Standing with Israel against the “Big Lie”

September 14, 2021

Today we are witnessing a war of words with social media as one of the main battlefields. Attempts are increasing almost daily to delegitimize the State of Israel—merely an updated term for anti-Semitism or hatred of the Jewish people.

Adolf Hitler coined the term the “Big Lie” when he wrote Mein Kampf nearly 100 years ago. Hitler envisioned the Big Lie as a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth, used especially as a propaganda technique. Today, anti-Israel voices like US Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) of New York are becoming more and more vocal as they put into practice the belief that “if you tell a lie big enough and repeat it often enough, people will come to believe it.”
Our responsibility as Bible-believing Christians is to recognize the lies and counter them with truth.

The Biggest Lie—Israel Has No Right to Exist
“ERETZ-ISRAEL [Land of Israel] was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they gave to the world the eternal Book of Books [Bible]…After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people never ceased to pray and hope for their return…Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to reestablish themselves in their ancient homeland… In the year 5657 (1897), the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country. This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration, and reaffirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations, which gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.”
—Excerpt from Israel’s Declaration of Independence

“Let’s get something straight here, until the region says unequivocally, they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.”
—US President Joe Biden, speaking at a press conference on May 21, 2021

“True peace is possible when Hamas and other like-minded terrorist organizations and Iran accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state living in security and tranquility with its neighbors. The recent Abraham Accords—Israel’s agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan—show that peace is possible.”
—Timothy F. Wuliger, former board chair of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Lie: Israel Is the Aggressor and Obstacle to Peace in the Region
“When the United Nations approved the Partition Plan in 1947, Jews all over the world celebrated, while Arabs rejected the proposal and started a war to thwart it. The State of Palestine and the State of Israel could have each been celebrating their 73rd Independence Day this year, if the Palestinians had only said yes. They said no.”
—Dani Dayan, former consul general of Israel in New York

“Israel is not perfect. It even arguably gives Palestinians grounds for grievance with some of its policies and actions. But rare as rubies is a conflict where good and evil are as clearly distinguishable as in the struggle between Israel and Hamas. One side seeks peace and security; and the other, its adversary’s obliteration.”
—Avi Shafran, Jewish blogger from the US, writing after the May 2021 conflict

“We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”
—Golda Meir, Israeli stateswoman and fourth prime minister

Lie: Israel is an Apartheid State
The crime of apartheid is defined as inhumane acts “committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.”
—2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

“Arab citizens of Israel are allowed to vote, have political parties, and hold seats in the Knesset [Parliament] and other positions, including one on the Israeli Supreme Court.” A UN fact-finder wrote that the situation in Judea and Samaria was more complex, but that there is no attempt to maintain “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group,” and claimed that the seemingly oppressive measures taken by Israel were taken to protect its own citizens from attacks by Palestinian militants.
—South African Judge Richard Goldstone, author of the 2009 report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict

Lie: There Was Never a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount
“The story of the Temple is nothing but a collection of legends and myths for political reasons.”
—Official PA [Palestinian Authority] TV, 2015

“The question of whether archaeological finds prove the existence of the Temple on Temple Mount is cynical and provocative. These are things known to anybody with culture and cannot be cast in doubt. We have dozens of literary sources, including Muslim sources, describing the Temple.”
— Bar-Ilan University Prof. Gabriel Barkay, an archaeologist who has spent many years working in Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount area in particular

“Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. As well as being sacred to Jews, the hilltop plaza, which could go back as much as 5,000 years, is sacred to Muslims as the place from which the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.”
—From A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Shariff (Islamic name for Temple Mount) published by the Supreme Muslim Council in 1925

Now Is the Time to Stand with Israel
It is more important than ever that we as Christians stand with Israel. You may think your voice is small and insignificant, but if we will each use our voice and speak out against the lies—we can make a difference.

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