Category: Religions

WHY WE ARE “PROTESTANT” ZIONISTS

Israel’s last major allies are several hundred million Protestant Zionists but the Islamist world – with compliant local church support – is desperate to break this alliance.

By John Enarson

On January 17, the Roman Catholic Church and its allied denominations in Jerusalem released a statement condemning Christian support for Israel as a “damaging ideology” that misleads the public and harms church unity. This might look like a unified Christian front turning against the Jewish State – but for hundreds of millions of Evangelical supporters of Israel, this statement clarifies exactly why we are not just Zionists—we are “Protestant” Zionists.

Sad Statement of Affairs. The Catholic Church and its allied denominations in Jerusalem “declared war on Christian Zionism” in a statement released January 17 (see above) , where the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land — led by the Roman Catholic hierarchy along with Eastern Catholic, Orthodox, and other traditional church leaders — condemned Christian support for Israel as a “damaging ideology” that misleads the public and harms Christian unity.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem claim to be bothered by some “Christian” ideology, but the real issue is that these Christians are helping the Jewish people retain national sovereignty in their ancestral homeland. Under traditional Catholic or Eastern Orthodox theology, Jews might be tolerated as stateless minorities in Christian lands. However, the idea that the Jewish nation has a biblical right to sovereignty violates centuries of supersessionist theology—the belief that the Church has replaced Israel.

As Evangelical supporters of Israel, we are “Protestant” for a reason. We “protest” against the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox traditions that preceded it. While modern apologists suggest the Protestant Reformation is over, the protest remains vital, whether against the worship of Mary, or images, or unbiblical soteriology. Chief among our objections is the betrayal of the Bible in favor of church tradition. The foremost meaning of “Evangelical” is to believe in the primacy of Scripture (the euangelion in old parlance).

The Jerusalem churches’ statement does not even attempt a Scriptural argument. They rely on the old accusation that defying their theology is the “sin of disunity.” They ignore that we have compelling biblical grounds for our stance. As offensive as it may sound to the secular West or the old ecclesiastical hierarchies, we maintain that God’s Word is firmly on the side of Jewish restoration. As Romans 3:4 reminds us, God will be found true, though every man a liar.

Exposing Intent. The writer strolling outside the Old City in Jerusalem asserts that the Vatican has been one of the strongest anti-Zionist actors in the West, ever since Jewish independence.

This leads to the second fundamental reason for our divergence: the definition of a Christian.

For Evangelicals, one is not a Christian by being born into a church as if it were an ethnicity. The Protestant Reformation revived the biblical truth that Christianity springs from personal faith, being “born again” (John 3:3–7) to follow Jesus and submit to Scripture. As Evangelical singer Keith Green famously quipped:

 “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.”

This stands in stark contrast to the Middle East, where for centuries — surrounded by dominant Islam — to be “Christian” is effectively an ethnic minority status. Under Islamic dominance, these communities survived by behaving as subservient dhimmis. In this context, the faith often becomes a cultural collective rather than a personal conviction.

Evangelicals understand that there are many individual true believers in the nominal churches, irrespective of cultural tradition. Moreover, we recognize that there is real persecution of nominal Christians in the Middle East. Jihadists who burn churches and behead Christians do not care if they have been born again or not. To them, even secular, hedonistic Europe is “Christian”. The jihadists exemplify sheer hatred against the cross and the Bible, and care not for any nuance. This garners Evangelical sympathy around the world. We mourn and protest this persecution.

However, the Catholic and Orthodox hierarchies in the Holy Land attempt to weaponize this sympathy to marshal the church, including Evangelicals, against the Jewish State. They tell the world, “Israel is oppressing us.” But the reality is far more complex. The “Christians of the Holy Land” are a complex collective primarily under Jihadist — not a Jewish — threat.

Consider the anecdotal observations of Eastern Orthodox Christian Ridvan Aydemir, an online phenomenon and expressly not a Christian Zionist. He recently came to the Holy Land to investigate the conflict for social commentary and found problems on all sides, including among traditional Christians. Ridvan was then attacked for betraying the Christians of the Holy Land. He responded bluntly:

“What Christians are you talking about? You mean those who are embroiled in gang violence over there? Who are actually active in gang violence? Who are running shady businesses in the Holy Land? Or those who are submissive to the Muslims, accepting their role as dhimmis and doing whatever the Muslims tell them because their lives are too precious to them and they just want to live in peace? … Or do you mean those who actively work for the Islamic Iranian regime and with Hamas and other terrorist organizations? Which Christians are you talking about? Or do you mean those who, for the sake of keeping the peace, do whatever Hamas tells them to do, or say whatever Hamas tells them to say, while behind the scenes telling Israel, ‘Hey, we know you’re right, we’re on your side, but we can’t just publicly [say so]?’ Do you mean those cowards? Or do you mean the good ones who actually stand up for themselves over there? Which Christians are you talking about? You have to be more specific” (ApostateProphet, YouTube, Nov 6, 2025).

This is the blunt mechanism of the conflict:

Jihadists fight the “blasphemy” of Jewish independence in the Middle East. The international community pressure Israel to give these Jihadists self-governing control in places like Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Gaza. Here, the Jihadists mercilessly begin to persecute Christians and any moderate Muslims under their control. Meanwhile, Christian communities that remain under Israeli control go on to flourish. Using cities like Bethlehem as their base, the Jihadists continue their attacks on Jews (the Second Intifada). Israel responds by installing security measures, which cut down the suicide bombings dramatically. However, it means everyone (including Christians) from Bethlehem must go through long security checkpoints. Muslims then use Christian dhimmis under their oppression as pawns. These churches largely do not believe what the Bible says about the Jews and Israel anyway. Thus, the historic churches of the Holy Land tell the world:

Israel is oppressing us. How can Christian Zionists support the Israeli aggression against fellow Christians in the Holy Land? And if Israel does not surrender to the Jihadists, it will enrage Muslims against other Christian dhimmis throughout the Middle East. Stop the Zionists!

History is ironic. The Church once claimed to replace the Jews, reenforcing their stateless misery. Then, Islam arose with its own supersessionist claim, forcing Middle Eastern Christians into second-class dhimmi status, denying them any sovereignty over Muslims. Now, after 2,000 years, God has kept His biblical promise and restored Jewish sovereignty, putting the lie to both theologies.

The last major allies Israel has, are the several hundred million Protestant Zionists. The Islamist world, with the help of compliant local churches, is desperate to break this alliance. Thus, Muslim and Christian statements issue forth, labeling “Zionism” a “damaging ideology”, blaming it for everything from racism and colonialism to world wars and the common cold. But actual Zionism is simply “the belief that, like other nations, the Jewish people have the legitimate right to national self-determination in their ancestral homeland.” Christian Zionism ties this belief to solid, Biblical support. Some are dispensationalist, while others are not. Thus, Christian Zionists (like many Jews), not only hold this view to be the just, legal, and historically correct position, but also a modern miracle of biblical significance.

We can only speculate, but the nervous tone of the ecclesiastical statement, which protests that the “Patriarchs and Heads of Churches” themselves are the only legitimate authority on these matters, suggests that there could be a movement of traditional Christians — even ecclesiastical leaders meeting with officials — who are tired of playing the dhimmi to Islamist oppression in the Holy Land. These voices may see an alliance with Israel, even a deeper theological reevaluation of their relationship with Israel, as the way of the future, and rightly so.

Interestingly, by expressly blaming Christian Zionism as a “damaging ideology”. the statement is also attacking Jews and Judaism which holds the same biblical conviction. Even non-Zionist Orthodox Jews recognize that the Bible clearly gives the Land to the Jewish people eternally. To call this biblical view theologically unsound is not only to mock biblical logic, but to de-facto attack pious Jews as well — a position the Catholic Church has attempted to be more careful about after its failures in the Holocaust. After Vatican II, the Roman Catholic Church officially recognizes the biblical significance of Jews and Judaism. But it stopped short of acknowledging their right to the Land. This promise — which is the most oft-repeated promise in the entire Bible — is thus far denied to the Jews in Catholic theology.

Only on the rarest occasions have Catholic leaders been willing to express any openness to the biblical position on the Land. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn came close in a 2005 address at the Hebrew University where he emphasized that Christians should recognize the Jewish connection to the Holy Land and rejoice in the return of Jews to it as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. He also referenced Pope John Paul II‘s view that the biblical commandment for Jews to live in Israel represents an everlasting covenant that remains valid today. A local Christian priest immediately protested, but to his credit, Cardinal Schönborn did not yield (Catholics for Israel, Mar 31, 2005; citing Jerusalem Post and Washington Post). However, this has never been acknowledged as any official position of the Roman Catholic Church.

A Cardinal Clash. When visiting Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (above) expressed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2005 that Jews living in Israel represented an “everlasting covenant”, a local Christian priest immediately protested signifying the opposition of Catholic orthodoxy to recognising and biblical Jewish connection to the Holy Land.

By and large, while often expressing solidarity with the Jewish diaspora, the Vatican has been one of the strongest anti-Zionist actors in the West, ever since Jewish independence. This is evident in everything from papal audiences helping rebrand arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat as a statesman, to Pope Francis holding Mass in Bethlehem in front of a massive mural of Jesus and Joseph sporting keffiyehs, helping launder the lie the “Jesus was a Palestinian”. It remains a lie. Jesus is a Jew.

Laundering Lies. In December 2024, Pope Francis inaugurated a nativity scene in the Vatican showing baby Jesus on keffiyeh to promote and help popularize a relatively new and false narrative that  “Jesus was a Palestinian”.

In sum, we are Protestants. We are Biblical Zionists. And we stand for justice in the Holy Land. We protest the unbiblical interpretations of the Roman Catholic Church and its allies. We hold their biblical theology of Israel and the Jews to be thoroughly lacking. We also protest the suffering of historic Christian communities under Islamist oppression. But we see through ecclesiastical statements trying to blame such hardships on the Jewish State and mislead the Evangelical world.




About the writer:

John Enarson is an author and Christian theology student from Sweden. He has lived in the Middle East for over 25 years and currently serves as the Christian Relations Director at Cry For Zion (cryforzion.com). He is happy to receive input or questions about his articles.
j.enarson @gmail.com






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

IS HALTING EXECUTIONS IN IRAN GOOD ENOUGH?

Pulling back from military intervention following bellicose threats, is Trump failing – like Carter, Obama and Biden preceding him – the long-suffering people of Iran?

By Jonathan Feldstein

On January 16, 1979, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee Iran along with his family due to the US and European countries withdrawing their support. This ushered in what’s called the Islamic Revolution, the return of exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, and the hijacking of a country that had been prosperous and a source of peace and stability in the Middle East. In the 47 years since then, chaos, death, terror have reigned.

Since then, Iran has devolved into a failed state with the Islamist leaders not even able to provide water and electricity, and its currency devalued to record lows, more than one million rials per dollar.

Since then, the Islamic Republic of Iran has become the world’s biggest funder of terrorism, with terrorist proxies literally all over the world. Tens of thousands or more have been killed at the hands of the Islamic regime and its proxies. Millions have been impacted, threatened, and havesuffered.

As we mark this anniversary of the West failing to support a stable ally, ushering in the evil terrorist regime, reports indicate that President Trump may have balked and failed the Iranian people as Carter did in 1979, as Obama did in 2009, and as Biden did in 2022. But if Trump has truly backed down from his harsh rhetoric to take action, and now may be seeking a “diplomatic solution,” the outcome of his actions will be worse than Obama and Biden. His harsh rhetoric emboldened the Iranian people who took to the streets in more than 100 cities in record numbers to protest the regime. They believed that Trump had their back, and were prepared to risk their lives to take back their country after almost half a century. And they were slaughtered by the Islamic regime and its agents in record numbers, at least thousands, if not tens of thousands.

On the verge of striking Iran, the US held off following reports of halting executions. What happens next is up to Trump who is seen here being interviewed in the Oval Office on Wednesday. (Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Here’s the thing however. Trump’s threats were based on a false premise. He calculated whether the US would take action based on the number of Iranians being killed. As horrific as tens of thousands being killed by forces of their own government is, the massacre of people in their own country is not sufficient pretext for the United States to take military action.

Therefore, if it’s correct that Trump walked back his battle plans based solely on reports that the Iranians “halted executions” of some 800 people who were arrested amid the ongoing recent protests, this would make little sense. “Halting” is a temporary action. No doubt these 800, along with thousands more who have been arrested, still remain in Iranian prison and can be executed at any moment. If not all at once, the regime could execute a few a week and stay below Trump’s radar of “too many” people being killed.

Let’s also recognize the fact that the protests have taken place for less than three weeks. It is a remarkable injustice that anyone can be arrested and sentenced to death in such a short period.

So much for due process!

Left in the Lurch? Nationwide protests across Iran from 289 Dec 2025 to 11 Jan 2026.

But all this – as horrible, evil and unjust as it is – is not a pretext for military action. The reasons for military action are the threats that the Islamic Republic has made and continues to make, as the single greatest source of instability and terror in the world. The Iranian President recently openly declared that Iran is at war with the United States, with Israel, and with Europe. These are threats, not to be taken lightly. They include military threats, but they also include terror, and infiltration of the West to carry out its nefarious goals of spreading radical Islam globally.

From Calling to Prayer to Calling for Executions. Tehran’s Friday prayer leader, hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami called for the execution of detained protesters and the arrest of anyone who supported the protests. He accused the protesters of acting on behalf of foreign powers, calling them “servants” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “soldiers of Trump.”

While Trump was correct to offer support for the Iranian citizens who are protesting for their own freedom, the basis for that support should never have been the number of people killed. It’s a perverse inversion of the Biblical story of Abraham negotiating with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah. How many people are too many?  10? 100? 500? 1000? 10,000? And in any event, if that was the measure, reports of at least 12,000 to more than 20,000 civilians being slaughtered in the streets is, and should have been, enough for the US to take action. “Halting” 800 extra-judicial executions on top of the many thousands who were slaughtered in the streets is also not grounds for not taking action.

Flowers for the Fallen. Impressing upon the US President, flowers are placed next to a display with photos of Iranian protestors killed by Iranian Americans outside the White House in Washington, January 16, 2026. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP)

I fear that Trump has not only failed the Iranian people, but the West, and the world. His rhetoric put a wind in the sails of Iranian citizens who took to the streets, risking their lives only to see them shot down in cold blood. This has been the single greatest opportunity since 1979 to eliminate the Islamic Republic once and for all. THAT should have been the stated goal of any US action, and it should not have been qualified based on the number of Iranians that their government massacred.

Bodies Piling Up. Distressing new videos have emerged from a mortuary in Tehran showing rows of bodies, blood-soaked floors and crowds of people searching for loved ones following a deadly government crackdown on protesters in Iran.

An additional failure is that China, Russia, and numerous Arab and Islamic nations are watching and measuring what they can get away with. They saw Trump sweep in to arrest Maduro in Venezuela next door, but are seeing the US now inept at doing anything about the ayatollahs on the other side of the world. That gives American adversaries around the world license to invade other countries, support terror, engage in direct and indirect threats to the United States and the world, and even slaughter their own citizens and others with impunity.

I’m not saying that making an example of the Islamic regime is a suitable goal of military action, but threatening military action and not pulling the trigger risks losing on a global scale in ways that will not only keep the ayatollah in power for another generation, but also embolden terrorists around the world.

It’s horrific if hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands have been executed in the streets of Iran with impunity. To the extent that they protested and lost their lives because of a threat that Trump made and was never prepared to carry out, their blood is on his hands. If that’s the case, he has let down the Iranian people even more radically than his predecessors by setting them up and not following through.

Fired-Up. Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. (Photo: MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Let’s be clear, if we ever want to see peace in the Middle East, the only way is the elimination of the Islamic Republic and the reasoning to reach this decision does not require counting how many more people have been slaughtered. On this 47th anniversary of the US withdrawing support for the Shah causing him and his family to flee, it seems that Iran and its people may have been let down once again. They and the world will continue to suffer.

If I am wrong, and I hope I am, I will publicly apologize – but if I’m right, then President Trump should apologize to the Iranian people, to Americans, and to the world. Even Obama recognized in retrospect his inaction in 2009 was a miscalculation. The negative consequences of Trump’s action – or rather inaction – will be felt for years to come.



About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein ­­­­- President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Journal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

PROTESTS IN TEHRAN TODAY BRING HOPES FOR IRANIANS TOMORROW

If President Trump likes to speak of “making deals“, the best deals are to be made after the Islamic regime falls.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

(First published in The Times of Israel)

Unprecedented protests are taking place across Iran, both in terms of the number of people participating, and number of cities in which the protests are taking place. Countless videos have documented Iranians protesting. And it’s growing. The reason is the compounded suffering to which Iranians have been subject under the Islamic republic, and which hopefully are at the breaking point.

Irate Iranians. Protestors march over a bridge in Teheran 29 December 2025 (Photo: Fars News Agency via ATP/file)

The Iranian rial is at lowest point in history. Today, one million rials are worth less than $1. The economic impact is widespread, punishing, and impacting every single Iranian.

This is the impact of the ayatollahs stealing billions from Iranians to fund its jihadi goals including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and others, around the world. Yet the policy of funding the world’s largest terror network has come home to roost.

For months, Iranians have also suffered an unprecedented water and energy crisis, leading to power outages across the country, and reservoirs so low that there has been talk of evacuating millions from Tehran due to the inability to provide water.

Even if they were not living under a brutal, evil Islamic regime for nearly five decades, Iranians collectively are suffering the most they have since then, the cumulative impact of the evil regime focusing on spreading extremist Islam, fighting the West, and mismanagement and corruption of every basic need.

Iranians are not just living under widespread mismanagement, they are living under the cumulative national disaster of millions having been arrested, beaten, tortured, murdered, and disappeared. My knowledge is firsthand growing up and spending most of my life there, but also being arrested and sentenced to death, held in the notorious Evin prison for nine months, all because of my Christian faith.

The drought has not only exposed incompetence and mass mismanagement of basic needs.  As reservoirs have dried up, 74 bodies have been found just in one location, bound, at the bottom of the once life-giving bodies of water that are all but gone, and which became their victims graves.  Being bound shows an extra level of evil that they were thrown in alive rather than executed elsewhere and thrown into the water to hide the Islamic regimes crimes.

There have been protests in the past over the murder of Mahsa Amini in 2022, and more recently truckers going on strike in 160 cities due to massive increased in prices.  For a variety of reasons these protests did not cause the regime change for which most Iranians are praying.

Iranians are having it no more. The current protests are because all Iranians are hurting economically, and without the basic needs to live.  The current crisis has exposed new depths of the evil of the Islamic regime.  More than ever, and more publicly than ever, Iranians are chanting for the restoration of the Pahlavi dynasty, and in favor of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and death of the ayatollahs.

Currency Collapse. Protesters march in downtown Tehran, Iran, Dec. 29, 2025 following the collapse of the rial with prices up on meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table. The nation has been struggling with an annual inflation rate of some 40%. (Photo: Fars News Agency via AP, File)

It’s a formula that will hopefully bring the pressure needed for the regime to fall and Iran to be free.

Pressure is also needed from the world because the threats are directed at the world. We even heard it from the “moderate” Iranian president this week, that Iran is at full scale war with the US, Israel, and Europe.  

At the same time Iranians are risking their lives just to protest, it was encouraging to hear President Trump speak out in favor of renewed military action against the regime and particularly the brutal IRGC. In the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic Republic in June, standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Trump stated that he supports renewed military action against Iran if they try to rebuild their ballistic missile or nuclear program. 

Rather than pretending that the Islamic regime will ever negotiate for anything in good faith to make a deal, other than to keep itself alive and in control of Iran for another day, Iranians know that what’s needed from outside is unrelenting destruction of the regime, its leaders, military, and if necessary, its ability to fund itself through oil exports and more. Iranians are prepared to suffer more if it means their eventual freedom.

The United States needs to lead the charge, along with Israel and the EU, and even the Saudis, Emiratis, and other Arab states, to bring down the regime. Iranians pray for that. Iranians were frustrated, even feeling abandoned, that the 12-day war in June did not go on and end with the destruction of the regime, or at least giving Iranians cover to do what’s needed on the ground to do so themselves.

The Islamic Republic has created unprecedented suffering for all Iranians, and for millions of people all around the world.  Not just by targeting Israel and the Jewish people, but by infiltrating the West, in developing nations, and across the Arab and Islamic world. In fact, it’s hard to think of a place in the world that has not suffered as a result of the Islamic revolution in 1979. 

Regime Rickety. Displaying a leadership’s anxiety as much as  an anti-US and anti-Israel message on this  billboard that reads ‘watch out for your soldiers’ in Tehran on January 4, 2026 (Photo: Atta Kenare/ AFP)

Accordingly, it’s necessary that people and nations across the world unite with a singular purpose, to end the Islamic regime and to bring Crown Prince Pahlavi to power and restore the once thriving nation that Iranians yearn for. No one singular act -certainly since the end of World War II – has the potential to eliminate suffering of millions and bring peace.

President Trump likes to speak of making deals. The truth is the best deals to be made are after the Islamic regime falls, and Iran begins necessary reconstruction. The US can play a huge role in that, bringing prosperity to Iran, and peace to the world.  Israel can also play an important role by rescuing Iran with its world-leading water reclamation and desalination abilities, filling up the reservoirs and bringing Iranians hope, and life.


About the writer:

Marziyeh Amirizadeh is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity.   She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation. She is author of two books (the latest, A Love Journey with God), public speaker, and columnist. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran, www.MarzisJourney.com.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

APPEASEMENT IS BACK

How Australian government policies led to the disaster on Bondi Beach.

By Neville Berman

Year after year governments around the world are passing deficit budgets that include massive increases in defense spending. They are arming themselves in the hope of being able to better defend themselves against external enemies.  At the same time, in the name of multiculturalism, diversity, and equality, they have opened their borders to millions of immigrants who do not share their culture, language, religious practices or heritage. The threat to many countries is now internal rather than external. 

What is happening is that incredibly rich Muslim oil exporting countries are promoting the subjugation of the west to Islamic doctrine. One of the ways that they are using to undermine the west is to finance the building of large mosques in major Western cities across the world. The Imams in these mosques are handpicked by the people providing the finance.  They are spreading their opposition to Western culture, and are radicalizing their followers to incite and create anarchy. They are well organized and financed and face almost zero opposition from local governments. They are using the western concept of free speech in order to promote hatred.

Iman Influence. Twenty-four-year-old Bondi Beach shooting gunman Naveed Akram, was a follower of pro-Islamic State preacher Wisam Haddad (above) who has been closely watched by ASIO for most of his adult life but has never been charged with a terrorism offence. (Photo: Four Corners/Sissy Reyes).

The latest attack at Bondi Beach in Australia is the direct result of the total lack of any attempt by the Australian government to take action against hate speech. What is really amazing is to see the current TV briefing by Australian officials. Initially the New South Wales police announced that they were treating the incident as a terrorist attack.  It must have taken a person of exceptional bravery or stupidity to use the word “terrorist” in this day of political correctness. The word “terrorist” has become offensive to millions of people around the world who cheered the attack against America by al-Qaeda on 9/11, 2001.  It is also offensive to millions of people who celebrated the attack on Israel by Hamas on the morning of October 7, 2023.  These are the people that are now setting the standards that society needs to adhere to. The word terrorist conjures up visions of hundreds of actual Muslim terrorist acts across the world, that have killed and maimed thousands of innocent people. The West has simply bowed to the demands of those who want to destroy western culture and civilization and has decided that the word terrorist is now a derogatory term that needs to be removed from the lexicon of the English language. Words like ‘apartheid’, ‘genocide’ and expressions such as ‘rape their daughters’ are now completely acceptable.  Terrorists have become ‘freedom fighters’ or ‘militants’, and the Australians have now found a plethora of new words to lower the bar even further.

Videos show Naveed Akram preaching on the streets of Sydney as a 17-year-old.

The Australian Prime Minister immediately called the incident an act of antisemitism. Considering the fact that that the attack was against thousands of Australian Jews celebrating the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, one can assume that the detective acumen of neither a Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot were needed to conclude that it was indeed an antisemitic act. The fact that the same Prime Minister has failed to take any serious action against hundreds of demonstrations that have taken place on Australian soil, against Jews and Israel, speaks volumes about his political bias and his concerns to appease the growing Muslim immigrant population in Australia. History has shown over and over again that appeasement leads to calamity. What happened on Bondi Beach did not happen in a vacuum. Ever since the Australian government opened its borders to large scale immigration from Muslim countries, the government has allowed hate speech to go unpunished. Hate speech and Jihad should have no place in Australia or anywhere else for that matter. 

In a TV broadcast soon after the attack, the head of New South Wales governing body described the terrorists who carried out the attack as “shooters.” The next speaker used the word “gunmen.” The spokesman for the New South Wales Police stated that “The offenders have been identified as a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son.”  This is hardly the language that one would expect the spokesman of the police department to use about  mass killers of innocent people celebrating on a beach!

Targeting Jews. This is where global antisemitism leads. As if playing an arcade video game, killer Naveed Akram takes aim and shoots to kill, defenseless Jews on Bondi Beach.

So, there you have it, the two radicalized Islamic terrorists that killed 15 innocent civilians and wounded 40 others on Bondi Beach are described as antisemites, then shooters, then gunmen, and finally offenders. Not a single one of the spokespersons used the words Muslim Terrorists or Militant Islamists to describe what happened on Bondi Beach. Not once have the victims of this terrorist attack been described as innocent civilians. The double standards are obvious. Welcome to Australia today.

The one person that stands out in the whole affair is Ahmed al-Ahmed who risked his life and single handedly disarmed one of the terrorists who was shooting at the people on Bondi Beach. The fact that he is a Muslim is a credit to the millions of Muslims who abhor terrorism. He is a shining light that shows that despite all the hatred that is now spreading across the world, there are still people of character and courage. Ahmed al-Ahmed deserves a medal.

Stepping Up Too Late. A report that has sat on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s desk for months is being raised by critics as key evidence that the federal government has done too little, too late to respond to the rising tide of antisemitism since the 7 October terror attack in Israel.

The tragedy on Bondi Beach needs to be the catalyst that unites Australia and the Western world against the falsehoods and hatred that has arisen in the world.  Hatred is not a policy. It is a one-way street to anarchy. It is time to wake up to the fact that countries are abandoning their own culture and heritage by bowing to the demands of those immigrants that wish to subjugate the lifestyle and beliefs of the countries that have welcomed them and provided them with enormous assistance and financial aid. The past cannot be changed. The future definitely needs to be changed.  The writing so to speak is on the wall. What a pity that the only action of the present Australian government is to announce that they will be tightening up on gun control. What a pathetic attempt to find an excuse for their own disastrous policies and appeasement of hatred.  




*Feature picture: People paying tribute to the victims of the Bondi Beach mass shooting during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in Sydney, Australia, where 15 people were killed and 38 others hospitalized.  (Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images).



About the writer:

Accountant Neville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award.  In 1978 he immigrated to the USA  to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel.  He is married with two children and one granddaughter.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

THE GREAT PRETENDER

Behind the polished façade, the “gifts” of Gift of the Givers has a price tag.

By Allan Wolman

Back in the 1950s, The Platters made a hit song called The Great Pretender. Over the decades it was revived by any number of performers — most memorably Freddie Mercury in 1987. Since then, the world has never been short of “great pretenders”, not only on the entertainment stage but very prominently on the political one, where the list of contenders is endless.

Today I want to propose the greatest of the modern-day “Great Pretenders”: none other than Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers, a man who has pulled the wool over an entire nation’s eyes and risen to become South Africa’s most admired humanitarian — both at home and abroad.

Parallel Power. Why is this man – Imtiaz Sooliman – treated by the media as a minster?

With every natural or man-made disaster anywhere in the world, Gift of the Givers is among the first to appear on the scene, ensuring their efforts are rewarded with generous front-page coverage — complete with a full-colour photograph of the good doctor in his trademark green shirt and boldly displayed logo. Not to mention the tsunami of philanthropical donations he attracts.

Sooliman has once again made headlines, this time regarding the mysterious “unknown aircraft” that recently landed at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg. I urge you to read this excellent exposé posted on Facebook by Ivor Blumenthal:

WHY THAT LEGAL CHALLENGE IS IMPERATIVE?



*[Editor’s note: Soon after this article was written, South Africa revoked visa-free access for Palestinian passport holders. Taking its cue from Sooliman’s outrageous initial accusation, the SA government followed blindly reiterating the antisemitic rhetoric of the Gift of the Givers CEO by speculating without substantiation that the mystery flight is an Israeli plot to ethnically cleanse Gaza.]


The South African media should hang their heads in shame. But as the obedient mouthpiece of a rotten and corrupt government, that same media — devoid of morality, integrity, or even the most basic sense of journalistic honesty — would never dare venture into the territory that exposes who and what this organisation really is — and, more importantly, what the man’s true agenda appears to be.

Over decades, Imtiaz Sooliman has cultivated an image of saintly benevolence, rushing from one disaster zone to the next, dispensing aid and compassion with no political or ideological motive, (I also once believed in the tooth fairy). Very few people living a ‘humble’ lifestyle could command aircrafts and other costly facilities at a moment’s notice, but Gift of the Givers opens more doors than presidents and monarchs. Scratch even lightly beneath the surface and a very different picture emerges — one of a shrewd operator who understands perfectly how to manipulate optics, press coverage, and public sentiment.

Unapologetic Law Breaker. In his own words, this man is a law unto himself.

BLOWING THE WHISTLE
However, the true face of Sooliman and his Gift of the Givers is being revealed not by the media but by ordinary folk – non-Muslims – who not only see through but experience the ‘packaged’ deception. Watch the video clip below of a South African woman exposing the true face on this so-called Muslim human rights organization that weaponizes food aid by tying it to conversion. Her outrage disabuses the polished public image of Gift of the Givers, exposing it for leveraging hunger as a recruitment tool for Islam. It has been reported that food parcels have been distributed exclusively to Muslims, while vulnerable Christian families were told they will “get more” if they embrace Islam. Behind the polished façade, the “gifts” of Gift of the Givers has a price tag.

Gift of the Givers is a slick well-oiled reputational machine, capitalizing on every episode of suffering that Sooliman exploits to the full creating another opportunity for branding, hero-worship, and political leverage. The green shirt is no accident; it is a uniform designed for instant recognition, ensuring that Sooliman himself — not the cause, not the victims — becomes the headline.

And here’s where the media and gullible public looks the other way, ignoring the company this man keeps. He has no shame aligning himself to radical Islamic causes, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah and ISIS, openly stating on national television that he adheres to only one law, NOT the law of the land. That’s a statement that goes beyond mere arrogance, but showing his middle finger to his country and the world.

The False Humanitarian. At a protest against Israel in Cape Town on the 5 October 2024, ‘humanitarian’ charity ‘Gift of the Givers’ founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman stood beneath this banner “WE ARE ALL HAMAS” and engaged in antisemitic conspiracy theories, railing against Israel and Jews who “run the world with fear … and control the world with money”. 

Aligning himself with the ANC ‘s agenda of open hostility to Israel and the Jewish people has elevated his stature within South Africa’s political elite affording him a hotline to government ministers who comply to his demands. All this while the media tip-toes around the mysterious aircraft incident at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport and allows Sooliman and his cunningly crafted ‘humanitarian’ Gift of the Givers to weaponize their aims.

Behind the veneer of humanitarianism, a toothless media lacking courage and hiding the truth from the public, feeds the man and his hidden agenda.

Asserting this point, Tim Flack writes in BizNews (8 December), that institutions in South Africa today:

 “…have grown weak and individuals with charismatic branding have filled the void. Sooliman is the clearest example of this trend. He speaks like a minister, moves like a minister, negotiates like a minister, and is treated by the media as if he has the democratic legitimacy of a minister.

But he does not.

He is unelected. He is unappointed. He is unaccountable. And the country has quietly allowed him to operate as a parallel authority in everything from refugee management to foreign policy interpretation.

This is not humanitarianism. It is governance without consent.”

Its time for the media to do their job and expose the true aims behind the façades ofDr. Imtiaz Sooliman and his Islamic charity –  Gift of the Givers.



About the writer:

Allan Wolman in 1967 joined 1200 young South Africans to volunteer to work on agricultural settlements in Israel during the Six Day War. After spending a year in Israel, he returned to South Africa where he met and married Jocelyn Lipschitz and would run  one of the oldest travel agencies in Johannesburg – Rosebank Travel. He would also literally ‘run’ three times in the “Comrades”, one of the most grueling marathons in the world as well as participate in the “Argus” (Cape Town’s famed international annual cycling race) an impressive eight times. Allan and Jocelyn immigrated to Israel in 2019.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

POPE LEO STRIKING OUT IN LEBANON

An opportunity wasted as the Pontif threw his faithful under the wheels of his own proverbial Popemobile.

By Jonathan Feldstein

Growing up in Chicago as a White Sox fan, it’s safe to assume that Robert Francis Prevost was very much part of the baseball culture.  It’s also safe to assume that he knows the term “swing and miss.” As Pope Leo, it’s astounding to see him swing and miss, not once but three times in the context of his brief visit to Lebanon.

Baseball Fan. Before emerging Pope Leo, Robert Francis Prevost was a die-hard Sox fans and is seen here (left corner) with close friends at a 2005 White Sox World Series game at U.S. Cellular Field.

Arriving in the war-torn and Hezbollah dominated country, Pope Leo delivered public remarks ranging on a variety of topics – peace, religious coexistence, the country’s economic crisis, political divisions, and lingering effects of the Israel-Hezbollah war. He even delved into international diplomatic issues that would otherwise be far afield from his theological role as head of the Catholic church, seen by many as a foul ball.

His first strike was not saying anything to ensure the protection and well-being of Christians in Lebanon, long threatened and attacked by Islamists. His best attempt, but definitely a swing and miss, was to make a passive statement urging native Christians to remain in Lebanon and be part of the country’s pluralistic past.

Leo did not, however, explicitly address the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s requirement to disarm Hezbollah by the end of 2025, or the sectarian threats and violence of Islamists that created the Christian exodus from the country where Christians once represented more than half the population. Rather than doing so, he tepidly waited until his airport departure press conference boldly stating:

 “The Church has put forward a proposal urging Hezbollah to lay down arms and prioritize dialogue,” adding:

 “Armed struggle brings no benefit: renounce violence and engage in constructive talks.”

Pope’s Peace Prospects? Stepping onto the ground in war-torn Lebanon with such promise, what impact did Pope Leo have and what opportunities were lost?

Leo placed himself in the center of a months-old ceasefire that is weeks away from failure. It was a pageant play of the absurd. Urging Christians to remain without addressing the threats to them and the obligation to protect the Christian population is analogous to telling an abused wife to remain in her abusive home without ensuring her protection! Essentially, he threw his faithful under the wheels of his own Popemobile.

If the Pope of all people is not going to speak out to truly protect Christians in Lebanon, who will be more righteous than the Pope?  The irony is that in the past, Israel has shown more interest in Lebanon’s Christians than many millions of Christians. One vivid example is that my son’s commanding officer in the IDF is a Lebanese-born Christian whose family was among thousands rescued from certain persecution if not slaughter by Hezbollah’s Islamists in 2000.

I am reminded of my friend, Sami, who once cried to me how Hezbollah ruined his life, and begged Israel to eliminate the Islamists.

Pope Leo’s second strike were his comments en route to Lebanon, calling for a “two-state solution” regarding Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. He was mute on protecting Lebanese Christians but put Israel in the crosshairs, suggesting that creating another Islamist Arab state narrowing Israel’s borders and threatening the Jewish state is the “only path” to peace and justice for Israel and Palestinian Arabs.

Speaking to reporters, Leo opined:

 “We all know that at present Israel still does not accept this solution, but we see it is the only solution that could offer, let us say, an answer to the conflict they continue to live. We are also friends of Israel, and we are trying to act as a mediating voice for both sides, helping to bring about a solution that is fair for everyone.”

Adding to the swing and miss, Leo shared these comments in the wake of his meeting with Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip  Erdogan. Pandering to the Islamist who harbors Hamas terrorists and slaughters Kurds, Leo shared that Turkey has an important role in the Middle East, rather than accurately calling out Erdogan’s dangerous threats, in the interest of “coexistence”. One has to wonder why Leo made Turkey the site of his first international trip since being elected, and remained mute on the Islamist’s open threats, converting a former landmark cathedral -the Hagia Sophia – to a mosque, and striving to revive the Ottoman caliphate.

Mosque with a Message. As the religious and spiritual center of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years, the landmark cathedral, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, was again converted into a mosque, this time by Erdogan’s Turkish government in 2020.

Strike three was the swing and miss of pandering to Islam rather than standing up boldly in the face of threats Islamists have wreaked, and suggesting a political or diplomatic solution to a problem that rewards and emboldens Islamic terror and a theology that considers Jews and Christians including the Pope as dhimmi – tolerated second class citizens. Rather than pandering to Islamists in Turkey and Lebanon, and truly offering thoughts and a solution in the theme of his visit, “blessed are the peacemakers,” Leo should have done a deep dive into his own faith offering an actual Christian solution for peace, rather than balking and threatening Christians and Israelis in the same stroke.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Pope Leo was at least right when he said that “There is no peace without conversion of hearts,” so how much better to have used his platform to build on his own words to his Muslim audience. In the face of Islamic threats, talk about reconciliation sounds nice, but it does not make persecuted Christians or anyone else safer.

Pontiff’s Platforms. Young Robert Prevost (today Pope Leo) is seen here (left) with Pope John Paul II (right) in the 1980s. While John Paul II boldly used his pontiff’s platform to fight against dictatorships and is credited with helping to end communist rule in his native Poland and the rest of Europe, it appears Pope Leo prefers not to ruffle feathers in his pursuance of peace.

He could have offered a Christian solution that involves a “conversion of hearts,” rather than simply mumbling pleasant rhetoric that instead of bringing peace in the Middle East will push everyone further from it.

Beating around the bush in the shadow of Hezbollah’s ‘empire’ made the Islamists laugh their way back to their bunkers as they plot future chaos and misery.



About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein ­­­­- President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

THE HYPOCRISY AND BRAINWASHING OVER GAZA

Israeli withdrawal from Gaza exposes  horrific global hypocrisy and silence of those who ‘claim’ to be pro-Palestine.

By Jonathan Feldstein

The recent days of October 2025 in Israel have been filled with heart wrenching euphoria mixed with cautious optimism, and foreboding.  After two years in unspeakable conditions and captivity, Hamas has released all the 20 living hostages who have returned home to begin a long process of physical and emotional recovery.  Predictably, Hamas has also violated the terms of the agreement to release all the bodies of the 28 remaining hostages. As of this writing, most still remain in the terrorists’ clutches and one of the bodies that they released was not that of a hostage – a ploy they have done before. It’s noteworthy that each of the coffins released needs to be scanned first for explosives before beginning the process of identification of the remains and autopsies.

These are violations of the terms of the agreement that Hamas signed, another form of psychological terror, fitting well in the Islamic practice of taqiya – lying to “infidels”.

At the same time, Israel has agreed to release 2000 terrorists, hundreds of whom serving multiple life sentences for maiming and murdering Israelis. The pain and suffering from the family members of the victims is palpable, as is the fear that any of us could be these terrorists next victims. Or one might rise to become a leader like Yahya Sinwar who masterminded the October 7 attack and massacre, and who was released in a previous deal to free one kidnapped Israeli soldier over a decade ago.

We are also witnessing something only slightly less horrifying: the silence of Hamas supporters around the world who have been chanting for a ceasefire and to protect Gazans for the past two years, even before the slaughter of Hamas terrorists on October 7-8, 2023, was put down.  It’s not new, but flies in the face of anyone claiming to be pro-Palestine (whatever that means), using any made-up reason to blame Israel for the suffering of Gazans, but turning a blind eye to the fact that all the Gazans’ suffering is a direct consequence of Hamas using them as human shields.

Now that Israeli troops have withdrawn from Hamas controlled population centers, what we’re witnessing today is a horrific hypocrisy met by silence of those who claim to be “pro-Palestine”. Hamas has not only not disarmed per the deal, but has undertaken widespread executions in broad daylight across Gaza, ostensibly to eliminate collaborators, but mostly to exert their control and continue to instill fear among Gazans. The gruesome public executions are witnessed and filmed by hundreds.

Sin City. The true nature of Gaza that the world shuts its eyes to – a closeup of a huge crowd of civilians watch an execution in public in Gaza City. Videos showing Hamas carrying out execution – style killing in Gaza

The world remains silent!

  • Why are these executions happening?
  • Why are people standing around watching, filming, and not resisting?
  • Why is the world largely silent?
  • Why is there no widespread media outrage calling out Hamas as the inhuman brutal Islamic terrorist organization that it is?
  • Why are there not a plethora of public statements from world leaders and celebrities who have protested against Israel?
  • Why are there no “Free Palestine” hashtags in response to these executions?

Because without Israel to blame, the actual suffering of Gazans isn’t worth a tweet. Because nobody really cares about Gazans. Their ire is more against Israel rather than pro anything.

With Israeli troops withdrawn and a ceasefire in place, even the UN now admits there’s enough food in Gaza for three months. What happened to the “famine” narrative? The UN’s hypocrisy underscores that there never was one, but it was just another lie, ingested by a world smacking its lips to villainize Israel.

Gazan ‘Humanity’. The world stands silent while other pro-Palestinian activists justify as Hamas militant grabs a Palestinian suspected of collaborating with Israel, before being executed in Gaza City, August 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters/Stringer)
 

The veil has been lifted.  No famine and Hamas executing Gazans. But wait, there’s more.

Of the alleged “genocide” Hamas claims that 67,000 have been killed since October 7, 2023.  Other than the fact this this conflates several thousand terrorists who were killed that day, and tens of thousands more in targeted combat, the Hamas numbers are not verifiable. Nevertheless, if we’re to believe that number, it’s now also reported that 58,000 of them were terrorists…that’s an 86% ratio, the lowest proportion of civilian to combatant casualties in any war in history. Ever.

If Israel attempted a “genocide”, then Israel executed the most failed genocide ever. It’s astounding how many bought into the “genocide” lie, and who are now silent.

Comprending the Incomprehensible. British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore laments that while the October 7 2023 Hamas attack resembled “a medieval Mongol raid for slaughter and human trophies,” academics, students, artists, and activists “have denied, excused, or even celebrated the murders….”

With Hamas streaming the deliberate killing of Gazans, the veil is lifted. Why are there no:

– “Free Palestine” outcries

– no pleas to save Gazans from Hamas?

Because it was never about freeing “Palestine” but excoriating Israel.

That fraudulent brainwashing has been nothing less than psychological manipulation designed to make the world hate Jews even more. To make Jew-hatred acceptable. Through their vile protests, in which people were paid to partake and instigate others, they have made the world think that the Jews are the Nazis. But in fact, it’s the deliberate mass brainwashing of millions of eager gullible people, and the literal execution of perceived opposition and enemies of their regime, it’s clear that they are the Nazis. Their ideology is what is genocidal.

October 7th was the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and somehow, the narrative was twisted. Israel and Jews have been blamed for all of it, and the world actually believed it. If you’re reading this, please take the time in the coming weeks and months to dig deeper. To understand. Not to accept the reflexive blame of Israel that will continue to come from the four corners of the world, and which has always been a lie. Do not accept the silence as so many Gazans continue to be tortured by Hamas. Have the courage to speak out against abhorrent false information.

The threats are real, to Gazans, to Israel and to the West.  The enemy is the same. Please take time to understand, and speak up. The deal reached, and already violated by Hamas, is not a peace deal, but an agreement to see the end of active combat and release of all the hostages – dead and alive.  Hopefully.

Gazan ‘Justice’. A graphic clip, which ABC NEWS has verified shows several men in Gaza City being forced to kneel in the middle of a large gathered crowd as they are about to be executed in public by high-powered weapons.(Planet Labs PBC)

Please pray for the hostages and their loved ones, that they should have full physical and emotional rehabilitation. Pray for the families of those who have been killed as they, hopefully, received their loved ones remains and begin to find closure. Pray for Israel, and its continued safety and security and, if needed, success in continuing to eliminate Hamas threats.




*Feature picture:  Hamas militants kill seven suspected collaborators with Israel in a public execution in Gaza City.



About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein ­­­­- President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

THE DRUZE AND ISRAEL – A COVENANT IN BLOOD

Israel is and always has been short of friends.

Today, Jews across the world are finding themselves alone, ostracized and vulnerable.

One people that have stood by Israel sacrificing life and limb since 1948, is the country’s Druze community, who through thick and thin, war after war, have thrown in their lot with the destiny – and fate – of Israel. In the current Israel-Hamas war, Druze have fought and died alongside their fellow Jewish soldiers in the IDF as they have done in all previous wars.

Today, the Druze in southern Syria, family to the Druze of Israel, are under attack with regime forces aiding Syrian Bedouins in perpetrating atrocities – including the summary execution of Druze civilians.

Israel could not sit back, particularly as Israel’s Druze community’s leadership has appealed to Israel to save their people across the border in turbulent Syria from slaughter.

Lay of the Land fully supports Israel’s efforts to help save the Druze of Syria.



Why Israel helps the Druze in Syria





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).




SOUTH AFRICA SHOULD TREAD VERY CAREFULLY WHEN IT COMES TO JIHADIST TERRORISM

Why should a minority foreign import be allowed to determine the future of the majority?

By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe

I was taken aback by the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) when it accepted the application of the Shariah-based political party called the Islamic State of Africa (ISA). This application was forwarded by a man who is not new to controversy. Farhad Hoomer was arrested in 2018 after he was accused of being involved in the deadly attack at the Imam Hussain Mosque in Verulam,  a town 24 kilometres north of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, however, his charges were later withdrawn.

The name Islamic State of Africa raises a serious concern as it suggests that Hoomer may be associated with Islamic State (ISIS or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations (UN) and many countries around the world, including Muslim countries.

Hoodlum Hoomer. Farhad Hoomer and four others were arrested at a warehouse in Mayville, Durban in June 2021 where police seized more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition, handguns, an AK-47, a bolt action rifle with a scope and a cellphone jammer. Charges were later dropped against Hoomer and his co-accused. (Photos: SAPS)

This terrorist organisation needs no introduction in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as it continues to cause chaos in Mozambique where South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been involved to stop the Jihadi terrorism unleashed by a group known as Islamic State of Mozambique (ISM).

The accusations by some Western politicians that Africa  – to some extent – is an enabler of growing terrorism on the continent could be true. Countries such as Sudan and Chad have allowed the Islamic organisations to operate in their countries, at times offering their countries as covers for wanted terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden.

The ideology and political aims of South Africa’s new party, ISA, does not in any way align with the country’s constitution. Just as the founder, Hooker, has said, its constitution makes it very clear that it will implement Shariah law – a legal and moral framework within Islam derived from the Quran and Islamic tradition. The chaotic scenes deriving from the Middle East and Asia are entirely caused by the proponents of this belief, who are convinced that the whole world should be forced, through violence, to follow Islam. 

Farhad has visions of getting far ahead. Durban businessperson Farhad Hoomer – accused by the US of leading an “Isis cell” – denies being a terrorist but says his goal is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and he is willing to take up arms to achieve his goals. He sees democracy as a form of “evil, tyranny and enslavement”. 
 

What Hoomer should understand is that South Africa is and will forever remain a secular state, which has a greater respect for all religions and has always allowed everyone to practice their religion. Section 15 of the South African Constitution guarantees to all the “freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, and opinion.” With South Africa being a predominantly Christian country – a legacy due to its colonial past – it is not nor will ever be a religious state. From this vantage point, it does not make sense that a minority Islamic sect could be allowed to determine the future of the majority. 

Spearheading Sharia. Farhad Hoomer who wants his new political party, the Islamic State of Africa (ISA), to be part of South Africa’s political landscape said in an interview with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime “Will I fight for Sharia? I would say yes.”
 

The concern here is not whether this Sharia-based party’s application to the Electoral Commission would be approved or that Hoomer may not even get a parliamentary seat, but about the principle. The IEC was not supposed to even entertain the application of Farhad Hooler which would be a green light to import violence to South Africa. Just on our doorsteps in Mozambique, our brothers and sisters are terrorised by similar Islamic groups. 

South Africa is also harbouring immigrants and refugees who are running away from the Middle East and African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Nigeria, and many others.

Potential Import. In South Africa’s northern neighbour Mozambique, residents near Macomia in Cabo Delgado province, gather after their village was attacked in 2024 by the Islamic State group. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

According to the Middle East Africa Research Institute (MEARI), South Africa has been and remains a source of funding for many terror activities across the African continent. There are Islamic State-loyal cells inside our country who are acting as middlemen by consolidating all the funds from all related terror organisations to generate income. MEARI further observes that Somalia and South Africa are financial hubs of all Islamic State cells or provinces as they are called, the money is then pooled inside South Africa and laundered across East Africa through an intricate network that finances the Islamic State’s activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique.

Frying Pan into the Fire. Fleeing civil wars, these refugees from Somalia, the DRC and Burundi camp outside the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) offices in Cape Town, South Africa in 2019 fearing for their lives due to local xenophobia. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp)

Recent terrorist encounters in Djibouti and Mozambique should sound alarm bells for South Africa to neither associate nor tolerate any Islamic State related organisations to operate on its soil. To do so will only create a conducive environment for radical Islamic terrorism to thrive in a country that has absorbed so many illegal migrants from across the African continent.

On a matter of principle, South Africa’s Electoral Commission should not have entertained the application of ISA whose party platform is both foreign to South Africa’s political, cultural and social ethos and most certainly at odds with the country’s internationally acclaimed liberal constitution.

As much as we respect religious nations, we are not a religious state and do not wish to become one.

Islamic State of Africa eyes 2026 LGE: Farhad Hoomer
https://www.youtube.com/embed/yIKTYw_WyCE





About the writer:

Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe is a political writer and researcher based at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.








While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

LESSONS FROM MY FRIEND’S EXECUTION IN IRAN’S EVIN PRISON

Nearly executed like her cellmate affords understanding of the depravity and dangers of the Teheran regime.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

This year, more than ever, it’s impossible not to think about the execution of my best friend, Shirin Alamhooli on May 9, 2010. I met Shirin in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison where I had been arrested and sentenced to death by hanging because of converting to Christianity, a “crime” the Islamic regime calls “apostasy” and which carries a death penalty.  I was arrested in March 2009. Shirin had already been in prison for some time as a political Kurdish prisoner.

Iranian Injustice. This photo of Shirin Alamhooli was taken by the writer while in Evin Prisonm Teheran. Shiran was executed on May 9, 2010. (Photo: Marziyeh Amirizadeh)

As a Christian, I had many people advocating for my freedom from the first day, and miraculously, I was released that November, and then came to America where I have become a proud citizen. Unfortunately, neither the world nor the terrorist Islamic regime cared about the life of a 28-year-old Kurdish woman.  Shirin spent months being brutally tortured: repeatedly kicked in her stomach, bashing her head against the wall until she passed out, hanging her from the ceiling for hours on end, and beating her with a cable. They would only stop the torture for the Islamic prayer, to dedicate their savage acts to Allah. To satisfy him.

For months Shirin could not walk because the skin was torn from the bottom of her feet during the torture. Most of the time we would sit together and from a small window looked at the mountains beyond the walls of prison. She would sing a beautiful Kurdish song. She wished just to walk to the mountains freely, to fly away like a bird one more time.

At The Mercy Of Evil Men. Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish political prisoner and former aid worker, faces the confirmation of her death sentence by the Iranian Supreme Court.

We ate and talked together almost daily. She asked me to promise her that if I got released and she didn’t, to never stop fighting against the evil Islamic regime.

From the first day of my release, I started fighting for her release, even though I remained in mortal danger myself. I will never forget that horrific day I got a call from one of my cellmates still in prison:

“Marzi, Shirin was executed.”

…. then uncontrollable crying.

I felt like I died. I hung up the phone, and for a few hours I felt as if all my internal organs had frozen. My whole body froze. I could not move, talk, or think.

Along with my roommate, Maryam, with whom I had also been arrested and sentenced to death and then released, we went outside the prison with Shirin’s brother, pleading just to get her body to bury her with dignity. The prison authorities lied. They told us her body had been sent to the cemetery. We rushed there and they said they never received Shirin’s body. We returned to Evin Prison, begging them to give us her body. They refused, mocking us. Today, nobody knows her burial place, if she even has one.

Even 15 years later, Shirin’s execution is one of the most painful things in my life.  Growing up in the Islamic Republic, there were many.  This year we must take a lesson from her murder, as the Islamic regime remains the greatest threat to the US, and the world. I am pained that those leaders in my adopted country, which I love and am so grateful for, are being deceived by the notion that the ayatollahs can be rationalized with, that negotiation is anything more than a fool’s errand.

Indeed, the Iranian Islamic Republic cannot be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon – ever, under any circumstances. Negotiation will only give them time to bury their centrifuge deeper, and to hide the enriched uranium that has no civilian purpose. To be clear: if the Islamic Republic is able to acquire a nuclear weapon, they will use it.  They will threaten the US and Israel, the “Great Satan,” and the “Little Satan.” They will establish a nuclear umbrella that will let them blackmail and terrorize the rest of the world.  There is no doubt about this, yet too many in the West don’t realize it.

While all this is horrible, and is threatening, and cause enough to do everything possible to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, no less horrible is the cancerous threat of spreading of their evil, extremist Islamic ideology: in the US and the rest of the world. A nuclear bomb can kill millions instantaneously, but their dangerous ideology infects the whole world, spreading like a virus, and destroying and threatening millions from within over decades.

Condemned to Die. For 46 years, the gallows of the Islamic Republic have claimed countless women’s lives.

My friend Shirin is evidence of that. Arrested, tortured, and executed, she was one of millions of Iranians alone who are victims of this extremist ideology. While no level of torture is out of bounds in the Islamic Republic, according to their strict following of Islamic laws, it’s not allowed to execute a virgin. It is a known practice for women like Shirin, and others, that before being executed they are brutally raped, taking the level of obscenity beyond imagination. That’s another example of why negotiations are futile, and they can never be trusted.

I was supposed to be one of its victims too.  Outside Iran, through its terrorist proxies around the world including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Syrian Assad regime, Kataib Hezbollah, and more, millions of others have been killed and maimed.  Vast “no-go” neighborhoods of major European cities have become dangerous cesspools of Islamic hate.

The US and the world must be saved from this threat. But there’s another reason as well. For more than 46 years, 85 million Iranians have been held captive, hostage to the ayatollahs -victims of their lies. They have been repeatedly let down by the West looking to make a deal.  The worst of these examples was President Obama who, while I was in prison, not only abandoned the Iranian people during the Green Movement, but sent billions of dollars to Iran, thinking that he could pay off the ayatollahs. Still today, Iranians consider Obama as having betrayed them.

Revelations from the Inside. In Captive in Iran, two courageous Iranian women – the writer and a former cellmate on death row in Evin Prison who made it out alive – recount their experiences in one of the world’s darkest places.

There have been reports of Islamic Republic, today, offering the US billions in contracts to rebuild Iran, but that is nothing more than extortion. In fact, the US can achieve unlimited potential and billions in contracts rebuilding Iran by doing everything possible to bring down the Islamic regime, making Iran and Iranians free, and eliminating the world’s greatest source of terror and war.

This is what needs to be done. While it cannot bring back Shirin, it will at least fulfill her wishes for a free Iran, and those of so many others who have suffered their brutality.



*Feature picture: Shirin Alam Holi, born in 1981 in a small village near Maku, executed in Evin Prison on May 9th 2010 after passing one year and nine months in prison. She was charged for cooperating with Pajak (Iranian branch of PKK) on Nov. 29th 2009 and sentenced to death. (Photos: Marziyeh Amirizadeh)



About the writer:

Marziyeh Amirizadeh is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity.   She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation. She is author of two books (the latest, A Love Journey with God), public speaker, and columnist. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran, www.MarzisJourney.com.  Marzi also is the founder and president of NEW PERSIA whose mission is to be the voice of persecuted Christians and oppressed women under Islam, expose the lies of the Iranian Islamic regime, and restore the relationships between Persians, Jews, and Christians. www.NewPersia.org





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).