I was reading “What I Saw at Corrie ten Boom’s Hiding Place” by Jonathon Van Maren,[1]and recalled what Dixie and I saw many years ago while visiting the same “Hiding Place,” in Haarlem, the Netherlands. It represents a brave heritage that saved hundreds of Jewish lives, very different from the one I’ve been witnessing in my homeland recently.

 

Like a small voice crying out in a wilderness of city streets, villages, and countryside across America, my commitment is to “leave the Light on for the next generations.”[2] The Light of Jesus Christ. That “Light” is missing today on many American college and university campuses, as students protest loudly and pledge allegiance to the terrorist darkness that is Hamas, while calling for “death to Israel” and “death to America.” High school students are following their example with protests and campus sit-outs. Like a previous generation of youth leading up to Kristallnacht, on the eve of WWII.

 

The 1998 Hamas Charter proclaims Israel will exist until Islam obliterates it, and jihad against Jews is required until Judgment Day. Compromise over the land is forbidden. The Charter promotes holy war as divinely ordained, rejects political solutions, and calls for instilling these views in children. The Charter was revised in 2017, but without revoking the original Charter.

 

It is exciting to be swept up in protesting something … anything when you are young and ready to change the world. Even we who are older agree that the world needs to change. But protesting something one knows so little about, if anything, is foolish and counterproductive.

 

I was in Israel with friends in May, 2023, visiting traditional Christian sites in the Holy Land. As we prepared to leave, the portion of our group flying home from Israel had to seek out a different airline since their flight had been canceled due to anticipated safety problems. A few hours later, while our remaining group crossed into Jordan where we were safe, shelling and rockets were being fired by Hamas into Israel. Then came the horrendous tragedy of October 7th that tipped the scales, and the people of Israel said, “No more.”

 

To those who look at being arrested as a badge of honor, and create a renewal of racial hatred in our land, ask yourself: do you really want to be identified with an organized group of terrorists, murderers, rapists, and kidnappers, who one day might want to destroy your neighborhood because you are an American, and not just Israel’s half-a-world-away neighborhood you have never visited? You should not bet your parents’ inheritance on that one. Especially since they are likely to be among those who served in our military to defend the USA and give you a better opportunity than they had growing up.

 

Do your parents, who likely are sacrificing to pay for your education, even know you are not in the classroom, but following professional protesters promoting racism, an end to U.S. military support for Israel, and for eliminating Israeli investments? You’d better hope not. But with big screen TV’s and 24-hour-news coverage these days, even grandparents can pick your face out in a crowd.

 

Less insanity. More “ten Boom family courage” on college and university campuses in the USA.

 

May Jesus keep us close.

 

[1] First Things magazine April 22, 2024