(BLOG) Rabbi: Why Evangelical Christians Give Millions To Israel

"In the last 12 months, the evangelical Christian community in the United States has given $100 million to charitable causes in Israel, according to Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Founder and President of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Eckstein made his comments this week at a soup kitchen his evangelical group funds in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, situated in one of the city's underprivileged neighbourhoods.



It was the first stop in a press tour the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews organized to highlight their activities.

Next on the itinerary was a Jewish religious school for girls, where the mostly evangelical organization funds educational programs aimed at helping Ethiopian immigrants integrate into Israeli society. Jerusalem is one of 160 Israeli cities in which the organization is active.

The group's 200 active projects have been supported by contributions from 350,000 mostly evangelical donors in the last year, Eckstein said, and the group's broader donor list numbers nearly one million. The average donation is $77.

Why do evangelical Christians would be so devoted to Israel’s welfare? According to Eckstein, who has nurtured the relationship between Christians and Jews since he founded the group in 1983, it’s all in the Bible.

'God promises Abraham those who bless Israel and the Jewish people will be blessed and those who curse them will be cursed,' he says, citing Genesis.

But it is not only that religious commandment that is motivating this very large segment of American society.

Evangelicals see the creation of Israel in 1948 as the fulfilment of biblical prophesy, Eckstein says.

'The Jewish narrative are the same prophesies that Christian turn to... about the day when the Jewish people scattered around the world would be gathered into the Land of Israel,' he says. 'I believe in that and millions of other Jews believe that 1948 and the birth of the state of Israel was a miracle. It reflects the hand of God.'

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews have identified three main aims of their work, which they say have biblical roots. The Bible speaks of the scattered Jewish people returning to Israel 'on the wings of eagles,' so the group contributes to chartering planes that bring immigrants to Israel.



Scripture commands that the hungry be fed and the naked clothed, so the group gives to needy Jews around the world, most notably in the former Soviet Union, where it says it assists 100,000 people.

And the group says there's biblical concept of being 'Guardians of Israel,' which it says it promotes by helping construct bomb shelters in towns along Israel northern border with Lebanon and the southern town of Sderot near the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The relationship is not without its controversies. The former mayor of Jerusalem, who is ultra-Orthodox, refused to accept funds from evangelical Christians because he suspected a secret agenda to engage in missionary activities among Israel’s Jews.

Current Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has revoked the policy. But the majority ultra-Orthodox municipality of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, will not accept evangelical donations. Eckstein says that evangelizing Jews is not his group's goal.

Some evangelicals are opposed to his group because it refuses to proselytize, he says.

In the United States, relations between evangelicals and American Jews has often been tense. American Jews overwhelmingly vote Democrat, and polls show that most hold liberal political views, especially on domestic issues.

This often results in the two communities being on opposite sides of hot issues like abortion or school prayers.

But Eckstein says that those tensions have largely eased.

'There are those within the Jewish community, especially in the earlier years, who were very concerned about the influence of... Jerry Falwell, Pat Roberson, the Christian right,' he says.

'Those Jewish concerns have been allayed over the years,' he continues. '... (Jews) realize that these people are genuine, they are not doing it for some conditional reason and that it's not just all based on the rapture, and eschatology, but it is based on their love for Israel and the Jewish people.'" (source)

(ARTS) Gay Israeli Arab Pokes At Prejudices In Israel's Version Of 'The Office'

"Put an Israeli Arab, a Jewish settler and a large man with no tact in the same room and you can see the sparks fly. Put it on television and you can call it comedy.

Israel is the latest country to see the 'The Office' -- or 'HaMisrad' -- on its TV screens. The hit British comedy originally penned by Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant has spawned spin-off series across the world, including in the U.S. where it starred comedian Steve Carell.



The Hebrew version shares much with the British original like the awkward car-crash moments when personalities collide in an office -- but with one basic difference.

'The Israeli culture is almost opposite [to British culture],' says Uzi Weill, the screenwriter who adapted the UK version for an Israeli audience.

'Where the British would be embarrassed, the Israeli would be embarrassing. The British would be reserved, the Israeli would just say it flat to your face.'

The Israeli version deals in a healthy amount of stereotypes -- Arab, settler, Russian, Ethiopian, tired old businessman. But then it starts to challenge what you think you know about that character.

'It does change the inner way you look at things, you are not as set in the way you perceive reality,' says Weill.

Jamil Khoury plays Abed, the Israeli Arab who does everything he can to blend into the predominantly Jewish office. He says his character is different to Arab characters usually seen on Israeli television.

'Arab stereotypes are not so bright -- stupid sometimes -- but this Abed guy, he turns everything around, he knows a lot,' Khoury told CNN.

Abed is also involved in an explosive storyline for an Arab character: He is gay and seen kissing his boyfriend by an office colleagues. It is a scene Khoury hopes will help to break down homophobia within the Arab world.



Khoury said: 'People say shame on you, how can you do this? Just for acting it. It's not so common. I know there are a lot of Arab gays here but nobody knows about them; they stay closed.'

Actress Ayelet Robinson plays Leah, an Israeli religious settler who Robinson describes as 'constantly pregnant.'

'She's very religious but I think also she's very jealous of the other lifestyle, the non-religious lifestyle and I think inside of her she wants to be something else,' Robinson told CNN.

'It begins with the stereotype and then you discover other things inside her,' she said.
Robinson said she loves the fact that the show holds a mirror up to Israeli society and hopes it will help break down prejudices.

Robinson grew up in a religious family and says she had her own built-in bias to break: 'This way of looking at Arabs that I grew up with, that you have to be nice to Arabs but don't trust them, don't show your back to them, and this kind of devilish fear.'

The British version of 'The Office' starring Ricky Gervais as horribly embarrassing David Brent has been shown in dozens of countries worldwide.

The Israeli show, just halfway through its first season, is considered a success and a second season has already been commissioned. Weill will return as screenwriter: 'In the second series, I would like to insult some more stereotypes,' he said.

And the equivalent of that famous scene where David Brent shows off his dancing moves to a horrified office? His Israeli counterpart, Avi Meshulam, a rather large fellow, performs a belly dance with a silk scarf." (source)

(NEWS) CNN's Rick Sanchez Fired After Comments On Jews

"Sanchez: Those who run CNN, other networks are like Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, who is Jewish; questions whether Jews are minority.

CNN fired news anchor Rick Sanchez on Friday, a day after he questioned whether Jews should be considered a minority and called the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart, a bigot in a radio show interview.

Speaking at a satellite radio interview with Pete Dominick, Sanchez, host of the two-hour 'Rick's List' on CNN's afternoon lineup, said that Stewart is bigoted toward 'everybody else that's not like him.' He said Stewart 'can't relate to what I grew up with,' saying his family had been poor and he had seen prejudice directed at his father. Sanchez dismissed it when Dominick points out that Stewart, who is Jewish, is also a minority."

(NEWS) New Aid Convoy Departs For Gaza

"A survivor of the fatal Gaza flotilla incident in May headed out Saturday on a new convoy to bring medical supplies to the Palestinian territory.

Kevin Ovenden departed London on Saturday morning with about a dozen vans and more than 30 international volunteers as part of the Viva Palestina Lifeline 5 convoy.

Two other convoys were being organized at the same time from Casablanca, Morocco, and Doha, Qatar, his group said.

The three convoys will aim to meet in Syria before traveling together to Gaza, organizers said.
'Our mission last time was to take aid in and to highlight the siege,' Ovenden told CNN. 'That's our mission this time.'



Nine Turkish activists died May 31 when Israeli troops boarded the Mavi Marmara, a flotilla of activists heading to Gaza. Israel has maintained its troops used force on the activists after they were attacked by those onboard, but passengers on the boat insisted they were fired on without provocation.

'I witnessed the man one meter in front of me being shot in the leg, a man 50 centimeters to the back right of me being shot through the abdomen,' Ovenden said of the experience. 'Neither of them had anything in their hands. There was no Israeli commandos within the immediate proximity. They were shot from above, so it was simply unfeasible -- in that incident I saw -- for anyone to claim they were in fear of their lives when they rang out those shots.'

The incident drew international outrage and badly shook a wide-ranging military and diplomatic alliance between the Jewish state and Turkey, its powerful regional ally.

Israel maintains it must inspect all goods entering Gaza so that weapons do not get into the hands of militants. Gaza is run by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that has said it is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

Unlike the flotilla in May, the convoy aims to enter Gaza by land, through the Rafa border crossing with Egypt, Ovenden said. When the three convoys meet in Syria, they plan to be shipped past the point at which the Mavi Marmara was attacked and down to the Egyptian port of Al Arish before going to Rafah, he said.

Organizers said it is the largest convoy set to break the Gaza embargo." (source)

(NEWS) Iranian Opposition Leader Kept From Anti-Israel Rallies

"(CNN) -- Protesters gathered in Iran on Friday for a demonstration to observe an annual holiday that marks the country's solidarity with Palestinians and calls for the end of Israel occupation.

One notable absence was Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi, whose security force feared for his safety and advised him to stay away, his son said.

About 50 people surrounded Karrubi's home Friday morning -- shooting paint balls and shouting chants against him and the opposition movement, the son said.



Attackers targeted his father's house repeatedly to stop him from participating in Friday's events, said Mohammad Taghi Karrubi.

The opposition leader's website said his apartment had come under attack four times in four consecutive days.

The site said the head of his security team was in a coma after being beaten as he tried to talk with a group of attackers who broke into the apartment complex Thursday.

His son told CNN the attackers fired shots, set small fires in the courtyard and lobby and vandalized parts of the building.

But around the country Friday, Quds Day demonstrations continued.

Large crowds chanted 'Death to Israel' and 'Death to America' in Palestine Square near Tehran University.

In the city of Kerman, a man with a loudspeaker chanted the slogans, with the crowd repeating after him.

Some were carrying Iranian flags and banners supporting Palestinians while others waved cartoon caricatures of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Speaking at Tehran University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced Israel, repeatedly referring to the 'Zionist regime.' He said this week's direct Middle East peace talks in Washington were doomed to fail.

'These talks are dead. There is no reason to hold talks,' he said.

'The fate of Palestine will be determined on the ground in Palestine, not in Washington and not in London,' he added.

Ahmadinejad said Iranians sympathize with Palestinians.

'We know how hard it is for them to resist,' he said.

As he spoke, the crowd chanted, 'Death to Israel.'

Security forces lined the streets near Haft-e-Tir Square in central Tehran, and at least two people were detained. There were no reports of opposition clashes.

Last year, demonstrators took the streets in anti-government protests, shouting 'Death to the dictator' in particularly tense rallies following the unrest over Iran's disputed presidential elections in June.



Clashes between security forces and protesters were reported around the university during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech last year.

On Thursday, Mohammad Taghi Karrubi told CNN that attackers had repeatedly come to his father's house because he had expressed his desire to take part in Friday's events.

He said he was inside his father's fifth-floor apartment when about 20 Basij broke into the courtyard Thursday. Several of the men threatened to kill his father, he said.

'When we asked the police to come to help...nobody came,' he said.

Asked who was responsible, he said, 'They are in the name of the Basij, but in my opinion they are hooligans. The government tries to use these hooligans against the opposition and against the people.'

Several members of his father's security team were injured -- but not shot -- and were taken to a hospital, he said.

Asked if he and his father planned to attend Quds Day events on Friday, he said, 'Do you think we'll still be alive tomorrow morning to take part?'

International Quds Day, or 'Jerusalem day' is observed on the last Friday of Ramadan.

The government sponsored holiday was established in August 1979 by the late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini shortly after the Islamic Revolution.

Khomeini called for all Muslims worldwide to participate in the events that denounce Israel and show support for the Palestinian cause.

'The day for those nations suffering under the pressure of American oppression and oppression by other powers to confront the superpowers; it is the day when the oppressed should arm themselves against the oppressors,' he said in a speech in August of 1979.

Anti-Zionist demonstrations, parades, and seminars are held in some Muslim and Arab countries, but are especially large in Iran.

A senior Iranian commander says the massive participation proves the global support for Palestinians.

The Quds Day 'appears to pave the way for the collapse of Israel and its allies, namely the U.S. and Britain,' Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy head of Iran's armed forces joint chiefs of staff, told the Islamic Republic News Agency on Thursday." (source)

(NEWS) UK Demands Release Of Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit

"(CNN) -- Britain on Saturday demanded the release of Gilad Shalit as the Israeli soldier marked his 24th birthday in Hamas' captivity.

'The thoughts of many in Britain are with Gilad Shalit and his family,' the Foreign Office said.

'His detention is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The British Government demands his immediate and unconditional release.'

Shalit has been held captive since June 25, 2006, when Palestinian militants from Gaza captured him.



The militants had tunneled into Israel and attacked an Israeli army outpost near the Gaza-Israel-Egypt border, killing two soldiers in the assault.

Israel immediately launched a military incursion into Gaza to rescue Shalit, then 19, but failed to free him.

Since being imprisoned by Hamas, Shalit has not been allowed any contact with the outside world, nor any visits by the Red Cross. Details of his incarceration and physical condition remain unknown.

In October 2009, Hamas released a tape of Shalit as a proof of life, in which he urged the Israeli government to do more for his safe release.

Shalit's family has been working to free the soldier and ramped up their efforts during the current holy month of Ramadan.

Noam Shalit, the soldier's father, recently appealed directly to Palestinians in Gaza to put pressure on their Hamas leadership for a prisoner swap during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends September 9.

The father has repeated his stance that the Israeli government should release 1,000 prisoners, including 450 whose release Hamas has demanded in exchange for his son.

He has been holding a vigil outside the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since early July, when he led a march to his doorstep to support a prisoner exchange as a way to release his son.

This Ramadan is different than the previous four, Shalit said, because there is now a deal that was put on the table at the beginning of the year by a German mediator.



'If the two sides of the conflict show some flexibility, it will be possible to make an agreement,' Shalit said.

Such an agreement, Shalit said, would benefit thousands of Palestinian families who would have their fathers and sons back to celebrate the festival of Ramadan.

'I would welcome any release of Palestinian prisoners, but I would welcome the release of one Israeli prisoner,' said the emotional Shalit, raising a solitary finger.

The issue of Shalit came up after British Prime Minister David Cameron issued tough talk about the Palestinian territory of Gaza during a visit to Turkey, comments seen as criticism of Israel.

'Let me also be clear that the situation in Gaza has to change. Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp,' Cameron said. He also referred to the territory as a 'prison camp.'

Residents of Gaza say they have suffered greatly under an Israeli goods blockade implemented since Hamas took control of the territory after elections in 2006. But Israel says its tough measures are necessary to stop weapons from reaching Hamas militants intent on destroying Israel.

Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to Britain, reacted quickly to the prime minister's remark, saying that Hamas is responsible for the misery in Gaza and raised the issue of Shalit's captivity.

'We know that the prime minister would also share our grave concerns about our own prisoner in the Gaza Strip, Gilad Shalit, who has been held hostage there for over four years, without receiving a single Red Cross visit,' Prosor said." (source)

(NEWS) CNN Fires Middle East Editor Over 'Fadlallah' Tweet

"Octavia Nasr mourns death of Shi'ite leader Fadlallah.

Three days after posting a message on her Twitter account expressing sadness at the death of the Lebanese Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, CNN’s senior editor of Middle Eastern affairs, Octavia Nasr, was fired from the international news network.

'Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah... One of Hizbullah’s giants I respect a lot,' Nasr wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

The comment touched off a firestorm of controversy."



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