During the week covered by this review, we received 13 articles on the following subjects:
Political Issues
Christian/Jewish Holidays
Anti-missionary Activities
Anti-missionary Attitudes
Jewish/Christian Relations
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
Political Issues
Haaretz, January 3, 2022
Two weeks ago, we reported on the conclusion of a 20-year-old property dispute between the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and the Jewish National Fund, when an Israeli court ruled in favor of the JNF and ordered the Patriarchy to pay 13 million NIS. This article shed some light on the nature of this unfortunate dispute. According to the article, in 2000, three con men convinced the State of Israel and the JNF that they could obtain more favorable terms extending the lease on the Greek Orthodox Church’s land in central Jerusalem, upon which some of Jerusalem’s most prestigious neighborhoods are built. The Patriarch was very ill at the time, and unaware of the communications. The three con men forged his signature, and the deal was struck. Upon discovering the forgery, the Patriarchy immediately contested the validity of the contract, but the National Fund had already registered a caveat on the property, apparently while fully aware that both parties were victims of a scam. According to the article, the Patriarchy, as well as many other Christians in Jerusalem, consider the court’s ruling to be “nothing short of an act of elaborate extortion committed by the State of Israel and the JNF against the most important religious leader in the city”, and a part of the “attacks on the Christian community in Israel”, on which we reported in our last two reviews.
Christian/Jewish Holidays
Gal Sheva, December 31, 2021; Shishi Bair, December 31, 2021
The heads of the Franciscan and Anglican churches in Ramla hosted a reception in celebration of Christmas and the New Year. The event was attended by local representatives, community leaders and residents. The mayor of Ramla praised the good relations between all the local religious communities – Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. The church leaders expressed their gratitude for the well-wishing, affirmed their commitment to coexistence, and closed with a blessing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, joy to humanity”.
Anti-missionary Activities
Hamodia, January 5, 2022; Shacharit, January 5, 2022; Matsav Haruach, January 7, 2022
Due to actions taken by the Or L’Achim anti-missionary organization, a center that was run by Jews for Jesus in Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station was closed down. According to Or L’Achim, the place was a “missionary center that attempted to lure innocent Jews and convert them”. Or L’Achim also claimed that their work was not done; the missionaries rented offices in central Jerusalem, out of which they “hunt people who just happen to pass by randomly”. Or L’Achim said that they were examining any legal way to bring about the closure of these offices, which constitute a “stumbling block in the Holy City”.
Anti-missionary Attitudes
Hamodia, January 6, 2022; Jerusalem Post, January 6, 2022
Yiddish translations of the New Testament have been distributed in Jewish communities throughout Rockland County, New York, known to have an extremely large ultra-Orthodox population. According to Rabbi Tovia Singer, director of Outreach Judaism, “the goal is to evangelize Hassidic communities and spread the gospel with the end goal of converting them to Christianity… It’s like a cancer.”
Shacharit, January 6, 2022; Hamevaser, January 9, 2022; Hamodia, January 9, 2022
According to the Yad L’Achim anti-missionary organization, Jews for Jesus rented an office in downtown Jerusalem, “in order to preach to the Jews of the city”. Yad L’Achim claim that they have documentation proving Jews for Jesus’s goal to “convert as many Jews as possible”. According to them, the missionaries are trying to reach the hearts of people who are lost using lies and deception. “We hope that now the missionaries will be removed from the property,” they said.
Jewish/Christian Relations
Kol Nes Ziona, December 31, 2021
Dutch organization “Christians for Israel”, donated thousands of tulip bulbs to the city of Nes Ziona. Some of the bulbs were planted by the children in local kindergartens, taking part in a city project. The rest of the bulbs were planted throughout the city, and are expected to bloom in a few weeks, adding color and joy to the city. The local mayor thanked Christians for Israel for the generous donation and for the contribution to the education of the city’s kindergarten children.
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
Jerusalem Post, January 9, 2022
In response to the campaign launched by leaders of Christian denominations in Jerusalem, in which Israel was criticized for its lack of response to violent attacks on the Christian communities in the city, the writer, a member of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), expressed his opinion on the matter. According to him, “Christians living in Jerusalem and Bethlehem promote a story of Christians suffering under Jewish sovereignty and connect this narrative to Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem. In their narrative, Christians put Israelis in the same slot as King Herod of Judea, who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, murdered all infants under the age of two in the city of Bethlehem to stop the arrival of the messiah.” The writer claimed that “It’s much safer for Christians in Israel… In the anti-Semitic imagination, which afflicts its victims like an unseen virus, Jews spitting on Christians and vandalizing churches in Jerusalem generates stronger feelings of outrage than jihadists decapitating, dismembering, or immolating Christians and blowing up their churches in places like Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, or Pakistan”. The writer concluded by asking, “Can Christian leaders celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ without dumping on the Jewish state, or is anti-Zionism a central element of their Christmas celebrations?”