Countering Anti-Semitism with Susan Michael

0:00 Hello everyone, I'm Stephen Strang and welcome to the Strang Report podcast. I'm excited today to interview my longtime friend Dr. Susan Michael, who is the US director of the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, which has been doing a great work since the early 1980s when I first became familiar with it and I'm sure we'll get a catch up today. But a few days ago, I was at the National Religious Broadcasters and they were handing out this book that Susan wrote called Anti-Semitism, What Every Christian Needs to Know and How to Counter it. So I reached out to her and I said, we need to do a podcast on this and now she has fit me in. She's actually still at National Religious Broadcasters. You may hear a little noise in the background and we're going to play this later. But I'm interested, first of all, to say welcome to you Susan. I appreciate it. I know it wasn't convenient, but you fit me in. So thank you. And what kind of response have you gotten there at NRB to your ministry and also this book that I was talking about?

1:22 Well, Steve, first I wanted to say how great it is to be with you today and we just so honor you and appreciate you and Christmas media and all that you do. So, love being with you today. You know, the NRB, it's just really booming this year. It is so many people. It's the biggest one ever and it is such a pro-Israel group. So we have been received with a lot of enthusiasm and this little booklet on anti-Semitism, so many have told me, you know, they're so concerned about the rising anti-Semitism in America and I really appreciate this book because it's really just a booklet. It's small. It's very easy to read and very easy to understand what is really a quite heavy subject. And so we just wanted to get it out to as many people this weekend have been giving it out. It's such a big concern today. Well, of course, anti-Semitism is something that's been going on for centuries and it's nothing new. But it seems that there is a real uptick with anti-Semitism with the attack that Hamas did on Israel on October 7th and with anti-Israel protests. Even the president of Harvard got fired for because the Jewish students there felt so unsafe and she would not condemn it and so forth. And of course, that's a discussion for a different day. But who would have thought that in America, the

2:55 land of the free and the home of the brave, in which we have such a vibrant Jewish community that there would be this anti-Semitism? Why do you think that exists? Well, anti-Semitism, of course, it's a spiritual problem. And we describe it as it's like a virus. So you may think that you've defeated that virus only to find that it mutates and it comes back later with a slightly different look to it. And so anti-Semitism has been here throughout history, really, and it comes out in different times, in different places, through different people. But it's the same goal at the end of the day and that is the annihilation of the Jewish people and that's how you can recognize it. I'll tell you, as an American, I'm just shocked to see rising anti-Semitism in America. I really never thought that we'd be seeing what we're seeing today. We knew it was possible, but I didn't think it was probable. And the problem that we have on our universities and college campuses, especially distressing, and we even wrote a letter. It had over a hundred Christian leaders sign the letter and sent it to 300 university presidents, asking them to, first of all, define anti-Semitism and enforce it on their campus and then also to provide greater security for their Jewish students. And one of those schools came back and ordered

4:29 30 copies of this booklet so they could use it in one of their courses, which is being taught this semester. So I felt it was really important that Christians stand up in support of the Jewish students on those campuses. I think that's important, too. You know, officials and the public expect Jews to stand up for their Jewish brothers and sisters, but they're often surprised that Christians would stand up. And I've had some Jewish friends tell me in private conversations that they understand that where there is persecution of Christians around the world and now more and more in our country, that it always goes hand in hand with anti-Semitism. And because of that, they will often stand up for our religious freedoms when, you know, people are persecuted for being believers, which happens a lot with the woke philosophy and so forth. In fact, I'll just throw this in before we get into talking about the book. I was just scrolling stuff on Facebook and something popped up about one of these men on the street reporters who had was asking all these young people, they looked like they were maybe 20 to 25, what it meant from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free. And they asked him, what was the river and what was the sea? And they didn't even know they were parroting some talking points from

6:04 the left. They had no idea. And, you know, whoever did the video was, you know, trying to make a point, but I just thought that was kind of interesting and really kind of a sad commentary on the educational system and also on how, you know, probably very, very smart students are not thinking about some of these very important issues. Well, they're not being taught the facts, you know, why? Because the facts are on Israel's side. So I just heard this week of a study that came out of Berkeley, which we know is of course one of the most liberal campuses, but they did a study and they found that for a number of these young people that were actually participating in a pro-Palestine protest that once they called them aside and actually shared some facts that they were very willing to actually change their position once they were educated. And so this is a big drive for us as an organization and me personally as education. I think so many of our, especially students, but all of us, the issues of Israel in the Middle East are quite complex. They go back many years and it takes a little bit of study and education to really get a handle on them.

7:27 And education is what is so needed. And so this little booklet is just one example of educational resources we've been producing. And that's what I wanted to highlight. And it is for sale on Amazon. I noticed it costs $3.99. There's not much that only costs $3.99 anymore, but people can get a copy of it. And the back of it says anti-Semitism is surging. Can anything stop it? So why don't you just kind of walk us through what Christians can do. It says whatever Christian needs to know and how to counter it. What can the average person who's trying to raise their kids, trying to meet the mortgage payment, trying to show up at church on a regular basis and serve the Lord the best they can? What can they do to counter anti-Semitism? Well, first of all, pray. So pray for the protection of the Jewish people. Pray that this evil is pushed back and that it doesn't continue growing in our country because it is an evil force. And so we need to combat it with prayer. Pray for our government to make right decisions for our lawmakers. Pray for leaders to be raised up to speak out against it and to produce more of a movement against it. So these are things we can be praying for. Second of all, is educate yourself so that you will not be caught off guard by a comment or an issue. You'll know how to respond. And then thirdly,

9:01 to have the courage to actually speak up and to begin to push back against this. And that may be, you know, it might just be in your church, you hear someone make a negative comment or it could be in your community, whatever your sphere of influence is to use it. And another thing that we suggest that people do is to, you know, when there is an anti-Semitic attack, say your local synagogue, somebody puts a swastika on it or something, just give them a phone call and say, we want you to know we're so sorry and we're standing with you. And just to let the Jewish community know they are not alone. Because there are millions of Christians that love them and support them, but we don't always know how to express that. And we're not always quick to express it. So these are some of the practical steps that we recommend.

9:57 And just walk us through the book. Why you wrote it and, you know, you told us a little bit about the response, the university and so forth. But what response are you getting and how can people get this book? Well, the reason it's 399 is because it actually is really just a booklet. It's small. And that's because this is quite a heavy subject, anti-Semitism. There's a lot of history there. There's a lot of things to talk about. And we didn't want to overwhelm people. We wanted to give them something that was very, very easy to read and to take in and understand and digest. Then they can always, you know, get a larger book or go deeper if they want to. But we wanted to give them the overview of it. And this little book, the other thing that we always need to do with the Christian community, especially, is, you know, a lot of our Christians in the pews, whether they're a new Christian or an old, they may not know a lot of the history.

11:02 And the first thing that we have to understand as Christians is that we actually have a history of anti-Semitism in church history. And if we are going to push back against anti-Semitism, we need to understand that history. And I think understanding that will also motivate us to want to make amends in a way. It'll make us want to make sure that the Christian community in America, that our church or, you know, our friends are not a part of this modern problem that we learned from the past. So we give a quick little overview of the history and the history of Christian anti-Semitism. And then we talk about anti-Semitism today, where it is in the United States, largely our college campuses. But it's also there in the far right, and it's there in the far left. So, and it's there in the Muslim community.

12:02 So you have to know these pockets of where it is and where it's coming from. And then last at the end, we just listed a little what you what you can do section to encourage them. Look, I wish I could go out tomorrow and stop anti-Semitism, right? So I know it's a big problem and we may feel like what we're doing is just a little drop in the bucket. But I always say, well, if you're doing a drop and I'm doing a drop, it adds up. And if we all just do a little bit, it could add up. And so we wanted to give them just some really simple, practical things that they could do. I want to talk about the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem. It's been around a long time, but a lot of people may not be familiar with it, or it's very interesting history. Now, most people who've been paying attention would know that Donald Trump moved the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And, you know, it has to do with politics and the fact that some people didn't want to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In fact, most of the countries of the world didn't. And even though there were, I guess, resolutions of some kind from Congress again and again, several U.S.

13:24 presidents promised to do it and didn't. But I say that to say that in the early 80s, when this was kind of a controversial thing, there were a group of Christians who say these countries won't move their embassy to Jerusalem, but we Christians will. So the International Christian Embassy, which I guess hadn't even existed, and with the word Jerusalem on it, to indicate it was in Jerusalem, was started in 1980, if I remember right, which wasn't long after the Christmas started covering, you know, the Christian community and what was happening in Israel. In fact, you have a great, I'm going to call it a conference, but it's a lot more than that. It's called Feast of Tabernacles.

14:09 It's in the autumn. I went to it, I'm guessing maybe in 82 or 83. It wasn't the first year, but it had been around very long. And I remember it was a great event. And then, of course, it's even bigger since then. And you've been able to mobilize people around the country. If I remember correctly, it's in 140 countries. If I remember the number right, and you're the director of the US branch, you know, there's very strong leadership there in Israel. But I guess you're over United States getting support and organizing all the things that happened. So why don't you, you know, I'm giving my understanding of the I.C.E.J. based on my memory and covering it all these years, but you know much better than I do. So just tell us a little bit about this ministry and what your goals are, especially here in the United States. Well, Steve, you did a great job.

15:08 You're hired. We will let you promote the I.C.E.J. And it's interesting because it does dovetail with our earlier conversation. In 1980 is when, I mean, look, Jerusalem had been the de facto capital of Israel since, I think, 49 or 50. So it really had always been the capital. But the issue was if the nations were going to recognize that. And in 1980, the Israeli government passed the Jerusalem bill where they put it into law that it is the capital. And there was tremendous international uproar against it. And the countries that did have an embassy in Jerusalem literally packed them up and moved them out. And that was when these Christian leaders seized the moment and said, we don't support that. We're starting an international Christian embassy, Jerusalem. But we were so aware in 1980 when we started that we were pioneering, we were really going to be pioneering a whole new relationship with the Jewish people because of this history that I was just referring to. And we were met with a lot of skepticism in Israel. Why? Because they know this history. They know the history of anti-Semitism that was there in the Christian church and how we mistreated them and how we taught actually contempt of the Jewish people at times in history.

16:34 And here we were coming forward in the middle of the newborn state of Israel. They were only what, 32 years old in 1980. And I may have that wrong, but they weren't very old. And we come forward in the middle of Jerusalem, this very international group of Christian leaders saying, we stand with you and we support you. We were met with a lot of skepticism. But over the years, I've been privileged to see the growth of Jewish-Christian relations in such a way it's astounding me. And it's because it took a while, but we've proved ourselves that we're genuine friends, that we do what we say and we mean what we say, and that we are a new brand of Christianity that has rejected that anti-Semitism of the past and that we're initiating a new relationship with the Jewish people based on mutual respect. And we had over the years in Israel, we've just seen amazing relationships and partnerships developed. Here in the United States, we're considered a branch office of the ICEJ. And so my priorities here are number one, of course, to help fund our projects in Israel. For instance, we have been placing bomb shelters in Israel for about a decade now. So we've placed over 200 bomb shelters. And we have been working consistently in

18:06 that Gaza area for years. We knew all of the security chiefs, all of the community leaders, all of the school directors, the teachers, and because we've been placing bomb shelters and other assets down there. In fact, you mentioned the FISA Tavernachos this past year, 2023, the FISA Tavernachos held its last evening in the Gaza area. We took 700 Christians down to what's called the Gaza envelope, where those communities are. And we held what we call the Solidarity Rally. And the mayor of the region there, Ophir Lipstein, greeted us and thanked us all for coming. So it was such an encouragement to the people there. And he said, you can know that we are here. We are guarding the border with Israel. We are maintaining the land.

19:07 And he was one of the very first fatalities 36 hours later when Hamas broke through the wall there. But it shows the depth of the relationship based on the practical assistance. So here in America, we raise funds for those projects. But secondly, our goal is to educate the Christian community in our nation. So I've put a lot of time and effort into building educational resources and have all kinds of open doors opening to us because there's great interest in Israel.

19:47 And you know that, Steve, in the Christian community. There's a lot of interest in Israel, but there's varying levels of understanding of Israel, even of what the Bible teaches about Israel. And we're seeing that there's quite a hunger to understand more. And there's not that many resources out there to fill this gap. So we're being called upon more and more to educate. And thirdly, our last priority, of course, is advocacy and to stand for Israel in the public square when it's needed. We don't focus on the political, but sometimes you have to take a stand.

20:27 And you've partnered with us many times when we felt the need to do a letter to the president or a letter to the UN and take a public stand for Israel. We've always appreciated that. Well, you know, you can count on me when you're taking one of these stands. Of course, I always read it, you know, so I'm aware of what's being said. But I love standing with you. Your ministry has had such integrity and you're right, there is an awful lot of love for Israel. And I was born a few years after the state was formed. I grew up in a Pentecostal church. And as I grew up, I just understood that the creation of Israel was a fulfillment of the prophecy where the prophet said, can a nation be born in a day? And I just understood as a child that we had Jewish roots.

21:24 I didn't know a whole lot about it. But and the church we were in, the denomination we were in, they weren't particularly pro-Israel in the way the ICEJ is. But there was a lot of latent support for Israel, the land of the Bible, where Jesus is from. You know, Christianity was considered a Jewish sect for the first couple hundred years before it was recognized as religion on its own. But what's happened is leaders such as yourself, John Hagee, other people like that have really helped to coalesce that. And I've had Jewish friends, I'm talking about secular Jewish friends, tell me that they know that evangelical Christians are the best friends that Israel has. And a lot of these are secular Jews who barely even know what evangelical means. But you know, we use that term for people who believe in the Bible and believe that it's Jesus the only way to heaven. And those basic beliefs, because so many Christians are so liberal and so secular that what does it mean to be a Christian? So we've come to say evangelical Christians. And the point I'm making is that these secular Jews know what it means. They know who they're, in fact, it's hard for them sometimes to understand that the Christians actually love them and are trying to serve them. So I salute

22:54 you and the others in ICEJ. And why don't you tell us as we wrap this up how people can get involved if they want to get on your mailing list or of course you have a website and all those kinds of things. And also, I haven't said yet, so I'll say it now. Also, I don't forget that to my viewers and listeners share this podcast, especially with those who, you know, have an interest in Israel or who are concerned with anti semitism. And while you're at it, be sure to subscribe. Our subscribe subscribers are going up in number all the time and hit the little bell so that when we're on every Tuesday and Thursday live at 4pm Eastern time that you'll be notified that we're on. So now that I put my little pitch, I want to give you the last word.

23:44 Thank you, Steve. Yes, our website is ICEJUSA.org. And there they can find our books in the store, our, we have online courses at ICEJU.org, the organization's ICEJUSA.org. But they can find all of our resources there, my podcast, the articles, and of course, these little booklets is there. It's also on Amazon. So we welcome them to sign up for our email list and begin to get informed. Well, thank you. And thank you for taking time to be on the String Report podcast today.

24:27 And thank you to my viewers and listeners for watching and for helping the podcast to continue to grow. And I just want to encourage you to do what you can to support Israel. There's small ways. Sometimes it's just making a comment, writing an email, showing up at a rally. I know that the Jewish community here in Orlando, they'll have a rally for various things that they're concerned about. And if six evangelical Christians show up, they are so grateful. It's like you've done them a great favor. It's just a way that you can show solidarity and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

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