With the spread of anti-Israel invective in the American church, primarily thorough the efforts of highly visible, pro-Palestinian leaders like Cameron Strang and Lynne Hybels, it is refreshing to see counter-measures from folks like Untold News.
I’ve long been impressed by the work done by my friends at Untold News, Marcella Rosen and her staff. Rosen especially values the friendship of Christian Zionists, who are eager – once they hear of her efforts – to spread the word that Israel is a diverse, open society flourishing in the areas of innovation and technological developments.
I’m happy to help spread the word as a writer interested in such things.
Untold News exists to highlight news that certainly doesn’t make the rounds of the so-called “drive-by media.”
As Rosen says: “We founded Untold News to raise awareness of Israel’s important inventions and humanitarian acts.”
Indeed, the group’s news alerts, features on innovation and Facebook page are a boon to Israel’s public image. There are so many amazing stories of inventions in the fields of medicine, technology and agriculture that it’s hard to believe opponents of the Jewish state – the boycotters come to mind –can do anything but hang their heads in shame.
From cell phone advances to offering life-saving medical treatment (even for terrorists brought to their hospitals!), the Israelis are making the world a better place in which to live.
Now you can stand where David slew Goliath, by joining WND’s 2014 Israel tour!
Rosen’s book, “Tiny Dynamo,” is a quick read chock full of such fascinating stories.
Rosen’s vivid description of her epiphany about Israel’s story especially hit me as I read “Tiny Dynamo”: “I was there on business, and in the course of my travels around the country I had come into contact with a number of people who were embarking on entrepreneurial ventures of one kind or another – none connected to each other, nor even in related areas of business.
“It happened that one such meeting required me to take a road trip with an Israeli colleague,” she continues. “As we motored along the highway, I looked out one window at a vast and barren desert: Jordan. I looked out the opposite window at green, productive farmland that stretched to the horizon: Israel.
“At that moment something clicked, like the tumblers of a lock falling into alignment, as I realized that what’s going on in Israel – all those Nobel laureates, all those patents, the green elds in the desert – is so much bigger than the sum of its parts,” she concludes. “This little country is a place where achievement happens – achievement with global benefits.”
From desalination methods – the Middle East has a water shortage – to heart surgery for Palestinian children, “Tiny Dynamo” chronicles a story that most people have not heard.
Order “Tiny Dynamo” by clicking here, and help support WND at the same time!
Rosen recognizes the value of a new paradigm for Israel.
“While everyone has been focused on the country’s decades of military conflicts, Israel has quietly become the most energetic, ambitious, go-go incubator of entrepreneurialism and invention the planet has ever seen,” says Rosen.
Her background provides the perfect platform for launching what I think is one of the most effective public relations campaigns I’ve seen in years.
Rosen tells us her thinking on the subject: “I come from the world of communications and media, and I know deep in my bones that no country is equivalent to the media coverage of that country. Likewise, it’s anathema to me to hear a story half-told. And having traveled to Israel a dozen times – and to many other parts of the world as well – I can say with confidence that the common perception about a country rarely squares with the life that’s actually lived in that place, and the people who live it. So if it’s true that you should judge a person not by what is said about him but by what he does, then it follows that you should do the same for countries.
“Unfortunately, the media doesn’t really give you a chance to develop an informed opinion about Israel – or many other countries, for that matter – because, in the press, ‘If it bleeds it leads’ – and the Middle East certainly does bleed,” she continues. “So that’s all you hear.
“But the truth is this,” she writes. “While the world’s attention has for decades been focused on one single dimension of Israeli life, something entirely different has been taking place away from the cameras: Israel has quietly become the little country that changed the world – and your life – for the better . . . without you even knowing it.”
Of further interest in “Tiny Dynamo” is a timeline of Israeli inventions since 1948, providing a dramatic snapshot of a small country with big ideas and achievements.
Rosen has been more than pleasantly surprised by the speed with which Untold News’ efforts has spread through social media. She just announced that Untold News’ Facebook page reached a staggering 300,000 “likes,” and this fact alone ensures that Israel will get a more balanced hearing going forward, especially among the all-important Millennials, who, of course, pay attention to innovation in this advanced era of globalization.
All in all, Untold News is a delicious alternative to the hackneyed efforts of Israel’s ideological enemies to marginalize a country that in truth is a marvelous oasis amid growing regional and global chaos.
