Archives
2009
Genesis Awards
VISION members receive the Christians and Jews United for Israel Genesis Award 18 October 2009
CJUI honored VISION members Ron and Bev Gerstenberger with the Genesis Award. CJUI, Christians and Jews United for Israel held their 4th Annual Genesis Awards at Temple Emeth in Chestnut Hill, MA.
VISION members Ron and Bev Gerstenberger were honored as two of the founding members of VISION and also NH Representives of Bridges for Peace.
VISION members Ron and Bev Gerstenberger were honored as two of the founding members of VISION and also NH Representives of Bridges for Peace.
Guest Speakers included:
* Joanne Magnusson, Director, Christian Friends of Yad Vashem
* Dr. Robero Miranda, Pastor, Lion of Judah Church
* Charles Jacobs, Founder, Americans for Peace & Tolerance
* Rev. Scott Smith, Pastor, Christian Renewal Church
2009 Genesis Awards Honorees:
* Joanne Magnusson, Director, Christian Friends of Yad Vashem
* Dr. Robero Miranda, Pastor, Lion of Judah Church
* Charles Jacobs, Founder, Americans for Peace & Tolerance
* Rev. Scott Smith, Pastor, Christian Renewal Church
2009 Genesis Awards Honorees:
Ron and Bev Gerstenberger-VISION - New Hamsphire Rep's Bridges for Peace
Esther Levens - Unity Coalition for Israel
Laliv Gal - Former Area Director - Zionist Youth Movement of Israel
A Lone Counter-Protestor 4 January 2009
"They were actually chanting 'from the river to the sea.'"
I recently saw people walking towards Elm Street in Manchester wearing the “Gaza” scarfs and knew right away that there was an anti-Israel rally taking place.
I immediately grabbed my Israeli flag and decided I would be a counter demonstrator.
I was two houses away when I saw another man parking his car with the same scarf. I waited for him to get out of his car to introduce myself to him.
He told me the usual and I said that I would stand across the street and be a counter demonstrator. He asked if I was a Zionist and I said "I don't know, what is a Zionist?" He said it was anybody who supported a Jewish state so I said that even though I was not Jewish, I must be a Zionist. I told him that I hoped we could have a peaceful demonstration and offered to shake his hand, he (a Bosnian) said if I was Jewish, he would shake my hand but since I was a 'Zionist' he refused to shake my hand.
What could I do but laugh?
When I got to Elm St. there were about two dozen 'demonstrators' with PLO flags and signs with a variety of sayings that you can see in the photo's I've included. They were all on the sidewalk and on the snow bank and I stood in front of all of them and said "hello."
We immediately engaged in conversation, mostly calm but some of them were agitated at the sight of an Israeli flag. One guy wanted to buy it so he could burn it. I made a case for a Jewish state and they made a counter claim. They said that Abraham was a Muslim. I said that Islam started in the sixth century so that was impossible. They said I know nothing of the Koran. I asked them how many times Al Quds was mentioned in the Koran and they said many times, I to them the real answer was zero but in the Torah, Jerusalem is mentioned numerous times so there is historical precedent for Jews living in the land.
Then, an older gentlemen came over and told they that they we no longer allowed to talk to me. About that time, a police officer stopped in the middle of the street and told me move so I crossed the street and was the lone counter demonstrator on top of my snow bank with my Israeli flag flying in the breeze.
It was rewarding to hear the horns honking for me as they were chanting curses upon Israeli's.
They were actually chanting "from the river to the sea."
I think they would have been rather bored had I not shown up. I seemed to warm their cackles and once their blood got flowing, and they got more brutal in their chanting. There were women, children and young men from Bosnia, Somalia and probably Boston. They ware also screaming in Arabic but he only word I understood was Yahud. They sure seemed to get a kick out of that vitriol. I just stood there like a rock and smiled.
I have a picture of the 'lady' who was leading the chant. I've seen her around but I'm not sure who she is. She has sandy blond hair and a Hamas scarf and her face is pushed up into a big ball of anger, some of you will probably instantly recognize her. She is in photo number 42. She was dancing like she had to pee but it really was because she was having so much fun denouncing Jews with her peers.
In the photos you see of me holding the flag, you can see Sheehan's office across the street. At the time the picture was taken, most of the demonstrators were up in her office. It didn't take long for the police to be called. I waited another half an hour for them to come back out but my family came to check up on me so I had to keep my presence there to just under an hour until I was summoned to chaperone the girls to the mall. UGH.
I could see through the upstairs windows of the office that plenty of people were taking time to look out at the demonstration but what they saw was the Star of David.
All in all, that made for a good day.
I immediately grabbed my Israeli flag and decided I would be a counter demonstrator.
I was two houses away when I saw another man parking his car with the same scarf. I waited for him to get out of his car to introduce myself to him.
He told me the usual and I said that I would stand across the street and be a counter demonstrator. He asked if I was a Zionist and I said "I don't know, what is a Zionist?" He said it was anybody who supported a Jewish state so I said that even though I was not Jewish, I must be a Zionist. I told him that I hoped we could have a peaceful demonstration and offered to shake his hand, he (a Bosnian) said if I was Jewish, he would shake my hand but since I was a 'Zionist' he refused to shake my hand.
What could I do but laugh?
When I got to Elm St. there were about two dozen 'demonstrators' with PLO flags and signs with a variety of sayings that you can see in the photo's I've included. They were all on the sidewalk and on the snow bank and I stood in front of all of them and said "hello."
We immediately engaged in conversation, mostly calm but some of them were agitated at the sight of an Israeli flag. One guy wanted to buy it so he could burn it. I made a case for a Jewish state and they made a counter claim. They said that Abraham was a Muslim. I said that Islam started in the sixth century so that was impossible. They said I know nothing of the Koran. I asked them how many times Al Quds was mentioned in the Koran and they said many times, I to them the real answer was zero but in the Torah, Jerusalem is mentioned numerous times so there is historical precedent for Jews living in the land.
Then, an older gentlemen came over and told they that they we no longer allowed to talk to me. About that time, a police officer stopped in the middle of the street and told me move so I crossed the street and was the lone counter demonstrator on top of my snow bank with my Israeli flag flying in the breeze.
It was rewarding to hear the horns honking for me as they were chanting curses upon Israeli's.
They were actually chanting "from the river to the sea."
I think they would have been rather bored had I not shown up. I seemed to warm their cackles and once their blood got flowing, and they got more brutal in their chanting. There were women, children and young men from Bosnia, Somalia and probably Boston. They ware also screaming in Arabic but he only word I understood was Yahud. They sure seemed to get a kick out of that vitriol. I just stood there like a rock and smiled.
I have a picture of the 'lady' who was leading the chant. I've seen her around but I'm not sure who she is. She has sandy blond hair and a Hamas scarf and her face is pushed up into a big ball of anger, some of you will probably instantly recognize her. She is in photo number 42. She was dancing like she had to pee but it really was because she was having so much fun denouncing Jews with her peers.
In the photos you see of me holding the flag, you can see Sheehan's office across the street. At the time the picture was taken, most of the demonstrators were up in her office. It didn't take long for the police to be called. I waited another half an hour for them to come back out but my family came to check up on me so I had to keep my presence there to just under an hour until I was summoned to chaperone the girls to the mall. UGH.
I could see through the upstairs windows of the office that plenty of people were taking time to look out at the demonstration but what they saw was the Star of David.
All in all, that made for a good day.
Corrie Ten Boom - Susie Sandager and JoAnn Magnason
Susie Sandager performs a one-woman dramatization as Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who, along with her family, saved the lives of over 800 Jews by hiding them from the Nazis. Corrie’s insight and spiritual depth were instilled by her father’s faith and devotion and tested in the flea-infested barracks of a Nazi concentration camp.
Over 800 in 11 venues in New Hampshire and the Greater Boston area saw this presentation
Over 800 in 11 venues in New Hampshire and the Greater Boston area saw this presentation
Dr. Richard Booker 11 November 2009
Dr. Booker speaks to members of VISION and their guests
VISION hosted Dr. Richard Booker founderand director of Hebraic-Christian Studies at the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire. He spoke on the need for Christians and Jews confronting radical Islam. Dr. Booker has spoken around the country over one hundred times and has authored thirty books and over one dozen published articles. He was in New Hampshire only this one night during his one-week greater Boston tour.
