Alternative Conservative

I recently watch a film called by James Carroll called Constantin’s Sword.

This film covers the tragic persecution of Jews by the Catholic Church and Christians.  Constantin’s Sword points out how the Pope could have prevented the Nazi slaughter of the Jews, but remained complacent.  The film also covers many incidents of Jewish persecution that most Christians are not aware of.

The film also makes a rather inaccurate claim and assertion.  The claim is we are in danger of an Evangelical assault on Jews, and the totally inaccurate assertion is George W. Bush may pose a threat to Jews.

The truth is many if not most Evangelicals believe Israel must be supported in order for Revelation to take place so Jesus will come back.

Watch John Hagee’s Blasphemy in Faith Videos |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

PBS: Bill Moyer’s Journal Christians United for Israel

Many of the people in the Bush administration are considered to be Zionists.  People like Richard Perle, and Douglas Feith.  These men helped craft the Iraq War. The Bush administration was waging a holy war, but the target was Muslim’s in the Middle East.  Perhaps this is simply something Carroll neglected to point out.

William Kristol could be considered to be a Zionist, and was a friend to the Bush administration.  Kristol is the Chairman of the Project for a New American Century.  An organization dedicated to US world military dominance.  You can watch an interview with William Kristol and Douglas Feith in John Pilgers Breaking Silence.

Christian’s and Jews don’t have an exclusive on supporting an assault against people in the Middle East.  Atheists Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have also justified an assault Muslims, although not everyone in the Middle East is Muslim.  In this video Chris Hedges describes the parallel between “New Atheists” and Christian Fundamentalists.  Perhaps it is not religion but human nature which causes people to justify the extermination of their competition.  After all, this is an ugly component of survival of the fittest.

If anything this film strengthens the Evangelical and Atheist resolve to support Israel’s assault on Palestine    because they only show how the Jews have been persecuted.  They totally neglected how Jews are inflicting the same grief they experienced on another group of people.

This film just adds fuel to the fire of US Middle East policy. There’s a blood bath going on in the Middle East, and I believe this film will only make matters worse.

There’s nothing wrong with showing how Jews have been persecuted throughout history.  The problem is this film has one sided coverage that will fuel injustice.

Two wrongs don’t equal a right.

In the below Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report Israeli soldiers mortally wound a Palestinian woman by blowing the door off the front of her house.  She was home with her children who see her die.  An Israeli soldier states:

I don’t know what we’re doing here. Purification maybe. It’s dirty here. I don’t know why a good Hebrew boy should be here so far from his home

The soldiers then break a large hole in the back wall of the family’s home. This is their way of getting to the next street rather than having to walk through the doorway where they just blew the door off.  Perhaps it would be too much trouble to walk around the block.

In this mini documentary Alison Weir with Alternative Focus presents graphs and charts on the lap sided reporting of Jewish deaths verses Palestinian deaths in the US.

I believe the way Rome treated the Jews was absolutely horrible. After all it was the Romans who originally drove the Jews out of Israel in 135 A.D. (see below history and time table).   Constantine’s Sword shows how the Romans persecuted Jews for 2000 years. Perhaps it was the Romans who had a debt to pay to the Jewish people and not the Palestinians by giving up the land they had held for nearly 2000 years.

Let me pose this question.  Is it scientific to assert a person’s DNA gives them a claim to a particular geographical location or parcel of land?

The World Book Encyclopedia

Copy right 2006 (available at your local library)
Page 104

Roman rule. In 63 63 B.C. Roman troops invaded Judah and it came under Roman Control. The Romans called the area Judea. Jesus Chris was born in Bethlehem in the early years of Roman rule. Roman rulers put down Jewish revolts of Roman rule. Roman rulers put down Jewish revolts in A.D. 66 and A.D. 132. In A.D. 135, the Romans drive the Jews out of Jerusalem.

The Zionist movement. Beginning in the late 1800’s, oppression of Jews in Eastern Europe set off a mass emigration of Jewish refugees. Some Jews formed a movement called Zionism, which sought to make Palestine an independent Jewish nation.

World War II and the division of Palestine. (Paragraph 2) The United nations Special Commission on Palestine recommended that Palestine be divided into an Arab state and a Jewish state. The commission called for Jerusalem to be put under International control. The UN General Assembly adopted this plan on Nov. 29 1947. The Jews accepted the UN decision, but the Arabs rejected it. Fighting broke out immediately.

United Nations History of Palestine:

The Palestine  problem became an international issue  towards the end of the First World War with the disintegration of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.  Palestine was among the several former Ottoman Arab territories which were placed  under the administration of Great Britain  under the Mandates System adopted by the League of Nations pursuant to the League’s Covenant (Article 22) .

All but one of these Mandated Territories became fully independent States, as anticipated. The exception was Palestine where, instead of being limited to “the rendering of administrative assistance and advice” the Mandate had as a primary objective the implementation of the “Balfour Declaration” issued by the British Government in 1917,  expressing support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.

During the  years of the Palestine Mandate, from 1922 to 1947, large-scale Jewish immigration from abroad, mainly from Eastern Europe took place, the numbers swelling in the 1930s with the notorious Nazi persecution of Jewish populations. Palestinian demands for independence and resistance to Jewish immigration led to a rebellion in 1937, followed by continuing terrorism and violence from both sides during and immediately after World War II. Great Britain tried to implement various formulas to bring independence to a land ravaged by violence. In 1947, Great Britain  turned the problem over to the United Nations.

 

USA Today on Palestinian Christians:

By Sherri Muzher

The questioner’s tone is usually incredulous: “You mean there are Palestinian Christians?”

I understand the confusion. Many view the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as purely Muslims vs. Jews. And aren’t Arabs all Muslims and Muslims all Arabs?

The reality is that some 15% of the world’s Palestinians are Christians, a vibrant community that has experienced as much suffering as Palestinian Muslims. In the latest uprising for freedom, Palestinian Christians have been among those killed or maimed for life by Israeli bullets. Christians also have been among the Palestinians who have been unable to leave their towns, go to their jobs, seek medical care and attend schools.

Unfortunately, some are exploiting the general lack of knowledge about Palestinian Christians, either for political gain or for religions reasons — or both. Many evangelical Christians believe the Bible promised the Jews the entire Holy Land, including the occupied territory. And some evangelicals also believe the second coming of Christ is contingent upon the full return of Jews to Jerusalem.

Last month, conservative Christian activist Gary Bauer spearheaded a letter, signed by other evangelical leaders, that warned President Bush that “it would be morally reprehensible for the United States to be ‘evenhanded’ between democratic Israel, a reliable friend and ally that shares our values, and the terrorist-infested Palestinian infrastructure.” This week, the Jerusalem Post reported, the Rev. Pat Robertson, speaking on the Christian Broadcasting Network, said Bush’s proposed road map to peace imperiled Israel and went “against the clear mandate of the Bible.”

But the fact that Palestinian Christians are united with Palestinian Muslims in the goal of liberation shows that their struggle isn’t so much religious as it is nationalistic and human.

I can understand, however, the public-relations value for Israelis in ignoring Palestinian Christians. After all, given the unfair vilification of Islam after 9/11, why let your Western supporters know that you are also battling Christians?

The evangelical leaders who warned Bush not to be “evenhanded” in peace negotiations may believe that they are speeding up Jesus’ return, but it was Christ who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

Which is it?

Sherri Muzher, a Palestinian-American Christian, lives in Mason, Mich.