Christians must stand with Jews against antisemitism - opinion

I was suddenly surrounded by about 15 angry people screaming at me, and demanding an explanation for how I dared, as a Christian, stand with Israel during this war. They were claiming that Israel is committing a genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and that 30,000 dead Palestinians outweigh the 1,200 Israelis who were massacred by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. 

As I tried to reason with them on the false equivalency of simply talking about casualties and the moral clarity that one should have considering who started the war, I felt alone and a little scared.

I found myself there due to my work with Passages, an organization that brings Christian students to Israel and helps advocate for Israel and the Jewish people. I had worked with a Passages alum at Duke University to put on a flag-planting demonstration in which we installed 1,200 Israeli flags on a lawn on campus, one flag for each Israeli murdered on October 7. We did this in partnership with Duke Students Supporting Israel and End Jew-Hatred.

In the confrontations that ensued with counter-protesters, it became fruitless to try to explain the right of the Jewish people to their ancient, ancestral, and indigenous homeland; the countless peace offers that Palestinian leaders have rejected throughout the decades; how Israel left Gaza and gave it in full to the Palestinians, and in return they got rockets and a massacre. 

It’s much easier to scream “Genocide!” and “Occupation!” Historical facts and reason are very weak against raging ignorance.

But then, some Jewish students heard the insults being shouted at me. They quickly came over and began remonstrating with the angry mob. Suddenly, I felt safer, protected, supported, and I recognized that this must be what the Jewish people feel when they see Christians standing with them against antisemitism and realize that they are not alone.

Unfortunately, Christians throughout history have a shameful record of turning a blind eye to antisemitism, too often being the proponents of Jew hatred and violence against Jewish communities. 

During the Holocaust, the hateful legacy of the 15th-16th-century reformer Martin Luther was weaponized by Hitler and the Nazi party to perpetuate antisemitic prejudices. Julius Streicher, publisher of the antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer, printed antisemitic sermons promoting violence against Jews. 

Churches also discriminated against pastors and church staff of Jewish ancestry in obedience to Nazi Aryan-exclusive policy. The silence of Pope Pius XII regarding the Nazi genocide was deafening; and French Catholics identified Jewish citizens who were arrested and taken to Nazi extermination camps.

Even when Jews were able to escape Europe, they were sent back to die in concentration camps, such as the case of the St. Louis cruise ship, in 1939 which the United States, a nation built on Christian values, refused to receive and missed an opportunity to save Jewish lives.

Christians who stood up against antisemitism 

FORTUNATELY, THERE were also some brave Christians who stood up against antisemitism and helped save Jewish people from the Nazi killing machine. The State of Israel honors them with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

One of them was Corrie ten Boom, a Calvinist Christian, raised in a devout Dutch Reformed Church family. The ten Booms demonstrated remarkable courage by sheltering and saving numerous Jews from persecution during World War II. They were eventually arrested and Corrie, her sister, and her father were sent to concentration camps. Corrie survived and later wrote about her experiences in The Hiding Place. 

Similarly, André Trocmé, a French Protestant pastor, and his wife Magda played a crucial role in sheltering Jewish refugees in the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. The entire community, including many Christians, actively participated in the rescue efforts. 

Most famously, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, was involved in the resistance against the Nazis. He was implicated in a plot to assassinate Hitler and was executed in 1945.

If you are Christian and reading this, I plead with you to consider which side of history you want to be on. Will you join those Christians who have perpetrated violence and hatred against the Jewish people? Or will you join the many others who are standing up against antisemitism?

I am not asking you to support all of the Israeli government’s policies; but rather to recognize and honor the Israeli government as the democratic voice and will of the Israeli people, with a moral obligation to defend its citizens from the genocidal threat of Hamas.

If you are a Jewish person reading this, let me first of all apologize on behalf of generations of Christians who have not done enough, and still have not done the right thing to end Jew-hatred. Those who acted with prejudice and violence against your community were acting contrary to the Christian Bible and not in accordance with it. 

As comforted and touched as I was to have Jewish students around me confronting an angry mob, I hope that you Jews who read this are comforted by this article in knowing that you’re not alone, and there are many Christians who pray for your safety; and work to support Israel and protect the Jewish community. 

Am Israel Chai. May the people of Israel live!

The writer is director of advocacy and strategy of Passages Israel, a Christian organization dedicated to taking Christian students to Israel and mobilizing young people to support the Jewish state on campuses and communities across the United States and to stand up against antisemitism.