Israelis have become inured to the constant criticism levelled at them from all over the world. They sometimes forget that this is the side of the story emphasized by mainstream media and tend to overemphasize it themselves, not realizing that those who do support Israel are often simply doing so under the radar, but that they most certainly exist!
A clear and heartening example of this could be seen at Jerusalem’s Dan Panorama hotel this week when forty-three non-Jews from all over the world came to see Israel for the first time in their lives. The group spent ten days touring the country, enjoyed an enlightening morning at the Knesset, met with various rabbis and public figures, and visited Christian and Biblical sites that had them radiating palpable excitement.
Arutz Sheva was invited to meet the group and explain the rationale behind its news coverage. We talked about promoting a pro-Israel and pro-Religious Zionist outlook that sticks to truth, facts, IDF figures and not those of Hamas and other anti-Israel sources, calls terrorists just that (not militants), provides a forum for the Jews of Judea and Samaria as well as for Religious Zionist viewpoints that are often ignored by mainstream media and more. It turned out that one of the reasons for the invitation was that a significant number of the group were already Arutz Sheva devotees, some even mentioning the writers they enjoy by name.
The tour is the initiative of Mark Blitz (top right in cover photo), founder of a ministry in Tacoma, Washington who has been leading tours to Israel like this one multiple times a year for over a decade, part of a personal campaign to counteract media bias and change attitudes of non-Jews to what the Jewish state is all about.
“We are here in Israel for the sole purpose of getting non-Jews from all over the world to love Israel to love the Jewish people. We have people from five different nations on our tour, including Kenya and the Dominican Republic, and I want them to see the truth, I want them to see the facts. I want them to see the authenticity of what is happening on the ground here in Israel. There is nothing like seeing for yourself,” Blitz said.
“I want non-Jews to see the beauty of the Torah and have been giving classes to non-Jews on it every Saturday for years, getting them to realize how special it is. My goal? I want Jews to keep the Torah’s commandments and non-Jews to respect them for it,” he continued.
“We firmly believe in the concept of Judea and Samaria, not the ‘West Bank’ and that Jews have a right to build communities in Judea and Samaria as well as everywhere else in Israel. They also have a right to lead peaceful lives, although we want Israel to defend itself the way it must when the need arises. All the people on our tour want authenticity, the truth, to see the facts the way they are.” Everyone seconded his remarks.
Carlos Pena, who ran for president of the Dominican Republic in the last elections, was on the tour with his wife. “I represent the conservative as opposed to the progressive viewpoint on issues. Israel has much in common with the conservative citizens of my country,” he said.
Gerald McGlothlin, Newsmax contributor and media strategist who sometimes writes opinion articles for Arutz Sheva, confessed that this was his first time in Israel, and that he had fallen in love with the country.
“Each time I come”, said Blitz, “the groups go back with a highly positive view of the country and its people because that is where the truth lies. I want Israelis to realize that they have much more support than they think they have,” he concluded.
