Christian Mass in Jerusalem (Archive photo)
Photo: AP
Messianic missionaries flood Arizona
Jewish newspaper reports wave of increased attempts to deceive and convert Jews by 'messianic' missionaries
A wave of Christian missionaries - under the disguise of 'messianic Jews' - are flooding Arizona, the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix reported on Friday.
"They're bold, sometimes direct, sometimes covert, and they seek out opportunities to schmooze with Jews," the report said.
"'They' are Christian missionaries who often call themselves messianic Jews and are reaching out in greater numbers to mainstream Jews, it added, noting that missionaries will often use Jewish symbols and literature, such as a Judaica story, as part of their missionary trap.
Rabbi Barton Lee, director of Hillel Jewish Student Center at Arizona State University, told the Jewish News that attempts to convert Jews to Christianity came "in waves," and added that "an influx in cash or a new marketing ploy" could be behind the latest increase in missionizing activities.
One member of the Jewish community became suspicious when a messianic missionary attended a Hanukah party. After consulting the internet, he found that that his suspicions were proved to be correct.
"I looked him up on the internet and found his name attached to the Tikkun Ministries Web site," Fred Barlam was quoted by the Jewish News as saying.
Tikkun Ministries advocates that Christian missionaries immerse "themselves in Jewish education and customs," the article noted.
'Carter armed David Duke'
The book written by President Jimmy Carter, 'Peace Not Apartheid,' has allowed former KKK leader David Duke to be able to quote a former US President, the Jewish Week's Anthony Weiner said in an editorial.
"Being an ex-president is a very important job with great power and prestige," Weiner wrote, adding: "That is why Jimmy Carter's decision to abandon his responsibility and descend into the muck of anti-Israel propaganda is not only sad, it is dangerous. With his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, Carter trades on his prestige to become Polemist in Chief."
"But Jimmy Carter is more than guilty of overstatement and being plain wrong. He is guilty of anti-Semitism," Weiner wrote, adding that the former US president was using the "same language" as anti-Semites when he blamed the region's ills on "the Jewish lobby."
"Thanks to Carter, it is no longer difficult to imagine David Duke defending his views by quoting a former president of the United States of America," the columnist said.
Calls for Islamic state in Australia
The Australian attorney-general has "ordered security agencies to review the status of the radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir," the Australian Jewish News (AJN) reported this week.
"The organisation, which has called for Israel's destruction and held a major conference in Sydney last Sunday, remains free to operate here," the AJN report said, adding that "a legal expert told the AJN that it was still within the Commonwealth's power to proclaim Hizb ut-Tahrir an enemy at war with Australia, in the same capacity as Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, even if it hadn't incited violence on the community."
The Australian branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir held a conference on Sunday in Lakemba in south-west Sydney, attracting nearly 600 members, and which heard calls for "a global Islamic superstate, the Khilafah, which would overpower western democracies and be governed by shari'a law," the AJN added.
Dr Ismail Yusanto, Hizb ut-Tahrir's Indonesian chairman, "advocated jihad against the enemy to defend the caliphate from foreign influence," the report said, quoting Yustano as saying: "Money obtained by public utilities will be used for the sole purpose of jihad... If the caliphate was falling, all people would take up arms against the enemy."
