The Christian and antisemitism

Are we witnessing today, what happened pre WWII, when antisemitism exploded, and many who weren't antisemitic didn't speak out against it for fear of reprisal or marginalization? How should we respond today in the face of widespread and extreme antisemitism? How should we address the war in the middle east from our pulpits? I mean, of course, apart from the prophetic word and Israel's Biblical history. Should we publically denounce the blatant discrimination? I keep my sermons apolitical, but it seems different with Israel. After all, the Bible is a book about Israel. I think about Dietrich Bonnhoeffer. I also keep the words of Jesus close: "Love your enemies".

Antisemitism should be condemned, and Islamophobia should equally be condemned. But it's important to make a distinction between these two examples of hate and incitement on the one hand, and legitimate criticism of war crimes and other illegal methods being carried out by both Hamas and the Israeli government on the other. It is also important to maintain a distinction between the ordinary Israeli and Palestinian people on the one hand, and those who claim to represent them, whether that be Hamas or the Israeli government.

So yes, we should publicly denounce both antisemitism in the west and Israel's "blatant discrimination" against Palestinians. I'm with you on Bonhoeffer and Jesus!

Not sure I would describe the bible as "a book about Israel". The Old Testament, yes, but surely the New Testament is a record of breaking tribal, ethnic, religious and nationalist boundaries and reaching out to the whole world, the "gentiles"?

Not sure what else you can do from the pulpit but exclaim what a sad thing it is for Israel to be locked into such a hateful war with its neighbor. Certainly not God’s will. God’s will obviously lays in another direction. Both sides have faults that led to this outcome. Neither side deserves what it is getting. The best is to encourage all to pray for love and peace to somehow prevail. (Maybe model that prayer for your congregation.) Pray for anything you think might help - like for a ceasefire, that humanitarian assistance would get through, for children in the region, and that we commit ourselves more strongly to peace, etc. What else can people do?

In the wake of Hamas terrorist massacre of 1400 Israeli citizens and two dozen Americans citizens the IDF has invaded the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas an organization whose explicit goal is the destruction of the Jewish State. After the collapse of the Ottoman empire after WWl the British facilitated the migration of Jews back to thier ancestral homeland, Arab protests were put down. In 1920 the Arabs attacked Jews in Jerusalem becoming known as the Musa riots, between 1936-39 Arabs revolted against the British which also was put down with support of the Jews. Subsequently the majority of Arabs served as Nazi allies, Muslim and Arabs supporting the destruction of the Jew in Europe and Palestine which could and would have happened if the Germans were victorious. After the war the British flipped and favoured Arab protest against Jewish migration and did thier best to stop it. With the support of world wide Jews especially from America Israel was recognised by the UN. The hatred the Arab Muslim has for the Jews goes back much futher than these events as was not initialy a reaction to the expropiation of lands but the very presence of the Jew was a humiliation in the eyes of a Muslim. Whose religion has no toleration of groups who do not bow to Islamic authority. Muslim tradition maintains whatever region becomes muslim must remain muslim, therfore Israel is illegitimate. This massacre of nonmilitary, unarmed civilians is somehow the catalyst for an alarming worldwide resurgence of anti-semitism. Pius Xl famously said, because of our roots "spiritually we are all semites". Especially upsetting is the non-Christian journalists who have seized the high ground in the battle against antisemitism some fearless in the face of vicious woke cancellation and backlash. The truth is that Muslims are an oppressed victim and are in the categorical rightness column, the head of these rightness columns are all incapable of naming evil until of course a knife is slicing open their jugulars in Times Sq. After this outrage of Rape,murder most heinous, burning, beheading, and abducting. The next day the Muslim becomes the victim, and the Jew has no victim status. Do we wish to condemn all Muslims Nah I don't but lets see what we got we have Islamonazis in the form of Isis, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezzbollah, Iran who funds them all, plus 40 other groups in Asia and Africa who have thier knives sharpened to cut the throats of Jews Christians and blue haired hippie rich kids on Ivy league campuses spouting hatred against Jews. Pope Francis said last year that antisemitism was "Madness" In 1965 the papal letter "Nostra Aetale" "in her rejection of every persecution against any man the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love decries hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone....JMJ....

>4 brone:

I do wish you would cite your sources. This appears to have been plagiarised from https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2023/11/04/the-long-history-of-arab-israeli-con...

It draws erroneous conclusions from an incomplete and selective view of history. Islam is not against Judaism and indeed preaches respect for the "people of the book", ie Jews and Christians. If Arabs supported Germany in World War II, it was more a case of opposing the French and British occupiers - and perhaps also a reaction to Britain reneging on promises that Lawrence of Arabia made to them in exchange for their support in World War I. In the same way many colonies in Africa and elsewhere later accepted Soviet support not because they espoused communism but simply to free themselves from colonial oppression.

Virtually the whole world has condemned Hamas' recent actions against Israeli civilians as illegal, a crime against humanity. Likewise, we must also condemn Israel's actions against Palestinian civilians as a crime against humanity. The response to a war crime cannot be to commit another war crime. Jesus' response to violence was "turn the other cheek", not go out and murder even more innocent civilians than were murdered in the first place. Even the Old Testament "eye for an eye", which Jesus' teaching superseded, only called for one eye, not ten times the number of eyes. Legitimate self defence does not include slaughtering civilians, and it should be noted that collective punishment is defined as a war crime. It is neither moral nor effective. The cycle of violence will not make the region any safer for either Palestinians or Israelis and will merely add a new chapter of death, destruction and suffering to that unlucky region.

"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Judenfrie". Our most privileged kids from our most "prestigious" colleges these "supposed" bright kids are out cheerleading this slogan reminiscent of the 30's in Germany. It's time for these coddled leftists to rethink what the "decolonization" of "free" Palestine really means common kiddies don't you realize you are getting your leftist acedemic daddys in trouble for their de facto hatred of Jews. This knee jerk cheerleading of terrorist acts isn't sitting well with the deplorable unwashed majority, go back to what you were doing before Oct 7th disrupting traffic, supporting men on women teams' things like that. Supporting the genocide of Jews is trendy today but not kosha....AMDG....

>6 brone:

Nobody supports genocide of Jews (apart from a few neo-Nazi right wingers and maybe a handful of Hamas extremists) but by the same token nobody supports genocide of Palestinians (apart, apparently, from the current Israeli government and a few countries such as the UK and the USA who are giving them the weapons for genocide). Emotive soundbites from all sides are not helpful and are indeed dangerous, but sadly that's the social media soundbite world in which we live.

I think if you pray for both sides in this conflict, you build up a different perspective. I’ve been praying for Israel and peace in the Middle East on and off for decades now. When I was a young child I was aware of Israel and how important Middle East peace was for them. I don’t know if I prayed for the Middle East then as a kid, but I sure hope I did.

In the last few years, praying as an adult, my emphasis has been changing. You can’t pray for peace in the Middle East and for Israel without also praying for the Palestinians. Most Arabic countries are hopping mad now about how Israel has treated the Palestinians. It’s like the Palestinians are the new Jews. They are oppressed and objectively their lives have very little value. With the whole Middle East mad about what’s going on, there’s little hope for peace in the long term, especially if things don’t change. So, now when I pray for the Middle East I not only pray for Israel but also for the Palestinians. In equal amounts. I pray that Israel would open its eyes and that the Palestinians would find peace and prosperity - like the Jews in Israel have.

Things are bad in the Middle East, too. There are so many countries that are experiencing civil war, economic breakdown, political oppression, disease, lack of food and medicine, etc. Yemen, one of the poorest nations in the world, is in a civil war that over the last decade has destroyed even the very little that they had. Syria’s civil war has also destroyed that country. Lebanon is suffering from a failed economy, so food is too expensive for most people. Afghanistan and Iran have authoritarian governments and oppress their own people. And all this seems to be spreading to Africa and further east. Ethiopia, and Sudan and South Sudan, are experiencing governmental breakdowns, as well. The Uighurs in China are oppressed by China’s government. On top of all this, there are earthquakes, wars which push the cost of food higher, etc. It’s like the devil has taken over the Middle East and his influence is growing and spreading wider. Or is it that God hates us? Does God hate the Muslims? Does God hate the Jews!? God doesn’t hate anyone. God cares about all these people. We all have our differences but those differences shouldn’t cause us to hate one another. And it’s not God that’s doing it, either.

This state of affairs will only continue until attitudes change. We have to seek common and (sometimes) neutral ground. We have to commit ourselves to peace and mutual understanding. Without that we are only heading to apocalyptic war in the Middle East. Some people might welcome apocalyptic war. Those people exist. But having an apocalyptic war isn’t going to make Jesus come. We don’t know when Jesus is going to come. We may end up picking up all the broken pieces by ourselves. Or we may end up with a Middle East that’s uninhabitable - a place for foxes to live among the ruins.

I wish people would get some sense about these troublesome issues. Where are the mature people? Where are the leaders who know how to get us working together and swimming upstream together? Doing something positive? Where are the voters who have some patience left? People who can discern? Things are so much better when we hear from those people. I really enjoy hearing from those people. And where are the people who are praying for peace? For everyone’s peace?

>8 geoffreymeadows: Well said!

>9 NothingOutThereForMe: All people are needed, whether Jews, Palestinians or anyone else.

Pope Francis, Church “not enemies of the Jewish people”: Southern African Bishops to Rabbi (ACI Africa)

The Catholic Church in general and Pope Francis in particular are not against the Jewish people, members of the of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) have told Warren Goldstein, a Chief Rabbi in South Africa. In a December 23 statement shared with ACI Africa, the leadership of SACBC joins the Jesuit Institute South Africa (JISA) in faulting Rabbi Goldstein’s criticism of Pope Francis in a Video Recording published on YouTube... In their “to Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein,” SACBC leadership says that the religious leader draws his conclusions from the remark Pope Francis made to Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, that “it is forbidden to respond to terror with terror”. “We believe the allegations you present as proof of Pope Francis and the Catholic Church’s hatred of Jews lack truth and objectivity and have an air of mistrust and character assassination,” SACBC members say. They add, “Given the renewed religious dialogue with the Jewish people and the diplomatic relationship that exists between the Catholic Church and the State of Israel, your public attack on the Pope is regrettable”... They remind Rabbi Goldstein that at the start of “the atrocious attack, murder and abduction of innocent Israeli citizens by Hamas” on October 7, “Pope Francis clearly and unambiguously condemned it. He personally received some members of families of abducted Israelis by Hamas.” “Pope Francis is no antisemite, and neither is the Catholic Church antisemitic. He is a friend to the Jewish people and Israel”... SACBC members further explain, “The right of Israel to defend itself is not in dispute. What is at stake is what is perceived by many nations represented in the United Nations as a disproportionate response on the part of Israel.” “This is what we understand as the basis of the Holy Father’s comments that this is no longer war but terrorisation of innocent Palestinian citizens that, by many accounts, is bordering on genocide”...

Has anyone read any books on when anti-semitism began in Europe? I think I read somewhere that in Roman times there was some prejudice, but that anti-semitism in Europe did not really take off until the 12th century or so.

>12 geoffreymeadows:

Simon Schama discusses this in the first volume of his The Story of the Jews. It looks like things were pretty nasty in 1096 and thereabouts.

>13 cpg:

Thank you, cpg. Good to hear from you again. The Story of the Jews is 2 volumes. Doable maybe.

How did you feel about it? Was it a good read?

>14 geoffreymeadows:

I think Schama is a very good writer, although I don't find the content of all of his books equally interesting. It's been a while since I read the two published volumes of The Story of the Jews, but I remember liking them.

Thank you, cpg.