Follow-up to my post #13005...(*) See how the "Israel-the-Underdog" PR trick works on Evangelical suckers:
Fri., November 03, 2006 Cheshvan 12, 5767
Christians' wartime donations of $20m went largely unheralded
By Daphna Berman
Evangelical Christians dug deep into their pockets to provide humanitarian relief to Israel during the war in Lebanon this summer, donating nearly $20 million dollars to help rebuild the north, according to estimates. Though largely overshadowed by the massive generosity of their American Jewish counterparts, the pro-Israel Christian community also rallied significantly in support of the north - though giving, perhaps, at lower levels and certainly, with less fanfare.
The evangelical community does not have one umbrella group that keeps track of the donations, so it is difficult to calculate an exact total. A survey of the major Christian groups, however, showed that the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the largest of the fund-raising bodies, collected $17 million from July 10 to September 10, a 100 percent increase over the same period last year.
Other groups like the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and Bridges for Peace, another pro-Israel Christian organization based in the capital, each raised half a million dollars for the north as part of their emergency campaigns. Christian Friends of Israel raised an estimated $150,000 as part of their war relief fund.
The United Jewish Communities (UJC) collected more than $340 million during their emergency campaign over the summer.
"The passion of the evangelical community was about the same as that of the Jewish community," said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the IFCJ. "They gave smaller amounts, but it was more of a sacrifice. These aren't people who are giving $1 million or $2 million. These are average people who sometimes are giving 10 percent of their Social Security checks."
Throughout the war, Christian-funded organizations provided food packages, medical supplies, arts and crafts kits, as well as day trips for children stuck in the bomb shelters. The organizations say they didn't encounter any resistance, even though some municipalities and nonprofit organizations have rejected Christian funding in the past.
"People were just thrilled to see that someone was coming to help," said Rebecca Brimmer, president and CEO of Bridges for Peace. "We didn't have any pushback at all."
One week into the war, Rabbi Eckstein appeared in a paid 60-second advertisement on Fox, the cable news station affiliated with the center-right. The ad, which was aired several times a day for more than two weeks and included photos of northerners holed up in bomb shelters, reminded viewers that Israelis needed their help, with a toll-free number for donations to IFCJ.
"The response was so overwhelming that our call centers couldn't handle it all," he said. "We lost 50 percent of the calls because people were getting busy signals. As prepared as they were, they were unprepared for that kind of response."
The organization's home page still opens with a large "Donate Now" button under the words "The people of war-torn Israel need your help!" The IFCJ is projecting income of $80 million by the end of the year, an increase of about 50 percent over 2005.
According to Christian leaders, donations began to stream in throughout the early days of the war, even before the groups themselves began soliciting funds.
"The news was everywhere and the entire Christian world was watching what was going on here on a daily basis," said Brimmer, of Bridges for Peace. "People wanted to help."
"Most Christian communities thought it was an unprovoked attack against Israel and that gave support to Israel's cause," said Ray Sanders, international director of Christian Friends of Israel. "It's one thing to say that we support you, but we followed through in a very practical way by giving financially."
Still, public acknowledgment of the Christian support has been relatively minimal, leaders say. "Christians don't get the same recognition [as Jews]," noted Rabbi Eckstein. "The prime minister or a representative of the government hasn't thanked the Christian community for their help. There is some appreciation of the contributions of Bible-believing Christians, but it's not like the government has thanked them the way they will [the Jewish community] at the GA."
He was referring to the General Assembly, an annual event organized by the United Jewish Communities (UJC) that will take place in Los Angeles November 12-14 in the presence of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
But other Christian leaders insist that their contribution went beyond the financial implications of a simple number. "It's not about how much money we raised, but how we are changing the relationship of 1,700 years of negative involvement between Christians and Jews," Brimmer added. "We're not a huge organization and we're not on the same level as organizations like the United Jewish Israel Appeal. But we're still trying to make a difference in our small little corner."
haaretz.com
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