South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein criticized Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby for failing to protect western and biblical values and for abandoning Israel, Africa, and Europe to jihadists, in a video speech on Monday and in comment to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“The world is locked in a civilizational battle of values, threatened by terrorism and violent jihad,” Goldstein warned in a video published on social media. “Now is the time for religious leaders to come to the defense of society, to speak up for Western values and freedoms. Instead, Pope Francis and the Anglican Archbishop are silent, indifferent to the murder of Christians in Africa and to the threat of terrorism throughout Europe, and outright hostile to Israel’s attempts to battle these Jihadi forces led by Iran.”
>> Watch additional episodes by Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa: https://www.youtube.com/@chiefrabbigoldstein
Goldstein said Welby acted in opposition to the Bible when he chose to support the July 19 International Court of Justice advisory opinion that Israel was illegally occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem and that it had to end. He challenged Welby’s citing of the city central to Judaism, and the Mount where the Jewish Temples stood, as occupied by the Jewish state. By ignoring God’s promise of the land of Israel to the Jewish people, Welby was rejecting the Bible, he said.
“Does Archbishop Welby actually believe in the Bible?” asked Goldstein.
Welby said in his August 2 statement that he had visited Palestinian Christians whose future was threatened by the deprivation of a Palestinian state through occupation and the building of settlements.
“Having visited our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters many times over recent decades, it is clear to me that the regime imposed by successive Israeli governments in the occupied Palestinian Territories is one of systemic discrimination,” Welby said. “I am particularly aware of how this is impacting Palestinian Christians, threatening their future and viability. It is clear that ending the occupation is a legal and moral necessity.”
He added that the embrace of the advisory opinion was important in the face of increasing violations of international law.
Goldstein also said that while Welby put “great trust in the ICJ and the system of international law, this trust is misplaced.”
“The ICJ is an arm of the United Nations, an institution dominated by despotic regimes,” said Goldstein, slamming the ICJ as a political body advancing an anti-western and anti-Israel policy.
>> Watch additional episodes by Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa: https://www.youtube.com/@chiefrabbigoldstein
European antisemitism
Welby, the Pope, and international bodies echoed jihadist narratives, but remained silent about dangers to Christians in Africa and Europe, he added. Goldstein told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Israel was on the frontline of a clash of values that impacted Europe, and he sought not just to level criticism but issue a call to action to stand in opposition to threats to western civilization.
“If Israel is abandoned to Jihadi forces, Europe is next,” Goldstein said in his video. He explained that Jihadi ideology is seeping into Europe through open border policies. People who have no intention of integrating, seek to overthrow western and Christian values. The result is that many Jews feel unsafe in Europe and have to hide their identity.
He also criticized Welby and Francis for their silence about the “ideological brothers of Hamas” like ISIS and Boko Haram who were massacring Christians in Africa. In a March speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Goldstein had also pushed for more attention to terrorism against Africans by jihadists.
Goldstein said Tuesday that his video had resonated with many Christians and those who wanted an unequivocal stand for values.
>> Watch additional episodes by Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa: https://www.youtube.com/@chiefrabbigoldstein