Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Thursday 4 July 2013

"There Is No Other Country Here That Is Worth Fighting For": Onward Israel's Christian Arab Soldiers

Israel:Arab IDF soldiers
Getty Images: see http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000520.html
 

"We don’t live in Syria, where Christians are not allowed to speak...or in Iraq, where churches are bombed. We live in a Jewish state, which is democratic and free. As Israeli Christians we see ourselves as part of this state and not as part of those who oppose it." 

That's the clear message from Israeli Arab Moran Khaloul, a Christian resident of Nazareth, explaining to the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv why he and a number of like-minded Nazareth Christians, who (to the wrath of many Muslim Arabs, including members of the Knesset who've been trying to get a young Greek Orthodox priest who's been encouraging the trend sacked by his superiors) are joining the IDF in increasing numbers,  keen to defend Israel.

"That’s why more and more of us are realizing that there is no other country here that is worth fighting for," observes another, also mindful of the persecution of Christians elsewhere in the region.

"Ultimately, from a religious point of view, we are one. Jesus was a Jew, his mother was a Jew, and his 12 disciples were Jews," reasons an Arab Christian teenager who intends to join the IDF following his imminent leaving of school.
 
 Read more here
(And also here )
Hat tip: reader and blogger Ian G

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