09/15/2020
WASHINGTON—Jewish and pro-Israel groups applauded the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for signing historic agreements at the White House on Tuesday to normalize relations with Israel, the first Persian Gulf nations to normalize ties with the Jewish state.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee called the ceremony “a historic event in the advancement of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East.”
“Today’s ceremony sends a clear message that it’s a new era for Israeli-Arab relations. Peace in the region is possible through diplomacy, mutual recognition and negotiation,” said AIPAC. “We hope other nations in the Middle East and the Palestinian leadership will follow this inspiring example to bring conflicts in the region to an end and promote prosperity and cooperation.”
“The historic agreements signed today show that peace is on the march and the so-called Arab-Israeli conflict is increasingly an anachronism. Israel is strong and flourishing, and the Arab world is coming to see the Jewish state not as a foe, but as an ally against Iran and a partner for peace and prosperity,” said Christians United for Israel (CUFI) chairman Pastor John Hagee in a statement. “It is my sincere hope and prayer that other Arab nations will follow the UAE and Bahrain’s lead, and that the Palestinian leadership, in particular, will accept that peace with Israel is the only path forward.”
Read More: JNS
09/09/2020
This week’s Torah portion is Deuteronomy 29:20-30:9, which calls upon Israel to be faithful to the covenant in the land God has given them. God promises that even if Israel is scattered among the nations and the land lies desolate, He will restore Israel from captivity, gathering the Jewish people even from the ends of the earth back to their land.
In the 72 years since Israel’s rebirth as a modern nation, we have seen this promise fulfilled. The haftarah portion accompanying this week’s Torah portion is Isaiah 61:10-63:9, an exuberant declaration of the glorious future awaiting God’s Chosen People.
In these verses, Isaiah proclaims a message of hope and restoration over an exiled and oppressed people. He makes a solemn vow, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning.”
In Isaiah’s day, Israel was called “forsaken” and Eretz Israel “desolate” (62:4). Today, the verbiage may be different, but its essence remains the same: As the world’s oldest hatred rises in our midst, anti-Semites of every shade and shape declare the Jewish people “evil” (read: “forsaken”) and seek to lay waste to the Land of Israel (read: to render it “desolate”).
Read More: JNS
10/09/2020
Ninety-one-year old Holocaust survivor Irving Roth and 36-year-old former radical Islamist Kasim Hafeez are now close friends. After Hafeez noticed the concentration camp number on Roth’s forearm, he had it imprinted on his own arm as a sign of solidarity.
The story of the two men, told against a background of historical and current global anti-Semitism, is the focus of the documentary “Never Again?” It was produced and financed by Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which counts 9 million adherents and bills itself as the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States.
At first blush, the opening storyline strains credulity. However, after speaking with Hafeez and writer-producer Rick Eldrige, the story holds up.
Roth was born in small Slovakian town. He witnessed Hitler’s invading army and at 14 he was transported to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Toward the end of World War II, weighing 75 pounds, he survived a death march during which his brother died.
Hafeez was born in Nottingham in England’s East Midlands, home to a large population of Muslim immigrants, including his father, who emigrated from Pakistan. As a youngster, Hafeez was formally taught the Quran and informally instructed that Jews, especially Israeli Jews, were evil and his permanent enemies.
Read More: JJ
