“We Won!” ICEJ Celebrates Israel Day

By: Birte Scholz

In the 1940’s the German town of Bad Gandersheim housed Adolf Hitler’s special training center for his S.S. officers and troops. This past November, on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, around 800 people gathered in that same building to celebrate Israel Day with the ICEJ.

In this building, which is now the “Glaubenszentrum” Bible school, ICEJ-Germany director Gottfried Bühler, welcomed attendees: “In the past, the Nazis were at this site, but today people from Israel sit here. God has won, Israel has won and by being present here today, you are making a stand for solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people!”

Calev Myers, renowned Israeli lawyer and founder of the Israeli organization ARISE (Alliance to Reinforce Israel’s Security & Economy), reminded the audience that the God of Israel was still doing miracles today: In the Israeli economy, for security challenges, and on an ecological level. He shared about innovative Israeli technologies, which have become a blessing all over the world and discussed dangers of the BDS Movement (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), which harm the Palestinians, putting their well-paid jobs in Israeli companies in the West Bank in jeopardy.

The significance of this event was highlighted when Dariel Myers, Calev’s daughter, closed the meeting with an emotional rendition of Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem. Myers explained: “As the grandson of a German Jewish family who survived the Holocaust, it is very moving for me to speak, and my daughter to sing, in this place once intended for such evil purposes. Our presence here today tells me that ‘We Won!’ Am Israel Chai (the people of Israel live)!”

Stuttgart: Israel’s friends rally for Jewish life in Germany

By: Ester Heinzmann

Amid growing antisemitism in Germany, ICEJ-Germany called Christians to the streets of Stuttgart to publicly demonstrate support for the Jews in Germany as well as for the State of Israel. In response, more than 600 friends of Israel gathered on the central square in Stuttgart, Southern Germany.

Gottfried Bühler, National Director of ICEJ-Germany, announced in his opening speech that a clear pro-Israel policy of the German Federal Government and good reporting by the German media “would deprive antisemitism of its breeding ground.” Addressing the members of the Jewish community present, he said: “You can count on us! We love you, that’s why we are here!”