Brighton grandparents take to the streets to counter hate

Some good folk in Brighton, England have realized that when we fight back, we win.
Meet Sussex Friends of Israel, and like them on Facebook

From their Facebook page;

We are a community-wide support group dedicated to promoting better understanding about Israel through the advancement of educational, cultural and social ties in the greater Sussex area.
MissionSussex Friends of Israel (SFI) is a community-wide support group dedicated to promoting better understanding about Israel through the advancement of educational, cultural and social ties in the greater Sussex area.

SFI is committed to:
- Engaging meaningfully with all those working towards a peaceful, just, democratic and lasting resolution of the conflict between Israel and its neighbours.- Restoring balance and fairness in all discussions about Israel in the pursuit of reconciliation between Jews and Arabs.- Seeking recognition from the wider community that a secure and confident Israel is a vital component for achieving peace in the region.

 From the Jewish Chronicle online:

There is a “war” going on in Brighton, with grandmothers as troops and cakes and bagels among the weapons.

The conflict involves a band of pro-Israel supporters who have adopted an imaginative approach to the business of combating activists who support a cultural and commercial boycott of the country.

The group is called Sussex Friends of Israel (SFI)and consists of local Jews, Christians and members of Brighton’s gay and transsexual community.

Together they have taken on the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement which have targeted an Israeli-owned shop in the city centre.

Christian pro-Israel protester Jill Young

“We’re at war and we’re on the frontline,” says Christian SFI member Neil Duncanson, who manages public relations for the group.

“The BDS and PSC organise three to four demonstrations each week — we just had to do something about it. So we set up SFI.”

The group was founded a year ago, after the anti-Israel campaign became increasingly hostile following the opening of the EcoStream shop in August 2012.

Every weekend, activists protest outside the store, which is a division of carbonated drinks manufacturer SodaStream, based in the West Bank settlement town of Mishor Adumim...

Its not surprising then that Sussex friends of Israel have show up at St. James's "Bethlehem unwrapped" program,  which features a $50,000 mock up of Israel's security barrier. Thank you, SFI for adding a pro-Israel voice and a sense of perspective to the propaganda play.

                                   (Photos from the Sussex friends of Israel facebook page)
                                           

A Letter from a terrorism victim to St. James’s Church

Kay Wilson is a British born Israeli who was a victim of a horrific Palestinian terrorist attack in 2010 that left her friend and companion Kristine Luken dead.

Read her   A Letter from a terrorism victim to St. James’s Church

Via Trending central:

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....I have given much thought to the events of that terrible day, that culminated in my near murder and the execution of my friend. I believe that I of all people could be forgiven for hating Palestinians. I believe too that I could be forgiven for thinking all Palestinians are terrorists. But I do not. On the contrary, I have maintained relationships with my Palestinian friends, so that my ignorance will not give me reason to hate. I hate hatred. It is the hatred of St. James’s Church in London, in the form of a Christmas stunt, that has compelled me to write.

I would like to think that as Christians, the church would never condone Kristine Luken’s heinous murder or the attack on myself. I suspect however that you may rationalise this savagery as an inevitable result of the “Israeli occupation.”

You would probably suggest that the Palestinians who murdered my friend were themselves victims who grew up in depravity. I would concur, but would point out that if poverty was the case, the aristocrats who flew into the twin towers had no reason to commit their crimes.

The Palestinian terrorists were indeed victims, victims of a radical and primitive Islamist regime that force feeds them a morally malnourished diet of hatred of Jews and hatred of any life – including their own. They were also deprived: deprived of an education that cherishes culture, history, literature, art and the dignity of difference. Their impoverished morality coupled with ignorant generalisations is what enabled two men to butcher defenceless women without so much as blinking an eye.

The “wall” that has been erected outside St. James’s Church is hopefully just a result of your own ignorance and generalisations concerning the complex situation here in the Middle East. Nevertheless, like all walls, it serves as a facade and a barrier.

If the wall was scrutinised, one would see that underneath the whitewashed surface that concerns itself with Israeli policies, there are blocks of anti-Semitism. These bricks stand high. They raise expectations from an entire people group. This wall precedes to separate the nation of Israel as non-desirable.

The wall is cemented together by a superior theology that tells it’s people that G-d gave up on the Jews. This is the same theology that lies behind radical Islam. G-d tried the Jews, then the Christians, but ultimately it was the Muslims who He ultimately chose.

The wall, is just one brick in a global wall of an Islamist agenda, an agenda that will stop at nothing until the destruction of the Jewish State. To your own cultural detriment, it is a wall that obstructs truth and ultimately seeks not only to destroy Israel but every Judeo-Christian society.

The wall inflames an ancient conflict that for those like myself, who live in this region, long not for an exacerbation in hatred but for a quenching of hostilities.

The wall is an affront to Kristine Luken and other victims of terror who may well have been alive today had there have been a wall erected on the other 90 percent of land that separates us from our Palestinian neighbours.

The wall is an injustice to Christians living under Muslim despots. Ironically it is the State of Israel, that you deem pariah and unjust, that is unique in the Middle East because unlike all of our neighbours, our Christian population is flourishing and our Christians have full religious rights.

Please write on your wall, under the cross, now obscured by the crescent…. “R.I.P Kristine Luken.”

Sincerely,
Kay Wilson – (a British-born Israeli)

Read Kay's letter in its entirety here

Crossing the line in London

St James Church in Piccadilly, London  has built a  replica of the Israeli security barrier as part of their holiday program  "Bethlehem Unwrapped"   Not the 97% that is a chain link fence- there is no drama in that.

From Richard Millett 

St James’s Church, Piccadilly, in London’s West End has installed a life size 8 metre tall/30 metre long replica of Israel’s security wall in its courtyard as part of its Bethlehem Unwrapped festival. The replica wall is so vast that it obscures the Church itself.

The replica wall will be lit up at night and for the next twelve days of Christmas (until 5th January) a montage of images and slogans will be continuously projected onto it. Scenes include parts of London with a wall passing through it.

What you won’t see projected onto the replica wall are scenes of bombed out Israeli buses, hotels, pizza restaurants, bars and nightclubs that were ubiquitous in Israel before the wall.

 Apparently the church has  have encouraged people to come along and write messages on their wall.

From Israellycool

...Read this Facebook status from some friends of mine:

Sharon and Lesley again at the St James market place today armed with our bag of acrylic paint and wall brush. (SWU clearly not there – again)
With no support from anybody the sense was one of antagonism, being watched as we were by the wardens present it seemed, in case we dared to write on the wall. Seeing our paint Tom, a St James warden approached us to say we could only use their now worn out felt pens. Explaining the uselessness of those pens and the fact that others had used spray paint Debbie, another warden said she’d get us some of theirs. Returning a while later she produced grey – the shade they use to obliterate posts they don’t approve of. In the end Tom told me I could paint one message on a designated spot, provided I was professional and refrained from being abusive. Odd that seeing that others could write what and where they wanted as many times as they wanted!
So I painted This Wall Saves Lives, started to write that 1340 Israeli citizens have died as a result of terrorist attacks since 2000, but Tom’s space and location didn’t permit!

 Sharon and Lesley are right. Israel's security barrier saves lives.

Pointless Asides:

Sharon and Lesley's strategy  has precedent.  Several years back, a painting of Israel's security barrier appeared at the Santa Clara Palestinian Cultural Day Commemoration. Viewers  were encouraged to interact with the piece- markers were provided

Santa Clara Palestinian Cultural day

The message "Israel wants peace" was added to the painting of the security barrier. 

Santa Clara Palestinian Cultural day

An Israeli and a Palestinian flag were eventually added to Handela, turning him into an effective symbol of peaceful co-existence.  Nice touch.



The anti-Israel cru have invested too much time and money in this monstrosity to assume it will be shelved at the end of Christmas. I suspect London is just its debut performance.  It will likely be coming to a city near you.  Be prepared.