A way to build bridges

Editor: We would like to bring the community's attention to the Jewish Christian Friendship Circle, a subcommittee of the Israel Action Committee that was formed to counter media bias and misinformation regarding Israel and the conflict in the Middle East. We have members from Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond, Surrey, Abbotsford and Maple Ridge.

Children in Arab countries are being taught to hate. On June 27, 2002, the official Palestinian television film entitled Child Martyrs and Lovers of their Homeland was broadcast. The Palestinian Authority Ministry for Youth and Sport oversees summer camps where children are subject to incitement and are trained to use weapons for attacks against Israel. Bomb factories are built close to schools, exposing children to danger. These activities are prohibited by international law and pose a severe threat to children. Palestinian textbooks paid for by Canadians and Europeans show Jews as bloodthirsty, evil sub-humans. In Egypt, a TV series based on the lies of the 19th-century Protocols of the Elders of Zion is being aired weekly.

Christians are being persecuted as well as Jews. Churches are being defaced and people brutalized. Bruce Balfour, a Christian missionary, was arrested and accused of spying for Israel. In many countries, Christians are denied their rights and treated as inferior citizens. Jewish sources have documented the large-scale persecution and martyrdom of Christians in Islamic lands.

In the Friendship Circle, there is mutual regard and respect. We are working together to build bridges and fight the common enemy of hatred and lies. Members of the Friendship Circle are ready and willing to speak with church groups, write articles and letters and distribute packets of information. These materials have been produced by Christian as well as Jewish organizations. (The Bridges for Peace Web site – www.bridgesforpeace.com – is an excellent resource and produces a weekly update on Israel.) We welcome new members.

Sally Rogow and Joyena Abraham
Vancouver