Does God Allow Criticism of Israel?

Christian Zionists often have a very strange understanding of God’s attitude towards the Jewish people living in the land of Israel. According to their dogma, anyone criticising the Zionist State of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians is doing so illegitimately, regardless of the truth or untruth of the allegations of mistreatment of non-Jews (Arabs) living under the authority of the State of Israel. Apparently only God, or a prophet sent by God whom the Christian Zionists are willing to endorse, has the right to scold the Zionist State. Any ordinary person caught criticising the Israelis for their treatment of Palestinians is placing themselves under a God ordained curse (see Genesis 12:1-3). The catch-22 is that any Christian who criticised Israel would not be deemed a legitimate prophet of God in the eyes of the Christian Zionists in the first place. In the end, no matter how you tell it, criticism of Israel is forbidden (unless of course the Israelis decided to allow a two state solution and Palestinian Arabs are allowed rights to self determination in the land of their birth).

The truth of the matter, from a Biblical perspective, is that God hears the cry of the alien (non-Jew) living in the land of Israel.

Ex 22:21 “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.
Ex 22:22 “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.
Ex 22:23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.

The cry of injustice by the non-Jew in the land of Israel is heard directly by God. No prophet need mediate. The only reason that God needs to send a prophet in the first place is that the ordinary Jewish person, and those in authority, have not heard the cries, complaints and criticisms of Israel made by those who have been unjustly forced to suffer at the hand of God’s people in the land of Israel.

Below are some of the many verses in the Old Testament that cry out to Jews living in Israel to care for, and do justice when dealing with, non-Jews in the land of Israel as they (the non-Jews) are loved by God.

Ex 23:9 “Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.

Ex 23:12 “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.

Lev 19:33 “ ‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.
Lev 19:34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Lev 23:22 “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.’ ”

Lev 24:22 You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.’ ”

Lev 25:35 “ ‘If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.

Nu 9:14 “ ‘An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’S Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born.’

Nu 15:15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD:
Nu 15:16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.’ ”

Nu 15:29 One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien.

Dt 1:16 And I charged your judges at that time: Hear the disputes between your brothers and judge fairly, whether the case is between brother Israelites or between one of them and an alien.

Dt 10:18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.

Dt 14:21 Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the LORD your God.

Dt 23:7 Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as an alien in his country.

Dt 24:14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.

Dt 24:17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Dt 24:18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
Dt 24:19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Dt 24:20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.
Dt 24:21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.
Dt 24:22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

Dt 26:12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
Dt 26:13 Then say to the LORD your God: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.

Dt 27:19 “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”.

Ps 146:9 The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Jer 7:6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,
Jer 7:7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.

Jer 22:3 This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Eze 22:6 “ ‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.
Eze 22:7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Eze 22:29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.
Eze 22:30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
Eze 22:31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

Eze 47:21 “You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.
Eze 47:22 You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
Eze 47:23 In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance,” declares the Sovereign LORD.

Zec 7:10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’

The BDS, (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement against Israel was called for by 170 civil Palestinians organisations in Israel and the occupied territories in order to bring the Zionist State of Israel into line with international law with regards to human rights and rights to self determination. The BDS movement is the cry of the non-Jew which has been ignored by the Zionists, Christian or otherwise. God is hearing their cry.

Craig Nielsen
ACTION FOR PALESTINE