During the week covered by this review, we received 14 articles on the following subjects:
Anti-Missionary Activity
Anti-Semitism
Israel
Political Issues
Christians and the Holocaust
Christian Tourism
Interfaith Dialogue
Christian Zionism
Miscellaneous
Archaeology
Anti-Missionary Activity
Yom L’Yom, April 7, 2016
The anti-missionary activist organization Yad L’Achim has filed a police complaint, stating that activists were attacked on Sunday by guards at Jerusalem’s Clal Building. Yad L’Achim has stated that the activists were engaged in public relations work in order to make Jewish visitors aware of the missionary activity in the building, when suddenly they were set upon and beaten by the guards of the building. Yad L’Achim hopes that the complaint will be meticulously investigated, “in light of many previous incidents of missionary violence.”
Anti-Semitism
Matzav HaRuach, April 1, 2016
This article adds some details to the speech recently given by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on anti-Semitism in Germany (see previous reviews). In addition to the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, Merkel also mentioned hate speech graffiti and Nazi symbols on the walls of a Jewish kindergarten in Berlin, and said that “this phenomenon is particularly sensitive in Germany where the Holocaust took place.”
Israel
Gaderton, March 25, 2016
Fighters for the IDF is a non-profit organization founded by Yaniv Suissa as a result of losing a friend during Operation Cloudbreak in Lebanon, and “as a result of the things he saw during reserve duty service during Operation Protective Edge.” The NPO sees its duty to be looking after lone soldiers and making sure that civilian contributions reach the soldiers in the “hot zones.”
This Purim the local volunteers were joined by Israel-loving Christian volunteers, and together they distributed traditional boxes of holiday sweets at various points all over the country.
The Jerusalem Post, April 6, 2016
The Tourism Ministry has recently been accused of “egregious impropriety” by the Haaretz newspaper and various left-wing organizations, as its official visitors’ map of Jerusalem highlights one Muslim site and five Christian sites only, while the remainder are Jewish sites. Haaretz accused the ministry of “bias toward the settler narrative,” saying that the ministry “was contributing to the ‘Judaization’ of Jerusalem.”
The Tourism Ministry has responded to the allegations, saying that it “stands behind the map,” that the map “is a product of the combined recommendation of experts,” and that since its publication it “has served hundreds of thousands of tourists” satisfactorily.
Haaretz, April 7; Haaretz, April 8, 2016
The football club Beitar Jerusalem has responded to Haaretz’ call to add an Arab player to its ranks by boycotting Haaretz journalists. The Beitar spokesperson has also stated that as “‘Arab’ is a geographical, rather than an ethnic designation, it has had Arab players, and that the current owner, Eli Tabib, is Arab, since he is Yemenite.” Calling Haaretz “a corpse,” the spokesperson also accused Haaretz of Ashkenazi elitist attitudes that are irrelevant.
The second Haaretz article responds to the spokesperson’s statements by saying that they are in fact encouraging, since the more the “Arab” part of identity is accentuated, so hatred for non-Jewish Arabs will decrease.
Israel Hayom, April 8, 2016
This article analyzes the reappearance of the theory according to which the state of Israel is consistently acting to destroy the Al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount, this time by way of an inciting 17-minute film alleging that this is the ulterior purpose of the archaeological digs currently underway. The incitement is present on the Fatah website as well, where a caricature compares Israel to ISIS and depicts Israel as beheading Al-Aksa.
The fact that any Jewish presence on the mount is severely limited, the fact that for years there have been no digs under the mountain, and the fact that Israel takes care to act in concert with King Abdullah’s men concerning the mountain, seem to have had very little effect on the conspiracy theory, and security forces are preparing for a possible rise in tensions before Passover.
Political Issues
Sha’a Tova, March 31, 2016
The eight-page article surveys the life of the Jewish community in Belgium in light of the recent attack, and the apparent conclusion is that the Jewish community feels less of a target that it did, and does not experience great danger from the Arab neighborhoods, since the terror attacks appear to be directed against Christian Europe. Some of the non-Jewish population is afraid, with some even saying that they should “learn from Israel how to deal with terror,” but others say that “more love is necessary.” Nothing significant seems to have been done as a result of the attack, and in any case the Schengen treaty allowing free movement between countries makes surveillance much harder.
Christians and the Holocaust
Maariv Mekomonim, April 1, 2016
The “Righteous Among the Nations” award is to be given to the Voliotis family of Greece, who saved the Hakim family, now living in Haifa, during World War II, by hiding them in the mountains surrounding the city and providing them with the necessities of life. The two families had lost touch after the war, but the connection was restored when a doctoral student from the University of Thessaly came to Israel to study the saving of Jews in Greece.
After visiting the Voliotis family, the Hakims decided to give them a trip to Israel, and therefore the award ceremony will be held at Yad VaShem rather than in the Israeli embassy in Athens.
Christian Tourism
Yom L’Yom, April 7, 2016
The Israel Museum will be showing a variety of exhibitions relating to Passover during the holiday. Of particular note is the recently opened “Egypt in Canaan” exhibition and the “Second Exodus” exhibition as well, showing a variety of sacred objects from the Egyptian community and a collection of illustrated Haggadahs.
Children under the age of 17 may receive free entrance to the museum during Passover week.
Interfaith Dialogue
Makor Rishon, April 8, 2016
This article surveys the issue of interfaith dialogue and particularly its feasibility. The article cites different opinions on this, such as the grim outlook held by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, who is of the opinion that support and contributions from Christians come as a result of an ulterior motive for Christianizing, and that “Christians’ hands are stained with Jewish blood more than anyone else”; or Rabbi Uri Sharki, who is of the opinion that as interfaith dialogue mostly deals with violence in the name of religion it is “fruitless,” since “politicians are those who decide if there will be violence or not.” The article includes the opinion of Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz as well, who says that one should not engage in theological dialogue with Christians, since “we should understand our own religion first, before trying to understand Christianity”; and Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein, the head of the Elijah Institute for Dialogue, who sees interfaith dialogue as a way of “repairing a torn world.”
Christian Zionism
Nashim, April 8, 2016
Chloe Valdary is a young, Christian, African American 23-year-old, who has taken it upon herself to fight BDS and other anti-Israel propaganda. Although Valdary had grown up in a pro-Israel atmosphere, it was not until high school, and later university, that she became particularly interested in Israel. Influenced by such books as Leon Uris’ Mila 18 and QBVII and Elie Wiesel’s The Town Beyond the Wall, she decided to change her major and founded a pro-Israel students’ organization. She has collected, written, and published material on a website concerning Hamas’ war crimes, how the Jews have a right to the country, and “how any country would have responded as Israel does.”
Valdary’s activism has gained her immense popularity and many requests for interviews, but she has also received threats to her life, which she says “spur her on.” Her message to her audiences is that “anti-Semitism comes from racism, and the medicine against racists is a positive message concerning Zionism.” Since finishing her university studies in 2014, Valdary has become a research fellow at The Wall Street Journal, learning the world of pro-Israel advocacy in the US and how it can be improved, having found so far that methods need to be changed to suit the younger generation’s ways of communication, as well as looking more to the long-term effect rather than short-term responses. “The story of the Jewish people is the essence of human experience, and that is why it is so inspiring. … It inspires others to exert positive influence and change the world. ”
Miscellaneous
HaMevaser, April 8, 2016
The Kuwaiti journalist Ahmad al-Sarraf has recently published an article in the Al-Qabas daily, criticizing the fact that imams curse the Jews and Christians even though their scientific and technological discoveries, as well as the purchase of oil, have made Arab lives immeasurably better, to say nothing of receiving more than 1m. refugees “that we ourselves have refused to take.” “In light of this,” asks al-Sarraf, “how can we ask that it would be possible for ‘our brothers the mujahiddin’ to behead them?”
Archaeology
Haaretz, April 6, 2016
Archaeologists have recently found some bronze objects at Magdala, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Notable among them is a decorated incense shovel, surmised to have been an heirloom or even used for daily work. Only ten other such shovels from the period have been found in Israel.