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From Toledo To Jerusalem By: David Ben-Ariel

Why would a blond, "non-Jewish" American want to emmigrate to Israel? What's
the connection? Especially when so few Jews in the United States are willing to
Forgot Password? New make the move. What force would drive someone to travel to Israel 11 times, serve in
User? 8 kibbutzim and even stay there during the Persian Gulf War, complete with gas
mask, with his room designated as cheder atoom - "sealed room" - that other
volunteers had to run to whenever the eerie sirens sounded that another Scud Missile
was headed for the Promised Land? Why would such an individual risk arrest,
defamation and deportation to participate in legal demonstrations in Jerusalem?
Home Based Business
Health & Fitness The first time I visited Israel was with the Worldwide Church of God in 1980 to
Arts & Entertainment celebrate Sukkot - the biblical Feast of Tabernacles. (Some Christians understand that
Loans Israel's harvest festival foreshadows the peace and prosperity that everyone will soon
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Vehicles I wanted to return for a closer look at Israel than through a tour bus window. That's
Religion how I decided to return as a kibbutz volunteer in the fall of 1982. A kibbutz is a
Internet Marketing collective farm, although increasingly it includes other industries as well. I initially
Weight Loss served at Ramat Yohanan near Haifa, in full view of Mt. Carmel, famous for the
Pets fiery prophet Elijah's close encounter with pagan Israelites.
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Marketing You could say I have a God-given love for the Jews and the nation of Israel (Isaiah
Relationships 62:6-7). That sacred bond has been strengthened over the years by the fact that I've
been blessed to have lived all over Israel, getting to know its land and people quite
View all Categories well. Apart from 5 months at Ramat Yohanan, I've also stayed at Sdot Yam on the
Mediterranean, next to Ceasarea, the site of my first ulpan (intensive Hebrew
course), and where Israel's heroine, Hannah Senesh, was from; Regavim, near
Zichron Yaakov, where I continued my Hebrew lessons amid its rolling green hills;
Submit Reshafim, near Bet She'an, with Mt. Gilboa practically in our backyard, and Jordan's
mountains in lovely view out front; Adamit, on Lebanon's border, high up on a
mountain, from where on clear days you can see all the way to Haifa's Mt. Carmel;
Shoval, a rose in the Negev desert, just north of Be'er Sheva; Dan, way up in the
northernmost part of Israel, in between Syria and Lebanon, next to the majestic
snow-covered Mt. Hermon, where I was living when "Operation Desert Storm" blew
in; and Ha'On, with its campground and ostrich farm on the eastern shores of the Sea
of Galilee, across from Tiberias; and last but not least, my beloved Jerusalem, next to
my favorite spot on earth: the Temple Mount.

But why would I leave the beautiful farms and magnificent greenery of Ohio for a
Middle Eastern country? (My ancestors sailed to America from England, including
John and Priscilla Alden on the Mayflower). Why would I legally change my name
from David A. Hoover to David Ben-Ariel? (Hebrew for: David, son of God's Lion -
a nickname for Jerusalem/Isaiah 29:1). Yes, why?

1) Because I am a Christian-Zionist who believes the rebirth of Israel is nothing

short of a miracle, and that all Bible-believers must support this fulfillment of
prophecy or deny their faith.
And 2) because I strongly believe what many are now discovering: the Israelite
identity of the peoples of Northwestern Europe. This awareness of our Hebrew roots
and biblical responsibilities hastens the process of redemption. Herbert W.
Armstrong was one of the greatest to restore this truth to millions, but I'm friends
with Yair Davidiy in Israel, author of The Tribes and Ephraim, who represents a
growing number of Jews who are again accepting the revelation of their brother,
Joseph - head of the northern ten-tribed Kingdom of Israel (distinct from the
southern Kingdom of Judah). Due to my Anglo-Saxon heritage, as well as descent
from the British and Scottish Royal Families, I'm considered of the tribes of Joseph
and Judah. (There are twelve tribes of Israel). For people like me, Israel is also our
ancient Homeland. I truly feel my return to Zion completes a historic circle in my
family's history.

Having been to Israel so many times, and written innumerable letters to The Blade
(Toledo, Ohio's newspaper), and various articles in support of a Jewish state, I never
imagined that one day I would be deported from it!

As reported on the front page of the Jerusalem Post (Jan. 8, 1996), the GSS (Israel's
Secret Service) sought my deportation on the trumped-up charges of my alleged
involvement in a plot to blow up the Al-Aksa mosque. This travesty of justice
occurred during the "witch-hunt" that followed Prime Minister Rabin's assassination.
Israel's Left was exploiting Rabin's death to squash their legal opposition. Such
Stalinist tactics were condemned by former Russian refuseniks and "Prisoners of
Zion." Thankfully, Shimon Peres' regime was toppled with the election of Prime
Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. Bibi (as Netanyahu's affectionally called) had also
been branded as an "enemy of peace" for opposing wholesale surrender to PLO
demands. He promised the Israelis "peace with security."

As a Christian member of the Temple Mount Faithful, I'd been privileged to

participate in their legal demonstrations during my 10-month stay in Jerusalem
awaiting citizenship. Israeli television often showed me with my Jewish friends
carrying Israeli flags throughout the Old City. I've also had letters published in the
Jerusalem Post, the Traveller and other publications about the burning issue of the
Temple Mount.

Presently that most holy site is under a militant Muslim occupation that forcibly
forbids Christians or Jews from praying or reading the Bible there. This despite the
fact that both Solomon and Herod's Temple stood there, and Jesus and His disciples
taught and prayed there. Israel has a law against such violent religious
discrimination, but apparently they're afraid or unwilling to enforce it. Such shameful
appeasement rewards the aggressors and punishes the innocent! The Temple Mount
Faithful boldly calls for an end to this injustice.

Within Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, I've called for the Israeli
government to exercise its Jewish responsibility to build the Temple. I wrote that
book in the United States before any of this trouble. The book clearly explains that
I'm not calling for any individual to remove the mosques, but rather expecting the
GOVERNMENT to fulfill its historic obligations. I mentioned this to the police
during my six and an half hours interrogation. Later I was imprisoned in Jerusalem's
for three weeks until my heartbreaking deportation.

As my attorney in Israel, Naftali Warzberger, has written, my future is linked with

that of the Jews and Israel. That's why I'm confident justice will prevail.
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D. Ohio) has persistently presented this case of
religious discrimination and political persecution before our State Department.
Senator Mike DeWine (R. Ohio) has inquired on my behalf to return to Zion and was
informed that the Ministry of the Interior "has made the decision not to grant the visa
and does not offer any information behind their decision." They've since written
Senator DeWine that I will not be "eligible for a visa until 2005!"

Is it a crime to have an abiding love for Israel? To believe what's written in the Law
and the Prophets concerning the Temple and our responsibility to construct it? To
 mourn that it hasn't been done yet? As the Jerusalem Talmud states: "every
generation in which the Temple has not been built is as if the Temple were destroyed
in it...." Isn't Israel's state emblem a gold menorah in between two gold olive
branches?

Must I remain in exile, banished from the Land I love, because my hope, prayer, and
dream is for Israel to fulfill what that symbol represents: the Temple and Israel's
destiny to become a Light to all nations?

David Ben-Ariel, a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's

Rise and Fall, shares a special focus on the Middle East, reflected in hard-hitting
articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region.
http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com
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