The ongoing madness

MALCOLM HEDDING
09/15/2010

The increasing boycotts against Israel are led by the anti-Israel Left, supported by the global press.

The word most often heard now concerning Israel is “isolation.”

The now-infamous Gaza flotilla clash, which had more to do with an anti- Israel agenda than with humanitarian aid for the beleaguered residents of Gaza, has re-charged the anti-Israel Left and enabled it to issue increased calls for Israel to be sanctioned and/or boycotted. The Left is sadly supported by much of the global press. As a consequence, labor unions in some parts of the world are refusing to off-load ships with Israeli products, and traditional churches such as Presbyterians, Anglicans and Lutherans are intensifying their calls for disinvestment from Israel. This assault on Israel’s legitimacy is so widespread, sustained and, sadly, effective that the “average Joe” is buying in to it or, because of pressure and intimidation, giving in to it. The result is that organizations like the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and others that stand with Israel are being branded as suspect.

This is the climate in which we now operate. In short, there is a sustained campaign to delegitimize and dismantle Israel, and those who defend her are targeted in the same way.

However, we are not moved by public opinion, but by the Word of the living God. We are thus convinced that Israel’s modern-day restoration is not a political coincidence but rather solid evidence of God’s faithfulness to His promise to Abraham some 4,000 years ago. We will stand firm in our support of Israel and her right to exist in the land that God forever gave her (Genesis 17:7-8). This includes proclaiming that Jerusalem is and should remain the undivided eternal capital of the Jewish people. Israel’s claims in this regard are beyond dispute.

However, the delegitimization campaign has brought together radical Muslims and radical leftists in the Western democracies. These are very strange bedfellows, as Islam’s well-documented abuse of women, honor killings, execution of those Muslims who convert to other religions, and its agenda to introduce sharia law wherever it gets a foothold, are all blatant contradictions of the Left’s thinking. So, why would “the Left” tolerate such blatant contradictions? The answer is simple; they unite with radical Islam in their hatred of Israel and their desire to see her removed from the Middle East.

So, what could be at the root of this hatred? Only one thing: anti- Semitism! The hatred of things Jewish is an old and deadly malady of the human heart that is so intense, it will unite the most unlikely groups. This is a disease of choice, a deliberate decision to persecute, hound and destroy Jews. It seduces people of all stations. The new target of those filled with this hatred is the “corporate Jew,” or Israel. They disavow anti-Semitism and insist that their accusations against Israel are legitimate because of political concerns. This is the Big Lie! These people hate all things Jewish, propagate such age-old lies as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, accept and even promote Holocaust denial, and will not stop.

Their narrative twists history, denigrates the truth, and denies any Jewish connection to Jerusalem or the Temple Mount. Nevertheless, the liberal Left marches hand-in-hand with the Muslim militants! Meanwhile, smelling weakness in the American administration, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has stepped up his war against the Jews by prodding Hizbullah toward renewed armed conflict with Israel on her northern border and on the Web, as seen in the new site which uses cartoons to deny the Holocaust (see Page 9). The message is clear; the Jews were never exterminated by anybody, but now they deserve it! When will the madness stop?

Rev. Hedding is executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem; www.icej.org