During the week covered by this review, we received 12 articles on the following subjects:
Jerusalem
Missionary Activity
Anti-Missionary Attitudes / Political Issues
Christian Tourism
Christian Zionism
The Pope / The Vatican
Jerusalem
Iton Shacharit, March 21, 2021
This article reported that a Haredi Jew who suffers from a physical disability was attacked by a Christian priest close to Mount Zion. The priest tried to block the way of the Haredi who was driving an electric vehicle, and then the priest spat on him before continuing to walk. No arrests have been made even though the article claims many security cameras caught the attack. The article also said that Jews are often attacked by Christian clergy in that same area.
Missionary Activity
Various Article
One article reported once again that Or L’Achim has asked that a missionary hangout targeting religious Jewish youth in Musrara be shut down.
Several articles reported again that gift baskets sold at the store “Max Stock” were found to contain New Testaments disguised as the Book of Psalms. The baskets have since been removed from the shelves.
Anti-Missionary Attitudes / Political Issues
Various Articles
A number of articles reported that Or L’Achim has put out a 70-page document accusing the State Attorney’s Office of supporting missionary work by allowing missionary organizations to receive tax-exempt status. The document states that the Finance Committee had first agreed not to grant the status to certain organizations, as the Committee voted and agreed that it was not right for a Jewish government to support an organization trying to convert Jews, even if the organization’s work is technically legal. The State Attorney’s Office later overturned this decision.
Christian Tourism
The Jerusalem Post, March 21, 2021
A new 18 km trail connecting the Saxum Visitor Center in Abu Ghosh to the Emmaus Nicopolis Monastery is now ready for use for when Christian pilgrims will once again return to the Holy Land. The trail is called “the Emmaus Trail”, and follows the path Jesus is said to have walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the resurrection. The trail takes 5-6 hours to walk and passes through a 2,000-year-old Roman road.
Christian Zionism
The Jerusalem Post, March 25, 2021
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews saw an upsurge of requests for assistance and aid during the pandemic. CEO Yael Eckstein said she immediately approved $20 million in additional aid on top of the normal budget for emergency assistance, taking it on faith that the Fellowship’s donor base would then step up their donations in turn to meet the demand. Eckstein said donors did, and that for Passover the Fellowship was able to provide $6.2 million in aid in food assistance and clothing to 230,000 people. Eckstein said: “Evangelical Christians are the greatest friends Israel ever had”, and further said that Christian support won’t change because Donald Trump is no longer president. “Christian support for Israel is always there. It is a grassroots movement, not a political movement,” she said.
The Pope / The Vatican
HaDerech, March 24, 2021
This article is about one Rabbi David Menashe, who claims to have been infiltrating the Vatican and destabilizing it for decades. Menashe said he has attended classes at the Pontifical University, where he stumped professors with difficult questions, and caused hundreds of students to drop out of their priestly training. The article also gives him partial credit for Pope Benedict XVI’s abdication, helping to sew the seed of doubt in the pope’s mind. Menashe said that the graves of Jesus and his 12 disciples were discovered in Jerusalem, sending Christian archaeologists into shock. When this happened, the Vatican radio went silent and put out a statement saying “no comment”, in response to inquiries. This is allegedly the event that caused Pope Benedict XVI to step down, as the discovery pushed him to do extra research in the library. Menashe said that the reason Christianity has succeeded historically is because it appealed to people who were too ignorant to examine their faith as deeply as the Jews do.