Evangelical Christians are fierce Israel supporters. Now they are visiting as war-time volunteers In a lemon orchard in southern Israel, the volunteers provide extra hands for farmers struggling to harvest crops. Since the Israel-Hamas war began five months ago, evangelicals have been visiting Israel in growing numbers to volunteer and support the war effort. (AP Video: Alon Bernstein, Ami Bentov) By MELANIE LIDMAN March 13, 2024 https://apnews.com/article/evangeli...unteer-trips-462329e04459191fd6ae061e722cae30 TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — When Shawn Landis, an evangelical Christian from Pennsylvania, heard about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, he knew he would come to Israel to volunteer as soon as it was safe. Five months later, he was chopping vegetables in a Tel Aviv kitchen, preparing meals for Israeli soldiers. Evangelicals have been among Israel’s fiercest foreign supporters for years, particularly in the United States, where their significant political influence has helped shape the Israel policy of recent Republican administrations. Elisabeth Odegaard poses for a portrait with necklaces as she prepares food for Israeli soldiers on a brief respite from combat operations in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) They believe Israel is key to an end-times prophecy that will bring about the return of the Christian Messiah. Many of these Christians support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. “In the Scripture it instructs us to support Israel, and sometimes the best time to support someone is when they’re grieving,” said Landis, who has been on four previous faith-based trips to Israel. “Friendship is not just about being there for the good times, it’s also about the rough times.” Landis is part of a wave of religious “voluntourism” to Israel, organized trips that include some kind of volunteering aspect connected to the war in Gaza. Israel’s Tourism Ministry estimates around one-third to half of the approximately 3,000 daily visitors expected to arrive in March are part of faith-based volunteer trips. Before the fighting, around 15,000 visitors arrived in Israel per day, about half of whom were Christian, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. In 2019, the latest tourism statistics available that were not impacted by COVID-19, about 25% of visitors arrived on organized trips, according to the Tourism Ministry. Dutch volunteers Anja van der Stok, left, and Jannie Slim, right, pick lemons on a farm in southern Israel, as part of a post-Oct. 7 solidarity tour, Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) Dutch volunteer Jannie Slim picks lemons on a farm in southern Israel, as part of a post-Oct. 7 solidarity tour, Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) A study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that almost half of Israelis volunteered in some capacity during the early weeks of the war. But many Israeli volunteers have returned to work and school, and now international visitors are filling the gaps. In the U.S., support for Israel has become a top priority for evangelical Christians during a presidential election year. They are among the most outspoken backers of Israel’s handling of the conflict, and Republicans have faced pressure to hew not just to traditional Republican support for Israel but to beliefs rooted in the Bible. Christian volunteers pick lemons on a farm in southern Israel, as part of a post-Oct. 7 solidarity tour, Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) The war began with Hamas’ attack in southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel responded with an invasion of the Gaza Strip that so far has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. On Oct. 11, dozens of leading evangelicals signed a statement of support for Israel organized by the public policy wing of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest evangelical faith group in the U.S. One of the key pro-Israel groups in the U.S. is Christians United for Israel, founded and led by evangelical pastor John Hagee. CUFI says it has raised and dispersed more than $3 million to support Israeli first responders, health care workers, and survivors of the Oct. 7 attack. Christian volunteers Anja van der Stok, left, and Jannie Slim, right, pick lemons on a farm in southern Israel, as part of a post-Oct. 7 solidarity tour, Monday, March 4, 2024. Their trip is part of a wave of religious “voluntourism” to Israel, organized trips that include some kind of volunteering aspect connected to the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel’s Tourism Ministry estimates around a third to half of the approximately 3,000 visitors expected to arrive each day in March are part of faith-based volunteer trips. Prior to Oct. 7, around 15,000 visitors were arriving in Israel per day, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) Landis was part of a two-week volunteer trip organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. The evangelical group has put together five volunteer trips since January and expects to bring half a dozen more in the coming month. Normally, ICEJ brings about 6,000 Christian visitors to Israel annually. Like Landis, Claudio Pichardo, a 37-year-old from Colombia studying business in Holland, was inspired by Scripture to join the ICEJ trip. “This is the best way I can help, because posting on Facebook doesn’t help,” he said. When the war started, many international airlines suspended flights and tourism stopped, aside from a handful of Jewish and Christian solidarity missions. Some major airlines resumed flights to Israel in recent weeks, and others plan to soon. Christian volunteer Connie Grace from Canada picks lemons on a farm in southern Israel, as part of a post-Oct. 7 solidarity tour, Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) Peleg Lewi, the foreign affairs adviser to the Tourism Ministry, said the faith-based solidarity missions boost morale. The can also kick-start overall tourism to Israel after a cycle of war or violence, he said. With the war in its sixth month, Israel is under growing international pressure to do more to end the suffering of civilians in Gaza, including allowing in more aid. Aid groups say the fighting has displaced most of the territory’s population and pushed a quarter of the population to the brink of famine. Hospitals have reported that some children have died of hunger. Many Israelis fear the world is forgetting about Oct. 7. Elizabeth Ødegaard, a trip participant from Norway, said she was surprised by how emotional Israelis get when they meet international visitors who have come to support them. Christian volunteers Elisabeth Odegaard, rear right, Claudio Rafael, left, and Jannie Slim, center, clean up after preparing food for Israeli soldiers on a brief respite from combat operations in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) “Many people tell us, `The whole world hates us. Everyone is against us,’ so I want to say to them, `You’re not alone,’” she said. “I know the people of Israel are important to God. These are my brothers and sisters, and when they attack Israel, they attack me too.” ICEJ trip participants visited hard-hit communities in southern Israel, including the site where the shells of hundreds of burned-out cars are being stored, many from the Tribe of Nova music festival, where 364 people were killed. “It was humbling and sobering to be there, to know what happened a few months ago and to see Israeli resilience,” said Landis. During such trips, visitors join volunteer initiatives that sprang up in Israel over the past five months, providing extra hands for farmers struggling to harvest crops, cooking meals for families who have a parent serving in the reserves or sorting donations for evacuees still living in hotels. Christian volunteers prepare food for Israeli soldiers on a brief respite from combat operations in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) One initiative is Citrus & Salt, which previously hosted cooking classes and tours of Tel Aviv’s markets for tourists. When the war started, it pivoted to making more than 35,000 donated meals. “It really helps boost morale for people to come from abroad to Israel in a time of conflict, to physically say, ‘I’m here to help. What do you need?’” said Aliya Fastman, a native of Berkeley, California, who has lived in Israel for over a decade and runs Citrus & Salt with her sister. “Chopping onions is no small thing when you fly across the world to do it.” Food made by Evangelical Christian volunteers for Israeli soldiers on a brief respite from combat operations in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The irony of it all which sails over most heads..... 'Godly' Evangelicals largely support corrupt to the eyeballs Trump and corrupt bullshitartistry Israel. But 1+1 doesn't equal 2 in the 'lalaland fairytale lacking a brain to think for themselves' christians. Fairytale god who wrote the fairytale bible says "support Israel no matter what". And fairytale god never said follow Trump, but the christians do anyway, gawd only knows why.
Present day christians would be the first to criticize jesus for overturning the Jewish Temple money tables, they would be agast at jesus words, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." "Ohhh no, we support bullshitting 'Israel the victim' no matter what."
Yes, we are all wondering how the U.S. will build and secure a pier in Gaza that Hamas has already vowed to destroy because the terrorists don't want food being delivered to Gaza civilians. How the US military plans to construct a pier and get food into Gaza https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68534370
The only group blocking a ceasefire deal in Gaza is Hamas. At this point Qatar and the other international brokers of the ceasefire talks have lost their patience with Hamas. Qatar has outright told Hamas that they will deport the Hamas leaders in Qatar unless they agree to the ceasefire deal. The nice comfy existence of Hamas leaders in luxury villas will millions of stolen aid dollars will come to an abrupt end. Here is my advice -- Qatar should deport these Hamas leaders to Israel. Signs of breakthrough in Gaza ceasefire talks as Qatar warns Hamas Significant progress has been made on a Gaza ceasefire deal after Qatar threatened to expel Hamas leaders from Doha unless the group changed its approach in the truce talks, according to a report. https://inews.co.uk/news/world/breakthrough-signs-ceasefire-gaza-hamas-qatar-2953871 Negotiations for a ceasefire agreement have continued for weeks but the talks have reached a deadlock, with Hamas demanding that any temporary cessation of hostilities in Gaza come with guarantees for an end to the war. Qatar, which is acting as mediator in the talks, along with Egypt and the US, has warned Hamas that its leaders living in Qatar will be deported from country unless it adapts its approach in the negotiations, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed senior Arab diplomat. The apparent breakthrough followed a report by Al Arabiya that Hamas had accepted a modified version of the US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. Representatives of the group are expected to travel to Cairo, where talks have been taking place, to discuss the final details of the deal within days, an unnamed senior Hamas official told Al Arabiya on Tuesday. Hamas later issued a statement denying the report. The White House has urged Hamas to release women, elderly and wounded hostages in Gaza and to accept a temporary ceasefire in order to secure a more lasting one. “A ceasefire is on the table today, for six weeks to be built on into something more enduring if Hamas would simply release women, wounded and elderly,” the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, voiced concern over the lack of progress in the ceasefire talks but said Doha remained “hopeful”. “We are not near a deal, meaning that we are not seeing both sides converging on language that can resolve the current disagreement over the implementation of a deal,” he told a news conference on Tuesday. All parties were “continuing to work in the negotiations to reach a deal hopefully within the confines of Ramadan”, he added, but said he could not “offer any timeline” on a deal and that the conflict remained “very complicated on the ground”. Israel was reported to have accepted the terms of a six-week framework, reached after talks in Paris, under which hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for some of the hostages held by Hamas since its attack on southern Israel on 7 October, in which 1,200 people were killed. During a week-long truce in November, Hamas freed more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for Israel releasing about 240 Palestinian prisoners. About 130 hostages are believed to be still in Gaza. Hamas has consistently refused to accept a deal unless there are guarantees that it could lead to a permanent ceasefire that ends the war, and for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to expand the Israeli offensive in Gaza into the southern city of Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians have sought refuge, and to keep fighting until Hamas has been destroyed. More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in five months of war, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and many of the 2.3 million population have been forced from their homes.
US pause on funding UNRWA may become permanent https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240313-us-pause-on-funding-unrwa-may-become-permanent/ A supplemental funding bill in the US Congress that includes military aid to Israel and Ukraine and is supported by the Biden administration, contains a provision that would block UNRWA from receiving funds if it becomes law. "........UNRWA is a front, plain and simple,” claimed Republican lawmaker Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability. “It masquerades as a relief organisation while building the infrastructure to support Hamas… It is literally funnelling American tax dollars to terrorism.” He provided no evidence for his outrageous allegation against a major UN agency. Oh the irony.....".....It is literally funnelling American tax dollars to terrorism.....”