Leading British architects have joined what is becoming an increasingly large UK-based anti-Semitic movement, calling for their colleagues in the Middle East to desist aiding the Israeli "oppression" of Palestinians. The petition, organized by Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, are calling for the Israeli Association of United Architects to "meet their professional obligations to declare their opposition to this inhuman occupation". 

Quote: "Mr. Alsop told Building Design magazine that they felt compelled to act. "This is not against Israel, it's for Palestine," he said. "I think the Palestinians are living in a prison. "I'd like fellow colleagues in Israel to feel some responsibility about this shabby treatment. Architects are a fairly humanitarian lot and perhaps they could help," Alsop said. According to the Guardian report the intervention was attacked by the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Its chief executive, Jon Benjamin, said: "What they are saying is that they have a certain view and that Israeli architects must publicly declare that to be their position as well."

The move by the architect association is just one of many British anti-Israel campaigns of late. I am finding it hard to keep track of them all, even though I have most of them recorded on this website. Let's list some of them... 

My friend Stephen notified me lately that Christian Aid supports a Palestinian organization called "Friends of Sabeel". This group claims to be Christian, yet attempts to delegitimize the Jewish state.

Quote: "REV JOHN GLADWIN, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES from Christian Aid, speaks frequently on Israeli Palestinian political issues. In a July 2002 speech to the Church of England General Synod, Gladwin claimed that terrorism and violence are the result of "Israel's illegal occupation of the 1967 territories", thereby ignoring the decades of war, terror and rejectionism prior to 1967. He also set out a number of conditions for peace, including the Palestinian 'right of return' but failed to call for an end to Palestinian terror. REV JOHN GLADWIN is a patron of the Friends of Sabeel UK. The Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center is one of the major sources of the divestment campaign, and its leader, Naim Ateek, refers to Israel as an "apartheid state". ( Sabeel is also one of Christian Aid's "partners".)

Then we had the Red Cross, which recently released a report condemning Israel's attempt to "change the character" of East Jerusalem, while refusing to condemn Palestinian terrorism. Prior to that we had the British charity War on Want, which is waging its own "war on Israel". The Quakers, Pax Christi and the Amos Trust also all joined the political campaign called Enough!, which singles out Israel as the prime cause of the Middle East conflict, while turning a blind eye on terrorism. Then we had the British National Union of Journalists, which petitioned trade unions to divest from Israel and the government to impose sanctions on the Jewish state. They ignored the plight of their fellow colleague, Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and remains missing to this day. Then there was the National Association of Teachers for Further and Higher Education (NATFHE), which called for a blacklist of all Israeli academics that will not speak out against the "occupation". Then we had the British Association of University Teachers, which called for a boycott of all Israeli universities built on what they perceive as Palestinian territory. Then we had the Church of England, which voted for the divestment of church funds from all companies operating in the territories captured during the Six Day War. Then we had the Church of Scotland, which urged Israel to label products manufactured in the territories, so members of the body could make an "informed" choice not to buy them. Then we had Irish bishops from the Church of Rome, including a representative of the Irish charity Trócaire, which called on Irish government to impose a "just peace" in the Middle East, divest from Israel and call for the destruction of the "apartheid wall".

These are just charities and organizations operating in the United Kingdom. You would suppose that most of these do a good work, but in reality their operations are coloured by an unscriptural ethos and anti-Semitic worldview. They refuse to condemn Palestinian terrorism and seek to justify the division of God's land, which thing He hates. The Bible states that whoever touches Israel, touches the apple of God's eye (Zechariah 2:8). I have often said that as Christians, we have a duty to ensure the organizations that we support are honouring to the Lord. Associating ourselves with worldly charities may seem like a good idea, and we should care for the poor and needy. But in everything - no matter how worthy a cause it may seem - if God is not in it then I do not feel that Christians should be involved in it. For as you can see above, we know where that leads. 

There are plenty of God-honouring organizations out there that serve the Lord. Such as the Society for the Distribution of the Hebrew Scriptures. My own friend Helen works as a missionary nurse in Kalene Mission Hospital in Zambia. As Christians I believe we ought to give money knowing it is going to those in need, and for the furtherance of God's kingdom. 

Proverbs 19:17 
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again. 

Source Jerusalem Post, NGO Monitor