Peace-loving representatives of two nations who have recently been at war with each other have teamed up in a remarkable way that bodes for future reconciliation.
Marziyeh Amirizadeh, an Iranian evangelist now based in America, has joined Orthodox Jew Jonathan Feldstein in a bid to bless Israel both economically and spiritually in the wake of the October 7, 2023, massacre that sparked the Gaza War.
Through their Root & Branch movement, they are encouraging tourists to harvest wild olive trees in what has been billed as an agricultural pilgrimage.
For the war has badly hit both the tourist and agricultural industries, and the pilgrims have already made a big difference by contributing $50 million to the economy last year with the virgin olive oil produced by some one thousand kilos of the precious fruit.
Not only that, but Marzi apologised to a group of soldiers for the extremist Islamists ruling the country of her birth who seek Israel’s destruction.
For her part, Marzi had a dramatic encounter with Jesus back in 1999 and was jailed and sentenced to death in 2009 for the ‘crime’ of converting to Christianity. She spent nine months in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison where she experienced unspeakable atrocities and witnessed the execution and torture of her best friend and cellmates.
When she became a Christian, she understood the importance of Israel and the Jewish people and dreamed of visiting the land of her Saviour. It was shortly after her first visit in 2023 that she befriended Jonathan with whom she shared her idea of bringing Christians to Israel to harvest olives in the nation’s hour of need, especially in view of the biblical significance of the fruit.
Root & Branch is an acknowledgement of the biblical truth that while Gentiles are the wild olive branches, Jewish people are the root that supports them (Romans 11:18).
American-born Feldstein, while serving at the Israeli consulate in Atlanta in the 1980s, was charged with the task of building bridges between Jews and Christians and continues to do so.
A powerful travel experience for R & B pilgrims is planned for October 19-26 through Marzi and Jonathan’s respective nonprofits, NewPersia.org and the Genesis 123 Foundation – for more information contact rootandbranchisrael@gmail.com
Marzi, meanwhile, envisions a restoration of the former friendship between Jews and Persians: “Restoring the relationship between Jews and Persians who support Israel is very important because for so many years the Islamic regime tried to create hate against Jews in the hearts and minds of Iranians. Now the majority of Iranians support Israel because they understand who their true enemy is, and that we – Israelis and Iranians – are fighting a common enemy.”
After October 7th, Marzi returned to express solidarity: “I saw the horrible destruction in Israel and the resilience of their people. One olive farmer near the Gaza border told me that what we really need is for Christian friends to show their love.”
Last year’s pilgrims were ferried around by one of the heroes of October 7th, a Bedouin Arab called Yousef Ziyadne who risked his life to rescue 30 people from the Nova festival in his 14-seater minibus.
If you want to be blessed, the Bible tells you exactly how – just bless the seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:3).
Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; To the Jew First, A Nation Reborn, and King of the Jews, all available from Christian Publications International.
