On Whose Side Are We?

One of the most astonishing attitudes of American Jews is our “knee-jerk” support for any cause which is labeled “liberal”, whatever that may mean. Concomitant with that behavior is our unthinking rejection of some of our best friends. I refer here to the Christian Coalition and its several branches whose work in favor of Israel has been most effective and supportive of our most important issue, i.e. the survival of Israel.

On March 27, 2001 the United States voted against the United Nations Security Council resolution which sought to send international observers to Israel in order to “protect” the Palestinian terrorists from Israeli reprisals. The American vote vetoed the resolution which would otherwise have passed by a majority of anti-Jewish haters with the certain outcome that such an “observer” force would later have been augmented with armed forces from numerous pro-Arab, anti-Jewish states determined to destroy us. The U.S. veto made all that impossible.

Two weeks ago, Colin Powell, our secretary of state, and his boss “W” plainly blamed A.R. Fat for the violence, murder and terrorism the hate mongers have launched in Israel these six months.

In view of the fact that hardly any Jews voted for the current administration, it is ludicrous for the Arab enemy of God and Israel to pretend that the Jewish influence on American politics determines these actions by our government. The current administration in Washington owes us Jews nothing. Why then side with Israel?

The truth is that there are many Zionists in this country who are not Jewish. We, only 1.8% of the American population, have very little influence on political events in this country. However, there are at least another 55 million Zionists in the U.S.A. who consider themselves Christians. These Zionists are followers of the Christian Coalition including The National Christian Leadership Conference which has consistently reaffirmed “our conviction that Jerusalem should remain the single, undivided political capital of Israel.” The NCLC has also stated that “Israel’s juridical foundation, her right to exist and develop in peace cannot be questioned.” The NCLC also maintains an International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem although that embassy is supported by a world-wide Christian coalition. This embassy is based on the Torah which tells us in Berayshith, Chapter 12, verse 3: “Vaavarecho mevorchecho umekallelcho oaur, vnivrecho vcho kol mishpechos hoadoma, or, And I will bless them that bless you (Israel) and I will curse him who curses you, and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” This verse refers to Abraham and to us, his descendants. I could easily cite numerous other such verses from the Torah which inspires Jews and non-Jews alike.

It is of course true that many of the domestic issues which the Christian coalition promotes are not to our liking. We worry about prayer in the schools and Christmas celebrations in and out of school. We worry about displays of Christian symbols in public places and we see “anti-semitism” in their actions and beliefs. Yet, the Christian coalition, and not the ‘liberals’ we are always supporting makes its first goal to: "Counter the increasing proliferation of destructive anti-semitism and anti-Israel misinformation, expose the prevailing Anti-Israel bias in the mainstream media." These are Christians talking, not Jews.

It is my opinion that those Jews who have lost their connection to our people and our tradition are always the most strident worriers concerning religious expression by others. It is also my opinion that those of us who attend a Shabbat service every week, keep a kosher home and raise our children in Judaism need not worry about the religious expression exhibited by non-Jews. Ask yourself this question: would you rather see Christian antagonism to Israel as best exhibited by our “mainstream” churches or is Israel better off with the support now promoted by the fundamentalists? The so-called “liberal” churches represented by the National Council of Churches have always supported the Arab view and have been anti-Israel since the War of Independence in 1948. In December 2000 the National Council once more re-iterated its support of A. R. Fat and his terrorists and blamed Israel for seeking to defend itself against the murderers.

We need to understand that the friends of our enemies do us no good and that those who support the survival of Israel are our allies. Otherwise we live in a state of schizophrenia which helps our antagonists and re-affirms the old adage that sometimes we Jews are our own worst enemies.

Shalom u’vracha.

[ Home ] [ Up ]