“No intifada in our city! – Stop hating on our street!” Christians supporting Israel in Sweden
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Letters have reached us in recent months from Christian friends telling about their participation in peaceful demonstrations supporting Israel, each in their own community. While others condemn Israel and the Jews, these Christians, as a matter of faith, believe they need to make a public stand for Israel.
In one of several similar letters from Canada, a man north of Edmonton wrote: “I have stood with and loved Israel most of my Christian life–29 years! Since November 2023, seven of us have stood at a busy intersection for an hour Saturday mornings waving the Star of David [flag].”
Messages we received from Sweden expressed the same commitment. When a woman near Gothenburg learned about a pro-Palestinian demonstration, she sent a petition with numerous signatures to the police and city hall to object. Receiving no response, she made up a sign saying, “Stop hating on our street” and showed up at the pro-Hamas demonstration with her husband and a friend to counter-protest.
The anti-Israel demonstrators had signs calling for “Intifada” (revolution) and praised the Hamas massacre of Jews, chanting, “We are October 7.” Some of them gave her angry looks, but there were positive reactions and thumbs up from passersby, among them a woman who had worked on a kibbutz [collective farm] in Israel, and two others who were tired of the demonstrators “filling the streets with hatred.” They were also thanked by a Christian woman and her son, who shared how Christians are treated by Muslims in their native Iraq.
Our Swedish friend wrote: “It felt good for us to DO something practical for Israel in this difficult time….The supporters of Palestinians have the right to demonstrate, but not the right to remain unchallenged, to threaten, intimidate and incite.” She and her husband have protested quietly regularly, even on their wedding anniversary.
A couple weeks later, they were among 50 Christians gathered to express public support for Israel. They were even joined by Iranians protesting the Khomeini regime. One of them had wrapped himself in an Israeli flag.
In a letter from the Philippines, a woman offered us a spare bedroom in her home in case we needed refuge from rockets, a “shelter in the time of storm.” Well, we didn’t need to take advantage of that well-meant offer, but we were touched by the kindness of her words.
Each of these people has demonstrated love for the Jewish people in a tangible way. It is our heartfelt prayer that God would bless each of them for raising their voices in fearless testimony.