The Killing of Three Israeli Teenagers

The Killing of Three Israeli Teenagers

Abbas Blog Hamas Israel Middle East Muslim Palestinians persecution PLO Prayer West Bank

The brutal murder of the three Israeli teenagers, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, kidnapped nearly three weeks ago is a crime that is unimaginable and can only be committed by people who have lost any understanding of what it is to be human. The killers when caught, and they will be, should be given a fair trial and then, when found guilty, be subjected to the death penalty. This is nothing short of the genocide of three whole worlds and it must be treated as such. It is with disgust that we also witness the celebrations in Gaza of these heinous crimes. To be sure this demonstrates to the world the true nature of the beast that Israel is grappling with. President Abbas is directly accountable for this outrage as he is the head of state of the Palestinian Authority Unity Government. He cannot escape this responsibility and the international community should hold his feet to the fire on this matter. This crime is the true face of his movement and has been for decades. It has thus once and for all unmasked them for what they are.

We rightly mourn with Israel today and thus share her pain and grief but we should all be assured of this; that this cowardly and dastardly act will not weaken Israel’s resolve or intimidate her. No, she will stand strong, uphold civilized values and norms and in the end win this battle against raw evil. We in particular share the grief that must now overwhelm three precious Israeli families and we know that God’s great love will comfort and care for them.

Malcolm Hedding

The Kidnapping of Three Israeli Children

The Kidnapping of Three Israeli Children

Blog Israel justice Middle East Muslim Palestinians PLO Prayer

On behalf of Malcolm Hedding Ministries and its world-wide constituency I wish to express outrage at the global, and yes European Union, response to the kidnapping of three Israeli young people by the newly formed Palestinian Unity Government. This type of barbaric, cruel and cowardly act demonstrates yet again that Israel is dealing with an entity that is tribal and uncivilized having no interest in peace but driven by a religious ideology that is dedicated to the total destruction of the Jewish State. There is no excuse for this evil behavior and it is stunning to hear and read that western politicians are calling upon Israel to demonstrate restraint as she seeks to employ all the means at her disposal to return these young people to their families.

Indeed there should be global condemnation of this crime and most certainly all financial aid to this newly formed Palestinian government should be suspended. I am fully aware that merely calling upon this government to return these innocent children will achieve nothing. We all know this. This is no time for the madness of political correctness and thus Israel must be fully supported as she employs every means available to her to recover these three children safely.

It is our prayer and hope that this will happen speedily.

Malcolm Hedding.

Special Statement on UN Resolution

Abbas anti-Semitism Arafat Bible Blog Christian Zionism Church evangelical evangelicals Israel justice Palestinians Prayer UN West Bank

On November 29th the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state of the United Nations. This decision gave increased credibility and leverage to the Palestinians in their future negotiations to make this a reality and so the consequences of this decision will be far reaching. It will not escape the astute observer of these things that this decision by the world community to disinvest Israel of her land and Capital took place on the 29th November; for it was on this date 65 years ago that this same body recognized the existence of Israel as a nation state. Now this world forum is seeking to give added strength to a people who through their leaders have waged a relentless war of terror against the Jewish people. This war is not for a state of their own but for the removal of the Jewish State in its entirety. This is not a radical right wing position but rather one that is based on the track record, charter, declarations and deeds of the Palestinian Authority.

Their unaltered charter, in violation of the Oslo Accords, continues to call for Israel’s destruction; their school text books do the same and incite hatred of the Jews, their public statements in Arabic over the years, as monitored by Palestinians Media Watch and MEMRI, have called for Israel’s destruction and removal and in April 1994 in Johannesburg after Nelson Mandela’s inauguration, Yasser Arafat assured a Muslim audience that the PLO had not moved away from the 1964 Phased Plan for the destruction of Israel. Faced with an unprecedented offer of peace from the Israeli government a few years later, that included most of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, he rejected it and provoked a second Intifada. This Intifada deliberately targeted and killed hundreds of Israeli citizens including school children of all ages. Sadly, much of the Western media excused these atrocities and thereby found a way to always blame Israel for them! At no time has Israel ever gone after civilians in an attempt to protect herself from this unrelenting and sustained conflict. Yasser Arafat was not a freedom fighter but a terrorist and indeed the father of modern day terrorism and now his Holocaust denying successor Mahmoud Abbas has been rewarded with statehood by the international community. This is a disgrace and more of a commentary on the evil that lurks in the corridors of the United Nations than anything else. Thankfully Canada and the United States of America called it for what it was and rejected the motion.

The recent war with Hamas in Gaza is part of the same conflict. Having pulled out of Gaza in 2005 with good intentions Israel was rewarded with over 12000 missiles that have rained down on her southern towns and villages. No nation would accept this without a permanent holt to this aggression but once again, by the pressure of the international community, Israel has been bullied into pulling back from a total defeat of these terrorists and this by an Islamist in Egypt who certainly fully supports Hamas and seeks only by this move to consolidate his power base before moving on to deal with Israel in the future! It is a sad day when international politicians of all stripes can no longer discern between good and evil and thus, in the near future, there will be a campaign to rehabilitate Hamas and give it legitimacy!! These calls are already being heard.

We are therefore witnessing the rise of global anti-Semitism and with it a sustained attack against Israel. This attack has been pursued through two strategies: First, that of conflict and terrorism and second, by litigation, the smear of Apartheid leveled against Israel and campaigns to disinvest boycott and sanction Israel. Sadly, many main line churches have given their support to this attack. We are looking at warfare and “lawfare” against Israel and now this will escalate! The goal is to discredit Israel, delegitimize Israel and finally dismantle Israel. The Israelis are putting a brave face on the UN decision but nevertheless it is a serious development and the future will demonstrate how this will be played out. The UN decision of the 29th November has put “the wind at the back” of Israel’s enemies and they will now take full advantage of this. For the present we thank God for the USA and Canada that have stood firm in their support of Israel but we must know that the enemies of Israel will do all that they can to corrupt and break the unshakable relationship that exists between the USA, Canada and Israel.

Seventy years ago thirteen million Jews were threatened in Europe and six million were exterminated while much of the world watched silently. This must not happen again. Now is the time for Christians everywhere to stand up and be counted. We must do all that we can to befriend the Jewish people and Israel. We all have a sphere of influence that we can tap into.

The following words are by Canada’s Foreign Minister, John Baird, please note them carefully:

“In choosing not to stand idly by as the age-old hatred of the Jewish
people has been transferred to the “collective Jew”, I have been speaking
up against the new anti-Semitism that is so pervasive today in the world.
It targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland, as the source
of injustice and conflict in the world. It is perversely couched in the language
of human rights. Just as conventional ant-Semitism denied Jews the right to
live as equal members of humanity, the new anti-Semitism denies the State
of Israel the right to live as an equal member of the international community.
Worse still, when this new anti-Semitism expresses itself in the call for the
destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, it is no longer hate speech,
it is incitement to genocide. And we have to name it for what it is.”

The dangers are clear and we must rise to meet them, just as John Baird does, knowing all the time that in the end the battle is the Lord’s and He will not fail His people.

Thus prayer and intercession must be the power behind all that we do.

Malcolm Hedding.

Christian Zionism and Social Justice

anti-Semitism Blog Christian Zionism Church Gaza Hamas Israel Jesus Middle East Palestinians

A new initiative

Segments and leaders of the evangelical church are being drawn away from the traditional and mainstream position on Israel by an initiative that claims to take the high moral ground by proclaiming a commitment to social justice. This invariably means that Israel constitutes an occupying oppressive regime and that the Palestinians are the ones requiring social justice. To bolster this narrative images of the defensive barrier wall are displayed to achieve maximum propaganda effect. After all images like this return our thoughts to the Berlin Wall, the Belfast Wall and the walls of one type or another put in place by the Apartheid regime. One has to admit that the imagery is powerful and it takes well informed minds to counter them. The lack of such information has duped many evangelicals; some of them very well known. This new initiative, designed to discredit pro-Israel evangelicals breeds on ignorance and in fact on lies! It also seeks to smear Christian Zionists as uncompassionate Palestinian and Arab haters. This is just not true! David Solway observes that, “The usual understanding of Israel as an aggressive, colonial, apartheid state robbing the Palestinians of their heritage is quite possibly the greatest political scam of modern times. It is the outcome of a mixture of historical amnesia, ideological prejudice and reflex hostility, which keep it mind-proof.”

An old story

Newt Gingrich, a Republican Party candidate for the US Presidency recently shocked the media world when he stated that the Palestinians were an “invented people.” However, being the astute and very well qualified historian that he is, no one was able to challenge him; not even the liberal anti-Israel academic world! His facts were “water-tight!” This is just a reality. This however does not mean that he was demeaning the people who now claim a Palestinian national identity. It simply means that he told the truth and, as we found out, the truth hurts! Social justice must be built on the truth. This is why it was necessary to dismantle the Apartheid regime since the awful record of white minority government and oppression was true. It could not be disputed; but in the Middle East we have a claim to land by a people that were in fact invented and indeed never did have a history of national statehood! The people who do are the Jews and their claim has a four thousand year history!! Isn’t that amazing; but you would never believe it if you listened to the narrative projected by the “new initiative people.” When we “sell the truth” we will, in the end, fall. The book of Proverbs declares, “Buy the truth, and do not sell it…” (Proverbs 23:23) Social justice is placed in jeopardy when the truth is “sold.”

At the beginning of the 20th Century and up until 1948 all peoples living in British Mandated Palestine were designated “Palestinian”, even Jews! I have personally seen many identity documents testifying to this. It is a fact! This means that there never was a Palestinian People as we know them today. The truth is the new Palestinian people were invented by the PLO as a tool to further their struggle to completely destroy the State of Israel. Yasser Arafat, probably the most famous Palestinian, was in fact an Egyptian! This “invention” took root in 1964 at a time when the PLO and its various partners had everything they say they want now; even the Old City of Jerusalem, and yet they drew up a charter that called for the destruction and removal of Jewish sovereignty over all the remaining areas of the region. This they called the “Phased Plan” for the removal of the State of Israel. Note; they drew up a charter calling for the destruction of Israel and not a constitution calling for Palestinian statehood! In short they created a people group as part of their strategy to destabilize all of Israel and, as they put it then, “drive the Jews into the sea.” This is the truth and social justice must take this into consideration. This in turn means that the Palestinians never existed before as a state and therefore Israel has never occupied their so called territory. Israel’s claim to all the territory west of the Jordan River is also legal under international law as it was verified by the League of Nations in 1922 and thereafter confirmed by the United Nations. This too is the truth! How embarrassing to the “new boys club!”

This of course brings us to the Oslo initiative of the 1990s. The fact that Israel, by a process of negotiation, agreed to cede territory to the Palestinians changed the equation but it did mean that Israel, that had a right to the land by international law, was demonstrating a commitment to social justice by agreeing to give it away. It also meant that if she remained on it after the agreements she would be an occupier. However, it also meant that the Palestinians, through their leadership, would have to be honest peace partners and disavow violence. Thus up until the Oslo Accords Israel was not an occupying force. As we all know the Oslo agreements were hammered out between the Israeli leadership headed up by Yitzhak Rabin and the PLO leadership headed up by Yasser Arafat. The truth is Arafat was a dishonest broker and peace partner; he never intended to keep his side of the agreements and even said so in Johannesburg in 1994 just five months after he had shaken the hands of Bill Clinton and Yitzhak Rabin on the lawns of the White House. All the while Israel, by September 2000, had fully withdrawn from the Palestinian territories in compliance with the Oslo dictates.

Arafat therefore, and by implication the Palestinians, did not negotiate in good faith. Thus, in what way do they now cry out for social justice? In the end, as it has always been, the Palestinian form of social justice is the complete and utter destruction of Israel. This is the old story that never changes and, if you doubt it, just take a look at the school books given to their children and listen to the sermons preached by their clerics. Palestinian Media Watch will be more than willing to give you unedited copies of these! Golda Meir was right when she stated in 1957 that, “Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate Israel.”

Moreover, consider the recent Palestinian alliance with Hamas and who can doubt the truth? So, given the duplicity that was employed under the Oslo agreements, it is clear that those who require justice, given the painful concessions that they made up until September 2000, are the Israelis! They made ridiculous agreements in their pursuit of peace including being willing to hand over the Temple Mount to the Palestinians, arming them and offering them 97% of the West Bank and, if this was not enough, they unilaterally withdrew from Gaza and were rewarded with 12,000 missiles! You talk of social justice; well surely the displaced Gush Katif people would like to receive it! But sadly this narrative is denied, distorted and conveniently ignored because of an old hatred and ideology that cannot abide the existence of a Jewish State in the region. And this too is the truth!

The fact is; the Palestinian leadership has time and time again robbed their people of justice and should be held accountable. By now they could have had a state with significant parts of Jerusalem as its capital but they do not; all because they could not embrace social justice, courage and honesty.

The new reality

That a people now exist called Palestinians is a reality. Three generations have brought this people to a place of viable existence. No one can or should deny it. This means that at least two generations have been trapped in the never ending cycle of violence and intrigue and yet it will surprise many to learn that today Palestinians on the West Bank enjoy a higher standard of living, education and economic prosperity than their counterparts in the region and thus the gross domestic product of their region is in strong positive territory and expected to grow even more during the next fiscal year. Why is this? Because their economy is intertwined with one of the most successful economies in the world today; that of Israel’s. Given the chaos of the so called “Arab Spring” the West Bank is an island of prosperity! Sounds like economic justice to me or am I mistaken?

Sadly at a political level the plotting and hatred continues unabated and so Mahmoud Abbas, as noted, has recently cemented his relationship, and therefore that of his people, with Hamas. There must be no mistake about the significance of this in that it puts the Palestinians on a collision course with Israel. Since this partnership affirms their commitment, as it always was, to annihilate Israel the Israelis must tighten security to protect their citizens from harm. At a joint statement after their meeting Abbas and Mashaal of Hamas said, “We are determined to resist the enemy and achieve our national goals.” So, once again there will be no social justice for the Palestinians as the Israeli pullout from Gaza demonstrated. Hamas did not see this as a token of goodwill and an opportunity to build a new economic and social order for their people but rather as an act of weakness and immediately set about launching missile attacks in their thousands against the southern villages of Israel. Is this social justice? Jihad against Israel will continue and the Palestinian people will pay the price in having to be continuously subjected to checkpoints, searches, general security measures and barrier walls. We should all weep over this human tragedy and truly Jesus does weep at the checkpoint but not for reasons espoused by some evangelical leaders today! If you ask the attendees at the “Christ at the Check Point Conference” who is responsible for Palestinian suffering their answer will be Israel but the facts tell a different story. But this “different story” will never be heard because it is not politically correct to tell it.

The need for compassion

So, where should the church be in all of this? The answer lies in first getting hold of the truth and the facts surrounding the big picture. I have very briefly given these above. When we do this we are better enabled to put forward the call for social justice as we can get a comprehensive perspective of the issues. Social justice will take hold when leaders are transparent, honest and really committed to peace. What does the history of this conflict tell us? I will leave my readers to answer that question. No wonder Paul exhorted us to place leaders at the very top of the prayer priority list. Secondly, we need to recognize that there is a small picture that begs for our attention as well. That is, that real men, women, boys and girls are trapped in this conflict on both sides and they need help, care, love and compassion. In Jesus’ day whole communities of one type or another were caught in the conflict that Rome brought to the region. Jesus, almost exclusively ignored the conflict but healed the sick, fed the hungry, loved the stranger (even the Roman one) and lifted up the broken-hearted. He blessed the children, sat with sinners and taught the multitudes about God. Scripture affirms that He moved from one check point to another as He travelled from the Galilee to Jerusalem and never said a word about them! He knew that the big picture was in the hands of the Father as it is today.

So, our hearts should break as we witness ordinary Palestinian people recalling the trauma of having to live caged in behind walls and impeded on a daily basis by security checks etc. We should also weep for Jewish families that have had their children brutally murdered and torn from them. This is no way to live and these images, projected in a way that divorces them from the bigger picture, can turn anyone into a radical activist and they do; on both sides of the divide. A distorted image is no foundation upon which to build social justice.

Thus, while some evangelicals gather to reinforce their distorted narrative and lay blame for everything at Israel’s door let us ask them how many millions of Shekels they have invested in the social upliftment of Palestinians? Good question. I am the erstwhile leader of one of the biggest Christian Zionist organizations in the world. I therefore know for a fact that considerable amounts of money were constantly invested in Palestinian communities. In fact the organization distributed its social welfare relief into the region strictly according to its population demographics. We cared for everyone just as Jesus did and still do. This is social justice on the move! It is not selective but gives “voice” to the biblical truth that Jesus loves all people the same. He has no favorites. Compassion is not endless words and an attempt to win an ideological battle. The truth is the truth but compassion reaches to the heart and says because God loves you I will help you. One cannot be unmoved by the tears that flow down children’s faces or by the distress that comes to mothers and fathers trying to get by in a world that traps them in endless discouragement.

The Christian message demands that we hold to the truth, that which is biblical and historical, and that we bring to all the peoples of the Middle East a message of love and hope. When we do this we will be mediators of social justice.

Malcolm Hedding.

Playing with Matches

Bible Blog Christian Zionism Church evangelical evangelicals Israel Jesus justice Middle East Muslim Palestinians

World Council of ChurchesA recent article, featured in the Jerusalem Post, written by Abraham Cooper and Yitzchak Adlerstein, reported on how there is an attempt to undermine evangelical support for Israel by pro-Palestinian agenda groups including evangelicals. Sadly, organizations like the World Council of Churches and some prominent evangelical Christians have joined this “band-wagon.” Not only do they rewrite history in collaboration with their Palestinian friends but, embarrassed by the Word of God itself, they have called for the “dezionisation” of scripture. Theirs is what I call a “Waffle Iron Theology” meaning that those parts of the Bible that contradict their narrative they want expunged from it just as one cuts the batter,  that doesn’t fit in, away from the waffle machine. In short they are playing with matches and those that play with matches should not be surprised if they start a fire! In this game “extreme Palestinian political ambitions are often cloaked in theological garb” as the authors of the article state. They are right! Scripture is twisted and denied in an attempt to overcome its very clear statements about the land of Israel and the return of the Jews to it. These people will never be convinced by a balanced, biblical exposition of scripture. They have made their minds up and will definitely not be confused with facts.

Jesus

In their deluded world Jesus is a Palestinian Freedom Fighter and thus they divorce Him entirely from His Jewish context and roots. He was of course nothing of the sort and He came to Israel because of God’s faithfulness to the Abrahamic Covenant. (Luke 1:46-55) It is this Covenant that is at the crux of the issue, and therefore, they have tried every trick, in their theological box of matches, to try and burn it up. Their problem is even more compounded because the New Testament everywhere fully affirms the Abrahamic Covenant and no where changes or abolishes it. Indeed it is held up to wavering believers as a sure example of God’s faithfulness in the Book of Hebrews. (Hebrews 6:13-20) Paul establishes it in Galatians three and ends the chapter by saying that “if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s children according to the promise (covenant)”. (Galatians 3:29) Jesus was always the object of the Covenant but His people were always the context and platform out of which He came. For precisely this reason God promised the land of Canaan to them as an everlasting possession.  (Genesis 17:7-8)This really “sticks up the nose” of the “matchstick players.” They would much rather expunge the Abrahamic Covenant from scripture for this would free them from their problem and empower them to continue their real agenda which is the extermination of all of Israel! After all Palestinian school books teach this!

The God factor

Christian and Muslim clericsThe conflict in the region is really not about so called social justice. I wish it was but sadly it is not. It has everything to do with the dismantling of the Jewish State that is an affront to Islam! This is the truth! It takes many twists and turns and new strategies are embraced all the time in the pursuit of this one agenda. Christians, without a proper biblical grounding, fall for this intrigue all the time and sadly have no fear of God. Now this is not to say that everything that Israel does is right and certainly the indiscriminate killing of civilians by Palestinian terrorists is routinely ignored by these Christians. It’s all Israel’s fault and they are deaf and blind to anything else. They travel to Iran to meet with Muslim Clerics and there, as they do everywhere, they declare biblical Christian Zionism to be sin. When you have no case biblically name calling and smearing is always the position opted for! However, great Christians who have had a profound impact upon our world have held Christian Zionist views through the centuries because they were, in the first instance honoring God! Theirs was a biblical position first, then secondly a question of living in the fear of God and thirdly a recognition of Israel’s unique place in redemption history. History is filled with the wreckage of people who played with matches on this issue and then were burned by the fire they ignited! It will not be different now.

No amount of trickery, debunking of the scriptures or rewriting of history will change the outcome. The Jews have returned to Canaan to stay! That’s it and Christians, if they want to be honest influencers should quit the blame game and encourage both parties to settle their differences within this context!

Malcolm Hedding.

The War Against the Jews

anti-Semitism Blog Hamas Hitler Iran Israel Middle East Muslim Nazis Palestinians PLO
Holocaust Survivors
Holocaust Survivors

The war against the Jews has been waged from the dawn of history and is relentless until this very day. It is a saga of great proportions and significance though many fail to see it or appreciate it. It has one goal in mind and that is the liquidation of the Jewish people and the Jewish state. The world wants a new world order that is “Juden rein” (free of Jews). The attempt to murder the Jews has taken many forms including open hostility and wickedness as we witnessed in the Second World War although, unable to achieve this end by conventional war, in recent years this attack against the Jews has been political and very often couched in the language of peace. It is waged according to a narrative that is inaccurate and pure myth but one that is accepted in most circles as truth. Just the idea of “occupation” is totally untrue but accepted everywhere. The Palestinians never had a state ever in history and the ground they claim was in fact occupied for centuries by the Ottoman Turkish Empire and then illegally by the Jordanians from 1948 to 1967. Before that from 1917 onwards it was mandated to the British Empire as a consequence of the First World War. Of course these facts mean nothing to those who seek only the destruction of the Jew and Israel.

Collaborating with Evil

PA Cartoon: Jew Eating Dome of the Rock
Palestinian TV: Jew Eating Dome of the Rock

Today Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah and all their fellow travelers are fully committed to the liquidation of Israel. This fact is not hearsay or rumor, no it is enshrined in their charters and statements made frequently in the Arabic speaking press. The school books and TV programs for children in the Palestinian Authority and in Gaza, and indeed all over the Arab world, constantly demonize the Jewish people and Israel and thereby incite their impressionable minds to hatred. This too is on public record and can be verified by a visit to the website of Palestinian Media Watch. It’s all out in the open for all to see. The Jews are likened to pigs and apes and suicide attacks against them are glorified as the ultimate goal in life! Those who carry out this call are honored by having streets and squares named after them in Palestinian towns and cities.

This same radical Islamic menace collaborated with Hitler in the hope that his triumph would also bring about the complete annihilation of all Jews. He came close but thank God was defeated and yet today the world community expects Israel to sit down and make peace with “Hitler!” That is, with people who fully embrace his vision and seek to complete it today. Hamas and Fatah now have a unity agreement that according to the Hamas leadership must go further by pursuing the total destruction of Israel.

Sadly, a world without a moral compass and unable to identify evil is therefore pressurizing Israel to make what would be a suicide pact with a new version of Nazism! Many of the nations pushing for this would not do it themselves but somehow it is good enough for the Jews! One has to wonder why all this is happening? Are these people stupid, just ignorant or is there another agenda being followed? Or, maybe still there is a spiritual reality behind the War against the Jews!

The God of Israel

Given that the very essence of sin is rebellion against God, not only in terms of where He is and what He is but also who He is, it therefore is not surprising that anything that reminds a rebellious world of God will also be attacked. This is the nature of sin that lurks in the heart of every human being. If then this God calls into existence a people to reflect His character and take His name one can expect this people to be the target of rebellion or evil. From the very day of Israel’s calling and association with the only true God this war began and it has never stopped. It separates the world and as long as the Jew exists it will rage. It is a desperate war and,if it were not for the faithfulness of God, the Jew would have vanished a long time ago. Psalm 83 gives voice to these truths in that it clearly states that humankind’s War Against the Jews is in fact a war against God Himself! Note the first four verses:

“Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold your peace,
and do not be still, O God!
For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
and consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from
Being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no
More.”

It is to be noted that the enemies of God strike out against Him by making War Against the Jews!  This war will then not stop until the evil in the human heart has been overcome by redeeming love or destroyed by judgment! Needless to say, the honour and existence of the only true God is at stake in this war and thus Israel will never be destroyed because God Himself, the God of the Bible, has vouched safe her existence! This is the promise of His word. We however are invited to “show our colours” by standing with and praying for Israel. In this we don’t work for God but with Him against those who, from generation to generation, pursue the War Against the Jews.

Malcolm Hedding.

Israel and Apartheid

Apartheid Blog Israel Palestinians PLO

Day by day the anti-Israel alliance, and sadly in collaboration with major church movements mainly from the historical Protestant world, is seeking to make the Apartheid State accusation leveled at Israel stick. There is more to this than meets the eye in that the real intention behind labeling Israel an Apartheid State is to remove altogether the Jewish State. The Apartheid State of South Africa was rightfully dismantled in the late nineteen eighties and early nineties. It was first discredited, then delegitimized and finally dismantled to the joy of the world and the enslaved black majority who had lived under and endured its brutality.

However, to describe Israel in these terms is, quite frankly, immoral and wicked and yet on the university campuses of the Western World this is becoming the popular thing to do. Radical leftist academics and politicians are teaming up with Islamic elements to pursue this goal. They want to equate Israel with the original apartheid state and thus demand that the world do as it did to South Africa; dismantle it! Most of these people know absolutely nothing about Apartheid but the word is extremely powerful since it conjures up notions of hatred, discrimination, brutality, racism and prejudice.

It is quite astonishing to witness how a lie told often enough can eventually be accepted as truth! Most of these people have no knowledge of the “inner workings” of the apartheid regime and couldn’t even tell you the basic facts about it. It’s just a very powerful weapon to use when discharging their hatred of Israel.

Essentially apartheid was a totalitarian system of governance, not unlike those of the Arab world today, where a minority population subjugated and enslaved the overwhelmingly black population. It was ideologically driven and was obsessed with racial superiority. The superior white population could not mingle with or even sit on a bench with the inferior black peoples. Even the education system was “dumbed down” for black people because they were mentally inferior and could not cope with the high levels of learning that whites could embrace. The towns and cities were “white by night” as all “blacks”, as they were called, had to be removed to their shanty towns that served as cheap labour ghettos for the nation. The black people could not vote, own property or even move freely in their own country.

Various instruments of state were used to ruthlessly apply the system of total and complete segregation and these included the police, the military and the judiciary system. In short, it was Aryanism in a new form!

There is absolutely nothing equivalent to this in the dispute that rages between the Palestinians and Israel today. Arabs, Jews, Christians and Palestinians share the same shopping malls, benches, hospitals, theatres, and in many cases, suburbs. The educational institutions do not have a “dumbed down” Arab/Palestinian curriculum and the privilege of voting is given to all. Israel has Arab Members of Knesset and Jews, Arabs and Palestinians often work together on construction sites, in businesses and in hotels etc. Most important of all is the fact that Israel is a democratic state, (not a perfect one), with democratic institutions and is not governed by a totalitarian minority!

It is also important to remember that there never was a Palestinian State in the region as even Jews were called, and registered as, Palestinian in 1948! The British government held mandate over the country and accepted the right of Jews to have a state of their own in what was their ancient homeland. Even the United Nations accepted and voted for this right. When Israel implemented this decision by declaring its existence she was immediately attacked by no less than five Arab countries!

This brings into focus the real nature of this conflict. That is, it has very little to do with politics or peace agreements but everything to do with theology! By this I mean a radical jihadist theology that considers the whole land of Israel and not just the West Bank part of the house of Islam. This theology dictates that all this land must be returned to this house by peaceful, political or violent jihad. So, when the Palestinians had everything they say they want now from 1948 to 1967 they neither protested against the illegal Jordanian occupation of the region nor even remotely demanded a state of their own. They did however found the PLO in 1964 charged with the distinct mandate of destroying the State of Israel. They subsequently launched a terror campaign to prove it and throughout the Oslo peace initiative era refused to remove the infamous “destruction clauses” from their charter!

The same jihadist theology drives Hamas, the Alaksa Brigade, Hezbollah, Ahmadinejad of Iran and all the rest. This has absolutely nothing to do with Apartheid! The state of Israel enjoys a Jewish majority; it is democratic and has demonstrated a willingness to make painful concessions in order to make peace with its neighbors. In all cases it alone paid the real price by giving up land. It even withdrew from Gaza to demonstrate its sincerity in seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict with the Palestinians. The trauma that the withdrawal brought to the people of Gaza and the wider nation was played out for the entire world to see on the international media. It was not good enough! So, the result was the, “same old, same old”. That is, within a short space of time ten thousand missiles, fired from the vacated territory, rained down on Israel’s civilians in the southern part of the nation. The world said and did very little but Israel is, of course, an apartheid state!

Over the years, and in response to one of the most ambitious peace initiatives in Israel’s short history called Oslo 1, 2, and 3, the Palestinians have opted for violence. This is called “Intifada.” Wave upon wave of suicide bombers attacked Israel from the porous boundary line between the nation and the West Bank. Men, women and children were indiscriminately murdered in buses, restaurants, hotels and shopping malls. To protect herself from these murdering intruders Israel built a barrier fence, which, in some more dangerous areas, becomes a wall. It is not built to segregate people or discriminate against them but to protect its citizens from attack. In this connection it has been highly successful though even Israel admits that it is regrettable. But, what would any other self respecting democratic state do? Nevertheless, the Apartheid accusers love to use the wall to further their accusation.

To presume, after all that Israel has been through in her sixty-two years of statehood, that Israel has no legitimate security concerns is madness. The Palestinians have time and again demonstrated that their strategy has not changed since 1964. In Johannesburg in 1994, after shaking the hand of Yitzhak Rabin on the lawns of the White House near the end of 1993, Yasser Arafat declared as much. Palestinian Media Watch has also repeatedly drawn attention to this fact. The liberal left and their fellow travelers conveniently ignore this fact. No sir, Apartheid is not the issue, the destruction of Israel is. Just this past week, the Syrian based Hamas leader stood shoulder to shoulder with Ahmadinejad of Iran and together they boasted that very soon Israel, in its entirety, would vanish from the map of the world. Theirs is a holy war but for the liberal left it is Apartheid and the truth is their radical positions have made them allies!

This same radical left group espouse democracy but in practice denies it. They will not allow Israeli academics, leaders or politicians to exercise their democratic right to free speech. Their intolerance knows no boundaries as they threaten and trash meetings in educational institutions in western countries that supposedly are there to educate within the context of democratic values. This is exactly what the apartheid thugs of the South African regime did. They violently brought public meetings to an end if anyone opposed their view of the world. They were scared to death that someone might just have a more truthful and compelling argument to theirs. The democratic rights they claim for themselves they deny others.

For sure the Palestinians have suffered and still do but to place the blame entirely at Israel’s door for this is folly. Their failed and corrupt leadership, missed opportunities and willingness to support conflict is also a crucial component in their suffering. Israel is no Apartheid state. She is a democratic state living under the constant threat of annihilation and thus seeking to balance her need to find a lasting peace with her neighbors with that of her security. Her regional experience has taught her that her security and very existence is the number one issue. After all, in all the so called peace plans presented to the region, she is expected to do all the giving with only verbal guarantees of security given by her interlockers. These have never amounted to much!

The truth is the Apartheid accusation is just another smokescreen in the war against Israel! I should know it because I grew up in Apartheid South Africa.

Malcolm Hedding.

Watch this interview of Malcolm dismantling the myth of Israeli Apartheid:

For more on the life and struggle of Malcolm against Apartheid, read this article from Jerusalem Post Christian Edition entitled “Still Fighting Apartheid” by Lela Gilbert.

The Politics of Betrayal

Abbas Arafat Blog Gaza Hamas Israel Palestinians West Bank

It is nothing short of astonishing to note the “agenda driven” politics of today. It gives lip service to grand ideals, “papers over” the truth in order to distort the reality, and in the end amounts to betrayal. This is the picture that is unfolding before our eyes concerning Israel and her battle for survival. Even her modern day historical narrative is being denied in order to achieve certain global goals. Caught in this “web of intrigue”, the tiny nation of Israel “twists and turns” in order to somehow appease its allies who have now decided that a “two state solution” is the only way forward for her. This in spite of the following:

1. The Road to Oblivion
Israel is now expected to make peace with a Palestinian entity that is presently at war with itself and that does not accept Israel’s right to exist! This is not just true of Hamas but also of Mahmoud Abbas’s West Bank enclave. A Jerusalem Post report dated Monday 1st June noted that in a separate interview with local journalists Abbas reaffirmed his denial of Israel’s existence; his hardline approach on refugees and Jerusalem; and of course his demands that Israel, at least, withdraw to pre-1967 borders.

In Gaza we have much of the same situation only it is less sophisticated and openly struts its stuff! Hamas not only butchered Abbas’s people but effectively turned Gaza into a militant Islamic camp that repeatedly calls for Israel’s destruction. Moreover, like its northern cousin Hezbollah, it is funded and armed by Iran. In reality Israel has fought two proxy wars with Iran in the last two years. Now of course she is expected to open negotiations with these groups in the expectation of ultimately handing over Jerusalem to them! What right thinking western nation would do this and where in history is there a precedent for this nonsense? The allies did this for a brief moment in 1939 when Hitler took over the Rhineland, Austria and the Sudetenland. They realized in the end that their policy of appeasement had encouraged destruction and war when it became Poland’s turn. Five years later with millions of lives lost, they counted the cost of “toying with evil” and turning a blind eye.

It is unthinkable that the west and friends of Israel would now insist on pushing her into the arms of terrorists who desire nothing less than her total removal from the region. This is the road to oblivion.

2. The Road to Democracy
Where in the Middle East region, apart from Israel and the Lebanon, is there an example of democracy? Israel is the stronger of these two and indeed is a shining light of freedom, tolerance, advancement and opportunity for all regardless of race, colour, gender or creed. As a consequence, her contribution to the wider world, in all fields of endeavour, is great and disproportionate to her size. By contrast the Arab/Muslim nations of the region are totalitarian; tolerant of Islam only; suppressing when it comes to women’s rights; and illiterate by world standards!

The same privilege their people enjoy in western nations concerning freedom of religion, they deny to others in their countries. Christians cannot practice their faith openly, build churches and propagate their message! Bibles are in many cases banned but the “Protocols of Zion” are sold openly on the streets from Damascus to Tehran. From their religious and political podiums one only hears calls for Israel’s destruction and incitement to hatred. Their school text books pursue the same message. In short there is no road to democracy as it all but ends at the borders of Israel. The question is, should the west impose democracy on the region? The answer is no! However, it should strongly stand behind Israel and adopt such policies when engaging the non-democratic Muslim/Arab world that do not reward their dictatorships.

3. The Road to Agreement
Where Israel has been able to find a genuine peace partner, agreement has been reached and peace has resulted. Both Egypt and Jordan are examples of this. These agreements were reached because all the parties were exhausted from, and tired of, war. They genuinely wanted peace.

This cannot be said of the Palestinians. Driven by irresponsible leadership they have embarked on one adventure of destruction after another. Even their so-called peace initiatives were pursued with deceit and dishonesty. Palestinian Media Watch and MEMRI have more than proved this by demonstrating time and time again that what was said to western politicians, was denied and reversed when speaking to Arabic-speaking journalists. Even Yasser Arafat, speaking in Johannesburg in 1994, stated that his real intention through the so-called peace agreements under Oslo, etc. was the destruction of Israel. Faced with this fact, western politicians turned a “blind eye” and said it was only rhetoric!

And what of Gaza? Israel pulled out with good intentions and was rewarded with hostility. We all saw it coming except the enlightened politicians of the world, and sadly of Israel, who knew better. It begs the question, why is the obvious not seen by the so-called knowledgeable elite? More important still, why is Israel being pushed into the arms of Hamas? What other nation would do so in similar circumstances?

The road to agreement must begin with the cessation of violence, the recognition of Israel’s right to exist and the genuine desire for peace. Anything short of this is madness but the madness continues!

4. The Road to Peace
Israel has fully demonstrated her desire for peace and willingness to make peace where all parties share the same desire. It is almost unbelievable that after 61 years of statehood Israel is yet to be recognized as an existing state by the Palestinian leadership. Both charters, that is of Hamas and the PLO (the backbone of the PA), continue to call for her destruction.

Moreover, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are engaged in a violent power struggle and they have demonstrated this. When Israel makes concessions she is rewarded with violence. This happened in September of 2000 and after the Gaza pullout of 2005. In addition, behind the conflict is a radical Islamic theology that denies that Israel can exist on what was once the Dar Al Salem (House of Islamic Peace).

Until these realities are firmly dealt with by the international community, there cannot be and should not be a road to peace. A two state solution is unthinkable as it will result in more of the same. That is, more violence and renewed assaults against the Jewish state. Houses with weak foundations always collapse. The same is true of the House of Peace. If the foundations are not right the house will fall with unnecessary loss of life. Gaza proved this as did the negotiations under Oslo 1, 2 and 3. They failed because the foundations that should lead to true peace were not firmly put in place. In fact they were knowingly ignored. When this happens once it can be excused but when it happens repeatedly, it amounts to stupidity! Or, is there another agenda behind the stupidity?

All this is not to say that there should be no road to peace. There should but it must be properly built. Israel has time and again stated that she has no desire to rule over the Palestinians. Her actions have, I believe, proved this. However, if your perceived peace partner continuously denies your existence and calls for your destruction, then the equation changes. To move forward in these circumstances is the road to national suicide – something that Ahmadinejad continuously calls for!

Finally, it must be noted that Israel’s existence today is not because of the Holocaust. The Holocaust only proved what Herzl believed and that is that the Jews would not be safe unless they had a state of their own. His initiative to found a Jewish State called Israel began in the late 19th century (1897), some forty-five years before the Holocaust. The early 20th century saw the resettlement of what was then Palestine by Jews. At that time even Jews were called Palestinians!

The Jewish people have an unbroken 3,000 year history with the region and with Jerusalem. In fact, their first father, Abraham, crossed into the region 4,000 years ago. Their existence is remarkable, their achievements amazing and their book, the Bible, is enlightening. This book warns the nations against dividing the land (Joel 3:1-3), probably because underlying such endeavours was hostility with destruction in mind, and not sincerity.

Has anything changed?

The Danger to Israel from Durban II

Apartheid Blog Durban Hitler Israel Palestinians racism UN

On the 20th April, the day Hitler was born, the United Nations conference on racism, Durban II, will convene in Geneva. Durban I was nothing more than an attempt to attack Israel by accusing it of racism and of setting up the new Apartheid state. Thankfully, the USA walked out of that circus thus exposing the racist and anti-Semitic nature of the convocation. But now, in Geneva, those seeking to delegitimize Israel are seeking to ratify Durban I and smear Israel again. The Apartheid accusation against the Jewish State will be revived and more greatly amplified. Anti-Apartheid activists like Desmond Tutu will be quoted to verify the claim and even Jimmy Carter will be referenced in order to prove the point. The goal is simple: Discriminate against Israel, delegitimize Israel and, in the end, call for the dismantling of Israel. These voices are already being heard in different parts of the world. Durban II will press forward with this agenda.

Naturally, the word Apartheid is a very powerful one as it evokes images of racial discrimination and suffering that were all too common in South Africa for decades. Forty million people were robbed of their human dignity, treated like animals and herded into ghettos. They were classified white or non-white at the stroke of a pen and sometimes, when such racial profiling was not possible, the strength of one’s curled hair would determine one’s fate. Race coloured all departments of life and those who opposed the system were harassed, hunted down, imprisoned, exiled or even killed. It was an evil system that destroyed the lives of countless thousands.

It was indeed a joyous and great day when this scourge was finally removed allowing South Africa to become a fully democratic non-racist state on the 24th of April, 1994. However, to equate Israel with this system is ludicrous. I lived under the Apartheid State and its vicious machinery and know all too well what it meant. To band the word apartheid about loosely is an insult to the 40 million people who suffered under it. To use the term other than in its original context is to play down the horrific nature of this political nightmare. The same applies to the use of the word Holocaust other than in its original context. There can be no equal! Yet this is what Durban II is all about. The goal is sure; if a charge or accusation of being an apartheid state can be made to stick as far as Israel is concerned then a call can be made to the international community to dismantle such an entity. After all, why should Israel be different to South Africa? This is the danger that Israel now faces. It is a real danger and not one to be taken lightly. Powerful and significant international “players” are involved with it.

Israel is not an Apartheid state. It is a thriving modern day democracy that affords all its peoples dignity and equality under the law. Within its borders are Jews, Christians, Arabs, Druze, Armenians and many other minority groups. All have the same rights and dignity under the law. It enjoys freedom of the press and the right to peaceful protest. Women are respected under the law and allowed into all branches of human endeavour. Israel is a shining light in an Arab world that is largely in the grip of totalitarian governments. Yet it is Israel that the United Nations conference in Geneva has chosen to describe as an Apartheid one! Nothing could be further from the truth.

The conflict in Israel has nothing to do with Apartheid and never will. It is a conflict for survival and thus until Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their fellow travelers in the Middle East come fully to terms with Israel’s existence the sufferings of the Palestinians will continue. Not because they live under an Apartheid regime but because they live under bad leadership that has led them continuously into a no man’s land of misery and despair. The idea of a Middle East without Israel is a delusion that many have to get over. Until that day dawns the blessings that Israel can bring to the region will be forfeited.