CAFI Newsletter #82
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Fri, 10 May 2002 18:43:02 -0400
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* CHRISTIAN ACTION FOR ISRAEL NEWSLETTER #82 *
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"ON YOUR WALLS, O JERUSALEM, I HAVE APPOINTED WATCHMEN"
Isaiah 62:6
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Friday, May 10, 2002
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS GO SCOT-FREE
2. ABOUT THOSE ANTI-JEWISH 'CHRISTIANS'
3. JEWS, ISRAEL AND THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
4. TOLERATING THE INTOLERABLE
5. DENNIS MILLER - A RANT ON THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS.
6. QUOTES TO NOTE
7. HIGHLIGHT ARTICLES
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1. PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS GO SCOT-FREE
Gunmen leave booby traps in Church of Nativity
DEBKAfile - May 10, 2002
Twenty-six Palestinian terrorists on Israel's "wanted"
list who emerged from Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity at
daybreak this morning will go scot-free, reports DEBKAfile.
"They will not be held, not even for one hour, nor will
they be judged," Col. Salem Dardoneh told reporters at
the Erez crossing point from Israel to the Gaza Strip.
Details of the deal to release 123 Palestinians granted
sanctuary for 38 days in one of the holiest shrines of
Christendom, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
slipped out well after the deal was implemented. The
first group of 13 hard-core terrorist chiefs, each
with a long, checkered record as killers as well as
masterminds and commanders of terrorist hits against
Israeli civilians, was already over the Mediterranean
Sea, safe aboard a British Royal Air Force flight
heading for Cyprus.
Among the so-called "Palestinian 13" is Ibrahim Abayat,
head of the Bethlehem al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a
Hamas terrorist of the same name and additional members
of the notorious Abayat clan, as well as Jihad Jarah,
who staged five terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, and
four members of Tirawis General Intelligence. They
were promised a well-guarded hotel to wait in comfort
and safety for the European Unions decision next
Monday, May 13, as to the countries that will
accept them.
The gunment left a parting gift for the clerics who
gave them asylum and the U.S. and British intelligence
agencies, as well as the Vatican, who together sponsored
the deal for their escape from trial. Booby-trapped
doors inside the Church of Nativity were rigged to
blow up after the church was restored to its Christian
custodians unless of course the American agents who
undertook to collect the arms the Palestinians left
behind succumbed first.
According to Lt.-Col Eival Giladi, Head of IDF
Strategy Division, the Israel-Palestinian deal
brokered by the American CIA and British MI6 does
not specify under what conditions these bloodstained
terrorists will live in their countries of exile -
or even its duration. There will be restrictions,
though not necessarily jail, he said, adding vaguely,
"They will be away a very long time, and can't come
back without our permission."
The second group of 26 Palestinians further down
Israel's "wanted" list were released to the Gaza Strip.
Upon Yasser Arafat's instructions, the Palestinian
Authority organized a triumphant victory welcome for
the terrorists at the Gaza City stadium, in brazen
defiance of the U.S. declaration of his obligation
to fight terror. Some of the honorees turned up with
green headbands inscribed with the Al Aqsa Brigades
insignia, declaring, "We are all Martyrs!" and
flourishing V-signs. The Al Aqsa Brigades of Arafat's
Fatah group has been declared by the United States
a terrorist organization.
Outside the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces reinforced by
a fresh intake of reservists prepared for its next
counter-terrorist operation in retaliation for the
Rishon Lezion massacre of 15 Israeli civilians by a
suicide bomber. Forewarned by a garrulous Israeli
defense minister and his deputy, "wanted" Hamas and
Jihad Islami terrorists are expected to have gone
underground.
As Israeli troops prepared to lift their five-week
siege of Bethlehem, in Beersheba, two Palestinian
terrorists were caught after they hurled a bomb
outside a bank, injuring 11 Israelis. The attack
marks the third Palestinian terror strike this week.
A small group of Israelis, speaking for the many
bereaved by the actions of the departed terrorists
including many American nationals - attracted little
attention from the media cameras trained on the
Palestinian departure from the church and their
families. One demonstrator pointed out that there is
now nothing to stop the Palestinians banished
without facing trial for their crimes from continuing
their campaign of violence elsewhere.
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2. ABOUT THOSE ANTI-JEWISH 'CHRISTIANS'
By Joseph Farah - WorldNetDaily.com - May 9, 2002
There's a rise in anti-Semitism around the world.
We see it rearing its ugly head again in Europe. And we
see it even more clearly in the loathsome rhetoric and
unspeakable, self-destructive violence in the Middle East.
My theory about the roots of anti-Semitism is quite
simple. It is manifest in those in rebellion against the
God of the Bible.
Why would those at war with God hate Jews? Because the
Jews are the recipients of a unique promise made by God.
They are the chosen people chosen not because they
are a superior people, but because they were a
downtrodden people whose miraculous accomplishments
and longevity could serve only to glorify the God
responsible for them. If this people could be destroyed
or even marginalized to the point of irrelevance in
the world then God Himself would, in effect,
be defeated, dethroned, delegitimized.
That's my theory.
But what about the apparent rise in anti-Semitism
from people who are not at war with the God of the Bible
people who claim to be followers of that God?
Last week, WorldNetDaily published a disturbing story
of vile anti-Semitism by Arab "Christian" clergymen.
Some of those quoted called for a new crusade against
the Jews. Others called the Jews "Satanic." Still
others cited the bogus "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
as the sourcebook for their hatred.
Why are at least some Arab Christians including
men in leadership positions adopting the anti-Jewish
rhetoric of the most extreme Islamists?
I can think of a few reasons for this puzzling
phenomenon:
Christians have been badly persecuted themselves in
the Middle East for a long time and conditions are
actually getting worse. The vast majority of Arab
Christians long ago fled the region. Many of those who
remain have tried to make their "separate peace" with
the dominant Muslims. Some believe they can curry
favor with the Islamic majority by siding with
them against the Jews.
Israel has sometimes contributed to Arab Christian
skepticism about the Jews by abandoning them in
Lebanon, in Bethlehem, in Nazareth and elsewhere.
In its attempts to bend over backward to accommodate
and appease its Islamic adversaries, Israel has
forgotten about even neglected those with whom
they could have formed a strategic alliance and
found common cause.
Some of those so-called "Christians" pointing
fingers at the Jews for their problems are impostors.
They may be cultural Christians. They may be
Christians by heritage. But they are hardly
spiritual followers of Jesus of Nazareth the
Jewish carpenter, the rabbi from Galilee.
This last reason for the seething anti-Semitism
of some "Christian" Arabs may sound harsh, judgmental,
even condemnatory. Maybe so. But my words are true.
Though none of us can judge another's heart, we
are commanded to "know them by their fruit."
What kind of fruit does vicious anti-Semitism
produce? Bad fruit. Rotten fruit. Deadly fruit.
I think this lesson applies equally to those
so-called "Christians" in the West who show their
anti-Semitic colors. These people, too, are
indeed in rebellion against God. They do not
serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
They are serving a different god or gods.
Anti-Semitism is by definition anti-Christian.
Christians serve the God of the Hebrews. The
Christians' God chose the Jews as His people
and made a special covenant with them. Their
Savior came to earth as a Jew. Most of the
early church was comprised of Jews.
"Anti-Jewish Christian" is thus an oxymoron.
The good news for Christians and Jews is that the
vast majority of Christians particularly those
in the West are instinctively, intuitively and
reflexively supporters of Israel and the Jewish
desire for a homeland safe and secure from
attacks by the haters. In fact, though it hasn't
always been true, the church today is the Jews'
greatest ally in the world.
There have always been evil deeds committed in
the name of Christianity. There have always been
wolves in sheeps' clothing. There have always
been haters posing as the pure in heart.
But God is still on the throne.
His promises are indeed forever.
He's got a plan and the Jews are part of it.
And that's what really bugs the anti-Semites.
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3. JEWS, ISRAEL AND THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
Maggie Gallagher May 9, 2002 Townhall.com
I never write about the Middle East. You can't know
about everything, and the tortuous, painful politics
of the region are one area that heretofore I have left
for others, more daring or expert than myself. But
lately, as the world experiences a spasm of anti-Semitism,
and as American Jews feel more beleaguered than ever
("Crisis for American Jews," trumpets New York magazine),
I have had occasion to reflect on the reasons for my
own deep support for the state of Israel.
In America, this kind of deep support is becoming rarer.
In 1989, 69 percent of Americans supported Israel. In
the latest ABC News poll, just 41 percent of Americans do.
And the really weird thing is, as New York magazine put it,
"Even more unnerving for liberal Jews here (in New York)
has been the fact that sympathy for Israel is strongest
among Republicans. At 64 percent, they are far beyond
Democrats, only 38 percent of whom sympathize with the
Israelis." Columnist Zev Chafets explains the results
this way: "Israel's base is now located in pro-American
hawks or conservatives or Jews. Some Jews don't feel
comfortable with Jerry Falwell, but that's too bad."
How to explain American support for Israel? Like Desmond
Tutu, many people abroad aggressively blame the alleged
power of something called the Jewish lobby (in a
democracy in which Jews are just 2 percent or so of
the population). Meanwhile, Islam, designated
representative of Third World culture oppressed by
evil Western patriarchy, has become the new darling
of the liberal intelligentsia.
In PC-Speak, international alliances are supposed to
be defined in rational, secular terms. We support
Israel because Israel is a democracy, which is true,
but so are a lot of other countries. We support
Israel because Israel is a staunch ally. Which is
true, but what does it get us? With allies like
this, America hardly needs enemies. No, support for
Israel cannot be justified by the cold logic of
national self-interest. And it cannot be explained
away by calling some people hawks. Both sides in
this conflict use force of arms. A generalized
willingness to use military force does not explain
why Americans are still much more likely to
identify with Israel than, say, the Palestinian
authority.
For me, what it comes down to, right or wrong, is
a sense of religious affinity. As a Christian
(Roman-Catholic style), I believe the Old Testament
of the Bible is true. Jews are the chosen people
through whom God revealed himself to humanity.
Deeper than the ins and outs of any particular
policy Israel adopts toward the Palestinians
(which may be as right or wrong), my support is
based on an inchoate sense that if put into words
would be something like this: As Christians, we
just cannot sit by and let Islamic nations
exterminate the Jewish people. There are a billion
Muslims and only a few million Jews.
I am not sure I know how to defend this as a
national policy position. (As I said, I leave that
for the experts.) I am not trying to make a
political argument so much as explain a political
phenomenon. The uncomfortable truth for many
American Jews (who remain overwhelmingly allied to
the Democratic Party and many of whom view
Christian conservatives as political enemies)
is this: If America's alliance with Israel is to
be maintained over the long term, it will be
thanks to the Religious Right.
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4. TOLERATING THE INTOLERABLE
R. Emmett Tyrrell - May 9, 2002 townhall.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Which is more surprising: that in
parts of Araby it is socially approved for the young to
strap themselves in explosives and wander into the
civilian neighborhoods of Israel for the purpose of
blowing everyone nearby sky high, or that Saddam Hussein,
the Saudis' interior minister and Yasser Arafat think it
right and proper to reward this homicidal behavior? It
is a peculiarity of modern times that as the brutality
rises to a more atrocious level, we become inured to
the atrocity. I first became aware of our modern
tolerance of the intolerable when product-tampering
became a social problem. Very few of us here in America
expressed the horror that I would have expected at the
emergence from within our midst of monsters poisoning
consumer products on the shelves of retail outlets for
the purpose of extorting money or of redressing some
personal grievance. Companies simply created
"tamper-proof" packaging and passed the expense on
to consumers.
On a more diabolical scale, society seems to have
accepted the emergence of the "suicide bomber." Many
even accept the pro-Palestinian claims that these
murderers are driven to their grisly deeds by "despair"
or "desperation" caused by Israel's commitment to its
security. Why did other aggrieved peoples not think of
this useful expedient? During Nazi occupation, why did
the Poles or the Czechs not wrap themselves in
explosives and blow up a German officers' hang out?
So the suicide bombers are Israel's responsibility.
It reminds me of the Cold War, when every effort we
made to protect ourselves was seen by the
anti-anti-communists as the cause of communist
insecurity and militarism.
The calm with which the world witnesses the use of
young suicides as instruments of war is startling. It
is particularly startling given our many pieties. We
are against child labor, and there are boycotts in the
Western world against "giant corporations" that employ
child labor in the Third World, though such laborers
may be bettering themselves financially and living far
better than when unemployed and sitting in the dirt of
a backward village. We oppose the skin trade, and of
course we oppose Third World parents selling their
children into slavery. So where is the outrage when
the Saudis and Saddam reward Palestinian families
whose children commit homicidal suicide? Is it more
acceptable to sell one's daughter into suicide than
into slavery?
In Araby, these suicides are accepted not merely
with serenity but with open admiration. What other
civilization has admired human sacrifice? Well, long
ago some ancient Chinese favored such grim conclusions,
as did the adepts of early Hinduism -- but both groups
were only intent on improving the humors of their
dyspeptic gods. Among the great civilizations willing
to practice human sacrifice, only the Aztecs favored
suicide both for religious and military purposes --
and they did it on a grander scale than have the
Palestinians, at least so far. In suicidal war and
in religious ceremonies, as many as 20,000 Aztecs,
historians tell us, sought to please the sun god in
happy dispatch, which might also explain why the
Aztecs never really had much of a population problem.
So we cannot say that the advent of Palestinian
suicide bombers is completely without historic
precedent. Aztec warriors occasionally went into
battle with the end of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
in mind, and if they did not succeed in battle they
might join the young folk on the sun god's altar.
Today in Araby, those who indulge in or approve the
practices of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade are in
cultural terms at one with 15th century Aztecs. This
is a point I have not yet seen in the relaxed
commentary on this atrocity. And I have to wonder why.
Is it too disturbing to think that the modern suicide
bomber is following a course hitherto only approved
of by 15th century aboriginal peoples devoted to the
humors of the sun god? Or is it simply that so few
modern minds think about the past? In so doing, we
have come to accept the grotesque and the macabre
as part of life.
In the Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafid, a columnist
writes about the anatomical charms of Wafa Indriss
(deceased), one of the Palestinian women who broke
with Islam's strictures against female participation
in public life to become a suicide bomber. Inspired
by the published pictures of the four female suicide
bombers, the columnist, writes of Indriss' "dreamy
eyes and a mysterious smile on her lips." Then he
goes on to compare her to the Mona Lisa, though I am
sure the local Mullahs' would not approve of this
dependence on infidel art.
What will come next in the pages of Al-Wafid? Is our
columnist planning a contest, loosely translated as,
"Name the Prettiest Suicide Bomber"?
Possibly the Aztecs had more respect for human life.
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5. DENNIS MILLER - A RANT ON THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS.
A brief overview of the situation is always valuable,
so as a service to all Americans who still don't get it,
I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a
few paragraphs, which is all you really need.
Don't thank me. I'm a giver. Here we go:
The Palestinians want their own country. There's just
one thing about that: There are no Palestinians.
It's a made up word.
Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years.
Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is
really a modern invention.
Before the Israelis won the land in war, Gaza was owned
by Egypt, and there were no "Palestinians" then, and the
West Bank was owned by Jordan, and there were no
"Palestinians" then. As soon as the Jews took over and
started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do
you know, say hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for
their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation."
So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word
"Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks,
who dance for joy at our deaths on 9/11 until someone points
out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they
are: "Other Arabs Accomplish Anything In Life And Would
Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of
Eternal Struggle And Death." I know that's a bit
unwieldy to expect to see on CNN.
How about this, then: "Adjacent Jew-Haters."
Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country.
Oops, just one more thing. No, they don't. They could've
had their own country any time in the last thirty years,
especially two years ago at Camp David. But if you have
your own country, you have to have traffic lights and
garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse, you
actually have to figure out some way to make a living.
That's no fun. No, they want what all the other
Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel.
They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course
-that's where the real fun is-
but mostly they want Israel. Why?
For one thing, trying to destroy Israel-or
"The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it - for
the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab
countries to divert the attention of their own people
away from the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most
illiterate, poorest, and tribally backward on God's
Earth, and if you've ever been around God's Earth,
you know that's really saying something.
It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our
pundits waxes poetic about the great history and
culture of the Muslim Mideast.
Unless I'm missing something, the Arabs haven't
given anything to the world since Algebra, and, by
the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that one.
Chew this around and spit it out: Five hundred
million Arabs; five million Jews. Think of all the
Arab countries as a football field, and Israel as a
pack of matches sitting in the middle of it. And now
these same folks swear that if Israel gives them half
of that pack of matches, everyone will be pals. Really?
Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the string
of wars to obliterate the tiny country and the
constant din of rabid blood oaths to drive every
Jew into the sea?
Oh, that? We were just kidding.
My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other
day: Just reverse the numbers. Imagine five hundred
million Jews and five million Arabs. I was stunned at
the simple brilliance of it.
Can anyone picture the Jews strapping belts of razor
blades and dynamite to themselves? Of course not. Or
marshalling every fiber and force at their disposal
for generations to drive a tiny Arab state into the sea?
Nonsense.
Or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents? Impossible.
Or spreading and believing horrible lies about the
Arabs baking their bread with the blood of children?
Disgusting.
No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of
peace, the worst Jews would ever do to people is
debate them to death.
Mr. Bush, God bless him, is walking a tightrope.
I understand that with vital operations coming up
against Iraq and others, it's in our interest, as
Americans, to try to stabilize our Arab allies as
much as possible, and, after all, that can't be
much harder than stabilizing a roomful of supermodels
who've just had their drugs taken away.
However, in any big-picture strategy, there's
always a danger of losing moral weight. We've already
lost some. After September 11 our president told us
and the world he was going to root out all
terrorists and the countries that supported them.
Beautiful.
Then the Israelis, after months and months of
having the equivalent of an Oklahoma City every week
(and then every day) start to do the same thing we
did, and we tell them to show restraint.
If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma
City every day, we would all very shortly be
screaming for the administration to just be done with
it and kill everything south of the Mediterranean
and east of the Jordan. (Hey, wait a minute, that's
actually not such a bad id . . . uh, that is, what a
horrible thought, yeah, horrible.)"
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6. QUOTES TO NOTE
"He who rises up to kill us, we will pre-empt it
and kill him first"
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - May 7, 2002
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"Out of the very stones they will fabricate such a
tower of falsehoods that you can only stand and gape
in wonder and admiration at their fruitful invention"
from the 19th-century memoirs of Isabel Burton, wife of
the famous explorer and linguist Richard Burton.
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7. HIGHLIGHT ARTICLES
LAYMAN'S GUIDE TO THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT
How many times have you been approached by someone and
asked the question, "so what do you think about what's
happening in the Middle East"? How frustrated have you
been with your inability to string together a few
coherent words, let alone a solid, robust argument to
support your views?
http://christianactionforisrael.org/guide.html
THE CASE AGAINST YASSER ARAFAT
The evidence that Arafat is a mass murderer is
overwhelming and is beyond reasonable dispute. As a
criminal law professor and a practicing criminal
defence lawyer for nearly 40 years, I can attest,
with absolute certainty, that there is enough
evidence against Arafat to assure his conviction of
first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder
in any fair legal system anywhere in the world.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/may02/case.html
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For more great reading, visit our new EDITORIAL ARCHIVE
http://christianactionforisrael.org/previous.html
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Become a WITNESS TO THE NATIONS and let them know what great things
our Lord is doing for Israel and what great things He will continue to
do for her, His firstborn.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/witness/home1.html
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GREAT BOOK OFFER - THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL
Is the ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT CONFUSING?
WHERE ARE THE TERRITORIES that everyone
is talking about?
WHAT IS THE "WEST BANK"?
WHAT IS GOD'S POINT OF VIEW?
Nothing can stop God from performing what He has promised
to do (not even the bad press Israel receives).
The Mountains of Israel is an exciting and refreshing new
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how God is fulfilling His Word in modern-day Israel.
t is highly suitable for the beginning reader on Israel
and for those who have studied Israel from a Scriptural
perspective for many years.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/mountains.html
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