Israel, her biggest achievements and her biggest battles. Do you support Israel? What is her destiny according to Bible Prophecy? But now, what about today and the dangers she faces? Read a speech given at the Parliament Building in Ireland recently and learn about this very important nation, Israel.
Remarks by Susan Michael
ICEJ Irish Branch Parliament Event
June 16, 2011
It is my honor to be with you tonight and to celebrate 63 years of the existence of the State of Israel! Now that is cause for celebration – is it not? We don’t just gather to celebrate the miracle of the birth of Israel or the miracle of her survival after six decades of war, but her achievements and contributions to the world. They are phenomenal and worthy of our esteem.
In these short 63 years she has developed a vibrant democracy, a sophisticated industrial infrastructure, and a dynamic economy. The Israeli shekel has in recent years outperformed almost all of the world’s currencies. In the US we have the NASDAC stock exchange for technology stocks.
There are more Israeli companies listed on NASDAC, than from any other country other than the US.
Israel is leading the world with cutting-edge innovation in the disciplines of science, health, technology, and agriculture. One of the major inventions of the 20th century was the Israeli drip irrigation system which made many deserts bloom.
And in the land of milk and honey, Israeli cows hold the world’s record for milk production! If you use a cell phone, you can thank Israel for their technology. If you use voice mail, you can thank Israel for their technology. If you use a computer, you can thank Israel for their technology. Or if you have recently been in a hospital, you are more than likely benefiting from Israeli technology.
There are so many more examples we could give. But the point is this: Israel’s achievements are not based on her possession of natural resources, or possession of great wealth, but on the talents and minds of her people. Israel’s achievements are reflective of the extraordinary people she is made of.
The Israeli people are pioneers, they are risk takers, they revere knowledge and learning, no one wants peace more than the Israeli people, and do whatever they can to relieve human suffering.
Over 140 countries have benefited, from humanitarian aid provided by Israel.
http://membershipmanagementservices.blogspot.com/2011/06/israel-leader-in-technology.html
From this tiny country, a spec on the map of the world, Israel’s creativity and spirit are helping people all around the world.
To our Israeli friends, we want to say thank you for who you are, and what you have contributed to our world. Happy Birthday Israel!
We are also here tonight in this prestigious hall of the Parliament of Northern Ireland to send a formal message of support for Israel. And if I may digress for a moment, I would like to take the liberty of explaining why this moment is very special to me.
Before I met and married my husband who is here with me tonight, my family name was McElroy. I was always told we were Scott-Irish and I never understood why we were both. So I researched our story in preparation for this trip.
My father’s ancestors were from Ireland. If I have the story right, about 1000 years ago part of the McElroys invaded the land now known today as Scotland. And whereas the McElroys that remained in Ireland were Catholic, the ones who went to Scotland came under the influence of the newly translated Bible, the teachings of John Knox and became Presbyterian.
They were known as Bible-believers or Covenanters, and were part of a great upheaval in Scotland that caused many of them to leave for Belfast and settle in County Down and County Derry. Before long, religious, political and economic difficulties caused many to turn their faces towards the New World.
In 1729, James McElroy and his wife, Sarah McHugh and their son boarded the ship “George and Ann” and headed for America. We have a family tree originating with this couple that traces every generation and their offspring leading down to my family.
For me to be standing here in Northern Ireland, 282 years later, and honoring the Jewish people who gave my family the Bible, and for celebrating their return to the land of their forefathers as was foretold in the Bible, is a personal historic moment I will always treasure.
James and Sarah McElroy’s generation read in their Bibles about the days when God would gather his people from the North and the South, from the East and the West, back to their ancient homeland.
We have the privilege of living in those days. But with privilege comes great responsibility for we must do all we can to help the Jews in their return and to support Israel when a blinded world is turning against her.
Israel needs our support like never before. Not only is Iran calling for Israel’s annihilation while arming herself with nuclear capabilities, but Iran is arming Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border with more missiles than many European countries own, and is arming Hamas on the southern border.
At the same time, the Arab revolts are creating great instability in the region and threatening Israel’s security.
But, another one of the most serious threats that Israel is facing today is a global campaign of delegitimization. This growing campaign against Israel is unprecedented and it is undermining her ability to deal with the other serious threats she faces. It turns world opinion against her right when she needs governments to take action against Iran, or against Hezbollah and Hamas, or against the Palestinians refusal to negotiate peace.
What is a Campaign of Delegitimization? It is a deliberate propaganda campaign to demonize Israel and to bring pressure on her through boycotts, divestment and sanctions, causing the world to question her right to exist so that finally, the Jewish State will be dismantled.
Those behind this campaign are inspired by the dismantling of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. So they have branded Israel as Apartheid, in hopes that she can be dismantled too.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/only-way-to-stop-delegitimation-is-to-sustain-personal-relationships-with-the-elite-like-friedman-and-arianna.html
Hitler understood the role of propaganda in preparing the way for the extermination of the Jewish people. We need to understand the role of this propaganda campaign against Israel. And we need to take it seriously. Because the goal of this campaign is not just to tie Israel’s hands and hinder her military operations, but to actually bring about the end of the Jewish state. So who is behind this? How can this be happening?
First, the enemies of Israel in the region have found a politically correct way to try to defeat her by pressuring her, sanctioning her, and calling for her end. Every defensive military action she takes is being called a war crime. Israel’s right to exist is now being openly questioned.
Secondly, antisemites have found a politically correct way to be antisemitic. While classic antisemitism blames the Jews for the world’s ills, this new antisemitism blames the Jewish nation for the world’s ills. She is not just blamed for the lack of Palestinian statehood, but for the lack of world peace.
Thirdly, it even goes beyond all of that. Israel’s situation requires a moral clarity that the world no longer has. We are living in a world that is moving rapidly towards moral relativism – the belief that there is no right or wrong, no good or evil, no truth or falsehood. Isaiah spoke of this in 5:20 when he said “Woe unto them who call good evil and evil, good.”
Israel is also a Jewish state, in an age when both religion and nationalism are under assault. Therefore her ‘Jewishness’ is being called racism.
The western world is also becoming increasingly pacifist. A nation that relies on military force for her very survival flies in the face of pacifism. Hence, they call her “Nazi.”
Well Israel you are not alone! They don’t like Bible-believing Christians either! And there are hundreds of millions of us. Why?
Well for starters, we believe there is right and there is wrong. And it is right to support democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, women’s rights, and the only country in the Middle East where the Christian Arab population is growing! It is right to support a Jewish state where the Arab minorities can vote, can attend University, can be Miss Israel, can serve in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court. This is right. And we support it. And, we believe there is good and evil. And the Israeli people are good. They are not only developing medicines and technology that are helping better lives all around the world but they provide life saving medical care to patients from Gaza, the West Bank, and from many Arab countries. Why? Because they are good people. And we support them.
And, we believe there is truth and falsehood. It is true, that Israel is morally, historically, biblically, and legally right in her existence! We reject the propaganda and the lies. We reject the demonized version of her story being taught in Universities, and circulated in the media and throughout the Arab world. We know the truth. And we stand with Israel.
And regarding pacifism, all Christians and Jews are pacifists at heart. Because we look forward to that day that Isaiah foretold when the nations will turn their swords into plowshares and will know war no more. But pacifism is for that perfect world which we will know in the age of redemption or the Messianic Age. This is not a perfect world. And as Prime Minister Netanyahu once said, “If the Arabs will lay down their arms, there will be peace. If Israel lays down her arms, she will cease to exist.”
So what can we do in light of such a serious propaganda campaign? There is a saying that I think sums it up well: “pray as though it is all up to God, and work as though it is all up to you.”
Isaiah 62:6-7 says:
6 “I have set watchmen on your walls O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD do not keep silent,
7 And give Him no rest till He establishes,
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”
Notice this: Jerusalem will no longer be delegitimized or ridiculed. Instead she will be a praise in all the earth, and it is “He” who will do this. We know that the battle is the Lord’s. And we will pray as though it is all up to Him.
But we also need to recognize this for the battle that it is. It is a battle for truth. And we each have a responsibility.
Let’s be clear about one thing. This is not just about Israel. And this is not just about the Jewish people. And this is not just about you and me and our obligation to “not keep silent!” This is also about all of the good people in the world who want to know the truth. They need to hear an opposing voice – your voice and my voice.
So tonight we are not only celebrating, and declaring our support, but tonight we also need to make a commitment to stand up to the challenges of our day and be strong.
So I close by speaking to you words that were spoken 2500 years ago in Iran – which was Persia, when another evil leader spread propaganda about the Jews and threatened to annihilate them. Mordecai said to Esther, “Who knows but that you were born into the Kingdom for Such a Time as This.”
You, my friends, were born for such a time as this! Each one of us has a history that brought us here to this place and to this point here tonight. We have a responsibility and a clear Biblical mandate to “be not silent.”
Then next year may we gather not only to celebrate Israel’s 64th Anniversary, but her triumph over this evil campaign against her.
May God help us all.
And may God bless Israel.
Please Pray for Israel and speak of her real history openly.
Let us not believe a lie!
victorygoneglobal 