Focus on the Crisis in Israel

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. All our attention is on Israel today. We go right into the heart of the conflict.

Well friends, we've got a whole lot of ground to cover today. A time of great shaking and pain in Israel and the Middle East, many lives in upheaval, people dying, great hardship. God cares about every single life there, both Jew, Arab, Christian, Muslim. God cares about every single one of them and we want to talk about what's happening. Do our best to give you a balanced perspective and then at the bottom of the hour I'm going to be joined by two guests who have documentary coming out of all times today about the Holy Land and about the the great divides there between Israel and the Palestinians.

An unbelievably fair, honest, compelling documentary. So this is when we had them scheduled to come on the day of the release of this so all the more do we have a lot of really important things to talk about. I may get to some calls as well. 866-3-4-truth. I may get to some Jewish related calls today. We will see.

So stay on the line and we'll get to cover as much ground as we can. Okay, here's a headline from Israel. This started blaring everywhere yesterday. Look at this. Five-year-old boy killed. Dozens others injured as Gaza rockets pound Israel. So here's a picture of the boy.

Five years old. His home in Sderot was bombed. You have to, wherever you are in Sderot, just always be within seconds of a bomb shelter. They were in the bomb shelter in their home. Every home in Israel must have a bomb shelter.

Think of living like that. You must have a safe room and bomb shelter and the bomb penetrated the shelter. He died of his wounds.

Five years old. Well let me let me show you this tweet that went out from a Hamas leader. The very ones that sent those bombs to kill men women and children in Israel. The more the better the more Hamas will rejoice including Israeli children killed.

Look at this tweet. The innocent Palestinian child Hamza Nasser 11 was on his way to buy vegetables to his family to eat it at Iftar time. So that's breaking the Ramadan fast. He was hit by an Israel rocket and died immediately. He was returned to his blind mother dead. Hamza is a martyr. So that's a terrible tragedy. That's an 11 year old that died because of an Israeli bomb.

Let me tell you the difference. Israel hates that. Israel does everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas just like the PLO in New Year's past famous for using women and children as human shields. In other words set up your rocket launcher right in the middle of a very populous area.

Set up your rocket launcher right next to a hospital or right next to a school. So if Israel takes out the bomb the bomb squad there there may be innocent civilian casualties. I know from people who've served in the IDF the pains that they take to avoid civilian casualties. No they're not perfect but they go out of their way to do it.

It is a fact. Whereas Hamas is seeking civilian casualties. Now here's where it gets really sick and and I grieve for the people in Gaza because they're not getting a fair shake. They have been raised under oppression. Hamas is the savior figure for them trying to fight against the evil Israelis.

I don't mean savior figure in a glorified way. You know what I'm saying. They're fighting against the monstrous occupation. Israel is just bad evil state-run TV and the people have lived very difficult lives.

High population density, massive unemployment. It's the fault primarily of the leaders. Of the Palestinian leaders. Be it the Palestinian Authority. Be it Hamas. Hamas being even worse. Here's the sickest part of it. And again I'm not saying everything Israel does is go to right. Never said that ever.

Here's here's the real sick part of it. That the more civilians, the more children that die, the better it is for Hamas. I'm talking about Palestinian children. Palestinian civilians. The more that die the better because it makes Israel look bad in the eyes of the world.

This is what we're dealing with friends. May God save the the the leaders of Hamas like he saved Saul of Tarsus. May he work miracles among them.

But this is outright evil. These are enemies working to destroy Israel and the Jewish people living in the land. Andrew Andrew Wang, perhaps the front-runner in the New York City mayoral race right now, sends out this tweet. I'm standing with the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks and condemn the Hamas terrorists. The people of New York City will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel who face down terrorism and persevere.

May 10th. Good good tweet. I agree with that.

And hey you got several million Jews living in New York great in New York City area. It makes sense to also make clear hey I'm standing with Israel against terrorism. But he ends up having to apologize for that tweet. Here this is what he next puts out. Let's take a look at this. This is his next tweet.

His next message says this. I spoke to a group of volunteers for their campaign yesterday some of whom have been with me for years. Many of them were upset with my recent tweet expressing solidarity with the people of Israel in conjunction with the violence in the region this week that has claimed the lives of innocents and children on both sides. They expressed to me that they follow and support me for a number of reasons. One is that I'm a clear-headed person who follows facts.

The other is that I'm a human being who stands for universal values of fellowship and goodwill. They felt that my tweet was overly simplistic in my treatment of a conflict that is a long and complex history full of tragedies. And they felt it failed to acknowledge the pain and suffering on both sides.

They were of course correct. I mourn for every Palestinian life taken before its time as I do for every Israeli. Suffering and pain and violence and death suffered by anyone hurt us all. All people want to be able to live in peace. We all want that for ourselves and our children. Support of a people does not make one blind to the pain and suffering of others. Again most everyone simply wants to be able to live and pray in peace and that is what we want as well. I join with millions around the world and praying for the current situation to be that the current situation be resolved as quickly as as quickly peacefully as possible and with minimal suffering. For those who have spoken to me on this thank you continue to believe in humanity. I appreciate his humility. I appreciate him saying he cares for all sides involved and grieves over every loss of life.

Good for all of that. Don't don't step back from your initial tweet because Israel is not the terrorist here. Israel is not the instigator here. Israel is not the one intentionally killing civilians here. Don't equate Israel's response to terrorism with terrorism. That that would be like equating the the Allied bombers trying to take out Hitler and the Nazis with Hitler and the Nazis.

You don't you don't do that. You say no no no I've heard that Israel did provoke this. Okay let's separate fact from fiction. I want to go through an article here and just read read through it as I've looked at things as I've analyzed things I'd say very accurate laid out loudly and clearly this is from AJC global and the article was published May 10th and it's it's titled four myths and facts about the violence in Jerusalem all right uh yeah Andrew Yang said why I looked at it I was looking at my outline in front of me sorry about that folks and I said uh but name it looks funny to me is just my outline in front of me so I should have corrected it my bad there so I apologize for apologies for getting the name wrong okay four myths and facts about the violence in Jerusalem as as the final days of Ramadan drew Muslims to the Al-Aqsa mosque to pray and the celebration of Jerusalem's reunification drew marches to the streets to celebrate a wave of violence that had been steadily building for weeks reached a crescendo Monday as Hamas fired more than 150 rockets toward Jerusalem in various towns and cities across southern Israel forcing millions of Israelis into bomb shelters who are for media myths circulating on social media distorting the reasons behind the violence that has escalated to the brink of war right before I go further in that article let me just say a few things where is Hamas getting all the money for all these sophisticated rockets more sophisticated than in the past hitting Tel Aviv hitting Galilee so in the north hitting Jerusalem in places that wouldn't been hit before where they getting money from well obviously the money that pours in to the Palestinians is not going primarily to build better hospitals better schools better housing develop jobs help infrastructure no a lot of it is going to build bombs and terror tunnels that's where a lot of the money goes when America foolishly gave Iran back so much of the money that was froze about 150 billion dollars Iran quite blatantly put it right back into terrorism and and Iran is a major provocateur of what is happening in the Middle East and so so many different ways and helping to fund groups like Hezbollah and helping to to push forward groups like Hamas so the money that could have been spent to care for the people instead is used to build bombs and and now things are striking in areas that haven't been hit before so it is all the more of frontal assault on Israel and the Jewish people and a provocation that Hamas many ways had been waiting for and apparently there is division among Israeli security and an army and different ones government as to how far Hamas would go but Hamas went way further than some were expecting some are predicting it within the government summits further than what they were expecting worse than what they were expecting and Israel now even though the nation is divided with the elections and all of this and and Netanyahu was unable to form a new government and others were going to try to form one and a key party to bring in was going to be an Arab Party right now the nation's pretty much to say Netanyahu will get the job done now at least not for a new government but right now get the job done and and I don't believe Israel right now is just gonna say okay we accept another ceasefire no Israel is gonna do what it can to decimate Hamas's ability to carry out what it's doing and it's already taken down some of the major Hamas leaders yeah I agree those are human beings for whom Jesus died that for all we can tell are lost forever and died in rebellion and hatred you still mourn the loss of any life but these are people getting what's coming to them you live by the sword you're gonna die by the sword we come back I want to go through those myths and tell you about Gil Gadot Wonder Woman under some attack and flag why well she's Israeli look right back it's the line of fire with your host dr. Michael Brown get into the line of fire now by calling eight six six three four truth here again is dr. Michael Brown I've been nailing it with the the names today in the midst of this very important discussion yeah the typo and the outline I was handed said Wang instead of Yang but I should have corrected that I know the man's name and then Gal Gadot yeah well I said Gil said no gills a male named gal yeah yeah and God though I was just kind of pronouncing the Hebrew the way I thought it should be but it's God oh and anyway anyway thanks to my razor-sharp team for catching that back to the stuff that it really matters let's let's take a look at this article about some of the myths about what's happening today and what provoked this all right so myth number one myth number one Israeli police have launched an assault on the Al-Aqsa mosque at the end of Ramadan that's a myth fact the violence were seen as the result of Palestinian excitement not Israeli aggression in the days leading up to the riots in the Temple Mount compound Palestinian stockpiled stone slabs rocks and fireworks around the site thousands of worshippers leaving Friday prayer hurled rocks at Israeli police officers guarding the site who responded accordingly videos from inside the mosque show stun grenades landing inside prayer rooms as projectiles used to disperse the crowds outside have gone through doors left wide open leaving the worship space more vulnerable amplifies the bogus battle cry that Al-Aqsa is in danger which has served to foment protests and violence for years there's it's very holy sacred site third holiest in Islam meanwhile Iran's meddling is inflaming tensions as well ahead of Jerusalem Day which has long been a flashpoint on Iran's calendar Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote that the Palestinians endeavors in the pure blood of resistance martyrs have managed to multiply Palestinian jihad's eternal power internal power by hundreds of times once Palestinian youth defended themselves by throwing stones but today they respond to the enemy attacks with precision missiles social media also has been weaponized by Arab youth to agitate far more violence throughout the past month a new social media trend arose that involved physically assaulting visibly Orthodox Jews and posting the attacks on tick-tock and by the way there's like civil war now in cities where Jews and Arabs live side by side Israelis and Palestinians side by side and now there's violence exploding I mean it's it's a real real difficult time myth number two the so-called assault on Al-Aqsa is a Jewish effort to support suppress religious freedom fact never in history has there been greater religious freedom and protection for all worshippers in Jerusalem than there has been since Israel took control of the city in 1967 when Jordan ruled the city Jews were denied access to the Western Wall into the cemetery on the Mount of Olives where Jews have buried their dead from in 2,500 years nearly 60 synagogues were destroyed to turn into stables for chicken coops and Jewish tombstones were ground up and used to pave roads Jordan also passed laws that banned Christian institutions from acquiring real estate and limited how many Christian schools could open after the 1967 war Israel abolished all of Jordan's discriminatory laws and made it illegal to restrict access to sacred places Israel also entrusts the oversight of the holy places to their respective religious authorities for example the Muslim walk oversees the mosques on the Temple Mount while Israel oversees security now here's the another big one a WWE wrestler on SmackDown wrestles by the name of Sami Zayn he tweeted out let me get this a friend just sent this to me yeah let me just read this to you then we'll go back to he tweeted out this saying let me get it there is no viable moral defense for stealing people's homes based on their ethnicity so what's that charge about okay let's go let's go back to the article this is myth number three the eviction of 30-plus families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah a neighborhood in East Jerusalem is an example of ethnic cleansing you probably heard that it's just is everywhere fact first of all the case centers on six families so not thirty second the Israeli Supreme Court hasn't ruled among the landowners can evict the families who have been at-will tenants on the land since the 1980s but rather than wait for a court decision Palestinians have made the families cause celebs and inciting violent clashes with Israeli police and Jewish extremists the dispute in Sheikh Jarrah originated in 1876 when the land which houses the tomb of a revered Jewish high priest from antiquity was under Ottoman rule that year Palestinian landowners sold the land to two Jewish trusts Jordan captured the plot in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and built dozens of homes there to house Palestinian families who had fled from what became Israel after Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 Jews were allowed to reclaim property that was under Jewish ownership before 1948 the Jewish trusts resumed ownership of the homes on the lot but later sold it the new landowners have tried to evict the residents ever since now the issue lies with the Israeli Supreme Court Israel's Attorney General the court had urged the parties to try to reach a compromise last week but the Palestinian residents refused a hearing slated to take place this week was postponed with the Attorney General's request in order to avoid further inflaming tensions and said that's the truth about the so-called ethnic cleansing that's the story there is no ethnic cleansing this is a decades-long legal battle but who cares when you can flame hatred against the Jewish people with a single tweet with a single piece of misinformation last last myth myth number four this violence is all about sovereignty the battle over the sovereignty in Jerusalem and this this goes through the reality there what's actually happening what the real issues are but it is it is not that in short the conflict over Jerusalem is fueling only part of the tension the internal rivalry between two Palestinian political parties Hamas and Fatah and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas's decision to get postponed elections also explained some of the violence because Hamas doesn't have a strong presence in Jerusalem the terrorist group has co-opted this conflict and enlisted Palestinians in Jerusalem to help reach their goals but but hey why why worry about facts when when you can inflame hatred against Israel and and the Jewish people okay check this out check this out Breitbart so strongly conservative website Breitbart.com look at this series of headlines there from today riots in Israel shouts of Allahu Akbar as Jewish man stabbed Israeli flags burned synagogues attacked in Germany Chicago cheers Palestinian terror attacks Gal Gadot pro-israel comments ripped apart by entertainment media now yeah this is a conservative for Israel site bizarrely people accused of being anti-semitic in years past utterly ridiculous in any case in any case what did Gal Gadot actually say yes she's Israeli served the IDF as most all Israelis do you're required to unless your ultra-orthodox can be exempt otherwise you're required to serve men and women women for two years men for three years so you get out of high school do that then go to college oh but what did she say that was so terrible so controversial are you ready I'm gonna read it to you mm-hmm my heart breaks my country is at war I worry for my family my friends I worry for my people this is a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation our neighbors deserve the same speaking of the Palestinians and others in the region our neighbors deserve the same I pray for the victims and their families I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace I pray for better days what a great message as an Israeli of course she cares about her people her family or friends of course I I'm getting information you know where the five-year-old boy was killed and stay wrote one of my colleagues who grabbed for a ministry school sends a note that I think his sister-in-law family member lists right down the block from there and this is real life these are people we love under attack having a huddle in bomb shelters and and I've been I've been told that you know the bombs dropping it's absolutely terrifying and and you could do nothing just you have to wait and so on it's very intense and I mean think of it every home remember every home in Israel must have a bomb shelter live in an apartment building they must have bomb shelters with them but you have to have a safe room it with your family doesn't matter if you have a little house you must have a room that's a safe room bomb shelter basement whatever the thing is and and you live in stay wrote you just have seconds because that's so close to Gaza you have seconds whatever you're doing taking a shower playing with the kids on the street you have seconds if you get into a bomb shelter they have to be all over the place and you have little children elementary school children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the bombings and the constant onslaught that they experience so of course she's concerned about her people but but friends she's concerned about the neighbors she wants she wants them to yeah she wants them to be taken care of she's concerned about the Palestinians and hates the loss of life and hopes leaders can sit down so people live at peace together but here typical this is the typical propaganda out there I would say this gentleman is from Pakistan if I was guessing with the last name Shah Faya Shah just post it openly on our Facebook page Israel is making garden for their own children and health for others children for other children is in human behavior that's what happens when people believe the lies that's what happens when people believe the propaganda and when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem if there's peace in Jerusalem there's peace in the region friends so us I'll stop here where I started God cares about every human being in the region but you better believe Israel is under attack by terrorists that's a fact and and I'm glad that President Biden although his policy direction has been bad and wanted to work again with Iran the way he does is terribly dangerous I'm glad that he did tell Prime Minister Netanyahu yes you have a right to defend against terror I'd like it to be an even more forceful statement but I'm glad at least that call was made we come back we're going to talk about a documentary that really gives both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict I mean it is an eye-opener Faya's this is something you need to watch sir this is something you need to watch it's the line of fire with your host dr. Michael Brown your voice of moral cultural and spiritual revolution here again is dr. Michael Brown you thanks friends for joining us on the line of fire is thoroughly Jewish Thursday as we're in the midst of massive conflict in Israel what could turn into a major war I looked at my calendar I thought I cannot believe that this is the day that we had scheduled to have two guests joining me Justin Cron and Todd Moorhead who have produced an extraordinary documentary hope for the Holy Land it releases midnight tonight you can find out more by going to watch dot Salem calm hope for the Holy Land but rather than rescheduling because I was having guests I thought what a perfect time to have them on because as I watch this documentary I get sent stuff constantly can you watch this review this and the vast vast majority we just have to respectfully decline but I watched this whole video and I was stunned by how fair it was and how it really got you into the heart of Palestinians and and how those they view Israel Israelis how they view the Palestinians and and and how they see the conflict in and the conclusions they came to I thought were so powerful so Todd Justin welcome to the broadcast we almost nailed it with both you at the exact same time next time I'll talk to you one at a time almost got that perfect um so let's let's just first very quickly because I want to focus on this documentary and then get your comments on how it can help in the midst of the conflict today especially Christians around the world watching and trying to figure out how to sort this out so go with each of you but Todd first and Justin how is it that you got such a burden for Israel for the Holy Land yeah I became a believer in Jesus really young like four years old and it just seems that with that confession of faith even at four the love for the Jewish people followed suit I don't even I don't actually know when it happened it was just there it was always there and it's not something my you my parents were both believers but they didn't feel it in me I just think it was a god-given thing and I thought everybody I thought every Christian had the same love for the Jewish people in Israel turns out that's not the case so it was just something in your heart from a little boy interesting all right Justin how did you develop this love for for Israel the Jewish people the larger region yeah well for me I come from a Jewish background of a Jewish follower of Jesus and so like you've probably heard before Michael you can take the Jew out of the land but you can't take the land out of the Jew it's just a part of who we are and so you know a lot of that just came from influence in my family but then even even more so just as I grew in my faith you read the Bible and obviously Israel is a very very central part of God's redemptive story and that God was never going to give up on the people of Israel despite their disobedience or lack of faith and so my heart followed suit and just wanting to help my people our people better understand God's heart for them and then that carried into wanting to help the church learn that heart as well all right a follow-up question Justin before I go back to Todd it seems though based on what you've produced in this in this documentary that you also have a tremendous heart for for the Palestinians where'd that come from I'll jump in there on that I I was challenged by someone at the church that I was attending who was getting more and more engaged with learning about the conflict from from both sides of the issues and his challenge to me was Justin if your theology does not lead you to love your neighbor and your enemy then something is wrong with your theology and I was challenged right in that moment realizing I've got some soul work I need to do in my own life as regards to just God's heart for the Arab people and in particular the Palestinians who are often characterized as as Israel's enemies and so that's really kind of what propelled me to just want to consider more of you know just God's heart for the for the Arab people got it got it and Todd you're kind of like the California surfer dude it's just going around the land talking to people in a way just very very sincere without guile how did this impact you let's let's first talk about the the worldview of the Palestinians how they see their situation and and questions that raised for you in the new documentary hope for the Holy Land so how did it impact you what insights did it give you yeah actually getting on the ground and talking to a lot of Palestinians we spent a good deal of time in the West Bank Judea Samaria just doing what we called man on the street interviews pulling people aside asking them if we could ask them some questions on camera and I learned a lot about their society and just and some of the stuff that I heard just it makes made me cringe the hatred for the Jewish people of for not for Jewish people in particular but for Zionists or once it and I found out once the Jewish person has any mass national and you know inspiration then aspiration sorry then then there are problems so the hatred for the Zionists and and really Jews living in the land and just this cultural anti-semitism which was pervasive everywhere we went so there was that aspect of it which which was very it felt very heavy and somewhat hopeless but then I would meet other Palestinians who you know who are courageously standing a you know standing against the Palestinian narrative that we hear so often and they're willing to make friends with Jewish people and they're willing to tell the truth and they're willing to just stand up for what's right at their at the risk of their life really so I thought two opposite sides and that's showcased in the movie and and that last night is the one that we want to uphold those you know Dietrich Bonhoeffer type Arab Palestinians that are so courageous and standing against the culture norms of what they know mmm and Justin as a Jewish believer in Jesus when you were watching this footage and and you know interacting with Todd about it interacting with people on the street was there anything in in in quote the quote Palestinian narrative the one that was really hostile to the Jewish people into the state of Israel was there anything in their story that either challenged your view of history or for the sensitized you towards their situation how did it affect you yeah I'll you know just confirm with Todd just to say that the anti-semitism that we heard and saw that was startling for me I've never seen anything that blatant or heard anything that blatant but to hear more of their story and just the fact that I think we need to be honest as those who support Israel that the establishment of the state of Israel was messy and Zionists you know some of them did some pretty bad things to the Arab people at that time and you know we're even seeing some of that happen right now you know not every Jewish person does what's right in the eyes of God and sometimes can do things to the other that that dishonors God and so you know to learn a bit more about that history I think helps them sensitize me a bit to the frustration that some of them had in regards to the to the establishment of the state of Israel but you were still jarred even though you've known about anti-semitism read about it experienced it on some levels we're still jarred to see it at that level that openly expressed which which is quite striking was there Todd in your heart a similar experience dealing with with the Israelis did they have the same hostility towards the Palestinians did they view them all as terrorists did you find courageous Israelis trying to make peace or did they have to be courageous what was your experience on the other side yes so we did man on the street interviews as well on the other side in Tel Aviv and other places as well and just about the vast majority of Israeli Jews that I interviewed were pretty sympathetic to Palestinians a number of them said I think they should have their own state they should be able to live their lives in peace so quite the opposite of what we heard in the Palestinian territories and even with the settlers that I met I didn't hear any hostility towards Palestinians they really wanted to be neighbors and actually these settlers were neighbors they were the ones with the most relationships with Palestinians out of all the Israelis that I met and of course that you know those are the ones I met and we know there's French elements where there's racism and hatred on the Jewish side as well like Justin said but not the ones that I met and and we didn't cherry-pick them we just this man on the street interviews that's just what we found out yeah so friends again this this is a documentary that will give you insight into both sides I mean you'll watch it and you'll think wow they really got this they really understand and you'll see as Todd's talking he's he's not arguing a point he's asking questions and probing but in the end it it seems clear one side really wants peace in a way that the other doesn't we've got to go a lot deeper by the way if you're if you're watching we've got two different faces coming up as as our guests are speaking and if one gets confused with the other the voice remains the same so we're good there but Justin what's the best way I mentioned one website but the simplest way for people to find out how they can how they can rent this or buy it or perhaps show it in their churches what's the best website to go to yeah go directly to the film website which is hope in the Holy Land calm and hope in the Holy Land not for hope in the Holy Land calm all right I'm typing in and now hope in the Holy Land calm and yeah there we are delving beneath the surface of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Yossi Klein Halevi author of letters to my Palestinian neighbor said this beautiful politically nuanced and morally sensitive film models the approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that I'd long hoped to see among Christians an open heart to the two indigenous traumatized peoples of the Holy Land friends it if you care about Israel you care about the Palestinians it's really must watch I was blown away by what I saw we'll be right back it's the line of fire with your host activist author international speaker and theologian dr. Michael Brown your voice of moral cultural and spiritual revolution get into the line of fire now by calling eight six six three four truth here again is dr. Michael Brown welcome back friends to the line of fire on 30 Jewish Thursday I'm joined by Todd Moorhead and Justin Cron they've put together this extraordinary documentary hope for the Holy Land hopefully we're okay with our sound here Todd what type of responses are you getting hang on let's let's find out what happened to our guests during the break so team over the studio if you could just check that out and find out what happened so we can get our guests back on just give me the go-ahead when we're good so Grayson and team please let me know what's going on just to say this I I was looking at some of the endorsements for the video in advance and I was I was blown away I and then I watching I thought it's deserved it's really deserved and again it's something that's been very important to me for years but to do my best to understand the other position before I engage it to to do my best to get into the skin of someone who sees things differently interprets the Bible differently has a different worldview it'd be the same with secular issues social issues to do my best to see through other eyes so that I could present their position in a way that would satisfy them in other words I could say so are you saying this this and this are you saying this this and this is that your point yes okay great I see your point let me tell you why I still have a difference or wow I never saw it from that angle or I never thought of that before or whatever the case is and that's what's so compelling about this video that it really gets you in the shoes of others and it helps you to see the world through their eyes so so Todd um what type of responses are you getting I just read one extraordinary one from a very fair-minded Israeli author what are you hearing from from others who've endorsed the video yeah one of the common threads that we're hearing is that it's the most fair and balanced film on the conflict they've ever seen yeah yeah that's a bit that's a big statement because it's so difficult to be fair and balanced and and Todd what was what was in your heart through this in other words did you have the heart of someone that had a position to argue or someone that was really coming to to find out what was in people's hearts with the heart of a Christian peacemaker yourself yeah I for the most part I had the heart of somebody who is on the kind of exploring on an attorney of discovery the only time you know and especially during those man-on-the-street interviews and all the people I met the only time I I felt like I had a little more of my guard up was when I was talking and I had an interview with the Palestinian liberation theologian and and it was so there's so many challenges yeah I think you probably know what I'm talking about because you've been in that situation at Christ's checkpoint there's so many challenges with the theology that I could have argued virtually every point and I had to just breathe and let the let the guy talk for himself and let people listen and you know my main job was not to confront some of these things but for the most part it was a heart of going to learn hearing people on the ground yeah and I like that I could see even during that interview you didn't come in expecting to hear those reinterpretations and misinterpretations of the Bible and yet here they were coming up lately but facility you spoke in a civil way and got the information it's just there for people to evaluate and Justin as we go back to you what what's your hope you made this specially for a Christian audience the Christian evangelicals have been the greatest friends of Israel in decades and yet much of the younger generation coming up has different values much of the college campuses where they go to study have different values is your goal to get everyone to become a Christian Zionist by watching this what what's what's the goal of the video from your viewpoint Justin yeah I mean if you're a follower of Jesus I definitely want you to be a Zionist I definitely want you to support Israel's right to exist and you know what is that that that's about a Jewish self-determination within their ancestral homeland I think every Christian should support that is so if we understand Christian Zionism and that then yes I also think that the Jewish community what they need to see when they're being attacked and I'm not talking about being physically attacked but what we're seeing is a cognitive assault against the legitimacy of the Jewish nation then we as followers of Jesus if we take the Bible seriously we need to stand in the gap for our neighbor and and we need to come to their defense and so a lot of the why we made the film for me and I know for Todd too is just about standing up for the Jewish people and I think that they need to see that kind of action from from followers of Jesus whether you're from a Jewish background or not all right so Justin let me just push back on that for one second then why paint the Palestinians in such sympathetic light why be so fair-minded to their side why not just try to paint a distorted picture to get people to be pro-israel why why put out a documentary that is definitely gonna give people much more of a heart of love and compassion for the Palestinian people why do that in your documentary because you'll never look into the eyes of someone who doesn't matter to God hmm whether whether you're you're Jewish or Arab you matter to him and and you know here's something else I think we need to remember is that you know we kind of look at the conflict as black and white one side being all good the other all bad all good all evil but but let's be honest here we're talking about really two secular nations you know to two nations neither one of which has surrendered their hearts to God now there are individuals within these societies who have done that or who are on the way to doing that who maybe have a higher regard for the teachings of Scripture than the other but you know we're talking about two nations two unbelieving nations and and I also think too we need to see that there's also two groups of people in this in this conflict there are those who are for peace and there are those who are not for peace and you can be a Palestinian who is for peace and if you're that person then we want to give some platform and and volume to that voice got it got it and and that you do and you see the courage the Palestinians saying look we want a better life here's the way to have a better life here's the way that's not going to happen here's the way it can happen hey Todd you get the last word in and then we'll give the website one more time but we've just got about two minutes what what is your hope for Christian who watches this video what what are you hoping will happen in their own heart in life yeah if they already love the Jewish people I hope it burns them on to love them even more if they are on the opposite side of the spectrum and they have sympathy towards the Palestinians but not the Jewish people I just hope and pray that they will gain God's heart for the Jewish people for those Christians who for the Christian Zionists already like me I can say for myself that we need to have God's heart for the Palestinians as Justin said they're creating God's image so I would like to challenge my own camp from the Christian Zionist perspective to gain God's heart for the Palestinian people what what does that heart look like yeah that's really a challenge for everybody yeah and you know wherever God finds us he's going to challenge us there's gonna be something where you know on our best day he challenges us because we're self-righteous and proud you know and in our theological our orthodoxy challenges us because we've grown spiritually cold and under spiritual passion he challenges us because we we forgot about our neighbor while loving God you know there's always something some blind spot and again that's honestly I can say it is the most balanced presentation of the conflict in Israel in the Holy Land that I've yet seen so hope in the Holy Land calm correct that's correct all right that's that's the place to go look it takes a lot of funding to make this happen that's why this is something that you pay to watch just like when you go to the movies you pay to watch it and you understand it it's a lot of time a lot of effort a lot of travel filming interviewing editing things putting out the final project so you'll want to see this you'll be edified it it's absolutely worth it and then spread the word to others especially now if there was a day for us to come out a week for it to come out it's now hope in the Holy Land calm I don't make a dime for promoting any of this my whole goal is to stand with God's heart for the people living in greater Israel today Israelis Palestinians Jews Muslims Christians let's have God's heart together hey guys thanks for your hard work in making this available may the Lord stun you with what he does with this documentary thank you thank you Michael really appreciate your support absolutely from the heart man from the heart all right hey we're we're out of time but I've got I've got good news 16 minutes from now I'll be right back here in the same studio behind the same microphone talking to you on YouTube so join me 16 minutes for now for 15 Eastern Time ask a dear Brown ask dr. Brown over on YouTube we'll do our weekly exclusive YouTube chat right there you don't want to miss it tell your friends all questions welcome another program powered by the truth network