LLX News

By: Julie Stahl – CBN News; cbn.com

TEL AVIV, Israel – When God wanted to tell the story of His faithfulness through the ages, He chose to do it through the Jewish people.  Now, that history is the subject of a new museum in Israel.

It’s called Anu – it means “us” – The Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv. Its goal:  tell the story of God’s chosen people from Abraham until today. 

It’s the biggest museum of its kind in the world. So, while there are literally hundreds of Jewish museums all over the world. This is the only one that attempts to tell the whole story, historically, geographically, and thematically,” says Dan Tadmor, CEO of Anu, The Museum of the Jewish People.

The museum uses artifacts, stories, artwork, and innovative technologies to tell the good and sometimes difficult history of the Jewish people like never before. 

Tadmor believes this story is relevant to both Jews and non-Jews. 
“We refer to Judeo-Christian values as the bedrock of Western society. They are Judeo-Christian values. It’s the things that we share. It’s the values of the Bible,” Tadmor explained.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/september/new-museum-shares-the-story-of-the-jewish-people-like-never-before

By: Emily Jones – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel is celebrating the second anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords, a historic series of agreements that saw Israel normalize ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Jerusalem for the first time on Thursday to mark the occasion. He kicked off his trip by visiting Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

The foreign minister laid a wreath at Yad Vashem’s Hall of Remembrance in honor of the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis.

“I am here today to remind ourselves of the lessons that history teaches us and the great responsibility upon us to act with tolerance for building our community and society,” he wrote in the guestbook. “We must take the brave step of building a bridge of true peace for the coming generations.”

Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan called the foreign minister’s visit a “momentous occasion.”

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/september/uae-rsquo-s-foreign-minister-visits-yad-vashem-meets-israeli-leaders-in-honor-of-abraham-accords

By: Talia Wise – CBN News; cbn.com

A group of Chinese exiles fleeing from religious persecution are seeking asylum in Thailand after being denied refuge in South Korea. 

Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, a group of 60 Chinese Christians, said they fled the communist regime in 2019 to escape religious persecution.

“Political pressure is rising, and there’s more and more ideological control,” said Pastor Pan Yongguang, whose church has been on the run for years. “The persecution is growing worse.”

“They didn’t want us to teach our children the Bible, and children are banned from attending church. This went against our faith and our consciences,” he told Union of Catholic Asian News, earlier this year. 

He added that he was constantly questioned by Chinese officials, but his congregation came under intense pressure in 2019, when citizens in Hong Kong began to protest leaders. 

Pan asked members to vote on whether or not to stay in the country.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2022/september/homeless-jobless-stateless-but-not-faithless-chinese-christian-exiles-denied-asylum-now-flee-to-thailand

By: Michael Gryboski – The Christian Post; christianpost.com

A Justice Department official has been accused of violating an official policy by publicly labeling Alliance Defending Freedom, a prominent religious freedom advocacy organization, as a “hate group” in a social media post.

Last month, Jason Weida, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, said in a Linkedin post that he had been “honored” to be part of an Alliance Defending Freedom event.

Eric P. Bruskin, assistant director of the commercial litigation branch in the DOJ’s Civil Division, who formerly worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, a progressive organization, commented on the post, saying: “Jason, this is a hate group. You’re speaking at a conference for a hate group. Are these the beliefs you hold? If so, then it’s time we end our professional association.” 

Bruskin garnered backlash, with a couple of commenters arguing that Bruskin had violated DOJ’s employee policy when it came to how federal government employees should use social media.

cont’d…

https://www.christianpost.com/news/doj-official-criticized-for-calling-religious-freedom-advocacy-group-adf-hate-group.html

By: Morton A. Klein – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Why did the network ignore left-wing, black nationalist and Islamist Jew-hatred?

There were some good points in CNN’s recent special on anti-Semitism, such as a discussion of the importance of the Secure Community Network’s synagogue security training, a description of the harassment and death threats against a pro-Israel college student, and the general acknowledgment that anti-Semitism is a serious, growing problem.

Unfortunately, however, the special grossly downplayed left-wing and Islamist anti-Semitism, and didn’t even mention black nationalists and other major sources of Jew-hatred. This seems in large part due to CNN’s reliance on the left-wing Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and its CEO, former Obama administration official Jonathan Greenblatt, as well as U.S. State Department anti-Semitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt, who has compared pro-Jewish former President Donald Trump to the Nazis, and the far-left group T’ruah’s Jill Jacobs.

The ADL, for example, recently stated that boycotts of Israel alone do not count as anti-Semitic; praised anti-Semitic congresswoman Ilhan Omar as “committed to a more just world”; defended anti-Semitic NGOs like Amnesty International, along with the extremist anti-Israel philanthropist George Soros; and tried to defund and remove the tax exemption from three pro-Israel groups, including Christian Zionists; among numerous other dangerous positions.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/what-cnn-left-out-of-its-special-on-anti-semitism/

By: Julie Stahl & Chris Mitchell – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel and Arab countries are bracing for world powers to re-enter the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. Some fear the negative impact it’s likely to have on the Middle East and beyond.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is still urging the US and other nations to stay away from what he sees as “a bad deal”.

“It would give Iran $100 billion a year,” Lapid said during a press conference on Wednesday. “This money will not build schools or hospitals. This is $100 billion a year that will be used to undermine stability in the Middle East and spread terror around the globe.”

His remarks to foreign journalists came as both sides reported progress in the talks.

“Israel is not against any agreement. We are against this agreement because it is a bad one. Because it cannot be accepted as it is written right now. In our eyes, it does not meet the standards set by President Biden himself – preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear state,” he said.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/august/israel-urges-west-to-reject-emerging-nuclear-deal-says-it-will-give-iran-billions-to-use-for-terror

By: Steve Warren – CBN News; cbn.com

Posters featuring the national motto are going up in public schools and colleges across Texas, and that’s drawing backlash from several groups who argue the phrase is used to promote Christianity. 

A new Texas state law requires all public elementary, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to post in their facilities “In God We Trust” posters if they are donated or purchased by private donations.

The Texas Tribune reports Senate Bill 797 passed during last year’s legislative session. The law went into effect last year. 

The law says schools “must display in a conspicuous place in each building of the school or institution a durable poster or framed copy of the United States national motto ‘In God We Trust.'” The poster must contain a representation of the United States flag centered under the national motto and a representation of the Texas state flag. 

Republican State Sen. Bryan Hughes wrote in a tweet the national motto asserts our collective trust in a sovereign God.

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2022/august/in-god-we-trust-texas-law-requiring-public-schools-display-national-motto-draws-backlash

By: Andrew Jose – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

“You can only convert so many people, but you can mobilize leftist students who don’t necessarily agree with Shia Islam but radical political causes Iran agrees with,” says Emanuele Ottolenghi.

Iran has been targeting local Muslims, potential converts and leftist students as part of its influence operations in Latin America, said an expert during an Aug. 4 webinar.

The event, titled “The IRGC’s Expanding Presence in Latin America,” was organized by the Endowment for Middle East Truth and featured Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior fellow Emanuele Ottolenghi, who studies the Arab-Israeli conflict, Hezbollah’s Latin America-based threat networks and Iran’s sanction-evasion strategies.

The lecture focused on Iran’s influence networks the country has used to infiltrate government advisory boards, local Muslim populations and indigenous movements.

According to Ottolenghi, Iran has used these networks to its advantage in achieving its strategic interests, including evading sanctions and undermining U.S. influence in the region.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/expert-iran-works-on-mobilizing-extreme-left-in-latin-america-to-expand-influence-network/

By: Chris Mitchell – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Ninety percent of the world’s languages do not have a translation of the Old Testament. One movement seeks to change that and spur a global revolution in Bible access.       

This year during Pentecost, men and women gathered at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem to work on expanding the use of the Old or “Original Testament” worldwide.

“’The Original Testament Gap’ refers to the fact that the Original Testament is under-translated, under-used, and frequently misunderstood,” says Ram Gidoomal, former chairman of the Lausanne Movement. “We, therefore, commit to do all we can to accelerate the original testament into every living language in order to help complete the Great Commission.” 

That resulted in the signing of the Jerusalem Declaration to eliminate the Original Testament Gap.

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/august/new-movement-aims-to-share-lsquo-original-testament-rsquo-with-the-world

By: Julie Stahl – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM – Members of the Auburn University basketball team embraced the literal paths taken by Jesus Christ while visiting the holy land recently, even taking the remarkable step of getting baptized in the Jordan River. 

The team “shared a special moment with each other” when they were baptized in the Jordan this week in Israel, the team tweeted.

The Auburn team was in Israel for a 10-day trip to play three exhibition games.

But that left them plenty of time for touring in the Holy Land.

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/august/auburn-basketball-team-gets-baptized-in-jordan-river-taking-time-to-walk-where-jesus-walked