American Evangelicals Fail to Support Palestinian Christians

Alice C. Linsley

American Evangelicals seem to turn a blind eye to the human rights abuses in Israel. They generally support Israel as the Holy Land promised to Abraham the Hebrew. This unexamined claim is both historically and biblically inaccurate. Abraham's territory was in the land of ancient Edom, between Hebron and Beersheba. It did not correspond to the boundaries of the modern state of Israel.

Israel justifies its continued land grab based on the erroneous claim that Jews have a special religious connection to the land. This effort to achieve legitimacy through an appeal to religion fails when examined in detail. 

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has gone on for more than 100 years with no end in sight.

Israeli authorities have expropriated thousands of acres of Palestinian land for settlements and their supporting infrastructure. Discriminatory burdens, including making it nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits in East Jerusalem and in the 60 percent of the West Bank under exclusive Israeli control (Area C), have effectively forced Palestinians to leave their homes or to build at the risk of seeing their “unauthorized” structures bulldozed. For decades, Israeli authorities have demolished homes on the grounds that they lacked permits, even though the law of occupation prohibits destruction of property except for military necessity, or punitively as collective punishment against families of Palestinians suspected of attacking Israelis.

The law of occupation, designed to regulate the exceptional and temporary situation in which a foreign military power displaces the lawful sovereign and rules by force, grants an occupier broad but limited powers to restrict individuals and their rights to meet security needs.

After more than 50 years of failure to rein in abuses associated with the occupation, the international community should take more active measures to hold Israeli and Palestinian authorities to their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law. Other countries and businesses should cease activities carried out inside settlements and change policies that support settlement-related activities and infrastructure, in keeping with their respective human rights responsibilities. 

Before 1948, Jerusalem was almost half Christian, now it is barely 2% due to wars, violence, and discriminatory policies practiced by the Israeli government.

Christians fail to support their fellow Christians

Ironically, the support of Israel's policies by American Evangelicals puts tremendous burden upon Christians, especially in places such as Bethlehem where they are already persecuted by the Muslim authorities.

Samir Qumsieh, director of the Catholic television station Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, reported in AsiaNews that "the emigration of Christians is growing, even if the authorities refuse to give precise numbers. Every day there are people who flee to other countries. As Christians, we live in a constant feeling of fear and uncertainty, and if you live in constant tension and pessimism, you cannot plan anything."

Many Palestinian Christians have immigrated to other countries where they find greater opportunities for their children. Sadly, it is possible that in the near future there may be no Christians living in the homeland of Jesus Messiah.

The Christian population of Taybeh is beginning to stabilize due to initiatives within the village that have stimulated the economy. One cause of celebration is the October Beer Festival which draws tourists from Jerusalem in spite of the many roadblocks maintained by the State of Israel. The beer is produced at Palestine's only micro-brewery.

A housing area for Jews only has been built in the area. It receives water 7 days a week while the nearly 2000 residents of Taybeh receive water only 3 days a week.

About three and a half million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza, but only a small percentage are Christian. While Jews and Muslims slaughter each other the Christian minority is caught in the middle. It is trying to live in peace and to practice Christ's command to love even those who seek to harm them.

Archbishop Atallah Hannah (Orthodox Church of Sebastia) reports that, "Palestinians, Christian or Muslim, are deprived [by Israel] of visiting holy sites in Jerusalem."

Israeli expansionism punishes all Palestinians, regardless of their religion.

Related reading: Palestinian Territories - Open Doors USA

Romney Denies Prejudice Against Palestinians

Mitt Romney told Fox News that he was not criticizing Palestinian culture when he suggested that Israel’s economic success was due to its "culture" at a fundraiser in Israel on Monday.

"I’m not speaking about, did not speak about, the Palestinian culture," Romney told Fox’s Carl Cameron.

Romney came under fire from Palestinian leaders when he compared the GDP per capita in Israel to that in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, saying at one point, "Culture makes all the difference." Although he never specifically implicated Palestinian culture, he seemed to imply judgment, CBS News notes.

In a statement to the Associated Press on Monday, the Palestinian labor minister responded, "The statement reflects a clear racist spirit."

Romney's praise of Israeli culture backfired when he tried to contrast the standard of livings of Israelis and Palestinians living in areas controlled by the PA. CNN reports that Romney attempted to blame the liberal media for twisting his words, saying, "They’ll instead try and find anything else to divert from the fact that these last four years have been tough years for our country."

The truth is that Palestinians in Gaza suffer from both Israeli and Palestinian restrictions, but Romney wasn't likely to say this at a fundraiser in Jerusalem.


A hornet's nest

An organization called Jewish Voice for Peace has condemned Romney and is asking people to sign an open  letter requesting that he apologize to the Palestinian people.

Here is the letter:

To Governor Mitt Romney,

Your statements in Jerusalem regarding the growth of the Palestinian and Israeli economies were inaccurate and misleading. Israel's Occupation of Palestinian land makes it impossible for the Palestinian economy to succeed, not "cultural differences." Your comments were not a reflection of the values Jews, Americans, and our allies hold dear. We call on you to apologize to the Palestinian people for your willful lack of understanding of the facts on the ground and the racist assumptions behind them.

The organization admits that the Israeli GDP is ten times that of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. See their website here.

Related reading:  Liberal Jews Support Obama

Arafat's Body to be Exhumed

Yasser Arafat’s body will likely be exhumed to investigate whether the Palestinian leader was murdered, possibly through polonium poisoning. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said through a spokesman he sees no reason why the late leader’s body should not be examined following an Al Jazeera investigation that found his belongings contained high levels of polonium-210. If the name of the radioactive isotope sounds familiar it’s likely because it was the substance used to assassinate Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London, explains the Guardian.

Arafat’s widow, Suha, gave Al Jazeera the personal effects and the Qatar-based news channel took them to a lab in Switzerland for examination. In the interview, Suha never explains why she decided to have his belongings examined so many years after Arafat’s 2004 death, when she vehemently refused an autopsy at the time, points out theAssociated Press. The claims that polonium were detected in Arafat’s belongings appears to contradict the medical report produced after his death that was leaked to the New York Times in 2005. At the time, the paper said that the report “suggests that poisoning was highly unlikely.”

Read it all here.