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Mark Levin Podcast
On The Frontlines - Shining Light Amidst Darkness: Hope from the Holy Land
00:30:22
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- [00:07]
A
As anti Semitism continues to rise around the world, there's been one organization fighting hate and darkness with love and light. That's the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. They've been on the ground for more than 40 years providing food, shelter, safety to people in need. The people of Israel and our Jewish brothers and sisters need us now more than ever. Please join me in supporting the Fellowship and their life saving work. Go to levin for the fellowship.org that's Elk Levin for the fellowship.org and make a tax deductible gift. That's Levin. L E V I n for the fellowship.org Mark Levin and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews bring you on the Front Lines. Hello America, I'm Mark Levin, our fantastic partnership with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, our dear friend Yael Eckstein. And this is on the Front Lines, our podcast. By the way, you can check them out@ifcj.org, ifcj.org Galileo, how are you?
- [01:08]
B
Hello my friend. How are you doing?
- [01:10]
A
We are great. And how is the Holy Land today?
- [01:14]
B
Well, we are hopeful for good days on the horizon. So we are standing forward with raising up one another, welcoming Christian tourists back to the Holy Land, which is in Kaidovo after it got kind of slow from Corona and the war. We're starting to see Christians from around the world lining the streets once again on their pilgrimage. And I believe that within all the darkness, Mark, there is a place for light to shine.
- [01:42]
A
Now you're right and horrible. Two years and the very, very brave men and women in your military and so forth and the people of Israel have had to put up with a lot. And I feel like there's at least going to be a period of time now where you can actually enjoy life with some peace. Which brings me to this question, if I may. Since October 7th, as you know, we've had a war in this country and in other countries. Not a shooting war, but a war of civility versus tyranny. And on our college campuses, in particular these campuses, they indoctrinate on this Marxist and Islamist ideology, really, Hamas ideology and Qatari ideology and Iranian ideology. And by that I mean these regimes. And this is a huge, huge problem in our country. And I suppose for the rest of the world, who do you think is behind this and what do you make of this?
- [02:38]
B
Well, I think it's terrifying to see what's happening, especially on the university campuses. And the most terrifying thing, even more than what Hamas is doing and what the Islamists are doing in Israel, in America and around the world is that they've been able to convince Western kids that people in Gaza are suffering because of Israel, not because of Hamas, who started this war and who is holding hostages. That America's bad while these Islamist countries are good. It's the confusion that I believe is rooted in spirituality. Isaiah said, at the end of days, we'll see a time where good will be called bad, bad will be called good. And we're seeing that now because we know America is the beacon of freedom, America the beacon of hope, and something that we all have celebrated forever. Everyone wants to get into America. You don't see many people leaving America. And when you talk about oppression, specifically in Israel, there's been a 444% growth of the Christian population since 1950, while in the West bank places like Bethlehem, there's minus 38% in Gaza under Hamas rule, minus 85%. That you look at the real stock statistics and it's very clear who's light and who's darkness, who's good and who's bad. But these college students are being intentionally miseducated. And if you don't know history and you don't know the scriptures, then you're going to be very, very good target to try to turn this world around in the vision of the Islamists that definitely don't have America's best interest in mind.
- [04:20]
A
Now that's very well said. I feel like they, the Islamists and the Marxists, they have conquered much of our culture and that starts with our educational system. And they have secreted themselves into it. You've got tenure, you have faculty hiring faculty, you have Qatar and some of these other countries that figured it out a long time ago. So they've literally poured billions of dollars into our country to influence what goes on in our classrooms. Now they're targeting K through 12 and it's going to be really difficult because you also have these NGOs, these non governmental organizations. So many of them are set up as front groups to push this ideology. And doesn't it say a lot now that Hamas is slaughtering Palestinians in Gaza? They're not in the streets here in the United States or anywhere else complaining about it and so forth and so on. Doesn't that tell us a lot?
- [05:13]
B
Well, the fact again that these forces of ego have been able to convince the world, for example, that Israel's bad while Hamas is good is something that's shocking. You think that 500 million Arabs, 22 Arab countries, close to 2 billion Muslims, and 52 Muslim majority countries are the underdogs, while 16 million Jews with one country in the entire world are the oppressors. Then the world has been fooled. And we see this now in the places in Gaza where Israel has left Hamas is killing their own people. And so it's very clear to us, Mark, when we know history, when we know what's happening in the real world, when they're saying free Palestine and they're implying that's from Israel, the real thing to be yelling if you care about humanity is free Palestine from Hamas. And we've seen that there's the possibility for hope. We see the Abraham Accords, we see that there's been so much hope when we bring people who sanctify life together, when we bring people who sanctify freedom and peace together. But today what's happening on the college campuses, it's not student activism, it's actually systemic indoctrination. So social justice has been hijacked by people that are fighting for regimes that oppress women, that kill gay people that their people are trying to escape. And meanwhile on American and European college campuses, they're being supported and empowered. So I think what we have to do is just educate the youth, educate on history, educate what is communism, what is socialism? What is the difference between democracy? Are there any socialist countries in this world that are actually working the way that we did? So many self proclaimed leaders today that are promising all these free things and utopian paradise. In Israel, we've been able to find the balance between freedom of religion, giving freedom to everyone, and then also being able to protect religion, protect freedom. Because as you know, Mark, but many people don't. In 2025 in Israel, we have 400 plus functional mosques and there aren't even a hundred functional synagogues in the entire Midd East. And that's because there's around 15,000 Jews in the entire Middle east and 1.7 million Muslims living freely in Israel that there's a way to protect freedom and have security, there's a way to celebrate diversity and still have freedom. But it's understanding the difference between a terror organization like Hamas and countries like the UAE that are open to peace and brotherhood.
- [08:19]
A
That's very well put. This is not just theoretical. It's not just in the classroom. As you know, you literally see Jewish students who've been running and hiding for their lives, locking doors, their Jewish symbols, the kippah, which is more than just a symbol, or the star, David and so forth and so on, they're having to hide them and so forth. I mean, this is America 2025. I mean, could you ever imagine such things would be going on?
- [08:46]
B
It's terrifying to see. And Jews around the world have two memorial days. One is Yom Hazikaron, which remind us of the cost of having Israel, and Yom Hashoah, which remind us of the cost of not having Israel. So Yom Hazikaron is when we remember all of the soldiers that died protecting Israel. And Yom Hashoah is when we remember the 6 million Jews that were slaughtered by the Nazis. And it's a reminder for today, as we see this happening, that Jews are scared to wear their starved David to put up the mezuzah on their houses to show anything that they identify as Jews. But that might be new for our generation, but it's not new for history. For thousands of years, there's been antisemitism that has disguised itself as truth. And so today it might wear academic robes, but it's not any different than anti Semitism that's been happening for thousands of years. You look even at the Bible. Egypt didn't want the Jewish people's freedom, so they enslaved them. Haman didn't want the Jewish people's freedom, so he planned to kill them. The Church even justified persecution in the Middle Ages. And now the universities are lecturing it. And so what we see is that education without truth becomes indoctrination. But we see millions of Christians, Mark friends that both of us know and millions that we don't, who see this pattern, who see this pattern and trend repeating itself. And for the first time in history, it's not a few individuals like Corrie Ten Boom or Oskar Schindler or Pastor Dietrich Sonhofer. It's hundreds of millions of Christians who are saying, we've learned from the past. Not on our watch.
- [10:29]
A
Yeah, it's wonderful. I agree with you. When we come back, I want to tap in further into this funding because I don't think we're doing enough to challenge it. We, the American people in particular, to fight it, to outlaw it. Money pouring in from terrorist regimes and terror entities into our schools and into our society. So we'll take a little break here. You're listening to Yael Eckstein, who is the CEO, president, director, the big mahaf over there at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You've seen her on tv. She's absolutely fabulous. You can check out the organization directly, and I would encourage you to do it. IFCJ.org, iFCJ.org I am Mark Levin and we have our joint partnership on our podcast here on the front lines. We'll be right back. It was more than two years ago that terrorists murdered more than 1200 innocent Israelis and took 250 hostages. Today, it seems as if the cries of the dead and dying have been drowned up by shouts of anti Semitic hate. And the most brutal attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust has all but been forgotten. Yet as the world looks away, a light shines in the darkness. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has been on the ground for more than 40 years, providing food, shelter, safety to the people in the Holy Land who are in need. In the wake of October 7th, they're working every day to help survivors of hate rebuild their lives as anti Semitism continues to rise around the world. People of Israel and our Jewish brothers and sisters need us now more than ever. Folks, you can be a light in the darkness. Please join me in supporting the fellowship in this life saving work. Go to levin for the fellowship.org to make your tax deductible gift. That's L E V I n for the fellowship.org foreign welcome back folks. I'm Mark Levan with Yah Eckstein and she is in charge of the president of the CEO. I call her the big Mahaf over there at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. One of the really the great organizations out there that one of the great missions for over 40 years now. Our father founded this organization. Let me ask you a question. And unfortunately your father passed away a young man, an untimely death. Before he passed away, did he think he would ever build this mission to be as big as it is? And now you even taking it further?
- [13:12]
B
Wow. Well, I always say I feel like I'm a midget standing on the shoulders of a giant. That my father, I watched him my whole life with this mission to unite and bridge Jewish and Christian communities around the world and shared values and strategic partnership. And that we would stand together just as the scriptures say, hine me to how good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in peace. And he started Mark from nothing. He started the organization when my mom was pregnant with me and didn't even have health care. And he would work as a rabbi on the weekends to make money. And he was a musician and he would work as a musician at weddings to make money for so many years. But he had a drive and a mission. And before he d almost seven years ago, he saw this new reality where even if it wasn't fully accepted, Jews and Christians coming together as brothers and sisters, it was a lot more accepted. Even if everyone didn't celebrate it, most Jews and Christians were celebrating it. And so I believe that God had a calling for him, calling on his life, and he took it seriously, and he paid a very hard price for it. And my sister's Bat Mitzvah, he wasn't allowed to go up to the Torah to pray for the quorum since he worked with Christians and they didn't like that. But he continued on despite everything. And he would always say to me, say, yael, you are better than I am, you're smarter than I, and you're going to make this even bigger than I did. And I would always look at him and say, no, thank you, Abba. I want you to be in this position forever. But when God called and we all stepped up the way that we were called, it's been incredible to see what he's doing, what God is doing to us and through the international fellowship of Christians and Jews.
- [15:16]
A
Well, it's fantastic. It's beautiful what you all have accomplished here. And it has resonated beyond your organization. In other words, people talk about it all the time now, the importance of us standing side by side, the connection between the two, how we all need each other to face the evils that we face. And they're very significant. And so you and what your father created in your organization is absolutely critical. It's right there in the gap. I wanted to get back into some of this funding. I've been tracking this funding myself. I've talked about it on Fox with Qatar, Iran, Hamas, communist China, how they definitely have poured money into our schools, how they buy, you know, certain programs within the. Within the colleges, how they. How they actually create facilities in their own countries. And these colleges are very receptive to this, as they were during the 1930s with the Nazis and the Germans, quite frankly, Harvard and some of them, Yale and some of these other schools. The impact is really quite significant, isn't it?
- [16:25]
B
This is a very clear intentional breakdown of society. We think we're living through historic times, and we are, but also we're not. It's the same strategy that's been implemented with the Communists, with the Nazis, in order to break down society. And you look at what's happening on college campuses, for example, in America and in Europe and all the Free Palestine and Hamas flags that are waving, that's illegal in many moderate countries across the Middle East. There's no free talisman. Palestine rallies in Jordan or in Saudi Arabia or in Morocco or in the UAE or In Egypt. Why? Because they realize that it's breeding terror. They realize it's breaking down society when people, their people start standing with the Islamists. There has to be a clear definition of good and bad. And that clear definition is one who sanctifies life and one that doesn't sanctify life, one that wants life and protects life and one that chases death. And in America and Europe, somehow this. This theology of Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS is spreading like wildfire. And it's not by chance because of intentional investments from outside places to take over America, to take over Europe, and there aren't enough people speaking about it. Marc, you're one of the few brave ones. And so Israel is kind of a way to distract the people from the real problem. You see so many podcasters now, and everything goes back to Israel. Everything is Israel's fault. Everything goes back to Israel. What happens when they're talking about Israel? They're not talking about the Islamists taking over. They're not talking about the oppression that's spreading. They're not talking about the outside funding that's literally influencing the future of the United States of America, that it's an intentional distraction. Israel, it's not new. And I pray that people will wake up in order to get their voices heard, because we all know just waking up and knowing doesn't do anything, because it's the loudest people that are taking over. It's the most violent people that are taking over. It's the most articulate people who are taking over. It's not necessarily the majority. And so we need the majority to raise their voices to stand for these values that America lives founded on. And we need to make sure that they survive the next decade at least.
- [19:01]
A
And your organization, International Fellowship for Christians and Jews, ifcj, has really been at the forefront of encouraging people of faith, Christians and Jews and especially Christians, to encourage them on college campuses and so forth, in a respectful, civil way to not so much confront, but to challenge these forces and to advance our belief system and their belief system and so forth. Isn't that correct?
- [19:31]
B
That's exactly correct. I think there are three things that we need to do now, all of us. Mark number one is be educated. It is shocking to me that so many college students in America right now don't know about 9 11. My children in Israel, I've raised them on 9 11. How do Americans not know about 9 11? That we have to be educated both in modern history, ancient history, American history, European history, world history, and we have to be educated on the scriptures. That's number one. Number two is we have to stand together. And at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, we stand together through feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the poor, going to the persecuted and oppressed Jews in Israel and around the world and Christians and making sure that this silent majority gets our voices out by building medical clinics for persecuted Christians in Syria, the same way we're building bomb shelters for children in Israel. As number two, we need to stand together by bringing light because self righteous anger at our dinner table don't change reality. Taking action of love and light is what changes reality. And the third is we need a be bold and brave. You know, the Fellowship has this frags of fellowship program where we invite churches and synagogues and college campuses to plant Israeli flags around October 7, when really the antisemitism began rising so quickly after the attack of October 7th and to take one day a year where they're proudly planting these Israeli flags alongside the American flags and learning about Israel, Jewish, Christian relations, the scriptures. Our goal, Mark, we started this project. Our goal was to have 50 churches and college campuses and synagogues join. We had 250 this year. Our goal was 500 to double it. We had over 1,300 churches, synagogues, college campuses in every single state across America that planted 1,200 Israeli flags on that day. So all of them together, we had over 1.5 million Israeli flags waving at different campuses across America. And so that's the silenced majority taking action by feeding them the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the poor, and proudly proclaiming their strong partnership with Israel in recognition of this political and spiritual ally. That's what's going to change reality. Giving a voice to the silenced majority.
- [22:17]
A
To spread like so important, so important. You're defending the entire Judeo Christian belief system, the connection between the two faiths. So many Christians now are speaking out, pastors are speaking out, defending the state of Israel. And of course they come under attack by the same people who you and I and others come under attack from. We're going to be right back with Yael Eckstein. She is the President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. If you've been listening to me on radio and our podcast, you know what a big fan I am of this group, IFCJ.org, may I recommend that you check them out and you can make a tax deductible donation. And these gifts are very, very important. They go right to the ground, right where the, the need is and, and you know what? You actually feel great about it when you do it. You're actually helping the Holy Land. It's a big deal. This is on the Front lines, our joint podcast. We'll be right back. It was more than two years ago that terrorists murdered more than 1200 innocent Israelis and took 250 hostages. Today it seems as if the cries of the dead and dying have been drowned up by shouts of anti Semitic hate. And the most brutal attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust has all but been forgotten. Yet as the world looks away, a light shines in the darkness. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has been on the ground for more than 40 years, providing food, shelter, safety to the people in the Holy Land who are in need. In the wake of October 7th, they're working every day to help survivors of hate rebuild their lives as anti Semitism continues to rise around the world. People of Israel and our Jewish brothers and sisters need us now more than ever. Folks, you can be a light in the darkness. Please join me in supporting the Fellowship in this life saving work. Go to levin for the fellowship.org to make your tax deductible gift. That's L E V I N for the Fellowship. Welcome back everybody. I'm Mark Levin with Yale Xstein and she's The President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. IFCJ.org Please check them out. It's a fantastic organization. This is our joint podcast. Westwood One and IFCJ on the front lines. Yeah, we left off on what's going on in these campuses. Who's funding these campuses? Things we can do. We've exposed this problem. You've talked a bit about what needs to be done, what your fantastic organization is doing about it. But I wanted to get a little bit more soulful about this. And my attitude is that people of goodwill need to be heard. I don't mean be obnoxious and I mean just need to speak. Need to be heard. Whether it's on college campuses, whether it's calling into talk shows, whether it's in churches and synagogues, social groups, whatever, and put the word out because there are hundreds and hundreds of millions of us and I think we outnumber them. No.
- [25:26]
B
Oh wow. What you're saying is so powerful, Mark. And the person who screams the loudest isn't right. We know that. Which gives a us us the responsibility, obligation and privilege that God is calling us. Speak truth boldly. We have to stand up in love, but we have to stand up in truth and without apology. We have to pray, we have to believe that our prayers really work. I believe that is our greatest weapon. There's no one who can't pray. There's no one that means who's helpless. That we have to pray for the next generation. We have to ask God to protect the student and trace moral leaders. And we can't hide our faith. It's something that was so beautiful in our shared mutual friend Charlie Kirk, of blessed memory. He made it cool to have faith. He made it acceptable and cool to be a Christian. That there's a whole generation who looked at Charlie and said, yes, I am proud to be a Christian. I am proud to be Jewish. I'm proud to keep the Sabbath. I'm proud to have biblical values. And he can't let that end with Charlie's fascination. We can't hide our faith. We can't hide our flag. And we have to stand publicly that we stand with Israel, that we stand with America, that we're stronger together, and that we believe in the words of the scriptures. Because if we lose the classroom, Mark, then we lose the country. But if we restore truth, then we restore America, we restore Israel, and we thoroughly these biblical values that we all hold dear. So I think it's rooted really in faith, injustice and in people not being scared to express the truth that they know, which is all deeply rooted in God and in love and in brotherhood.
- [27:28]
A
That's so beautifully put. And the army of people of goodwill, the army of people of God. If we don't speak up, who's going to speak up? I mean, it's not enough to have people speak for us and. And I think we spread the word, we spread it everywhere, that our views, that our morals will spread, too. I mean, we have some very brave people out there and rabbis and pastors, you just other people. And I'm just hoping that. And I really believe, based on my audience, on radio and so forth, on tv, and I really believe that so many Americans are yearning for this and they want to hear this because these are the values they grew up on, not all this nast, hateful stuff, you know?
- [28:14]
B
Yes, this is. America is the greatest country in the world. We can't forget that, and we can't let that change. And what we've seen is that America and Israel are stronger together. When we stand together, the world listens, the world respects it, and the world moves forward in the image of our values, of sanctifying life and hoping and working towards peace. And so what you're saying, Mark, I couldn't agree with life more.
- [28:42]
A
Well, it's been a pleasure. This has been episode three of on the Front Lines. That's Yael Eckstein, the president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which is a fantastic organization. They have a wonderful mission. I really want you to check out their website@ifcj.org ifcj.org you can hear how lovely Yael is and all the work that they're doing. And they have some paid staff, but they mostly volunteers and they're there in the middle of it. It we watch it on TV and think about it and debate it. She is there trying to do God's work and they are. And any support you can give them will be truly appreciated. It'd be a great blessing. And remember, it has has the positive effect of being tax deductible too. That's ifcj.org ifcj.org till next time. Yeah, you guys take care and be safe.
- [29:36]
B
Looking forward. It's always such a blessing and pleasure to speak to you.
- [29:39]
A
You too. God bless. To learn more about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, visit IFCJ.org.