Two years after the release:
”Give Peace a Chance” becomes the new buzzword
Brussels - Over the last three years ECI has been on an amazing journey to raise awareness of the true legal foundations of the state of Israel. Most of this you have already been able to read about in our monthly reports, although a lot also goes unnoticed as things happen - on and off the record - every month.
This month we want to pause for a while to reflect over the journey which started in San Remo on 25th April 2010 when we commemorated the 90th anniversary of the San Remo resolution which paved the way for the creation of the Jewish state. Little did we then know that the journey would not stop there but would literally take us to the ends of the earth.
Over the last three years we have been able to share this truth in parliaments, governments and international organisations around the world. In this process we have been truly blessed by the important contributions of people like Jacques Gauthier, Howard Grief and Cynthia Wallace, without whom we could not have achieved our goals.
The most powerful communication tool to convey this message turned out to be the 15-minute video, Give Peace a Chance, produced and directed by Leenard Fieret together with the ECI team. (Credit also goes to Hugh Kitson who helped with the script.) The film, which features Jacques Gauthier, Howard Grief and Dore Gold, has been viewed all over the world, in national parliaments, in churches, on the internet and on television but also in many confidential briefings that we seldom hear about. In April we were informed by a close ECI associate that the US Foreign Secretary John Kerry has also watched the movie! Only a few weeks later we heard him unexpectedly quote the title in a speech in the US congress.
You can watch the video here and the quote comes 1.17 minutes in to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3euuaUvzFE
This week Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu made an exception to the rule of not speaking any other language than Hebrew in the Knesset when he suddenly changed to English and said, ”I will turn to him [Mahmoud Abbas] in a language we both understand. I say: Give peace a chance!"
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-to-abbas-in-english-give-peace-a-chance/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-to-abbas-in-english-give-peace-a-chance/
It is probably no coincidence that the new buzz word in the Middle East is now ”Give Peace a Chance.” This has consistently been our message since 2010 and we continue - with your help - to bring this message to the leaders of this world, now with the help of Foreign Secretary John Kerry and Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. :)
You can watch the movie and/or get a copy of the book at the website http://www.givepeaceachance.info/
But it does not stop there.
Help ECI reach the nations at the UN
Brussels - The receptiveness of our message about the true legal foundations of the modern state of Israel and the importance of keeping Jerusalem united as an open city for people of all faiths has clearly exceeded all our expectations. Or, as Victor Hugo would put it - There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come!
ECI is now embarking on its most ambitious project ever by aiming to take this message to the 68th UN General Assembly in New York in the last week of September. Plans are currently being made about how we could create a platform for those nations that wish to draw closer to Israel while being sensitive to the overall political situation. We have already been in contact with a number of countries which have expressed their interest.
This comes at a time when the pressure against Israel is mounting from all directions. After having visited a number of European governments this year we have heard the same message over and over again, ”Israel will soon be faced with a very hostile international community.” The new US nominee for the post of UN Ambassador is on the record of having in the past suggested a US intervention in Israel to impose the views of the international community!
This is clearly the time to give the nations another choice. Our project takes the greatest level of faith, prayer and financial resources to come about. But as in any other initiative we have taken on so far we do this simply out of obedience, fully aware of our own limitations but also confident in the unlimited resources of the Lord.
When we reached out to you in 2010 with the idea of making a small movie we did so in faith. Many of you gave sacrificially in order for the message to come out.
The success of the movie in having helped reshape the narrative of the Middle East conflict, albeit indirectly, was not in our mind at all. Still, looking back, we know that the movie has been, and continues to be, a powerful communication tool in helping leaders understand the conflict from a new perspective.
This time we invite you to be part of a new exciting part of this same journey. Let us help the nations to draw closer to Israel by providing them with the right platform at the UN.
Please consider supporting this project which has the potential of mobilizing more nations in support of Israel.
"Neutral countries" are among the most anti-Semitic in Europe: ECI steps up its activities in Sweden and Switzerland
Last month Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet published a cartoon which compares Jews with blood suckers, an old anti-Semitic stereotype which was often used by the Nazis. This is but one example of the level of anti-Semitism in Norway where the current government has been in the forefront of the campaign to delegitimize Israel.
In the European Union there is finally an overwhelming majority in the Council for blacklisting Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. However, unanimity is required for any decision in the Council and the proposal is currently blocked by three neutral countries, Sweden, Finland and Ireland. So much for neutrality.
In order to step up our efforts in these neutral countries ECI has recently become involved in Sweden and Switzerland, two countries which have been actively working against Israel in recent years but where we also have capable people on the ground. We believe the best way to have an impact is to combine our efforts on an EU and UN level with national activities in member states. Whilst in Sweden last week, a well-known journalist stated it so clearly
- ”Your work at the UN and EU gives the rest of us courage and inspiration in our own countries as we understand that our message is being received and taken seriously at the highest political level.”
It is true.
Together with you we can make a difference.
Harald Eckert helps strengthen and motivate Christians in Romania, a key Israeli ally in Europe
Brussels - If we are to find nations which have the best understanding of Israel’s difficult situation we have to look east. Having lived under totalitarian rule most of the new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe are natural friends and allies of Israel, but they need our support in order to stand firmly on the side of Israel at the EU and the UN.
Romania is one such country, with a large evangelical community and a government which has traditionally been supportive of Israel. Last month our Chairman Harald Eckert visited Timisoara in Romania to speak at a conference organized by our longstanding friends and partners Tudor and Mirela Petan who are leading the TV station Alpha and Omega. Harald spoke at four sessions on his core message of ”Israel and the nations.” The sessions have been recorded and will be aired on television in due time. His book ”Times of Restoration” has now been translated in to Romanian.
In another development, in Brussels Tomas Sandell met with a former high ranking Romanian diplomat who has been close to ECI for many years to discuss how we could reach out to Romanian members of the European Parliament as well as to the government in Bucharest. ECI is currently looking at ways of strengthening the pro-Israel constituency in the other Central and Eastern European countries including Bulgaria where we have a long and fruitful cooperation with Pastor Andrey Avramov in Sofia.
In memoriam - Howard Grief
On June 3 we were reached by the sad news of the passing of our friend Howard Grief. Grief is credited with having discovered the importance of the San Remo Resolution of 1920. He was the first to advance the thesis that de jure sovereignty over all of Palestine was devolved upon the Jewish people at the 1920 San Remo conference.
In 2010 we were able to interview him for our film Give Peace a Chance where he shared how he came to discover the hidden minutes of the San Remo Conference in the British war archives, and about his life mission to make them known to the rest of the world. He has now completed his part of the race but his legacy lives on through his research, articles and book ”The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law”, and also through the work of ECI. At ECI we salute this great hero of Israel. May he rest in peace.
In memoriam - Howard Grief
In 2010 we were able to interview him for our film Give Peace a Chance where he shared how he came to discover the hidden minutes of the San Remo Conference in the British war archives, and about his life mission to make them known to the rest of the world. He has now completed his part of the race but his legacy lives on through his research, articles and book ”The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law”, and also through the work of ECI. At ECI we salute this great hero of Israel. May he rest in peace.