Need more proof that antisemitism continues to grow and plague the international atmosphere? The transparency of the worldwide hatred against Israel and its people continues to grow exponentially, and now it’s rearing its ugly head in the music industry.
The song “God of Israel,” performed by American evangelist and worship leader Sean Feucht, Lebanese Christian Carine Bassili and Jewish Israeli singer-songwriter and musical producer Yair Levi, was not only delayed in its release this past week iTunes and Spotify, but when it was finally released three days later, the two companies refused to credit Levi for his participation in the song on their download label.
Although it is steeped in centuries of bias and hatred toward the Jewish people, antisemitism has exploded since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. With Israel simply trying to defend itself and its people, global media bias has pointed its crooked fingers at Jews and the government in the Holy Land. Many millions around the world have taken up sides with Palestinians and the animosity toward Israel simply continues to grow limitlessly.
“God of Israel” was scheduled for release on Friday, Nov. 10, but was flagged by iTunes and Spotify “with no explanation” as to what content was in question. After three days, Apple finally released the single on Sunday evening, but still refuses to credit Levi.
Spotify did not release the song—a song about hope and prayer over Israel in Arabic, Hebrew and English—until Monday morning. Feucht confirmed that the song was already No. 1 on the American Christian chart on iTunes by Monday afternoon.
Feucht says the strong bias against Israel is seen without question, “and we are experiencing it with trying to get this anthem of peace out.”
“The enemy is trying all he can to stop this sound of hope and prayer,” Feucht says. “The song is a song of hope to the world and to the people in Israel, and was recorded as a collaboration between myself, Yair and Carine.
“For unknown reasons, the song was not released on the iTunes store until late last night (Sunday). Even more disturbing, Yair is not listed as an artist on the song. We’ve seen antisemitism seep into all aspects of society, from protests on campus, to the media and now the music industry.”
In an exclusive interview with Charisma News, Bassili who has been banned from her own country since last December for releasing yet another tune about Israel, says standing with Israel doesn’t mean she is against her own country or the “innocent people of Palestine.”
“We must obey the Word of God no matter what the price,” she says. “At the end, He is the true God of Israel. Whether they like it or not, the word Israel is mentioned in the Bible 2,500 times. We can’t escape or hide the truth, but the problem in Lebanon is that not all Christians read the Bible and for Muslims, it’s even written in the Quran 70 to 80 times. Human beings are driven by emotions and not facts anymore, sadly, but there is hope as long as we are still here and doing the Lord’s work.”
Bassili says “God of Israel” was written in a time of war against Israel in spring 2022, when she says her heart was broken for Israeli like never before.
“While I was communicating with my Israeli friends, they were in their bomb shelters,” she says. “I started playing psalms on my guitar and fell into Psalm 105 and that was the birth of a song written in a time of war, before this war even broke out.”
By text, Bassili has kept in contact with Levi, who is in Israel and is serving in the military, the Israel Defense Forces. He had scheduled a tour in October in Israel, but it was obviously canceled when the war broke out.
Through Bassili, Levi said about his ban by Apple and Spotify from the album:
“We are not surprised by this at all,” Levi said in an audio file sent from Israel to Charisma News. “It’s just another step in the fight we’ve had in the last month or so. We’ve been blocked on Instagram recently, on TikTok a few weeks ago. It’s happening all of the time. It’s not so nice at all. It’s happening all the time. Social media is not easy at all about the new message of peace that we want to bring.”
Feucht says that Christians must make a statement about Israel and about our Savior by downloading “God of Israel.” Believers must let the world know that Jesus is King and Lord of all during this time of hatred and chaos.
“We need you to help fight back,” Feucht says. “We need you to download, stream and share ‘God of Israel.’ Nothing would be better than a song of unity with Israel and Arab believers make it to the top of the charts. Please share it with your friends and family.”
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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma News
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