From: MoishB@aol.com Date: Tue 30 Jul 2002 Subject: Support Israel: Why America Is Blessed Content-Language: en X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 40 Dear Sir: I can think of many reasons why I am fortunate and priviledged to be an=20 American. But the following article by Dennis Prager has reinforced my=20 feeling that it is our belief in justice and fairness that is this country's= =20 real strength. As long as our country stands for these ideals we will be blessed. Our=20 country's strong support of Israel from the founding of the modern state in= =20 1948 until today is a demonstration of these ideals. One Jewish country in the midst of over 100 throughout the world; one Jewis= h=20 country in the Middle East in the midst of over a dozen Arab/Moslem states;=20 one Jewish country in the midst of three Arab states in Palestine (yes :=20 Lebanon Syria and Jordan along with Israel were formed out of the Ottoman=20 province of Palestine). Yet the Arabs and the majority of the world will not be satisfied until ther= e=20 is no Jewish State. I applaud your administration's continuing support of Israel in the face of=20 Arab and world criticism. Israel is one of the few countries in the world=20 that shares our values of justice and freedom. As Mr. Prager states in his article "It is the United States that has sinc= e=20 its inception most blessed the Jews and that does so almost alone today=20= =E2=80=93 in=20 its support of the Jewish state against those who wish to exterminate it. By= =20 almost any reckoning America has been and remains the most blessed of=20 countries." May our country continue to prosper; and if it is due to our treatment of=20 Jews and all of the world's minorities that is just a side benefit from our= =20 great heritage. Respectfully yours Dennis Prager Those who curse the Jews and those who bless the Jews July 30 2002 =20 In 1973 during the Arab embargo on oil exports that followed the Yom Kippur= =20 War between Israel and Egypt many Americans had to deal with=20 embargo-induced hour-long lines at gas stations gas rationing and various= =20 setbacks to the economy. As a result some called for our abandonment of=20 Israel for the sake of oil.=20 Those voices were not heard among evangelical Christians.=20 In fact in a television broadcast from his church to his many followers=20 the Rev. Jerry Falwell said that he would sooner give up his car and ride a= =20 bicycle than yield to Arab blackmail. Citing Genesis (12:3) he explained=20 that God "will bless those who bless the Jews and curse whoever curses=20 the Jews."=20 I have since heard this over and over from lay Christians calling my radio= =20 show and from Christian leaders with whom I have shared platforms.=20 I heard this again this past weekend in Colorado Springs Colo. at the 25th= =20 Anniversary Celebration of Focus on the Family where I spoke to a few=20 thousand supporters of that influential evangelical organization. There are= =20 many reasons for the support of conservative Christians for Israel =E2=80= =93 along=20 with social conservatives the only group giving such support =E2=80=93 bu= t their=20 belief that God blesses those who bless the Jews and curses those who curse the Jews plays a central role.=20 When I first heard this verse cited by the Rev. Falwell I certainly found=20 it encouraging to hear a major Christian figure say this to fellow =20 Christians. But perhaps because I had just completed graduate work in the=20 social sciences my rational faculties simply dismissed the idea as more=20 quaint than believable.=20 Over time however that quote stayed with me. Eight years later when=20 Rabbi Joseph Telushkin and I wrote a book explaining anti-Semitism ("Why=20 the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism" Simon & Schuster) we noted this=20 verse. But now after seeing the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the Arab=20 and Muslim worlds and in Europe after being asked by the publisher to=20 write a new version of the book and after hearing Christians repeatedly=20 cite this verse I feel compelled to finally take a position: Is this=20 verse biblical poetry or verifiably true?=20 I am increasingly convinced that it is verifiably true.=20 I think of Spain for example. One of the world's mightiest powers and most=20 developed culturesmin the 15th century in 1492 it reached its zenith when=20 it sent Christopher Columbus on a voyage that changed history. But the=20 same year it also expelled all its Jews and intensified the Spanish =20 Inquisition against the many forced Jewish converts to Catholicism=20 (converses). Spain then descended into a 500-year status as "the sick man o= f=20 Europe."=20 I think of Germany (and Austria) as the cultural and intellectual center of=20 Europe if not the world before World War II. Then Germany (with Austrians'= =20 help) murdered nearly every Jew in Europe. Germany lost over seven million=20 people was divided for a generation and while it now thrives materially=20 culturally Germany has become irrelevant. Ask anyone even an intellectual=20 to name one living German.=20 And I think about the world today. Look at who most blesses the Jews and who= =20 most curses them and you decide whether the verse in Genesis has validity.=20 It is the United States that has since its inception most blessed the Jews= =20 and that does so almost alone today =E2=80=93 in its support of the Jewish s= tate=20 against those who wish to exterminate it. By almost any reckoning America=20 has been and remains the most blessed of countries.=20 And it is the Arab world that curses the Jews. It rivals Nazi Germany for th= e=20 ubiquity and intensity of its Jew-hatred. Look at its state. According to=20 Arab scholars appointed by the United Nations to report on the state of Arab= =20 society that part of the world lags behind the rest of humanity including= =20 in most instances sub-Saharan Africa in virtually every social moral and=20 intellectual indicator. And there is no question but that its half-century=20 long preoccupation with destroying Israel has only increased the Arab world'= s=20 woes.=20 No one can prove it is God who actively blesses those who bless the Jews an= d=20 curses those who curse them. But at the same time the evidence historicall= y=20 and this very moment suggests that there is indeed a real connection between= =20 the state of a society and its treatment of the Jews. Dennis Prager one of America's most respected and popular nationally=20 syndicated radio talk-show hosts is the author of several books and a=20 frequent guest on television shows such as Larry King Live Politically=20 Incorrect The Late Late Show on CBS Rivera Live The Early Show on CBS Fo= x=20 Family Network The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes. =3D=3D^=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D The President's email: president@whitehouse.gov The Vice President's email: vice.president@whitehouse.gov White House phone: 202-456-1414 Fax: 202-456-2461 Click on "Govt. Email Addresses" at www.vipac.org for other officials. To unsubscribe e-mail: vipac-letters-unsubscribe@vipac.org =3D=3D^=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D |