JPOST: Christians will stand with Jews so they are not alone - opinion

Since the horrific and barbaric October 7 attack on Israel, the world has witnessed a meteoric rise in antisemitism. Still mourning the loss of life in Israel, Jews across the globe are confronted with pro-Hamas rallies, violence in the streets, and increasingly hostile social media posts, all clearly revealing that the centuries-old scourge of antisemitism had been bubbling just beneath society’s surface.

For years, the rallying cry since the Holocaust has been “Never Again,” yet here the world found itself – again – with mothers, babies, the elderly, and youth mercilessly tortured and murdered. While the reaction for some was shock, in the words of one Hamas supporter: “It was the happiest day of my life.”The loud minority in the United States is just that – loud. But their pro-death stance by no means reflects the viewpoint of the majority of Americans. A recent Harvard-CAPS poll revealed that 74% of Americans believe Hamas’s attack was genocidal and 80% said they support Israel over Hamas, including 57% of those aged 18-24.

Many young people have become indoctrinated by tenured liberal professors who teach that Israel is an apartheid state, a colonial project established in 1948 that purposefully displaced the indigenous population. Indeed not a Christmas can go by without Arafat’s most enduring piece of propaganda – that Jesus was a Palestinian – being trotted out in a variety of outlets.

History tells its own story

The spectacular crash of two lies, that Jesus was a Palestinian in Palestine and was also killed by the Jewish people who did not live there, is about as logical as pro-Hamas rally-goers claiming that Hamas is not even in Gaza or that Israel orchestrated October 7 against itself.

It was to combat and stand against these types of slanderous lies spouted by a minority of Americans but echoed by mainstream media, that a group of rabbis and pastors traveled to Washington this week to meet with members of Congress.

In a historic faith-based advocacy mission, their goal was to represent the breadth of support for Israel in America. The gathering was organized by the Israel Allies Foundation, the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition, American Christian Leaders for Israel, the Jerusalem Connection, Eagles Wings, and National Hispanic Pastors Alliance. Over 60 leaders, who collectively reach and represent millions of Americans, joined to both thank and encourage members of Congress to continue to stand with Israel. What they found was a depth of support for Israel in Congress that echoes the majority of Americans. “I will not be willfully ignorant like how the Administration is choosing to be, whether it’s the support for UNRWA or not recognizing the lies Palestinian terrorist groups send out. If you choose not to be ignorant, then the only result you get is supporting Israel,” remarked Rep. Brian Mast to one group of rabbis and pastors. Congressman Mast, a retired Army Ranger who also served with the IDF, was one of 32 House or Senate offices with which the group met. Mast famously wore his IDF uniform to Capitol Hill a week after October 7, in a show of solidarity with Israel.The advocacy day on Capitol Hill was by no means the only event in DC that focused on Israel. The day before, 100 pastors gathered at the Israeli Embassy to view the footage of the Hamas massacre. The event was organized by Keren HaYesod and Pastor Larry Huch, founding pastor of the New Beginnings Church outside of Dallas and board member of the Israel Allies Foundation. “By showing the actual footage, leaders are better equipped to help counter the fake news, false narratives and dangerous anti-Israel policies being presented to the public. Israel has both a right and an obligation to protect its citizens from murderous terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, whose sole objective is to destroy Israel and its citizens. We will continue to be a pro-Israel pro-Jewish voice in the Christian community in America and around the world,” remarked Pastor Huch.

DURING WORLD War II, 400 Orthodox rabbis traveled to DC in 1943 to advocate on behalf of European Jewry. They were alone in their mission and president Franklin D. Roosevelt famously refused to meet with them. This time, in the worst tragedy since the Holocaust, Christians want the Jewish community to know, “You are not alone.”

Many Christians look back at the Holocaust and read stories of Europeans, many of them professed Christians, failing to help their Jewish neighbors. To do so would have put their own lives and their families lives at risk, tying their fate to their Jewish countrymen.

So we ask ourselves, what would we have done? Would we have been courageous enough? Discerning enough to see through the propaganda and lies spouted by the media and society? Today we can answer that question at this moment. The consequences we might face now are nowhere near what Europeans were confronted with during the Nazi regime. What will we do now, when the Jewish people face another existential threat?The participants of the January 31 advocacy day made their choice, linked arm and arm with their Jewish brethren, and declared boldly to our nation’s leaders, “We stand with the Jewish State of Israel. While the world might have failed at Never Again, Christians across the United States, and indeed around the world, want our Jewish brothers and sisters to know that you are never alone.”

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Photo credit: LARRY HUCHMINSTRIES