is the 'Counsellor' and the interpreter of the word of God.

The Promised Counsellor

Jesus promised his followers that the Holy Spirit would not only guide us into all truth but that he will even "tell you what is yet to come" (John 16:12). Obviously that does not mean some kind of soothsayer gift, or the ability to know everything that is going to happen in the future. This promise was made at the Last Supper when Jesus was preparing his disciples for the shock of his death and resurrection. He was reassuring them that they would never be separated from him once the Holy Spirit came into their lives.

Christians have several weapons in their armoury enabling them to look ahead with understanding. In particular we have the Bible and the Holy Spirit, who counsels us.

Jesus' emphasis was upon the truth being revealed to his disciples so that they could be his witnesses in the world. If, on some occasions, this meant that they needed to know what would happen in the future, then this would be revealed to them. That promise still holds good today, but only when it is essential for the furtherance of the gospel.

Of course, the broad outlines of the way God intends working out his purposes are already set out in Scripture, leading up to the day when he will draw all things together and the nations will be gathered before Jesus (Matt 25:32). But most biblical scholars believe there is quite a bit to be fulfilled before that day. Nevertheless, we clearly live in a day when momentous events are occurring, which may not only be turning points in history but actually milestones in the fulfilment of God's purposes.

The Year Past

As we noted earlier last year, 2015 was a year of anniversaries, such as the 1000^th anniversary of the Viking invasion of England, the 800^th anniversary of Magna Carta, the 750^th anniversary of our first parliament, the 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and the 70^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. But what of the future? What does 2016 hold for Britain and for the nations of the world?

In the last week of 2015 the so-called Islamic State suffered its first major reversal in losing control of Ramadi, a key town in northern Iraq. But does this signal a turning point in the war against the Islamic fighters? Peace talks are scheduled for the New Year in the five year long civil war that has ravaged Syria and changed the demography of a large part of the Middle East. Is there anything in the Bible that helps us to understand what is happening in that part of the world?

We clearly live in a day when momentous events are occurring – not only turning points in history, but milestones in the fulfilment of God's purposes.

Understanding the Middle East Powers

Iraq and Iran generated some of the most violent and bloodthirsty empires that ruled the region in biblical times. Assyria, Babylon and Persia each had their capital cities in this territory. Between them they were responsible for hundreds of years of cruelty, oppression and injustice inflicted upon all the small nations around them including Israel and Judah. The ruthless atrocities committed by their armies struck terror into the hearts of their neighbours.

But the prophets foresaw a day of retribution coming upon them for the gross suffering they had inflicted upon others. Isaiah devoted two chapters (13 and 14) to the judgement that would come upon Babylon and Assyria. He foresaw Babylon being overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah. He said "She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations" (Isa 13:20) and Jeremiah also devoted two whole chapters (50 and 51) to what he foresaw coming upon Babylon. He prophesied that God would "stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon" (Jer 51:1). He continued "I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster."

Prophecies Against Babylon

Historically that did not happen when the Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus, the Persian Ruler, in 539 BC because Babylon surrendered to him without a shot being fired and the city remained a centre of commerce and prosperity for many years. In fact, that prophecy was not fulfilled until hundreds of years later. Babylon gradually fell into decay during the Greek period and then when the Muslims conquered the land in AD 650, what remained of it was totally destroyed. Babylon has remained desolate to this day - despite Saddam Hussein's attempt to revive its ancient glory.

Prophecies about Babylon's destruction were eventually fulfilled so that it remains desolate to this day – despite Saddam Hussein's attempt to revive its ancient glory.

No-one lives in Babylon now, as both Isaiah and Jeremiah foresaw. Jeremiah wrote his long prophecy on a scroll and sent it via a messenger to Babylon in the year 593 BC with the instruction that the whole of the scroll should be read in Babylon - presumably on a bridge over the River Euphrates, because he gave the scroll to a man called Seraiah with this instruction, "When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. Then say, 'O Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither man nor animal will live in it; it will be desolate forever.' When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her'" (Jer 51:61-64).

Prophecies for Today

Are there any prophecies that are relevant for understanding what is happening today? The answer to this question lies in Ezekiel, Haggai, Malachi, as well as in the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels and in the Book of Revelation. Clearly we cannot review such a range of Scripture in a short article such as this. But we can note one or two salient points.

Anti-government protesters shout slogans against Assad, 28/12/15. See Photo Credits.A number of Arab leaders, such as Ahmadinejad the former President of Iran, have made clear declarations of their intention to destroy Israel. At the moment, with the Syrian conflict still at its height, none of the nations in the Middle East are in a position to launch an attack upon Israel, so apart from the odd incident of violence involving Palestinians, Israel has largely dropped below the radar of the world's media. But we all know that it will happen sometime.

The prophet Ezekiel devotes two chapters (38 and 39) to what he foresees as a combined attack upon Israel coming from many of the surrounding nations. But his prophecy is quite specific and everyone in Israel today is aware of his warnings. He says that a combined international army will invade Israel; "In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety" (Ezek 38:8). All of this sounds very much like the history of the modern state of Israel since 1948. But the prophecy also sees the Israeli population as being "a peaceful and unsuspecting people" (38:11) which certainly is not an accurate description of Israel today, where everyone is on the alert.

Ezekiel prophesied a combined attack on Israel from surrounding nations which has not yet come to pass – which requires Israel to be 'peaceful and unsuspecting'.

False Peace

Strangely enough, the greatest danger may be coming from the so-called 'peace talks' which the United Nations are organising, when they hope to bring together the warring factions in Syria together with President Assad, plus the support of unlikely bedfellows such as Iran, Russia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Once the Arabs have settled their disputes, Israel may be in greater danger which inevitably brings a threat to world peace.

The outcome of these talks is more likely to be a false peace based upon a patched-up agreement - rather than a true peace. Such an agreement with the backing of the United Nations could lull Israel into a false sense of security which could endanger their future.

This is the kind of scenario referred to in the prophecy given by David Noakes in Jerusalem back in 2003 that we are printing alongside this article. We cannot look ahead into 2016 without sounding a note of warning. At the same time, we express our confidence in the sovereignty of God, who is clearly working out his purposes at this point in world history.

Strangely enough, the greatest danger may be from UN peace talks, which will likely create a false peace that will lull Israel into a false sense of security – but which will not last.

Need for Committed Prayer

Perhaps the greatest need today is for a greater commitment of Christians to the study of the word of God and to specifically focused intercession. The key to the future lies not so much with the activities of churches and denominations with their synods and assemblies, but with the multitude of small groups of believers who faithfully gather in prayer and Bible study, as they did in the earliest days of the church.