As noted, Israel is in Asia. The Middle East is a cultural area, not true geographic area - it includes land in Asia, North Africa, and even Europe (that nubbin of Turkey).
However, that “cultural area” bit is at least as powerful as any technical descriptions of geography. If you ask any Israeli or Lebanese or Egyptian where their country is, 99 out of a 100 (and maybe even 100 out of 100) would say “the Middle East”, not “Asia” or “Africa.”
As for being in the EU, I think Israel would love it, but we can see from the problems Turkey is having being admitted that Israel would have a great deal more trouble. Both countries have issues with human rights violations, and Israel has the extra problem of, you know, not being in Europe in the first place. I don’t think their presence in Eurovision would provide much of a basis for anything. Unless Dana International got to be their representative, of course.
This sounds like an analysis by someone who doesn’t have a clue about the evangelical Christian movement.
I grew up in that environment. I sat on my grandfather’s knee while he told me about Israel. I have sat through many sermons about Israel. I have NEVER, EVER heard anyone talk about supporting Israel in terms of the rapture or second coming. There is a subset of people called ‘apocalyptics’ that may put more emphasis on this.
The evangelical support of Israel comes down to this:
[ul]
[li]They are God’s chosen people. They are the only group exempt from the requirement to be saved through Christ.[/li][li]They have been persecuted for a long time.[/li][li]The major figures in Christianity, including Jesus, were Jewish.[/li][li]They live with the same value system as ours, essentially, and are a tiny oasis of freedom and democracy in a sea of hatred and totalitarianism.[/li][li]The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Many of the evangelicals I knew saw Muslims as being anything from misguided, to heretical, to evil. And they kept attacking Israel. That drew Christians closer to Israel.[/li][/ul]
At least in my little part of the world here in Canada, evangelical Christians think of Jewish people as fellow travellers. God has room for two groups in heaven - Jews, and those saved through Christ. The rest of you are out of luck. (-:
Adding to this is that most evangelical groups are politically conservative, and were strongly anti-communist during the Cold War. And while most of the Arab world tilted towards the Soviets, Israel remained the west’s strongest ally in the region throughout the cold war.
Oh, and the reason Israel is trying to join the European bloc in the United Nations is because they are continually prevented from joining the Asia bloc by the Arab nations.
That’s what he’s talking about–it’s actually kind of a fringe thing. He’s talking specifically about the evangelical Christian groups out there who are actively working for the “restoration of Israel”, because the Second Coming is supposed to take place in a restored Israel, and the Second Coming can’t happen until Israel is restored, so therefore, goes the thinking, the sooner Israel is restored, the sooner the Second Coming can happen.
It’s the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem people, among others.
Coldfire: It wasn’t the use of the term Jewish lobby that makes the OP look ignorant. It was the following of the term with “manipulate much of the politics as in USA.” The OP demonstrated both his ignorance of politics in the US and the Jewish lobby here along with displaying his prejudice.
the reason behind my post was that former Israeli pm Benjamin “Bibi” said that he wanted Israel to become a member of EU.
Heard later that Israel might put some preassure on USA to achieve this.
Some says that Turkey’s possible EU membership will make this more likely.
EU shouldn go outside Europe. They might give Turkey and Israel trade agreements (as they already have but nothing more)
“Middle East” is a somewhat ill-defined term, but in general usage it includes adjacent regions of Africa as well as an area of Southwest Asia; at the very least Egypt, and often the Arab-speaking countries of Africa extending all the way to Morocco. (“Near East” is sometimes used as a synonym, and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs includes everything from Morocco to Iran, but not Turkey, which falls under the purview of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.) Incidentally, the Encyclopedia Britannica notes that “Occasionally Greece is included in the compass of the Middle East because the Middle Eastern (then Near Eastern) question in its modern form first became apparent when the Greeks rose in rebellion to assert their independence of the Ottoman Empire in 1821…Turkey and Greece, together with the predominantly Arabic-speaking lands around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, were also formerly known as the Levant.”
Continents are pretty arbitrary things. Geographically speaking Cyprus looks more attached to Asia than Europe; then again, of all the boundaries between continents, that separating “Europe” from the rest of Eurasia is notoriously the most artificial.
And I’m afraid I have to disagree with my esteemed colleague from the Netherlands; per the Britannica the Sinai is “Usually regarded as being geographically part of Asia”. Like I said, continental boundaries are pretty arbitrary things.
as I have known all the time. They are wating for God to do soething, he dosn’t, so they do it them selves. Because they know deep inside that there are no god.
It’s politic all the way boys
The question is, what shall we do about such people
