They say (ISIS) the Caliphate is on the rise in Iraq & Syria, not such bad news

The time might be approaching when the loss will be reversed

The middle east never ceases to amaze. The arab ISIS assassins gave a swift kick at Mosul and the whole rotten Iraqi edifice came crumbling down. General Petreaus' much vaunted military wonder at Falujah is shown to be the smoke and mirrors that it always was. ISIS now commands Falujah with it's own peculiar way of winning hearts and minds, through sheer terror and decapitation.

Years of American lives and US money are now as nothing. Obama ever the idiot is now readying the US to send in more money, support and eventually waste even more American lives in the service of Iran. Because Iraq is the fiefdom of Iran in the areas ruled by the shiah and far be it from Obama to let his new buddies in Iran take a pasting ( let's not worry about Obama. Whatever he touches turns to dust in the end, and he'll be gone soon in any case).

Iran can not afford to lose Iraq as it is the major supply route to Assad and to Hezbollah. And in any case Iran doesn't want ISIS on its border with Iraq so Iran will fight for Iraq with or without US help. But with trillions of dollars of debt, the US like every good gambler is happy to throw some more money away in the forlorn hope things will improve.

All this is as nothing to the Obama's national security team, unless he's simply ignoring their advice. In Obama's rush to destroy US credibility throughout the world, what better policy than to engender more Taliban style killings of US troops, sent to the battlefield and being virtually forbidden from opening fire in their defense. Which reminds me, Israeli troops are mighty sick of the same thing. And if you are a Jewish inhabitant of Judea and Samaria forget about ever using your gun. You will be arrested by Israeli police, your gun taken away, and no end of further proceedings taken against you.

This is Israel today where it's better to have a soldier hurt than for him to defend himself. David the Nahlai recently gained much support in Israel after his drawing his weapon was believed to have led to his punishment (It wasn't the reason in this case but IDF soldiers have had so much of this policy of 'havlagah' or 'restraint', as now a bad policy in the 1930's which led not to less attacks, but more and intensified ones against Jews. Orde Wingate changed the policy and the desperate situation of the kibbutzim with his offensive Night Squads. They lay in wait outside arab villages and when the terrorists emerged to shoot up and burn Jewish villages they were themselves destroyed. The British new it in the 1930's, the Jews won the 1948 war by defending themselves actively, but now Jewish soldiers need to be social workers protecting the interests of their enemies ).

So okay lets get to Chief of Staff Gantz. Now you would expect him to have a certain relief that his neighbours to the north and east are somewhat embroiled at the moment. Not a chance:

Gantz says conflict in Syria could continue for more than a decade; warns that both Hezbollah and World Jihad gaining strength in Syria.

Israeli generals as their politicians have little strategic horizon, so Gantz of course doesn't understand that the first part of his sentence necessarily contradicts the latter half. If the war goes on for a decade neither Hezbollah, Iran, the sunni al Qaida gangs or anyone else will be in much position to take on Israel. And in that time Israel will have relative peace, as long as it keeps its defense posture secure.

The present Israeli Defense Minister is thankfully on the ball unlike effete Barak and that labor union guy before him. Whereas Barak during the second intifada and afterwards, was nonchalant about Jews being slaughtered by suicide bombers, for Sderot and the south of Israel to get hammered year after year, Ya'alon made it clear the rules have changed. 

So the rockets still come but not every shabbat morning in time for synagogue service and shabbat lunch, not every day when the kids are walking to and from school. Yes the terrorists know Israel's timetable exactly and used to time the rockets accordingly. Sometimes that helped locate and destroy the rocket squads . Things are now very much better in the south. Ya'alon understands that in this region, the only way you get peace is not by smiling and giving away your silver, but by carrying a cosh and grimacing at your enemy.

And Ya'alon fits in with the Israeli street now. Apart from the usual feeble minds which along with Nobel prizes, Jews seem to be endowed with in larger numbers than is their fair share, Israelis understand that to show weakness to arabs, to free murderers for nothing, as 'gestures', is to invite further attack.

And that attack has come with the kidnapping of the yeshivah students. May God grant them a quick and safe return. Of course the lower level attacks nowadays are counted in the hundreds each month, and collated in the monthly Low IntensityConflict Report.

Until Israel was tested in the 1^st Intifada and found wanting, there were virtually no attacks on Jews in Judea and Samaria. The fear of 1948 and 1967 was still in their minds. I know because I travelled all over the area during part of that time. Then the human rights era started and palestinians were allowed to attack Israeli soldiers for the benefit of the cameras on a daily basis. This undermined Israel's reputation for robustness with the arabs as regards deterrence, and with the rest of the world with regards Israel's respect of human rights. 

With all the cameras, the odd lapse by a soldier instantly got, and gets beamed around the world. Rather than be seen for what it is, a human rights respecting bastion, Israel is besmirched as an apartheid state with impunity, and there's the pallywood filming in abundance to 'prove' it.

Some time soon people will begin to wake up because the never ending violence coming out of arab countries is getting intense, it will be all but impossible even for the most misled to ignore the fact that Israel is not the problem, but the arab, and those darlings known as 'Balestinians' ( pronounced the arab way, as they can not pronounce the 'P'. Fancy that, a 'people' who can't even utter the name of their own country properly. Something fishy there to start with).

Our poor:

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz said Monday that only a handful of states have more firepower than Hezbollah.

Okay the man has sleepless nights and does a magnificent job showing the al Nusrah types and shia on the borders that when they mortar Israel it's no longer forgive and forget like in the 1950's all the way up to 1967. If they mortar Israeli communities they get a Tammuz missile up the tochos about 5 minutes later, or less. And lo and behold, rather than this becoming a 'cycle of violence' as the european fools like to berate Israel, the Syrian border is mostly quiet. A little education goes a long way in this region.

But the General is clearly worried:

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference at the Interdisciplinary Center, Gantz said, "Show me four or five states with more firepower than Hezbollah: the US, China, Russia, Israel, France, the UK."

Okay, but they need all that firepower to protect Israel. Sorry? Come again? PROTECT Israel? Yes. 

Without Hezbollah and all its weaponry on the borders of Syria and Lebanon the sunni jihadis would be able to munch their sandwiches opposite the guard post at Rosh Haniqra whilst taking the odd pot shot, at point blank range.

The Chief worries too much about the firepower of Hezbollah and all the training it is getting in the field. Hezbollah are shi as in Iran, Assad's gang of Alawites and Maliki's domain of Baghdad. They are but a tenth the size of the sunni world, and if only they weren't such fanatical believers in the second coming of the Mahdi, they'd be buying their houses in Park Lane and Paris, just in case.

As it is they have to make do with renting houses in Thailand, Argentina and Bulgaria, but I digress, as that's for wholly different purposes.

Going from a stable shia ruled Syria two years ago that could put around a thousand tanks into Israel in a future war, Allah forbid, Iran now is fighting a war in Syria and now Iraq. Hezbollah has lost around 500 men so far in Syria. 

It's not so much fun to lose around 10% of your men on the battlefield (including top commanders of Hezbollah and the IRGC), and to know that there is not only no end in sight, but that there's so far not been so much as a peep from the Mahdi to say when he's gonna come and finish of those Jews and infidel apostate sunni muslims.

Of course Hezbollah is busy training up thousands of replacements, and so are the sunni jihadists, and so the party is getting bigger and better, and the carnage is set to increase exponentially.

And so:

Gantz said that Syria was falling apart "like a house of cards," and no outcome was good for Israel.

Sorry old boy. Just hold onto your hat, steady your nerve and get ready for the ride. You might even have just a little faith in the good Lord who has sent miracle upon miracle to the benefit of a state that otherwise could never have even got off the ground in 1948. If Christy Anastas can believe with her somewhat garbled understanding of our history that the survival of Israel is part of God's intention, for the world, “a Covenant“ , then you can surely afford to relax a little.

ISIS has been braying in the last few days about their caliphate coming to fruition, and however much Obama might move to help them, they are going to have a long hard slog, just as was predicted

here

The rock of Iran (and its ally Assad and proxy Hezbollah) has hit the hard sunni world, a world unforgiving of those they see as apostates threatening their very regimes.  A world full of extremist madrassas with students just longing to become involved in the fight against the shia 'heretics', as they see them.

The USA and Russia should sit this one out as it has little to do with them, and much to do with islam.
But the USA and Russia will not sit on the sidelines, more pity for the region, and also for Israel, although it might continue to be spared direct involvement.

Israel has been the wisest actor in the region, keeping its cool, growling menacingly and acting firmly when its interests are threatened or missiles, mortars or even bullets come over the border on the Golan Heights. Hamas learned last November that the rules have changed, that Israel will no longer tolerate its border communities being terrorized

The carnage we have seen this week is as nothing to what is about to happen, and whilst it does Amalek will be steadily weakened so that Israel will  hopefully have peace for a generation, quite a lot for us Jews.

All General Gantz needs to do is pick the time he bombs Iran's nuclear installations. God expects us to help ourselves to some extent, and Israel might need to clear Hezbollah from south Lebanon and allow its hostile population to escape the fighting, if Hezbollah does indeed attack Israel. If so, the most foolhardy thing to do would be to allow the shia civilian population back into the border after the inevitable ceasefire to start things up again.

If Israel is attacked, then in its defense it will be entitled to extend its borders up to the Litani river, an ancient border of Israel, and a natural defense line. The line could then be settled with Jews or any mix of loyal allies such as Christians and druze. Even Walid Jumblatt who humbled himself with such bad timing before Assad, the son of his father's murderer, even Jumblatt is very possibly asking himself if a lifetime's hostility to Israel has been a mistake. Sandwhched between sunni and shia violence, Jumblatt will himself begin to feel the heat before long.

We must learn from Russia, that if you attack us, we will not give you anything other than a bloody nose, and we'll also take back our ancient lands as compensation. A growing population means there will never be a problem settling and defending the new borders.

So things are not half bad for Israel with a strong economy, a strong army and an ever increasing and young population. All that is needed is a little faith.

Allah, the Ten Plagues and Koranic Zionism

Michelangelo's 'horny' Moses

The Egyptian columnist who is calling for compensation from Israel over the 10 plagues seems to be in ignorance of what the Koran says about this episode.

Egyptian columnist Ahmad Al-Gamal wants:

 compensation for the [Ten] Plagues that were inflicted upon [us] as a result of the curses that the Jews’ ancient forefathers [cast] upon our ancient forefathers, who did not deserve to pay for the mistake that Egypt’s ruler at the time, Pharaoh as the Torah calls him, committed,” ... “For what is written in the Torah proves that it was Pharaoh who oppressed the Children of Israel, rather than the Egyptian people.”

Putting aside the time lag involved one piece of information that seems to have escaped Mr Ahmad Al-Gamal is that to claim compensation in any court in the world you need to be either the aggrieved party or his representative. Mr Gamal's forbears were not of ancient egyptian ancestry but related instead to Muhammad's arab cohorts who were bottled up in the arabian peninsula until the 7th century AD (this of course does not apply the indigenous Coptic Christians who don't count anyways as they are steadily being ethnically cleansed from Egypt by their muslim neighbours, despite the new regime's general tolerance towards them). When the arab armies erupted from what is now Saudi Arabia they came as imperialist occupiers. Islam is after all a crusading and supremacist religion.

Ahmad Al-Gamal dips into the Bible saying:

“They inflicted upon us the plague of locusts that didn’t leave anything behind them; the plague that transformed the Nile’s waters into blood, so nobody could drink of them for a long time; the plague of darkness that kept the world dark day and night; the plague of frogs; and the plague of the killing of the firstborn, namely every first offspring born to woman or beast, and so on”

Our arab Bible expert seems to be in ignorance of what the Koran says about the matter. As usual a little gratuitous violence is added to the biblical crib, such as a bit about cutting of a hand and foot on alternate sides. But in addition the Koran takes all the credit for the Exodus for Allah:

We sent forth Moses to pharaoh and his nobles (7:101,Koran, Penguin Classics, N.J.D.)

And in true Koranic style, even the Jew's narrative was taken with Moses now being outed as a muslim:

 Moses said: 'Pharaoh, I am an apostle from the Lord of the Creation and may tell nothing of Allah but what may be true'. (7:104)

Here whilst Moses the muslim is plugging for Allah, Allah is at the same time showing himself to be a zionist. In a parallel to Genesis 1 in the Bible where God first tells us who created the earth before ascribing the Land of Israel to the Jews:

Moses said to his people;'seek help in Allah and be patient, The earth is Allah's; He gives it to those of his servants he chooses'(7:129)

'Your Lord will perchance destroy your enemies and make you rulers in the land (the Koran can not be referring to  Egypt because it deals with the Exodus in the next few verses. Yet again the Koran recognizes that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews. Muslims who work for the destruction of Israel are going against their own founding text).(7:130)

Here Allah takes the credit for the 10 Plagues:

 We afflicted Pharaoh's people with dearth and famine so that they might take heed.(7:130)

If Egyptian  Ahmad Al-Gamal wants compensation for the10 Plagues it is surely with the islamic deity of Allah that he must take issue ( presuming he's a muslim which in a 80-90% muslim country where Christians are not asked for their opinions as columnists in the wholly state run media, a pretty good presumption) .

As arab countries ban any text that is of a zionist nature, may I humbly enquire as to whether there are any moves afoot to put that zionist work the Koran on their banned list, or even whether any muslims are boycotting their mosques in protest?

The 600 who understand on which side their bread is buttered

Role model for christians in Israel - Monalisa Abdo the first female Arab combat commander

It is heartwarming to see that so many young christians in Israel go against their leaders, the official churches, their bishops and do their duty by their country Israel by doing national service and serving in the IDF. 
Christian youth such as MonaLisa and her sister are the future of their community, not the religious bigots who purport to represent them.
Christians in Israel know that they have the luck to live in the only country in the region which protects the rights of all religious denominations, that allows freedom of worship and protection from discrimination.
Only in Israel are christians free. Christians look around them and see themselves under attack in every muslim country, every arab country in the middle east.
Many christian youth are not just taking all that Israel has to offer whilst besmirching the State of Israel, but are doing their duty. Kol Hakavod (Hebrew for 'respect'/ 'well done').


Christian leaders spar over IDF enlistment

Conference allegedly encouraging young Christians to serve in IDF leads to boycott, death threats and police complaints, but volunteers could be more satisfied with their service

Hassan Shaalan
The issue of the enlistment of Christians in the IDF has sparked unexpected tensions in Israel's Arab Christian community.

The head of the Council of Arab Orthodox Community Dr. Azmi Hakim on Tuesday filed a police complaint claiming he received death threats after voicing opposition to the recruitment of Christians following a conference in Nazareth Illit.

He later said he has no problem with those who choose to join the army but remains opposed to the idea.

Threats were apparently also made against other members of the community who promote enlistment, according to Defense Ministry official Haim Ben-Ami. 

The affair began early last month during a conference which was attended by Defense Ministry representatives as well as Nazareth Illit Mayor Shimon Gabso and Reverend Jubrail Nadaf.

During the conference, Christian teens were encouraged to join the IDF which sparked uproar among clerics and members of the Christian community council.

They called to boycott Nadaf claiming he does not represent them. "We will not let anyone sully the community's name by recruiting Christians to the IDF or National Service. We must fight this," one councilman said. 

Reverend Nadaf said, "I am not responsible for what was said at the conference. Anyone who says otherwise is inciting against me as a religious figure and will pay for it in court." Nadaf filed a police complaint against the council citing defamation.  

Data show that 18% of Christians in Israel volunteer for National Service, the director of the National Service Directorate, Sar-Shalom Jerby, said. "Of the 3,000 Arabs volunteering for National Service 570 are Christians," he said.

"There is some opposition to National Service in the Arab community," Jerby added. "Some treat the volunteers as traitors. At times they are even attacked."

'I love helping my community'

While the community's leaders continue to quarrel over the matter, it appears that the young Israeli Christians embrace the opportunity to serve their communities.  

"I volunteer at a school in the village and am very satisfied with my service because I'm helping my community," said 19-year-old Jana.

"All the people who are against it don't understand what we contribute. In the beginning, those who weren't happy with my decision created problems for me but I've proven myself." 

Another young Christian said she volunteers at a cultural institute and is happy she is able to help others. "I'm thinking about also serving in the IDF because I'm an Israeli citizen and want to contribute to the country," she said.  

One volunteer said she is determined to continue her service despite receiving threats. "It made me want to stop but my parents supported me and gave me strength. It made me go on without being scared of all the threats. I never expected Christian religious figures to stoop so low because of the conference, which is hardly something new." 

The Nazereth Illit Municipality said in response, "The event was a tribute to Christian soldiers serving in the IDF and performing National Service. It was not aimed at recruiting more Christians to the IDF."

 The Defense Ministry said, "We will not tolerate threats or attacks against those who promote enlistment. They will receive our support."

The Dormition Dauber must be caught, the sooner the better

Whereas i'm deeply skeptical that jews set fire to a door of the Latrun monastery for reasons i've already explained, the latest attack on the Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion could possibly have been done by a jew. With all the publicity over the Dormition Abbey some jewish idiot might have got it into his head to carry out a copycat attack, despite the previous attack almost certainly having been carried out by an arab or one of the monks of the Latrun monastery.

Unlike Latrun, Mount Zion has a large orthodox jewish population nearby (as well as large numbers of arabs and christians).

As is normal after such attacks the Israeli establishment condemns these religious attacks outright for what they are, disgraceful and unacceptable attempts to stir up hatred between people of different faiths. Whether jew, christian or muslim all faiths share the land and as long as they live peacefully should not be subject to such outrages.

The Israeli police, not known for their attracting the brightest minds of the Jewish People must however work to get to the bottom of these attacks. They might very well get hold of the Dormition attacker owing to CCTV cameras in the area. If this perpetrator is found to be jewish, the link will undoubtedly be made with the Latrun arson and an attempt will be made to pin all unsolved attacks on the Dormition attacker.

This typical police method driving up their success rate by loading all unsolved crimes onto one culprit should not be allowed to happen. In the UK police used to regularly bribe prisoners to admit to large numbers of unsolved crimes.  The Dormition attacker is most likely some sad individual, possibly a failing yeshivah talmudical student who is not bright enough to make it in the academic sphere yet wishing to make his mark on the world. He should know that he is no hero but a cowardly troublemaker helping those who would sour relations between jews and christians.

Jews should in any case keep in mind that as well as christian denominations such as the Quakers, the Franciscan catholics of the Latin Patriarchate and the Anglican Church which happily allow themselves to be used in the cause of Israel's enemies, Israel has many christian friends, who understand Israel's problems and the enemies it faces, and who also help Israel in varied ways.

There are enough of enemies of the Jewish People working hard to undermine friendly links between jews and christians without jews seeking to revive old hatreds. Sadly we will always have renegades within our ranks, on the right as well as the useful idiots of the left.

The main thing is now to catch the Dormition dauber and put him behind bars, whatever his religion.

Police opened an investigation Tuesday into a suspected "price tag" attack on Dormition Abbey church on Jerusalem's Mount Zion.
According to police, graffiti was spray-painted on the door of the Franciscan Convent located adjacent to Dormition Abbey church, including the words "price tag" and "Jesus is a bastard."

The graffiti was immediately erased.
Assistant commander Moshe Bareket, chief of the David precinct in Jerusalem, confirmed that police were notified of the incident early Tuesday morning by a priest. "We will do everything we can to get to the address that spray-painted these sentences," Bareket affirmed, adding that police were using "technological means" to locate the perpetrators.
There are hundreds of cameras located in and around Jerusalem's Old City.
Taibe, who sells tourist souvenirs next to the convent, said he saw the graffiti when he arrived in the morning and that the priests were very upset. He added that it was not the first time that extremists had vandalized the church, but rather that every few months authorities have to deal with some kind of graffiti in the area.
National police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said that the special investigation unit created to deal with two other anti-Christian attacks earlier this year has been  tasked with looking into the latest one as well.
No suspects were arrested in connection with the previous attacks.

Jews and Christians in the middle east both challenged by islamic fundamentalist intolerance

Having explored Latin Patriarchate antisemites and their works recently, we must remind ourselves that there are millions of christians out there who do recognise the evil of sacrificing jews in the vain hope that muslim states will treat christians a little better. It hasn't happened yet and christian communities throughout the middle east and islamic world are under attack. They are being ethnically cleansed and their communities will all but cease to exist by the end of this century. Apart from Israel, thousands of years of christian life will be erased from arab countries, just as happened to arab jews last century.

The founder of the European Coalition for Israel Tomas Sandel is just one amongst many christians who realise that jews are not the enemy. We have a shared culture, morals and ideals even if our religions took different paths, and it is the Jewish State which protects its christians, allows them to worship freely and live in peace and harmony with their jewish neighbours in Israel. The christian community in Israel is thriving.

Christians who think for themselves know that supporting Israel is the moral thing to do both for Israel and the cause of christianity. If only the World Council of Churches and the Vatican would support christians rather than foment strife and the slander of jews and Israel christians would not be packing their bags in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia and everywhere else in the muslim world. 

Christians have been failed by their leadership. Rather than lobby the EU and the USA to withhold funds whilst their bretheren in the Palestinian Authority are harassed, injured and have their lands stole by people connected to armed PA groupings,  they hold forth constantly on Israel's supposed wrongs towards palestinian arabs.

 Notwithstanding the forces arrayed against us, Tomas Sandell is being too pessimistic about the power of the UN and other nations to impose its will on Israel. Israel is a nation that although assailed on all sides, despite a large international will to see it harmed,  has grown in strength from year to year. 

Against all the odds tiny Israel came into existence, has not only survived but become a power that can not be defeated on the battlefield. The only way Jerusalem could become part of a muslim arab state is if jews themselves do not wise up to the extent of the enmity, of the bad intentions of those who cry that they want 'justice' and an end to 'occupation'.  

We will lose Jerusalem only if another Olmert were to come along and decide to give Jerusalem away. Olmert of course is a corrupt man awaiting sentence who has little understanding of his own history, culture or religion. Football and acceptance by his peers in europe and the US is his passion . 

Israelis have now grown up, are chastened by the rejection by arabs of peace and are less likely to allow leaders to give away strategic and historical lands for the sake of an illusory peace. Even Olmert's offer of Jerusalem was not enough for palestinian arabs who will accept no less than the destruction of Israel. Our enemies won't get Jerusalem just as they won't manage to wrest the strategic hill areas of Judea and Samaria away from Israel. 

Our enemies have shot their bolt. The west is wakening up to them, Israelis have woken to the real wishes of those who would dismember Israel. And christians with open minds and good will are also beginning to understand the threat is not only against jews, but to christians (and moderate muslims ). 

 The Christian legions can win Israel’s diplomatic war
Tomas Sandell

One morning a few years from now, the world may suddenly wake up to discover that a new Islamic state called Palestine has been established on what used to be Jewish heartland, and with the Old City of Jerusalem as its capital. This could in fact happen without a single bullet ever being fired or any negotiations being conducted, and while those concerned about the future of Israel were fast asleep because they had not understood the nature of the new battle.

The battle for Jerusalem is no longer being fought in the trenches of Judea and Samaria, but in courtrooms in places like the International Court of Justice in the Hague or conference halls in the UN in New York and Geneva. The Israeli foreign minister has called it ”diplomatic terrorism.” Other calls it ”international lawfare,” and as in any war the first casualty is truth.

What friends of Israel need today is a strategy to defend Israel from this web of vicious lies, slander and twisting of international law. The first step in such a strategy is to recognize the fact that the war is in progress and that Israel runs the risk of losing it.

This week a new chapter of this ongoing diplomatic war will begin at the UN in New York as the Palestinian Authority asks the UN General Assembly for a non-state membership, with an eye to settle the territorial terms for a two-state solution along the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as capital.

The PA already enjoys full member status in UNESCO. Membership in the UN organization for culture and education makes it possible for the PA delegation to have representation in a number of UN international conferences and committees that help write international law.

One of their first measures at UNESCO was to add the Church of the Nativity to the list of World Heritage Sites as a Palestinian holy site. This was despite the protests of those Christian denominations which had been given the custody of the birthplace of Jesus Christ. One did not need much diplomatic experience to understand that the decision was a political statement and had nothing to do with culture. On the contrary, during the short period between 1948 and 1967 when the Old City was under ”moderate” Jordanian rule, 55 synagogues and talmudic academies were destroyed or desecrated. So much for cultural preservation.

A vote for the PA as a non-member state in the UN General Assembly could set the territorial terms for a future two-state solution along the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital. By using this tactic the PA would in fact have pre-defined its borders without ever having had to bring the question to the negotiating table, but simply by manipulating international law. Once Palestine is recognized as a sovereign member state in the UN with East Jerusalem as its capital, the consequences for Israel would of course be disastrous.
The United Nations building in New York. (photo credit: CC BY WorldIslandInfo.com/Flikr)

The United Nations building in New York. (photo credit: CC BY WorldIslandInfo.com/Flikr)

It is true that Israel is threatened on more than one front. The number 1 concern in Jerusalem is of course the nuclear threat from Iran. A chemical weapons attack from Syria is another one. The Arab Spring is quickly turning into an ice-cold winter. However this should not prevent us from also taking the ”soft war” conducted by international lawyers, diplomats and activists seriously. Though they may speak softly, their final objectives are no different from those of militant Islam, namely the total destruction of the Jewish state. In order to prevent this from happening we need to take action now.

For the last eight years I have been privileged to lead a Christian organization called European Coalition for Israel. As people of faith, our first calling is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Though some may smile at this rather unorthodox approach to international lawfare, they would do well to remember the lessons of the Cold War. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin once sarcastically asked his advisors, ”how many legions does the Pope have?” implying that the religious leader lacked any real influence. A few decades later, the Communist system was brought down by a Catholic workers’ revolt inspired by the late Pope John Paul II. The Pope, and the Christian workers, had no military power, but they had the gifts of faith, prayer and perseverance to stand for what they believed to be the truth. In an increasingly hostile environment in Europe and around the world, we need these same qualities.

There is currently a reservoir of hundreds of millions of Christian believers around the world who love Israel and want to speak on her behalf. In order to mobilize these ”legions,” we need to give them tools for information, education and advocacy. Whereas some people cannot be bothered with facts as they have already made up their minds, most people are open-minded and will listen to a second opinion. We have countless examples of how people change their mind once they are given correct information.

Social media has truly revolutionized the global public sphere and we can now reach millions without constantly having to struggle to get the attention of a largely hostile mainstream media. The more informed we are, the easier it is to convey our message to our friends, our elected members of parliament and to the media.

The battle of international lawfare can be won. The messengers are already in place. The key to victory is simply telling the truth where media lies and the perversion of law have prevailed in the past.