No Place For Slander (AUDIO)

These are my latest reflections on evangelicals who smile at Jews while sharing sushi with them in Hebron. And on the misguided Jews who repeatedly fall for their ruse. This is also a statement of clarification in response to those Jews who falsely accuse us of slander, and claim that we believe that THEY THEMSELVES (these Jews) support "missionary activity". Lies repeated often enough remain lies regardless of what people believe. Had any of these people actually read or listened to anything posted on this blog, they would know that no one has accused them of being missionaries themselves. Only of being friends with missionaries.

Most of these misguided Jews either naively believe that these people and groups are harmless, or have the arrogance to believe that they can play a dangerous game of "strange bedfellows". Some hasbara types are indeed corrupt, and more than a few are corrupt in terms of their warped Torah perspective. One often hears the refrain of "good intentions". Good intentions? Good intentions have destroyed better men than these. 

Our detractors glibly hurl the charge of "slander/libel" at my colleagues and I, whenever we tackle these troubling issues. They avoid addressing our questions or the evidence we produce. Their usage of the term renders them guilty of the crime themselves, since none of us are involved in any form of slander. Nor are we attacking "good Jews", which is a clever way to evade responsibility for one's actions. We are simply calling out public Jewish personalities for what we believe are dangerous alliances with the enemies of Am Yisrael. No personal animus fuels us, nor is there any personal gain from addressing these upsetting issues. On the contrary. Speaking unpleasant truths usually comes at a cost.

I regularly use the term "enemies" to paint evangelicals, precisely how a proper Jewish approach would deem any group harmful to us. Evangelicals are indeed our enemies, and no amount of "Israeli" support can detract from their insidious spiritual warfare on our sacred Torah. Stating truth and exposing the irresponsible public behavior of public people does not constitute slander/libel.

Once upon a time, religious Jews recognized that Esau's kiss was the kiss of spiritual death. Yet today, we have "religious" Jews meeting and greeting, and befriending and breaking bread with these vipers. Teaching Torah to missionaries. Giving tours to messianic congregations in Israel. Giving them a foothold in Jewish communities on Jewish land that should be used to house other Jews.

I choose to not remain silent, regardless of the threats of bullies. If I am engaged in slander or libel, the logical thing to do would be to hire a lawyer and serve me my papers. If nothing else, have the attorney clarify the precise nature of the supposed libel/slander, and if I find your arguments convincing or I recognize errors on my part, I will publicly apologize and make the appropriate corrections. I have never been afraid to apologize if I am wrong. But just to hurl the terms around doesn't make it so, even if one hopes that something will stick. 

Contrary to the lie that many Jews espouse, evangelicals aren't our "brothers" or righteous gentiles. They have the same agenda that their forebears had hundreds of years ago. But they are wiser today and they've discovered clever ways to earn the confidence of Jews. Consider the fact that "Hayovel", a veritable missionary organization, is well-entrenched in Har Bracha today, with the blessings of the town's rabbi. Would such a thing have even been possible twenty years ago? Jews argue that they are friends, and yet they arrogantly hawk messianic bibles on their website. After Tommy Waller's supposed and much heralded recent "repentance"!

Jews can ignore this perversion as long as they wish. At the end of the day, chareidi, daati leumi, and chiloni will all pay the price. One day soon, we will all suffer the consequence of these dangerous alliances.