Showing posts with label divestments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label divestments. Show all posts

Sunday, January 17, 2016

God Honors Churches Which Support Israel While Methodist Churches Sit Empty by Abra Forman - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Illustrative: United Methodist Church of Saugus, Massachusetts (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Daderot)

Illustrative: United Methodist Church of Saugus, Massachusetts (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Daderot)

IFCJ Leader Yechiel Eckstein: God Honors Churches Which Support Israel While Methodist Churches Sit Empty

“I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.” (Numbers 24:10)
The International Fellowship of Jews and Christians (IFCJ) has harshly condemned the United Methodist Church’s recent decision to divest from five Israeli banks, warning that churches which do not support Israel will ultimately suffer from decreased membership and affiliation.
IFCJ founder Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein said in a statement responding to the decision, “God is clearly honoring the churches that stand with Israel and the Jewish people by bringing about huge growth with them, and at the same time Methodist churches are sitting empty and their affiliation is way down.”
He said that the United Method Church (UMC) pension board’s blacklisting of five Israeli banks on the grounds that they enable abuse of human rights would only garner more conflict and strife in the region.
“Boycotting divides people and stirs deeper hatred for Israel and the Jewish people, rather than encouraging peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he stated.
He emphasized the Fellowship’s appreciation for the millions of Christians who have “faithfully stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel and the Jewish people, despite cynical and hate-filled attempts to demonize Israel” in recent years.
NGO Monitor also made a statement blasting the decision and pointing a finger at the non-governmental organizations which attempt to delegitimize Israel under the guise of human rights. This group of “radical and anti-peace NGOs” runs campaigns calling for boycotts and divestments from Israel, said the statement.
The organization called the United Methodist Church’s decision immoral and damaging to the possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. “Isolating Israel and damaging the prospect of peace are entirely inconsistent with universal values and morality,” said Professor Gerald Steinberg of NGO Monitor.
NO to BDS and YES to Israel!
He argued that the decision was based in a desire to hurt Israel rather than help Palestinians. “By adopting this resolution, the UMC handed a victory to anti-Israel extremists who are more interested in causing harm to the Jewish state than to improve the lives of Palestinians and Israelis,” he charged.
These extremists are represented by a group of NGOs which work against Israel, NGO Monitor said. At the forefront of this campaign is an NGO called “Who Profits”, which is funded by a number of European donors, including several church groups and the government of Spain.
Another pro-BDS and anti-peace NGO which promotes “economic warfare” against Israel is Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which praised the United Methodist Church decision and boasts a partnership with the United Methodist Kairos Response, a major BDS proponent within the Methodist church, said the NGO Monitor statement.
These organizations are part of a larger network of about 1,500 NGOs which, at a 2001 UN conference, formed a strategy aimed at delegitimizing Israel as an “apartheid regime” by calling for the imposition of sanctions and embargoes and the “full cessation of all links (diplomatic, economic, social, aid, military cooperation and training) between all states and Israel.
Steinberg called the strategy of using churches to advance the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) agenda “cynical”, adding that it “takes advantage of the perception of the church as a source of good and morality.”
“Tuesday’s decision by the UMC reflects the destructive power of the NGO network that exploits human rights for hate, and undermining the chances for peace and reconciliation,” he said.

Friday, January 31, 2014

SodaStream Plans on Bringing Scarlett Johansson to Israel this Year - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

SodaStream Plans on Bringing Scarlett Johansson to Israel this Year

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse…” (Genesis 12:3)
(Photo: Facebook)
(Photo: Facebook)
Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has been making waves in the news lately for not bowing to pressure to boycott Israel. Johansson, a spokesman for the Israeli based SodaStream company, has been criticized by anti-Israel advocates as supporting an apartheid state and the oppression of Palestinians in Israel.
More specifically, the humanitarian group Oxfam International, of which Johansson is affiliate with, has been pressuring Johansson to leave SodaStream since Oxfam opposes all trade from Israeli settlement. It was announced late this week that the 29 year old actress has decided to split with Oxfam citing a “fundamental difference of opinion.”
“Scarlett Johansson has respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years,” the statement said. “She and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestments and sanctions movement. She is very proud of her accomplishments and fundraising efforts during her tenure with Oxfam.”
Oxfam released a statement upon Johansson’s departure from the organization, saying it was “grateful for her many contributions.”
“While Oxfam respects the independence of our ambassadors, Ms. Johansson’s role promting the company SodaStream is incompatible with her role as an Oxfam Global Ambassador,” the statement said. “Oxfam believes that businesses, such as SodaStream, that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support.”
What is apparent from this whole controversy is that Scarlett Johansson is a friend of Israel. SodaStream announced on Thursday that it is planning on bringing its global ambassador to Israel this year.
SodaStream president Yonah Lloyd told The Jerusalem Post: “She [Johansson] has never been to Israel before. We look forward to hosting her later in the year.”
Johansson last week responded to critics saying she was a “supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine.” She added that SodaStream is “not only committed to the environment but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights. That is what is happening in their Ma’ale Adumim factory every working day.”

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/sodastream-plans-bringing-scarlett-johansson-israel-year/#1RR0dp1rtuKoyiqL.99