Israel is losing the PR war so badly that even evangelical support is eroding

The war that Israel keeps losing is the war of world opinion, the war for individual hearts and minds. Consider recent stumbles.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza should have been named "8,000 is enough!" This would have communicated a determination to stop the barrage of missiles from Hamas, using surgical precision to destroy its arsenal, but destroying all of it, not just a part. Enough was enough: 8,000 missiles launched on the nation's civilian population would no longer be tolerated.

Unfortunately the operation was dubbed, "Cast Lead." The resulting image in the English-speaking world was not helpful. Lead is a soft metal associated with poison. The implication, then, was an unprofessional plan with ambivalent determination, biased motives and toxic methods.

Which is exactly how governments and media judge "the Gaza war." Israel and her defenders respond by arguing, "Israel has the right to defend herself." This is true, but flawed. Why? Limiting Israel's self-defense to a right makes it an option. Little wonder, then, that Israel's enemies portray her as a ruthless bully. In the matter of Gaza, for example, she could have chosen to refrain.

In fact, Israel has more than a right to defend her citizens and existence. Along with every sovereign state, she has a mandate to defend against invaders, murderers, thieves, poverty and disease. And from enemies who declare war and wage it.

The Hamas unamended charter of 1988 is a declaration of war. It explicitly calls for destruction of the Jewish state of Israel through jihad - against Jews and Christians (Article 13). Any member who abandons this struggle is guilty of "high treason and cursed" (Article 32). Accordingly, any "initiatives... so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to [these] principles" (Article 13).

Even so, the United States is on the verge of engaging Hamas as entity that is on par with Israel. No, not on par: morally superior. Consider the recent image splashed across America by political cartoonist, Pat Oliphant, portraying Israel as a headless, heartless, jack-booted Nazi devouring helpless, little Gaza.

Where did that idea come from? Look at Article 20 of Hamas's 1988 charter and see who is winning the PR war.

Of course it is more than public opinion that is being lost; it is the death of common sense; it is defeat in the war for truth.

EVEN EVANGELICAL SUPPORT is eroding. A vocal minority remain effusive on Israel's behalf. But the broader community is not monolithic. Many of its members are hungry for change, not unlike the political appetite that won Barack Hussein Obama the presidency. Among evangelicals the religious equivalent is a movement led by people like Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian; Stephen Sizer, a pastor who has gained popularity by condemning "Christian Zionism"; and, of course, Jimmy Carter, who accuses Israel of committing a "holocaust." How widespread is the erosion of evangelical support for Israel? Google this: "Letter to President Bush from Evangelical Leaders." Look at those who signed it - and the organizations they represent. Their claim to "represent large numbers of evangelicals" is true.

And behind it all? A resurgence of replacement theology, an ideology that, for almost 1700 years, has been used to ignite atrocities against Jewish communities.

One of Judaism's greatest traits is that, while the rest of world talks, it acts. The government of Israel has beefed up media relations and lobbying efforts to Western countries. It makes a special effort to reach Christians through its Tourism Ministry and the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus.

Religious Israeli organizations do a first-rate job in taking their case to gentiles. And a host of secular entities, most of them nonprofits, are second to none in telling the truth about Israel and exposing its enemies' lies.

But it is not enough. What else can be done? How can Israel be a more effective light that draws the nations to her?

First, recruit the world of commerce. Independent, for-profit media companies must present the broad canvas of Israeli news. Expanded investments in Israeli technologies will yield medical breakthroughs, unleash alternative energy sources and provide water and food for the world's population.

Second, aim directly to inform the potential "grassroot" supporters of the Jewish state. Bring Israel to them and they will come to Israel, both as tourists and supporters of the state.

Yes, methods include the Internet and its social networking tools. Still, there is nothing more effective than firsthand encounters.

So. Sponsor events. Send invitations to others instead of seeking invitations from others.

Deploy first-class conventions and shows and fairs, events hosted on civic platforms around the world. Get endorsements from influential people to market these events. Use them to showcase Israel, not defame it.

Begin these tours where demographic support is strong. Respect religious sensibilities. But use secular venues so that people from different backgrounds will feel comfortable and welcome. Participants with a variety of interests - business, social, political and religious - will enhance grassroot support for Israel and her people.

Most importantly, seek wisdom from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Listen for the whisper of His counsel. He alone is God of all the nations. Under the banner of His leadership, Israel will win.

July 29, 2007

Letter to President Bush From Evangelical Leaders

President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write as evangelical Christian leaders in the United States to thank you for your efforts (including the major address on July 16) to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to achieve a lasting peace in the region. We affirm your clear call for a two-state solution. We urge that your administration not grow weary in the time it has left in office to utilize the vast influence of America to demonstrate creative, consistent and determined U.S. leadership to create a new future for Israelis and Palestinians. We pray to that end, Mr. President.

We also write to correct a serious misperception among some people including some U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes the vast majority of the West Bank. Nothing could be further from the truth. We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. We hope this support will embolden you and your administration to proceed confidently and forthrightly in negotiations with both sides in the region.

As evangelical Christians, we embrace the biblical promise to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you." (Genesis 12:3). And precisely as evangelical Christians committed to the full teaching of the Scriptures, we know that blessing and loving people (including Jews and the present State of Israel) does not mean withholding criticism when it is warranted. Genuine love and genuine blessing means acting in ways that promote the genuine and long-term well being of our neighbors. Perhaps the best way we can bless Israel is to encourage her to remember, as she deals with her neighbor Palestinians, the profound teaching on justice that the Hebrew prophets proclaimed so forcefully as an inestimably precious gift to the whole world.

Historical honesty compels us to recognize that both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine. Both Israelis and Palestinians have committed violence and injustice against each other. The only way to bring the tragic cycle of violence to an end is for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a just, lasting agreement that guarantees both sides viable, independent, secure states. To achieve that goal, both sides must give up some of their competing, incompatible claims. Israelis and Palestinians must both accept each other's right to exist. And to achieve that goal, the U.S. must provide robust leadership within the Quartet to reconstitute the Middle East roadmap, whose full implementation would guarantee the security of the State of Israel and the viability of a Palestinian State. We affirm the new role of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and pray that the conference you plan for this fall will be a success.

Mr. President, we renew our prayers and support for your leadership to help bring peace to Jerusalem, and justice and peace for all the people in the Holy Land.

Finally, we would request to meet with you to personally convey our support and discuss other ways in which we may help your administration on this crucial issue.

Sincerely, Ronald J. Sider, President Evangelicals for Social Action

Don Argue, President Northwest University

Raymond J. Bakke, Chancellor Bakke Graduate University

Gary M. Benedict, President The Christian & Missionary Alliance

George K. Brushaber, President Bethel University

Gary M. Burge, Professor Wheaton College & Graduate School

Tony Campolo, President/Founder Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education

Christopher J. Doyle, CEO American Leprosy Mission

Leighton Ford, President Leighton Ford Ministries

Daniel Grothe, Pastoral Staff New Life Church (Colorado Springs)

Vernon Grounds, Chancellor Denver Seminary

Stephen Hayner, former President InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor Northland Church Member, Executive Committee of the NAE

Jo Anne Lyon, Founder/CEO World Hope International

Gordon MacDonald, Chair of the Board World Relief

Albert G. Miller, Professor Oberlin College

Richard Mouw, President Fuller Theological Seminary

David Neff, Editor Christianity Today

Glenn R. Palmberg, President Evangelical Covenant Church

Earl Palmer, Senior Pastor University Presbyterian Church Seattle

Victor D. Pentz, Pastor Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta

John Perkins, President John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation & Development

Bob Roberts, Jr., Senior Pastor Northwood Church, Dallas

Leonard Rogers, Executive Director Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding

Andrew Ryskamp, Executive Director Christian Reformed World Relief Committee

Chris Seiple, President Institute for Global Engagement

Robert A. Seiple, Former Ambassador-at-Large, International Religious Freedom U.S. State Department

Luci N. Shaw, Author, Lecturer Regent College, Vancouver

Jim Skillen, Executive Director Center for Public Justice

Glen Harold Stassen, Professor Fuller Theological Seminary

Richard Stearns, President World Vision

Clyde D. Taylor, Former Chair of the Board World Relief

Harold Vogelaar, Director Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice

Berten Waggoner, National Director Vineyard USA

An insane person is trying to kill you with a knife. Do you:

a) Shoot him?, or

b) Worry about what your neighbors will think if you shoot him? I mean, maybe you could try harder to persuade the insane person that murdering you with a knife is an antisocial act, and that perhaps if you were to give him something else it would be so entertaining to his murderous psychosis that he would no longer want to stab you dozens of times and chop your body into pieces and eat it. Perhaps he had a poor upbringing and just needs someone to be his friend, even though he thinks you are Satan and that he has ants in his head painfully chewing on his brain. And if you shoot him, though your neighbors already utterly despise you and have repeatedly tried to drive you out of your house over and over again, and call you filthy names and compare you to Nazis, that maybe they will no longer like you and want to invite you to their country club and ask you to be their BFF. Because more than anything else you want to be loved by the people who hate and despise you, and maybe somehow it is your fault that the insane person who has been trying to savagely murder you for over 50 years wants to do so. That is, maybe if you can just internally argue about it for decades it will change something, if you can just manage to keep not getting slashed and poked all that time...

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