The Times for Messianic Jews – Prejudice against Messianic Jews in Israel is no longer going unnoticed in the Jewish community and wider world.
Cross post from the excellent Rosh Pina Project
Prejudice against Messianic Jews in Israel is no longer going unnoticed in the Jewish community and wider world. October 2nd saw an article in The Times profiling the persecution of Messianic Jewish Israeli citizens by the Yad L’Achim anti-missionary organisation. It noted that the Israeli daily Haaretz would also run an article on the plight of Messianic Jews. The secular press in Israel has pretty much ignored this in general and the Ami Ortiz bombing in particular. Recently Harry’s Place, a popular political blog frequented by many Jewish readers featured a guest post by the Rosh Pina Project calling on fair treatment for Messianic Jews. Various other secular Jewish blogs have been echoing this call, perhaps the time has come for the Israeli government to reign in the hate speech against its Messianic Jewish citizens.
Recently Yad L’Achim complained on its web site about being compared to the KGB but offered no convincing evidence as to why that was a false comparison. However, the Caspari Review recently noted an article appearing in the regional Israeli newspaper HaTzvi which stated that residents of the Arad neighbourhood of Rotem are collaborating with Yad L’Achim in order to prevent the spread of “missionary activity” into their area, noting in particular its “penetration” by Rivka Fry Panchard, a “Jewish apostate who was baptized into Christianity by the sect [of Messianic Jews]” who was forced to move when her “missionary activity” was exposed. The hysterical language of Yad L’Achim such as “penetration” that is used refers not to military action but to the fact that Rivka Fry Panchard just happens to live in the Rotem neighbourhood of Arad.
Tags: Christian Persecution