Statement On Jews And Israel

Jewish Brethren:

September 18, 1976, at our God Bless America Festival at the Washington Monument, in the presence of an estimated 300,000 people; we stated:

[Judaism, Christianity and the Unification Movement] are indeed three brothers in the Providence of God. Then, Israel, the United States and Korea, the nations where these three religions are based must also be brothers. Because these three nations have a common destiny representing God's side, the Communist bloc as Satan's representative is trying to isolate and destroy them at the UN

Therefore these three brother nations must join hands in a unified effort to restore the United Nations to its original purpose and function. They must contribute internally to the unification of world religions and externally to the unification of the world itself.

(cf. our advertisement in The New York Times, Sept. 24, 1976) And yet, in spite of this clear and explicit statement, we were attacked repeatedly and accused of anti-Semitism. Our views were distorted, our struggle, its meaning and objectives misrepresented.

On the occasion of these Hanukkah Days, the Festival of Light and commemoration of your victory over the forces of darkness and evil we wish to clarify our genuine convictions and express our honest and sincere feelings toward you, Jewish brethren.

Towards this end and purpose we publish herewith and bring to your attention the document signed on August 10, 1976.

In the course of their history the people of Israel and Korea have experienced suffering and persecutions by neighboring enemies and expanding imperialistic powers.

As a son of the Korean people, living in this blessed by God land of America, I extend to you, Jewish Brethren, my hand of friendship and wish to state the principles which are guiding the activities of our Movement, especially those regarding the problems and difficulties confronting the Jews of the World and Israel at this crucial juncture of our common human history.

1. The Unification Movement categorically condemns anti- Semitism, the most hideous, abject and cruel form of hatred. We regard the murder of six million Jews in Europe the result of political short-sightedness and lack of moral responsibility on the part of Germany's political and religious leaders, and statesmen from among other nations, in the period between the Two World Wars.

Ignoring the basic teachings of the Scriptures, they acted too late to block Hitler's ascent to power, they postponed the action for his downfall, and they did nothing to rescue the victims who were the captives of his satanic plans and designs.

Only a unified front of all Christian and Jewish forces, inspired by the principles of the Divine Commandments and guided by the concept of human brotherhood, would have been able to prevent the Holocaust, the implementation of the "Final Solution," -- a Cain-inspired action, carried out by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945.

2. The Unification Movement recognizes the divine and natural right of the Jewish people to physical survival and preservation of its specific religious traditions, the marks of its distinctive historical entity. These fundamental human rights must be secured everywhere, especially for Jews living in the lands of the Diaspora.

3. The Unification Movement regards the Land of Israel as a haven for the Holocaust survivors and sanctuary for all those individual Jews who are trying to escape physical persecution and religious, racial or national oppression. The demand for free emigration--the undeniable and inalienable right of every human being--must become the stated policy of the United States in her dealings with foreign countries, and particularly in her relations with the Soviet Union.

4. The Unification Movement, in its efforts to resolve conflicts among nations and harmonize antagonistic social- economic and political interests, will work toward the creation of political conditions necessary for an acceptable accommodation between the Arabs and Jews, and to achieve a genuine and lasting peace in the Middle East, one of the most important corners of the world.

5. The Unification Movement believes that religious and free people throughout the world must cooperate in building a spiritual and organizational unity among nations which will be capable to contain Soviet imperialism, which continues to inflict hardship and suffering upon its own people and is spreading the poison of hatred and dissension among nations of the world, with the ultimate purpose of political global subjugation and enslavement.

6. The Unification Movement is grateful to God, to His true and righteous prophets and saints of our common spiritual tradition who prepared the foundations on which we stand and organize our struggle. We consider ourselves to be the younger brother of our Jewish and Christian brethren, all of whom are children of our Heavenly Father. We regard it as our duty to respect and serve the elder sons of our Father, and it is our mission to serve Judaism and Christianity by promoting Love and Unity among all the children of God.

7. The Unification Movement teaches the Principle and strives toward the establishment of a Unified World Family of Nations guided by the concepts of Unity and Brotherhood expressed in the Divine Commandments, the foundations of our common spiritual heritage. It is our conviction that we must unite in order to attain this Divine and Sublime Historical Objective.

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
Belvedere, Tarrytown, New York
December 1976
Hanukkah, Kislev 5737