Getting the word out

'Israel is the canary in the coal mine,” says Proclaiming Justice to the Nations founder and president Laurie Cardoza-Moore during an interview with the Magazine last week in Jerusalem. On an unusually rainy day, she's taking a break from her busy schedule, adding that “if we don't help Israel, we can't defend the Western world.” Cardoza-Moore was recently in the country putting the final touches on a soon-to-be-released documentary that she says will “expose the hypocrisy of the BDS” (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement, with the goal of educating Christian millennials in the US, along with others, on the facts about the Jewish state. Devastated by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Cardoza- Moore, an Evangelical Christian from Tennessee, founded PJTN, a grassroots organization dedicated to not only educating Christians about the realities of the situation here, but also to making sure that they understand their Bible-based responsibility to take action on behalf of the Jewish State and the Jewish people. She says that after 9/11 she realized that Christians in the US “weren't getting information on how to support Israel.” Instead, they were being exposed to misinformation and skewed reports in the mainstream media. It was thus that Cardoza-Moore decided to utilize media productions as the tool to educate. Since then, PJTN has produced numerous award-winning documentaries focused on relevant topics, such as the Jewish people's historical rights to the Land of Israel; the rise of the “new” anti-Semitism; the Holocaust; the dangers of Islamofascism and more. In 2012, Cardoza-Moore began production of an episodic television series titled “Focus on Israel” exploring and educating viewers about Israel and the Jewish people. Her documentaries and the TV program have a viewing audience of a whopping 900 million viewers in 200 countries, through a wide range of Christian networks. The current film on BDS is set to premiere in Israel, and then will be showcased at February's popular NRB International Christian Media Convention in Nashville. Assisting Cardoza-Moore and her team on the ground in Israel is the “Yes! Israel” organization, a grassroots movement whose mission is to partner with organizations such as PJTN that are willing to publicly defend Israel on a world stage. Cardoza-Moore says the movie will cover topics highlighting Israeli contributions in innovation, technology and medical advancements being exported and utilized by the world community. Another major aspect of the film will highlight “the disparity in living conditions for Christians living under the Palestinian Authority versus those living under Israeli control.” She says her teams captured this reality while conducting comparisons in lifestyles, filming on one hand in PA-controlled Bethlehem and on the other in the Israeli northern town of Nazareth. “The narrative out there,” says Cardoza- Moore “is that Christians are being persecuted by Israel. But we show how the Christians [in Israel] in Nazareth are prospering, while 80% of those in Bethlehem [under the PA] have fled.” At the same time, she says that “Christians are being slaughtered throughout the Middle East, but Israel is the only safe place for them. They [Christians in the US] shouldn't be confused and buy into the [false anti-Israel] propaganda about what's going on here.” Cardoza-Moore makes it clear that PJTN doesn't only produce video content, but is also involved in many other campaigns, utilizing a variety of strategies to combat BDS and get out the truth. One of those methods is lobbying for anti-BDS legislation. In the next few months she says that a “tidal wave” is coming on the state level in the US, with 40 states set to pass resolutions in their legislatures exposing BDS on campus. Four states have already passed similar resolutions. With US states providing funding to local universities/colleges, she says, “People should be aware that their tax dollars are funding anti-Semitic organizations on campus.” She says that “there are organizations, including 'Students for Justice in Palestine,' that are promoting [not just BDS], but violence against Jewish students on campus – and against Christian Zionists as well.” “The next step,” says Cardoza-Moore, “is to have each state legislature adopt the US State Department's definition of anti-Semitism in order to publicly expose and condemn those haters on campus as being in violation of that definition.” A fact-sheet on the State Department's website gives a description of “ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself” relative to Israel, with detailed bullet points under the headings “Demonize Israel, Double Standard for Israel, and Delegitimize Israel,” which Cardoza- Moore says are known as “the three Ds,” originally coined by Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky when he defined the new anti-Semitism. Another objective of PJTN, says Cardoza- Moore, is the battle against a new emerging phenomenon in the US: Christians who claim to be Evangelicals yet are anti-Israel. Her hope is to “expose these supposed 'Evangelicals' and show that they are not using biblical narratives [to justify their anti-Israel behavior]. In other words, these 'Evangelicals' are claiming to be interpreting Scripture,” but she says their sources are far from authentic. She says that one day these individuals will have to stand before God “to give an account of how you protected Israel and upheld God's words,” alluding to her belief that this group is failing by going off the path and turning against Israel. As if she didn't already have enough on her plate, Cardoza-Moore is also the UN Envoy for The World Council of Independent Christian Churches – a fellowship of churches and ministries with more than 44 million congregants in 79 countries. Her role in that position, she says, is to bring to light at the UN “human rights abuses against Jews, Christians and Muslims.” Cardoza-Moore describes to this reporter the horror of honor killings against Muslim women in the United States by male family members, which often doesn't get reported. She says that “if we can reach Muslim women – and Muslim women have an effect on all the men in their lives – we can help them secure their freedoms, and change the mind- set of violence [directed against them].” With the movie exposing BDS on the way, and numerous other PJTN campaigns taking place simultaneously in support of Israel and against anti-Semitism, Cardoza-Moore is already thinking about her next documentary. She says it will focus on the 50th anniversary of “Nostra aetate” – meaning “in our time” – the Latin declaration by the Catholic Church in 1965 examining the relationship of the church to non-Christian religions, which rejects and condemns all displays of anti-Semitism. She says that while that declaration exists, it is not always manifested in terms of attitude or action when it comes to combating the hatred of Jews. Cardoza-Moore believes it is of the utmost importance to raise awareness of the declaration, thus creating change. While certainly a stalwart in educating the Christian community on all of these issues affecting Israel and the Jews, Cardoza- Moore grins, proudly saying that while her target is certainly the Christians, she has been thanked repeatedly by members of the Jewish community for raising their awareness as well.

Getting the word out

An indefatigable Evangelical warrior for truth defends Israel – reaching hundreds of millions of Christians around the world.

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Getting the word out

An indefatigable Evangelical warrior for truth defends Israel – reaching hundreds of millions of Christians around the world.

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