Why we need a Christian-Jewish partnership

By Allen Menkin, M.D., CAMERA’S Christian-Jewish Partnership of South Florida

Our calendar catalogues every disaster that has befallen us since the time of Pharoah. We memorialize, but we are not famous for averting catastrophes, forming alliances or even uniting in the face of a threat. Other than Purim, we do not celebrate many victories.

Jew hatred began in antiquity. It followed us to Babylon, Seville, Blois, Mainz, Lodz, Brisk and Jerusalem; and it has found us here in Naples. We can’t just remember the past. We need to recognize the present threat and take action before it engulfs us — and we need allies.

Jews make up about 0.5% of the Greater Naples population. Even allowing for unknowns (state of economy, taxes, mortgage rates, weather patterns, pandemics), we can expect population growth and demographic shifts similar to those that have occurred on the east coast. That would bring a relative increase in the Jewish population, visibility and potential for antisemitic acts.

Evangelicals are about a fourth of the population and are also increasing. They are philo-semitic, Zionist, have no history of detestation and share many of our beliefs. Most importantly, they have a moral commitment to the survival of Israel and the Jewish people.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) understands the past. It has been fighting anti-Israel bias and antisemitism in the media, on the campus and in the classroom since 1982. The goal of its Christian-Jewish partnership is to bring our communities together to protect the future.

Please join us Thursday evening, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) at the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center as, together, we will take our first step toward that future.

Register online at https://christians_ and_jews_against_antisemitism. eventbrite.com/.