Frequently Asked Questions

  • Anti-Semitism
  • Christian Zionism
  • Israeli Policies
  • Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
  • Support for Israel
What is the Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
  • Jews have maintained a continuous presence in the Land of Israel for more than 3,000 years - a fact that is supported by substantial archeological and historical evidence.
    • There was a politically independent Jewish Kingdom from approximately 1000 BC until 586 BC - and from 165 BC until 63 BC, when the Kingdom became a client state of the Roman Empire.
    • Roman emperors have long acknowledged Jewish traditions and Jerusalem's centrality in Judaism. Augustus issued the following edict in 1 BC: "Jews shall use their own customs in accordance with their ancestral law...and their sacred offerings shall be inviolable and shall be sent to Jerusalem; and they shall not [be required to appear] in court on the Sabbath."
    • Jews got their name from their land of origin, Judea. It was not until the Romans expelled many Jews from Israel in 135 AD that they renamed the area Palestine in an attempt to de-Judaize it.
    • There is extensive documentation of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem and the Land of Israel.

 

  • Jerusalem has been the Jewish people's capital for more than three millennia.
    • There are nearly 700 mentions of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible.
    • More than a hundred generations of dispersed Jews prayed three times a day to return to Jerusalem.

 

  • The sacred texts of both Christianity and Islam confirm the Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel.
    • The New Testament confirms the Jewish connection to the land in St. Stephen's sermon in Act 7 and in Hebrews 11.
      • "...and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell." (Acts 7:3-4)
      • "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." (Hebrews 11:8-9)
    • The Koran refers frequently to Jews and identifies them with Israel and the Promised Land.
      • "And thereafter We said to the Children of Israel: 'Dwell securely in the Promised Land." (Sura 17:104 The Night Journey).
      • The Koran describes Solomon's construction of the First Temple (Sura 34:13) and recounts the destruction of the First and Second Temples (Sura 17:7).

 

  • Jews have been a majority in Jerusalem for the last 150 years.
    • The Jewish population was decimated by the Crusaders in the 12th century AD, but it eventually rebounded. By the 1880s, when the Ottoman Empire ruled the city, Jews once again became the largest religious group in Jerusalem. At that time, there were 9,000 Jews and 7,000 Arabs living in the city.
Is Israel occupying the Palestinians' land?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict

 

 

  • A "State of Palestine" never existed in history.
    • The areas now described as Palestinian were once part of the British Empire and the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
    • In 1948, Egypt captured the Gaza Strip - and Jordan captured Judea and Samaria, renaming the territory "the West Bank".
    • Egypt and Jordan controlled these areas until 1967. During that time, no country in the Arab World called for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Why has no peace agreement been reached between Israelis and Palestinians?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict

 
Would Palestinian statehood bring about peace?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict

 

 
Are Israeli settlements the major obstacles to Middle East peace?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
  • While settlements can be a source of conflict, they are not the major obstacle to peace. 
    • ​From 1948-1967 no Israeli settlements existed, yet the Palestinian leadership and the Arab World still sought Israel's annihilation.

    • As a result of the resounding Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel gained the “West Bank,” “Gaza,” ”Golan Heights” and “East Jerusalem.” Less than a week after the war ended, the Israeli unity government under PM Levi Eshkol affirmed – and then told the Americans -- that Israel would return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and the Golan Heights to Syria in return for signed peace treaties. Separate negotiations would then be conducted regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the refugee issue. While Egypt accepted the Sinai offer, Syria rejected the Golan Heights offer. Negotiations over the West Bank and Gaza failed.

  • Settlements do not jeopardize future "Land for Peace" deals.
    • ​In the meantime, some Israelis took up residence in areas around Jerusalem that were across the 1967 armistice lines. These Israeli developments, known as “Settlements,” only take up around 2% of West Bank land. Over time, US Administrations recognized that Israel would retain some of these towns in any peace agreement.

    • Israel has uprooted other settlements such as those in the Gaza Strip. In 2005 Israel evacuated all the Jewish families living in Gaza—a total population of 8,000. However, instead of making peace, Hamas—a terrorist organization—took over the Gaza Strip and responded by firing thousands of rockets at Israeli cities in the ensuing years.

  • The Israeli government is not building new Settlements.
    • ​For years, the only legal construction allowed by the Israeli government has been within existing communities to accommodate the natural growth of resident families. Illegal outposts, which do not conform to Israel’s policies, do exist. Some critics fault the Israeli government for not dealing with them more forcefully, but the government works to resolve the issue peacefully or by court order.
       
  • Israeli Settlements may not be illegal at all.
    • ​Many legal scholars question whether Settlements are illegal at all. Eugene V. Rostow, one of the authors of UN Security Council Resolution 242—written after the 1967 war to create a framework for peace negotiations—stated, "The Jewish right of settlement in Palestine west of the Jordan River, that is, in Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, was made unassailable. That right has never been terminated and cannot be terminated except by a recognized peace between Israel and its neighbors." Moreover, Rostow contended that "The Jewish right of settlement in the area is equivalent in every way to the right of the existing Palestinian population to live there."

    • Others contend that the Geneva Convention, passed after WWII, makes the Settlements illegal. The December 2016 UN Security Council Resolution 2334 Vote—passed due to the US government’s abstention—declared them illegal and opened the door to future international actions against Israel.

Does Geneva Convention Apply?
The legal case for settlements in Judea and Samaria
Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territories

  • Palestinians are building illegally around Jerusalem. ​​
    • ​​All of the governments and international bodies that criticize Israel for building what many claim to be legal communities are silent about the construction of new Palestinian developments surrounding Jerusalem.

    • According to a detailed article by Bassam Tawil of the Gatestone Institute, the questionable construction is primarily in Zone-C, which under the Oslo Peace Accords should be territory controlled by Israel. According to Tawil, Palestinians estimate that in the past few years they have built more than 15,000 illegal housing units in areas surrounding Jerusalem as part of a plan to encircle the city. These are not single family homes, but massive apartment complexes without proper licenses, not built to code, and some without proper sewage. The article claims that many of the "contractors" are land-thieves and thugs who are building without permission on private Palestinian-owned land or on lands whose owners are living abroad.

The Real Illegal Settlements in Israel
​Israel Clamping Down on Illegal EU Building in West Bank
Palestinians are Building Illegal Settlements to Extend their Claims to Jerusalem

  • The major obstacle to peace is Palestinian leadership.
    • ​​​​The Palestinian leadership's refusal to give up the conflict, recognize Israel as a Jewish State, and renounce the "right of return" for most Palestinian refugees, is the real obstacle to peace. The so-called "right of return" would allow millions of descendants of Palestinian refugees to flood Israel.

    • No Israeli leader would ever accept the "right of return," since it would mean the end of the world’s only Jewish state. Yet, the Palestinian leadership has never told its own people that they must forfeit this claim in order to achieve peace.

In the last poll specifically addressing the question, 90 percent of Palestinians said that they would never give up the "right of return" as a concession for peace.

 
Who created the Palestinian refugees?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
  • The Palestinian refugees were created by the War of Annihilation that Arab countries launched against the new State of Israel in 1947.
    • Jews returned to the Land of Israel in peace. In 1947, the UN voted to partition the area then known as the Mandate of Palestine into two nations: one Jewish and one Arab. The Jewish community accepted this plan. The Arab world rejected it - and five Arab countries launched a war to destroy the newborn State of Israel.
    • This war - Israel's War of Independence - is what created the Palestinian refugees.

 

 

 

 

  • The UN and international organizations have perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem.
    • Palestinians are the only population in the world that the UN refuses to resettle. Instead, it passes their refugee status on to children and grandchildren. As a result, the original Palestinian refugee population of a few hundred thousand has grown to more than five million today.

 
Is Zionism a racist ideology?
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
  • Zionism is the opposite of racism. It is an answer to the racism directed at the Jewish people throughout history, known as anti-Semitism.

 

  • Zionism is a movement of national liberation - based on the idea that the Jewish people - just like any other people - are entitled to live in their homeland with independence, self-determination, and freedom from persecution.
    • The founders of Zionism saw their movement as a path to ending many centuries of racist anti-Semitism and persecution. In 1896, Zionism's founding father, Theodor Herzl, wrote that anti-Semitism, "is a remnant of the Middle Ages, which civilized nations do not even yet seem able to shake off. In countries where we have lived for centuries we are still cried down as strangers... [the only solution is] the restoration of the Jewish state."
    • Theodor Herzl, Israel's founding father wrote in Altneuland, his seminal book on Zionism, "You must hold fast to the things that have made us great; to liberality, tolerance, love of mankind. Only then is Zion truly Zion."
    • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that, "Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land... the fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord to all other nations of the globe."

 

  • The Zionist movement is based in the Jewish people's ancient connection to the Land of Israel.
    • The word "Zion" originally referred to the easternmost of the two hills of ancient Jerusalem, during the tenth century B.C. Over the years, it came to mean all of Jerusalem and then all of Israel.
    • The name Zion appears 152 times in the Old Testament. "Mount Zion" is the place where God dwells. Jerusalem, or Zion, is a place where the Lord is King, and where He has installed His king, David.

 

  • Zionism is an ideology rooted in the idea of equality. The State of Israel breathes life into these principles.
    • In the State of Israel's Declaration of Independence it is written: "The State of Israel... will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of creed, race or gender; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture."
    • Israel today is a beacon of equality in the Middle East, providing the full rights of citizenship for people of all cultures and faiths.
Who is responsible for the suffering of Palestinians today?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
  • Palestinian refugees suffered an injustice in 1948. However, the much greater injustice is that the international community and the Arab world have refused to resettle them for over seven decades.
    • The UN and international organizations have perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem.
      • Palestinians are the only population in the world that the UN refuses to resettle. Instead, it passes their refugee status on to children and grandchildren. As a result, the original Palestinian refugee population of a few hundred thousand has grown to more than five million today. 

 

 

 

  • The Palestinians' standard of living improved significantly under Israeli control from 1967 up until the Oslo Peace Process in the early 90s.
    • Mortality rates in the West Bank and Gaza fell by more than two-thirds between 1970 and 1990, and life expectancy rose from 48 years in 1967 to 72 years in 2000.
    • Israeli medical programs reduced the infant-mortality rate of 60 per 1,000 live births in 1968 to 15 per 1,000 in 2000. Under Israel's systematic program of inoculation, childhood diseases like polio, whooping cough, tetanus, and measles were eradicated.
    • By 1986, 92.8 percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza had electricity around the clock, compared with 20.5 percent in 1967; 85 percent had running water in dwellings, as compared to 16 percent in 1967.
    • In 1967, not a single university existed in Gaza or the West Bank. By the early 1990's, there were seven institutions of higher learning, boasting some 16,500 students.

 
Is Israel an apartheid state?
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies

 

 
Is Israel's government corrupt?
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
  • Israel's leaders are fallible - just like all human beings - and they have made mistakes. However, they are held fully accountable for their actions by the country's democratic process and independent judicial system.

 
Does Israel violate international law?
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
  • In the midst of a region filled with tyranny, violence, and human rights abuses, Israel strictly abides by the tenets of international law.

 

 
Do the Israel Defense Forces deliberately target and mistreat Palestinian civilians?
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
  • While Palestinian terrorists seek to maximize civilian casualties, Israel does everything in its power to minimize harm to civilians.

 

  • One of the core values of the Israel Defense Forces is the protection of human life and dignity. Israeli forces use a variety of strategies to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians - from dropping leaflets to diverting missiles mid-air.

 

Reports after the last major war in Gaza, the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, demonstrated the illegal, terrorist tactics of Hamas as well as the IDF’s efforts to protect innocent civilians.  The UN damage assessment report proved Israel was targeting tunnels and command centers, not civilians. Israeli report uncovers what the media did not.
Why does Israel have checkpoints and a security fence in Palestinian areas?
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies

 

 

 

  • Checkpoints in the West Bank are necessary security measures that have dramatically reduced terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
    • For years, Palestinian terror groups used ambulances, taxis, and commercial trucks to smuggle suicide bombers into Israeli cities. Checkpoints allow Israeli forces to filter out these terrorists before they can strike.
    • Checkpoints allow commercial and humanitarian goods, doctors and ambulances, and medical crews to move freely. The more than 50,000 Palestinians with jobs in Israel pass through checkpoints on a daily basis.
    • As violence in the West Bank has decreased in recent years, Israel has reduced the number of checkpoints from 40 to 12.
Why does Israel have a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip?
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies

 

 

 
Why do Christians stand with Israel?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism

Hundreds of millions of Christians around the world support Israel for political, historical, and theological reasons.
Why does America stand with Israel?
Support for Israel
Support-for-Israel

A large majority of Americans support Israel because of the two nations' shared values and shared interests.

  • The American-Israel friendship is rooted in common values.
    • Commitment to democracy and human rights, the rule of law, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly are all fundamental values shared by the two countries.
    • Like the United States, Israel has an independent judicial system that safeguards the rights of individuals.
    • Israel has regularly scheduled elections that are free, fair, and open to all its citizens, regardless of religion, race or sex. The independent group Freedom House has consistently classified Israel as "Free" in its rankings of world nations.
    • American Presidents - going back to the founding of the United States - have supported the idea of a Jewish state. Since Israel's establishment in 1947, successive Presidential administrations - on both sides of the aisle - have stood behind the Jewish State. Read what America's Presidents have said about Israel.
  • Israel is a vital ally for America in an unstable Middle East. Israel is the "Ultimate Ally". No other country in the Middle East shares America's values and advances its interests like Israel.
  • America's foreign aid to Israel helps us to confront major threats abroad while creating jobs at home. At least 75 percent of all aid is currently spent in the United States on weapons and other supplies that Israel needs.
What is Christian Zionism?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism

A Christian Zionist can be defined as a Christian who supports the Jewish people's right to return to their homeland. Under this broad and simple definition, many Christians would qualify no matter what their reasons are for support of Israel.

A more narrow definition of a Christian Zionist would be one who holds to the theological school of thought known as Christian Zionism and supports the right of the Jewish people to return to their homeland on scriptural grounds. The biblical foundation for Christian Zionism is found in God's covenant with Abraham. It was in this covenant that God chose Abraham to birth a nation through which He could redeem the world, and to do this He bequeathed them a land on which to exist as this chosen nation.

The Mosaic covenant later explained that their right to live on the land promised to them would be determined by their obedience to the law and their relationship with their God. Sin and disobedience would result in exile for a season.  The Hebrew prophets later proclaimed the arrival of judgement and punishment for sin, but also a time of future restoration to their land and to their God.

Christian Zionism recognizes God’s hand in the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland after 2,000 years of exile and rejoices in the faithfulness of God to His promises.

Why Do Christians Support Israel
Christian Zionism 101 Archive of articles by ICEJ
Christian Zionism in Balance by Rev. Malcolm Hedding
Why We Support Israel by Susan Michael, ICEJ, 2000
Why do Christians stand with Israel?
Support for Israel
Support-for-Israel

Hundreds of millions of Christians around the world support Israel for political, historical, and theological reasons.
Do Christian Zionists focus on the Old Testament more than the New Testament?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • Christian Zionism is based on the entire Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, and considers both to be the inspired Word of God.

 

  • Those who oppose Christian Zionism, however, tend to focus on the New Testament and to exclude or allegorize whole portions of the Old Testament. For instance, Rev. Naim Ateek, of the Sabeel Center for Palestinian Liberation Theology, has called for the "deZionization" of scripture. He does not recognize the inspiration of most of the Old Testament.

 

Resources

New Testament Confirmation of the Tenets of Biblical Zionism
Do Christian Zionists support Israel in order to bring back Jesus?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • Christian Zionism is not based on prophecy or eschatology, but rather on the promises that God makes in the Abrahamic Covenant. The Hebrew prophets foretold the exile and return of the Jewish people to their land, but they were only confirming the timing of what God had already promised to Abraham.

 

  • Christians do not believe that they can cause events like the return of Jesus. Only God has control over these events. Christian Zionists do, however, find joy in being involved in the fulfillment of prophesies, such as the regathering of the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth, but they recognize that no man -- only God -- could have facilitated this miracle.

 

  • Christian Zionists' primary motivation in supporting Israel is the belief that God initiated a spiritual law of blessing so that those who bless the Jewish people will be blessed, aligning themselves with God's eternal redemptive plan. Similarly, those who oppose His people will find themselves in direct opposition to God's redemptive plan.

 

Resources:

Evangelicals and Israel: What American Jews Don't Want to Know (but Need to) by Robert W. Nicholson, Mosaic Magazine, October 2013

What motivates Christian Zionists? by Shelley Neese, The Jerusalem Connection, October 2012

 
Are Christian Zionists against peace?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • No one wants peace more than Israel and her Christian friends. However, true champions of peace cannot support the creation of a state that is committed to Israel's destruction. Until now, the Palestinian Authority has refused to truly accept Israel's right to exist. Instead, it continues to fill its schools, mosques, and public airwaves with hatred and incitement against Israel, making the possibility of peace a distant dream.

 

  • As a sovereign nation, Israel has the right and privilege to give away part of its land should the Israeli government wish to do so in pursuit of peace. However, Joel 3 sounds a very clear warning against those who seek to do Israel harm by dividing up her land. All nations should heed this warning before pressuring Israel to do what they themselves would never do, and in so doing, weaken Israel and threaten her security.

 

  • Christian Zionists believe that the land of Israel -- which includes Judea and Samaria or the "West Bank," as well as Gaza -- is the everlasting possession of the Jewish people. However, their right to live on the land is conditional on their relationship with God. This is why Israel's borders have changed throughout history and may continue to change in our time.

 

  • Christian Zionists support Israel's right to exist in peace and security, as a Jewish state with defensible borders.

     

  • In the face of overwhelming threats and hostile neighbors, Israel has been compelled to use military force. Yet, this does not mean that she does not seek peace. Israel signed peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. It longs for peace with the Palestinians but needs a peace partner with whom to negotiate.

 

Resources

Reasons Why Peaceful Resolutions for the Arab-Israeli Conflict Always Fail, by Dr. Tawfik Hamid

A Biblical Stand on Zionism II: The Question of Land by Rev. Malcolm Hedding, ICEJ, March 2006
Aren't Christian Zionists warmongers who just want to see Armageddon happen so Jesus can return?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • War is a terrible thing. No Christian should ever look forward to it.

 

  • Christian Zionism is not based on prophecy or eschatology, but on the promise that God made to Abraham and the Jewish people. Interpretation of prophecy is speculative. There are many opinions in the Christian Zionist camp about how and when events will take place, and a wide range of theories about which events may have already occurred.

 

  • Throughout history there has been great spiritual opposition to the Jewish people and God's promises to them. War has plagued Israel's history, and there are prophetic portions of scripture that indicate it will continue to do so. One such event is a large battle that is mentioned briefly in the New Testament, but described more fully in the Hebrew books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, and Zechariah. Some Churches devote significant time and energy to studying these scriptures in the same way that many Jewish movements study these prophetic passages, anticipating literal fulfillment of them.

 

  • There is a problem when Christian students of prophecy study and discuss these events without appreciation for the human element in the stories, making the Jewish people "pawns" in their end time charts. It is always helpful for these students of prophecy to tour Israel, and meet the people of the land. This inevitably leads them to develop a better appreciation for the sacrifices and suffering on all sides of the conflict, which would only increase in any future war.

 

Resources:

Annihilation or Redemption? By David Parsons, October 2012

The Worst I'll Ever Do, By David Parsons, October 2012

Armageddon Now? By Rev. Malcolm Hedding, ICEJ February 2010

Swords into Ploughshares: Christian Zionism and the Battle of Armageddon By David Parsons, ICEJ
Do Christian Zionists support injustice?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • Justice is an important question for Christians in the Israeli-Arab conflict. God loves justice (Isaiah 61:8) and requires His children to do justly (Micah 6:8), but Leviticus 19:17 makes it clear that justice must be based on the facts. One has to carefully weigh the facts in the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to arrive at what is truly just.

 

  • For many Christians, the campaign to demonize and delegitimize Israel can cloud the facts, making it difficult to arrive at conclusions about who is the just party in the conflict. Issues like Palestinian refugees, Israeli control of the West Bank and the security wall are presented as examples of Israeli injustice.

 

  • To truly work for justice one must honestly admit the root cause of the problems and suffering on both sides.  There were similar numbers of Arab refugees and Jewish refugees in the early years of Israeli statehood.The Palestinian people have suffered many injustices, mostly at the hands of their own Arab leaders.  Israel also suffers serious injustices today. It still faces existential dangers in the region that threaten its existence. Around the world, Israel is demonized, delegitimized, and held to a double-standard.

     

  • This website helps truth seekers to rightly discern between fact and falsehood -- and to understand why Christians who stand with Israel are standing on the side of justice.

     

    Resources:

    Justice Must Be Based On Fact by Susan Michael, ICEJ, July 2013

    Hidden Injustices: A Review of PA & Hamas Human Rights Violations in the West Bank and Gaza to be presented to the European Parliament by Calev Myers, Jerusalem Institute of Justice, November 2012

    Christian Zionism and Social Justice by Rev. Malcolm Hedding, ICEJ, March 6, 2012

    The Question of Justice by David Parsons, ICEJ, January 2007
Are Christian Zionists racist and anti-Arab?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • Christians who are pro-Israel are not anti-Arab. On the contrary, Christians are commanded to be a people of love recognizing that God loves all people the same (John 3:16).

 

  • Those who do not have a heart for the Arab peoples of the region do not reflect God's heart. God's promise that Ishmael would have twelve princes and would be a great nation (Genesis 17:20) has been fulfilled. Isaiah 19 speaks of a great visitation by God to the Arab world, which will usher in a revival among the neighboring countries of Israel.The ICEJ encourages Christian Zionists to have God's heart for the Arab people and to pray regularly for them.

 

 

  • There are more than 50 Muslim countries, 15 Christian countries, and only one Jewish state -- Israel. Yet, only Israel is singled out as racist for having an official state religion. Just like all other nations, the Jewish people have the right to their own state. This is a not racism; on the contrary, it is a response to centuries of racism and persecution against the Jewish people. Thus, supporting Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state cannot -- and should not -- be considered racist.

 

ICEJ Resources:

Christian, Jewish leaders call for halt to persecution of Middle East Christians 2014

Tragic Fate of Iraqi Christians by David Parsons, ICEJ, October 2014

Israel's Troubled Neighbor Syria by Susan Michael, ICEJ, October 2013

Egypt My People by Dr. Juergen Buehler, ICEJ, August 2013

Cry of the People of Egypt by Susan Michael, ICEJ, August 2013

A Burden for Bethlehem's Christians by David Parsons, ICEJ, May 2013

The Real Root of the Christian Exodus by David Parsons, ICEJ, June 2012

ICEJ Study: Urgent Social Needs in Israel's Arab Sector March 2011

Under Siege: The Brutal Targeting of Middle East Christians by David Parsons, ICEJ, February 2011

The Plight of Christians in the Holy Land by David Parsons, ICEJ, July 16, 2006

Our Battered Brethren by David Parsons, ICEJ, January 2006

Troubled Town of Bethlehem by David Parsons, ICEJ, December 2000

Other Resources

World Council of Churches Stands By As Christians Perish, Churches Wither by Malcolm Lowe, Protestant Consultation on Israel and the Middle East, October 22, 2013

Demonizing Israel More Important Than Defending Persecuted Christians? by Michael Curtis, American Thinker, October 7, 2013

Turning a Blind Eye to Murdered Christians by Mark Tooley, Institute for Religion and Democracy, August 17, 2009

The Beleaguered Christians in Bethlehem by Khaled Abu Tomeh, May 2009
What is anti-semitism and what is a "Semite"?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Anti-Semitism is hatred of or bigotry toward Jews. A Semite is someone who speaks a Semitic language, which includes Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Semite used to refer to the ethnic groups within the Levant and Arab Peninsula during ancient (pre-Arab) times, but that use is obsolete. 
  • The term “anti-Semitism” was coined by anti-Semites in order to give pseudoscientific weight to their claims that Jews — “Semitic people” — were inferior to “Aryan people.” In the late 1800s, the term was used to refer to the opposition to Jewish people. At the time, anti-Semitism was viewed positively because hatred against Jews was so widespread.
  • The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), of which the United States is a member, adopted a non-legally binding “working definition” of anti-Semitism on May 26, 2016. The U.S. State Department uses this working definition and has encouraged other governments and international organizations to use it as well.
  • IHRA’s working definition is: “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
  • The IHRA recommends using the spelling “antisemitism” rather than “anti-Semitism” to dispel the idea that there is an entity ‘Semitism’ which ‘anti-Semitism’ opposes. 
    • Antisemitism should be read as a unified term so that the meaning of the generic term for modern Jew-hatred is clear. At a time of increased violence and rhetoric aimed towards Jews, it is critical that there is clarity and no room for confusion or obfuscation when dealing with the subject.
    • For the purposes of this Israel Answers website, however, we use the more common spelling with a hyphen: anti-Semitism.

Sources:
https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/spelling-anti-Semitism
http://www.holocaustremembrance.com/sites/default/files/press_release_document_anti-Semitism.pdf
http://www.holocaustremembrance.com/sites/default/files/press_release_document_anti-Semitism.pdf

 
When and where did anti-Semitism start?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Throughout Jewish history, rulers of different regions and countries would persecute Jews for having a different religion, as was the custom at the time. This refusal to worship idols was seen as stubborn and was resented.
  • The earliest recording of attempted Jewish genocide is in the Book of Esther, which takes place when all Jews lived were expelled from what is now Israel and lived under Babylonian rule. The King Ahasuerus is convinced by an antisemitic adviser, Haman, to kill every Jew in his kingdom, which was every Jew in the world at that time. The Jews are saved by the King’s new wife, Esther, who reveals that she herself is Jewish and the King orders Haman to be killed on the gallows he had prepared for Jews.
  • Many American Christians are familiar with the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, which tells the story of Jewish resistance to anti-Semitism in Israel. Some of the earliest government persecution of Jews occurred under the Ancient Greek empire, when Jews began to be restricted from religious practice and certain legal rights. The story of Hanukkah  chronicles the resistance of Jewish Maccabees who rebelled against Assyrian Greek conquerors that sought to stop Jews from practicing Judaism.
  • Anti-Semitism has existed in most places where Jews have lived throughout history, but the severity of anti-Semitism varies drastically from time to time and place to place.

Sources:
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/education-outreach/Brief-History-on-Anti-Semitism-A.pdf
https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/The-Book-of-Esther-A-political-analysis
Is anti-Semitism a form of religious discrimination or ethnic/racial discrimination?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Anti-Semitism can be both religious and/or ethnic discrimination. Judaism is an ethno-religion and Jews are considered members of the Tribe of Israel (descended from the 12 sons that Jacob had with his wives, Leah and Rachel, and his concubines, Zilpah and Bilhah).
  • Jews who trace their ancestry back to different countries often look different, but they are all equally Jewish and members of the same nation. In this sense, conversion to Judaism can also be thought of as a tribal initiation process.
Why is anti-Zionism anti-Semitic?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Anti-Zionism is the belief that Jews should not have a country in their historic homeland of Israel. It is anti-Semitic because it denies Jews the right to self-determination, which is an integral human right, included in the United Nations Article I.
  • Natan Sharanksy, an Israeli politician and human rights activist who spent 9 years in a USSR gulag for being a Zionist, developed the 3D test to determine when discussion of Israel is anti-Semitic. If any of the following are true, criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic:
    • delegitimization of Israel
    • demonization of Israel
    • subjecting Israel to double standards
  • The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism also includes examples of anti-Semitic anti-Zionism.
    • “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
    • Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
    • Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
    • Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
    • Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”

Sources:
https://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/
https://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-sharansky-f04.htm
https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-anti-Semitism
What is BDS and why is it anti-Semitic?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • BDS is short for “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” and refers to a campaign to punish the Jewish state for existing. Much of political force powering the BDS movement comes from the Arab League boycott, which was formed in 1945 to instruct Arabs not to do any business with Jews, with the explicit goal of preventing Jews from forming a country in their historic homeland. When Israel was founded in 1948, the Arab boycott became a boycott of the modern State of Israel.
  • The BDS National Committee (BNC) was established in 2007 in Ramallah as the Palestinian coordinating body for the international campaign. The BDS movement seeks the destruction of the State of Israel and opposes any peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians. BDS activists paint Israel as an “Apartheid State” that employs “Nazi-like” policies against the Palestinian people. They boycott corporations operating in Israel, stores selling Israeli products, entertainers who plan performances in Israel, and Israeli academic institutions.
  • To date, 28 states in the U.S. have adopted laws designed to discourage boycotts against Israel. Members of Congress have also introduced bipartisan legislation opposing the BDS movement.

Sources:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/1977-04-01/middle-east-arab-boycott-israel
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bds-aint-new-the-arab-lea_b_9167542
https://bdsmovement.net/
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/South-Dakota-governor-signs-executive-order-prohibiting-Israel-boycotts-614204
is anti-Semitism illegal?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Some forms of anti-Semitism are illegal in some countries, but in other countries and places, there are laws against anti-Semitism.
    • For example, Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany and much of Europe, but it is legal to deny the Holocaust in the United States under First Amendment protections.
    • In the United States, the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act provides protections for victims of "a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person."

Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-03/holocaust-denial-not-protected-by-human-rights-law-court-says
https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/enforcement/oac
https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2009/11/30/iran-nuclear-anti-zionism-genocidal-political/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41722004?seq=1
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/combating-hate/Introduction-to-Hate-Crime-Laws.pdf
https://www.adl.org/media/2143/download
What are pogroms?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Pogroms is a Russian word meaning “to demolish violently” and was coined to refer to attacks on Jewish villages. They often included sacking and burning Jewish homes, businesses, and places of worship; stealing or destroying Jews’ possessions; beating up Jewish men and sexually assaulting Jewish women; and murder.
  • While the term originally referred to this phenomenon in the Russian empire, it is now used to refer to genocidal incidents against Jews across history and in other parts of the world.
  • Some examples of pogroms include:  
    • the Odessa pogrom of 1821
    • a series of pogroms across Ukraine and southern Russia in 1881-84
    • Kristallnacht, or the “night of broken glass,” perpetrated by the Nazis in 1938
    • Iasi pogrom, which marked the turning point of the Nazi-allied Romanian government pursing the genocide of Jews in 1941
    • The Farhud, when mob violence against Baghdadi Jews broke out in 1941
    • 1947 pogroms, when Jews in countries including Syria and Yemen were murdered following the UN vote to confirm partition of Israel between Jews and Muslims

Sources:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/what-were-pogroms/
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-farhud
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/previous-the-20th-century-pogroms-against-the-jews-of-the-middle-east-will-christians-suffer-the-same-fate/2019/07/24/

 
What is blood libel?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Blood libel is an anti-Semitic lie that Jews murder non-Jewish children as part of Jewish ritual. It was initially used to divide the Jewish and Christian communities, emerging in the 12th century as the claim that Jews used Christian blood to make matzo (unleavened bread used during the Passover holiday). It then spread across Europe and the Arab world as an anti-Semitic trope.
  • This propaganda has no basis in Jewish practice. Jews follow the 10 commandments, which includes “thou shalt not murder” as the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:12). Jews also do not consume the blood of any animal (or eat any humans), as Jewish dietary law (Kosher laws) forbid consumption of blood. (Leviticus 7:26-27; Leviticus 17:10-14.)
  • Some anti-Zionists perpetuate this anti-Semitic trope by falsely claiming that Israelis kill Palestinian children to steal their organs.

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/blood-libel
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-ten-commandments/
https://nypost.com/2018/05/07/the-new-anti-semites-promote-a-very-modern-blood-libel/
How is Holocaust denial anti-Semitic?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Holocaust denial is any attempt to diminish or deny the established facts of the Nazi genocide of European Jews. This is a form of anti-Semitism because it perpetuates the belief that Jews are dishonest and manipulative. It perpetuates this anti-Semitic trope because Holocaust deniers say that Jews invented or exaggerate the Holocaust as a plot to advance “Jewish interests.”
  • Some common Holocaust denials include: minimizing the number of Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust (it was 6 million); claiming that the Holocaust only included Jews murdered at Death Camps; denying the existence of Nazi facilities that used gas chambers to systematically murder Jews; denying that Jews were murdered by Nazis at Concentration Camps, where Jews were made to work and live in uninhabitable conditions that were intentionally set up so that Jews would die, or murdered because Nazis and Nazi collaborators shot them.
  • The government of Iran currently engages in Holocaust denial as part of its campaign to destroy the modern State of Israel.

Sources:
https://www.ushmm.org/anti-Semitism/holocaust-denial-and-distortion
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/irans-holocaust-denial-is-part-of-a-malevolent-strategy/2016/05/27/312cbc48-2374-11e6-aa84-42391ba52c91_story.html
Why do anti-Semites say that Jews control the banks, the Government, and the media?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Anti-Semitism often functions like a conspiracy theory, in that anti-Semites claims that Jews secretly hold a great amount of power and use it for nefarious purposes. Anti-Semites often believe that Jews hold outsized political power, financial wealth, and/or media influence. They frequently claim that Jews have used this power to establish the State of Israel and often demonize Zionist supporters of Israel.

Source:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230349216_5
Why should Christians be worried about global anti-Semitism?
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
  • Hatred and violence directed toward any group, including Jews, is immoral. We must love our neighbors as ourselves.
  • Anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem. All forms of persecution are direct threats to Western values of freedom and equality.
  • In many countries, Jews and Christians are both minority groups that suffer from laws and cultures that demonize other religious groups.
Is Christian Zionism the same as Dispensationalism?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • Dispensationalism is a theology that holds a favorable view of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. However, it is not the same thing as Christian Zionism.
    • Dispensationalism is a biblical interpretation that was developed in the writings of John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren in the 19th century. It was propagated through works such as the Scofield Reference Bible, widely used in the United States. Dispensationalism understands God to have related to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants in a series of dispensations, or periods of history.

 

 

 

Resources

Christian Friends and Foes of Israel by David Parsons, ICEJ, February 2009

Christian Zionist Hall of Fame
Why does America stand with Israel?

A large majority of Americans support Israel because of the two nations' shared values and shared interests.

  • The American-Israel friendship is rooted in common values.
    • Commitment to democracy and human rights, the rule of law, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly are all fundamental values shared by the two countries.
    • Like the United States, Israel has an independent judicial system that safeguards the rights of individuals.
    • Israel has regularly scheduled elections that are free, fair, and open to all its citizens, regardless of religion, race or sex. The independent group Freedom House has consistently classified Israel as "Free" in its rankings of world nations.
    • American Presidents - going back to the founding of the United States - have supported the idea of a Jewish state. Since Israel's establishment in 1947, successive Presidential administrations - on both sides of the aisle - have stood behind the Jewish State. Read what America's Presidents have said about Israel.
  • Israel is a vital ally for America in an unstable Middle East. Israel is the "Ultimate Ally". No other country in the Middle East shares America's values and advances its interests like Israel.
  • America's foreign aid to Israel helps us to confront major threats abroad while creating jobs at home. Nearly 75 percent of all aid is spent in the United States on weapons and other supplies that Israel needs.
Title Text

Body Area Text.
Why have some groups tried to portray Christian Zionism as a heresy?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism

In recent years, those behind the public campaign to demonize and delegitimize the State of Israel have opened up a new front in the Christian world. A few voices -- representing a very small minority of Christians -- have begun to attack Christian Zionism as an extreme and even heretical theological position because it gives credence to the truth that Israel's modern day restoration was not a political accident but rather was ordained by God.

Those who criticize Christian Zionism as an extreme or heretical position completely overlook the fact that an overwhelming number of Christians support Israel. According to a recent poll 80 percent of American Christians feel a moral obligation to support Israel.

There should be room for respectful disagreement among Christian denominations and theologians on politics and the scriptural significance of Israel, but many of today's attacks on Christian Zionism distort facts, history, and theology.

Theologically, Christian support for Israel centers on one's understanding of the Abrahamic Covenant, and whether it still applies to the Nation of Israel. Those who do not believe that God's Covenant with the Jewish people is still valid generally support what is known as Replacement Theology.This theology was the root of anti-Semitism throughout centuries of Christian history.

Politically, the debate about Israel in the Christian world centers on whether one accepts the Palestinian narrative -- which demonizes and delegitimizes the people and State of Israel. This narrative distorts facts and rewrites history in an effort to vilify and demonize the people of Israel to the point that it is nothing but a new expression of age-old anti-Semitism.

Overview of Theologies vis-a-vis Israel

Christian Friends and Foes of Israel by David Parsons, ICEJ, February 2009

Israel Land & People by Rev. Malcolm Hedding

In Defense of Christian Zionism by Rev. Malcolm Hedding, July 2006

Responses to this campaign from Christian Zionist organizations

The New Anti-Semitism by James A. Showers, Friends of Israel, January 2013

The Jerusalem Declaration by the Protestant Consultation on Israel and the Middle East, November 2012

ICEJ Response to 'Open Letter': Denouncing Israel Does Nothing for Peace, October 2012

Scholars' Response to 'Open Letter': Christian Perspective on Land for Peace, October 2012

Targeting Evangelicals for Palestine by Mark Tooley, Institute for Religion and Democracy, November 2011

A Goliath in the Church by Dr. Paul Wilkinson, Hazel Grove Full Gospel Church, July 2011

The Myth of Palestinian Christianity, Rev. Malcolm Lowe, April 2011

Turning a Blind Eye to Murdered Christians by Mark Tooley, Institute for Religion and Democracy, August 2009

Where the Christian Left is Wrong by Elwood McQuaid, Friends of Israel, June 2009 Jerusalem Post
Was Jesus a Palestinian?
Christian Zionism
Christian-Zionism
  • The Bible states clearly that Jesus and his family were of Jewish descent and lived according to Jewish law.
    • The books of Luke and Matthew make clear that Jesus was a direct descendent of King David, from the House of Judah.
      • "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations." (Matthew 1:17)
      • "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." (Matthew 1:1)
  • The name "Palestine" was not used until more than a century after the life and time of Christ.
    • Roman rulers renamed the area "Syria-Palestina" around 135 AD to try and erase the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
  • Throughout history, great Christian leaders have recognized Jesus' Jewish roots - and the continued validity of the Abrahamic Covenant between God and the Jewish people.
  • Learn more about the history and tenets of Christian Zionism.