Archbishop of Canterbury falls for anti-Israel lies.

Last week, in the lead up to Christmas, Israel was once again thrust into the spotlight courtesy of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who jointly published an article with Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem Hosam Naoum in The Sunday Times claiming Christians were being “systematically” driven out of the Holy Land.

Yet the statistics prove otherwise.

While any attacks that have occurred at the hands of Jewish extremists are reprehensible, and widely condemned as such by the vast majority in Israel, the truth remains that the safest place for Christians in the Middle East to be today is the State of Israel.

So where did the archbishop get this misinformation?

Earlier this month, a letter was released by the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem claiming, without any evidence, that Israel is unfairly discriminating against Christians with coronavirus entry restrictions.

While there have been some despicable incidents of vandalism against churches by Jewish extremists in the last year, there is no evidence or statistics provided for any physical attacks, or for the claim that Jews are driving Christians out of the Holy Land. There is however evidence of the opposite.

The facts are:-

-The Christian community in Israel actually grew by 1.4%. Not only that, but the community is thriving and successful.

 -Christians being among the most educated groups in the entire country, and with Christian women in particular having some of the highest education rates. Israeli Christians also outscore Israeli Jews on matriculation exams by 60% to 51%.

- Christians have the lowest rates of poverty and unemployment of any group in the State of Israel, including Jews, and a total of 84% of Israeli.

-Christians are satisfied with their lives in the Holy Land. While Israel undoubtedly has shortcomings, these are not exactly statistics that represent a population being “driven out” by the government.

-In Gaza, Christians have gone from the thousands to around 1,000 under Hamas. Not only that, but they have been subjected to murders and terror attacks on their homes and places of worship by Islamic extremists.

-In the West Bank, Christians have not fared much better with the percentage of Christians in Bethlehem, the very birthplace of Jesus, shrinking from 80% under Israeli control, to roughly 12% today under the Palestinian Authority.

In the Middle East, Christians have gone from 20% of the total population to 5%, and face regular attacks and harassment from extremists across the Arab world, in particular in Egypt and Iraq.

Presenting the issue without context as the Israeli church leaders and the Archbishop of Canterbury did is simply playing politics, and to the Christians of the Middle East who really are being driven out of their homelands like in the Gaza Strip, Egypt, Iraq or the West Bank.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has a responsibility as a major religious leader to examine the full picture before latching on to an intentionally misleading effort to score political points and distract from the true persecution of Christians throughout the Middle East.

More on this read here

A New Goldstone Report from the UN

 

Full report at https://tinyurl.com/4t8za3ss

• The UN Human Rights Council has launched the most hostile anti-Israel “Inquiry” in
UN history, headed by the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, South
African Navi Pillay, known for her direct involvement and support of the infamous
Goldstone Report. Her two deputies have years of experience pillorying Israel.

 
• The Human Rights Council’s resolution in May 2021 created an “ongoing
independent, international commission of inquiry” with a sweeping mandate to
investigate “All alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged
violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since April
13 2021, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and all
underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict,
including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial
or religious identity.”
 
• The Human Rights Council resolution failed to refer to Hamas at all. It did not
mention – let alone condemn – the launch of thousands of rockets by Hamas into
Israel. Indeed, the Israeli civilian population was omitted from the resolution. The
only civilians mentioned are the “Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory.” Nor did the resolution condemn the use by Palestinian terror
groups of Palestinian civilians as human shields, a war crime.
 
• The “Inquiry” will have the mandate to ferret out “discrimination and repression
based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity” and to find discrimination and
repression at the hands of Jews. This is full-frontal antisemitism, an inversion of the
truth, such that the Jewish victims of racism and religious hatred become its
perpetrators.
 
• This attack on Israel is unprecedented in the history of the United Nations human
rights system in terms of the “Inquiry’s” funding, staffing, and permanence.
 
• The Commission has invited “individuals, groups, and organizations to submit
information and documentation relevant to its mandate. In particular, the
Commission has asked to receive information concerning the “underlying root
causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict in and between
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, including
systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial, or
religious identity.”

• Efforts must be made to encourage governments to condemn the Human Rights
Council’s “Inquiry.” More than 30 nations boycotted the biased and antisemitic
Durban hate fest in September 2021. Their condemnation of the anti-Israel
inquisition will underscore that the HRC undermines the promotion of international
human rights and erodes the standing of the United Nations.

 • The verdict of this kangaroo court is a foregone conclusion. The urgent need arises,
therefore, to challenge its veracity and legitimacy. Answering the “Call for
Submissions” en masse – and ensuring alternative voices reach the court of public
opinion – provides just such an opportunity for all those committed to combating
modern antisemitism and defending the human rights of Israelis.

Iranian UAV's Now Challenge the USA

 The Iranian UAVs pose a challenge and tangible threat not only to the Middle East but also to US soil. Iranian UAVs are located in Venezuela less than 1240 miles (2000 km) from Miami and 530 miles (850 km) from American citizens in Puerto Rico. It's just a matter of Iran's will.

Israel's Knesset Plans for 400 Autonomous Taxis

 Knesset Sets in Motion Plans for 400 Autonomous Taxis on Israeli Roads

The Knesset’s Economic Affairs Committee convened on Tuesday to discuss legislation on autonomous vehicles, with the first phase enabling the operation of 400 autonomous taxis.

Officials from the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety presented the bill for regulating, supervising and developing autonomous vehicles in Israel, making Israel one of a few countries around the world to be regulating this issue.

Committee Chair Member of Knesset Michael Biton noted that Israel “is leading in research and development” on autonomous vehicles. This is a historic day, creating a new reality in Israel, which will enable 400 autonomous cars to drive on Israel’s roads.”

Israel Completes Smart Border Barrier Around Gaza

After 3.5 Years of Construction, Israel Completes Smart Border Barrier Around Gaza Strip

Israel officially completed the construction of the “smart” barrier fence around the Gaza Strip, its defense line from attacks by terror groups above ground and terror tunnels running into the country below ground.

The 65 km long barrier includes an underground concrete component with sensors, an above-ground fence, a naval barrier to prevent incursions from the sea, radar systems, and command and control rooms to prevent infiltrations from the Gaza strip into Israeli territory.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated during a special inauguration ceremony on Tuesday that “the barrier, which is an innovative and technologically advanced project, deprives Hamas of one of the capabilities it tried to develop and places an ‘iron wall’, sensors and concrete between the terror organization and the residents of Israel’s south.”

Media Erase Plight of Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands

 

(From Honest Reporting )

The media went into overdrive this week with wall-to-wall coverage of the United Nations’ “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” that marked the 74th anniversary of the historic partition proposal that would have – but for its rejection by the entire Arab world – resulted in a Jewish state alongside an Arab one. In fact, this series of speeches and ‘cultural events’ only served to legitimize the Palestinian ‘right of return’ demand that would – if ever actualized – destroy the Jewish state by weight of numbers. 

In stark contrast, the November 30 commemoration by Israel and the entire Jewish world of the expulsion of Jews from Arab and Islamic lands that took place following the Palestinian leadership and neighboring Arab states’ violent rejection of the UN Partition Plan generated virtually no coverage by prominent news outlets.

Bottom of Form

 #Egypt; #SyriaOff Media’s Radar: Nearly 1,000,000 Jewish Refugees

Following Israel’s establishment, the state of Jews living in Arab countries became increasingly precarious. Libya’s Jewish Community Council was dissolved and, in 1961, a law passed that effectively stripped the Jews of their Libyan citizenship. The country’s Jewish community essentially came to an end with the evacuation of 6,000 Jews in one month.

In 1963, Algeria passed a law stripping non-Muslims of citizenship. In 1964, Syrian Jews were barred from working in the government or banks, purchasing property, or acquiring drivers’ licenses. Syrian Jews who obtained permission to travel abroad were required to post a bond, leaving behind family members as hostages.

And after the Six-Day War, Egyptian Jews were hit with a wave of confiscations.

It’s estimated that approximately 850,000 Jews were living in Arab countries and Iran at the time of Israel’s independence. Some scholars think that the number is closer to one million. In the North African region, 259,000 Jews fled from Morocco, 140,000 from Algeria, 100,000 from Tunisia, 75,000 from Egypt, and another 38,000 from Libya. In the Middle East, 135,000 Jews were exiled from Iraq, 55,000 from Yemen, 34,000 from Turkey, 20,000 from Lebanon and 18,000 from Syria. Iran forced out 25,000 Jews.

These people were forced to leave the countries where their families had lived for millennia solely because of their Jewish identity. 

Today, there are fewer than 7,000 Jews living in the entire Arab world. In many Arab states, once-thriving Jewish communities have all but disappeared.

In an attempt to correct this historic injustice the Israeli government took action in 2019, demanding compensation totaling $250 billion for property and assets left behind by Jews who fled for their lives.

What Jewish Refugees? Media Ignore Mass Expulsion

During Israel’s War of Independence, approximately the same amount of Jewish refugees arrived in the fledgling Jewish state as Palestinians who fled their homes. Yet one side of these historic events has been seemingly buried by leading news organizations.

Honest Reporting examined thousands of articles and news segments to gauge how the media have reported on the Jewish refugee story compared to the Palestinian refugee issue over the last 12 months. While ‘Palestinian refugees’ was cited nearly six and a half thousand times, there were only 865 ‘Jewish refugees’ citations during the same period.

No Recognition from United Nations of Jews Driven from Arab Countries

The media’s unwillingness to report on the story of Jewish refugees isn’t occurring in a vacuum. The United Nations is pushing the Palestinian narrative as well.

In 2008, the US House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the recognition of Jewish, Christian, and other refugees from Arab lands. The resolution states that any agreement between Israelis and Palestinians must include recognition of Jewish refugees as well. The resolution makes it clear that the subject should be brought before the UN General Assembly.

Yet the United Nations refuses to recognize the Jews who were brutally expelled from Arab states. In response, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan informed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in December 2020 of his intention to submit a draft resolution requiring the international body to hold an annual commemoration for the hundreds of thousands of Jews exiled from Arab countries due to the creation of the State of Israel.

Erdan also asked the UN to launch a global research project on the deportation of Jews from the Arab world and to back the study of the subject in various UN forums.

By obfuscating the plight of Jewish refugees the media are keeping readers and viewers in the dark about the ethnic and cultural composition of modern-day Israel. As a result, the myth that the Jewish state is composed of people descendant from European ‘interlopers’ (See here, here, and here) is allowed to be perpetuated.

Until the media and United Nations recognize Arab leaders’ rejection of the Jewish state and persecution of the Jewish people, coexistence is liable to elude Israelis and Palestinians.