If you were to read this article about the first Christian woman in Pakistan to become a brigadier general, you'd think that Pakistan was a bastion of tolerant interfaith liberalism. Nothing is further from the truth. Let's look at this in the proper context.
Last month, something horrible happened in Bethlehem. "Christ at the Checkpoint" is a clever name for a nefarious orgy of hatred organized by people who call themselves Christians, but who advocate for the destruction of Israel and the massacre of Jewish people. It is built on a biblically baseless foundation riddled with replacement theology, propagating the lie that God no longer has a covenant with the Jewish people.
I was reminded of this recently when a Christian friend in Pakistan contacted me to ask for my help. I cannot write anything that will reveal who or where she is, but her circumstances, along with that of many Christians in Pakistan, are harrowing. I, an Orthodox Jew, have been helping them for years.
My friend and her family have been subject to multiple instances of persecution and assault. Recently, she and another family member were hospitalized due to Muslims beating them just because they're Christian. I've seen the X-rays of broken bones that will heal, but in a society that is hopeless in its hate. The most recent attack on her family is the third in recent months, as their persecutors try to force them to convert to Islam and force their women to marry Muslim men.
My friend is incredibly strong in her faith. I wish I could share everything that I know. But she, her family and countless other Christians live in fear. I have a number of Christian friends in Pakistan who tell me the same story.
She asked for my help because they fear for their lives. They need to leave Pakistan, to flee to another country.
She told me where they can go to claim asylum and how much it will cost. On the one hand, she is my friend and I want to help in any way I can personally. Because of my work building bridges between Jews and Christians, I am also focused on helping Christians who are in dire need, especially here in the Middle East, and especially when facing similar threats from Muslims as we do in Israel. From a human perspective, it's hard to say no.
Another friend has been asking me for months if I can help him get a visa to any country where he can find work. Unfortunately, I have no connections to help him, and even other Christians with links to Pakistan who I have asked to help have been unresponsive. You can walk across the Mexican border with no problem, but actually getting a visa to flee, that's an insurmountable problem.
I know that if it were possible, there would be an infinite number of Christians who would flee Pakistan and other Arab-Islamic countries. There's a timeless Jewish teaching that "he who saves one live saves the world." The Genesis 123 Foundation is committed to saving as many lives as possible.
This also reminded me of Tucker Carlson's recent horrible interview with Palestinian Christian Pastor Munther Isaac, in which he not only allowed, but propagated the lie that Christians in Palestinian areas are suffering at the hand of Israel. Carlson and Isaac blamed the suffering of Palestinian Arab Christians on Israel without once mentioning anything about Islam, or the actual Muslim neighbors who truly threaten Christians, and under whose control Bethlehem has gone from a city that was 80% Christian to less than 10%.
I also know the truth of Christians being persecuted and threatened in the Palestinian Authority, and in Israel, by their Muslim neighbors firsthand, from Arab Christians who share with me their frustration and fear.
Carlson asked rhetorically why more people don't stand up for Christians in the Middle East to set up a way to blame Israel rather than actually identify the cause. There is an answer. Since I have worked helping Christians in Pakistan, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian Authority for years, my response is very clear. Christians typically are not as tribal as Jews, and do not see the suffering of Christians in other parts of the world as being something for which they have an inherent responsibility, or ability to overcome. Jews consider helping one another an imperative.
In the past, when I initiated major campaigns to help Christians in the Middle East, I have been frustrated with the lack of support, wondering why at least a million Christians don't donate $10 to make a real difference. Maybe $25.
Nevertheless, I cannot stop advocating for my friends, Christians living in Arab and Muslim nations, and for Christians in general.
For my friend's family of five it will cost $37,000 to pay for their visas, airfare and initial setting up of a home in another country. That's $7,400 each to give them a new life free of fear, free of violent assaults and with the ability to live as Christians. But it's also half of an average annual Pakistani income. So, the dream of leaving is no more possible than the unbearable nightmare of their reality. Somewhere in there is a clever Mastercard commercial. But this is life and death, and saving a single life is "priceless."
I discuss this with Christian friends frequently. It's one thing to be dispassionate and do nothing. But it's another thing to spread lies that make the situation for Christians in the Middle East even worse. Now, more than ever, facing the same actual enemies in extremist Islam, Jews and Christians must stand together.
As a network of Jews and Christians working together, worldwide, I have asked and received a warm response so far for people to join the Genesis 123 Foundation to make a difference and help at least this one family since there are far more persecuted Christians in Pakistan than those promoted to brigadier general.
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