Presbyterian Church USA Criticizes Israel, Ignores Christian Persecution

Raymond Ibrahim

Days before the recent Israel/Hamas conflict erupted, the Presbyterian Church USA withdrew $21 million worth in investments from Israel because, as spokesman Heath Rada put it, the Israeli government’s actions “harm the Palestinian people.”

Soon after, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and was asked if he was “troubled” by the Presbyterian Church’s move. Netanyahu responded:

“It should trouble all people of conscience and morality because it’s so disgraceful. You know, you look at what’s happening in the Middle East and I think most Americans understand this, they see this enormous area riveted by religious hatred, by savagery of unimaginable proportions. Then you come to Israel and you see the one democracy that upholds basic human rights, that guards the rights of all minorities, that protects Christians—Christians are persecuted throughout the Middle East. So most Americans understand that Israel is a beacon of civilization and moderation. You know I would suggest to these Presbyterian organizations to fly to the Middle East, come and see Israel for the embattled democracy that it is, and then take a bus tour, go to Libya, go to Syria, go to Iraq, and see the difference. And I would give them two pieces of advice, one is, make sure it’s an armor plated bus, and second, don’t say that you’re Christians.”

It’s difficult—if not impossible—to argue with Netanyahu’s logic. Indeed, several points made in his one-minute response are deserving of some reflection.

Christians crucified in Syria by radical Islamists

First, the obvious: why is it that self-professed Christians completely ignore the horrific Islamic persecution of fellow Christians in the Middle East, while grandstanding against the Jewish state for trying to defend itself against the same ideology that persecutes Christians?

And he is absolutely right to say that the persecution of Christians in the Mideast has reached a point of “savagery of unimaginable proportions.” Perhaps the only thing more shocking than the atrocities Mideast Christians are exposed to—the slaughters, crucifixions, beheadings, torture and rape—is the absolute silence emanating from so-called mainline Protestant churches in the U.S.

Note also the nations Netanyahu highlighted for their brutal persecution of Christian minorities: Libya, Syria, and Iraq. Indigenous Christians were markedly better off in all three nations before the U.S. got involved, specifically be empowering, deliberately or not, Islamist forces. Now, according to recent studies, Christians in all three nations are experiencing the worst form of persecution around the globe:

* Libya: Ever since U.S.-backed, al-Qaeda-linked terrorists overthrew Gaddafi, Christians—including Americans—have been tortured and killed (including for refusing to convert) and churches bombed. It’s “open season” on Copts, as jihadis issue a reward to Muslims who find and kill Christians. This was not the case under Gaddafi.

* Syria: Christians have been attacked in indescribable ways—wholesale massacres, bombed and desecrated churches, beheadings, crucifixions, and rampant kidnappings—since the U.S.-sponsored “Arab Spring” reached the Levant.

* Iraq: After the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein, Christian minorities were savagely attacked and slaughtered, and dozens of their churches were bombed (see here for graphic images). In the last decade, Christians have been terrorized into near-extinction, with well over half of them fleeing Iraq.

If the Presbyterian Church has problems with governments that persecute people—in this case, the Israeli government’s purported treatment of Palestinians, hence the Presbyterian Church’s divestment from Israel—perhaps it should begin by criticizing its own government’s proxy war on fellow Christians in the Middle East.

Christians are also being targeted in the P.A. territories—by the very same elements the Presbyterian Church is trying to defend.

In 2012, for example, a pastor noted that “animosity towards the Christian minority in areas controlled by the P.A. continues to get increasingly worse. People are always telling [Christians],Convert to Islam. Convert to Islam." And in fact, the kidnapping and forced conversions of Christians in Gaza is an ugly reality.”

More recently, nuns of the Greek-Orthodox monastery in Bethany sent a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urging him to respond to the escalation of attacks on the Christian house, including the throwing of stones, broken glass, theft and looting of the monastery property. “Someone wants to send us away,” wrote Sister Ibraxia in the letter, “but we will not flee.”

Sadly, the hypocrisy exhibited by the Presbyterian Church is not limited to that denomination. Some time back, fifteen leaders from various U.S. Christian denominations—mostly Protestant, including the Lutheran, Methodist, and UCC Churches—asked Congress to reevaluate U.S. military aid to Israel, again, in the context of supporting “persecuted” Palestinians.

Yet nary a word from these same church leaders concerning the rampant persecution of millions of Christians at the hands of Muslims in the Middle East—a persecution that makes the Palestinians’ situation pale in comparison.

Other “leftist” Protestants do find time to criticize Muslim persecution of Christians—but only to blame Israel for it. Thus, Diarmaid MacCulloch, a Fellow of St. Cross College, wrote an article in the Daily Beast ostensibly addressing the plight of Mideast Christians—but only to argue that the source of Christian persecution “ in the Middle East is seven decades of unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine.”

In reality, far from prompting the persecution of Christians, the Arab-Israeli conflict is itself a byproduct of the same hostility Islamic supremacism engenders for all non-Muslims. The reason hostility for Israel is much more viral is because the Jewish state holds a unique position of authority over Muslims unlike vulnerable Christian minorities who can be abused at will (as fully explained here).

Little wonder, then, that more Arab Christians—double the number of each of the preceding three years—are now joining the Israel Defense Forces.

They know they can count on basic human rights protection from Israel than from many of their fellow Christians in the West. After all, beyond the sophistry, distortions, and downright lies emanating from some of these Christian denominations, the fact remains: both Jews and Christians are under attack from the same foe and for the same reason: they are non-Muslim “infidels” who need to be subjugated.

Source: CBN, via Last Days Watchman

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Brazil crossed the line on Israel

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Brazil crossed the line on Israel

Andres Oppenheimer

While most of the world has condemned the violence in Gaza, in most cases blaming both sides with various degrees of criticism for one or the other, Brazil has crossed the line by virtually endorsing the Hamas terrorist group’s narrative of the conflict — and for going even beyond countries such as Egypt and Jordan in its actions against Israel.

In a July 23 comunique, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s government stated that “we strongly condemn the disproportional use of force by Israel in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in an elevated number of civilian victims.”

It added that Brazil was recalling its ambassador to Israel for consultations — something that not even Arab countries such as Egypt or Jordan have done at the time of this writing.

Brazil’s communique placed Brazil in the league with Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and other countries that automatically side with military dictatorships and human rights abusers across the world. Now, Brazil is reportedly seeking a statement against Israel at the July 29 South American Mercosur bloc meeting.

Many other countries have condemned the “disproportionate use of force” by Israel, but most — including Argentina, which normally echoes Brazil’s stands — have simultaneously condemned Hamas for its systematic rocket attacks against Israeli civilian targets, which Israel says started the latest round of violence.

Furthermore, the United States and the 28-member European Union, which consider Hamas as a terrorist group, have specifically condemned Hamas use of civilians as human shields.

On July 17, the United Nations Agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, known by its acronym UNRWA, announced that it had discovered 20 Hamas rockets hidden in a U.N. school in Gaza. A few days later, UNRWA announced a similar finding at another U.N. school.

Following Brazil’s one-sided condemnation of Israel, Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that Brazil’s behavior “illustrates the reason why that economic and cultural giant remains politically irrelevant” on the world scene. Israeli officials said Israel’s unusually strong reaction was primarily triggered by Brazil’s decision to recall its ambassador.

By comparison, the United States and the 28-member European Union started their statements on the Gaza conflict stressing Israel’s right to defend itself.

The Council of the European Union, which includes France, Belgium and several other countries with huge Muslim populations, issued a statement on July 22 stating that “the European Union strongly condemns the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas.”

It adds that “the EU strongly condemns (Hamas) calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields,” and that “while recognizing Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself against any attacks, the EU underlines that the Israeli military operation must be proportionate and in line with international humanitarian law.”

Brazil may have recalled its ambassador for domestic political reasons, and because it is courting radical Arab and African states in its quest to get a permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council.

Jose Miguel Vivanco, head of the Americas section of the Human Rights Watch advocacy group, says that former Brazilian President Luiz Innacio Lula da Silva — Rousseff’s political mentor — consistently sided with the world’s worst human rights violators during his years in office.

More recently, under Rousseff, Brazil has significantly improved its human rights voting record at the U.N. Human Rights Council, but not so in other diplomatic fora. In Latin America, for instance, Brazil has remained silent about the massive human rights violations committed by Venezuelan security forces, Vivanco says.

“Brazil is doing the right thing in strongly protesting against Israel for the disproportionate use of force that has generated huge numbers of civilian casualties, but at the same time it should not fail to condemn Hamas’ indiscriminate and constant rocket attacks against Israel’s civilian population,” Vivanco told me.

My opinion: Israel can be blamed for failing to prevent civilian deaths in specific cases during the Gaza conflict, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government can also be blamed for not doing enough to speed up the much-needed creation of a Palestinian state, but Israel cannot be blamed for defending itself.

No country in the world can be asked to sit idly by while a terrorist group fires thousands of rockets against its big cities, while using civilians as human shields. Much less when, unlike Al Fatah and more moderate Palestinian groups, Hamas calls for the annihilation of Israel, and teaches Palestinian children that killing Jews is a service to Allah.

If Brazil wants to be taken seriously as a modern democracy and a responsible world actor, it should act like one.

Source: Miami Herald, via Last Days Watchman

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Israel slams “diplomatic dwarf'” Brazil for recalling envoy to protest Israeli anti-terrorist operation

By Jerusalem Post e Julio Severo

The Brazilian socialist government on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations in protest over the IDF’s (Israel Defense Force) operation against the Islamic terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A statement put out by the Brazilian foreign ministry said that Brazil considers “escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine” as unacceptable. “We strongly condemn the disproportionate use of force by Israel in the Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry immediately slammed Brazil for the move.

“This is an unfortunate demonstration of why Brazil, an economic and cultural giant, remains a diplomatic dwarf,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

Palmor added, “The moral relativism behind this move makes Brazil an irrelevant diplomatic partner, one who creates problems rather than contributes to solutions.”

During Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009, Bolivia recalled its envoy for consultations, a prelude to that country later breaking off ties.

Is Brazil also preparing itself to break off its ties with Israel?

Brazil was one of the 29 countries in the UN Human rights Council that voted Wednesday to probe Israel’s actions against Islamic terrorists in Gaza (17 countries abstained, and only the U.S. opposed). 

One Israeli official said that Brazil’s representative to the council was especially “bad” to Israel when addressing the council. 

As a Brazilian citizen, I ask forgiveness for the wicked way Israel was treated by the Brazilian socialist government in the UN.

In its ideological enmity to Israel, the Brazilian government does not represent me and millions of Christians who support Israel.

The Brazilian diplomacy has been worse than a dwarf. It has been a disaster. The socialist government of Venezuela has been massacring its own students, who protest against human rights abuses, and the Brazilian government has moronically sided with the government, not with the people, of Venezuela.

If Brazil wants to use its position in the UN to be “bad” to a nation, it should choose Venezuela, China or Cuba, not Israel.

If Brazil breaks off its ties with Israel, my family and I will renounce our Brazilian citizenship.

With information from the Jerusalem Post.

Portuguese version of this article: Brasil está se preparando para romper relações com Israel?

Source: Last Days Watchman

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Obama politicizes air tragedy to promote sexual deviancy

Bryan Fischer

About 100 AIDS researchers died a tragic death in the Malaysian airliner disaster. They were on their way to an international conference devoted to the subject of dealing with the AIDS epidemic.

Obama using air tragedy on behalf of gay agenda

President Obama, taking a page out of the Alinsky-ite "never let a good crisis go to waste" playbook, shamelessly and tackily used the occasion to promote the legitimacy of sexual deviancy.

Here are the president's remarks about the deceased AIDS researchers (emphasis mine):

"These were men and women who had dedicated their own lives to saving the lives of others, and they were taken from us in a senseless act of violence. In this world today, we shouldn't forget that in the midst of conflict and killing, there are people like these. People who are focused on what can be built, rather than what can be destroyed. People who are focused on how they can help people they've never met. People who define themselves not by what makes them different than other people, but by the humanity that we hold in common.

"The United States is going to continue to stand for the basic principle that people have a right to live as they choose, that nations have the right to determine their own destiny, and that when terrible events like this occur, the international community stands on the side of justice and on the side of truth."

What the president said was perfectly appropriate until he stood on the graves of these researchers and lurched from compassion to advocacy for a dangerous and destructive lifestyle.

Imagine if these researchers had been on their way to an international conference on lung cancer, and the president had declared, "The United States is going to continue to stand for the basic principle that people have a right to smoke whatever they chose as often as they choose." Or if these researchers had been on the way to an international conference on heart disease, and the president had declared, "The United States is going to continue to stand for the basic principle that people have a right to eat as much red meat and fat as they choose." Michelle wouldn't have let him back in the White House.

When I called the president out on this blatant politicizing of a humanitarian disaster, the left attacked. Not the president, mind you, for his brazen politicking, but me for pointing it out. Salon awarded me the number one spot in its list of "6 ridiculous conservative responses to Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17," ahead of such luminaries as Allen West, Rush Limbaugh, Megyn Kelly, Todd Starnes and Erick Erickson. The Daily Beast ("Christian Radio Host Says Obama Politicized MH17 to Normalize 'Sexual Deviancy'") and Yahoo! News ("Radio Host: Prez Using MH17 for the Gays") piled on.

But advocating for a dangerous and destructive lifestyle, and using the deaths of 100 innocent civilians to do it, is clearly what the president did. It was the president who injected a discussion of homosexual behavior into the discussion, and the media hardly has a right to complain when somebody points it out.

There is no question that the HIV/AIDS crisis is behaviorally induced, and that changing sexual behavior is central to getting this epidemic under control. And yet uncaring and callous politicians like the president, who show no compassion whatsoever toward young males whose health is being destroyed, blithely blather on as if homosexuality was as harmless as a cribbage habit.

The latest figures from the CDC (not a part of the vast rightwing conspiracy) indicate that while HIV rates are plummeting among heterosexuals, drug users and women, they are catastrophically spiking among young gay and bisexual males by over 100%. The World Health Organization recently called HIV an "exploding" epidemic and declared that homosexuals are at 19 times the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS as the general population.

Bottom line: if there is any lesson about homosexuality to be taken from this tragedy it is this. Homosexual behavior kills, and the sooner we alert young men to this the more compassionate we will be and they longer they will live.

Source: RenewAmerica, via Last Days Watchman

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Facebook or Bible?

Janet Porter

Question: What matters more?

A:  What the living God of the Universe has to tell you in His word?

Or

B:  what people you barely know had for dinner?

According to the Associated Press, more people are choosing “B,” to check Facebook than read their Bible every day.  Facebook claims 143 million daily users across North America, yet polls show only 40 million in the U.S. read the Bible each day.  That doesn’t account for Canada and Mexico, but it’s not likely they make up the 100 million difference.

This month, why not try something new?  Don’t go on Facebook until you’ve read your Bible?  And then, when on Facebook, be sure to post Bible verses for all those who’ve been missing out.

Source: BarbWire, via Last Days Watchman

Mourn the victims... but don’t turn one tragedy into a global catastrophe

By Peter Hitchens

One thing we should have learned in the past 100 years is that war is hell. We might also have noticed that, once begun, war is hard to stop and often takes shocking turns.

let us just mourn the dead and comfort the bereaved, and regret human folly and the wickedness of war

So those who began the current war in Ukraine – the direct cause of the frightful murder of so many innocents on Flight MH17 on Thursday – really have no excuse.

There is no doubt about who they were. In any war, the aggressor is the one who makes the first move into neutral or disputed territory.

And that aggressor was the European Union, which rivals China as the world’s most expansionist power, swallowing countries the way performing seals swallow fish (16 gulped down since 1995).

Ignoring repeated and increasingly urgent warnings from Moscow, the EU – backed by the USA – sought to bring Ukraine into its orbit. It did so through violence and illegality, an armed mob and the overthrow of an elected president.

I warned then that this would lead to terrible conflict. I wrote in March: ‘Having raised hopes that we cannot fulfil, we have awakened the ancient passions of this cruel part of the world – and who knows where our vainglorious folly will now lead?’

Now we see. Largely unreported over the past few months, a filthy little war has been under way in Eastern Ukraine.

Debris from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which landed in a field of sunflowers in Ukraine

Many innocents have died, unnoticed in the West. Neither side has anything to boast of – last Tuesday 11 innocent civilians died in an airstrike on a block of flats in the town of Snizhne, which Ukraine is unconvincingly trying to blame on Russia.

So PLEASE do not be propagandised by Thursday’s horrible slaughter into forgetting what is really going on.

Powerful weapons make it all too easy for people to do stupid, frightful things. Wars make such things hugely more likely to happen. 

In September 1983, the Soviet air force, inflamed by Cold War passions and fears, inexcusably massacred 269 people aboard a Korean Airlines 747.

In July 1988, highly trained US Navy experts aboard the cruiser Vincennes, using  ultra-modern equipment, moronically mistook an Iranian Airbus, Iran Air Flight 655, for an F-14 Tomcat warplane. They shot the airliner out of the sky, killing 290 innocent people, including 66 children.

All kinds of official untruths were told at the time to excuse this. In October 2001, bungling Ukrainian servicemen on exercise were the main suspects for the destruction of Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 over the Black Sea. Whoever did it, they killed 78 passengers and crew en route from Israel to Novosibirsk – though Ukraine has never officially admitted guilt.

So, let us just mourn the dead and comfort the bereaved, and regret human folly and the wickedness of war. Let us not allow this miserable event to be fanned into a new war. That is what we did almost 100 years ago, and it is about time we learned something from that.

Source: Daily Mail, via Last Days Watchman

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