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SOUTH AFRICA’S CHIEF RABBI BLASTS POPE FRANCIS AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY OVER MIDDLE EAST HISTORY AND CURRENT WAR

SOUTH AFRICA’S CHIEF RABBI BLASTS POPE FRANCIS AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY OVER MIDDLE EAST HISTORY AND CURRENT WAR
Rabbi accuses Welby of Biblical ignorance and rejecting the Bible’s clear teaching on the land of Israel
If Israel falls to Jihadi forces so will Europe. Europe’s future hangs in the balance, says Rabbi

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
August 27, 2024

The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis and the head of the Church of England, Justin Welby have abandoned their most sacred duty to protect and defend the values of the Bible, says South Africa’s Chief Rabbi, Warren Goldstein.

“The world is locked in a civilizational battle of values threatened by terrorism and violent Jihad. Now is the time for religious leaders to come to the defense of society; to speak up for western values and freedom. Instead, Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby are silent, indifferent to the murder of Christians in Africa and to the threat of terrorism in Europe and outright hostile to Israel’s attempt to battle Jihadi forces led by Iran.” Europe’s future hangs in the balance, said Rabbi Goldstein.

The Rabbi said the latest example of Welby coming out in support of the recent ICJ ruling against Israel puts him in direct opposition to the Bible. The International Court of Justice declared Israel to be an illegal occupier of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Archbishop Welby gave his full backing to the ruling.

Here is what Welby said: “The ICJ has made clear that Isael’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is unlawful and needs to end rapidly. It is clear that ending the occupation is a legal and moral necessity.”

The ABC puts great trust in the ICJ, said the Rabbi. This trust is misplaced. The ICJ is an arm of the UN dominated by despotic regimes. Of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly only 84 are ranked as free societies by Freedom House, a think tank in the US. The UN is thus dominated by regimes who don’t subscribe to the key tenets of liberal democracy and who are antithetical to the foundational values of the church.

The ICJ is a political body advancing the UNs anti-Western and anti-Israel agenda. The ICJ does not appear to be unbiased any more. The presiding judge is from Lebanaon a country currently at war with Israel.

There never has existed a Palestinian state on this land, or part thereof, said the Rabbi. The West Bank was under Jordanian control before the 1967 War.

SERIOUS ISSUE

How can the head of the CofE support an ICJ ruling that deems the West Bank and East Jerusalem occupied territory to which the Jewish state has no rightful claim. In doing so Archbishop Welby is effectively rejecting the Bible. The Bible is not just a book of theology it is a book of historical fact.

According to international law the West Bank was disputed rather than occupied territory. Judea and Samaria lie squarely within the borders of the land God promised and delivered to the Jewish people. Does Archbishop Welby believe in the Bible? Are Jews in his view illegal occupiers in the land of Israel, the same land of Israel that includes the West Bank mentioned 170 times in the Hebrew Bible as the land that the God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as an eternal oath?

The Rabbi ran through the Old Testament books outlining the occupation of Israel over the land God promised. “They built the Second Temple on the same spot. How can you say that Israel is an illegal occupier of the Temple Mount. Does Welby believe they are mere myths?”

How can he agree with the ICJ that Israel is an illegal of the occupier of the Temple Mount. Jerusalem appears 660 times in the Hebrew Bible. If Archbishop Welby read his Bible, he should know that Jerusalem existed before Britain, and was the capital of Israel before anyone had heard of Britain. Does the archbishop believe even his own Christian Bible; that Jesus was born in Bethlehem as a Jew in the land of Israel. Today Bethlehem lies in the area which the ICJ claims is illegally occupied by Israel. Does Welby believe that Jesus was born in the land of the Jews or the land of the Romans?" Is he saying that Jesus was born on Palestinian land in a Palestinian State or was he born a Jew in Israel?

That the head of the CofE denying the claims of the Bible in order to support the ICJ is not only a threat to Israel but the UK and Europe as we know it. Jihadi ideology, which seeks to destroy Israel is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe and its value system. Europe’s bedrock values of freedom and democracy emerged from Christianity with its roots in Judaism and the Hebrew Bible.

Personal liberty flowed from the foundational ideas of belief in God and the sovereignty of the individual created in God’s image as described in the Book of Genesis, said the Rabbi.

These values are under attack with open border policies from immigrants deeply hostile to Christianity. Entire “no go” areas make Jews feel unsafe in Europe today. Archbishop Welby and Pope Francis as religious leaders do nothing, say nothing except to echo the narrative of the same jihadi forces in their barbaric battle against Israel. Something terrible is wrong.

They stand passively as their fellow Christians are butchered in Africa by Jihadi groups with direct ties to Israel’s enemies in Gaza and the West Bank.

Both Welby and Francis have largely ignored the crisis or refused to call it by its name. When the horrific kidnappings of Nigeria schoolchildren occurred early in March, nowhere in Archbishop Welby or Pope Francis take did they mention that the perpetrators were jihadists seeking to wipe out Christianity in Africa. They cannot even name the murderous philosophy that drives these killings and abductions; their cowardice and lack of moral clarity threatens the future of the free world.

Their cowardice and moral clarity threaten the future of the free world and stands in contrast to Pope John Paul II who took on the might of the Soviet Union.
The power of truth transcends all political systems, the rabbi said in talking of Pope John Paul’s visit to Poland. “Truth cannot be suppressed,” he said, “There can be no justice without freedom and freedom cannot exist without truth.”

The timid response of both Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby to the threat of violent Jihad stands in stark contrast. This current war is a civilizational battle of values to the intimidating ideology of Jihad. Without moral clarity and brave religious leadership Europe and the cause of freedom will fall. Archbishop Welby’s support for the latest ICJ judgment in defiance of the Bible reveals where he stands on these issues and that bodes ill. If Israel is abandoned to these forces Europe is next.

To Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby, I bring before you the Book of Deuteronomy where it says; “I place before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life.” Stand with Israel against Jihad, Hezbollah and Iran. “GO BACK TO THE BIBLE.”

I say to Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby to save Europe: act now before it is too late. If not now, when.

You can view the video here: https://anglicanmainstream.org/are-pope-francis-and-archbishop-of-canterbury-disregarding-the-Bible/

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