60th Anniversary of the Modern State of Israel: “Yom Atzmaut Sameach”
“Yom Atzmaut Sameach” or “Happy Independence Day”
Marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Modern State of Israel, American President George W. Bush wished Israel “Happy Birthday” during a speech to the Knesset, or Israeli parliament. Bush began his address by exclaiming, “Yom Atzmaut Sameach,” or “Happy Independence Day.” He spoke of Israeli history and said that the United States will stand with the Israelis against terrorism and extremism. He said, “We will never let down our guard or lose our resolve.” President Bush asserted that the United States has an unbreakable bond with Israel. He said Americans believe that Israel has a right to defend itself from extremists and “killers pledged to its destruction.”
President Bush criticized the deadly tactics of extremist groups and denounced anti-Semitism, especially by those who want to wipe the nation “off the map.” He said, “We believe that religious liberty is fundamental to civilized society, so we condemn anti-Semitism in all forms whether by those who openly question Israel’s right to exist, or by others who quietly excuse them.”
“Some people suggest that if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away,” Bush said. “This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of the enemies of peace and America utterly rejects it. Israel’s population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you.”
Bush took special aim at Iran, saying the United States stands with Israel in opposing moves by Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons.
“Permitting the world’s leading sponsor of terror to possess the world’s deadliest weapons would be an unforgivable betrayal for future generations,” the president said. “For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
The History and Meaning of “Palestine” and “Palestinians”
Golda Meir, one of the founders of the Modern State of Israel and fourth Prime Minster, stated, “There is no such thing as a Palestinian Arab nation . . . Palestine is a name the Romans gave to Eretz Yisrael with the express purpose of infuriating the Jews. The British chose to call the land they mandated Palestine, and the Arabs picked it up as their nation’s supposed ancient name.”
Joseph Farah, an Arab-American journalist, stated, “Palestine has never existed . . . as an autonomous entity. There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel represents one-tenth of one percent of the land-mass. But that’s too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today . . . No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it will never be enough.â€
Unquestioningly, the PA government must meet three fundamental conditions: (1) recognize Israel’s right to exist, (2) renounce all forms of violence, and (3) commit to previous Israel-PA agreements. America must continue to lend full support for Israel’s right to defend her neighbor Lebanon against arms smugglers, Iranian and Syrian terrorist invaders trading as Hezbollah (God’s Party) in Lebanon; covertly remove Iran’s nuclear threat of WMDs, and aggressively and decisively put an end to the military entanglements of both Iran and Syria in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As Solomon, ancient Israel’s third King wrote, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.†Wisdom demands justice for all. Christians should not believe that God favors only the descendants of Isaac, and is willing to smite and destroy at random, any nation that opposes them. Christians worship a God who demonstrated His love for the world through Jesus Christ—Jew and Gentile alike, including Arabs. Pathological hatred of Jews by non-Jews and pathological hatred of non-Jews by Jews is not acceptable and does not lead to civility.
Many Jews in Israel are not orthodox, but atheists. Zionism is an atheistic movement. It is heresy to associate Christianity with an atheistic and sacrilegious movement like Zionism. Israel’s HOT cable network filed a request with the Israeli Council for Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting for authorization to cut the U.S. based Christian network Daystar out of its programming in the Jewish state, arguing that the Christian network is targeting Jews for conversion to Christianity.
The Jewish Ring is a Web site or page open to Jewish content. It can relate to anything Jewish - cultural, social, religious, educa-tional, humor. In the Jewish Ring, Christians will find that “Jews for Jesus,†“Messianic,†and “missionary†groups are explicitly banned from joining.
Accompanying America’s support of Israel is the basic expectation that the Israeli government will allow freedom of religion for all Christians living and touring in the land of Israel.
Pray to Yahweh Elohim that the Jewish people might have the eyes of their understanding opened and realize that all who believe in Messiah are made right with God.
May the Author of liberty shed His grace on Israel and heal their land in this area.