Father Roy writes: Here’s something tangible that we in the International Community can work with. Notice that Jordan’s King Abdullah met Monday with a delegation from AIPAC. Notice what HRH had to say. The International Debate continues.
Peace, Roy
Arab League urges ‘new approach’ to Mideast conflict
Monday, 14 January 2013
By Al Arabiya wit agencies
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Monday called for a “new approach” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, slamming previous processes as a waste of time.
“In order to solve this problem, we should have a new mechanism and new methods and a new approach to dealing with the crisis,” AFP reported Arabi as saying after talks with the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.
“The main target after all these wasted years should be ending the Israeli occupation, not signing temporary agreements that would go round in circles and that would only lead to wasting time in a way that allows Israel to expand its settlements,” he said.
Last month, Arabi had criticized the International Quartet — which comprises the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia — as ineffective.
For his part, Van Rompuy said there must be “concerted and coordinated actions by all key actors to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
“Now is the time to look forward and to take bold steps towards peace in the Middle East,” he said.
Jordan’s king urges Israel
In a related story, Jordan’s king has warned that the failure to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians is adding to regional tensions.
A statement from the royal palace said King Abdullah II told a delegation from the Washington-based American Israel Public Affairs Committee that regional changes tied to the Arab Spring should “drive” the Israeli government to “embrace peace,” the Associated Press reported.
In his talks Monday with the pro-Israel group, the king also called on Israel to stop measures that he said hinder peace efforts, including West Bank settlement construction.
Abdullah urged Israel, the Palestinians and the U.S. to resume peacemaking efforts. He called for direct talks based on a two-state solution, which envisions the establishment of a Palestinian state.
He said it remains the “only formula” to end the 65-year old conflict.
Filed under Israel and Palestine, israel and palestine conflict by on Jan 15th, 2013. Comment. 
Highlights are courtesy of Father Roy:
Palestinian Christians swept aside as Israel rewrites history
He vanquished a dragon, saved a princess and passed into myth. What popular culture knows about St George (or Georgius, in Latin) pretty much begins and ends with the children’s fairy tale, but there is a historical figure underneath that legend. Born about 1,800 years ago, St George’s father was a soldier in the Roman army, and his mother was a Palestinian Christian. After his death, he was hallowed by the Catholic Church, but what is less known is that Muslims also venerated his name.
It remains one of history’s curiosities that when European Crusaders invaded Palestine in 1096, they did so under a banner dedicated to a soldier who was born and buried in the Holy Land eight centuries earlier.
Few places on Earth, if any, have inspired so much jealous devotion, not to mention bloodshed, as historical Palestine has over the centuries. More often than not, that blood has been shed by foreign invaders, from both East and West.
After more than 60 years since the Naqba and the start of Israeli occupation, it is natural to be weary of the conflict. It could also be argued that conflict is natural to this land.
But Israeli policy is wreaking a decidedly unnatural consequence. A land that has been home to Christians, Muslims and Jews for millennia is being reshaped.
Evictions of Palestinians from homes and villages increases year by year as Israeli settlements steal more land. It is nothing short of ethnic cleansing. There is serious talk of outright annexation of Area C – 61 per cent of the West Bank – without which Palestine will never be a viable state. Centuries of coexistence may soon be consigned to the history books.
Under the rule of Islamic caliphates since the 7th century, Christians and Jews coexisted with Muslims peacefully for the most part. They were not always afforded the same rights, but they were protected and integrated into society, a marked contrast to the anti-Semitism that persisted in Europe.
The conflict that defined the Holy Land, until the 20th century at least, was the invasion of the Crusaders and so-called clash of civilisations between Muslims and European Christians. Another historical irony is that Jews fought side by side with Muslims in the defence of Jerusalem against the first Crusaders.
The razing of Jerusalem’s Church of Holy Sepulchre in 1009 is seen as the pretext for the European monarchs’ obsession with the Holy Land (although the church was soon rebuilt). What followed less than one century of Crusader rule in Jerusalem, Salaluddin’s retaking of the city in the 12th century and several centuries of intermittent war.
There are still poignant lessons from that history. After the Siege of Jerusalem, Crusaders slaughtered most of the city’s Muslim and Jewish population; after Salaluddin’s victory, Jews and Christians were allowed to settle. And, of course, after centuries of bloodshed, the European incursions were ultimately, completely futile.
After 1948, that land of Palestine became only a historical note, and a dream of Palestinians who were forced from their homes. After the Naksa, the 1967 War, that historical Palestine was further whittled away until, today, less than 22 per cent of the first proposed independent state of Palestine remains. Even that is now under threat.
Palestinian Christians have shared their Muslim compatriots’ pain in the past 64 years, increasingly marginalised in a land they have inhabited for over 2,000 years. Across the region, dwindling Christian communities are often blamed on the rise of Islamists but this is an oversimplification and, in Occupied Palestine, almost wholly a mistake.
Certainly some Islamist groups, heavy on ideology and light on political nous, have been their own worst enemies. Hamas is not blameless in its treatment of Gaza’s Christian minority. Last week, Christians demonstrated after stories emerged that five people, three of them children, had been forced to convert to Islam. The story may just be rumour, but such an act would be indefensible. And Gaza’s Christians are alienated enough to believe it is possible.
In truth, however, Hamas has neither the desire inside Gaza, nor the influence outside of it, to truly marginalise Palestinian Christians. The Christian Palestinian population has suffered, less visibly, just as Muslims have. Christians now account for only 4 per cent of the West Bank population and less than 10 per cent of Palestinians in Israel.
Over the last year in particular, attacks by Israeli extremists on Christians have increased. A Christian cemetery on Mount Zion has been desecrated and two churches vandalised (one of them, Jerusalem Baptist Church, had already suffered arson twice since 1982). “Death to Christianity”, “We will crucify you” and “Jesus son of Mary the whore” graffiti stain the walls. That defilement would cause outrage in almost any country, but not in Israel.
It is in Bethlehem, birthplace of Christ, where the exodus has been most pronounced, with more than 10 per cent of Christians leaving just in the past decade.
Israel’s ill-conceived plan to expand a majority Jewish state in historical Palestine does not distinguish between Palestinian Muslims and Christians. That hollow distinction has allowed Israel to peddle the old line about a “clash of civilisations”, when Palestinians have been living side by side for millennia.
The Palestinian struggle has always been about more than religion. Historical Palestine is not just about 64 years of struggle against an illegal occupation, or Israeli efforts to erase the history books, but about how Muslims, Christians and Jews have lived together for centuries. Palestine, in a modern sense, is not about religion, it’s about justice.
Father Dave writes: I find it deeply encouraging to be reminded that there is more to the Evangelical Christian scene than the Christian Zionism of Pastor Hagee et al. In the end the Spirit of God and truth will prevail!
Christ at the Checkpoint: Seven Affirmations
The international Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 Conference begins tomorrow. There is a growing sense of expectation that God will use this unique global fellowship for his purposes to further his kingdom as well as to bring justice, peace and reconciliation in Israel-Palestine. The following affirmations reflect the views and hopes of the conference organizers.
Affirmation #1: Israelis and Palestinians
We affirm that all people are created in the image of God. In turn we are called to honor the dignity of every human being and to respect their inalienable rights. We affirm that Jews and Palestinians are loved by God and capable of living together within peace, justice and security. This is God’s view toward all of humanity, residing in any political boundary and manifested through the mission of Jesus in bringing to everyone, “life to the full” (John 10:10).
Affirmation #2: Theology and Land
The New Testament clearly teaches that God continues to invite Jews and Arabs into His kingdom and in no way is finished with any people group. Further, Scripture speaks of Jesus as its ultimate fulfillment. For example, the need for animal sacrifices, Levitical priesthood, and expectation of a rebuilt Temple, find their ultimate fulfillment and completion in Jesus Christ.
Affirmation #3: The Palestinian-Israeli conflict
As followers of Jesus Christ we regret more than 60 years of conflict. We look forward to the time when the conflict will end and both peoples will enjoy genuine reconciliation. We commit ourselves to be peacemakers and to this ministry of reconciliation. As such we stand resolutely against all forms of violence and racism, regardless of the perpetrators.
Affirmation #4: The Second Coming of Christ
There are several views which Christ followers hold to explain the future. Rather than focus on the signs of the return of Christ, our reading of the New Testament indicates that our primary mandate is to proclaim the “Good News” to the entire world.
Affirmation #5: Zionism
Modern Zionism is a political movement created to meet the aspirations of Jews around the world who longed for a homeland. It has become ethnocentric, privileging one people at the expense of others. Christianity calls believers in Jesus to focus on building God’s kingdom on earth.
Affirmation #6: Messianic Jews
Messianic Jews are the brothers and sisters of all who follow Jesus or Yeshua. We are one family bound together in a fellowship of love. Although diversity in political opinions as well as theological emphasis inevitably exist, we refuse to allow these views to hinder our fellowship in Jesus.
Affirmation #7: Palestinian and Israeli Authority
The Bible teaches us to pray for all in political authority. We are called to obey them, whether they are Israeli or Palestinian, as an expression of our faith in God’s sovereign rule. We are also called to be a prophetic voice, challenging injustice creatively and non-violently.
We trust these seven affirmations help clarify the views of the conference organizers and will encourage you to participate in the Christ at the Checkpoint conference 2012.
Filed under israel and palestine articles by on Mar 5th, 2012. Comment.
Father Roy writes:
As many of you know, one has to be familiar with a multitude of details to understand the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in depth. I’ve done a bit of helpful highlighting in the article pasted below. Have you noticed the way that characters (personalities) in the Holy Land make the conflict more interesting than fiction?
When we think about it, Peers, the Israeli people could have elected a more perfidious leader than even Benjamin Netanyahu. (Partial explanation below). Who will become Israel’s next Prime Minister? I forget when the next elections will be. Who will get enough votes to replace Avigdor Liegerman as Israel’s Foreign Minister? A man named Moshe Feiglin is being mentioned as a challenge to Netanyahu. Let’s check him out: Moshe Feiglin (biography). Let’s become familiar with the way he thinks, because he definitely has a following: The answer is in our hands – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews. There’s current information in the article pasted below.
Peers, when we think about it, Jews should feel complimented and appreciative .. honored even … that Muslims regard Jerusalem as “holy”. Why do Jews behave as tho they are being insulted or robbed? Mohammed never claimed He was founding a new religious faith. No, the Prophet pointed towards Jerusalem … i.e., to the monotheism in the Jewish and Christian traditions and taught: ” Behold !!! God has always been ONE.’ There’s a postscript.
Peace,
Roy+
P.S. Please don’t misunderstand me, Peers. I’m not implying that Jews are a “greedy” tribe by nature or anything like that. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I’m saying simply that there are some things (like Life) that civilized people (behaving as individuals and as nationalities) must learn to share with others for the benefit of us all … and … for God’s sake. Please read on. I highlighted a few sentences which will help us understand Hamas.
From Al-Ahram Weekly:
 Click to view caption |
| Israeli police forces used tear gas and rubber bullets against Palestinian demonstrators in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya
|
Moshe Feiglin is not a typical Likudnik in the style of other past and present Likud leaders, such as Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Netanyahu.
Those who know him say he is an incarnation of Meir Kahana, the racist-minded American rabbi who in the early 1970s founded the Kach organisation calling for the expulsion of non-Jews from Israel-Palestine, as well as the application of draconian Talmudic laws to replace Israel’s quasi-secular system.
A few years ago, Feiglin decided to join the ranks of Likud, calculating that only by taking over a central and powerful party from within could he hope to transform Israel from a semi-secular state into a Jewish theocracy ruled by Halacha or the so-called Talmudic religious law.
So far, he has achieved only limited success, with less than 25 per cent of Likud registered members voting for him in the recent party leadership elections, in which the overwhelming majority voted for incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
However, the fact that Feiglin has been able to secure one fourth of Likud behind him does not bode well for either Israel’s democracy or the future of Likud itself.
Ideologically, Feiglin is at the extreme right of the Israeli political map, believing that Israel should annex the West Bank, reoccupy the Gaza Strip, deport all Palestinians and demolish Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem.
This week, Feiglin and dozens of his supporters sought to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to remind “Jews and the world at large” that the “holiest Jewish temple was still in the hands of the Gentiles” and that the “very existence of Israel was meaningless without the rebuilding of the temple”.
The group held up posters calling for the “purification of the Temple Mount from the enemies of Israel”. Eventually, the police, seeing that violence might ensue, decided to block access to the site.
According to the police, flyers found outside the Haram Al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem read that “members of the Likud caucus, along with its thousands of members headed by Moshe Feiglin, are hereby invited to arrive at the temple Mount and declare that proper leadership begins with control over the temple.”
Earlier, Muslim residents of the city had apparently got word that extremist Jewish settlers were trying to desecrate the 1,400-year-old Muslim shrine in order to put pressure on the Israeli government to turn it into a synagogue.
Hundreds of Muslim activists then arrived, forming a considerable presence and convincing the police that an incendiary showdown could be evolving. The Muslim presence seemed to have influenced the police decision to deny Feiglin’s people access to the Haram Al-Sharif.
The mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein, castigated the Israeli government for playing with fire.
“Do they think that we are helpless orphans and completely powerless to defend and protect our holy places? Israel should know that we will only allow these fanatics to desecrate our holy places over our dead bodies,” he said.
“This place belongs to the Muslim umma, and any aggression against it would mean confrontation with the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims,” Hussein added, urging Muslim governments and peoples to make the issue of the Al-Aqsa Mosque a priority.
One middle-aged Jerusalemite who came to help protect the Mosque remarked that he would sacrifice his life and the lives of his family to protect the glory and sanctity of the Mosque.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas also urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to end provocations against Muslim holy places in Jerusalem. Hamas said that Arab and Muslim states should devote all their efforts to saving the Al-Aqsa Mosque from conspiracies.
It also called on the PA to stop “futile efforts” at reaching a peace arrangement with Israel, saying that Palestinian efforts in this regard were interpreted as a sign of weakness.
“Whenever the Arabs extend their hands in peace, Israel steps up its aggression, crimes and provocation. Israel doesn’t understand the language of peace: it only understands the language of military might,” the group said.
On Sunday, the Palestinians received moral support from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a statement from the Party lambasting Israel and underlining its opposition to Israel’s repeated efforts to carry out aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy places in occupied Jerusalem.
The statement said that official Arab and Muslim condemnation of Israeli belligerence was no longer adequate.
The issue of Jerusalem is widely viewed as the most complicated and volatile component of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem has been a Muslim shrine of immense sanctity ever since the Prophet Mohamed made his miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem more than 1,445 years ago.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem soon after its army occupied the city in 1967, and it has been trying to obliterate its traditional Arab-Islamic identity ever since, in violation of international law.
The UN and other international bodies have repeatedly ruled such efforts to be illegal. However, because of unrestricted US backing, Israel has been able to get away with them thus far with impunity.
Original link: Israel tests international patience on Jerusalem
|
|
Israel tests international patience on Jerusalem
The results of the Likud leadership elections and continuing provocation at the Haram Al-Sharif signal growing extremism in Israel, writes Khaled Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem
| Click to view caption |
| Israeli police forces used tear gas and rubber bullets against Palestinian demonstrators in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya
|
Moshe Feiglin is not a typical Likudnik in the style of other past and present Likud leaders, such as Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Netanyahu.
Those who know him say he is an incarnation of Meir Kahana, the racist-minded American rabbi who in the early 1970s founded the Kach organisation calling for the expulsion of non-Jews from Israel-Palestine, as well as the application of draconian Talmudic laws to replace Israel’s quasi-secular system.
A few years ago, Feiglin decided to join the ranks of Likud, calculating that only by taking over a central and powerful party from within could he hope to transform Israel from a semi-secular state into a Jewish theocracy ruled by Halacha or the so-called Talmudic religious law.
So far, he has achieved only limited success, with less than 25 per cent of Likud registered members voting for him in the recent party leadership elections, in which the overwhelming majority voted for incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
However, the fact that Feiglin has been able to secure one fourth of Likud behind him does not bode well for either Israel’s democracy or the future of Likud itself.
Ideologically, Feiglin is at the extreme right of the Israeli political map, believing that Israel should annex the West Bank, reoccupy the Gaza Strip, deport all Palestinians and demolish Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem.
This week, Feiglin and dozens of his supporters sought to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to remind “Jews and the world at large” that the “holiest Jewish temple was still in the hands of the Gentiles” and that the “very existence of Israel was meaningless without the rebuilding of the temple”.
The group held up posters calling for the “purification of the Temple Mount from the enemies of Israel”. Eventually, the police, seeing that violence might ensue, decided to block access to the site.
According to the police, flyers found outside the Haram Al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem read that “members of the Likud caucus, along with its thousands of members headed by Moshe Feiglin, are hereby invited to arrive at the temple Mount and declare that proper leadership begins with control over the temple.”
Earlier, Muslim residents of the city had apparently got word that extremist Jewish settlers were trying to desecrate the 1,400-year-old Muslim shrine in order to put pressure on the Israeli government to turn it into a synagogue.
Hundreds of Muslim activists then arrived, forming a considerable presence and convincing the police that an incendiary showdown could be evolving. The Muslim presence seemed to have influenced the police decision to deny Feiglin’s people access to the Haram Al-Sharif.
The mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein, castigated the Israeli government for playing with fire.
“Do they think that we are helpless orphans and completely powerless to defend and protect our holy places? Israel should know that we will only allow these fanatics to desecrate our holy places over our dead bodies,” he said.
“This place belongs to the Muslim umma, and any aggression against it would mean confrontation with the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims,” Hussein added, urging Muslim governments and peoples to make the issue of the Al-Aqsa Mosque a priority.
One middle-aged Jerusalemite who came to help protect the Mosque remarked that he would sacrifice his life and the lives of his family to protect the glory and sanctity of the Mosque.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas also urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to end provocations against Muslim holy places in Jerusalem. Hamas said that Arab and Muslim states should devote all their efforts to saving the Al-Aqsa Mosque from conspiracies.
It also called on the PA to stop “futile efforts” at reaching a peace arrangement with Israel, saying that Palestinian efforts in this regard were interpreted as a sign of weakness.
“Whenever the Arabs extend their hands in peace, Israel steps up its aggression, crimes and provocation. Israel doesn’t understand the language of peace: it only understands the language of military might,” the group said.
On Sunday, the Palestinians received moral support from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a statement from the Party lambasting Israel and underlining its opposition to Israel’s repeated efforts to carry out aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy places in occupied Jerusalem.
The statement said that official Arab and Muslim condemnation of Israeli belligerence was no longer adequate.
The issue of Jerusalem is widely viewed as the most complicated and volatile component of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem has been a Muslim shrine of immense sanctity ever since the Prophet Mohamed made his miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem more than 1,445 years ago.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem soon after its army occupied the city in 1967, and it has been trying to obliterate its traditional Arab-Islamic identity ever since, in violation of international law.
The UN and other international bodies have repeatedly ruled such efforts to be illegal. However, because of unrestricted US backing, Israel has been able to get away with them thus far with impunity.
Filed under Israel and Palestine by on Feb 20th, 2012. Comment.
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