When Propaganda Strikes: A Judean's Response - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

Shalom, my friends. In October of last year, I got a call from my friends in an organization called Regaveim. They're a great organization on the front lines in the battle of ideas, sharing the truth of the global war, the jihadist war against the Jews of Judea. They're on the front lines legislatively. I really respected them, and I still do. They asked me to to agree to do an interview with a very famous documentarian from the BBC. That's right, the BBC, which to put it mildly is well known for being super anti-Israel and less than ethical in their editing practices. I remember years ago learning this firsthand when I saw how they edited Jeremy in an interview interview they did with him. But Regavee asked me to do it. And while I didn't understand the scope and magnitude of the project at the time or even the reputation of the documentarianism, a documentarian, a guy named Louis Thorough, I just said yes and did the interview which spanned over two days. I had him out here twice. As a matter of fact, just days after doing the second interview where he came out to the farm and sat in my home, I received this message from at least 10 different people warning anyone who read it not to interview with this Israelhating propagandist named Louis Thorough that he would take your words out of context, slice you and dice you, and use you for his own nefarious purposes. And you have to understand in my world people do all sorts of interviews with all sorts of adversarial media outlets. Al Jazer, RT, CNN, Vice, whatever. But I never received a warning like that about anyone. This guy must be really bad news. I found out a week after the damage was done. But either way, you know, the truth is that despite the great dangers involved, I think I would have done it anyways. And here's why. Because one way or another, this guy is going to get his interview. His documentary will happen. Many of the heroic, self-sacrificing Jews on the Judeian frontier don't even have WhatsApp on their phones because they don't believe in having smartphones, which in and of itself makes them heroes in my mind. And so these people, simple, holy, honest, who know little of the evil propaganda of people like Louis Thorough will do the interview anyways. And so my thinking is that while there definitely would be great danger and risk to me personally in being edited to look like a crazy wildeyed extremist with anything that would indicate otherwise surgically excised with absolute precision. While I know that could happen, the chance that at the same time I would be able to articulate a truth and contribute ideas that the world needs to hear. If there's a chance that I could possibly reflect well on the Jews of Judea and the God of Israel, even if that may mean falling on the sword myself personally, well, that's a risk that I'm willing to take every single day. And I'm glad that I did because in my opinion, that's exactly what happened. while he edited out all the words which would expose the deeper truth of the hearts of love beating within within my chest and the chests of the Jews of Judea. A love and beauty that he couldn't possibly have allowed out. He did include things which in his eyes may have made me seem crazy and extremist, but in my eyes are simple truths that the world needed to hear. Here are my parts extracted from the documentary. And obviously I kind can't can't include the entire documentary here. And the propaganda is so advanced that I don't think I'd even want to without sort of going through it with you and showing what he's doing. Maybe you should watch the whole thing. I don't know. But you'll never get that hour back. I'll tell you that much. Either way, here are my parts. Even if the entire world is pointing, accusing fingers and nashing their teeth and rage and anger. We know the righteousness and the truth of our cause, even if we stand alone. That's what it means to be a Hebrew. That's what it means to be a Jew. If we know the truth of our cause, that's all we need. For Ari, it was clear that nothing is greater than the word of God. And that word had led him to believe that it was the divine right of the Jewish people to settle and rule this land. Friends, as we know, there's no such thing as a coincidence. And I don't believe it's a coincidence that the documentary was released during the Torah portion of Tazar Mitsurra because this double portion dives deep into the mysterious affliction of Sarah which is often misunderstood as the physical disease of leprosy but really is a physical manifestation of the spiritual consequence of lashon harah of evil speech. The Torah tells us that when someone speaks lashon har they aren't just punished with leprosy they're exiled from the camp. they lose their place within the community. Why? Because slander isn't just a personal sin. It's a national wound. It tears at the fabric of of unity. It infects us with suspicion and distrust and false narratives. But here's the striking part. This spiritual affliction isn't about the person being slandered. It's not their skin that turns white. It's the slanderer's skin that's affected. The punishment isn't physical retribution. It's revelation. The rot on the inside becomes visible on the outside. Having been on the inside and knowing what I said during those three plus hours together, I know the degree of deception and dishonesty in his peace. With my own eyes, I witnessed his intention of demonizing and villainizing the settlers while championing and lionizing the so-called Palestinian all peace activists in the documentary. Louie didn't throw stones. He used a camera. But the effect was the same. He projected fear instead of faith, division instead of depth, cynicism instead of context, hatred instead of love. This week's para reminds us that slander is not always loud. Sometimes it wears a smile. Sometimes it hides behind a polished British accent and a clever edit. But Hashem sees through the facade. And in the end, emmet truth rises. Let us not be discouraged when we're misrepresented. Let us not grow bitter when the world misjudges Zionists and settlers or believers. Let the cohain that is examining the skin, right? Like him, we too must patiently reveal what is pure and what is not. As the prophet Isaiah said in chapter 54, "No weapon formed against you shall succeed, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment, you shall defeat. Such is the heritage of God's servants. Such is their triumph through me, declares God. My friends, may we never be afraid to speak truth from Zion, even when the world distorts our words. May we stand tall, not with arrogance, but with rooted humility, knowing that the land of Israel is calling her children home. Not to be silent, but to shine. For me, the whole thing was worth it for those last words Louie spoke about me after we said goodbye. For while he may have meant them for evil, in my heart there's simply no greater compliment than saying for Ari, it is clear that nothing is greater than the word of God. While he meant it for evil, the truth is that he has given me what to live up to because that indeed is my greatest aspiration. I bless myself and all of us that we should all live up to those words. My friends, a day of great redemption is coming, a day of revelation when the whole world will know the truth. But until that day comes, I bless us that we should be living, breathing vessels of that truth. And even if the whole world is against us, we can have strength in our hearts and peace in our souls, knowing that we walk in the shadow of the God of Israel, speaking words of light and truth to all. Shalom, my friends. [Music]