Anti-Semitism & violence condemned

As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Christian leaders are condemning increasing anti-Semitism as well as other aspects of the war.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, wrote: ‘In recent days we have witnessed repugnant expressions of anti-Semitism in Sydney which have appalled most Australians and heightened fears among the Jewish community.

‘The conduct of some individuals in our city including flag burnings and aggressive verbal incitements to violence against Jewish people have shocked and repulsed our city. It deserves the strongest condemnation and must not be tolerated.

‘The sin of anti-Semitism has a long and shameful history. It must be repudiated in the strongest terms.’

Dr Peter J Williams, Principal of Tyndale House, Cambridge, wrote on Twitter/X: ‘Every Jew should be able to feel that the UK is a safe place for them to live. Stop anti-Semitism.’ He quoted a Tweet from a Jewish Briton who had written: ‘I have no long term future in the U.K. because I’m Jewish… Jew-hate is just too deeply embedded in this country, I’m sorry to say.’

Dr Michael L. Brown, a Jewish believer in Jesus, wrote: ‘Jewish babies are slaughtered in cold blood, and anti-Semitism spikes. Tell me this is not demonic.’

Anti-Semitism lies at the heart of Hamas, the terrorist organisation which launched several thousand missiles against Israel on 7 October. In a disturbing video, posted by the Israel Defense Forces on Youtube, Hamas’s ‘official sheikh’ can be seen declaring: ‘Oh Allah, bring annihilation upon the Jews. Paralyze them, destroy their entity. Oh Allah, enable us to get to the necks of the Jews.’

In the same video, Fathi Hamad, former interior minister of Gaza, is seen saying: ‘The day of your slaughter, extermination and annihilation is near,’ and an unnamed Hamas imam is seen preaching: ‘Our doctrine in fighting you (the Jews) is that we will totally exterminate you. We will not leave a single one of you alive.’

Meanwhile, on Twitter/X, John Stevens, National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), commended an article by Jewish believer Nick Howard written on the Gospel Coalition website in the US.

In the article, entitled ‘The Need for Moral Clarity,’ Howard wrote: ‘Christian discernment looks at both the nature of an action and its aims. If Hamas had simply taken civilian hostages, the act itself would have been evil (the Bible forbids kidnapping), but the aim might arguably have had some military justification – hostages have been exchanged in the past for Palestinian prisoners. But Hamas hasn’t simply taken hostages. 

‘It deliberately designed military operations with the aim of murdering civilians. Those civilian victims weren’t the collateral damage of attacks on military targets; the civilians themselves were the targets. There is no Biblical justification for this butchery.’

On the website of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, its CEO Paul Woolley wrote: ‘We must unequivocally condemn the Hamas attacks for what they are – evil acts of terror, including the rape, kidnapping, and murder of women, men, and children. Any attempt to justify these actions is morally indefensible, and we must firmly oppose the arguments of those who seek to rationalise them. Contrary to what one academic at a British University has said, the events of last weekend are not the “consequence” for “partying on stolen land”.’