Recently a couple of articles I have written in defense of Israel, and calling upon Christians to support it, have elicited what appeared to be substantive refutations of the idea that Israel is, as I termed it, the only Western-style democracy in the Middle East, and that it grants freedom of religion to its citizens.
The first was posted by “Provoslavni” on this thread. It read:
Praise be Jesus Christ! As usual, I agree with my friend Robert Spencer’s understanding of the Islamic threat. However, I must take issue with his statement that “Israel is, of course, a Western-style secular republic that guarantees freedom of religion”. In Israel, it is illegal for a Jew to convert to Christianity and a convert may be stripped of citizenship.
Also, the Israeli government is anti-Christian to the core. Right now there are no Christian officers in the Israeli army and no Christian has ever served in an Israeli cabinet. In Alawite controlled Syria, the highest ranked general is an Orthodox Christian but the pro-Israeli neoCons want to destroy the Assad regime and deliver Syria to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Remember, it was the Israelis who first financed the rise of Hamas to counteract the PLO and more especially the Christian dominated PFLP, led by the late George Habash of blessed memory. Remember, it was not the PA but the Israelis who granted permission to buid a large mosque in Manger Square.
I have many Palestinian and Israeli Arab Christian friends who tell me about being spit on by Jews on buses and then threatened by Muslims when they see them wearing crosses.
We Catholics and Orthodox must never forget that the land of Palestine/Israel is itself a sacred relic made holy by the footsteps of Christ God. This means that the heart of every Christian should beat with the desire that the Holy Land again honor Christ in its laws, its government, and its culture. That any government on that sacred land discriminates against our Christian brothers and sisters, should be intolerable to all Christians.
At minimun, a correct policy would be to demand that Israel grant full equal rights to Christians, including the full right of return. This means that Israel must immediately end the special status of Jewish religion and guarantee Christians a minimum of one-third of the seats in the cabinet as well as promoting Christians to positions of authority in the IDF.
If the Jews expect us Christians to see them as allies in the war with Islam, then they must treat Christians with the same respect they expect us to give them. As a Catholic, I must support my Christian brothers and oppose Dhimmitude whether under Muslims or Jews. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.
The second was posted by “unaha-closp” on this thread:
“some of the Arabic-speaking Christians with whom I am in daily contact — believe fervently that Israel is the aggressor against an innocent and aggrieved Palestinian people”
With very good reason.
Mr Robert Spencer refers to Arab Christians as if they are being unfair in calling for right of return to their homes in Israel, they’re request to able to return to they’re homes in the birth place of Christ is objectionable. Israel prevents them because Israel is for Jews and not Christians.
Mr Spencer infers that they call Israel an enemy out of fear If they support Israel, they risk being targeted by the jihadists, who surround them on all sides.
Mr Spencer reports that Israel has assisted Christians many, many times, but cites only an example of Israelis killing Hamas terrorists. Israel has not helped Christians “again and again”.
Arab Christians had their lands confiscated, homes destroyed and were made refugees during the formation and expansion of Israel. A large number of these Christian people sought refuge in the USA. Strongly faithful they joined local churches and local communities becoming good and honest citizens of the United States.
20% of the Palestinian population was Christian, they were unwelcome in Israel because they were not Jews. They are treated as second class citizens in Israel (dhimmitude). Some Christian Arabs that remained and did not flee their homes live in villages that have existed since for hundreds of years, however the State of Israel refuses to recognise that these buildings are real. Permits are not issued for additions, because the building being added to is not real. New roads, water mains, powerlines are built to Jewish villages well before Christian. The Christians pay their taxes and are not provided equal treatment, they are dhimmi.
Israel confronts Christians, makes them second class citizens – but Christians are not enemies of the USA.
Mr Robert Spencer has toured this country that practices dhimmitude and Mr Robert Spencer approves.
It isn’t often that we receive even what purport to be substantive factual refutations of material we have presented here, so I decided to seek out some help in providing substantive answers to these points. Now, David Meir-Levi, the brilliant author of Big Lies: Demolishing the Myths of the Propaganda War Against Israel, has kindly taken the time to give us those answers.
Here follow quotations from the above posts, followed by Meir-Levi’s replies:
Mr Robert Spencer refers to Arab Christians as if they are being unfair in calling for right of return to their homes in Israel, they’re request to able to return to they’re homes in the birth place of Christ is objectionable Israel prevents them because Israel is for Jews and not Christians.
Meir-Levi: Here is the first history error. Israel has not prevented any Arabs, Jews, or Christians, from returning to Israel. See my article “The Big Arab Lie: The Political Abuse of the Refugee Issue” for details.
In short: In Israel, on the other hand, the Arabs who did not flee numbered about 170,000 in 1949; and now number more than 1,400,000. They 12 representatives in the Israel Parliament, judges sitting on the Israeli supreme court bench, and Ph.D”s and tenured professors teaching in Israeli colleges and universities. They are a population that enjoys more freedom, education, and economic opportunity than do any comparable Arab populations anywhere in the Arab world. The Arab rulers caused the Arab refugee problem in 1948 by their war of aggression against the infant state of Israel, a legal creation of the United Nations; the Arab rulers have since maintained the Arab refugee population and and denied it any possibility of normal life in Arab countries in order to use the suffering they themselves have caused it as a weapon in their unending war against Israel.
The bottom line is that Israel did not cause the refugee problem. The Arab invasion did. After the war, Israel offered to return territory in exchange for peace. The Arabs refused. In September 1949 at the Lauzanne Conference, Israel offered to repatriate 100,000 refugees. The Arab League refused.
Had there been no war, there would not only have been no refugee problem, but also there could have been a State of Palestine since 1947.
Had the Arab leaders been willing to make peace, there could have been repatriation and a state for the Palestinians.
From 1949 until last year, Israel has offered repatriation to Arab refugees in the context of the “Family Reunification Plan.” C. 170,OOO Arabs have taken advantage of this plan. Those who refused did so because the repatriation paperwork requires the returning refugee to disavow terrorism and become a productive citizen of Israel. Since the Intifada 2, (9/29/00), 50,000 Arabs have moved from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Israel. Most of these are Christians who fear the Islamofascists of the PA and seek refuge in Israel where they can practise their religion in freedom.
It is not Israel that has refused resolution to the Arab refugee problem”¦It is the Arab leadership’s refusal to make peace.
Mr Spencer infers that they call Israel an enemy out of fear If they support Israel, they risk being targeted by the jihadists, who surround them on all sides.
Mr Spencer reports that Israel has assisted Christians many, many
times, but cites only an example of Israelis killing Hamas terrorists. Israel has not helped Christians “again and again”.
Meir-Levi: This is a false statement. Israel is the only country in the Middle East (with the possible exception of Turkey) where Christians can live in freedom and practise their faith in freedom, and have the government provide upkeep for churches and other religious holy sites. Even in Lebanon, which used to be c. 55% Christian, the Christians were constantly harassed and sometimes killed by their Muslim neighbors.
Arab Christians had their lands confiscated, homes destroyed and were made refugees during the formation and expansion of Israel. A large number of these Christian people sought refuge in the USA. Strongly faithful they joined local churches and local communities becoming good and honest citizens of the United States.
Meir-Levi: See my first comment.
20% of the Palestinian population was Christian, they were unwelcome in Israel because they were not Jews. They are treated as second class citizens in Israel (dhimmitude). Some Christian Arabs that remained and did not flee their homes live in villages that have existed since for hundreds of years, however the State of Israel refuses to recognise that these buildings are real. Permits are not issued for additions, because the building being added to is not real. New roads, water mains, powerlines are built to Jewish villages well before Christian. The Christians pay their taxes and are not provided equal treatment, they are dhimmi.
Meir-Levi: This is false and a nonsensical use of the concept “dhimmi.” Per my first comments, Israeli Christians enjoy benefits in Israel that are not available to them in most of the Muslim world. They enjoy a personal and religious safety that is not extant for them in most of the Muslim world. Tax money is given by the government to churches etc. for repair and upkeep etc.
There are issues with illegal construction; and where the government determines that a structure is built illegally, it takes actions as determined by law (such as denial of tax money to support illegal construction). This is no different from the way illegal construction is handled in most of the Western world. And note in this context that Israel is run by rule of law. A Christian Israeli who feels that the government is not treating him fairly has the option to go to court, including up to Israel’s version of the Supreme Court (the Israeli High Court of Justice) and challenge the government. A number of Muslim challenges to Israeli government decisions regarding land, buildings, the course of the defensive barrier, etc., have been decided in favor of the Muslim Arab plaintiffs. There is no reason to think that a Christian plaintiff would fare any worse.
The “second class citizen” issue is important. Arabs by law are first class citizens in all respects except two:
1. The Right of Return. Jews get special assistance from the government to resettle from their lands of origin. Christians and Muslims and indigenous Jews do not. This has nothing to do with Christianity. The discrimination that this law provides is for incoming Jews (often refugees) and against all local native-born citizens (Jews and Christians and Arabs). This “right of return” has been likened to the US law of affirmative action.
2. Army service. Arabs (Christian or Muslim or Druze) are not required to serve. But they are permitted to serve and many Arabs of all religions do serve. I personally had the honor of doing much of my own Army service under a Lieutenant Colonel who was a Muslim Arab.
In neither case is discrimination based on religion. However, not all Jewish Israeli citizens are as fair and unbiased as the law demands. There is discrimination against Arabs (both Muslim and Christian) on a personal level. Just as there is in the USA against African Americans.
Praise be Jesus Christ! As usual, I agree with my friend Robert Spencer’s understanding of the Islamic threat. However, I must take issue with his statement that “Israel is, of course, a Western-style secular republic that guarantees freedom of religion”. In Israel, it is illegal for a Jew to convert to Christianity and a convert may be stripped of citizenship.
Meir-Levi: This is a false statement. It has no basis in reality. It sounds as though this person has imbibed uncritically of the Arab propaganda that is literally a strategy of deceit with the tactics of serial lying.
There is government regulation of missionary activity, in that Church groups that seek to operate in Israel must agree to do no proselytizing. But religious choices are the right of the individual. Jews who converted to Christianity in the Disapora have enjoyed the Right of Return as Jews (in one case this was denied because the Jewish convert headed a proselytizing sect). And note too that in almost all Muslim countries today, conversion out of Islam is punishable by death.
Also, the Israeli government is anti-Christian to the core. Right now there are no Christian officers in the Israeli army and no Christian has ever served in an Israeli cabinet. In Alawite controlled Syria, the highest ranked general is an Orthodox Christian but the pro-Israeli neoCons want to destroy the Assad regime and deliver Syria to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Meir-Levi: More nonsense. There are indeed Christian and Muslim officers (per my comments above) in the Army. I don’t know about the Cabinet; but it is noteworthy that there are 12 (out of 120) Knesset members who are Arab Muslim Israelis.
Regarding Syria, just ask any American Christian Arab of Syrian or Lebanese origin how life in Syria is for Christians. The Alawi minority (C. 12% of the population) holds the rest in a grip of terror and routinely intimidates and oppresses the Christian minority.
As to Neo-cons and Mulsim Brotherhood”¦The writer is either a fool, or an ignoramus, or is lying through his/her teeth.
Remember, it was the Israelis who first financed the rise of Hamas to counteract the PLO and more especially the Christian dominated PFLP, led by the late George Habash of blessed memory. Remember, it was not the PA but the Israelis who granted permission to build a large mosque in Manger Square.
Meir-Levi: These are almost true statements. Israel did not fund but did permit the growth of Hamas in the late 1980s in the belief that a Muslim religious movement would counter the secular/Marxist Arab terror groups that dominated the worldwide terror scene. There was nothing special about the PFLP, rather the main problem was Arafat and the PLO/Fatah.
The Israelis did grant permission to build a mosque in Manger Square and also in Nazareth. Same as it grants permission to build churches in various parts of Israel. Religious groups have the right to petition and get permits and build religious buildings. The same right applies to Christians as to Muslims.
I have many Palestinian and Israeli Arab Christian friends who tell me about being spit on by Jews on buses and then threatened by Muslims when they see them wearing crosses.
Meir-Levi: This could be true. It is regrettable that many Jews in Israel harbor great resentment to Christians due to the Holocaust and to 2000 years of Christian brutal and lethal persecution. But these are individual actions taken by bigoted people. The same is true re some American whites and the African-Americans whom they consider inferior.
We Catholics and Orthodox must never forget that the land of Palestine/Israel is itself a sacred relic made holy by the footsteps of Christ God. This means that the heart of every Christian should beat with the desire that the Holy Land again honor Christ in its laws, its government, and its culture. That any government on that sacred land discriminates against our Christian brothers and sisters, should be intolerable to all Christians.
Meir-Levi: This is a good idea. I wish that every Christian in the world would read and take to heart these words. If they did so, then the horrific illegal discrimination against Christians that is practised by the Muslims of the Palestinian Authority would be targeted; as would the lethal threats and intimidation of Christians in Gaza and the West Bank by the PA. And the Israeli government would be recognized as the most protective and supportive of Christians in the entire Middle East.
Needless to say, the Israeli government does indeed honor Christ in its laws since, although it is a secular state, it uses as guidelines for its humanitarian and liberal and humanistic legislation the same Jewish Scriptures from which Jesus quoted and taught. The very existence of the Jewish State, secular though it is, is an honor to Jesus the Jew who lived out his life in the last Jewish state prior to 1948.
At minimun, a correct policy would be to demand that Israel grant full equal rights to Christians, including the full right of return. This means that Israel must immediately end the special status of Jewish religion and guarantee Christians a minimum of one-third of the seats in the cabinet as well as promoting Christians to positions of authority in the IDF.
Meir-Levi: See my comments above about “Right of Return.” I wonder if this writer is as upset about the special status of Muslims in the Islamic Republic of Iran or the Islamic democracy of Pakistan, or the Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as he is about the special status of Jews in the Jewish State of Israel.
The other comments re special treatment of Christians re seats in the Cabinet and authority in the IDF are beyond stupid. They actually demand discrimination — in favor of Christians. Israel as a government and body politic seeks to end all discrimination (including the Right of Return sometime in the distant future when Jews are no longer in danger anywhere in the world and international affirmative action is no longer needed). To implement discriminatory policies (instead of merit-based selection) is the antithesis of what Israel wants to do; and is the same as what the writer complains about regarding the discrimination he perceives (incorrectly) in Israel now.
If the Jews expect us Christians to see them as allies in the war with Islam, then they must treat Christians with the same respect they expect us to give them. As a Catholic, I must support my Christian brothers and oppose Dhimmitude whether under Muslims or Jews. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.
Meir-Levi: This is benighted or mendacious. I don’t know which. Christianity oppressed in the Muslim world for centuries vs Christianity free and unfettered in Israel — and he puts them on the same level.