Israel ‘infuriated’ by claim Christians are ‘driven away’ from Jerusalem
RT | December 21, 2021
Church leaders in Jerusalem have complained that “fringe radical” settler groups are mounting a violent “systematic attempt” to drive Christians from the city. Israel has criticized their statement as “baseless” and “infuriating.”
Last week, the Patriarchs and Heads of Local Churches of Jerusalem – a collection of various Christian denominations – launched a campaign to protest“frequent and sustained” radical violence and “strategic property” acquisition. They said these tactics were aimed at “diminishing the Christian presence.”
In a statement issued by the Diocese of Jerusalem, the church leaders pointed to “countless incidents” of physical and verbal assaults against priests, “intimidation” of local Christians and the “desecration” of holy sites and churches. They called out the “failure of local politicians, officials and law enforcement agencies” to stem the violence, which they dated back to 2012.
The joint statement was signed by the leadership of all the city’s major churches, including the Custody of the Holy Land representing the Vatican, the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the head of the Anglican Church.
The campaign was amplified by the UK’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who tweeted the joint declaration last Tuesday and termed it a “heart-cry” and an “unprecedented statement … about the future of Christians in the Holy Land.” The World Council of Churches and other bodies also lent support.
The church heads also requested “urgent dialogue” with political authorities in “Israel, Palestine and Jordan,” noting that these were bound by a “declared commitment” to protect religious freedom. Besides dealing with the “challenges presented by radical groups,” the talks would explore the creation of a “special Christian cultural and heritage zone to safeguard the integrity of the Christian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem.”
The allegations of Christians being discriminated against in Jerusalem have since attracted media attention, with the Israeli government finally responding to them this week.
In a statement on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry branded the concerns as “baseless” and “infuriating” and claimed that they “distort the reality of the Christian community” in the country.
“Religious leaders have a critical role to play in education for tolerance and coexistence, and Church leaders should be expected to understand their responsibility and the consequences of what they have published, which could lead to violence and bring harm to innocent people,” the ministry said.
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The myth of the ‘Arabs versus Jews’ narrative
By Roqayah Chamseddine | Al-Akhbar | July 31, 2014
The transformation of Zionism as a political ideology to Zionism as a religious ideology begins, in part, with Theodor Herzl’s “infatuation with British imperialism,” as noted by literary scholar and cultural historian Eitan Bar-Yosef in his book A Villa In The Jungle: Herzl, Zionist Culture, And The Great African Adventure. “Herzl’s phrase – a ‘miniature England in reverse’ – preserves the imperfect colonial mimicry that stood at the heart of Herzl’s Zionist project, and which was exposed so explicitly… in his decision to align himself with the British Empire.” Herzl would form the Zionist Organization (now The World Zionist Congress) in 1897 and promote the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, while continuing to identify with British colonialism and those who facilitated colonialism – the colonialists themselves. While Herzl, in his book The Jewish State, published in 1895, argued that the ‘Jewish question’ was not social or religious but political, the historical account of the rise of religious Zionism shows that it began to take hold not long before the passing of Herzl in 1904. … continue
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“In a statement on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry branded the concerns as “baseless” and “infuriating” and claimed that they “distort the reality of the Christian community” in the country.” Effing Zionist vermin, hypocrites, non-human scum wallowing in their own excrement…and expecting that the world will heed their protestations and prevarications. It almost certainly won’t happen in my lifetime, but I await the resolute outing of these Zionist pricks, denunciation of their serial/myriad violations of the Palestinian humanity (Christian and Muslim), and total/final-solution erasure of them from the confines of this planet. Only such a “put paid” outcome would/will satisfy my sensing of the absolute need for justice, only justice, full justice for the beleaguered-but-so-brave Palestinians. Much faster, please….
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It’s funny how Christianity has at its heart a book which outlines the history of Israel up to the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ and from then on, the establishment of the Christian church. It’s also funny how the ‘Old Testament’ contains countless condemnations of Israel by God for their greed, intolerance, idolatry and self-righteousness, and in their own prophecies, they are going to be judged very severely. They would be well advised to read their own scriptures so as to escape some of the punishment, but unfortunately, as Jesus said, they have eyes, but don’t see, and minds, but don’t understand.
If the covid-19 vaccine experience doesn’t get through to them, what will?
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Your first paragraph resonates with me…appreciated! Re the “…vaccine experience…” (that is affecting all of humankind), I’m less taken. The Jews, strangled/screwed by political/militant Zionism and its adherents (mostly/overwhelmingly secular/atheistic zealots as they use Judaism only as a fig-leaf/vehicle to attain their settler-colonial ends), are by now so psychotically caught up in earthly criminality that they’re beyond giving a damn about God’s “punishment.” It’ll take an earth-/human-based resistance to jolt them back to reality…and to their much-deserved fate-cum-punishment. But, to follow you: If “they” can’t or don’t or won’t pay attention to their own earthly depredations that defy any itemization, what will be the form(s) of the resistance that will finally “get through to them”? The Palestinians are waiting, waiting, waiting for the answer…meanwhile, the full intensity of my heart, soul, mind, and [limited] strength is on the Palestinians’ side….
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