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CHRISTIANS BRUTALIZED IN HOLY LAND
By Mark Glenn
Some 200 Christian Zionist leaders, representing churches spread throughout America, Europe, Africa and Asia, gathered in Israelís Knesset to “beg forgiveness” for 2,000 years of “Christian persecution” of Jews.
The well publicized ceremony took place under the auspices of the “Knesset Christian Allies Caucus,” just one of a growing number of partnerships springing up in recent years between organized Jewish and Christian Zionist groups for the purpose of funneling Christian money and political support toward Israel. Part of the statement reads as follows:
“On behalf of millions of Christians, we repent before you for crimes committed against the Jewish people throughout history in the name of Christianity.…We have sinned against God and against you.… To you we
owe much.… Through you, God gave us the Holy Scriptures, and because of this we have a heritage, a destiny, a hope and a compass for living.…What a treasure you are in the sight of our God! You are His chosen and the apple of His eye.…”
But despite the fact that Israel was built (and continues to live) off of handouts from Christian countries—principally the U.S. and Germany—and for all the inherent groveling and breast-beating that this mea culpa was meant to convey, it obviously did not “cut the mustard” in improving Christian/Jewish relations in Israel, the birthplace of Jesus Christ and the 2,000-year-old religion created in His name.
Besides the fact that Israel has now become a haven for international gangsters—meaning rampant prostitution, drugs, human trafficking and money laundering to name a few—there are other indicators surrounding Israel’s political and social character as well that show she is anything but friendly to the morals and precepts of Christian teachings. Christian churches that were not taxed are now being sent heavy bills. Media outlets featuring Christian programming on television and radio are having their license renewal applications rejected.
More telling though is the fact that physical attacks on Christians, their symbols and institutions continue in Israel unabated, and not by “Islamo-fascists” (so much discussed by the likes of Norman Podhoretz, Daniel Pipes, John Hagee, Bill O’Reilly, et al.) but rather by a more fanatical sect that has nursed a hatred for Christianity since its inception, the people who collectively call themselves “the Israelites” and whom Christians are told to “bless.”
Pastor Hagee has been an avid supporter of the state Israel since his first visit there in 1978. “I went to Israel as a tourist and returned home a committed Zionist,” he said. His book says that Jesus did not come to Earth to be the Messiah. In what appears to be a growing trend these days, physical attacks on Christians, their churches and symbols are beginning to show a marked rise in Israel.
For nearly a century, since the invasion of Palestine began, Christians of all denominations have suffered bombings, shootings, arsons and wanton acts of senseless destruction of their sacred properties—and all of it by a horde
of Marxist/atheist invaders from Eastern Europe calling themselves “God’s chosen.” From the moment they arrived—announcing to the world “We’re baaaack” with all the fanfare that their grip over the Western media afforded them—they picked up where their alleged ancestors left off in attempting to erase the name of the hated Jesus from the Holy Land.
Mimicking the same kind of behavior their Bolshevik cousins exhibited during and after the takeover of Russia and using the “fog of war” as a smokescreen for their actions, Christian church properties have been bulldozed, blown up or burned down on numerous occasions, all of it chalked up to “collateral damage.” Since the Jews of Europe began reconstructing the nation that was destroyed some 2,000 years ago following the predictions of Jesus Himself, priests, pastors, nuns, churches,
cemeteries, Bibles, icons, stained-glass widows, all were all fair game as far as the Zionists were concerned when it came to maintaining its exclusively “Jewish character.”
Not long after Israel declared her statehood, legislation was passed outlawing Christians trying to convert Jews to the religion of Jesus Christ with a 5-year prison sentence attached for good measure.
Now, no longer limited to impersonal attacks done in the middle of the night with minimal chance of being caught, Jews (and particularly those in Jerusalem, the city of Jesus’s sham trial and murder by his enemies) are coming out in the open now and displaying their ancestral hatred for all things Christian without any evident fear of what kind of consequences might follow.
Out-in the-open physical attacks on priests, pastors, statues and Christian processions by extremist Jews is now more the norm than the exception. A recent case involving a Greek Orthodox clergyman involved a skullcap-wearing elderly Jew tapping on the window of the clergyman’s car and when the man opened his window, the Jew spat in his face, something becoming a daily occurrence in Israel. Only a few days later, a yeshiva student spat at the cross as it was being carried by the Armenian archbishop during a procession near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and did so under the watchful eye of his rabbi, who did nothing to impede him.
In another recent case, 13 bishops from Austria were barred from praying at Jerusalem’s Western Wall by a rabbi who oversees the site. The Christians refused to remove the crosses around their necks, which the rabbi considered “insulting.” Other Christians who have seen the increasingly bold and violent nature on the part of Israel’s Jews toward them and their faith in a manner up close and personal say that during Jewish religious festivals such as Purim (celebrating the hanging of Haman and the execution of 75,000 Persians) they stay inside and lock their doors, fearing their lives are in danger amid a band of rowdy, drunken and violent Jewish extremists.
One would think that, with all the lecturing taking place during the last half-century by organized Jewish groups when it comes to “hatred” and “intolerance” (not to mention the undeniable influence these groups have wielded in getting “hate crimes” legislation passed in most Christian countries), there would be more concern paid for this growing trend in the “headquarters” of Jewish values in the world—Israel.
With all the fear-mongering to which Christians are subjected on a daily basis when it comes to Islam that is inaccurately portrayed as inherently anti-Christian by the likes of John Hagee, Pat Robertson, Joseph Farah and other neo-cons, you would expect some attention given to this alarming business taking place in Israel. And yet, not a peep from any of them. Attacks on Christians by Jews Increasing in Israel, Palestine
A former schoolteacher fluent in several languages, Mark Glenn spoke at the AFP-TBR conference on the Middle East panel. He is a prolific writer whose provocative essays have been published worldwide. He and his wife Vicki and their eight children maintain a ranch in northern Idaho. His book, No Beauty in the Beast, can be ordered from TBR BOOK CLUB (1-877-773-9077) for $28 ppd.
(Issue #51, December 17, 2007)
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