Israeli in Egyptian prison pushes Netanyahu to secure his release

TEL AVIV (JTA) — An Israeli held for 14 years in an Egyptian prison accused Israel’s prime minister of not doing enough to secure his release.

The prisoner, Ouda Tarabin, is a former resident of the Bedouin city of Rahat, in Israel’s Negev Desert. He was arrested in 2000 while visiting Egypt, charged with being an Israeli spy and given a 15-year prison term. In a letter addressed to Benjamin Netanyahu and shared with Israeli media, Tarabin accuses the prime minister of a lackluster effort to secure his freedom because Tarabin is an Arab.

“If I were a Jew or a Druze, the government would be fighting for me and my freedom, and I wouldn’t have been sitting in an Egyptian prison for 14 years,” the letter says, according to Ynet News. ”Mr. Prime Minister, this is the truth that everyone knows. Mr. Prime Minister, this government is a tragedy for my country, that’s supposed to be a democracy in the Middle East.”

Tarabin called on the government “to act immediately to put an end to my suffering and the suffering of my family, to engage the Egyptian government, and act quickly to ensure my release.”

There was no immediate response from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Read more

Series: The Theological Background of Christian Zionism

Over the centuries, Christian support of the state of Israel has been looked upon with a suspicious and vigilant eye. In fact, history will clearly show that the essence of pure evil, operating under the guise of "Christianity", has facilitated a complete and justifiable collapse in Judeo-Christian relations. Only recently has the relationship between the Jewish people and Christians become fruitful, and the "mending" process, albeit positive, continues to evolve. Even so, the question remains: "Why do Christians support the state of Israel?" Christian Zionism, a theological belief that identifies the restoration of the Jewish people to their biblical homeland as the literal fulfillment of biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years ago, may arguably exist as the most oft-misunderstood "form" of Christianity, today. Moreover, Christian Zionist dogma has been the recipient of much indignation from those who would inaccurately and misguidedly opine and define it as "non biblical" and/or "extreme". However, a comprehensive examination of the theological background of Christian Zionism will reveal several, relevant misconceptions. Moreover, after reading this analysis, one may likely discern that Christian Zionism is not a fundamentalist movement, as it were, but a manifestation and implementation of a sound, theological doctrine predicated upon Scriptural truth. In so doing, one may likely and accurately generalize that the Christian support of the state of Israel should not be looked upon as a biblical doctrine exclusive to Christian Zionism, but to all of Christianity.  A three-part series published in Israel and the US in both Hebrew and in English, The Theological Background of Christian Zionism transverses the millennia and explores the history of Jewish-Christian relations.  Read The Theological Background of Christian Zionism.

The Palestinian: Victim, Genius, or Victim of Genius?

In his book, Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler once stated: "Propaganda attempts to force a doctrine on the whole people. Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea." Much like its Nazi predecessor, "The Big Lie" of today--a nonsensical fabrication spawned in the Middle East, even inside Israel, has rapidly evolved into an Arab propaganda locomotive powered by the steam engines of anti-Semitism. The lie --this falsehood of our time-- purports that the "Palestinians", a mythical people whose ancestral beginnings under that moniker can be neither defined nor traced, were ejected from their own land -- a land to which they refer as "Palestine".  In The Palestinian:  Victim, Genius, or Victim of Genius?, we delve deeper into the background and origins of these "Palestinians" -- these peculiar wanderers-- who to this day remain the only people to willingly pass their status as "refugees" from generation to generation to generation.