National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel (NCLCI)
MINNEAPOLIS – The National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel calls on Christians in the United States to stand in solidarity with Jews in the aftermath of a shooting attack on the last day of Passover, April 27, 2019, at Congregation Chabad in Poway, north of San Diego, CA, which left one person dead and several others injured.
“Jews in America have been the targets of an undeniable, documented increase in hostility over the past two decades,” said NCLCI Board President Dr. Tricia Miller. “Christians must stand in solidarity with Jews in the U.S. and recognize that the alarming rise in anti-Jewish sentiment and acts is directly related to criticisms of Israel that are rooted in the same old anti-Semitic tropes used against Jews for centuries.”
One has only to look at Europe, where studies have shown that anti-Semitic incidents rise exponentially whenever Israel takes necessary actions to protect its civilian population from terrorist attacks.
Therefore, Christians need to be careful when speaking about the Arab-Israeli conflict, said NCLCI Board member, JoAnn Magnuson. “If Christians only focus on what Israel does and ignore hostile acts committed by Palestinians, they feed a prejudiced worldview in which Jewish power and malevolence explain all the problems of the world, and American Jews are portrayed as a singular obstacle to peace.”
Indeed, “Paranoia about Jewish power and influence on American policy in the Middle East has been a theme we’ve seen in the rhetoric of some Christian peacemakers,” NCLCI Board member, Sandra Gilbert, stated. “Some prominent Christians in the U.S. and Europe have spoken about American Jews as if they ‘own’ Congress. This is profoundly troubling because it sets up Jews as legitimate targets for violence.”
“Christians in the United States can no longer operate under the illusion that anti-Semitism has been eradicated from American civil society,” NCLCI Board member, Libby Gutterman, warned. “We need to recognize the fact that the hostility we have seen directed at Jews in Europe is manifesting itself on American soil. And as Christians, we need to understand why this is happening.”
In the wake of yet another attack on Jews as they were assembled for worship, NCLCI calls on Christians in the U.S. to stand in solidarity with our Jewish brethren, and to stand against the vilification of American Jews and the demonization of Israel.
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Founded in 1978, NCLCI exists to encourage and develop understanding and support for the people, land, and State of Israel in the North American Christian community.
