I was suddenly surrounded by about 15 angry people shouting at me and demanding an explanation for how I had dared, as a Christian, to stand with Israel during this war. They claimed that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinian people. in Gaza and that 30,000 Palestinian deaths exceed the 1,200 Israelis massacred by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
As I tried to reason with them about the false equivalence of simply talking about victims and the moral clarity one should have when considering who started the war, I felt alone and a little scared.
I ended up there through my work with Passages, an organization that brings Christian students to Israel and helps defend Israel and the Jewish people. I had worked with a Passages alumnus at Duke University to organize a flag planting demonstration in which we installed 1,200 Israeli flags on a campus lawn, one flag for each murdered Israeli. October 7. We did this in partnership with Duke Students Supporting Israel and End Jew-Hatred.
In the ensuing clashes with counter-protesters, it became futile to try to explain the Jewish people’s right to their ancient, ancestral, indigenous homeland; the countless peace offers that Palestinian leaders have rejected over the decades; how Israel left Gaza and gave it entirely to the Palestinians, and in return they received rockets and massacre.
It’s much easier to shout “Genocide!” » and “Profession!” » Historical facts and reason are very weak in the face of raging ignorance.
But then some Jewish students heard the insults directed at me. They quickly arrived and began protesting to the angry crowd. Suddenly I felt safer, protected, supported, and recognized that this is how the Jewish people must feel when they see Christians standing with them against anti-Semitism and realizing that he is not alone.
Unfortunately, throughout history, Christians have shamefully turned a blind eye. to anti-Semitismbeing too often supporters of hatred of Jews and violence against Jewish communities.
During the Holocaust, the hateful legacy of 15th and 16th century reformer Martin Luther was used by Hitler and the Nazi Party to perpetuate anti-Semitic prejudice. Julius Streicher, publisher of the anti-Semitic newspaper Der Stürmer, printed anti-Semitic sermons promoting violence against Jews.
Churches also discriminated against pastors and church staff of Jewish ancestry, in obedience to Nazi policies exclusive to Aryans. Pope Pius XII’s silence regarding the Nazi genocide was deafening; and French Catholics identified Jewish citizens who were arrested and taken to Nazi extermination camps.
Even when Jews were able to escape Europe, they were sent back to die in concentration camps, as in the case of the St. Louis cruise ship, in 1939, that the United States, a nation built on values Christians, refused to receive and failed. an opportunity to save Jewish lives.
Christians who opposed anti-Semitism
FORTUNATELY, THERE were also courageous Christians who stood up to anti-Semitism and helped save the Jewish people from the Nazi killing machine. The State of Israel honors them with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.
One of them was Corrie ten Boom, a Calvinist Christian, raised in a devout Dutch Reformed Church family. The ten Booms demonstrated remarkable courage in sheltering and saving many Jews from persecution during World War II. They were eventually arrested and Corrie, her sister and her father were sent to concentration camps. Corrie survived and later wrote about her experiences in The Hiding Place.
Likewise, André Trocmé, a French Protestant pastor, and his wife Magda played a crucial role in housing Jewish refugees in the village of Chambon-sur-Lignon. The entire community, including many Christians, actively participated in the rescue efforts.
The most famous is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, involved in the resistance against the Nazis. He was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler and was executed in 1945.
If you are a Christian and reading this, I implore you to consider which side of the story you want to be on. Will you join these Christians who have perpetrated violence and hatred against the Jewish people? Or will you join the many others speaking out against anti-Semitism?
I am not asking you to support all policies of the Israeli government; but rather to recognize and honor the Israeli government as the democratic voice and will of the Israeli people, with the moral obligation to defend its citizens against the genocidal threat of Hamas.
If you are Jewish and reading this, let me first apologize on behalf of generations of Christians who have not done enough and still have not done what it takes to bring end hatred of Jews. Those who acted with prejudice and violence against your community were acting contrary to the Christian Bible and not in accordance with it.
As comforted and touched as I was to have Jewish students around me facing an angry mob, I hope that you Jews reading this will be comforted by this article knowing that you are not alone and that many Christians are praying for your safety. ; and work to support Israel and protect the Jewish community.
I am Israel Chai. May the people of Israel live!
The writer is director of advocacy and strategy for Passages Israel, a Christian organization dedicated to bringing Christian students to Israel and mobilizing youth in support of the Jewish state on campuses and in communities across the states -United and to fight against anti-Semitism.
