Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel evangelicals (a tribe that, sadly, is growing) chafe at the suggestion that their position may be anti-Semitic. 

After all, the term "anti-Semitic" is one of those emotional hot-button terms that evokes unpleasant images and emotions. Another aspect of the question is: Can you be pro-Palestinian and not be anti-Israel?

I'd say the answer to this question depends on how you define "pro-Palestinian." If you mean pro-Palestinian in the sense that you empathize with the plight of the Palestinian people, including the way they have been treated like lepers by their own Arab kinsmen in the Middle East, and the way they are shamefully exploited by a wealthy and influential Palestinian elite in the territories--then I would say it's very possible to be pro-Palestinian and also be pro-Israel. In fact, many of us would fall into that category.

On the other hand, however, if you take the position that being pro-Palestinian means that you oppose Israeli security policy (the famous wall, the checkpoints, and other restrictions on the movements of Palestinians--particularly those who wish to enter Israel), and you demonize and delegitimize Israel in order to make the Palestinians look like hapless victims, then that's a horse of a different color.

The security measures (a wall, checkpoints, and other restrictions on the movements of Palestinians) have worked--no one can argue with that. These measures are saving lives. Terrorist attacks have declined dramatically since the wall and additional strategic checkpoints were installed.

Some of us remember the good old days when the borders were open. Every morning, throngs of Palestinians crossed the border into Israel to go their places of employment. We met an Israeli man in the 1990s who had a furniture factory in the Gaza Strip. He employed dozens of Palestinians. It was good for him because it kept his labor costs down--and it was good for his workers because they were gainfully employed. But when the Israelis turned Gaza over to the Palestinians, he had to close the factory because the IDF could no longer provide security services. Soon thereafter, Hamas started using Gaza as a base from which to launch terror attacks into Israel--just like Netanyahu had warned would happen if the IDF withdrew from Gaza. So the Israeli businessman had little choice but to close the factory.

The open borders were a blessing not only to the Palestinians, but also to the Israeli business community who benefited from the lower labor costs.

So can we be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel at the same time? In a certain sense, yes. Several of our workers in Israel have a passion for helping and ministering to Palestinian people. I would say, very definitely, that they are pro-Palestinian. One of our ladies (a full-time staff member whose name I won't mention for security reasons) routinely travels through the checkpoints into the West Bank to visit needy Palestinian families in places like Bethlehem and Ramallah. She's a Jewish grandma and when she's on one of these missions, even the Palestinian police don't mess with her! If they give her any grief, she'll stick a boney finger in their face and say, in near-perfect Arabic, "Young man, would you treat your grandmother like this?" They know her by now, so they give her a wide berth!

However, if by "pro-Palestinian" you mean that you demonize the Israelis and tell them they can't implement self-defensive security measures (like security barriers and checkpoints) without being denounced as an apartheid regime, like some evangelicals today are saying, then I'd say that is indeed a prejudiced, anti-Israel viewpoint. And I don't think it's a stretch at all to attach the term "anti-Semitic" to it.

We were in Israel earlier this year and noticed a group of Arabic-speaking school kids getting off a bus at the beach in Tel Aviv. They were playing with Frisbees, wading in the water, and dancing to music from a nearby cafe. I asked a store owner who they were and he said they were Palestinian students from the West Bank. I must have had a surprised expression on my face because he quickly added, almost nonchalantly, "They're just on a field trip. These school groups come from the West Bank almost every day. Nothing to worry about." I looked around and didn't see any police or soldiers. The children dropped their backpacks in the sand and frolicked around, laughing and giggling, totally unafraid. They knew they were safe. Their chaperones knew they were safe in Israel. They know the Israeli people wish them no harm. But, I wondered, what would happen if a bus of Israeli school children went to visit Ramallah or Gaza City? It would be a very dangerous excursion--a recipe for disaster!

This speaks volumes about the differences between the predominant Palestinian and Israeli cultures! Our fellow evangelicals--especially those who are so critical of the Jewish State--need to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee.

It's like Bibi Netanyahu once said: "If the Palestinians would lay down their weapons tomorrow, there would be no more war. But if the Israelis put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel."