By Staff,  Baptist Press
Jun 3, 2010

Afghanistan’s constitution, which is based on sharia law, forbids proselytizing and decrees that converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by death.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–An Afghan parliamentary official has called for the public execution of Christian converts from Islam following a television report that raised the suspicion of proselytizing and resulted in the suspension of two Christian aid organizations.

The report was broadcast by the little-known Afghan channel Noorin TV, described by The New York Times as an “antigovernment gadfly,” and it showed photographs purportedly of Westerners baptizing Afghans and videotapes of Afghans praying to Jesus.

A European diplomat told AFP that Noorin TV had broadcast controversial reports in the past and there might be a “hidden political agenda at a time when stirring up anti-foreign sentiment is quite fashionable in Kabul.”

Church World Service, an American organization, and Norwegian Church Aid, both of which have served in Afghanistan for more than 30 years, were asked to leave the country because of suspicions that they were involved in converting Afghans to Christianity.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for an investigation into the organizations and “strongly instructed” government officials to take “immediate and serious action” to prevent further conversions, according to a report by AFP.

The broadcasts triggered a protest by hundreds of Kabul University students May 31, and International Christian Concern, online at persecution.org, said Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, called for executions.

“Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public. The house should order the attorney general and the NDS [intelligence agency] to arrest these Afghans and execute them,” Khawasi said.

Afghanistan’s constitution, which is based on sharia law, forbids proselytizing and decrees that converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by death.

“It is absolutely appalling that the execution of Christians would be promoted on the floor of the Afghan parliament,” Aidan Clay, ICC’s regional manager for the Middle East, said June 2. “Khawasi’s statement sounded a whole lot like the tyrannical manifesto of the Taliban, not that of a U.S. ally.   

“American lives are being lost fighting terrorism and defending freedom in Afghanistan, yet Christians are being oppressed within Afghan borders. This comes after billions of U.S. dollars have been invested in the war effort and millions more have been given in aid,” Clay said.

“The U.S. government must intervene to protect the religious freedoms and human rights of all Afghans. The U.S. is not a mere outside bystander but is closely intertwined within Afghan policy. Intervention is not a choice but a responsibility, as Afghan policies reflect the U.S. government’s ability and commitment to secure a stable government in Afghanistan.”

ICC also reported that many Afghan Christians are in hiding, fearful of execution. Government pressure has caused some Afghans to reveal names and locations of Christian converts, the human rights organization said.

More than 1,000 aid organizations operate in Afghanistan, AFP said, and most of them are funded by Western countries. Some have been accused of preaching Christianity.

A spokesman for Afghanistan’s ministry of economy, which oversees aid groups, said the two suspended organizations were known for “doing a good job here,” according to The Times. The ministry decided on the suspensions, he said, because the television report raised suspicions and “made people very emotional and angry,” despite actual evidence, or the lack thereof, against the groups.

Even the director of Noorin TV told The Times he had no evidence that the aid organizations had been involved in proselytizing. They were only included in the report after station employees found them in a local telephone directory of nongovernmental organizations and noticed that they each had the word “church” in their names.

“Norwegian Church Aid has no mandate to influence people’s religious beliefs in any part of the world — neither in Afghanistan,” the organization said in a statement on its website May 31. “Norwegian Church Aid’s overall goal in Afghanistan is to improve living conditions for vulnerable and marginalized people through sustainable utilization of local human and natural resources in integrated agricultural development projects.”

Church World Service also denied any involvement in proselytizing.

“Our work is entirely humanitarian — meaning we are impartial, neutral, and independent,” deputy director Maurice Bloem said. “We fully adhere to and support the Red Cross/Red Crescent Code of Conduct, which mandates that NGOs do nothing to further a religious agenda.

“We have never and will never engage in any religious proselytism. Such activities are contrary to our mandate as a humanitarian organization, and we fully respect the religion of the communities we serve,” Bloem said.

Church World Service, headquartered in Elkhart, Ind., is a cooperative ministry of more than 30 Protestant and Orthodox denominations and works in more than 80 countries, the Associated Press said. Norwegian Church Aid is tied to Norway’s Lutheran state church and receives financial support from the country’s government as it operates in 125 nations.

Another spokesman for the Afghan ministry of economy told Reuters that if the organizations are found to have been involved in conversion activities, they will face Afghanistan’s judicial authorities. If not, they can resume their operations.

Reuters said NGOs remain involved in humanitarian projects ranging from health to education but some Afghans are skeptical of their motives and suspect they could be a front for proselytizing. AP said proselytizing is a hot-button issue for many Afghans who are sensitive to the influence of foreigners helping them recover from decades of war.
–30–
Compiled by Baptist Press staff writer Erin Roach.

© Copyright 2010 Baptist Press

Original copy of this story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=33054

By Kasey Barr for www.travelujah.com
Special to ASSIST News Service, May 12, 2010

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS) – King Solomon dedicated the Holy Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem with a prayer and a precedent that has been followed by Israeli leadership since they reunited Jerusalem in 1967 and took responsibility for the Holy places – the foreigner is welcomed.

“When a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake…when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name.” (I Kings 8:41-4)

It doesn’t matter if it is the media, history teachers, tour guides, religious leaders, or the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, they all like to refer to the fact that Jerusalem contains holy sites for the three great monotheistic religions of the world. Just not all of those mentioned above are so quick to add that there has only been freedom of worship for every religious group when Jerusalem has been in the hands of the Jews. It isn’t an opinion it is an historical fact and it means a great deal for this foreigner.

Jerusalem Day is important and meaningful for me as a Christian. Despite the atrocious history of Crusader brutality in this city, when Israel unified it in 1967 they didn’t decide to even the scorecard. No, they unfastened the old latches and broke open the ancient doors to welcome everyone. It was like the Old City finally took in a gasp of fresh air after being locked up for thousands of years. 

In Jerusalem, under the rule of the Israeli government, I have complete freedom to go to church, to visit the Garden Tomb, to follow the Via Dolorosa or even walk up to the Western Wall and place my own prayer note in the cracks with the peculiar and comforting knowledge that thousands of years ago King Solomon actually prayed that God would answer my prayer, the prayer of the foreigner.

I don’t think most people realize the extravagant cultural and religious freedom that exists in Jerusalem. Watching the news you might think that there is a west side of Jerusalem filled with Jews and on the east side it is filled with Arabs and a clean line of separation down the center. There doesn’t seem to be a concept of the stunning, vibrant, interwoven diversity that greets me every time I amble through the well-worn cobblestone streets of this city.

Sign at the Garden Tomb

I attended Hebrew classes at one ulpan where Muslim Arabs made up the majority of my class. I sat by Abba Moshe, a Greek orthodox priest, behind me were Catholic priests-in-training from Italy and Brazil, and to my left sat two very quiet sisters from a local order of nuns. Thrown in between were a few of us clad in normal street clothes. I often joke that Jerusalem is the ancient version of Manhattan.

That is just a snap shot of Jerusalem today, and this foreigner hopes it doesn’t change. It is one city in the Middle East where Muslim, Christian, Jew – also many other diverse faiths – can mingle in the streets freely and openly as they trot off to their individual places of worship. And this openness remained even in the face of the horrific terrorist acts during the Intifada years. Israelis have paid a great price for the freedom of the foreigner.

For reasons I do not understand, the human rights of cultural and religious freedom that took root and began flourishing in 1967 are the subject of little conversation when the eyes of the world focus on Jerusalem. In fact, it seems the reverse is happening.

Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat recently met with U.S. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Rep. Peter Roskan (R-Ill). He responded to the Obama administrations request to freeze construction in East Jerusalem. He came to America, the bastion of freedom, to express his “shock” and “surprise” at what he referenced as Obama’s request for discriminatory practices in Jerusalem’s city zoning.

“I think in Washington, or anywhere in the states its illegal, it’s anti constitutional, to ask who’s the owner, if he’s Jewish or Muslim,” Barkat stated. “You’re not allowed to discriminate, by race, by color, or by religion. And I’m surprised at the demand and the request to hint to us that we must discriminate…It’s against the law.”

Does the US Administration really want to impose segregation? If Jerusalem is divided and east Jerusalem zoned to exclude Jews, would it not be important to have such a zoning law in west Jerusalem to exclude Arabs from building, buying and renting? Why unequal measures for the east and west parts of the city? Is this really 2010? A zone of Arabs and a zone of Jews? It seems common sense has been restricted to the Twilight Zone.

ANS Founder, Dan Wooding, prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

It is especially flabbergasting in the light of what I see today in Jerusalem. The city is such an expression of diversity that is should be a model city for the region. Sure there is room for improvement but maybe we should look to Mecca where the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has barred all non-Muslims from even entering the city if we want to start improving the Middle East.

In any case, celebrating the reunification of the ancient city of Jerusalem has gotten a bit more audacious. Should we really commemorate an event that most world-powers, including some Jewish, would like to reverse?

One Jewish leftist organization issued an ad pleading with Obama to “save us from ourselves”. And the iconic Eli Wiesel, who stands as the keeper of Holocaust memory, challenged Obama’s approach to Jerusalem in an ad so strong it earned him a lunch invitation at the White House. I love the healthy arena of social engagement that democratic republics facilitate and even require.

I hope Jerusalem remains united, but Israel is a democracy, and her people will have to decide the future of their capital. They are the ones paying the price and living the reality. However, I think all of us, especially those in places of influence, should ask ourselves a simple question. If Jerusalem, as it exists today, is a barrier to peace in the Middle East then what kind of peace are we asking Israel to seek?

Kasey Barr is a frequent blogger for http://www.Travelujah.com, the only Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land. Travelujah is a vibrant online community offering high quality Christian content, user and expert blogs, travel tours and planning services for people interested in connecting with or traveling to the Holy Land.

Jerusalem will only realize its potential so long as it remains within the full, exclusive control of the state of Israel. "Israel, the only country in the Middle East with a long term and demonstrated commitment to foster peaceful coexistence, with intent to nurture it and protect it, internally and beyond. Not perfect, but striving for it."

By PASTOR ROBERT SHEPITKA AND RABBI YAAKOV KELLMAN
Timesunion.com, May 1, 2010

Attacked by Jordan in 1967, Israel responded to defend herself. And in so doing, Jerusalem was once again reunited with her people. Restored to its essence from the time of King David in 1000 BCE, Jerusalem became the capital of the state of Israel and the spiritual center of the Jewish world.

Jerusalem, the Holy City, cradle of the Judeo-Christian world, destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times. Jerusalem, mentioned over 650 hundred times in the Hebrew Bible and over 800 times in the Christian Bible.

Enter the pastor and the rabbi. The rabbi, closely aligned with the Orthodox Jewish world, has been to Jerusalem so many times that he walks its streets with the familiarity of home. The pastor, closely aligned with the Evangelical Christian world whose love of Jerusalem is unwavering, rode not on personal experience (for he had never been there) but rather on the evolution of his faith and the Scriptures of his people.

For a few precious days this past March, the pastor and the rabbi walked the streets of Jerusalem together. Although now a cosmopolitan city, the shared interest was not so much the upscale restaurants of Jerusalem or its myriad shops and tourist attractions. This was our pilgrimage, an opportunity for the pastor and the rabbi to meet on common spiritual ground, while each basked in the history and essence of his own faith.

Traveling through the back alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem, through the Christian, Armenian, Muslim and Jewish quarters, we were joined by the sounds of church bells ringing in harmony with the call to prayer of the muezzin, on our way to the Holy Wall with its constant hum of Jewish prayers. The Holy Wall, the last remnant of two Temples and the symbol of hope for the coming Messianic days.

As we walked the streets of the New City of Jerusalem, where the garb of the traditions of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths share the markets, buses, human services and safety provided to them by the state of Israel, we found ourselves wondering, could such peaceful coexistence happen in any of those countries that surround Israel?

The world does not understand Jerusalem. Jerusalem, capital of Israel, a country surrounded by governments who are sworn to drive it into the Mediterranean Sea, which prostitute the religion of their ancestors to suicide bombers and human shields. Israel stands alone in the region as a bastion of democracy, and in 1967 Jerusalem became again a portal of access for the faiths of many people.  

Jerusalem will only realize its potential so long as it remains within the full, exclusive control of the state of Israel. "Israel, the only country in the Middle East with a long term and demonstrated commitment to foster peaceful coexistence, with intent to nurture it and protect it, internally and beyond. Not perfect, but striving for it."

We encourage you to visit Jerusalem, explore Jerusalem and become a part of Jerusalem. And in so doing, judge it for what it is and pray for what it has the potential to become.

For now, join us and more than 20 area organizations on May 12 for the first Capital District Community Commemoration of Yom Yerushalayim — Jerusalem Day. Hundreds from all backgrounds and many religions will come together to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem and share the longing for the manifestation of the peace and unity of Jerusalem as the Holy City, the promise shared by both of our faiths.

One day, the whole world will come to know Jerusalem as the center of the world and the Holy Temple will once again take its place as the house of prayer for all people, never again to be besieged or destroyed. And although Christians and Jews disagree on the details of how this will unfold, this pastor and this rabbi stand united to show our communities that we will never forget Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yaakov Kellman is the executive director of Jewish Educational Resources of New York (JERNY) in Albany and a chaplain for the state Department of Corrections. Pastor Robert Shepitka is a member of the Ministry Team of the Light of the World Christian Church in Latham and a leader of the Christian Zionist community. For information on Yom Yerushalayim, go to www.JERNY.org.

Interfaith race held Sunday from Church of Nativity to Davidson Center in Jerusalem with objective of promoting peace between people

Ynet, April 29, 2010

It may sound like start of joke, but it’s true. Hundreds of Catholics, Jews, and Muslims participated Sunday in a marathon between Bethlehem and Jerusalem that kicked off Pope John Paul II’s sporting events, being held for the seventh year.

For the first time since the second intifada in 2000, the Israeli runners were allowed to enter Bethlehem in order to join the rest of the contestants on their run after special preparations were made by the Civil Administration together with Palestinian officials that were ultimately authorized by the Central Command.

Running for peace. Marathoners in Bethlehem (Courtesy of the Tourism Ministry)

Upon arrival at the Bethlehem crossing, hundreds of participants signed a joint declaration calling upon believes throughout the world to visit the Holy Land and take action promoting peace and co-existence.   
The hundreds of pilgrims who recently arrived in Israel will consecrate the new “Jesus Trail” together with Israeli and Palestinian cyclists. The path will stretch from Migdal to Capernaum. At the end of the bike ride, a mass will be held on the Sea of Galilee for the hundreds of Christian pilgrims in Israel for the events.

The sporting events are a joint venture led by the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the Vatican’s pilgrim office, in conjunction with the Italian National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Tourism, the Civil Administration, Jerusalem Municipality, Jerusalem Police, the Jewish National Fund, and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, among others.

Tourism Ministry Stas Misezhnikov noted, “Unlike political initiatives of a provocative nature like we saw this morning (Sunday) in Silwan, these unique sporting events that were held at the same time in Jerusalem, contribute to co-existence. They are a fascinating meeting between Italian Catholics, Israelis, and Palestinians, that are meant to encourage pilgrimage to the Holy Land, peace, and dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians.”

by Gadi Adelman, Monday, 19 April 2010

Christians are killed by the hundreds for no reason other than they are Christian. Where is the world outcry and at what point will someone we know be next?

 
It’s a shame that people in this country don’t believe those of us who warn about creeping Sharia and Islam. To a certain extent, it’s understandable, especially when the media just ignore not only global massacres but the obvious happening right here in our own back yard.  There is enough blame to go around. I mean, we have such important things to concern ourselves with here; health care reform, unemployment, the price of gas and let’s not forget the Toyota recalls that seem to be never-ending.
Would it make the headlines if over a thousand Christians had been killed in, say, a South Carolina town for no other reason than they are simply Christian? Well, per capita, that is exactly what is happening in Nigeria. Funny how, when I do see a story on it, it is usually buried somewhere inside the paper or it’s just a small 30-second story on the television news.
The stories are horrifying, the pictures are stomach wrenching – men, women and babies, yes, babies being hacked into pieces by machetes.
The BBC reported on it back in March, “Hundreds of people, including many women and children, were killed in ethnic violence near the city of Jos in Nigeria at the weekend, officials say. They said villages had been attacked by men with machetes who came from nearby hills. Many of the dead in the villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa are reported to be women and children.”
The report continued, “Mark Lipdo, from the Christian charity Stefanos Foundation, said Zot village had been almost wiped out.”
He said: "We saw mainly those who are helpless, like small children and then the older men, who cannot run, these were the ones that were slaughtered."
A resident of Dogo-Nahawa said that the attackers had fired guns as they entered the village before dawn on Sunday in defiance of a curfew.
“The shooting was just meant to bring people from their houses and then when people came out they started cutting them with machetes," Peter Jang told Reuters news agency.
Some witnesses said villagers were caught in fishing nets and animal traps as they tried to escape and were then hacked to death. Mud huts were also set on fire.”
The reason I bring this up now, again in April, is because mass graves of people are still being found and I still hear little or nothing about this. When do we as Americans, as people, as human beings start to look around us and say ENOUGH!

Bishop Andersen Bok, national coordinator of the Plateau State Elders Christian Fellowship, along with group Secretary General Musa Pam, described the attack as yet another "jihad and provocation on Christians."
"Dogo Nahawa is a Christian community," the Christian leaders said in a statement. "Eyewitnesses say the Hausa Fulani Muslim militants were chanting ‘Allah Akbar,’ broke into houses, cutting human beings, including children and women with their knives and cutlasses."
Well, there you have it yet again. “Allah Akbar.” It seems to be a recurring theme and I for one am sick of it. I am tired of writing week after week and month after month, but not many Americans seem to be moved by the catastrophe around us. Do we need another worldwide holocaust to occur before we stop worrying about our petty problems and wake up? What happened to the caring, concerned America I remember?  I see commercials on television that $10.00 can buy a net in Africa to save a child from malaria, yet those same nets are being used as traps to catch women and children like animals so they can be slaughtered and cut into pieces and burned…and for what? Because they are not Muslim?
ENOUGH!
How is it that Toyota has more of an impact on the news than innocent people being slaughtered merely because their religious belief is Christianity? What the hell is wrong with us that we just sit idly by when this is happening and the media decides it just isn’t newsworthy?
The AP had reported about it, but I saw it on the internet via the Baptist Press, not in any paper; “On March 5, Abel Damina, the national youth president of the PFN, expressed concern over cases of clandestine killings of Christians in remote parts of Plateau state by Islamic extremists and called on the federal government to retrieve sophisticated weapons in their possession.”
"Even as I speak to you now, I am receiving reports that some clandestine killings are still going on in the remote areas of Plateau State by the fundamentalists," Damina was quoted as saying. "They pounce on Christians and kill them without anybody knowing much of their identity except that they are Christians."
He added that recently he visited the governor in Jos regarding the crisis and secured photos of Christian victims.
"Young men, Christians, were going to their farms to harvest their produce and the fundamentalists pounced on them," Damina said. "They were called infidels. At the last conference, we received reports with photographs of the fundamentalists using AK-47 rifles to destroy our churches. Where did they get the arms from? We have reports of truckloads of arms that had been intercepted, and we did not hear anything about them."
You can sit back and worry about your own little world and assume that this doesn’t affect you and, when it eventually hits closer to home and you start to worry, it will be too late; or you can arm yourself with education and information. You can read my articles where, in each and every one, I have written about this very subject. You can go to dozens of sites and join groups like ACT for America, Stop the Islamization Of Europe (SIOE), Jihad Watch, Muslims Against Sharia just to name a few. You can go to my website, gadiadelman.com for links to many informative sites and videos.
It is, after all, only Africa and a few hundred people, so perhaps it isn’t all that important. Maybe going out to dinner would be more fun?
The choice is yours.

Gadi Adelman is a freelance writer and lecturer on the history of terrorism and counterterrorism. He grew up in Israel, studying terrorism and Islam for 35 years after surviving a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem in which 7 children were killed. Since returning to the U. S., Gadi teaches and lectures to law enforcement agencies as well as high schools and colleges. He is currently writing his first book, “Terrorism; Understanding the Threat”. He can be reached through his website http://gadiadelman.com

The convergence of Easter, Passover and on Friday, the weekly Muslim holy day, brought Jews, Christians and Muslims together in the Old City.

Linda Gradstein Contributor

AOL News

JERUSALEM (April 3) — The convergence of Passover and both Eastern and Western Easter has led to tens of thousands of tourists descending on the narrow alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City and its Jewish, Christian and Muslim shrines. A spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Tourism said they expect some 105,000 tourists to visit Jerusalem this week.
On Good Friday, the Via Delarosa was packed with pilgrims carrying wood crosses as they traced Jesus’s steps.

Oded Balilty, AP

Ethiopian Orthodox Christian pilgrims hold candles during the procession of the Holy Fire at Deir El Sultan in in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Saturday.

"Just to know that I’m walking on the same path that He walked is overwhelming," said Rula Pricone, 37, who is visiting Jerusalem for the first time with her husband Michael. "Every time we talk about it, I just start crying."
Pricone, a Jordanian-born Catholic who lives in Chicago, was visiting family in Jordan when they decided to come to Jerusalem for a few days. Their relatives said it was too dangerous and declined to come. Pricone, who is six months pregnant, is afraid of getting jostled by the crowd.
"My back hurts and then I think about how much Jesus went through for us," she said.
The Via Delarosa was lined with hundreds of police officers on Friday. Jerusalem police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 2,500 police officers are deployed in the Old City.
"We are imposing heightened security to make sure that all of the religious ceremonies go according to plan and that there are no disturbances in the Old City," Rosenfeld told AOL News.

On Saturday, the ceremony of the Holy Fire was held in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional burial place of Jesus. On Sunday both Eastern and Western Christians will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
On Good Friday, pilgrims from around the world speaking dozens of languages jostled each other. A group from Sri Lanka sang special prayers as they walked in the streets. Church bells rang as guides tried to herd their charges toward the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
"It’s absolutely amazing. I read about these places in the Bible and then I see them with my own eyes," said Azeb Ghidey, 46, an Eritrean who lives in London and works as a nanny. "I’m actually speechless. I simply don’t have any words."
Ghidey had come to Jerusalem with her church, the Mother of Jesus, based in London.
Just a few blocks away, the Western Wall plaza was also crowded. Tourists approached the large beige stones of Judaism’s holiest site, slipping prayers between the cracks. On Thursday, some 20,000 visitors jammed the site for the traditional Priestly Blessing, given by descendants of the priestly tribe from the time of Solomon’s Temple almost 2,000 years ago. The Western Wall, part of an outer retaining wall, is the only remnant left of the original temple.
"Being here for Passover is different than I expected," Howard Roselinsky, an anesthesiologist from San Diego who came with his wife and two young daughters for a family wedding, told AOL News. "There is a lot of good energy here. We’ve also enjoyed all of the kosher restaurants and it’s so much easier to keep Passover here."
During the week-long Passover holiday, which began March 28, observant Jews refrain from eating any bread or leavened products. In Israel, it is illegal for supermarkets or restaurants to sell bread although it was widely available in the Old City.

Menahem Kahana, AFP / Getty Images

Jewish men wrapped with prayer shawls take part in the annual Priestly Blessing for the Passover holiday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Sitting toward the back of the Western Wall plaza, Johann Klasen, a 23-year-old medical student from Germany, said he had arrived at the Wall accidentally although it was on his list of sites to visit.
"It’s quite impressive," he said. "I feel a kind of spiritual energy in the air."
The convergence of Easter, Passover and on Friday, the weekly Muslim holy day, brought Jews, Christians and Muslims together in the Old City.
"I love the fact that all of these holy days are near each other this year," said Rula Picone. "It’s a celebration of God’s grace and mercy."

2010 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.

We call upon our supporters to petition the government of Israel for change, and are inviting all who feel a connection to the place of the Holy Temple to join us as we ascend the Mount.

By Yitzchak Reuven, YNet News, March 12, 2010

Enshrined in Israeli law are two cardinal principles of democracy: freedom of access to places of worship, and the freedom of worship to practitioners of all religions. Successive Israeli governments have proudly and rightly cited Israel’s unflinching assurance of the freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians in the city of Jerusalem. This fact is presented in its case to maintain Jerusalem as a united city under Israeli sovereignty. Ironically, in the very heart of Jerusalem lies a parcel of real estate which has been granted de facto some sort of extra-legal, extraterritorial status, a veritable “wild West” where the rule of law does not exist and the most basic and inalienable democratic rights are not honored. This is the Temple Mount.

The facts on the ground are as such: The Muslim Waqf, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, has been granted absolute say over the administration of the Mount. Illegal destruction of archaeological remains of the first and second Holy Temples takes place on a daily basis, as does illegal construction. The Waqf’s unambiguous and oft-stated aim of this policy is the destruction of evidence of the Holy Temple and the transformation of the entire Temple Mount plateau into one massive Mosque, thus achieving exclusivity to the site for Muslims.

But no less pernicious is the manner in which non-Muslims are treated both atop the Mount and upon approaching it. And this discriminatory policy is enforced by the Israeli police. Non-Muslims are simply not allowed to carry with them a Bible or prayer book and are not allowed to pray. Jews who ascend the Mount, in accordance with Jewish law (first immersing in a ritual bath, and only treading on areas that are permissible according to halacha), are singled out and discriminated against in an abusive, humiliating and derogatory fashion. They are detained at the security booth, their identification cards are inspected (not the case for non-Jews), they are given oral instructions on what they cannot do, (stop in any one spot for more than a few minutes, pray, silently move their lips or sway their bodies. Jews are even warned not to cry, sing or close their eyes).

Furthermore, unlike any other group of human beings ascending the Mount (and thousands of tourists from around the world do so every day), Jews are not allowed to be on the Mount in gatherings of more than 10 or 20 at a time, and they are accompanied during the entire duration of their visit by police officers and a Waqf official to ensure that they do not violate the prohibitions. Needless to say, prayer books, the Tanach, tefillin or a tallit are strictly forbidden. Non-Jews (by and large, non-Israelis), who accompany Jewish visitors to the Mount (and many do so out of a desire to experience the Temple Mount from a Jewish perspective), are accorded the same shabby treatment. 

It is a positive commandment for Jews to visit the Temple Mount, the site of the Holy Temple. This commandment is known as “showing reverence to G-d in the place of the Holy Temple,” its source is Leviticus 19:30. It is enumerated by Maimonides, (Mishneh Torah, Sefer HaAvoda, Hilchot Beit HaBechira, chapter 7). As Maimonides explains, this commandment remains in effect, despite the fact that the Temple is in ruins.

Democracy itself is threatened

In a number of recent rulings, the Supreme Court has emphatically upheld the right of Jews to pray on the Mount, and has reproved the police for not honoring the law. Yet the police adhere to a tried and true method to circumvent the upholding of the worshippers’ rights. If the danger exists that Jewish prayer on the Mount could be met by a disturbance of the peace (read: Muslim violence), then freedom of worship is denied. As can be expected, the Muslim Waqf, famous for its incitement, never fails to provide the goods.

We all agree on the importance of preventing a conflagration, and unfortunately, the Temple Mount, which the prophet Haggai proclaimed, “And in this place I will grant peace,” has become a flashpoint. But when the rule of law and the very human rights that a democratic society is entrusted to guarantee, become subordinate to violence or the threat of violence, democracy itself is threatened.

Yes, the Temple Mount is a flashpoint, but so was Oxford, Mississippi in the 1960s, as well as Selma Alabama, when the Civil Rights movement in America was struggling to achieve equality before the law for African Americans. Violence was threatened, and violence was delivered. But it was met by a government increasingly determined not to sacrifice its very reason for being before a violent mob. If justice could begin to flower in Oxford and Selma, how much greater is the promise of the Temple Mount, the place chosen by G-d, which Isaiah describes as “a house of prayer for all people.” (Isaiah 56:7)

If the essence of American democracy can be summed up by the words guaranteeing “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” then the challenge of the Jewish democratic state of Israel should be no less than the guaranteeing of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of keeping G-d’s commandments.” Jettisoning these basic tenets of human liberty, especially on the Temple Mount, will never lead to peace, but will ultimately undermine and destroy the freedoms that are meant to be protected for all of us to enjoy.

The Temple Institute has declared this coming Tuesday, March 16, the first of the month of Nisan, to be International Temple Mount Awareness Day. We call upon our supporters to petition the government of Israel for change, and are inviting all who feel a connection to the place of the Holy Temple to join us as we ascend the Mount. The gathering is intended to be one of religious expression and is not political in nature. Our intentions are only peaceful. In the likely case that we are denied our democratic right to be seen and to be heard on the Mount, we will disperse peacefully.

The author, Yitzchak Reuven, is the Director of Multimedia at the international department of The Temple Institute in Jerusalem

We must pray for Jerusalem not because we want to prosper, but because we love that city, that Land, that People, and above all, the God of Israel who has set His Holy Name on that city. We pray that Jewish people around the world may stand firm for their God and for His Land and that those Jews who do not really know the God of Israel will soon come to know Him and return to Torah.

By David Rushton, Canada Free Press, February 14, 2010

First, may I say how thankful I am for the many readers that have made very positive comments about this short series of articles. They have more than made up for the two or three atheists and hate-mongers who tried to make themselves obnoxious (or maybe they were not even trying). Obviously, what I have written has been my own opinion backed up with facts, but I do realize others have a right to their opinion too.

As far as I know this will be the last in the series about Israel and the Jewish people. Of course if this generates comments that I am forced to answer, in the words of the Governor of California,  “I’ll be back.” I believe that the foregoing articles need and deserve a conclusion. We have shown that Israel has a right to the Land. We have even seen that the Koran backs this up. We have seen that anti-God Islam is the key to just about all terrorism and anti-Semitism in the world today. So the question is, “What can you do? What should you do to support Israel?”

First as a matter of recapitulation with a little added information let me emphasize the point that the Koran, bloodthirsty and hate filled as it is actually states that God gave the Land of Israel to the Jews (and not to the Arabs or Muslims). Here I quote three Koranic verses found in Suras 5, 7, and 17.

“Recall that Moses said to his people, “O my people, remember G-d’s blessings upon you: He appointed prophets from among you, made you kings, and granted you what He never granted any other people. O my people, enter the holy land that G-d has decreed for you, and do not rebel…”

“We let the oppressed people inherit the land, east and west, and we blessed it. The blessed commands of your Lord were thus fulfilled for the Children of Israel, to reward them for their steadfastness, and we annihilated the works of Pharaoh and his people and everything they harvested.”

“And we said to the Children of Israel afterwards, “Go live into this land. When the final prophecy comes to pass, we will summon you all in one group.”

So, if these so called “Palestinian” Muslims follow the Koran, what are they doing trying to take away the Land from God’s Chosen People, the Jews?

The Israeli Government rarely comments

Occasionally Benjamin Netanyahu, first as Israel’s Ambassador to the UN or now as Prime Minister for the second time, has made a masterful speech almost rivaling those of Aba Eban. However he has been strangely quiet of late and I wonder why. In fact, I wonder why Israeli leaders have all been quiet once they become Prime Minister. If it were me I think I would be screaming, “You lie” (Sorry Congressman Wilson), at the top of my voice every time a Muslim leader accuses Israel of war crimes or mis-treatment of the so called “Palestinians.” Indeed, they are great big fat lies as we have seen in the last three articles. But Prime Ministers seem to stand aloof from the torrent of abusing language and not worry about public opinion. Are they waiting for us to stand up for Israel? If there is another reason I must confess I do not know what it is. So, in this final article I am going to suggest a few things you might do to help Israel. I hope I do not offend anyone in the Israeli government by stepping forward in this way, but I do it only because of my love of Israel and my distress and at hearing so much abuse thrown at Israel and so few words in defense.

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

The scriptures command us to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. Obviously that means also for Israel in general. I also believe it encompasses prayer for the Jewish People. May Jerusalem live in everlasting Peace and may her enemies be subdued by the Almighty. Marcia and I pray this prayer at every meal. We remember that Psalm 122:6 reads,

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

We must pray for Jerusalem not because we want to prosper, but because we love that city, that Land, that People, and above all, the God of Israel who has set His Holy Name on that city. We pray that Jewish people around the world may stand firm for their God and for His Land and that those Jews who do not really know the God of Israel will soon come to know Him and return to Torah.

Write letters

Write letters to editors of newspapers when they print anything unfavorable to Israel.

Write letters to your friends and family asking them to do the same.

Write letters to government leaders demanding that they stand behind Israel

It is so easy these days to send emails to all these people. It will take very little of your time but it will do so much good.

Muslims learned long ago that they can get results by sending mass emails. You can too. Learn how to send out emails to lists of newspapers by keeping a list and feeding it into your Blind CC address bar.

Join blogs standing up for Israel ( even anti-Israel blogs).

50% of the American people say they support Israel. Nobody will know how you feel unless you talk about it and write letters and emails.

Support Israel in Conversations

If you hear an argument about Israel don’t just listen or turn away. Join in and make sure everyone knows that you stand up for The Land of Israel and for the God of Israel. If you don’t let your voice be heard you will probably be counted with those who are against Israel. But if you do speak out for Israel you will probably find that others will join you and commend you for your stand.

The persecution continues

The Biblical accounts

The Bible tells how various kings tried to force Jews to convert on pain of death. In most cases they did not convert. Remember Daniel? Remember the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace? Remember Mordechai in the book of Esther? Jews have refused to bow to ungodly kings or convert to their religions for 3000 years.

Early persecution by Muslims

In the late 12th and early 13th centuries Muslims found Jews useful because they had learned trades or because they were well educated and capable of taking care of businesses for the Muslims. They were allowed to live in Muslim cities as long as they paid a heavy tax. However, several Caliphs broke the rules and insisted that Jews convert or be executed. In most cases, of course, this conversion was only evident in the street while behind closed doors they remained faithful to God. However, the rulers made it clear that anyone who returned to the Jewish faith would be beheaded.

The Crusades

In the12th and 13th centuries the Christian Kings of Europe set out several times to rid the Holy Land of Jews. Men, women, and children were slaughtered indiscriminately; homes and synagogues destroyed. While modern Christians abhor all knowledge of the Crusades the fact remains that Jews still remember what was done in the name of the Christian religion. Can you believe that some Christians today invite Jews to a Crusade at their church?

Persecution in Spain and Portugal

In fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In that same year the Spanish monarch decreed that all Jews must convert to Christianity, or leave the country. If they did not they were to be executed. What would you have done? Those who converted by force became nominal Christians and for generations they remembered who they really were and passed the truth down to their children. However in time their descendents inter-married with non-Jews and eventually many of the Jewish families ceased to exist. The same thing happened in Portugal in 1497.

Because the Christians of Spain and Portugal mistrusted the converted Jews and felt that perhaps their conversions were not real many of those families immigrated to Latin America where the Portuguese settled in Brazil and the Spanish Jews settled in other countries in South and Central America. Even there they were forced to act as Christians for fear of the priests and Missionaries until eventually most of their ancestors remembered little of their Jewish heritage until recent times. Now many families in Latin America are discovering their Jewish roots and researching family trees to find that indeed they are Jews. What a tragedy that those false conversions ever took place! What a catastrophe that they ever were forced to leave their religion and their God in the first place because of forced conversions.

The Nazis

And then came the Nazis. They were not interested in converting Jews to anything. They wanted only to destroy the Jewish people completely.

Jews have a collective memory of forced conversion and death. They died at the hands of soldiers who went to church on Sunday and marched them to their death on Monday. To the Jewish people these were Christian soldiers just like the crusaders. Did you know that Hitler once studied to become a Catholic Priest? Did you know that he died a Catholic and was never excommunicated?

In these more enlightened times Jews are not forced to convert except in a few Muslim countries. Christians no longer force Jews to convert any more than Jehovah’s Witnesses or Scientologists force Christians to convert. But there are always those who try to manipulate and convince Jews to convert to Christianity. And the question must be asked Why? If a Jew feels strongly enough that he wants to become a Christian he is free to do so. Most Jews occasionally see Christian Television Evangelists like Jimmy Swaggart and they certainly have a chance to convert. Nobody will try to stop him beyond just a gentle persuasion. So why do some groups target Jews with such gusto?

Please take a moment to think about what you are doing if you do persuade a Jew to become a Christian.

The Jewish People have a covenant with God. In fact they have more than one covenant.

The Covenant with Abraham – Genesis 17

7And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
9And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

In the above verses God says that this covenant will be everlasting. What does everlasting mean? Does it mean until God changes something or until man changes something? No, it means for ever or until the end of the world. The Jewish People are not perfect any more than others. But they do have an everlasting covenant. Would you want to persuade a Jew to break that covenant?

Covenant of the Sabbath,  Exodus 31

12And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
13Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
14Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Do you seriously want to be responsible for causing a Jew to break those Covenants with the God of Israel? Do you want to teach a Jew to renounce the Sabbath Covenant and start going to Church on Sunday rather than resting and worshipping on the Biblical Sabbath?

I realize that some Christians will feel compelled to tell me they believe in another covenant. Well, it is good that you believe that. But God has made a covenant with His People Israel and I implore you to respect that covenant and allow God’s Chosen people to keep those Covenant with their God.

By all means please spend every minute of your life trying to convert Muslims. That would be a blessing for the whole world.

Please understand that God’s Chosen People are very special and they have an everlasting covenant with the Almighty that they must not break.

A few years ago when I was speaking in a church I was challenged by a “Palestinian” Christian Evangelist who said that God has cancelled His Covenant with Israel. I answered him by saying, “If God made a covenant with the Jewish People that He (God) said was everlasting and God broke that Covenant, what hope do you have that He will not break a covenant with you?”  Thankfully the whole congregation clapped in agreement with me. God MUST keep His Covenants because it is part of His Divine nature.

British and American Courts Threaten Jews – You can help

In an article this week by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu of Israel National News he reports that courts in both the U.S. and Britain have struck a blow against Judaism that in effect forces Jewish organizations to cease being Jewish.

In Britain Muslims are permitted to have their own court system in which many cases are tried under Shariah Law. Yet a Jewish school has been told it cannot have any say in who can be enrolled as a student. The school barred a child because they said he was not Jewish. But the courts decided that they must accept him. Obviously this is at best a case of double standards and at worst a matter of making Islam more important than Judaism.

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, wrote in the London Jewish Chronicle

“You do not have to be an expert in jurisprudence to realize that, as one of the judges put it, the court’s decision “leads to such extraordinary results, and produces such manifest discrimination against Jewish schools in comparison with other faith schools, that one can’t help feeling that something has gone wrong.”

In the United States, the National Council of Young Israel (YI) has filed a legal brief in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of a coalition of minority religious groups – including Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and African American and Hispanic Christians – to defend the right of religious organizations to remain autonomous and to choose their members and leaders.

The idea here is that Young Israel has led the charge for several other groups to ensure that any religious organization can limit members to those who adhere to the principals of that organization. Remember the case of the Boy Scouts of America being forced by the courts to admit an atheist as a member? Well the Boy Scouts are not considered a religious organization so that was a little different. But now Young Israel is afraid that they will be forced to take in Atheists, Muslims and whoever else by the courts. It would be the same, of course, if an association of Christian Doctors were forced to open membership to a Haitian Witch Doctor. What then is the point of the organization? So I hope Young Israel prevails for good of all. You need to take time to let these courts know how you feel about these things. Often the best way would be through letters to the Editor.

We need to petition the United Nations against their anti-Israeli actions

We all remember the Goldstone report that was so critical of Israeli actions in operation Cast Lead when the IDF was forced to return to Gaza to stop the constant bombardment of Jewish villages by rockets. Not only did the UN remove certain parts of that report that concluded that the Muslims had violated international law and committed war crimes but it now turns out that the presumed “military expert” lied time after time about the circumstances.

In a press conference last Wednesday called by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs new criticisms were leveled at the Goldstone Report for inaccuracies and outright lies. One of the four members of the UN “fact-finding” mission, Col. (ret.) Desmond Travers, formerly of the Irish Defense Forces has proved himself to be totally anti-Israel and pro Muslim to the extreme. Nothing in his report could possibly be taken seriously. Yet the UN used it as their basis for their condemnation of Israel and identified him as the officer responsible assessing the military aspects of the conflict.

Travers reported that he asked Arab psychologists in Gaza to explain how Israeli soldiers could kill Palestinian children in front of their parents. Putting such words in their mouths to start with would ensure the right answer. It’s a bit like asking the witness to an accident, “Can you tell me why that driver deliberately ran down the old lady?” But we all know there was no truth to those allegations. There may be a clue to the source for such stories in an interview in the Middle East Monitor, on February 2, 2010, when he asserted that in the past Israeli soldiers had “taken out and deliberately shot” Irish peacekeeping forces in Southern Lebanon. Of course that never happened.

The Goldstone Report itself noted in Paragraph 440 that those interviewed in Gaza appeared reluctant to speak about the presence of Palestinian armed groups because of a “fear of reprisals.” Yet Travers rejected the notion that Hamas shielded its forces in the civilian population and did not accept the idea that Israel faced asymmetric warfare. Furthermore Travers stated that there was no intimidation from Hamas “none whatsoever.”
Travers invented a story that the IDF had unmanned aerial vehicles that could get a “thermal signature” on houses in Gaza and count how many people were inside. He then suggested that with this information the Israeli military deliberately ordered a missile strike on these homes packed with people.

Israel does not have UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that can see though houses and pick up a thermal signature. In fact, Israel used its UAVs to warn civilians to vacate houses that were about to be targeted both as a humanitarian gesture and to ensure that facts could not be misrepresented as Travers in fact did.

Travers insisted that there was no need for the IDF to enter Gaza on December 27, 2008 as an act of self-defense because he claimed that only two rockets had been launched at Israel. This despite the fact that Israel had proof of no less than 32 rockets in just three days.

Apart from being so obviously anti-Semitic Travers is very adept at learning the Muslim art of “the big lie.” How is it possible that the United Nations could employ and believe such an obviously deceptive degenerate? (Yes, that is a rhetorical question).

Who really enjoys being targeted by religious zealots?

How many times have you been watching a comedy show on TV in which the door bell rings and someone says “It’s the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Everybody be quiet and they’ll think we’re not home.

Do you remember back in the 60s and 70s when the Moonies congregated at the airports and tried to give you a flower and when you fought your way past them you ran into a circle of chanting Hari Krishnas in saffron robes? All they wanted to do was convert you. But you were offended weren’t you? You had your religion and you did not want to have it challenged by those wierdos.

Did it ever occur to you that Jews have those same feelings? Torah Observant Jews know the Bible very well.

I hope that by now (after three articles that most of you agreed with) I can speak frankly but kindly to you on this sensitive subject without offending you.

How would you feel if Jews knocked on your door and tried to convert you?

Jews do not actively try to convert anyone to Judaism. In fact it is customary for a Rabbi to refuse to help anyone to convert until they ask on three separate occasions. This is because (1) a Rabbi does not want to allow anyone to convert who might not be sincere (2) because he feels that the person should be given ample time to think over such an important matter, (3) because he must be sure that the person has come on his own after much thought to this momentous decision and, (4) because the Rabbi is a gentleman who does not in any way persuade or encourage a non-Jew to convert to Judaism.

Jews have good reason to refuse to convert to any other religion and I sincerely hope I have been able to help you understand why.

Again, I do hope I have not offended those who have agreed with everything in my last three articles.

May the God of Israel Bless you with His Shalom

Terrorism & Security

Three Malaysia churches firebombed as ‘Allah’ use tension mounts

Three churches in Malaysia were firebombed early Friday as religious tension continues over a court decision that allows a Catholic publication to use the word ‘Allah’ for God, which Catholics claim is a long-standing practice.

By Tom A. Peter, Christian Science Monitor
posted January 8, 2010

Three churches in Malaysia were firebombed early Friday morning as its government works to quell religious tensions following a court ruling – and a subsequent government appeal – that allows the country’s Christians to use the term Allah to refer to God. Only one church was seriously damaged and no one was injured.

Mosques throughout the country also small organized protests during their Friday prayer services and there are reports of cars with Christian stickers having their windshields smashed.

The controversy began when The Herald, a Roman Catholic newspaper in Malaysia, challenged a ban against the periodical using Allah in the Malay-language section of their newspaper to refer to God in a Christian context. Though Allah has been incorporated into the Malay language to mean God and the Koran teaches (Surah 29:46) that Christians, Muslims, and Jews share the same God, many Malaysian Muslims contend that Allah only refers to God for Muslims. Many allege Christians are using Allah in an effort to convert Muslims to Christianity, reports The Times of London.

Malaysian Christians argue that they have used Allah “for decades” in their Malay-language Bibles without any issues. In the court case, the Herald’s legal team argued that Allah is an Arabic word for God and that they use it in their publication to serve the needs of their subscribers in Borneo. Time magazine reported that they rejected claims of trying to convert Muslims.

Meanwhile, tensions continue to mount between religious groups in Malaysia. Muslims constitute a slight majority, with Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists comprising the rest of the population. Although Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak originally supported protests against the court ruling that began last week, The Wall Street Journal reports that he is now calling for calm and asking citizens not to blame the government for inspiring the church attacks.

“There should be no over-zealous action that can harm the harmony of the country,” Mr. Najib said.

Political analysts say Mr. Najib is attempting to tread a fine line between wooing the support of Malaysia’s large ethnic-Chinese and Indian minorities, who make up around 40% of the country’s population, and maintaining the support of an ethnic-Malay majority that has become increasingly defined by its Islamic faith in recent years.

As protests continue, there is concern among many Malaysians that the unrest represents an increasingly Islamicized government. In an interview with Al Jazeera Azmi Sharom, a columnist and law professor at Universiti Malaya, said that the government had been “pandering” to the groups of people who are now protesting for a long time.

He said the government allowed some groups to protest when others were banned because the main ruling Umno party – which depends on the Malay/Muslim demographic to remain in power – was “unwilling to do anything which would seem to go against what they think is the Malay/Muslim desire.”

A report in the Malaysian Insider, however, warns that the attacks may be “triggering a blame game with opposition leaders pointing fingers at their political rivals” for stoking religious tensions. Additionally, it reported that a number of Muslims disapprove of the recent church attacks, while there are also many Christians who disagree with using the word Allah to describe God.

Islamic Christianophobia

The world ignores the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world.

Editorial, Wall Street Journal Europe, January 7, 2010

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Harry Belafonte

Hine Ma Tov (sung in Hebrew) (Play)