In this mailing:
by Denis MacEoin
• February 9, 2016 at 5:00 am
- It is commonly
repeated by Palestinians that there were never any Jews in the Holy
Land before the 19th century and that the first and
second Jewish Temples never stood in Jerusalem. Not only do these
claims fly in the face of over a century of archaeological work and
the records of Greek, Roman and other historians in antiquity, they
flatly contradict and annul the texts of both the Old and New
Testaments. By their own rejection of Jewish rights in Israel,
Christians unwittingly repudiate their own rights and history.
- Christians in
St Thomas Church did not once criticize or deplore the Palestinian
glorification of violence, this delight at the murders of children,
this dancing in the streets when innocent throats are cut.
- Is it the
Christian thing to demand that hospitals and doctors across the
globe should refuse to use Israeli medicines or surgical devices or
advanced medical equipment? Would Christians who work with bodies like
Christian Aid call on countries damaged by natural and man-made
calamities to ban Israeli aid teams?
- Abandoning
Israel will not soothe the hearts of the Palestinian people or make
the Christians less vulnerable -- as we are now seeing from the
throat-slittings and mass displacements throughout the Middle East,
done not by Jews but by Muslim fanatics.
St Thomas The Martyr Church in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
(left) recently hosted an event in which a Kairos leader advocated a
boycott of Israel. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
(See also Part I: Christians Who Demonize Israel: Kairos)
Christians make up only some 1.5% of the Palestinian population.
They live in an overwhelmingly Muslim atmosphere and are, given the
threats they face from Muslim extremists, naturally loath to express a
Christian narrative that differs from the dominant Palestinian narrative,
which openly rejects many fundamental Christian beliefs. It is
commonplace for Palestinians to express denials of history. Thus, it is
repeated that there were never any Jews in the Holy Land before the 19th
century and that the first and second Jewish Temples never stood in
Jerusalem. Not only do these claims fly in the face of over a century of
archaeological work and the records of Greek, Roman and other historians
in antiquity, they flatly contradict and annul the texts of both the Old
and New Testaments.
by Burak Bekdil
• February 9, 2016 at 4:00 am
- "Writing
anti-Israel speech on the wall of a synagogue is an act of
anti-Semitism," Ivo Molinas, editor-in-chief of Salom.
- Turkey's ruling
Islamists have systematically nurtured and exploited anti-Semitic
sentiments.
- The architects
of Turkish anti-Semitism will now have to use the same propaganda
machine they used to fuel anti-Semitism to diffuse it, if they want
a sustainable courtship with their old Jewish friends.
Which way will Turkey go on Israel? Left: Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (then Prime Minister) shakes hands with
then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, on May 1, 2005. Right: Erdogan
shakes hands with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on January 3, 2012.
There is official evidence and credible speculation that Turkey and
Israel may be on the brink of a historic handshake. Some say that it may
be a matter of weeks, some speak of a couple of months before old
friends, new foes, Turkey and Israel, will befriend each other once
again. Probably until they become foes once again.
Ankara and Jerusalem look like two teenagers being forced into an
unwilling date by their classmates, friends, foes and schoolteachers, and
also because they feel alone and threatened; not because they feel even
halfheartedly warm toward one another. They are nervously, grudgingly
going on their date.
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