In this post:

 A call to all Christian Zionists to return to New Testament Truth

Video 1 – The Strong Delusion of Christian Zionism

Video 2  – Is It Biblical To Bless People Who Have the Spirit of Antichrist?

Video 3  – Christian Zionism Is Not The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Video 4 – Christian Zionism: Misunderstanding Israel & Christ

Video 5  – Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro on Israel’s Nation State Law

There is still so very much that could be said on this subject of Christian Zionism but I will make this, Part 6, my last post.

I believe that with this 6 part series I have provided ample evidence to show that Zionism and Judaism are not the same. In fact they are vastly different. Zionism is a political ideology and Judaism is a religion of the Jewish people – wherever in the world they may reside.

Jewish Identity

Jews exist because of an identity with their religion and not because they are nationals of the State of Israel.

The content provided has shown that a vast number of religious Jews do not support Zionism and are in fact actively opposed to it.

I have provided sufficient content to show that orthodox Jews do not aspire to have a homeland of their own or to become nationals of the State of Israel. They see their identity as being fulfilled in their religion only. The Jews are Jews wherever in the world that they choose to live. Likewise Christians are Christians whichever country they are nationals of and the same goes for muslims.

Ultra-orthodox Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro stated in one of the attached videos that:

‘ the orthodox  Jews have no nationality and no nation-state because unlike all the other nations who exist because of a common land, language or culture the Jewish people exist only because they accepted a common religion because they accepted the Torah from Hashem on Mount Sinai in the deserts where we possessed no land, no territory and no state’.

Having quoted the above we must also accept that there are many non-rilgious and possibly secular Jews who accept the State of Israel. Those who simply do not share the riligous conviction to oppose such a state. Then of course there are many other Jews who enjoy the identity that the State of Israel provides them.

What has been revealed in this series.

I have shown in this series how any criticism of the politics of Israel or political Zionism is seen as criticism of the Jewish people as a whole and therefore is deemed or rather is unjustifiably branded as being antisemitism.

I have revealed how the idea of Zionism originated in Christianity and was only later adopted by Zionists as a Jewish political solution – supposedly for a people without a land.

I have shown how those who proclaim the truth pertaining to Zionism are persecuted and branded as antisemetic.

My objective with this series was not to stand in judgement of the State of Israel or provide a critical commentary on their political ideology/activities. I am certainly not attempting to malign the Jewish people or their religion of Judaism either.

The sole purpose of this series is to reach out to Christain Zionists. Those who blindly support the State of Israel believing that it is the Christian mandate to do so.

I love the Torah of the Jews and the complete Tanakh which they have been the custodians of for millennia . I have gleaned a lot of insight from listening to the teachings of Jewish Rabbis. I long for the day when we can stand together unified in our faith in the Messiah. That day is soon to come.

Some readers may wonder why I am not standing in judgement or criticising the State of Israel. My answer is simple. Our Messiah Yahushua revealed to us that his Kingdom is not of this world:

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

John 18:36

As a follower of the Messiah and as part of his body then neither is my Kingdom here on earth. This worldly kingdom is ruled by ‘satan’ – for now anyway.

My intention through this 6 part series on Christian Zionism is to reach out to those New Testament Christian believers (in the Messiah Yahushua), who are humble in spirit and have a heart for the Truth. Those who, when shown the Truth, will accept that they have been misled by deceptive Christain teachers.

For any ‘stiff necked’ Christains, who after reading all 6 posts, still want to remain argumentative on this subject I say to you – ‘get behind me satan’.

 Pertinent Scripture for consideration

Allow me to share some Scripture that should be reviewed and understood by anyone who believes that Christians should support Zionist Israel. Before I continue let me just say that there are many Christians who have and will still use Scripture to target Jewish people with hatred and who brand Jews as ‘christ killers’.

I condemn any such criticism of the Jewish people at all. Our faith is supposed to be based on love and from an understanding that all will eventually come to faith in the Messiah.

There are many New Testament verses, even those from the mouth of Yahushua, which are pretty inflammatory and condemning of the Jewish religious leadership at the time. One must however consider these verses in proper context and timeframe. Applying some of these verses to Jewish people today is simply unwise and hurtful to say the least.

One must also bear in mind that the Jews do not accept any New Testament revelation and therefore do not know that one needs, first and foremost, the atoning blood of the Messiah in order to receive the Spirit of YHWH. They have just not been taught this. There are many Jews who believe that the Messiah is not an individual but relates to the Jewish people as a group – the chosen people, the suffering servant of YHWH. Why they believe this is however a topic for another post.

The Spirit is our teacher ( John 14:26 ) and reveals Truth to the believer. Without this restored relationship to the Father through Yahushua, and His Spirit, one will never come to Truth. Therefore the Jews who reject the New Testament will continue to walk in darkness not seeing or believing the New Testament ‘Greater Light’ of Truth.

Most Jewish people do not believe that Yahushua is the true, promised and prophesied Messiah. The Bible makes it very clear that there is a spiritual veil which remains upon their hearts which can only be removed, when they turn to Yahushua. Listen to these powerful words from the Jewish apostle Paul, a man who had that same spiritual veil removed when he turned to Yahushua.

2 Corinthians 3:14 – 16  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

The god of this world i.e. satan has blinded them and others who do not believe:

2 Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Yahushua states in John 14:6 that there is only one way to approach the Father. Clearly Old Testament Torah obedience is no longer the way:

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Scripture states that we must not be bound in covenantal agreement with and support unbelievers. In fact we are required to be set apart from them:

2 Corinthians 6:14-17  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them;and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Those who reject the Messiah do not have a relationship with the Almighty Father. We must not receive this person into our house or wish him well. If a believer does then they are partakers of his evil deeds:

2 John 1:9 – 11  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Should a believer be in agreement with a non-believer. If not then why be in support of a non-believing nation i.e. Zionist Israel?:

Amos 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Did the Jews obey YHWH and keep His covenant according to the Father’s Words in Exodus 19:5?:

Exodus 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

Jeremiah reveals that they did not:

Jeremiah 11:10  They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

Jeremiah 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

Jeremiah 5:11 – For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

According to Yahushua, when talking to the Jewish chief priests and the elders, the Kingdom was taken away from them:

Matthew 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Those who do not love the Messiah Yahushua shall be excommunicated/condemned/cursed:

1 Corinthians 16:22  If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

According to Galatians 3 and Romans 2 all become children of YHWH through faith in Yahushua alone. It is no longer required to be a Jew by birth or by physical circumcision:

Galatians 3:26 – 29  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Romans 2:28 – 29  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

One can only be saved through Messiah Yahushua:

Acts 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Those that do not believe in the Messiah are not his sheep:

John 10:25 – 26  Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

The Temple of the Jews was left desolate:

Matthew 23:37 – 38  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Those that do not hear and believe the Words of Yahushua are not of YHWH:

John 8:45 – 47  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Those who are of YHWH would receive and love Yahushua:

John 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

Only those who believe in Yahushua will have everlasting life. Non-believers shall experience the wrath of the Father:

John 3:35 -36  The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The ‘antichrist’ spirit:

There are warnings in the Bible about people who reject the Messiah, and they are described as having an antichrist spirit. Here are three different Scriptures, which were written by the Jewish Apostle John regarding those who do not believe that Yahushua is the anointed Messiah, and that certainly includes the unbelieving Jews of our own day.

Solomon stated in Ecclesiastes 1:9:

‘The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun’.

There was the spirit of antichrist in the time of Yahushua (1 John 4:3) and there is today.

If a person does not believe and confess that Yahushua came in the flesh  (John 1:1-3, 10-14), then they are not of the Father, and are of an antichrist spirit, according to the Jewish Apostle John.

2 John 1:7 ‘For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.’

1John 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 2:22 ‘Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.’

If a person denies that Yahushua is the ‘christ’ i.e. the ‘anointed’, then they are denying both the Father, and the Son. They are called ‘liars’, and are of an antichrist spirit, according to the Jewish Apostle John.

‘And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.’  1 John 4:3

Of course this would apply to any person (Jewish or Gentile), who lives anywhere in the world.

The Father’s children would love Yahushua.

Yahushua  himself told his own fellow Jews that if YHWH were their Father, they would have loved him, because the Father was the one who sent him in the first place!

‘Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.’ John 8:42-45

Yahushua, talking to the Jewish leaders said:

John 5:37 – 43  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

1John 5:10 – 12  He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

The Words of Yahushua:

John 3:16-18  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Again, Yahushua talking to the Jewish leaders said:

John 5:37-42  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

Yahushua the Messiah encouraged the Jewish people to search their Scriptures, the Tanakh, because their own Tanakh testified about him, but they still would not come to him, that they might have life.  Yahushua was telling the Jewish people that the very life and salvation which they desired, could only be found in him. Yahushua went on to say this to them that Moses i.e. their obedience to the Torah, would be their judge:

John 5:45-47  Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

In support of these Words from Yahushua we read in the book of Acts 3 that those who will not hear the Words of the prophesied Prophet (Yahushua), shall be destroyed:

Act 3:22-26  For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

These words were spoken by the apostle Peter to the people of Israel after the miraculous healing of a lame man at the temple gate. Peter told the people of Israel that the man was healed by the power of Yahushua. Peter then told them that this same Yahushua was ‘the Prophet’ whom Moses spoke and wrote about in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, and that those who would not ‘hear that Prophet’ (Yahushua) would be destroyed!  Peter then went on to say that all of the prophets (in the Old Covenant Scriptures – Tanakh) foretold of the days which were taking place right then and there. Peter then went all the way back to Abraham to show the people that all the people of the earth (that includes absolutely everybody) would be blessed through Abraham’s seed (offspring) and that seed (offspring) is Yahushua.

Galatians 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

In Galatians 3:18 the Jewish apostle Paul told the people that Yahushua was, and is, the promised seed (offspring) by whom ALL of the nations of the world would be blessed. Paul told them the very same thing that Peter told the people of Israel after that awesome miracle.  The whole of the Old Covenant Scriptures pointed to the time when the Messiah Yahushua, the ‘anointed one’ arrived on the scene.

These Words from Yahushua were spoken to the Jewish leaders but clearly apply to all non believers:

John 8:23-24  And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

John 1:11 tells us that Yahushua came to his own people, the Jews, and they did not receive him

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Yahushua instructed believers to go into all the world and preach the good news. But those who did not believe would be damned:

Mark 16:15 – 16  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

All of the above quoted verses and the consequences of non belief in the Messiah are applicable to any non-believer who has heard the Gospel – Jew or gentile.

I realise that I could go on and on quoting New Testament Scriptures to support my case. This is because the whole of the New Testament would testify against the views held by the religious, Old Testament following Jews and the Zionist Christians supporting the secular State of Israel.  The whole of the writings of the Old Testament were revealing the need for salvation and pointed to the provision of the Messiah. The illustrations of the Old Testament came to fruition in the life, death and resurrection of Messiah Yahushua. To reject this fact is to reject the Old Testament teaching/message.

Summary.

The majority of Jewish people in the world today…

◊ Don’t  believe that Yahushua is the Messiah – the ‘anointed one. The only way to the Father.

◊ Don’t believe that Yahushua is the Son of the Almighty Father,

◊ Don’t believe that Yahushua is the ‘Lamb without blemish’ that was pictured in the Passover,

◊ Don’t  believe that Yahushua is the Saviour – the only name through which man can be saved.

◊ Don’t know that they are blinded by a veil

◊ Don’t know that they are condemned because they do not love Yahushua

◊ Don’t know that we are children of YHWH only by faith in Yahushua

◊ Don’t know that heir house (Temple/Religion) is left desolate

◊ Don’t know that denying Yahushua as the anointed Messiah, the Father and Son, makes them a liar and antichrist.

 And they don’t know these facts because they don’t accept or know the New Testament.

This fact does not mean that a believer must react with hatred or resentment towards the Jews or any other non beleiver for that matter. We should react in a loving way and continue to shine the light of Truth. We must understand that the loving Father has a plan of salvation for all mankind. It is just a matter of sequence and timing.

Considering all of the verses quoted above one must surely question why any informed Christian would stand side by side in support of anyone/group who denies the Messiah – and for a cause that has no Biblical foundation or honourable future Biblical relevance.

Clearly the quoted verses should provide a stern caution to those who have an ear to hear.

This may come as a surpsrise to most but the Christian’s support of the Zionist State of Israel is resulting in an increase in the hatred and persecution of orthodox Jews – an increase in antisemitism. If you do not believe this statement then you have not listened to the attached video messages from the Rabbis who make this claim.

The religions of both Christians and Jews have lost their anchor to Biblical Truth and have drifted off in different directions into the sea of lies, deceit and the traditions of man.

Zionist Christians are blindly supporting a cause which they believe to be the work of the Almighty YHWH and is the fulfilment of Old Testament Bible prophecy, when in fact they are aiding a secular, mostly atheistic group of people to build a powerful world empire to rival that of Nimrod.

The sad reality as well is that most orthodox Jews do not support the State of Israel and therefore what the Christians are actually doing is supporting a largely non believing, atheistic, group of Zionist proponents.

It is also interesting to note that the Zionist movement is predominantly Christian driven. This is rooted in the Christian desire, through a misinterpretation of Scripture, to forcibly bring about the return of the Messiah. The Rev. Dr Stephen Sizer suggests that 9 out of 10 Zionists are in fact Christian. I encourage all readers here to listen to Stephen Sizer’s presentations contained in these posts. He is possibly the most knowledgeable person on the subject of Christian Zionism and completed his thesis on the subjcet.

Christian Zionists are oblivious to the fact that they are driving an ‘anti-christ’ agenda. An agenda to uplift those who reject ‘Christ’ – the ‘Anointed One’.

For those politically minded individuals in the world who desire a homeland for a specific group of people and want to call that homeland ‘Israel’, so be it. If they want to call Jerusalem their capital – so be it. If they desire to build a new temple for their religion then so be it. But let it not be done in the name of New Testament Christianity and Bible Prophecy.  

My call is to all sincere Christian believers to search their Scriptures diligently on this matter of supporting secular Zionist Israel and through prayer seek out the Truth.

I would like to convey my sympathy to the persecuted orthodox Jewish people who are committed to upholding the Word of the Old Testament. I feel for those Jews who are resisting Zionist Israel and are being persecuted as a result.I know for sure that when the Father removes the veil from their eyes they will embrace the Messiah Yahushua with a passion yet seen on this earth.

Remember that our Messiah Yahushua and his original followers were Jewish.

I urge all who read here to please watch the following videos.

 Disclaimer:

 As always, I offer the content of other authors  as it aligns with the subject matter of this post only.

I am not familiar with their broader beliefs and therefore do not endorse any of their other teaching.

Video 1

The Strong Delusion of Christian Zionism

Several years ago David Brog, the CEO of Christians United For Israel (C.U.F.I.) said that Christian theology demanded that Christians stand with Israel. My Christian theology demands that I stand for the truth, and which includes preaching the gospel to both Jew and Gentile. David Brog is a Jewish man who does not believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) and he needs to repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, just like anybody else. Any Gospel preacher who is worth their salt would tell him the same thing. Jesus declared that truth to the Jewish people in his time on earth also:

And he (Jesus) said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:23-24)

The Lord Jesus Christ told the Jewish people of his day that he came from above (heaven), and that the consequences of not believing that he was the one who was sent from the Father (the Messiah), would be to die in their sins. The plain and simple truth is that every person who sat at that convention, whether Jew or Gentile, who rejects Jesus Christ as their Savior, will die in their sins and end up in hell. To preach anything other than that is to preach a bogus gospel. If ever there was a people who are responsible before the Lord it is the Jewish people. To declare that God has not given them the necessary revelation is nothing less than mind boggling. The Jewish apostle Paul consented to the murder of Christians before he was saved (Acts 8:3, 22:4, 26:9-11). He then made a complete about face and preached that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah). He wrote the following words:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

Paul, the Jewish apostle of Jesus Christ, tells us that the gospel was to go the Jew first. In fact Paul identified those who are the children of Abraham:

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:28-29)

That very same Jewish apostle Paul told us that there is absolutely no difference between the Jew and the Greek (Gentile). No difference! The only ones who can be called the children of Abraham are those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. John Hagee spoke about the Jewish people being in covenant with God, as long as they live in light of the Torah, but the Torah contains the Ten Commandments which stop and silence any person from justifying themself before a righteous God! (Romans 3:19-20)

Video 2 

Is It Biblical To Bless People Who Have the Spirit of Antichrist?

Video 3 

Christian Zionism Is Not The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Many modern day preachers and teachers have been influenced and deceived by false teachers such as C.I. Scofield, who is famous for the Scofield Study Bible, and have come up with a Gospel add-on which focuses on ethnic Israel. Many brainwashed preachers, and Pastors, have intimidated millions, (and brainwashed them also) by telling them that they must bless ethnic Israel in order to be blessed, or they will be under a curse. They will go so far as to declare that the USA is a blessed country, only because it has blessed modern day Israel. Sorry folks but my Bible tells me that I am already blessed through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact Jesus Christ the creator of ALL things, said that the BLESSED were those people who were NOT offended in HIM!

“Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”  Luke 7:22-23

Jesus described the people that are blessed. (Matthew 5:3-12) That list includes, the meek, (Matthew 5:5) the merciful, (Matthew 5:7) and the peacemakers, (Matthew 5:9). My Bible tells me that the Lord is going to prepare a mansion (John 14:1-3) for me, so that I may be with him, and Jesus NEVER told me that I needed to BLESS people who outright REJECT HIM as LORD! Not only that, but JESUS told me that HE was the only way to get there! (John 14:6) That same Jesus NEVER sounded like he was PARTIAL to any one place in this world either.

Video 4 

Christian Zionism: Misunderstanding Israel & Christ

Zionism is a political movement built on the belief that the Jewish people deserve by right to possess the land of Palestine as their own. Christian Zionism as a modern theological and political movement embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism. They believe that God will restore Israel’s ancient fortunes as a nation in the Promised Land. Accompanying this claim is the conviction that Yeshua the Messiah will rule from Jerusalem and the Jewish people will believe on Him. They see the modern state of Israel, as the equivalent of the biblical Israel, and the forerunner of the return of Yeshua. Christian Zionism has become deeply detrimental to a just peace between Palestine and Israel. At least one in four American Christians surveyed recently by Christianity Today magazine said that they believe it is their biblical responsibility to support the nation of Israel. Followers of Christian Zionism are convinced that the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 and the capture of Jerusalem in 1967 were the miraculous fulfillment of God’s promises made to Abraham that He would establish Israel as a Jewish nation forever in Palestine. Because of the power and effects of Christian Zionism on churches and our politics, this teaching should be a concern to everyone. Proponents of Christian Zionism have a major biblical truth that they seem to not realize – they don’t understand who Israel is scripturally.

Video 5 

Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro on Israel’s Nation State Law

A Must Watch; In this new TTJ video, Rabbi Shapiro explains why Israel declaring itself the nation-state of the Jewish people is a bogus notion and dangerous for Jews around the world. We Torah Jews protest this false representation claim and declare that we are proud and loyal American citizens completely unaffiliated with the State of Israel.

Whilst the whole world of Jews united in one voice in the 1930’s to sanction and boycott Germany and their goods, a small group of ambitious Zionist Jews in Germany negotiated and entered into an agreement with Nazi Germans. This agreement would eventually enable 60 000 Jews to leave Germany and relocate to Palestine together with all their wealth.

Details of this agreement, called the ‘Haavara'(Ha Avara) are widely recorded in Jewish archives. Very little was however mentioned in the media about this arrangement until a Jewish author, Edwin Black, engaged in a massive research project into the archives of history which resulted in his controversial book entitled – ‘The Transfer Agreement’.

This agreement between the Jewish Zionists and the Nazis resulted in a much desired (by the Zionsists) exodus of both Jewish people and wealth into Palestine during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Edwin Black came from a family of Holocaust survivors and the initial reaction of his parents to his book was to disown him as their son. They did however change their minds once details of the ‘Haavara’ were explained to them.

What must be understood though is that the broader Jewish community across the world were opposed to this Zionist arrangement with the Nazis.

It was the mention of this ‘agreement’ that led to the ex London mayor Ken Livingstone being branded an ‘antisemite’. One needs to ask why stating a fact from history would lead to such an aggressive character attack.

You read the content below and decide for yourself who would want to suppress this detail of history and why. It is certainly not a proud event in Jewish history.

What the agreement did achieve was to boost the Jewish population and the Jewish wealth in Palestine at the time.

In this post:

 The Haavara Agreement -1933

Video 1 – Edwin Black The Transfer Agreement

Video 2  – The Transfer Agreement/ Haavara Agreement – Zionists & The Nazi Party

Books:

The Transfer Agreement – Author – Edwin Black

51 Documents – Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis – Author – Lenni Brenner

Zionism In the Age of Dictators – Author – Lenni Brenner

Further Reading

The Haavara Agreement -1933

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Haavara Agreement (Hebrew: הֶסְכֵּם הַעֲבָרָה Translit.: heskem haavara Translated: “transfer agreement”) was an agreement between Nazi Germany and Zionist German Jews signed on 25 August 1933. The agreement was finalized after three months of talks by the Zionist Federation of Germany, the Anglo-Palestine Bank (under the directive of the Jewish Agency) and the economic authorities of Nazi Germany. It was a major factor in making possible the migration of approximately 60,000 German Jews to Palestine in 1933–1939.

The agreement enabled Jews fleeing persecution under the new Nazi regime to transfer some portion of their assets to British Mandatory Palestine. Emigrants sold their assets in Germany to pay for essential goods (manufactured in Germany) to be shipped to Mandatory Palestine. The agreement was controversial at the time, and was criticised by many Jewish leaders both within the Zionist movement (such as the Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky) and outside it, as well as by members of the NSDAP and members of the German public. For German Jews, the agreement offered a way to leave an increasingly hostile environment in Germany; for the Yishuv, the new Jewish community in Palestine, it offered access to both immigrant labor and economic support; for the Germans it facilitated the emigration of German Jews while breaking the anti-Nazi boycott of 1933, which had mass support among European Jews and was thought by the German state to be a potential threat to the German economy.

Background

Although the NSDAP won the greatest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections of 1932, they did not have a majority, so Hitler led a short-lived coalition government formed by the NSDAP and the German National People’s Party. Under pressure from politicians, industrialists and others, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. This event is known as the Machtergreifung (seizure of power).[7] In the following months, the NSDAP used a process termed Gleichschaltung (co-ordination) to consolidate power. By June 1933, virtually the only organisations not under the control of the NSDAP were the army and the churches.

Within the Nazi movement, a variety of (increasingly radical) “solutions” to the “Jewish Question” were proposed both before and after the NSDAP was in government, including expulsion and the encouragement of voluntary emigration. Widespread civil persecution of German Jews began as soon as the NSDAP was in power. For example, on 1 April, the NSDAP organized a nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany; under the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service which was implemented on 7 April, Jews were excluded from the civil service; on 25 April, quotas were imposed on the number of Jews in schools and universities. Jews outside Germany responded to these persecutions with a boycott of German goods.

Meanwhile, in Mandatory Palestine, a growing Jewish population (174,610 in 1931, rising to 384,078 in 1936) was acquiring land and developing the structures of a future Jewish state despite opposition from the Arab population.

Hanotea company

Hanotea (הַנּוֹטֵעַ, “the Planter”) was a citrus planting company based in Netanya and established in 1929 by long-established Jewish settlers in Palestine involved in the Benei Binyamin movement. In a deal worked out with the Reich Economics Ministry, the blocked German bank accounts of prospective immigrants would be unblocked and funds from them used by Hanotea to buy agricultural German goods; these goods, along with the immigrants, would then be shipped to Palestine, and the immigrants would be granted a house or citrus plantation by the company to the same value.[14] Hanotea’s director, Sam Cohen, represented the company in direct negotiation with the Reich Economics Ministry beginning in March 1933. In May 1933 Hanotea applied for permission to transfer capital from Germany to Palestine.This pilot arrangement appeared to be operating successfully,[citation needed] and so paved the way for the later Haavara Agreement.

The transfer agreement

The Haavara (Transfer) Agreement, negotiated by Eliezer Hoofein, director of the Anglo-Palestine Bank, was agreed to by the Reich Economics Ministry in 1933, and continued, with declining German government support, until it was wound up in 1939.Under the agreement, Jews emigrating from Germany could use their assets to purchase German-manufactured goods for export, thus salvaging their personal assets during emigration. The agreement provided a substantial export market for German factories to British-ruled Palestine. Between November, 1933, and 31 December 1937, 77,800,000 Reichmarks, or $22,500,000, (values in 1938 currency) worth of goods were exported to Jewish businesses in Palestine under the program.[17] By the time the program ended with the start of World War II, the total had risen to 105,000,000 marks (about $35,000,000, 1939 values).

Emigrants with capital of £1,000, (about $5,000 in 1930s currency value) could move to Palestine in spite of severe British restrictions on Jewish immigration under an immigrant investor program similar to the modern EB-5 visa. Under the Transfer Agreement, about 39% of an emigrant’s funds were given to Jewish communal economic development projects, leaving individuals with about 43% of the funds.

The Haavara Agreement was thought among some German circles to be a possible way to solve the “Jewish problem.” The head of the Middle Eastern division of the foreign ministry, the anti-NSDAP politician Werner Otto von Hentig, supported the policy of settling Jews in Palestine. Hentig believed that if the Jewish population was concentrated in a single foreign entity, then foreign diplomatic policy and containment of the Jews would become easier.[21] Hitler’s own support of the Haavara Agreement was unclear and varied throughout the 1930s. Initially, Hitler seemed indifferent to the economic details of the plan, but he supported it in the period from September 1937 to 1939.

After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 the program was ended.

Example of the certificate issued by Haavara to Jews emigrating to Palestine

“ CERTIFICATE
The Trust and Transfer Office “Haavara” Ltd. places at the disposal of the Banks in Palestine amounts in Reichmarks which have been put at its disposal by the Jewish immigrants from Germany. The Banks avail themselves of these amounts in Reichmarks in order to make payments on behalf of Palestinian merchants for goods imported by them from Germany. The merchants pay in the value of the goods to the Banks and the “Haavara” Ltd. pays the countervalue to the Jewish immigrants from Germany. To the same extent that local merchants will make use of this arrangement, the import of German goods will serve to withdraw Jewish capital from Germany.
The Trust and Transfer Office,
HAAVARA, LTD. ”

Responses

The agreement was controversial both within the NSDAP and in the Zionist movement. As historian Edwin Black put it, “The Transfer Agreement tore the Jewish world apart, turning leader against leader, threatening rebellion and even assassination.” Opposition came in particular from the mainstream US leadership of the World Zionist Congress, in particular Abba Hillel Silver and American Jewish Congress president Rabbi Stephen Wise.Wise and other leaders of the Anti-Nazi boycott of 1933 argued against the agreement, narrowly failing to persuade the Nineteenth Zionist Congress in August 1935 to vote against it.

The right-wing Revisionist Zionists and their leader Vladimir Jabotinsky were even more vocal in their opposition. The Revisionist newspaper in Palestine, Hazit Haam published a sharp denunciation of those involved in the agreement as “betrayers”, and shortly afterwards one of the negotiators, Haim Arlosoroff was assassinated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haavara_Agreement

Transfer agreement used by the Palästina Treuhandstelle (Palestine Trustee Office[12]), established specifically to assist Jews fleeing the Nazi regime to recover some portion of the assets they had been forced to surrender when they fled Nazi Germany.

Jewish Virtual Library – from Encyclopedia Judaica: Haavara

HAAVARA, a company for the transfer of Jewish property from Nazi Germany to Palestine. The Trust and Transfer Office Haavara Ltd., was established in Tel Aviv, following an agreement with the German government in August 1933, to facilitate the emigration of Jews to Palestine by allowing the transfer of their capital in the form of German export goods. The Haavara Agreement is an instance where the question of Jewish rights, Zionist needs and individual rescue were in deep tension. Jewish organizations outside of Germany had declared a boycott against German goods and hoped to delegitimate the Nazi regime.

The Zionists saw this agreement as a way of attracting Jews to Palestine and thus rescuing them from the Nazi universe even if that meant cooperation with Hitler. For a time the Nazi program of making Germany Judenrein and the Zionist policy of seeking olim coincided. The amounts to be transferred were paid by prospective emigrants into the account of a Jewish trust company (PALTREU – Palestina Treuhandstelle zur Beratung deutscher Juden) in Germany and used for the purchase of goods, which the Haavara then sold in Palestine. The proceeds, in Palestine currency, were paid to the emigrants living in Palestine. The rate of exchange was adjusted from time to time by the Haavara according to the disagio, necessitated by the subsidy which the Haavara granted the Palestinian importers, to make up for the steadily deteriorating value of the Reich mark, so the German goods could compete with other imports. The ensuing disagio, borne by the emigrants, accordingly increased from 6% in 1934 to 50% in 1938.

The major part of the transfer proceeds provided the 1,000 Palestine Pounds (then $4,990) necessary for a “capitalist” immigration certificate of the Mandatory administration, but also for other categories of immigration, such as Youth Aliyah, students, and artisans as well as for the transfer of public funds. The transfer weakened the boycott of German goods declared by many Jewish organizations around the world, and thus met with considerable opposition. The controversy was settled at the Zionist Congress in Lucerne (1935) which decided by a vast majority in favor of the transfer and placed the Haavara under the supervision of the *Jewish Agency .

The Zionists sought to attract immigrants to Palestine, most especially the affluent German Jewish immigrants and the Germans sought to get rid of their Jews, increase their exports and a propaganda victory by dividing the Jews regarding the boycott. The Haavara continued to function until World War II, in spite of vigorous attempts by the Nazi Party to stop or curtail its activities. The total transfer amounted to LP 8,100,000 (Palestine Pounds; then $40,419,000) including LP 2,600,000 (then $13,774,000) provided by the German Reichsbank in coordination with Haavara. The Haavara transfer was a major factor in making possible the immigration of approximately 60,000 German Jews to Palestine in the years 1933–1939, and together with the money invested by the immigrants themselves, in providing an incentive for the expansion of agricultural settlement and for general economic development. It also served as a model for a similar arrangement with the Czech government and the immigration of several thousand Jews on the eve of World War II.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/haavara

Video 1

Edwin Black The Transfer Agreement

An interview with author Edwin Black

Video 2 

The Transfer Agreement/ Haavara Agreement – Zionists & The Nazi Party

Books

The Transfer Agreement

Author – Edwin Black

Some book reviews – see transfer agreement.com for full list:

HISTORICAL JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST. Black has authored an exhaustive, compelling, well-written and edited work. It is historical journalism at its best.Alexander Zvielli  – Jerusalem Post

OVERWHELMING AND COHESIVE. Edwin Black’s research is striking in its dimension and scope. The vast uncovering of source material and its extensive use are almost overwhelming. He succeeds in crystallizing the various aspects of an almost worldwide problem into fluid and cohesive analysis.Yoav Gelber, Yad Vashem  – Israel Holocaust Memorial

NEW GROUND. Important new ground. Blacks research efforts extend far beyond the capabilities of one or even two authors. Abraham Peck  – American Jewish Archives

EXCITING. The most intriguing, interesting, exciting and thoroughly documented work I have read in many years. Fanny Zelcer – American Jewish Archives

THE FULL STORY FOR THE FIRST TIME. Despite the enormity of its economic and human importance to the Jews of Europe and the development of Palestine, the entire subject is conspicuously absent from almost all standard histories of the period. But… Edwin Black’s book, The Transfer Agreement, tells the full story for the first time. It vividly describes in tense style the minute-to-minute negotiations as Zionists rushed to save who and what could be saved in the face of a darkening futureAbraham Foxman national director – Anti-Defamation League

SPELLBINDING. A spellbinding, exciting book exploring new dramatic facets. Despite the voluminous literature on the Third Reich, Mandate Palestine, modern Zionism and the Holocaust, this subject had not been previously explored. It adds a significant new dimension to our understanding of this critical period. Sybil Milton  – Simon Wiesenthal Center

THE FIRST.  Black is the first to investigate the origins of the 1933 agreement, the international political and economic context in which it was drawn up, the leading persons involved, the repurcussions within Jewish and Zionist organizations, and the long-term results… Black, who conducted research on three continents with the aid of research assistants, has written a detailed, dramatic study of one of the first significant acts of appeasement of the Third Reich and of Jewish history on the eve of the Holocaust. C. Fink
Choice Magazine

51 Documents – Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis

Author – Lenni Brenner

Synopsis
The Nazi era is the most discussed period in history, yet most Jews and others are unaware of the interaction between Zionism, Hitler and Mussolini. This book brings to light, through the use of actual historic documents, the disservice that the Zionist did to Jews before and during the Holocaust. Some of these documents were published in English decades ago, but are only now seeing the light of day. Others are being translated into English here for the first time. Included are excerpts from Propaganda Minister Goebbels’ newspaper, Der Angriff, detailing an SS-man’s visit to Palestine as the Zionists’ guest. Readers will also learn about Adolf Eichmann’s account of his personal dealings with Hungarian Zionist Reszo Kasztner, who was later assassinated in Israel as a Nazi collaborator who betrayed 400,000 Hungarian Jews. Also revealed is pro-Zionist propaganda put out by the Nazis, such as a medal for getting Jews to Palestine and a Nazi board game where the object is to move Jews to Palestine. The documents contained in this book were selected with due care so that a rounded picture of history emerges.The author concludes that Zionism betrayed the Jews; and the evidence that led him to that conclusion is contained in this book.

Zionism in the Age of the Dictators

Author – Lenni Brenner

Originally published in 1983, Brenner’s famous study documents a history of collusion between the Zionist movement and European fascism during the first half of the 20th century. The new edition features a new Afterword by the author. 

Further Reading:

Ken Livingstone should not be suspended over ‘historic facts’ about Hitler and Zionism – “Ken Livingstone’s entire life has been spent fighting racism” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/…

Netanyahu: Hitler Didn’t Want to Exterminate the Jews http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1….

“in 1935 Hitler passed a law banning any flag being displayed except the swastika and the blue and white Zionist flag, which is pretty amazing.” http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2…

Love Corbyn “stop allowing Israel’s criminal politicians to come to our country freely”. http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/c…

“It’s not inflammatory to tell the truth and one of the reasons we make so many mistakes in politics is that so few politicians study history http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/…

“Establishment of historical Jewish state on a national and totalitarian basis, and bound by a treaty with the German Reich” http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/2…

Churchill: Zionism versus Bolshevism. http://www.fpp.co.uk/bookchapters/WSC…

Zionism and Judaism – The Missing Link

If I was to write what is contained in this post then I would be attacked and accused of being an Antisemite.

Let me rather keep quiet then and hear the truth from a highly respected Jewish Rabbi – Yaakov Shapiro

Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro is a Rabbi of Bais Medrash of Bayswater and Spokesman for ‘Natruna’ and the “True Torah Jews” group. He is an expert in Jewish history and law on which he is the author of several books. His most recent book is titled The Empty Wagon.

‘Israel doesn’t exist to serve the Jewish people. the Jewish people exist to serve Israel.’

Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

In this post:

Zionism Has Nothing to Do with Judaism – Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Book: The Empty Wagon: Zionism’s journey from identity crisis to identity theft – Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Video 1: Has Zionism Hijacked Judaism – Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Video 2: The Real Reason that Netanyahu and Israeli Leader’s Claim to Speak for All Jews

Video 3: Identity Thieves: the Zionist Campaign to Transform “Jews” into “Israelis”

Video 4: New York Schoolchildren Hold Anti-Zionist Gathering, and Protest Against Their Provocative Tactics

Video 5: Rabbi Shapiro Reacts to Jerusalem Announcement

Video 6: Rabbi Shapiro at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY

Adriel Kasonta: You are a Rabbi, scholar in Jewish history and law born in America to a Jewish father from Poland and Jewish mother from England. Has this had any impact on the path that you’ve chosen and what does it mean to you to be a Rabbi?

Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro: “Rabbi” literally means “teacher of Torah” in Hebrew, but nowadays it’s used to refer to someone who learns and is committed to follow the dictates of the Torah. But “rabbi” is only a title. I believe in the truth of Hashem’s Torah and Judaism, and so it follows that I would uphold it, defend it, and oppose its misrepresentation. Regarding whether my parents’ background affects the path I’ve chosen, I assume by that you mean my outspokenness about the incompatibility between Judaism and Zionism. If that is the question, then the answer is, from a religious perspective, no; but from a self-interest perspective, yes. My or my parents’ background don’t make any difference to regarding my commitment to uphold and defend Judaism, as that religious obligation applies equally no matter where a Jew is from. However, even setting religion aside, Israel’s referring to itself as the “Jewish state” poses a danger to me and my fellow Jews all over the world. It is crucial, when trying to understand Zionism, that it is different than all other nationalisms – and Israel is different than all other countries – in that it claims to represent millions of people all over the world who never were citizens of their country, nor were their family members, nor do they ever plan to be. Israel claims to be the “nation-sate of the Jewish people”; Netanyahu referred to himself as the representative of all Jews; even his opposition leader, Herzog, referred to Netanyahu as the “Prime Minister of all the Jews.” This is insane. I am an American – how does Netanyahu claim to be my leader and Israel my state? If I don’t like my country, I can move to another one, but wherever I go, wherever I run, Israel will tell the world they are my country and Netanyahu is my representative because I was born into
a certain religion. The result of this delusion of grandeur that Israel is infected with is that Jews all over the world are held responsible for the actions of Israel, the same way citizens are held responsible for their own countries’ actions. Data shows that whenever Israel gets into some controversy, Jews all over the word are blamed and anti-Semitic acts skyrocket. And when this happens it’s not as if Israel is going to send its army to protect the Jews that they put into danger. We’re left to be used as Israel’s human shields. So it is imperative for Jews – and non-Jews – all over the world to know that Israel does not represent world Jewry – the claim that they do is their own unilateral delusionary ideology, part of Zionist thought. But it’s insane. And dangerous to me and my fellow Jews. Israel is morally obligated to stop this nonsense of calling itself the Jewish state, meaning the state of all Jews, because that’s just a lie, and a harmful one at that. And if Israel still insists that they are my state, I will loudly tell the world that is not so.

What is a Jew? What constitutes a Jewish person?

First, let’s start with what a Jew is not. A Jew is not a nationality or a race or an ethnicity or a culture. We have Jews of all races, nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures. Around the corner from me lives a Yemenite Jew, a nice fellow named Yichye. Our parents didn’t speak the same language, live the same culture, eat the same food, or share the same experiences. The only thing we have in common is our religion. For centuries, our families have had almost no shared historical experiences – his family in Yemen, and mine in Poland. Jewishness is a concept defined by the Jewish religion. Whoever the Jewish religion defines as Jewish is Jewish, since Jewishness is a concept created by – and defined by – the Jewish religion. Just as the religion defines what kosher food is; and defines at what age a boy becomes Bar Mitzvah and what day is Shabbos, the religion also defines what a Jew is. And that definition is: Those who were present at the revelation at Mt. Sinai when G-d gave the Torah and accepted it willingly, became Jews by virtue of that acceptance. Our tradition tells us that not only the Jews who were in the desert coming from Egypt accepted the Torah but also the souls of many as-yet unborn Jews were there and accepted it as well. We recognize those souls because, our tradition says, they will be born from a Jewish mother. In other words, that the Jewish people even exist, that there is such a thing as the Jewish people, is
a Jewish religious tenet of faith. Like the existence of angels who overturn cities, prophets who speak to G-d, manna that falls from heaven, and a snake that spoke to Adam, Jewishness is also something that the Bible informs us exists. As it says, “Today you have become
a nation unto Hashem your G-d” (Deuteronomy 27:9), which Judaism teaches refers to the day the Jews accepted the Torah from G-d. The only thing that makes the Jewish people into a group is their acceptance of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. If someone does not believe in the truth of the Bible – if he does not believe that manna fell from the sky, that the Red Sea split, that 10 plaques were meted down upon the Egyptians, he also does not believe that a few million ragtag refugees from Egyptian slavery became bound to G-d’s Torah by accepting it on Mt. Sinai, and since he does not believe that, he does not believe in the existence of the Jewish people. The Jewish people are regular people – with no identifiable common characteristics, save for their religion. If you do not believe in the religion, you have no logical basis to consider Jews an identifiable category.

Although there are non-religious people who identify as Jews, their understanding of their Jewishness is logically problematic. All secular definitions of Jewishness (ethnicity, race, culture, tribal etc.) are later innovations and are not self-consistent. Converts are full-fledged Jews; there are black Jews, white Jews, brown Jews, all sorts of Jews – the only common denominator is that the religion defines them as Jews.

Historically, the secular self-definition of Jewishness is the result of anti-Semitism: the gentiles refused to allow them to be part of their society, and kind of gave them no choice – they weren’t accepted as non-Jews, so they were forced to call themselves Jews even though they were secular. Jean Paul Sartre was right when he said that it is not the existence of Jews that results in anti-Semitism but it is anti-Semitism that causes the existence of Jews. What I mean when I say he was right is that this is the only viable and honest definition of Jewishness from a secular perspective. Many people do not know this but Sartre’s definition of Jewishness – i.e. whoever the anti-Semites persecute – was invented by Theodor Herzl, who said it before Sartre. He was asked by the British Royal Commission on Alien Immigration what Jewish Nationalism is, considering that the Jews aren’t a nationality. Herzl answered that a nation is, in his opinion, a historical group of men in “a recognizable cohesion, which is held together by a common enemy” — they then asked him who the enemies of the Jews are? He said “the anti-Semites.” The Zionists have not come up with a more viable definition of Jewishness since. Ben Gurion was once asked what the definition of a Jew is and he said Jews have no definitions. Shlomo Sand writes that he was once asked by a Christian friend why her husband is considered Jewish even though he doesn’t believe in the Jewish religion, but she is not considered Christin because she doesn’t believe in the Christian religion. Sand answered: “Hostility toward them in modern times has given Jews a specific identity as victims of segregation …” That’s the best secular definition of a Jew that exists: whoever is persecuted because he is a Jew.

The seculars will never find a feasible definition of Jewishness because the existence of Jews is an article of religious faith. If you refuse to accept that religious definition, you’re not going to find a viable substitute. Trying to find a political or social definition of Jewishness is like trying a political definition of kosher meat, or a mezuzah. Jewish identity is religious, period. Of course, the anti-Semites who don’t accept the Torah’s narrative have to concoct some definition of Jewishness – but whatever they come up with will not withstand the slightest bit of scrutiny. Trying to figure out what a Jew is without believing in the Torah is like trying to figure out what 1+1 is without believing in the number 2. No matter how hard you try, your answer won’t work.

Is Zionism a Jewish invention? What is the role of the Evangelical Protestantism in shaping the Jewish secular thought?

Rabbi Shapiro: No, Zionism is not Jewish in origin. Centuries before Hess or Herzl were born the Evangelicals already created and pursued Zionist ideology. Prof. Yakov Rabkin (History, University of Montreal) got it right in the Glossary of his book “What is Modern Israel,” where he defined Zionism as “Ideology of protestant Christian origin that propounds the assembly of the Jews in Palestine. At the end of the 19th century, a group of activists of Jewish origin in Central Europe established the Zionist political movement etc.” Christian Zionism originated in the late 1500’s, early 1600’s. The Jews never wanted to return to the Holy Land en masse until the Messiah arrives and peace would reign in the world, and the universe would be ruled by a spirit of G-d. The idea that Jews should return, create a political sovereign state there was invented by the Christians. So many aspects of Zionism that we attribute to Jews were actually invented by the Christians. People attribute the idea that Jews should speak Hebrew to the ultra-Zionist, secular Jew, Ben-Yehuda. It was the idea of the Christian Zionist Benedetto Musolino, who preceded Ben Yehuda. The slogan “a land without a people for a people without a land,” which Abu Mazen recently quoted in the name of Theodor Herzl – that was a mistake – Herzl didn’t say it – it was really said by Israel Zangwill and common among Jewish Zionists at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century – was already used by Christian Zionists such as Lord Shaftesbury and Alexander Keith in the 1840’s before any Zionist ever thought of it. It was a Christian Zionist, Rev. William Hechler, who approached Herzl saying he was the fulfilment of his own prophetic interpretation of the scriptures. Hechler used his enormous political connections to introduce Herzl to the most powerful political leaders of Germany and England to lobby for Zionism, including the Grand Duke of Baden, and the Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. Incredibly, Jewish Zionists have adopted Christian interpretation of the scriptures, abandoning Jewish ones, to garner support from Christian Evangelicals, Zionism’s strongest supporters. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of the so-called Jewish state, and self-proclaimed leader of world Jewry spoke at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp and publicly repeated an interpretation of Ezekiel 37 – the prophecy of the “Dry Bones,” applying it to the state of Israel, an interpretation found in no Jewish source – indeed, it contradicts Judaic doctrine – and was invented by the Reverend Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1864! And repeated by Evangelicals such as John Hagee. The ideology of modern Zionism is much more Christian Evangelical than it is traditional Jewish. In fact, a Pew survey done about 5 years ago concluded that while most Jews do not believe God gave Israel to the Jews, 80% of white evangelical Protestants do.

Why Jewish Zionists have embraced Zionism? Could it be a self-hate driven response to the anti-Semitism in Europe, which saw as rational to embrace the ‘enlightened and intelligent’ atheism in order to create a secular, gentile-alike, Jew?

The original Zionists were Jews who were influenced by, impressed with, and envied the lifestyle of the gentiles over that of the Jews. Jews always believed their collective mission was to be, as the Bible says, “a nation of priests and a holy people,” dedicated to studying the Torah, developing their morals, and giving up any possible role they could play in the history of nations. There was no Jewish art, science, or sports. Jews had no military heroes, no sports heroes, no national political heroes. Our heroes were the righteous and scholarly. The Zionists wanted to be secular. Many even absorbed the anti-Semitic hatred of the Jews that was so prevalent in those days. However, they attributed anti-Semitism to the priestly lifestyle of the religious Jews, looking at them as ugly, immoral, and debased. They figured if the Jews could become normal – meaning to change their lifestyle, and become indistinguishable from non-Jews, anti-Semitism would end. Herzl promised, in the last page of his book Der Judenstaat, that if Zionism takes off, anti-Semitism would immediately cease to exist. Stupid thinking, to be sure, but that’s what the Zionists believed. More than anything else, they hated the Jewish lifestyle and they wanted to become, in the worlds of Jabotinsky, the “diametrical opposite” of a Jew – everything that is a Jew, they wanted to be its polar opposite. That’s what Jabotinsky said. That’s how he defined a Zionist – as the exact opposite of a Jew. Well, they tried, they secularized themselves and acted very unJewish, but anti-Semitism didn’t end. They were rudely awakened to their Jewishness by anti-Semitic violence, especially the string of pogroms that began in Russia in 1881. Now they were stuck between a rock and a hard place – they refused to be Jews, and the gentiles refused to let them be gentiles. So Zionism was Plan B – basically, they figured if they can’t join the gentile nations, they’ll make a nation of their own, they’ll turn all the Jews into nationals, turn Jewish identity into a nationality. Anything to shed themselves of the traditional Jewish identity. So they tried to reengineer Jewish identity form religious to national.

Is Zionism a homogenic ideology or rather set of different intellectual ideas, like: Nitzsche’s ‘Übermensch’ philosophy, organic nationalism, Russian workers movements and German romanticism?

Because the Zionists were synthetically creating a new nationality from scratch, as opposed to their society just evolving organically, they could pick and choose any ideas or fads that they wanted. Some chose socialism and land-based philosophies, like Aron Dovid Gordon and his type – this group became the left-wing Zionists; others, like Jabotinsky, chose a large dose of militarism, largely fascist-influenced. They became the Revisionists, which evolved into what today is the Likud. They were creating an entirely new society, pretending they were scions of the “ancient people of the Book” – partly to garner support from the Evangelicals – remember Britain had the mandate, and Britain was largely Puritan, so dovetailing with Evangelical Christianity would serve them well – plus they needed to recruit Jews to populate their future state, so they couldn’t just abandon their claim to Jewishness. Instead, they claimed they are the authentic version of Jewishness. That was what I call the Zionist identity theft against the Jewish people. Also, to be the fulfilment of the Evangelical prophesies they had to present themselves not just as a group of Jews who want to be Zionists, but rather as the Jewish people in toto, “returning to their homeland.”

What is the impact of Zionism on Jewish history?

Well let’s hope Zionism becomes history soon. In the meantime, it’s just like other deviant movements among the Jews, or break-off religions, such as the Seducees, or the Karaites, or the assimilationists. The Zionists are unique among the deviant Jewish movements in many ways, not the least of which is their political success – they have a country, an army, and professional propagandists of the highest order. Their claim to represent all of world Jewry, too, is unique among the break-off movements, and uniquely dangerous to Jews all over the world.

Is Hebrew an official Jewish language?

First, we should not confuse modern Hebrew with the language of the Bible, which we call Lashon Hakodesh (The Holy Language). Today’s modern Hebrew has appropriated much of the Holy Language, but it is not the same language – not in its grammar, pronunciation, and especially not in its vocabulary. In fact, the architects of modern Hebrew deliberately inserted into their language phrases and words that mock the religion of Judaism. For example, we have a word in Rabbinic Hebrew Bitachon, which means trust in G-d. In Zionist Hebrew, it means Homeland Security. The implication is obvious: what we used to think G-d will do, today our army will. Or the phrase keren kayemes, which in Rabbinic literature means the accumulation of good deeds one acquires in this world for which he is rewarded in the afterlife. In Zionist Hebrew it means the JNF, a fund that goes to promote Zionist causes. So modern Hebrew is actually a mockery of Biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, just as Zionism is a mockery of traditional Judaism.

That said, although Jews spoke Hebrew (Loshon Hakodesh) in Biblical times, we eventually abandoned it, for various reasons. But most importantly to your question, although the Jews did speak Hebrew once upon a time, it was never the national language of the Jewish people. Meaning, language is normally one of the primary unifying factors of a nationality. Some say a common language is even more important than a common land to create a people. The Jewish people are unified only by dint of their religion. Hebrew was a language we happened to speak, for religious reasons (after all, it is a holy language) but not for nationalistic ones. Jews are not united because of Hebrew. The common language did not contribute to our peoplehood the way it does to others. The Zionists created modern Hebrew to change that. In their efforts to change Jewish identity form religious to national, they needed to provide for the Jews national symptoms like a language, and a land. Especially before 1948, when there was no Israel, Hebrew was vital for the Zionist cause, because it was the only national commonality available to Jews who wanted to be nationals.

What is Yiddish? What is Zionists’ approach towards Yiddish?

Yiddish is a dialect of German that Ashkenazi Jews developed within their society. (Oriental Jews – Sephardim – did not speak Yiddish; some of them spoke Ladino, a dialect of Spanish). Zionists hated Yiddish, because it represented the old-time traditional Jewishness that the Zionists wanted to eradicate.

Do Zionists believe in God? Are they observant Jews?

Some do and some don’t; some are and some aren’t. Because Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism, but is rather a political movement, it’s like asking if Sudanese believe in G-d. Many early Zionists repudiated belief in G-d, like ben Gurion, who claimed G-d gave the Jews the land, but he didn’t believe in G-d – at least not the G-d of the Bible, anyway. Early Zionists, such as Israel Zangwill, said that Jews could be Christians or Muslims by religion, since Jewishness would be a national, not religious identity. Today that sounds weird, but logically if a Zionist can be an atheist – and most of the founding fathers of Zionism were – and still consider himself Jewish, why can’t someone believe in the Christin religion and consider himself Jewish? That is one of the very many logical inconsistencies in Zionist ideology. As far as the observant Jews being Zionists, Zionism itself is like idolatry according to the Torah, and just as in Biblical times there were otherwise observant Jews who worshipped idols (such as the Baal worshippers), so too nowadays we have otherwise observant Jews who believe in Zionism. It is certainly a contradiction, just as Judaism and idol worship was in the days of the prophets, but human beings have an uncanny capacity to compartmentalize contradictions in their own beliefs, so it’s not shocking.

Bearing in mind that many Jews around the World are being blamed for Israel’s internal and external actions, can we assume that ideology of Zionism indirectly contributes to the rise of anti-Semitic sentiment among gentiles and thus pose an existential threat to the Jews living outside of Israel?

Yes, absolutely. Well, I’m not sure the threat rises to the level of existential, but yes, Israel – in particular its claim to be the Jewish state – endangers Jews all over the world. Tel Aviv University’s’ Kantor Center has the largest database of anti-Semitic data in the world – and they’re scientists, not activists with an agenda like the ADL. And every report that they release says the same story: because people conflate Israel with Jews, when people are upset with Israel, Jews all over the world get hurt.

Do you perceive this as an unintended outcome of Zionism or rather well-calculated policy aimed at forcing the Jewish diaspora to move to Israel and admit its statues of the Vatican for the Jewish people?

Part of it is calculated and part they don’t cause but they are certainly happy about. When Netanyahu goes to France or Denmark after anti-Semitic attacks against Jews and tells them the solution is the Jews should all come to Israel, he knows, unless he is a total idiot, that he is riling up anti-Semitism, casting the Jews as indigestible everywhere, and the Jewish communities of the countries he says this about – in the above cases, France and Denmark – invariably condemn Netanyahu’s remarks. But Zionists have been doing this for a century – trying to make the world uninhabitable for Jews in order to herd them into Israel. What about the Lavon affair? And their blowing up Jewish cafes and the Masouda Shem Tov synagogue in Iraq in order to herd Jews into Israel? And for what? Eighty times more Israelis were killed in Israel by suicide bombers and random acts of violence in the past 20 years than all Jews killed in Europe by terrorists in the same time period. Israel is like the most dangerous place where Jews live around the world. And I’m not even talking about the territories.

What is Israel’s approach towards the Orthodox Jews? How they are being treated by the Israeli regime?

Uch. Don’t ask. About 10 years ago, the Jerusalem Post published the results of a Gersher survey: The Chareidim are believed to be the most hated group in Israel. 37% of Israelis voted for them as the most hated group; in second place came the Russian immigrants with 15% and a close third, gathering13%, were the settlers. In my view, the reason is simple: Remember: The Zionists fought, died, and killed in order to “rehabilitate” the Jewish people, to transform them form ugly, sickly, decrepit Ultra-Orthodox Jews into proud, strong, bronzed, Hebrew Nationals. The early Zionists thought for sure that in a decade or so there would be no Ultra-Orthodox Jews left. And the state of Israel was supposed to be the agent of that social change. But now, a few generations after they created their state, they see the Ultra-Orthodox community flourishing at a remarkably greater rate than the secular community, and they have no desire to turn themselves into Zionists. In fact, they look at the Zionists as destroyers of Jewishness, not its saviours. The message the existence of the Ultra-Orthodox flourishing to the ZIonsits is: What you strove for, what you sacrificed for, what you killed and died for, was for nothing. We don’t want to be like you. You should have left us alone, you didn’t accomplish anything – you ruined a lot. Your lives, your mission, your whole life philosophy is a sham, and your sacrifices were for nothing. The Zionists can’t take that. If the Chareidim would prefer to be Chareidim than Zionists, and they in fact look down on Zionism and detest what it tried to do to them and their families, it infuriates them.

You are a U.S. citizen and a Jewish person, so what was your reaction to President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem? Was it the right decision?

Mr. Trump is my president and it is his decision. That said, his statement that he is doing so because Jerusalem is the “eternal capital of the Jewish people” puts his decision beyond the realm of politics and into the realm of Judaic studies. And he is incorrect about that. Jerusalem is a holy city – not a political capital city, to the Jewish people. Two reasons: One, practitioners of a religion don’t have capitals – countries do. And the Jewish people are not a country. When King David made Jerusalem his capital, it wasn’t the capital of the Jews – it was the capital of David’s citizens. Non-Jews living in David’s country would have Jerusalem as their capital as well as the Jews; and a Jew living outside of David’s country would not have Jerusalem as their capital. Jews as Jews never had a capital. Second, even if Jerusalem would be the capital of the Jews, that does not mean that therefore it should be the capital of Israel. Israel is not the Jews.

What is Judaism? What is its relevance in the increasingly secular modern times?

Judaism is a religion that was given by G-d on Mt. Sinai and available to anyone who wants to be part of it. It represents the will of G-d. Just as G-d doesn’t change, neither does His will. Therefore, it makes no difference if the “times” are secular, idolatrous, barbaric, or whatever. Judaism is still as relevant now as it was when G-d gave it on Mt. Sinai. After all, G-d is just as relevant, and so His will is, as well.

Can Judaism co-exist with Islam and Christianity, or these three Abrahamic faiths (and their followers) are doomed to be antagonistic towards each other?

Judaism teaches to be at peace with everyone in the world. Even if we need to go out of our way to do so. Not long ago – and by that I mean before the advent of Zionism – Jews in the Holy Land got along very well with their Arab neighbours. When the Jewish women used to go to synagogue on Yom Kippur, they had Arab girls baby-sitting their children. The Zionists don’t represent Judaism. They represent Zionism. Netanyahu said publicly that he will – quote – “live by the sword” forever. He probably doesn’t know it, but the phrase living by the sword is Biblical, and it was the fate of Esav, the arch-enemy and the antithesis of Jacob, father of all Jews. Jews eschew the sword. Even when necessary to use. Judaism enjoins Jews to be at peace with their neighbours, loyal to their countries of residence, and to love peace and harmony.

Should the Palestinian question be of religious Jews’ concern? Can a God-fearing Jew turn a blind eye from this ongoing conflict in which Jewish people are involved?

The Palestinian question is no more or less the concern of religious Jews – I assume you are asking me about Jews outside of Israel – than any other human rights issues anywhere in the world. Remember: Israel has as much to do with me as a Jew as Bulgaria does. And therefore, for me as a Jew to be more involved in the Palestinian issue than other equally serious issues in other countries would be puzzling. You could have asked me about whether religious Jews can be concerned about many other issues, but you chose to ask me about Palestinians. That is because you believe as a Jew I should have an opinion about issues that involve Israel specifically. But I am an American, not an Israeli, and not a Zionist. So my answer is the Palestinian issue is as relevant to me as all human rights issues all over the world. Because Palestinians and Israelis are human beings, like all others all over the world. For a Jew to involve himself in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because he is a Jew, and the issue involves Israel, indicates that he believes his Jewishness somehow demands that he be involved in Israel’s issues more than those of other nations, and that’s Zionism. I am not a Zionist.

On June 3, 2018 more than 15,000 Jews attended the convention of Torah Jewry Against Zionism, which took place in the Nassau Coliseum. Can you tell us a bit more about the event and its outcome? How many young Jews are eager to learn about True Torah Jews and traditional Judaism? Can traditional Judaism even compete with Zionism in its appeal to young Jewish people?

Most definitely. Especially with younger Jews. It’s the older Jews who are mostly Zionists. The rally in the coliseum was an educational event. Judaism values education above all. The way to win the minds and hearts of young people – and old people – is through education: teaching, reasoning, giving them facts and figures; reasoning and sound judgement. Waving flags, singing songs, and throwing confetti may work in the short term, but our Torah teaches that nothing compares to sitting and working hard to understand. Through education – not emotional propaganda, we will, with the help of the Almighty, help bring the world back to peace and harmony.

Interview conducted by ADRIEL KASONTA – https://ahtribune.com/religion/2332-yaakov-shapiro.html

Book:

 The Empty Wagon: Zionism’s journey from identity crisis to identity theft.

Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Zionism. The untouchable topic. “Lack of knowledge has led to very confused ideas about religion, even among the chareidim.” “Even talmidei chachamim, rabbonim, and tzaddikim are not imbued with the [proper] understanding.” “Sadly, even in our own circles, the mold for shaping public opinion lies in the hands of the state of Israel.” “Regardless of how much we talk about [Zionism] and people listen and understand, nevertheless, in their hearts, they still kiss the idol.” “There are only a few groups left that do not follow after the Eigel … But the rest of the chareidim travel on the train of Zionism …” These are some of the sentiments expressed by gedolei Yisroel specifically regarding Zionist hashkafos and the Torah community, both now and in the past. For those who find these statements more than a little disquieting, for those who can accept that what many think are Torah hashkafos are actually their opposite – and want to know the truth … The Empty Wagon will open that door.

I urge all who read here to please watch the following videos

Has Zionism Hijacked Judaism. – Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

The event was held at the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C. Rabbi Shapiro is the rabbi of a congregation in Queens, New York. He is best known for his outspoken stance defending the historic Orthodox Jewish position that rejects the concept of Jewish nationalism and therefore opposes Zionism and does not recognize Israel as the Jewish State. He has represented this position on behalf of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community throughout the world to a remarkable variety of audiences, including those in the United States, the state of Israel and the EU in Brussels. Rabbi Shapiro is the author of three books and numerous articles dealing with Jewish philosophy and law. He is currently completing a three volume work on traditional Jewish opposition to Zionism.

The Real Reason that Netanyahu and Israeli Leader’s Claim to Speak for All Jews

In this interview, Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, rabbi of Beis Medrash of Bayswater, explains the motives behind the claims of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to represent all Jews. He explains how Zionism, starting from Theodor Herzl, unilaterally arrogated to itself the right to speak in the name of world Jewry. Rabbi Shapiro explains the motives behind this and the danger it poses to the Jewish people.

Identity Thieves: the Zionist Campaign to Transform “Jews” into “Israelis”

Welcome to the Israeli Army Melting Pot, the greatest spiritual equalizer that the world has ever seen. The early Zionist leaders created the state of Israel with the goal of eradicating religion and transforming “Jews” into Israeli nationalists. Until very recently Hareidi (ultra-orthodox) Jews were exempt from mandatory service. They were able to remain true to their faith and traditions without fear of legal repercussions. Recently that has changed. In 2014 the law exempting Hareidi Jews expired and was not renewed. Even though the IDF had a surplus of soldiers they decided that it was time to call the Orthodox to duty thus finally taking advantage of the opportunity to transform them from from “Jews” to “Israelis”. The Hareidi community has staged a number of peaceful protests and the Israeli police has responded with violence. Young men are being pulled from their beds in the middle of the night and thrown into military detention centers. We will continue to assert our right to be conscientious objectors according to Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. We will not give up our faith to serve in your military. We will not offer up our children’s lives on the alter of Zionism. We will protest until the end for our rights as Jews and human beings.

New York Schoolchildren Hold Anti-Zionist Gathering, and Protest Against Their Provocative Tactics

Children at an Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn gathered during the week of Israeli Independence Day to express their concern over the future of American Jewry, in the face of the dangerous climate created by the State of Israel and especially its prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu. One boy gave a short speech explaining traditional Torah opposition to Zionism, and addressing current events, such as the recent anti-Semitic killings in France and Denmark and Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, and the NYC M.T.A hate Ads.

Rabbi Shapiro Reacts to Jerusalem Announcement

In depth analysis! Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro reacts to Jerusalem being declared the capital of Israel, and explains that the Jewish people relate to Jerusalem as a holy city, not as a political capital city. Jerusalem as the capital of the “Jews” is a Zionist fiction, and conflicts directly with the teachings of Judaism. To all those countries considering moving their embassies, please know that this would only benefit Israel and the Zionists, and has no benefit to the Jewish people at large. Israel does NOT represent world Jewry.

Rabbi Shapiro at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY

On June 11, 2017, a massive protest took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews gathered to protest the Israeli government’s laws relating to the drafting of yeshiva students into their army. In this passionate speech, given in front of thousands of our brethren, Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro outlines some of the reasons why serving in the IDF is incompatible with Judaism and Jewish values. The Israeli army is not a normal army, with the objective of protecting its citizens. Rather, the IDF is an indoctrination camp which seeks to turn the Jew into a Zionist. The Rabbi’s speech ends with constructive advice for the Israeli government: repeal all the draft laws and leave us be, or build more jails because Orthodox Jews will gladly go to jail rather than join the IDF.

Jewish Opposition to Zionism

There should be no doubt in anyones mind that the Jewish people have endured tremendous persecution throughout the ages and persists to this day. It appears to me though that most of today’s anger towards the Jewish people revolves around the land of Israel and the conflict with the displaced Palestinian people.

On closer investigation into the term ‘antisemitism’ I discovered that there are many angles of attack that all seem to be branded as ‘antisemitic.

I have included below some content which sets out to describe what ‘antisemitism’ is and it’s many disguises in the world today – articles by Ellen Wexler and Rabbi Sacks.

What I find the most interesting, is to find how outspoken the religious sector of Judaism is with regards to the state of Israel and its legitimacy to exist – refer videos.

 My interest in this topic is solely from the perspective of understanding Scriptural Truth and not any political agenda or interest,

Before continuing, the reader needs to remember that the Jewish people do not recognise the Renewed Covenant i.e. the New Testament, and therefore any understanding of the New Testament believer pertaining to the future land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem should differ greatly from that of the Jew. For instance the book of Revelation reveals that the New Jerusalem is the ‘Bride’ of Yahushua and is not a reference to a section of land in Israel called Jerusalem. This is how Bible scholars should see the future Jerusalem anyway – emphasis on ‘future’.

The same principle applies to Israel. When one unpacks the story of Jacob’s name change to Israel then one discovers who New Testament Israel is. This is a reference to those people who have wrestled with their flesh nature, which opposes righteousness, and have overcome their flesh nature to submit wholly to the will of the Almighty.

There is much more detail/Scripture to back this claim up but I do not want to digress here.

Having said the above, all New Testament believers in the Messiah should understand and recognise the Jewish people as our lost brother. After all Jacob had twelve sons which eventually split up into the two separate kingdoms – North and South. The majority on New Testament Believers/Christians are seen as the lost Northern house/kingdom – the ‘Prodigal son’.

New Testament believers are the wild olive which has been grafted into the olive tree – Romans chapter 11:

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root beholy, so are the branches.

And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in hisgoodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.

For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

Romans 11:15-24

Romans chapter 2 defines who a New Testamnet Jew is:

 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is thatcircumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Romans 2:28-29

Following my investigation into the term ‘antisemitism’ it does appear to me that this label would be applied to anyone who criticises or maligns anything to do with Jewishness, whether it be Judaism as a religion or Israel as a country. It has become equally apparant to me that the more religious group of Jewish people i.e. the vast majority of Torah observers, are very critical of the existance of Israel as a sovereign country. A quick search on ‘Google’ images of ‘Jews against Zionism’ will reveal how big this opposition is.

 Many Christians and others would probably think that most Jews are united in their view concerning the land of Israel today. This is however not the case. According to the statements made by the Rabbis in the video material provided It appears that mostly secular Jews are the patriotic people.

There are many Christian church groups and organisations who stand in support of Isreal as a sovereign state and believe that the formation of Israel as a country is the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. The vast majority of religious Rabbis it seems, would disagree with this view.

My view is that the Father is Almighty and Sovereign. It is clear that He has allowed the formation of Israel as a country and Jerusalem as it’s capital city. Whether it appears to be legitimate or not to us, it is clearly the will of the Almighty for this time. The New Testamant Scripture reveals a change though, which is soon coming. Until that time comes we are faced with the world as it is – in it’s fallen state.

I would like to express my view that I am against any human rights abuse, or the persecution of any indiviual or group, based on either their ethnicity or religion. We must embrace the teaching of our Messiah Y’Shua in that he did not come the first time 2000 years ago to judge but rather to set free. The time for judgement is coming when Y’Shua will judge all people as the King of Kings and Master of Masters.

Until then let us keep our peace and pursue righteousness in our own lives.

I have provided you with some material below to enlighten you and possibly broaden your traditional view on this subjcet.

After reading the following and watching the video footage – You decide.

The Semantics of Anti-Semitism

BY ELLEN WEXLER

In the late 1800s, a German writer and political agitator named Wilhelm Marr published a pamphlet called “The Way to Victory of Judaism over Germanism.” The idea was that Jews and Germans were locked in perpetual conflict, which could only end, Marr worried, with one group’s victory over the other. And the Jews were ahead.

Today, Marr is credited with coining the term “anti-Semitism.” Compared to previously existing words, anti-Semitism “was meant to be a kind of technical term,” says Ken Jacobson, deputy national director of the Anti-Defamation League. It described an attitude based on ideas about Jews as a race, and it was intended to foster a scientific basis for hatred.

But since Marr’s time, the term “anti-Semitism” has evolved. As scholarship on the subject grew, the available vocabulary expanded. Today, its definition—and its boundaries—are uncertain. “Anti-Semitism” is but one of a convoluted, interconnected web of similar words—including “anti-Judaism,” “anti-Zionism,” “Judeophobia” and “Zionophobia.”

What, for instance, is the difference between “anti-Semitism” and “anti-Judaism”? David Nirenberg, author of Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition, makes a nuanced distinction: Anti-Semitism takes aim at real Jews, while anti-Judaism opposes a broader system of thought. When the word “Judaize” first appeared in a conversation between the New Testament’s Paul and Peter, it referred to Christians who wanted—mistakenly—to observe Jewish laws. For early Christians, Judaism became associated with a misguided set of beliefs: taking something too literally, or placing too much emphasis on the law. Over the years, anti-Judaism took on a broader meaning: Someone could be accused of acting like a Jew for displaying greed or lending money. “If you read any source about the economy, say, from roughly the 12th century to the present,” says Nirenberg, “people are constantly talking about certain forms of relationship to money, certain uses of money, as being Jewish.” These prejudices played out everywhere from Shakespeare to Marx. The hatred of Judaism, and the need to fight against it—even in communities that had never met a Jew—became a constant in Western culture.

Some historians see anti-Judaism as a religious prejudice and anti-Semitism as a racial prejudice. But this framework is contentious. “The distinction that’s made between anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism is a fallacious one,” says Brown University professor David Kertzer, who has written extensively on the Vatican’s role in modern anti-Semitism. In 1987, Pope John Paul II commissioned an investigation into this matter. The verdict was that, while the church had promoted anti-Judaism—or prejudice based in religion—it had not encouraged anti-Semitism. But “this narrative, while comforting,” says Kertzer, has no basis in reality. The church “had been involved in modern anti-Semitism right from the very beginning,” and Nazi messaging relied heavily on Christian imagery.

“Anti-Semitism” is but one of a convoluted, interconnected web of  similar words.
After the Holocaust, the world’s conception of anti-Semitism changed. When the horrors of the Holocaust became known, overt prejudice was no longer publicly acceptable. “People refrained for quite awhile,” says Jacobson. “But then along came this convenient thing, the State of Israel.” With the new country came a new vocabulary; words like anti-Zionism and anti-Israel entered the lexicon. In some cases, these prejudices drew on older ones: Criticizing the young country became “a convenient cover for those who had anti-Semitic attitudes but didn’t want to be seen that way.”

Still, “we hardly ever simply say that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism,” Jacobson adds. “That’s absurd.” In fact, before Israel’s founding, many mainstream Jews were anti-Zionist—some Orthodox Jews feared Zionism’s secular focus, while some Reform Jews preferred to focus on a worldwide Jewish community—and some Jews, for various reasons, still identify this way. But when contemporary groups, Jewish or secular, reject Zionism, they are often labeled anti-Semitic.

Today, debates about anti-Zionism are fraught—“Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?” headlines ask—and the line between political critique and outright prejudice is hazy. “I don’t think the criticism of Israel today is necessarily anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic,” says Nirenberg. But if critiquing Israel becomes “a particularly important part of overcoming evil in the world,” he adds, “you have to ask yourself why.” Jacobson says there’s legitimate criticism of Israel, there’s criticism obviously motivated by prejudice—and then there’s everything in the middle, where the distinctions are harder to parse. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement sometimes falls into this third category, he says. “Many people behind BDS are anti-Semitic, but that doesn’t mean everyone who supports BDS is anti-Semitic.”

Judea Pearl, an Israeli-American computer science professor at UCLA, rejects that framework. “It is a grave mistake,” he says, “to calibrate the evils of anti-Zionism by the extent to which it resembles, or leads to, or encourages anti-Semitism, as if anti-Zionism is the lesser of the two evils.” In recent years, Pearl, whose son, Daniel, was murdered by Pakistani terrorists in 2002, has been pushing a new term: “Zionophobia,” which he defines as “the irrational fear of Zionism.” For Pearl, the word describes not just a political stance, but an immoral one: denying Jewish nationhood and self-determination. “Islamophobia” already holds a place in the public discourse, and he hopes that Zionophobia will be seen in a similar light. It “reminds us that religion does not have a monopoly on human sensitivity, and that Zionism has a moral dimension to it.”

With the addition of “phobia,” prejudices are framed as psychological phenomena. In 1882, Russian writer and activist Leon Pinsker used the term “Judeophobia,” which he considered a psychological disorder—specifically, a “psychic aberration”—that could be inherited and could not be cured. Still, for the most part, describing prejudice using the language of phobias is a modern phenomenon, related to psychology’s cultural dominance in the 20th century, says Jacobson.

The history of prejudice against Jews is complex, and so is the language we use to describe it. Most of the time Jacobson sticks with “anti-Semitism.” But even then, he says, “one has to use it sparingly and appropriately.”

https://momentmag.com/semantics-anti-semitism/

Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism

(Rabbi Sacks writes for Newsweek)

On March 27, speaking to the Sunday Times, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams expressed his concern at rising levels of anti-Semitism on British university campuses. There are, he said, “worrying echoes” of Germany in the 1930s. Two days later, in The Times, Chris Bryant, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and a senior member of the British Labour party, warned that the political left was increasingly questioning the right of the state of Israel to exist, a view he called a “not too subtle form of anti-Semitism.”

Across Europe, Jews are leaving. A survey in 2013 by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights showed that almost a third of Europe’s Jews have considered emigrating because of anti-Semitism, with numbers as high as 46 percent in France and 48 percent in Hungary.

Nor is this a problem in Europe alone. A 2015 survey of North American Jewish college students by Brandeis University found that three-quarters of respondents had been exposed to anti-Semitic rhetoric. One third had reported incidents of harassment because they were Jewish. Much of the intimidation on campus is stirred by “Israel Apartheid” weeks and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel. These have become what Easter was in the Middle Ages, a time for attacks against Jews.

Something is clearly happening, but what? Many on the left argue that they are being wrongly accused. They are not against Jews, they say, only opposed to the policies of the state of Israel. Here one must state the obvious. Criticism of the Israeli government is not anti-Semitic. Nor is the BDS movement inherently anti-Semitic. Many of its supporters have a genuine concern for human rights. It is, though, a front for the new anti-Semitism, an unholy alliance of radical Islamism and the political left.

What then is anti-Semitism? It is not a coherent set of beliefs but a set of contradictions. Before the Holocaust, Jews were hated because they were poor and because they were rich; because they were communists andbecause they were capitalists; because they kept to themselves and because they infiltrated everywhere; because they clung tenaciously to ancient religious beliefs and because they were rootless cosmopolitans who believed nothing.

Anti-Semitism is a virus that survives by mutating. In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th and 20th centuries they were hated because of their race. Today they are hated because of their nation state, Israel. Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism.

The legitimization has also changed. Throughout history, when people have sought to justify anti-Semitism, they have done so by recourse to the highest source of authority available within the culture. In the Middle Ages, it was religion. In post-Enlightenment Europe it was science. Today it is human rights. It is why Israel—the only fully functioning democracy in the Middle East with a free press and independent judiciary—is regularly accused of the five crimes against human rights: racism, apartheid, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and attempted genocide. This is the blood libel of our time.

Anti-Semitism is a classic example of what anthropologist René Girard sees as the primal form of human violence: scapegoating. When bad things happen to a group, its members can ask two different questions: “What did we do wrong?” or “Who did this to us?” The entire fate of the group will depend on which it chooses.

If it asks, “What did we do wrong?” it has begun the self-criticism essential to a free society. If it asks, “Who did this to us?” it has defined itself as a victim. It will then seek a scapegoat to blame for all its problems. Classically this has been the Jews.

Today the argument goes like this. After the Holocaust, every right-thinking human being must be opposed to Nazism. Palestinians are the new Jews. The Jews are the new Nazis. Israel is the new crime against humanity. Therefore every right thinking person must be opposed to the state of Israel, and since every Jew is a Zionist, we must oppose the Jews. This argument is wholly wrong. It was Jews not Israelis who were murdered in terrorist attacks in Toulouse, Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen.

Anti-Semitism is a form of cognitive failure. It reduces complex problems to simplicities. It divides the world into black and white, seeing all the fault on one side and all the victimhood on the other. It singles out one group among a hundred offenders for the blame. It silences dissent and never engages in self-criticism. The argument is always the same. We are innocent; they are guilty. It follows that if we—Christians, members of the Aryan race or Muslims—are to be free, they, the Jews, or the state of Israel must be destroyed. That is how the great crimes begin.

Jews have been hated because they were different. They were the most conspicuous non-Christian minority in pre-World War Christian Europe. Today they are the most conspicuous non-Muslim presence in an Islamic Middle East. Anti-Semitism has always been about the inability of a group to make space for difference. No group that adopts it will ever create a free society.

The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews. In a world awash with hate across religious divides, people of all faiths and none must stand together, not just to defeat anti-Semitism but to ensure the rights of religious minorities are defended everywhere.

History will judge us by how we deal with this challenge. We must not fail.