During the week covered by this review, we received 6 articles on the following subjects:
Sports
Anti-Semitism
Christian Organizations
Christian Zionism
Sports
Haaretz, April 28, 2019
This was a piece about Australian rugby player Israel Folau, who is awaiting a verdict as to whether his contract will be canceled on account of comments he made on social media. Folau said on Instagram that drunks, homosexuals, liars, thieves, atheists, and others who do not repent, were headed to hell. Folau is a committed Christian, who was raised as a Mormon and became a Pentecostal as an adult after experiencing “the love of God” for the first time. In response to some of his public statements, other rugby players have expressed concern over the impact Folau might have on the mental health of those he attacked. Others think that Folau’s religious liberty is being infringed upon. Folau has said, however, that he would rather “lose it all – friends, family, assets, career – and still be with Jesus”.
Anti-Semitism
Haaretz, April 29, 2019; Israel Hayom, April 29, 2019
The main suspect of a recent synagogue shooting in San Diego in which one woman was killed and three others injured, John Earnest, is reported to have written in a manifesto that he was inspired to act after a shooter in Pittsburg murdered 11 Jews, and a shooter in New Zealand murdered 55 Muslims. In his manifesto, Earnest expressed white nationalist views, saying that he wanted to destroy the influence of Jews in the United States, and that he would “rather die a thousand times to prevent the loss that Jews have planned for my race”. The manifesto was hateful also towards blacks, Muslims, and immigrants. Earnest said Jews deserve to go to hell, and that it was his plan to send them there. Earnest is a churchgoer and a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He also confessed to having committing arson and vandalism in a mosque.
Christian Organizations
Maariv, April 30, 2019
CEO of the non-profit organization “Namer Golani” (“Golani Tiger”), Yuval Chen, presented vice-president of the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ), David Parsons, with a certificate. ICEJ helped dozens of lonely soldiers during the Passover Holiday by distributing gifts and food to 70 soldiers serving in the Golani Brigade.
Christian Zionism
Maariv, May 2, 2019; The Jerusalem Post, May 2, 2019
The first article reported that in the annual “March of Life” in Poland, a Christian delegation from South Korea participated, in order to “identify with the Jewish people”. One participant said Christians had betrayed the Jews throughout history, and that the Korean delegation was there to say sorry. The Koreans sang the national Israeli anthem, “HaTikva”, and blew the shofar. Also in attendance in the March of Life was the Patriarch of Constantinople, who represents tens of millions of Christians.
The second article reported that a group of 11 German Christians, under the name of “The Menorah Project”, raised 120,000 Euros to build a full-size replica of the Temple menorah. The menorah will go from Germany to Rome, and from Rome to the port of Haifa. The team said the journey from Rome was meant to symbolize a return to the roots of Christianity. They stated: “The church never returned the holy instruments back to the Jewish people. Instead, the church saw itself as the new spiritual Israel… We want to set a statement. We want to accept our failures as a Church and set a sign of return. It is a public statement towards the Jewish people and an act of asking for forgiveness, as well. The replica of the menorah is not meant to be a cult-object but shall find its place as a memorial in Jerusalem.”