In an astonishing display of self-deception and anti-Israel theological
rhetoric, a group of Palestinian-Christian church leaders have
denounced the Jewish state as the main obstacle to peace in the Middle
East.
In a declaration labeled The Kairos Palestine Document, a message of
"faith, hope and love," Israel was tagged as the instigator of all
significant Palestinian suffering and deprivation. The messengers
include leaders of Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican and
Baptist churches. Here is an excerpt:
"We, a group of Christian Palestinians,
after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from
within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation, with
a cry of hope in the absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and
faith in a God ever vigilant, in God's divine providence for all the
inhabitants of this land.... Today we have reached a dead end in the
tragedy of the Palestinian people."
The character and tone of the message of "faith, hope and love" can be
seen in the following reference to the creation of Israel:
"One of the most important signs of
hope is the steadfastness of the [Palestinian] generations, the belief
in the justice of their cause and the continuity of memory, which does
not forget the Nakba and its significance."
The Nakba, or catastrophe, refers to the national rebirth of Israel in 1948.
The document claims the following:
- "The injustice against the Palestinian people which is the
Israeli occupation is an evil that must be resisted. It is an evil and
a sin that must be resisted and removed. Primary responsibility for
this rests with the Palestinians themselves.... Yes, there is
Palestinian resistance to the occupation. However, if there were no
occupation, there would be no resistance, no fear and no insecurity."
- "And the prisoners? The thousands of prisoners languishing in
Israeli prisons are part of our reality. The Israelis move heaven and
earth to gain the release of one prisoner, and those thousands of
Palestinian prisoners, when will they have their freedom?"
- "Refugees are also part of our reality. Most of them are still
living in camps under difficult circumstances. They have been waiting
for their right of return, generation after generation. What will be
their fate?"
- "The absence of any vision or spark of hope for peace and freedom
pushes young people, both Muslim and Christian, to emigrate. Thus the
land is deprived of its most important and richest resource, educated
youth."
- "Fear and security are a pretext for aggression: We call on
Israel to give up its injustice towards us, not to twist the truth of
reality of the occupation by pretending that it is a battle against
terrorism. The roots of terrorism are in the human injustice committed
and in the evil of the occupation."
Especially noteworthy is that many positions expressed in this document
appear to mirror those of militant Islamists. The broad implication is
that Israelis must become virtual pacifists; and, in the name of
"faith, hope and love," relinquish their quest for security with no
shred of evidence that the forces determined to destroy them will play
by the same rules.
This document is permeated with inaccuracies. For example, the
Christian exodus from the region cannot be blamed on Israel. It is the
well-documented and openly declared position of radical Islamists to
clear the entire Middle East of its Christian presence. In short,
Palestinian church leaders would do well to direct their ire in the
right direction: toward the Islamic militants who have hijacked control
of the Palestinian people and contribute daily to their deprivation and
misery.
Getting to the Root of the Problem
The document displays an overwhelming amount of theological animosity
toward Israel, and against Christians who support the right of a Jewish
state to exist. Those who espouse Replacement Theology (that the Church
is now the true Israel of God) refuse to connect any biblical
associations with Jewish rights to a modern homeland. Furthermore, they
give no quarter to an agree-to-disagree theological analyses of the
question of Jewish rights.
Consider the following excerpt:
"Furthermore, we know that certain
theologians in the West try to attach a biblical and theological
legitimacy to the infringement of our rights. Thus, the promises,
according to their interpretation, have become a menace to our very
existence. The 'good news' in the Gospel itself has become a 'harbinger
of death' for us.
....We declare that any theology, seemingly based on the Bible or on
faith or on history, that legitimizes the occupation, is far from
Christian teachings, because it calls for violence and holy war in the
name of God Almighty."
Consequently, people who advocate, on biblical grounds, the right of
the Jewish people to a national home in the land God gave them are
accused of using theology as a "harbinger of death" for Palestinian
Christians and Muslims. Also alleged is that Christians who believe in
biblical, historical, moral and legal justification for a contemporary
Jewish state are guilty of politicizing the gospel. Yet these
accusations appear in a document that is not only rife with political
positions but with rhetoric that is a radicalized, theological
vilification of the State of Israel and conservative Christians who
happen to disagree with the Kairos position.
To love or Not to Love
In smearing the opposition, these leaders accuse those who disagree
with them of being unloving and bent on the death of Palestinians, who
are depicted as victims of their unscrupulous Israeli tormentors. For
those of us who live in the world of theological and historical
reality, the Palestinian people - especially Palestinian Christians -
are indeed victimized daily, but by radical Islamist elements who use
Palestinian suffering as a pawn in their rampage toward regional
conquest.
Contrary to what Christians on the Kairos Document's enemies list are
accused of, supporters of Israel still love the Palestinian and Arab
people. We do not wish them dead. We do not wish them to suffer. We do,
however, support a just settlement of the conflict, with Israelis and
Palestinians living with security and mutual regard for life and
liberty.
Frankly, the charges brought by these "Christian leaders" accusing
other Christians of criminal collaboration to instigate genocide are
unworthy of true Christianity, liberal or conservative.
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