Christian furor over Jews harassing missionary, Arabs get pass for same crime
A Twitter feud erupted last week over what is claimed to be another incident of Orthodox Jews harassing Christians in Jerusalem. However, a closer look reveals that this may be a case of a Christian missionary targeting Orthodox Jews and Jewish children on Shabbat while preaching the amplified gospel at Jewish holy sites. Ironically, no comments were made when the same Christian woman was physically harassed by Arabs who objected to her aggressive attempts at proselytizing.
Lauren Chen, a social media personality and Blaze TV host with over half a million followers retweeted a video of young haredi (ultra-Orthodox) boys harassing a Christian woman who was proselytizing in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The original tweet had the caption, “Christian women are spat on, kicked, whipped, verbally abused and have their dress dragged for talking about Jesus in Israel.”
Chen added, “This is a hate crime. It’s a fact that anti-Christian sentiment is rising in Israel. But I have yet to see any of the neocons who shill for the country call attention to this.”
Orthodox Jewish Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro was quick to condemn the actions of the Orthodox Jews, calling them “vile and inexcusable.”
The Jewish men in the video are wearing Shabbat clothes, implying that the Christian woman using a portable amplifier was disturbing and disrespecting the Shabbat. It should also be emphasized that while proselytizing is protected by Israeli law as free speech, it is illegal to proselytize to minors, and the Christian woman was surrounded by Jewish children.
In the ensuing thread, Chen noted, “Christians are compelled to share the Gospel. Places where people don’t believe in Jesus are the best places to talk about Jesus.”
But another tweet revealed that Chen had an additional motive for advocating proselytizing to Jews. “Their faith is false and they should convert,” she tweeted.
Karys Rhea, a contributor to Epoch Times and the Jewish Leadership Project, accused Chen of having a double standard.
“The same women missionaries proselytize to Muslims also in the old city of Jerusalem – who also abused them – but u didn’t (& I suspect won’t) hear about it from @TheLaurenChen & the others claiming it showed a Jewish hate crime,” Rhea tweeted, adding in another post, “ I don’t think you understand the existential danger to global Jewry (14 millions Jews in the world compared to 1.4 billion Christians and 1.3 billion Muslim) of Christians proselytizing to Jewish children. 2,000 years of forced conversion & we’re almost extinct. Can’t we get a break in our own homeland? Just leave us alone for god’s sake.
Indeed, a video showed the woman, identified as Sarah Wallis of Sarah’s ministries for Jesus Christ, being physically abused by Arab boys after she attempted to proselytize at the Damascus Gate of the Old City.
Again, she was harassed by Arab men while she preached on the street in East Jerusalem.
Other missionaries associated with Wallis have also been abused by Arabs for proselytizing. In one video, she is confronted by a Christian Israeli Arab couple who take offense at Wallis imposing her “foreign” beliefs on her.
“We are the real followers of Jesus from two thousand years ago,” the woman tells Wallis. She questions Wallis about the details of her belief in Jesus at which point Wallis cuts the conversation short.
Indeed, her YouTube channel shows over one hundred videos of Wallis preaching in Israel. She is seen on the beach of Tel Aviv, but most of her videos show her targeting Orthodox Jews in Jewish locations, including the Western Wall where she is approached by an Israeli man.
“If you care about the Jewish people, and we respect and appreciate your feelings, but please do this outside,” he said. “Everyone should respect each other.”
In another video, she is giving over the amplified gospel inside a light rail train to what she describes as “a captive audience.” In another video, she ascends to the Temple Mount but does not take the opportunity to preach to the Muslims around her..
In an article on the incident, David Collier posted a video showing Wallis preaching over her amplifier at the Jaffa Gate, referring to the Talmud as a “wicked book”.
The Israel Files responded to Wallis’ video, accusing her of intentionally inciting a negative response from the Orthodox Jews. In his video, Israeli police are seen questioning why she chose to use a portable loudspeaker in an Orthodox neighborhood on Shabbat.
Chen is a Canadian raised in Hong Kong who now resides in Nashville. In May 2017, Chen hosted a three-part interview with Alt-Right leader and avowed antisemite Richard Spencer, defending him by saying he was not “ advocating people be killed.” Chen has also supported alt-right leader Nick Fuentes, who has garnered criticism for voicing antisemitic views and Holocaust denial. In a video titled “The Right’s Israel Obsession,” Chen said, “Theologically, does it make sense that as Christians, we would be called to support a Jewish state with a majority Jewish population.”
The post Christian furor over Jews harassing missionary, Arabs get pass for same crime appeared first on Israel365 News.
Israel in the News
