World News and Trends
Beyond Today Magazine
Good News Magazine: November - December 2002
Course Content
Indications abound that the United States and Israel have struck the same European nerve.
Joseph Joffe, editor of Die Ziet in Hamburg, Germany, and an associate of the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University, made this observation in the September- October issue of Foreign Policy magazine.
He wrote: "Pick a peace-minded demonstration in Europe these days or a publication of the extreme left or right, and you'll find anti-Israel and anti-American resentments side by side ..."
Mr. Joffe further explained that "Israel and the United States are the most successful states in their respective neighborhoods: Israel in the regional arena, the United States on the global beat. They boast the most fearsome armies, they command impressive technological infrastructures, and the Israeli economy vastly outperforms those of each of its neighbors while the United States has the world's number one economy. Moreover, both are stable, vibrant democracies. One need not invoke Dr. Sigmund Freud to infer that success breeds envy and resentment" (emphasis added).
Mr. Joffe also notes that, regrettably, anti-Semitism is also a factor. American columnist William Safire summarized what former German defense minister Rudolph Scharping said in a Berlin cabinet meeting about the discussions: "It was all about the Jews. Bush was motivated to overthrow Saddam by his need to curry favor with what Scharping called 'a powerful-perhaps overly powerful-Jewish lobby' in the coming U.S. elections."
Could these trends portend a future threat to Israel and the United States? While noting that Europeans are largely exchanging the national identities that led to two world wars for a vague European identity, Mr. Joffe reminds us that Europe was "the fountainhead of the two greatest evils of the 20th century," namely fascism and communism. (Sources: Foreign Policy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
