By Lael Shields, Contributing Writer
God’s chosen people have faced adversity and had to fight for survival since Abraham’s promise. They have struggled against many nations who wish to see their diasporation. However, God has provided them with grace and seen them through the fire. It would seem that if God is their ally, and modern Israelites don’t need any human help. But, if we know anything about the way God works, we should know that his favorite miracles are done through others. So the question becomes, why don’t we want to be the hands of Christ for Israel anymore? They face threats on every side and even within their state. Yet Christ’s New Bride, Christians, appear to care very little.
Israel was made a state in 1948. Since its start, Israel has slowly received less and less support from America. A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center supports the statement that more and more Americans believe that Israel’s response to conflicts has gone too far and less Americans feel safe saying “They respond all right” (The Washington Post- “Is it true that American Support for Israel is waning?- Adam Taylor).
It’s no wonder there is a shift in support occurring. A large amount of America’s media has been pushing to bring to light all of Israel’s failures. An Op-Ed piece was recently published in the NY Times called “Minority Life in Israel” where a Palestinian woman reflects on her mistreatment inflicted by the Israelis. The view is indeed interesting, and raises points that are valid. Israel does often target Palestinians in their security checks and may make them feel unwelcome. However, the article never mentions why they go through these measures. Thousands of missiles have been shot in Israel by Palatinians since January of this year. Strong security measures seem like an adequate measure to take in those kinds of conditions. America tightened up her security after 9/11. It seems hypocritical for us to back off in our support of Israel instead of empathize with her.
I merely point fingers at America’s attitude towards Israel because it is supposedly the home to a large percentage of Christians. It has claimed to be a strong supporter and ally with Israel for years, much to the dismay of many Middle Eastern countries. America has indeed begun to back off her support of the Jewish state, but, I believe that if Christians were stronger in their support of Israel, this would not be happening.
What does support for Israel look like? Well, the average Christian doesn’t have too much control over what the government does or doesn’t do. However, we can have control over racism. For whatever reason, Christians have deemed it “ok” to refer to objects or people as being a “Jew.” This is a put down and should not be done by Christians. Instead we should have a deep love for our brothers and sisters. They are so close to knowing Christ but haven’t reached that place yet. I would like to see Christians leave these gross terms and replace them with love and a ministry to the Jews.