HOW CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS CAN SOLVE THE WESTERN WALL CRISIS

RABBI TULY WEISZ, NAPHTALI “TULY” WEISZ

Christian Zionists can hold down the fort in the US to ensure that America stands strong with her main Mideast ally.

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY Justin Welby prays at the Western Wall.. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Progressive American Jews are up in arms about the latest crisis regarding egalitarian prayer access to the Western Wall. Jewish groups are considering boycotts, canceling trips and in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, the Jewish Federation threatened to “reconsider” funding to Israel as a result.

“We are extremely disappointed and upset with the government’s decision,” the Federation expressed to Israel’s Consul-General Dani Dayan. “This could be the straw that will break the camel’s back and cause us to reconsider our financial support and whether we should continue to send missions to Israel.”

The Jewish Agency canceled its gala dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and threatened the government as a result of Israel’s cabinet decision. “Outraged at Netanyahu Over Western Wall, Jewish Agency to Rethink Ties With Israeli Government” warned the front-page headline of Haaretz on Tuesday. Union for Reform Judaism president Rabbi Rick Jacobs declared that his constituents would not be “second class citizens” at the Western Wall.

Many are alarmed at the perceived deepening divide between American Jews and the Jewish state and worried about future support from progressive movements in the US. There is one group, however, whose support for Israel is unaffected by the current conflict: the pro-Israel Christian Zionist community.

Speaking to several Christian Zionist leaders here in Israel, I was surprised by the responses I heard. For the most part, my ordinarily very emotional and excitable Christian friends were restrained and reserved. Even when pressed to voice an opinion about the uproar, they respectfully declined to discuss internal Jewish issues.

As one Christian leader told me, “This is a family matter for you guys to sort out.”

I was surprised, because in my work as director of Israel365, an organization serving as the bridge between Evangelical Christian Zionists and Israel, I frequently hear hysterical criticism leveled at Christians in Israel. Namely, that those who are here are covert missionaries looking to take over or have an undue influence on the Jewish state. However in all my conversations this week, I heard only the opposite. Our true Christian friends have no interest in exploiting any potential gap between Israel and the Jewish community to serve some nefarious agenda. On the contrary.

“Christians I know are not interested in filling any gap between Israeli and American Jews,” said Chris Mitchell, Jerusalem bureau chief of the Christian Broadcasting Network, in an interview. “Instead, as Isaiah 40 says, they seek to comfort and stand alongside the entire Jewish People in good times and bad, and pray Psalm 133, that “how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.”

If only more Jews were as sincerely concerned about Jewish unity, we wouldn’t be fighting over who can pray at the Western Wall in the first place.

Some Jews who work with Christian Zionists agreed that it is not appropriate for Christians to weigh in on the crisis.

“I don’t believe American Christians should get involved in any way in what is clearly an intra-Jewish debate,” Sondra Oster Baras of Christian Friends of Israeli Communities said in an email.

Nevertheless, even without taking sides on internal Jewish issues, the pro-Israel Christian community can play a constructive role in the crisis and help resolve the debate.

“For years, American Jews have told me and others, in response to our encouragement to them to make aliya, that American Jewish support is vital for Israel,” continued Baras. “And for the past two decades, since becoming so involved in Christian support for Israel, I have responded: we need our Jews in Israel. Our American Christian friends can help us strengthen American support for Israel. There are at least 50 million Christian supporters and only about five million Jews.”

Christian Zionists can hold down the fort in the US to ensure that America stands strong with her main Mideast ally. American Jews who are genuinely concerned about the future of the Jewish state don’t have to threaten to pull funding in order to influence policy here. If they disagree with any government policy, they can always move to Israel where they will be first class citizens with a vote and a voice.

In that way, Christian Zionists really can help us solve the Western Wall crisis.

The author is the director of Israel365, a newsletter that connects 150,000 people to Israel every day, and serves as publisher of Breaking Israel News. Weisz is also editor of The Israel Bible, highlighting the significance of the Land and the People of Israel.

PLAME KNEW WHAT SHE WAS TWEETING

ALAN DERSHOWITZ

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson poses during a photocall for the film Fair Game at the 36th American film festival in Deauville September 9, 2010. . (photo credit:VINCENT KESSLER/ REUTERS)

Valerie Plame had to know what she was tweeting. Plame retweeted a virulently antisemitic article by a well-known bigot, which she characterized as “thoughtful.” Now she’s trying to make excuses, but they don’t wash.

The article itself, by Phillip Giraldi, contains the usual antisemitic tropes: Jews are guilty of dual loyalty; they control politicians, the media and entertainment; they want the US to fight wars for the country to which they have real allegiance – Israel; they are dangerous to America. Giraldi has been pushing this garbage for years and Plame is one of his fans.

But this particular article goes much further in its neo-Nazi imagery. It advocates that the “The media should be required to label [Jews like Bill Kristol] at the bottom of the television screen whenever they pop up… That would be kind of like a warning label on a bottle of rat poison – translating roughly as ingest even the tiniest little dosage of the nonsense spewed by Bill Kristol at your own peril.”

In other words, Jewish supporters of Israel, like Kristol and me, should have to wear the modern day equivalent of a yellow star before we are allowed to appear on TV and poison real Americans. Nice stuff that Plame was retweeting and characterizing as thoughtful.

This was not the first time Plame retweeted Giraldi’s garbage. In 2014, she retweeted one of his screeds with the following notation: “Well put.” And after tweeting the current antisemitic article she described it as: “Yes, very provocative, but thoughtful. Many neocon hawks ARE Jewish. Ugh.” Nor is this the only time that Plame has retweeted other nonsense from the bigoted platform this piece came from – a platform regarding which she has pleaded ignorance. According to journalist Yashar Ali, Plame has tweeted at least eight other articles from the same website since 2014. Sounds like she is into some strange websites.

I actually read the Philip Giraldi article before I was aware of the Plame tweet. I read it on a neo-Nazi website, where Giraldi’s articles are frequently featured. That’s where Giraldi’s articles belong – on overtly antisemitic neo-Nazi websites. For Plame, a former CIA operative, to claim that she was unaware of the antisemitic content of Giraldi’s article is disengenuous. Plame had to know what she was doing, since she was aware of Giraldi’s bigotry. Her apologies ring hollow. Her true feelings were revealed in what she said before she realized that she would be widely condemned for her original retweet.

She must now do more than apologize. She must explain how she came upon the article. Who sent it to her? Does she regularly read bigoted websites? Why is she reading and retweeting a known antisemite? What are her own personal views regarding the content of the Giraldi’s article?

The Plame incident reflects a broader problem about which I have written. There is a growing tolerance for antisemitism. Even when some people themselves do not harbor these feelings, they are willing to support those who do, as long as the antisemites are on their side of the political spectrum. This is an unacceptable approach, especially in the post-Holocaust era. Unfortunately, Valerie Plame is the poster child for this growing tolerance. She must be called out on it, as must others who follow the same path of bigotry.

The problem exists both on the hard Right and the hard Left. Both extremist groups see the world in racial, ethnic and religious terms. Both engage in identity politics: the hard Left gives more weight to the views of certain minorities, while the hard Right gives less weight to the views of these same minorities. Both are equally guilty of reductionism and stereotyping. Neither group is prepared to judge individuals on their individual merits and demerits. Both insist on judging entire groups and on stereotyping.

American Jews – like other Americans – are deeply divided on important issues, such as the Iran deal, the current prospects for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and the Trump administration’s foreign policies. To generalize about “Jews” is both factually and morally wrong.

What the hard Right and hard Left share in common is special bigotry toward Jews: the neo-Nazi Right hates the Jewish People, and the hard Left hates the nation state of the Jewish People and those Jews who support it. Both views are bigoted and must not become acceptable among centrist liberals and conservatives.

KANSAS CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRLS BOAST OF SWASTIKA BEER PONG

KATY BERGEN/KANSAS CITY STAR

Reports of teenagers playing a beer pong game with a “Jews vs. Nazis” theme have circulated throughout the country

This photo of a swastika made up beer pong cups has been altered to not reveal the St. Teresa’s Academy girls involved.. (photo credit:KANSAS CITY STAR/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE)

Furious alumnae of an all-girls Catholic high school in Kansas City bombarded their alma mater this week calling for more severe punishment for a group of girls who played beer pong with cups in the shape of a swastika.

But the president of St. Teresa’s Academy said Friday that expulsion for the students involved was the “wrong solution.”
“Many of you have questioned the consequences and called for expulsion of the students involved,” president Nan Bone wrote in a message posted to the school’s Facebook page.

“While we respect your opinion, expulsion is the wrong solution in this situation. We live the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Our students are taught to care for the dear neighbor, ‘neighbor to neighbor, without distinction.’ That teaching guides us in every decision we make.”

More than a dozen alumnae, parents and current students have contacted The Star to express outrage over the school’s handling of the incident.

Citing privacy reasons, St. Teresa’s Academy did not say how it disciplined the group of students. It did say the school had conducted an internal investigation and concluded students had been drinking underage.

Sources told The Star that the students received an in-school suspension, called a reflection day. Some have suggested that students briefly had to skip athletic or extra-curricular events but played in major sports games and will attend an upcoming school dance.

In the images, which were posted on the social media application Snapchat, a group of girls gather around a ping-pong table, smiling and pouring beer into Solo Cups.
The cups are arranged in the shape of a swastika.

“Girls night,” reads one caption.

Reports of teenagers playing a beer pong game with a “Jews vs. Nazis” theme have circulated throughout the country.

One student was expelled, five students disciplined and two more banned from extra-curricular activities at an Atlanta school after pictures surfaced of such a beer pong game.

In the photos shared with The Star of the Kansas City students, the swastika is left-leaning, a traditional version of the symbol. The Nazis used a right-leaning swastika.

School officials called the swastika a “hate symbol” in statements made this week. Alumnae said they interpreted the symbol as one of bigotry, and that students should be punished more severely to reflect that.

“Their core values are mutual respect, integrity, compassion and justice,” alumna Maddie Summers told The Star on Thursday. “From my point and view, we are not seeing the justice we deserve from this.”

Bone said Friday that new initiatives would be announced in the coming weeks to address issues raised by the incident.

“The last week has been a challenging one,” Bone wrote. “Our job as educators is to use these incidents, when they occur, as opportunities to teach our young women what it means to care about their dear neighbor. We have more work to do.”

©2017 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

WHEN TOM PETTY HUNG OUT WITH AN ORTHODOX ROCK BAND IN ISRAEL

GABE FRIEDMAN/JTA

Tom Petty played in Israel for the first time in September 1987.

Singer and songwriter Tom Petty performs during the half time show of the NFL’s Super Bowl XLII football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., February 3, 2008. (photo credit:REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON/FILE PHOTO)

Tom Petty, whose hits such as “American Girl,” “Free Falling” and “I Won’t Back Down” made him one of the biggest rock stars of all time, passed away Monday at 66.

In the course of his decades of touring the world, Petty was bound to end up playing in Israel — and he did for the first time in September 1987, at the start of his “Temple in Flames” tour. Earlier that year he had released “Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough),” his seventh album with his band, the Heartbreakers.

In a show called “Rock Israel,” MTV chronicled part of Petty’s trip to the Holy Land, which the rocker described as a whirlwind. In a clip available on YouTube, Petty meets with Avraham Rosenblum, leader of a Hasidic band called the Diaspora Yeshiva Band that blended rock and bluegrass with religious lyrics.

“I’m not really familiar enough with the rules and regulations of the religion,” Petty says. “I think anybody should be able to pick up an instrument and jump around.”

Petty visited the Western Wall and met Rosenblum there.

“Are we in modest dress?” Petty asks as he descends into the holy site’s plaza. “This is really amazing.”

Rosenblum explains some of Jerusalem’s geography and says some rabbis believe “the whole process of music” began in Israel.

“Ten years of Sunday school and this guy told me more in five minutes than I ever grasped from that,” Petty says as he leaves the wall.

3,800-Year-Old Statue Resembling ‘The Thinker’ Found in Israel

NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR

The fully-restored 3,800-year-old jug with a human statue that resembles Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” was found in Yehud, Israel.
ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY / CLARA AMIT EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

Reading this article right now, you might resemble this 3,800-year old statue resting its cheek upon its hand. It’s a common pose for computer browsing, but a rare sight in Bronze Age pottery.

A group of high school students helped archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority unearth this clay vessel in the city of Yehud near Tel Aviv in September. They were excavating a burial site when someone came across the seven-inch statue covered in dirt and surrounded by ceramic shards.

“It was a very exciting moment for me and the other archaeologists who came to see it, and for the other students and workers,” said Gilad Itach, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority and a doctoral candidate in archaeology at Bar-Ilan University. “For the best of our knowledge, no such jug had ever been found before.”

Archeologists in Yehud, Israel, found a jug from the Bronze Age featuring a statue of a man who appears to be in a thinking position.
ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY / EYECON PRODUCTIONS EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

read more: 3,800-Year-Old Statue Resembling..