In Depth:  antisemitism

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Letter

Antisemitism

Date posted: 1 Jan 2024

Dear Editor,

Thank you for the items in the December en which brought focus to the Israel-Hamas war and its ramifications worldwide. As Christians we cannot but cry to God for a swift end to the hostilities in Israel and Gaza. Our hearts go out to those Jews, Arabs and others who are full of fear, whose own lives are under daily threat, and who grieve the loss of family and friends. We cannot but pray that many will turn to the Saviour at this time through the ministries of people like Misha Vayshengolts, whose witness you reported.

Antisemitism in Britain today: two  evangelicals share their experiences

Antisemitism in Britain today: two evangelicals share their experiences

Joel Barder & Regan Blanton King

Joel Barder writes: I remember 7 October vividly. It was a day when life suddenly changed; and the reality I normally hide away came back to the surface like a whirlwind.

As an evangelical, trusting in the authority of Scripture, my relationship with my Jewishness has been a life-long struggle.

Churches hit by antisemitism

Churches hit by antisemitism

Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

A pastor, whose wife and children are Jewish, has reported several incidents of antisemitism targeting both him and his family – and his church building.

Regan Blanton King, a founding member of Islington church plant, The Angel Church, said one of their members has indicated an intention to back away from church. The individual asked, via email, if Regan’s wife, Rachel, would ‘apologise for Israel’s actions – as if she is responsible for any good or bad from Israel – and assuming a lot based on her Israel Defence Forces service’.

Antisemitism condemned

Antisemitism condemned

Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

Evangelical churches in the UK have started to experience the impact of the significant increase in antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October.

A church in Bridgend recently received a lengthy message through its online contact form saying: ‘It has become apparent that you fall into the category of dangerous Christians on account of your attitude to the Jewish people who are the biggest usurpers in the history of mankind … And yet the evangelical Christian world idolises them as though it was a duty to do so …’

Even in Malaysia, antisemitism is rife

Even in Malaysia, antisemitism is rife

Peter Riddell

The Gaza War, triggered by the murderous Hamas attacks on Israelis on 7 October, has polarised communities and nations. However, Malaysia, a multi-religious nation with a 65% Muslim majority, provides a unique example of how the narrative can be shaped by mainstream media, activists, governments and their agencies.

Two days after the Hamas attacks, the mainstream broadsheet New Straits Times, in an article by Luqman Hakim, summarised a ‘complex attack’ by the Hamas military wing on Israeli settlements which were taken over. The ‘Israeli Occupation Army’ then launched an operation against the Hamas groups. No mention was made of the massacres of Israeli civilians by the Hamas attackers. Attention was, however, directed to a mosque funded by Malaysian sources that was destroyed by Israeli bombing. The article concludes with the declaration that: ‘Despite the destruction, the jihadist spirit of Muslims will never fade.’

Anti-Semitism & violence condemned

Anti-Semitism & violence condemned

en staff

As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Christian leaders are condemning increasing anti-Semitism as well as other aspects of the war.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, wrote: ‘In recent days we have witnessed repugnant expressions of anti-Semitism in Sydney which have appalled most Australians and heightened fears among the Jewish community.

Letter

Anti-Semitism questions

Date posted: 1 Oct 2023

Dear Editor,

There are many lessons of wide significance still to be learned from the Stephen Sizer anti-Semitism scandal.

Letter

Anti-Semitism

Date posted: 1 Feb 2023

Dear Editor,

I just wanted to applaud your efforts in the January 2023 edition, especially with respect to the wide coverage you have given to the question of Israel and the Jews – obviously including my own submission of Jonathan Arnold’s testimony.

The chilling history of Christian anti-Semitism

The chilling history of Christian anti-Semitism

Gary Clayton

Friday 27 January marks Holocaust Memorial Day – the commemoration of one of history’s most heart-rending chapters. But how did a plan that resulted in the death of 6 million Jewish people originate in what was a supposedly Christian nation?

The church in Acts was almost entirely Jewish, which explains why – in Acts 10 – Peter receives a vision of a large sheet full of unclean creatures to encourage him to visit the Gentile Cornelius.

Anti-Semitism  then and now
editorial

Anti-Semitism then and now

Do many people in Britain, including Christians, and our own evangelical constituency, lack insight when it comes to Jewish people and to the reality and impact of anti-Semitism?

The answer is yes. Read firstly Jewish believer Gary Clayton’s chilling history of Christian anti-Semitism (here). Read secondly the review of David Baddiel’s recent TV programme (Jews Don’t Count) by his fellow Jew, Joseph Steinberg, CEO of the International Mission to Jewish People (here), who will be joining our rota of occasional contributors in 2023. And thirdly read the thorough, wise and definitive judgement last week of the Disciplinary Tribunal investigating Stephen Sizer (here). (You can read the entire ruling online by searching online for ‘Church of England tribunal decisions’). There can be no doubt.

Letter

Luther’s anti-Semitism

Date posted: 1 Jul 2022

Dear Editor,

Chris Sinkinson is right to remind us about Luther’s infamous writings against the Jews and to warn us about the dangers of anti-Semitism (‘Defending our faith’, June en, 2022). However, I would like to make a couple of observations.

Luther and antisemitism
defending our faith

Luther and antisemitism

Chris Sinkinson
Chris Sinkinson

American comedian Joey Adams is credited with coining the phrase: ‘With friends like these, who needs enemies?’

Sometimes, in teaching theology, I feel the same way with the works of many influential theologians. Whatever valuable insights they offer is tainted to the point of embarrassment by their misjudgments.

Key anti-Semitism definition adopted

Key anti-Semitism definition adopted

Evangelical Focus

The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has formally recognised a landmark international definition of antisemitism.

The EEA issued a statement adopting the ‘working definition of antisemitism’ of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, approved in Budapest, Hungary, in 2016.