BIG BEN BETRAYAL

Britain meekly surrenders to the Islamic agenda

By Charles Gardner

The antisemitic message projected onto Big Ben is a shameful betrayal of the Jewish people, and not for the first time in our nation.

Pro-Palestinian protestors managed to light up the iconic clock tower with the message “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’”– effectively calling for the destruction of Israel, the stated goal of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

And for the police – who have arrested street preachers on hate speech charges simply for quoting the Bible – to say that a criminal offence had not thus been committed is an absolute disgrace.

The noisy protest took place during the House of Commons debate on Gaza in February. It would be lost on the pro-Palestinian zealots that our Houses of Parliament, of which Big Ben is an extension, are quite literally built on the Word of God that we have inherited from the Hebrew people. For inscribed in Latin on its floor are the words from Psalm 127: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.”

Tragically, however, the foundations of our Judeo-Christian civilisation are fast crumbling as we meekly bow the knee to the Islamic agenda.

Jewish MP Andrew Percy, whose Goole constituency is close to where I live, said he now felt safer on the streets of Israel than he did in London.

Britain had the inestimable privilege of effectively being a midwife to Israel’s rebirth 76 years ago through the internationally approved mandate we were given to prepare them for statehood. That only came about through the influence of courageous evangelical Christians who lobbied politicians to support the restoration of the ancient Jewish homeland long foretold by the Hebrew prophets.

Israel is a fundamental part of the West, which is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots

But then, just when the new-born nation was about to be established, we betrayed their would-be residents by restricting immigration to the land in spineless surrender to Arab opposition, thus preventing innumerable Jews from escaping Nazi-occupied Europe. We have blood on our hands.

Now, in a brazen act of non-intervention, we betray them once more by allowing Jew-hatred to be expressed on the fabric of our parliament, once the envy of the world.

As a nation, we are barking up the wrong tree. Our salvation does not come from the Arab world, but from Israel – and the God of Israel – through whom, by grace, we have inherited the blessings of his precious Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah.

It is not surprising, therefore, that our nation is falling apart at the seams. Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, in a Times article in 2010, urged support for Israel on the basis that “if it goes down, we all go down”.

He argued that the Jewish state is at the cutting edge of the battle between militant Islam and the West and concluded: “Israel is a fundamental part of the West which is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not our fate is inextricably intertwined.”

As the prophet Isaiah put it, “the nation or kingdom that will not serve you (Israel) will perish; it will be utterly ruined” (Isaiah 60:12).

I am not suggesting Israel is without fault. I agree with the statement made by congregational leaders of the Messianic Jewish community in Israel, who recently called for three days of prayer and fasting, focusing on repentance among themselves and the nation. The 7 October massacre had come about because of sin in the land, they said, including division among the leadership, the shedding of innocent blood through abortion, the advocacy of immorality and sexual perversion and the “great sin” of rejecting God’s sovereignty.

They particularly flagged up the Nova festival (among the scenes of the 7 October attack) where dancing around a statue of the Hindu god Shiva was reminiscent of the sin of the golden calf, leaving a spiritual door wide open to the enemy.

They are still God’s chosen people whom he longs to welcome back

But they are still God’s chosen people whom he longs to welcome back, and the Gaza war has sparked renewed openness to the Gospel. An evangelist friend, when visiting her Jewish doctor, was asked why everyone hated them.

Things would only get worse, my friend told her, but Messiah would eventually come to their rescue, and they would look on the one they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10). At which point the doctor confessed to coming over with “goosebumps”. The message was understood!

Captions: The genocidal slogan projected onto the tower holding up Big Ben, the internationally recognised symbol of Britain and the ‘mother of parliaments’

Bible commentator Avner Boskey in Israel says: “Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there – that there might be a ‘Free Palestine’ indeed, not under jihadi control – and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and antisemitism to be exposed and rejected by world leaders”.

Football agent recalls Sderot siege horror

A football agent who has brought Israeli players to compete in the Scottish Premier League is now using the sport to help traumatised youngsters in the Israeli town of Sderot, just one kilometre from the Gaza border.

In a Zoom meeting with Glasgow Friends of Israel, Wembley-born Clive Hart and his wife Tamar also shared their experiences of the 7 October massacre when the town was the focus of key battles, with many residents slaughtered.

Together with a local policeman, Clive shared shocking videos of the attack and subsequent siege of the town’s police station which saw a number of officers killed.

At the time, they were understandably unaware of the full extent of what was happening but, with hindsight, realise it could have been infinitely worse.

Some were saved in seemingly miraculous ways, including two girls hiding under a blanket as their parents were murdered and a couple who hid under a child’s bed, undiscovered even while the terrorist lay above them for 15 minutes.

With a population of 36,000, Sderot was subsequently evacuated, but many have since returned to try rebuilding their lives there.

Meanwhile Clive has been asked by the mayor to oversee 300 children in a soccer programme to help restore their physical and mental well-being – a project for which he is raising funds via myisraelcharity.org.

Sderot has been under constant rocket fire ever since Hamas took over the neighbouring Gaza enclave in 2007, and many of its residents, especially kids, have suffered from Post Traumatic Stress as a result. One 25-year-old resident reckons she has had to run to the town’s bomb shelter 20,000 times!

Sderot has been under constant rocket fire ever since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007

Then came 7 October, when, in a surprise attack, many civilians were murdered on the streets and in their homes.

Clive has been a licensed football agent in the UK for 23 years during which time he has brought four Israeli players to Scotland including Stav Nahmani, who has been playing for St Mirren.

Clive moved to Israel after completing his university education and served in the Israeli Defence Force, after which he returned to Britain. But in January 2022 he went back to Israel for a holiday when he met and married Tamar following a whirlwind romance.

Pro-Israel MP stands down over threats

A British Conservative MP has announced he is standing down at the next election after “several serious threats to my personal safety”, citing antisemitism as a contributory factor.

Ali Harbi Ali had watched his office before going on to knife MP Sir David Amess

Justice Minister Mike Freer, who represents former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s old constituency of Finchley and Golders Green, a strongly Jewish neighbourhood, said an arson attack on his north London office in December was “the final straw”.

With pro-Israel views and having previously made the point that the ‘polarised’ debate on Gaza had made things worse, Mr Freer told the Daily Mail: “I don’t think we can divorce” antisemitism from the intimidation.

Mr Freer was first targeted in 2011, a year after east London Labour MP Stephen Timms was stabbed. A group called Muslims Against Crusades told him to “let Stephen Timms be a warning”.

More recently, Mr Freer and his staff decided to wear stab vests when attending scheduled public events in his constituency after learning that Ali Harbi Ali had watched his Finchley office before going on to knife Southend West MP Sir David Amess to death during a constituency surgery in 2021.

Islamist’s miracle encounter with Jesus

Kamal Saleem was an Islamist extremist taken in by a loving family after sustaining severe injuries in a car crash. As he contemplated the goodness of these Christians he had been taught were evil, he was about to kill himself for ‘blaspheming’ Allah.

But he was stopped by a voice, saying: “Kamal, why don’t you call on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?”

So he prayed: “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, if you are real, will you speak to me? If you are real, I want to know you.”

A power filled the room and another voice said: “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I am everything in between. I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Rise up, Kamal. You are my warrior. You are not their warrior.”

Kamal did rise, was miraculously healed of his injuries and surrendered his life to Jesus.

Queen honours Anne Frank’s memory

Queen Camilla has been named the first royal patron of the Anne Frank Trust in a nod to the teenage Holocaust victim’s love of royalty.

Tim Robertson, the charity’s chief executive, said Anne’s passion for royalty was among the hobbies that gave her hope as she hid from the Nazis. As such, it was “heartbreakingly poignant” to imagine how much the Queen’s patronage would have meant to her.

The charity said it was “deeply honoured” to welcome the Queen as its first royal patron, which demonstrated her “deep commitment to commemorating the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and to overcoming prejudice today”.

The Queen marked the 75th anniversary of the publication of Anne Frank’s diary in January 2022 by urging the public not to be “bystanders” to injustice or prejudice. As Duchess of Cornwall, she delivered a passionate speech to guests including Anne’s 92-year-old step-sister, who survived Auschwitz, at the Trust’s annual lunch.

Christians shine their light

Christian support has been among the few shining lights in these dark times for the state of Israel, Tourism Minister Haim Katz told the annual National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

But he urged them to put their words into action by personally showing up with tour groups to encourage his people. “The best way to support Israel is to visit Israel. Come again this year to strengthen yourselves and us.”

He stressed that the government is going to great lengths to ensure tourists are safe even as war continues in Gaza and tensions increase in the north.

Quote:

“Come again this year to strengthen yourselves and us”

“Not trading one terror group for another”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has insisted that the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas will play no role in governing the Gaza Strip, declaring: “We won’t trade one terror group for another.”

The PA had not only engaged in decades of incitement against Israeli Jews but had openly justified the savage Hamas invasion of 7 October, 2023.

Israel thus no longer views the PA as a viable peace partner because top Abbas officials are intent on forging a unity government with Hamas.

Caption: Foreign Minister Israel Katz won’t reward incitement – TIM THIS IS HIGHLIGHTED AS I PLANNED TO SOURCE A PIC OF HIM BUT SUSPECT THERE WON’T BE ROOM!

Call to defund UNRWA

A group of 20 parliamentarians from around the world visited an Israeli agricultural community on the border with Gaza and called on their governments to defund and dismantle the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) because of its ties to Palestinian terrorism. The unequivocal declaration by the lawmakers from 19 countries comes after the EU announced it will pay UNRWA €50 million despite heightened international concerns over the terror-tainted UN agency.

Taped phone calls of UNRWA teachers including gloating over the kidnapping of an Israeli woman on 7 October were recently released by Israel. The IDF had already discovered a Hamas installation beneath UNRWA’s Gaza HQ.

‘Settler violence’ query

Three weeks after the US announced sanctions on four Israeli citizens because of “high levels of extremist settler violence,” it turns out that only one of them is known to the law enforcement authorities in Israel as having problematic conduct, Israel Hayom reported. It also emerged that of the four Israelis punished by Britain, none of them is known to the authorities.

Hamas in hospital surrender

When IDF special forces entered Gaza’s Nasser Hospital complex, some 200 Hamas members surrendered without firing a shot. It proved that, like so many other medical, educational and civilian sites in the beleaguered enclave, the Khan Yunis facility served as a military hub for the terrorists.

Imam chants Koran in Belgian parliament

In a surreal scene revealed by Flemish anti-jihad researcher Peter Velle, Pakistani Islamist preacher Muhammad Ansar Butt came to the Brussels Regional Parliament in Belgium to chant antisemitic verses from the Koran, apparently provoking several reactions of indignation. The verses referred to significant events including the massacre of a Jewish tribe.

Hebrew end times meditation

By Rosamund Weissman

Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble”.

Daniel 12: “And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time”.

This verse was referenced by Jesus referring to the flight of the Jews from Jerusalem in the end times in Matthew 24:21: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be”.

“Tzarah” is the same basic Hebrew word in Psalm 46 and Daniel 12; see Strong’s Concordance: 6869.

We can be encouraged that, when we face and go through the final seven years of this age, a time of tribulation for the whole world, that God will be our refuge, strength and help!

Rosamund Weissman is the author of ‘Hebrew lessons for beginners from the New Testament’, £9, available from fresholivepress.com or email rosamundweissman@gmail.com

Other recent articles by Charles Gardner, which can be found here, include: Anne Frank’s friend, The lost sheep, Heaven’s solution, For such a time as this!, A snakebite moment, Antidote to war.

Charles is a regular contributor to Israel Today at www.israeltoday.co.il and is author of ‘To the Jew First’, ‘King of the Jews’, ‘A Nation Reborn’, ‘Israel the Chosen’ and ‘Peace in Jerusalem’, variously available from Christian Publications International, Amazon and Eden Books (Eden.co.uk)