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We are a Christian Fellowship meeting in North London with a strong interest in teaching the Bible and understanding our time in
the light of Bible prophecy
Down with Christian Zionists
There is a growing condemnation of Israel and Christians who support Israel
in the Christian media. Surrey based vicar Stephen Sizer has described
Christian Zionism rather than terrorist groups as the primary threat to
America and the allied coalition. That means if you believe Israel has a
right to exist you are more dangerous to this country than al Qaeda!
Churches Together in Britain has also put out a statement which places all
the responsibility for making 'peace' in the Middle East on Israel, which it
says must unconditionally withdraw from the 'occupied territories' and none
on the Palestinian Authority which has consistently failed to do anything
towards keeping its treaty obligation to combat terrorism and incitement.
Below are responses to these two issues:
Churches Together statement over Israel / Palestine
According to my Bible Jesus was not born in Roman Palestine but in
Bethlehem in Judea. I have been looking for the word Palestine in the New
Testament and somehow it just doesn’t seem to be there. Funny.
The two state solution was offered by the UN in 1947 but rejected by the
Arab world who invaded Israel with the aim of wiping out the Jewish state
the UN had agreed to set up. Jordan and Egypt then gobbled up what remained
of the Arab state the UN wanted to set up west of the Jordan.
The two state solution (in a form) was offered by Israel in 1967 after the
Six Day War when they offered to hand back the territories in return for
peace and secure borders. The Arab Khartoum conference responded with 3 Nos.
No peace, no negotiations and no recognition of Israel.
Since 1993 Israel has been working on a two state solution through the Oslo
Accords and later through the Road Map. Both agreements included the
requirement on the Palestinian Authority to stop terrorism and incitement
against Israel. Arafat and the PA have never done this therefore Israel has
every right to defend itself against terrorism. Arafat rejected Barak’s
offer of an agreement in the summer of 2000, launching the second Intifada
in September 2000 with the aim of gaining statehood by violence rather than
negotiation.
Your three observations need some clarification
1. Palestinians polled generally give high levels of support (70% and more)
for terrorism against Israel. The vast majority of Israelis want a peaceful
settlement and to get on with their lives without having to send their boys
into Gaza, Hebron etc. I have never heard of an Israeli rabbi encouraging
his congregation to go and kill Arabs. I hear weekly of Muslim imams
throughout the Arab world encouraging their congregations to kill Jews. Do
you have anything to say to such people?
2. Your statement about the ending of Israeli presence in the Occupied
Territories is the sine qua non for the achievement of peace is untrue. If
Israel moves out and Hamas, Hizbollah and al Qaeda are free to operate
without any restraint how much peace will there be for Jews and Arabs
(especially Arab Christians) living in the region? The ending of terrorism
and incitement is actually the basic necessity for peace in the area and the
main people with influence to do this are Muslim clerics. The west and the
churches should also unite to tell the Islamic world in no uncertain terms
that as long as the terrorist issue is not addressed there is no way forward
for any peace process.
3. Israel’s security fence is the product of Arafat’s terrorism. Before
September 2000 Israelis were crossing into the West Bank and even Gaza to
buy and sell, Palestinians were travelling into Israel to work. Terrorism
has changed all that. Unless the churches address that issue all your
statements are empty platitudes.
One issue you have not addressed. The Palestinian Authority plans to set up
a state in which Sharia law is supreme. Under Sharia law Christians are
second class citizens. Already Arab Christians are fleeing Bethlehem and the
surrounding villages in droves. Because of Israeli occupation? No because of
Islamic intimidation. Within Israel Arab Christians are free to play their
part in society and worship without fear. Where else in the Muslim Middle
East is this the case? Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran,
Iraq, Libya? What are Churches Together saying and doing about this? What is
your opinion of the Islamic law which says that anyone converting from Islam
should be put to death? Justified? If so what do you say about the great
commission to take the Gospel to every nation? Not to Muslim nations because
they have the right to kill anyone who accepts Jesus as Saviour?
Israel has a right to exist under international law as a state set up by the
UN. It has a right to defend itself against terrorism and incitement of
those who seek to drive the Jews into the sea. There are many Christians who
are dismayed by the constant attack on Israel and the Jewish people in the
media and increasingly in our churches. Jesus was Jewish born in Bethlehem
in Judea according to my Bible, not in Roman Palestine as your document
states. Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Suffering Servant
(Isaiah 53) dying as a sacrifice for our sins. He is coming back to fulfil
the prophecies of the Reigning King (Isaiah 2.1-4, Zechariah 14). The Bible
makes it clear that Israel will be restored and will be the focus of world
attention and hostility (Jeremiah 30-31, Ezekiel 36-9, Zechariah 12-14,
Matthew 23-4, Mark 13, Luke 21, Revelation 16-19) before this great event.
What a pity that most of the churches are not only missing the point but
actually helping those who want to destroy Israel.
Christian Zionists a threat greater than terrorism?
According to Rev Stephen Sizer speaking at a conference entitled The Impact
of Zionism on Jewish, Christian and Muslim relations held at London
University on 15th March 2004, Christian Zionism rather than terrorist
groups is the primary threat to America and the allied coalition
(presumably including Britain). This means that he considers people who
believe that Israel has a right to exist to be a greater threat to the
security of this country than al Qaeda and similar factions.
A speaker at the conference was Dr Azzam Tamimi who stated that no Muslim on
the face of the earth, not even Yasser Arafat, will accept that Israel has a
right to exist. He also stated that all Arab states should become a United
States of the Middle East under Islamic Law. If we are asked to agree with
this view then presumably we also have to believe that the world would be a
safer place if Israel were destroyed (along with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan,
Egypt etc) and replaced with an Islamic regime in which all Jews and
Christians would be placed under dhimmi status by Sharia law.
Under this formula peace = submission to Islam. No Israeli can be expected
to accept such conditions and not many Arab Christians already persecuted by
Muslims are going to thank us for giving support to such views.
