Safeguarding Christianity in the Middle East
Cross overlooking Mount Lebanon (photo: wiki commons)
A fascinating account of CAMERA’s The Persecuted church: Christian Believers in Peril in the Middle East conference yields this simple, but urgent plea:
It’s time for journalists, human rights activists and church leaders in the U.S. to confront the prospect of Christianity’s destruction in the region of its birth.
Indeed … and hopefully to avoid that destruction by starting to publicly tell the truth about Christian persecution in the region, and to do something about it. It’s long past time. Read the whole article by Dexter Van Zile and see if you’re not convinced.
Comments (0) »Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 1:59 PM | Stand for Israel
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The Hall of Names at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem (Photo: David Shankbone)
Today is International Holcaust Remembrance Day. It’s also the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the notorious Auschwitz death camp, which was captured by Russian troops on January 27, 1945.
It’s difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like to be one of those soldiers encountering for the first time such a staggering example of man’s inhumanity to man. Dwight Eisenhower, commander of U.S. forces in Europe during World War II, wasn’t present at the liberation of Auschwitz, but he did visit a forced labor camp. He never forgot what he saw there. Several years after the war, he wrote of the experience:
“The same day I saw my first horror camp. It was near the town of Gotha. I have never felt able to describe my emotional reaction when I first came face to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard of every shred of decency.
“I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify at firsthand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that ‘the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.
“Some members of the visiting party were unable to go through the ordeal. I not only did so but as soon as I returned to Patton’s headquarters that evening I sent communications to both Washington and London, urging the two governments to send instantly to Germany a random group of newspaper editors and representative groups from the national legislatures. I felt that the evidence should be immediately placed before the American and British publics in a fashion that would leave no room for cynical doubt.”
Remembering can be painful, but it is necessary. So, today, remember the six million who were killed during the Holocaust simply for being Jewish, as well as the millions of others who fell victim…
Read More » Comments (0) »Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 11:48 AM | Stand for Israel
Israeli Embassies Receive Anthrax Scare
Israeli embassies in various European cities and consulates in New York, Boston, and Houston this week received white envelopes containing a suspicious white powder.
Also this week in Israel in the News:
- Iranian lawmakers threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz.
- Australia wants to join Europe’s blockage of Iranian oil revenues.
- Supporters of the late Muammar Qaddafi are launching a resurgence.
- A new wave of violence spreads through Baghdad.
- NATO denies that the Taliban has infiltrated the Afghan Army.
This week’s Israel in the News Perspective features IFCJ’s Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg with his commentary on the recent Egyptian elections.
Listen below to Israel in the News.
Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 4:30 PM | betsy.schmitt@ifcj.org
Responding to an Israel-hater
A Soldier’s Mother responds to a hateful comment on her blog that asks, “How does it feel to live in a country [Israel] hated by millions of people all over the world … because of your country´s hatred, racism, war crimes and evil acts.”:
So how does it feel to accept who you are, where you live, and what your country must do to survive? How does it feel to finally be in control of your own destiny, to be free in your own land? To raise your children in the place where they belong? How does it feel to have sons and daughters who are proud of their country and choose to defend it…and more, have the option to choose life – for the first time in 2,000 years, and the power to make that option reality? Pretty darn good. Thanks for asking.
The entire response is worth your time. Read it all.
Comments (12) »Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 10:02 AM | Stand for Israel
Final Egyptian election results in
Final results have been released in the recently held Egyptian elections and the news should concern all who hoped for liberty for the people of Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood and the hardline Islamist al-Nour party won 67% of the seats in Egypt’s parliament. There are now grave concerns over what this victory will mean for Egyptian women, for the Egyptian Christian community, and for Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.
As unfortunate as it is to say, this result was entirely foreseeable.
Merely holding an election doesn’t make a country a democracy. Real democracies require institutions that foster and protect liberty: a free press, independent courts, and a right to free expression to name but a few.
So now, the United States must decide how to move forward with Islamist Egypt. We must make clear – in words and actions – that we expect Egypt to honor its treaty obligations on the Israeli border, and that we expect Egyptians of all faiths to have a secure, free place in the new Egypt. And, most of all, we must make it clear that there will be consequences for failure.
Comments (1) »Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 7:09 AM | Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg
"informing, equipping and mobilizing individuals and churches to support the
State of Israel"
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Recent Posts
Safeguarding Christianity in the Middle East
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Israeli Embassies Receive Anthrax Scare
Responding to an Israel-hater
Final Egyptian election results in
