By Gordon Haas

While the Jewish community celebrated our New Year, one of the most religious holidays on the Jewish calendar, the United Nations choose to have Palestinian Authority President Abbas speak to the General Assembly. And what did he speak about? He accused Israel of committing genocide. He spit out one lie after another trying to create a false historical narrative about Israel and the Palestinian people.

For 50 days, 5,000 missiles were launched at Israel (the same size as New Jersey). Instead of calling for peace and reconciliation, instead of calling for the end of violence, instead of providing some authority and placing himself squarely in a historical moment to be a peacemaker for his people, Abbas again chooses lies, conflict, and strife.

To top it off, both the New York Times and the Washington Post ran anti-Israel op-eds. Just the week before, the New York Times accepted and ran a two-page ad by some unknown anonymous group that was completely filled with misinformation and false accusations. How can this be? Is this because of controversy over the settlements? Did Israel bring this upon itself? I would say not. This is a well-oiled orchestrated public relations maneuver to influence public opinion in the United States against Israel — a country that continues to stand strong in support of the only democracy in the Middle East — Israel. A country whose ultimate goal is to live peacefully with its neighbors; a country willing to invest in the co-existence of the Palestinians and Israeli people.

As the CRC Chair I have the opportunity to speak with many people in our Greater MetroWest community. I know that you are scared and upset. You are concerned about growing anti-Semitism; concerned about BDS infiltrating our church relationships and academic freedom; concerned about our college students having to face anti-Israel experiences on campuses like last week at Rutgers or this week at Berkeley in California.

The CRC would like to encourage you to take your concern and switch it to action. We encourage you to be an Israel advocate! We need you!

Please attend the Step Up For Israel Advocacy Summit on November 2, from 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. We are bringing in top people from around the country to form our own strategic public relations model based on the truth — the facts about Israel. The issue is about how can we hone our skills and find the right messaging in a changing time to share our story — Israel’s story with the community-at-large. How can we best combat media bias, ensure strong support for Israel with our legislators, deter and overturn BDS votes, educate our youth, and be leaders on peace, tolerance and co-existence.

This is an important time in history and we need you to stand with us. I hope to see you on November 2 at the Summit.