Sunday, July 24, 2011

Christian Hypocrisy in Two Acts

This from Elwood McQuaid via the excellent Tundra Tabloids blog:


"Lutherans from the United States, Catholics and Protestants from Bethlehem and Nazareth, Orthodox Christians from Greece and Russia, lecturers from Lebanon, and Copts from Egypt gathered at a conference recently to declare the Jewish state 'a sin' and occupying power that dehumanizes Palestinians; they called for resistance (jihad) as “a Christian duty."

But wait! Don't these Christian "humanitarians" look suspiciously like this next group? Have a look at this nice ecumenical posting on the AJC website:

"In Jerusalem and the Galilee the AJC leaders from across the United States met with the leading patriarchs, bishops and clergy of the various Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant communities that minister to the approximately 200,000 Christians living in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The group met with the leadership of the Latin and Greek Orthodox Patriarchates; the Melkhite, Lutheran and Anglican churches; as well as with the Papal Nuncio to Israel and Apostolic Delegate in the Holy Land." 

Remember the Syrian-based Melkites? Their former bishop of Caesaria, Hilarion Capucci, was arrested in 1974 for smuggling arms to the Palestinians, and last year he was a passenger on the Gaza Flotilla's Mavi Marmara. Regarding the arms-smuggling conviction, the Melkite Church condemned his arrest, comparing Capucci's activities to those of anti-Nazi resistance fighters.Sounds like malicious Israel-bashing to me...

But, in a startling display of naivete, an AJC official states:

"AJC’s interreligious activity brings us into regular contact with American Christian friends of Israel genuinely concerned about the situation of their co-religionists in the Holy Land, Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC’s director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations [stated]...'The region’s Christians are symbolically important to Christians everywhere.  As Jews, it is both a strategic interest and a moral imperative that motivates us to build and maintain good relations with Israel’s diverse and vibrant Christian communities.'”

Marans has succesfully conflated the Christian Zionist real friends of Israel, with those WCC affiliates who regularly engage in demonization against both Israel and Christian Zionists. You also can't help but notice that the AJC had no salient quotes to print from the Christian group.

This is yet another case similar to that of the Israeli Rabbinate's totally meaningless 2006 Joint Declaration signed with the Church of England. Why are these groups so in love with interfaith rhetoric, while studiously ignoring the inflammatory statements made by Christian anti-Semites? Could it have something to do with the professional interfaith diplomat, Rabbi David Rosen, who has positions with both AJC and the Rabbinate?


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