By Marney Blom
Nazareth, the historic hometown of Jesus recently hosted a ground-breaking, first ever gathering of Israeli Christian, Druze and Bedouin leaders seeking to establish a new coalition of Israeli minorities. They came to discuss ways of strengthening their commitment to the State of Israel, topping the list with the recruitment of non-Jewish high school graduates into Israeli national and military service.
“If you look around us, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Egypt,” you [find] that there are [no] human rights for Christian in these States,” said former MK Ayoob Karra, a Druze Israeli and former Deputy MInister of Development for the Negev. “Only in Israel they have power to say everything -loudly.”
For some Israeli minority leaders, public alignment with Israel bears a heavy price. They face harassment, harm and even death threats from Arab Muslims who fear identification with Israel divides and weakens the Arab sector. Father Gabriel Naddaf, a central figure in the fledgling coalition, remains fearless in spite of continuing death threats and the beating of his own son.
“It is very important that Christians here understand that they have no other place,” said Father Naddaf. “God forbid something happens here in the country and the first Christians lose their life here. It is not a children’s game.”
Shadi Khaloul enjoys the distinction of being the first Christian IDF officer of a paratrooper brigade, and an Israeli Christian who commanded a unit of 40 Jewish solders. Today he not only serves as a reservist in the IDF, but as the spokesperson for the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum – an initiative that encourages integration of non-Jewish Israelis through
national or military service.
[Israeli] Christians understand that this is a country that they should defend … because they see what’s going [on] around them,” said Khaloul. “They see how Christians are persecuted [and] butchered in Arab countries under Islamic regimes – they are discriminated, scared, raped.”
According to Khaloul, this is in stark contrast to the rights Christians enjoy in Israel. “Today, here, they see in Israel they live freely, enjoying freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of everything almost.”
For some non-Jewish Israelis, military service was an obvious choice. Dina Aweida, an Israeli with Arab heritage and a pre-med student at the Technion — Israel’s world renowned Institute of Technology — served as a medic in the IDF.
“I believe in Jesus, that He is the Saviour of Israel and the Saviour of the world, that He is the true Messiah that God has promised us,” espoused Aweida. “I worked as a medic in the Army. They talked to us a lot in school about serving, and as I grew up I realized how important this is. Those are the people who are defending us every day, every second.”
Although military service wasn’t always easy for Alweida, she has no retreats. “[Military service] was hard sometimes and really challenging, but those are two really significant years in my life. It challenged my faith, but it was a great experience.”
Despite the ongoing battle with Arab Muslim antagonists, the work of the forum appears to be winning. The number of young Christian Israelis in national and military service last year increased to 30% of all Christian high school graduates. No doubt, the escalation of radical Islam and the persecution of minorities serves as a sobering admonition to Israeli Christians: the only country in the region that offers them protection and rights is really worth fighting for.
Marney Blom is news director for the Acts News Network.
Copyright 2014 © Acts News Network, Inc.