I OFTEN HEAR ABOUT THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS, USUALLY FROM
BILL O'REILLY OF FOX NEWS.
BILL, TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY.
IT TURNS OUT THERE IS A WAR ON CHRISTMAS, AND WE FOUND THE
GUY WHO IS WAGING IT.
HE IS A RADICAL RABBI IN ISRAEL, BENZI GOPSTEIN,
HE IS THE HEAD OF THE FAR RIGHT MOVEMENT, LEHAVA.
THEY ARE LARGELY KNOWN FOR BEING AGAINST
ALL NON-JEWS, BUT THEY ARE MAINLY AGAINST MUSLIMS.
THEY RUFFLED SOME FEATHERS, NO QUESTION.
THERE ARE CERTAINLY GREAT MODERATE AND LEFT-WING
GROUPS IN ISRAEL THAT ARE AGAINST THEM AND HAVE BEEN
AGAINST THEM FOR A WHILE, BUT HERE IN THE UNITED STATES
THEY DON'T MAKE MUCH NEWS.
NOW THEY HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE ON CHRISTIANS, AT CHRISTMAS.
NOW IT GOT PERSONAL.
LET ME GO TO HIS 1000 WORD MEMO.
HIS SCREED AGAINST CHRISTMAS, WHICH HE LATER SAID HE WAS
MISREPRESENTED ON.
WHAT ARE YOU, TO RELEVANCE?
HE WROTE THESE WORDS, HE SAYS, "IN A FEW DAYS IT WILL BE
CHRISTMAS OF THE ACCURSED RELIGION.
UNFORTUNATELY, ACROSS THE COUNTRY YOU CAN FEEL IT IN
THE AIR.
STALLS WITH CHRISTIAN LITERATURE HAVE SPRUNG UP ALL OVER THE
COUNTRY, CHRISTMAS TREES CAN BE SEEN IN SHOPS, AND BILLBOARD ADS
FUNDED BY TAXPAYERS INVITE THE PUBLIC TO LEARN ABOUT
CHRISTIANITY IN THE HEART OF
JERUSALEM."
SO FAR, NOT TO OFFENSIVE.
HE DOES NOT LIKE CHRISTMAS AND HE THINKS CHRISTIANITY IS
AN ACCURSED RELIGION.
A LITTLE EDGY, IT IS ABOUT TO GET MUCH WORSE.
THE PART I FOUND AMUSING IS, HE IS THE ONLY PERSON I HAVE EVER
SEEN WRITE IN A NEGATIVE WAY,
"CHRISTMAS IS IN THE AIR."
I LIKE THE CHRISTMAS SONGS AND ALL
THE GOOFY STUFF WE DO HERE IN THE UNITED STATES WITH THE
DECORATIONS, SO WHEN CHRISTMAS IS IN THE AIR I THINK IS A GREAT THING.
SO, IN HIS SCREED TITLED, "ERADICATE THE VAMPIRES,"
HE SAYS, "MISSIONARIES SPEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO GET
A FOOTHOLD IN THE HOLY LAND."
THAT IS TRUE, AND IF YOU ARE ANNOYED BY THAT IN ISRAEL
THAT'S FINE, I'M ANNOYED BY MISSIONARIES, I'M AGNOSTIC,
I DONíT THINK IT IS GOOD TO SPREAD RELIGION.
HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT IT HAS "INFESTED ENTIRE COMMUNITIES."
THAT IS STARTING TO SOUND A LITTLE UGLY.
THEN HE TOOK IT OVER THE TOP.
HE SAYS, "I CALL ON JEWS TO RAISE THEIR VOICES AND FIGHT THE
PERVERSE PHENOMENON OF
CHRISTIANITY.
CHRISTMAS HAS NO PLACE IN THE HOLY LAND...
LET US
REMOVE THE VAMPIRES FROM OUR COUNTRY BEFORE THEY DRINK OUR
BLOOD AGAIN.
WE HAVE GIVEN THEM ENOUGH ALREADY.
IT IS MOSTLY TRUE THAT CHRISTIANS THROUGHOUT
HISTORY HAVE DONE HORRIBLE THINGS TO JEWISH
PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
CALLING THEM VAMPIRES TODAY?
NOT THAT HELPFUL.
AGAIN HE SAYS HE WAS MISREPRESENTED BY HIS OWN BLOG.
DUDE YOU CALLED IT ëERADICATE THE VAMPIRES.í
HE SAYS, "CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS THE CENTURIES OLD ENEMY OF
ISRAEL AND THAT THE VATICAN RUBBED THEIR HANDS IN GLEE AT THE
CHIMNEYS OF AUSCHWITZ."
HE IS RIGHT, CHRISTIANS DID DO THE
HOLOCAUST.
NOT ONLY DID HITLER'S TROOPS AND GERMAN SOLDIERS OVERALL HAVE
SLOGANS LIKE ëGOD IS WITH USí ON THEIR BELTS, BUT THERE ARE
DOZENS OF QUOTES FROM HITLER SAYING HE DID THE HOLOCAUST FOR
JESUS CHRIST AND BECAUSE HE IS A
GOOD CHRISTIAN.
AND IT IS TRUE THAT THE POPE BASICALLY LOOKED ON WHILE
IT HAPPENED.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT GLEEFULLY, BUT IT IS A SHAMEFUL PART OF THE
VATICAN'S HISTORY, BUT IT IS HISTORY.
NOBODY IS LOOKING TO DRINK BLOOD TODAY.
YES THE MISSIONARIES ARE ANNOYING, YES YOU ARE FULLY
WITHIN YOUR RIGHTS TO BE FIGHTING BACK AGAINST THAT
IDEOLOGY, BUT I WOULD NOT GO AROUND DEMAGOGUE-ING LIKE THIS
BECAUSE IT CAN LEAD TO BAD THINGS.
IT CAN LEAD TO PHYSICAL ACTIONS, IT CAN LEAD TO
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHRISTIANS.
ITíS A BAD IDEA TO PROFILE ANY RELIGION.
BUT GIVEN THAT HE IS A RADICAL, APPARENTLY HEíS NOT TOO
CONCERNED ABOUT THAT.
HAVE THEY TAKEN ANY REAL ACTION THIS GROUP?
OR IS IT JUST A MATTER OF WORDS?
LET'S GO THROUGH SOME OF THE RECORD.
"TWO MEMBERS OF THE GROUP WERE INDICTED FOR TORCHING A MIXED
JEWISH-ARAB SCHOOL IN JERUSALEM AND THEN SPRAY PAINTING ëKAHANE
WAS RIGHTí ON THE WALL BACK IN
2014."
THAT WAS THEIR FORMER LEADER.
THEN THE ORGANIZATION HAS ALSO PICKETED INTERFAITH WEDDINGS IN
ISRAEL, ORGANIZED PATROLS IN JERUSALEM TO LOOK FOR MIXED
COUPLES, AND HAS DISTRIBUTED LEAFLETS CALLING FOR PEOPLE TO
NAME AND SHAME JEWISH LANDLORDS
RENTING TO ARABS.
YEAH, THEY TAKE REAL ACTIONS.
THEY TAKE THEM AGAINST MUSLIMS, THEY TAKE ACTION AGAINST
CHRISTIANS, AND THEY TAKE ACTION
AGAINST JEWS WHO ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PURE IN
ISRAEL, ACCORDING TO THEM.
"IN AUGUST, JUST WEEKS AFTER A FIRE BOMB ATTACK ON THE CHURCH
OF LOAVES AND FISHES IN NORTHERN ISRAEL, GOPSTEIN APPEARED TO
JUSTIFY THE ARSON ATTACKS ON CHRISTIAN HOLY
SITES, CITING THE TEACHINGS OF 12TH-CENTURY JEWISH PHILOSOPHER
MAIMONIDES ON DESTROYING IDOL WORSHIP."
WE ARE ABOUT THE ONLY SHOW I KNOW OF THAT COVERED THAT
FIREBOMBING OF THAT CHURCH, AND AT THE TIME THEY DIDNíT
KNOW WHO DID IT.
WE STILL DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHO DID IT, I DON'T KNOW HOW THOROUGH THAT
INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN.
ITíS NOT JUST MOSQUES AND MUSLIM PLACES THAT THEY BURNED
DOWN, THEY BURNED DOWN A CHURCH.
WE DON'T KNOW THAT IT WAS THEM.
WE DO KNOW THAT AFTERWARDS THEY WERE LIKE, WAY TO GO.
THESE GUYS ARE NOT JUST THEORETICAL, THEY ARE REAL.
WE ARE WORRIED THAT THEY ARE TAKING PHYSICAL ACTION,
VERY SIGNIFICANT, VIOLENT PHYSICAL ACTION.
THE AUTHORITY SHOULD LOOK MORE INTO IT, AND A LOT OF ISRAELIS
AGREE WITH THAT.
WHERE ALL THE GUYS TALKING ABOUT THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS?
HEY BILL O'REILLY, WE FOUND THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS, WHERE ARE YOU?
NOT A WORD.
LUCKILY, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE FIGHTING BACK, AND THEY
ARE FELLOW ISRAELIS.
RESPONDING TO GOPSTEIN'S RANT IN KOOKER, THE ISRAELI RELIGIOUS
ACTION CENTER CALLED FOR A POLICE INVESTIGATION."
THEY ALSO
SAID UNFORTUNATELY THAT THE
AUTHORITIES HAVE HAD A THUNDERING SILENCE ON THIS.
SO THAT IS NOT ENCOURAGING.
WHAT IS ENCOURAGING IS, EARLIER THIS YEAR, ISRAEL'S DEFENSE
MINISTER INITIATED AN ATTEMPT TO
HAVE LEHAVA CATEGORIZED AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, BUT
ISRAEL'S INTERNAL SECURITY AGENCY SAID THEY HAD INSUFFICIENT
EVIDENCE TO HAVE IT OUTLAWED."
IT IS GREAT NEWS THAT THERE ARE
FELLOW ISRAELIS, ESPECIALLY ONES THAT ARE IN IMPORTANT
GOVERNMENT POSITIONS, FIGHTING AGAINST THIS GROUP.
FOX NEWS HAS TO PICK UP THE SLACK, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU
ARE NOT JOINING THE MODERATE ISRAELIS.
WE HAVE A WAR CHRISTMAS, WE KNOW WHO IS DOING IT AND I
DON'T SEE FOX NEWS ANYWHERE.
I'M JUST TRYING TO HELP A BROTHER OUT.
YOU WERE LOOKING FOR IT FOR DECADES, WE FOUND IT,
GO GET THEM PAPA BEAR
YOUNG TURKS.