Exclusive: Jim Fletcher warns totalitarians are on the march
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/01/150127popepalestine.jpg
Americans
are trusting. We want to believe good about people. It’s part of the
open, free society built by decent folks. It separates us from other
cultures, and at the end of the day it’s better to be optimistic than
pessimistic.
Unless danger lurks.
When delirious activists and regular citizens joyously took
sledgehammers to the Berlin Wall, most of us watched the television
images with wonder. Finally, the Evil Empire was gone, along with the
Nazis and the ancient Assyrians and all the other historical
totalitarian states.
Collectively, free people and especially those who fight for freedom breathe a sigh of relief when evil is defeated. Think America, circa 1945-46. We went back to developing this great country, and an unprecedented era of prosperity followed.
Yet, our enemies didn’t take a day off. They didn’t go shopping or to the beach. The result was decades of a Cold War that got dicey at times.
The period of 1989-91 doesn’t exactly feel similar, although seemingly we defeated communism.
Except that I don’t think we did. Totalitarians never really go away. They change their spots and strategies, but never really are defeated. In his extraordinary book, “Dupes,” Paul Kengor outlines in chilling detail how the Soviets (beginning even before World War 2!) targeted the U.S. for destruction, from within.
Agents were sent to cozy up to political and religious leaders, and it is this latter group I find fascinating.
American Christians, including the leadership, usually are affable and trusting. They want to believe in the good of humanity, although our own sacred writings poke holes in that worldview.
So it is that the same strategies used in 1940 are still being used by our enemies. I find it fascinating that the Soviets schooled Muslim terrorists like Yasser Arafat not only in operational plans, but also – more critically – in the use of propaganda.
It is this propaganda that is plaguing our nation now, nowhere more evident than in religious circles.
In the 1990s, Arafat let loose the crocodile tears and lamented the alleged Israeli policy of keeping Muslims from their holy sites.
Except there was no such policy. In reality, only under the Israelis have religious minorities enjoyed wide access to holy sites.
That didn’t keep religious types like the leadership of the United Methodist Church from putting an affectionate arm around the PLO terror chief.
For decades, some key American Christian leaders have embraced totalitarians, ranging from Fidel Castro to Sheik Nasrallah of Hezbollah.
Curious, curious.
Now, the propaganda of the jihadists has infiltrated American evangelicalism, incredibly, and herein lays perhaps the greatest victory of the jihadists in their drive to take down America. If Christian leadership is duped, what hope is there for the laity?
It was with alarm that I saw a social media message recently from Andy Braner, director of Camp KIVU, a Colorado-based camp for young people. Braner is a charismatic, dedicated and passionate mentor for youth, and comes from the fairly famous Kanakuk Kamps.
I have tracked for the last few years the effort by Palestinian leaders, both the Palestinian Authority and its dhimmi (subjugated) Christian population, to network with influential American Christians. This is almost solely for the purpose of pushing the PLO narrative and undermining/demonizing Israel. The net effect is an erosion of support for Israel among next-generation (Millennial) Christian evangelicals.
They are succeeding wildly, in my view.
Braner has just announced a spring 2015 trip to what is generally referred to in these circles as “the Holy Land.” I suspect even this description is an effort to avoid saying “Israel” in a positive light.
“KIVU Holy Land 2015” promises to be quite the adventure, but one with knowledge of Palestinian duplicity can scan the itinerary for KIVU’s planned trip and recognize immediately that something is rotten in Ramallah.
The webpage devoted to the trip features a prominent photo of a contingent posing in front of the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim shrine to Muhammad. Below that is a most interesting itinerary.
After the usual Christian sites through Day 3, we find that the group will begin the meaty part of the trip in Bethlehem. This biblical city, where of course Jesus Christ was born, is now under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is really a cleaned-up-for-the-cameras version of the old PLO, Israel’s sworn enemy. So any group visiting the town will be treated to a propaganda fest that would make Joe Stalin swoon.
First thing on the agenda for Day 4 is a trek to the Holy Land Trust, run by Sami Awad, the point man for the Palestinian agenda. Identifying himself as a proponent of non-violent protest of Israel’s alleged occupation of the Palestinian people, Awad actually spends a good deal of time traversing the U.S., speaking in churches.
Further on Day 4, the group of impressionable youth will be treated to lunch at Bethlehem Bible College, a hotbed of anti-Israel invective, and later, the group will “visit a refugee camp and walk around the wall.”
Keep in mind, language has meaning. Words mean something. Visiting a refugee camp means there is a 100-percent certainty the American youth will talk to downtrodden Palestinians who will read from their scripts about alleged Israeli abuses. There will be no mention of the 100-year Arab terror war against Jews, because, well, that just wouldn’t fit the agenda.
And the “walk around the wall”? That will entail more tales of woe about how Israel has built a “big, open-air prison” that separates Palestinians from family and good jobs elsewhere in the country. Again, no mention of the thousands of murdered Jews at the hands of homicide bombers, etc., since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993. Hence, the need for a security fence, most of which is wire and not high, cement walls.
On Day 5, the group will visit another Palestinian-controlled city, Hebron, where they will meet with a Christian Peacemaker Team. The group is decidedly anti-Israel.
Later in the day is an option to visit a “settlement.” Notice that it isn’t referred to as an Israeli community, but as a “sssssettlement.” That fits the Palestinians’ political agenda, to further label Jews as illegitimate colonizers.
Leftists in the American church are quite good at shaping the dialogue during “settlement” visits, making sure the usually unsuspecting Jewish hosts are portrayed in the worst possible light.
Starting to get the picture?
Day 6 features a picnic with locals, so one can be sure the Israel-bashing will be in full swing.
Day 7 features “Silwan threatened – the political threat,” which refers to an Arab village on the slopes opposite Jerusalem’s Old City. There, no doubt, the youth will hear about the nefarious plans by the Jews to “Judaize” Jerusalem. I find this to be a particularly outrageous political statement by the trip organizers.
Later in the day, there is a planned visit to Jerusalem’s Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, but I have two thoughts about this: The visit provides cover from critics who rightly point out the outrageous propaganda trip overall, and I’m quite sure somewhere along the way, the youth will hear about how the Jews subtly became Nazi-like in their treatment of the poor Palestinians, who of course were simple shepherds and farmers set upon by hordes of Jews after World War II, who forcibly established a state.
Look, there is no way I’d allow my child to participate in such a trip. Does Braner know that his group is being used by skilled Palestinian propagandists?
One would hope not.
Collectively, free people and especially those who fight for freedom breathe a sigh of relief when evil is defeated. Think America, circa 1945-46. We went back to developing this great country, and an unprecedented era of prosperity followed.
Yet, our enemies didn’t take a day off. They didn’t go shopping or to the beach. The result was decades of a Cold War that got dicey at times.
The period of 1989-91 doesn’t exactly feel similar, although seemingly we defeated communism.
Except that I don’t think we did. Totalitarians never really go away. They change their spots and strategies, but never really are defeated. In his extraordinary book, “Dupes,” Paul Kengor outlines in chilling detail how the Soviets (beginning even before World War 2!) targeted the U.S. for destruction, from within.
Agents were sent to cozy up to political and religious leaders, and it is this latter group I find fascinating.
American Christians, including the leadership, usually are affable and trusting. They want to believe in the good of humanity, although our own sacred writings poke holes in that worldview.
So it is that the same strategies used in 1940 are still being used by our enemies. I find it fascinating that the Soviets schooled Muslim terrorists like Yasser Arafat not only in operational plans, but also – more critically – in the use of propaganda.
It is this propaganda that is plaguing our nation now, nowhere more evident than in religious circles.
In the 1990s, Arafat let loose the crocodile tears and lamented the alleged Israeli policy of keeping Muslims from their holy sites.
Except there was no such policy. In reality, only under the Israelis have religious minorities enjoyed wide access to holy sites.
That didn’t keep religious types like the leadership of the United Methodist Church from putting an affectionate arm around the PLO terror chief.
For decades, some key American Christian leaders have embraced totalitarians, ranging from Fidel Castro to Sheik Nasrallah of Hezbollah.
Curious, curious.
Now, the propaganda of the jihadists has infiltrated American evangelicalism, incredibly, and herein lays perhaps the greatest victory of the jihadists in their drive to take down America. If Christian leadership is duped, what hope is there for the laity?
It was with alarm that I saw a social media message recently from Andy Braner, director of Camp KIVU, a Colorado-based camp for young people. Braner is a charismatic, dedicated and passionate mentor for youth, and comes from the fairly famous Kanakuk Kamps.
I have tracked for the last few years the effort by Palestinian leaders, both the Palestinian Authority and its dhimmi (subjugated) Christian population, to network with influential American Christians. This is almost solely for the purpose of pushing the PLO narrative and undermining/demonizing Israel. The net effect is an erosion of support for Israel among next-generation (Millennial) Christian evangelicals.
They are succeeding wildly, in my view.
Braner has just announced a spring 2015 trip to what is generally referred to in these circles as “the Holy Land.” I suspect even this description is an effort to avoid saying “Israel” in a positive light.
“KIVU Holy Land 2015” promises to be quite the adventure, but one with knowledge of Palestinian duplicity can scan the itinerary for KIVU’s planned trip and recognize immediately that something is rotten in Ramallah.
The webpage devoted to the trip features a prominent photo of a contingent posing in front of the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim shrine to Muhammad. Below that is a most interesting itinerary.
After the usual Christian sites through Day 3, we find that the group will begin the meaty part of the trip in Bethlehem. This biblical city, where of course Jesus Christ was born, is now under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is really a cleaned-up-for-the-cameras version of the old PLO, Israel’s sworn enemy. So any group visiting the town will be treated to a propaganda fest that would make Joe Stalin swoon.
First thing on the agenda for Day 4 is a trek to the Holy Land Trust, run by Sami Awad, the point man for the Palestinian agenda. Identifying himself as a proponent of non-violent protest of Israel’s alleged occupation of the Palestinian people, Awad actually spends a good deal of time traversing the U.S., speaking in churches.
Further on Day 4, the group of impressionable youth will be treated to lunch at Bethlehem Bible College, a hotbed of anti-Israel invective, and later, the group will “visit a refugee camp and walk around the wall.”
Keep in mind, language has meaning. Words mean something. Visiting a refugee camp means there is a 100-percent certainty the American youth will talk to downtrodden Palestinians who will read from their scripts about alleged Israeli abuses. There will be no mention of the 100-year Arab terror war against Jews, because, well, that just wouldn’t fit the agenda.
And the “walk around the wall”? That will entail more tales of woe about how Israel has built a “big, open-air prison” that separates Palestinians from family and good jobs elsewhere in the country. Again, no mention of the thousands of murdered Jews at the hands of homicide bombers, etc., since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993. Hence, the need for a security fence, most of which is wire and not high, cement walls.
On Day 5, the group will visit another Palestinian-controlled city, Hebron, where they will meet with a Christian Peacemaker Team. The group is decidedly anti-Israel.
Later in the day is an option to visit a “settlement.” Notice that it isn’t referred to as an Israeli community, but as a “sssssettlement.” That fits the Palestinians’ political agenda, to further label Jews as illegitimate colonizers.
Leftists in the American church are quite good at shaping the dialogue during “settlement” visits, making sure the usually unsuspecting Jewish hosts are portrayed in the worst possible light.
Starting to get the picture?
Day 6 features a picnic with locals, so one can be sure the Israel-bashing will be in full swing.
Day 7 features “Silwan threatened – the political threat,” which refers to an Arab village on the slopes opposite Jerusalem’s Old City. There, no doubt, the youth will hear about the nefarious plans by the Jews to “Judaize” Jerusalem. I find this to be a particularly outrageous political statement by the trip organizers.
Later in the day, there is a planned visit to Jerusalem’s Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, but I have two thoughts about this: The visit provides cover from critics who rightly point out the outrageous propaganda trip overall, and I’m quite sure somewhere along the way, the youth will hear about how the Jews subtly became Nazi-like in their treatment of the poor Palestinians, who of course were simple shepherds and farmers set upon by hordes of Jews after World War II, who forcibly established a state.
Look, there is no way I’d allow my child to participate in such a trip. Does Braner know that his group is being used by skilled Palestinian propagandists?
One would hope not.
