Christians and Anti Zionism

by Tony Pearce

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! If you don't agree with Mr Sizer, why not let him know? You can find his website at www.sizers.org

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 teaty obligation to combat terrorism and incitement. You can find their website at www.ctbi.org.uk

It is time to resist all this. Below are items I have written to Stephen Sizer and to Churches Together. Why not write something yourself? Don't copy what I have written. Don't be rude or offensive. Don't be silent!

Tony Pearce.

Churches Together statement over Israel / Palestine.

I have read your statement on the Internet and wish to make the following comments.

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.

Tony Pearce, BM 4226, London, WC1N 3XX. tony@ampearce.fsnet.co.uk

Dear Mr Sizer

I have read in this week's Jewish Chronicle that you have described 'Christian Zionism rather than terrorist groups as 'the primary threat' to America and the allied coalition' (presumably including Britain). Does this mean that you consider that people like myself who believe that Israel has a right to exist pose a greater threat to the security of this country than al Qaeda and similar factions?

I note that 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. Do you agree with such views?

If so then presumably you 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. Is this the case?

Under this formula peace = submission to Islam. No Israeli can be expected to accept such conditions and not many Arab Christians are going to thank you for giving support to such views.

I enclose an article I have written in response to the Churches Together statement on the Israel / Palestine.