October 2002 Personal Letter

Dear Friends:

Our September Levitt Letter, which you’ve received by now, was a unique issue devoted once again to defending the Promised Land from a Biblical perspective, as you read in Dr. McCall’s fine article. Because of his comprehensive response to Dallas Seminary President Dr. Mark Bailey, we held back a number of timely articles to make room for it. But I felt these issues were important enough to get to you as soon as possible, so we present excerpts below.

Your Tax Dollars at Work… Against Israel

[New York] City’s largest public television station [marked] September 11 with a documentary whose Web site** is being lambasted by Israelis and American Jewish groups for offering an inaccurate and one-sided history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Web site includes a map portraying all of Israel as “Palestine,” a timeline that blames Ariel Sharon for provoking the recent wave of violence by Palestinian Arabs, and links to Web sites of Arab-American organizations that have defended groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, which the American government considers terrorist organizations.

“It’s basically an embarrassment for a serious network like PBS to be associated with this,” said a former ambassador of Israel at the United Nations, Dore Gold. He called the history of “Palestine” posted on the Web site “atrocious” and said it seemed aimed at belittling the Jewish connection to the land of Israel.

The documentary, a look at the lives of three Arab-Americans, is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, by a $50,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation from its special September 11 fund, and by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

“This is biased. It reads like it was written by an Arab organization,” Mr. Abraham Foxman [of the Anti-Defamation League] said. He said there were “half-truths” throughout the history.

The president of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, said, “This phony PBS history of the Arab war against Israel reads as if it were written by Arafat himself. The anti-Israel lies and omissions are so grotesque one can only assume that hatred against Jews and Israel are its basis.” Mr. Klein said it was troubling “for taxpayers to pay for such rubbish.”

The associate director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Alex Safian, said, “The information presented in the program’s Web site would be more suited to a Saudi-financed propaganda effort than a serious documentary.”

“The oil-rich Saudis, after all, can do propaganda on their own, they don’t need the help of U.S. taxpayers,” Mr. Safian said.

A few of the many aspects of the Web site criticized by the Israelis and American Jewish groups:

• Israeli premiers Barak, Netanyahu and Sharon are described, respectively, as a “former military leader,” “hawkish” and a “right-wing politician.” But Yasser Arafat is described as “leader of the movement for a Palestinian state” with no mention of his connections to terrorism.
• The site makes it sound like Jordan did not participate in the 1948 Arab attack on Israel. As Mr. Safian of CAMERA put it: “That would be news to the defenders of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, and those of the Etzion Block — especially the ones executed after they surrendered to the Jordanian Legion. How exactly do the producers think Jordan came to occupy the so-called West Bank?”
• The Web site lists the election of Mr. Netanyahu and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin as setbacks to peace negotiations in the 1990s, but makes no mention of terrorist bombings by Hamas against Israeli civilians.
• The site includes a timeline with an entry for when Mr. Sharon “provokes al-Aqsa intifada.” In fact, Palestinian-Arab officials, including Mr. Arafat’s justice minister and communications minister, have acknowledged that the violence was planned by the Arabs weeks before Mr. Sharon’s visit.
• The site says, “In 1991 Israeli officials met secretly with a Palestinian delegation in Madrid.” In fact the Madrid peace conference was no secret — it was on the front pages of the world’s newspapers at the time.
• In a section listing “resources” for further study, the site lists at face value several groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee that have been widely criticized in the press and by experts as soft on terrorism.

A Wicked Religion

Evangelist Franklin Graham recently spoke out against America’s love affair with Islam: “We’re not attacking Islam but Islam has attacked us. The God of Islam is not the same God. He’s not the Son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It’s a different God, and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion.”

Arabs Propose Peace?

The following statements, made by a Palestinian leader, reveal the duplicitous strategy to engage Israel and other parties in a protracted “peace process.”

“Had the U.S. and Israel realized, before Oslo, that all that was left of the Palestinian National movement and the Pan-Arab movement was a wooden horse called Arafat or the PLO, they would never have opened their fortified gates and let it inside their walls,” [Palestinian leader Faisal] Husseini said in an interview with the Egyptian publication Al-Arabi’, June 24, 2001.

Husseini said that the Intifada “could have been much better, broader, and more significant had we made it clearer to ourselves that the Oslo agreement, or any other agreement, is just a temporary procedure, or just a step towards something bigger….”

“We distinguish the strategic, long-term goals from the political-phased goals, which we are compelled to temporarily accept due to international pressure,” Husseini said.

“[Palestine], according to the higher strategy, [is] ‘from the river to the sea,’” he said referring to a common description of Israel. ‘Palestine in its entirety is an Arab land, the land of the Arab nation.”

Source: WorldNetDaily.com

Husseini died shortly thereafter of a heart attack, the Palestinian Authority claims.

“It Gets Hard When They Cheer”

by Larry Miller, Weekly Standard

I was in two hospitals recently… in Israel. It was part of my trip to meet some victims of the terror bombings and their families.

…We went to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. This is the hospital where they brought the victims of the bombing at Hebrew University. I met a woman who had been having lunch that day… with her daughter, a student. Hey, what’s that on the table? Oh, it’s a cup with the nails they took out of me. Some are still inside. They can’t take them out yet.

Downstairs, before we left, the head of the hospital, an Israeli named Audrey, was showing me the children’s waiting room. I couldn’t help but notice, all around, an Arab woman with her son, an Arab family over there checking in, Arab children playing with the toys while waiting. The doctor saw the look on my face and laughed.

“Oh, yes, we treat everyone.” I guess I was astonished. She just shrugged. “We’re Jews. This is how we live. It’s also for the future. They’re not going anywhere, and we’re not going anywhere. There will eventually be peace. There has to be.” When? A month? A year? A hundred years? More? She didn’t know.

I had to say it. You’re incredible. You take everyone, you treat everyone, no one goes first, no one goes last, you just go in order of who needs help. That’s, like, Mother Teresa stuff.

“We’re not saints, we’re just doing our jobs. It’s not easy, I admit. And it gets hard when they cheer when the bodies are brought in.” I looked at her. What did you say? She sighed. “Yes, it gets hard when they cheer.” This was one of the times during my trip when I held up my hands and said, “Stop. Wait.” I turned and walked away to breathe deeply for a minute. I didn’t meet one Jew the whole trip who didn’t think there would be peace, not one. “We can work it out. We have to. They’re not going anywhere. Neither are we.”

Of course, it gets hard when they cheer. I guess it does.

Popular Sermon Points in the Arab World

“O God, destroy the Jews and Americans”: Friday, July 26 sermon on Iraqi government TV.

“O God, destroy the Jews and the aggressors”: Friday, July 26 sermon on Jordanian government TV.

“O God, destroy the Jews… O God, destroy the Christians”: Friday, July 26 sermon on Yemen government TV.

Send in the Clowns… It’s About Time!

By Janine Zacharia, The Jerusalem Post

The FBI has decided to investigate the July 4 shooting at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport as an act of terrorism.

El Al ticket agent Victoria Hen and passenger Ya’acov Aminov were killed in the attack, which the FBI was initially reluctant to classify as an act of terrorism. “While no final conclusion has been reached, our Los Angeles office has opened this case as a terrorism investigation,” the FBI wrote to Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY).

Engel had written in late July to the FBI to say he was “deeply troubled” by the agency’s refusal to consider the shooting a terrorist act. Hesham Muhammad Ali Hadayet, an Egyptian, opened fire at the counter before being gunned down by an El Al security guard.

Desecrating the Memory of 9-11

It was revealed in August that the National Education Association (NEA) is suggesting that teachers across America withhold any discussion of blame for the September 11 attacks.

“Blaming is especially difficult in terrorist situations because someone is at fault. In this country, we still believe that all people are innocent until solid, reliable evidence from our legal authorities proves otherwise.”

One of the lesson plans actually urges teachers to “discuss historical instances of American intolerance,” in order to avoid “repeating terrible mistakes.”

Muslim groups applauded the NEA plans.

Sources: Associated Press and Washington Times

“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me…”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The newest U.S. cathedral opened amid prayers and controversy as protesters condemned the $195 million cost and Roman Catholics continued to struggle with a national sex abuse scandal.

Cardinal Roger Mahony led a procession of some 3,000 people, including more than 560 priests, bishops and other clergy, through the sweltering 90-degree heat of the courtyard, past the 25-ton bronze doors and into the cool stone interior.

During Monday’s ceremony, dozens of people gathered outside the cathedral to protest the church’s handling of the abuse scandal and the cost of the building.

Interestingly, these 25-ton bronze doors “carry symbols of deities from around the world,” including Inca mountain goddess Pachamama, Chinese and Japanese symbols of heaven, I Ching/Ti Chi, and other non-Christian images.

And here’s one sent to us we just couldn’t pass up:

Arafat Postage Stamp

Yasser Arafat wants a high quality, international postage stamp issued with his picture on it. But within a few days of the stamp’s release, he begins hearing complaints that the stamp is not sticking. Infuriated, he calls for an investigation. The printers report back, “There is nothing wrong with the quality of the stamp. The problem is people are spitting on the wrong side.”

In surveying a great amount of news from around the world this month, one thing is obvious: the situation in Israel looks better than in recent months for our Fall Tour beginning October 19. Things have generally quieted down.

It’s not too late to sign up, and I want you to know that this will be a one-of-a-kind journey to the Holy Land. A celebration of our 75th tour to Israel, this pilgrimage to the Promised Land will offer you first-class accommodations, a family-like atmosphere with like-minded Christians from around the world, a warm reception by appreciative Israelis, and expert guides to give you the most memorable trip of your life. With five itineraries to choose from, why not prayerfully consider joining me this fall.

In addition to our usual Israel tours, we have added for the first time a value-packed, stand-alone tour to Biblical Greece. Enjoy a 7-day Mediterranean cruise through the Greek Isles, and to Turkey, visiting the sites of ancient Christian churches in Thessalonica, Philippi, Berea and many more cities of antiquity. This is not our usual weekend cruise, but a comprehensive, luxurious voyage with a Biblical emphasis.

Your participation with us on either our Israel tour or Greek cruise help support the work of Zola Levitt Ministries by allowing us to take our television crew to Israel for filming of upcoming Zola Levitt Presents programs, as well as providing much-needed employment to our Israeli guides and TV assistants.

Please consider what the Lord would have you do. And then let Tony know your choice of one of these splendid tours. You can reach him at (214) 696-9760 during office hours.

Once I return from Israel, we’re hosting another “Bless Israel-Solidarity Tour” at the Biblical Arts Center here in Dallas on Saturday, November 16. It’s a popular all-day event filled with worship, touring and teaching with special guest Dr. Ergun Caner. Only $49, this is a great way to see a bit of Israel without needing a passport!

And finally, during the holidays, we’ll again be leading groups to Orlando, Florida to tour the Holy Land Experience. This is perhaps the best Israel/Biblical site in the United States, and I provide the same teaching here as I do in Israel itself. Call Tony with your reservations for November 29–December 1 or December 6–8 or December 27–29. By the way, you might tell your pastor that I will be available to speak in churches in central Florida during the months of December and January. Please contact Claudia for scheduling at (817) 417-0059.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our work. The letters you send are an encouragement, and I hope to meet many of you this fall on our tours. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

And remember, Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalayim: pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Your Messenger,

P.S. It’s been a whole year now since the 9-11 attacks and, in my view, we’ve not substantially started our war on terrorism; we’ve not engaged the vast majority of our real enemies in this battle. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and the Palestinian Authority, among others, continue their terror-building, terror-hosting, terror-funding activities with business as usual, despite what President Bush promised the American people: If you are associated with terrorism in any way, you are a terrorist. Instead, we dither around with meaningless and ineffective “improvements” to airport security, now a ruinous harassment to everyday life. I personally don’t think we should wait another year before giving a proportionate response to this Islamic attack, or be satisfied that bombing the deserts of Afghanistan or replacing Saddam Hussein will take care of the threat against us. — Zola