Below is the abstract, that is a brief summary of the article:
The apologetics of pro-slavery, pro-segregation Christians in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were identical to the methods of biblical interpretation used by Dispensationalist Christian Zionists today. The ideology’s specific rules of ‘literal interpretation’ and ‘antecedent theology’ led both groups to similar conclusions about slavery and racial segregation, on the one hand, and Jewish privilege and Palestinian displacement, on the other. Abolitionist efforts to promote a Christ–like hermeneutic rooted in Christian morality points the way forward to correcting modern theologies, such as Dispensationalist Christian Zionism, that continue to sanction human oppression.
I believe that clicking the highlighted title above will allow access to the article online. However, if this does not work for you, let me know and I can send you a copy.
Yes, I too am disappointed by the numerous formating and editorial errors in my article. Yuck! Unfortunately, it is too late for me to do anything about it now…sigh…
One important fact that the mainstream media will not tell you about the current anti-war protests condemning Israel’s assault on Palestinians in Gaza is that many of the leaders and participants are Jewish Americans.
Two important Jewish organizations — If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace — are leading the way in these student protests.
Remember this the next time you hear someone accuse these protests of being “antisemitic.”
They are not anti-semitic. That is a standard Zionist lie used to distract from the real issues.
Rather, they are anti-war, anti-genocide, pro-Palestinian, pro-humanity.
Simone Zimmermann is a young Jewish woman, and cofounder of the Jewish organization IfNotNow, who is also one of the creators of the important, recent film Israelism. I encourage everyone to watch this story of how an increasing number of young Jewish Americans are turning away from Zionism and embracing the just cause of Palestinian liberation.
Several months ago Christianity Today produced a video series intended to justify Israel’s war against the people of Gaza.
My friend, Dr. Rob Dalrymple, has watched these videos and in the process
Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital after it’s destruction by Israel
of writing a series of responses to these heavily prejudiced productions.
Rob’s second post is titled “When Injustice Isn’t Injustice and Justice is Injustice.” I encourage you to read both posts. Below is a brief excerpt from post number two:
As the church, we are called to cry out against injustice. We are to weep with those who suffer injustices. We are to condemn those who commit injustice. And we are to demand justice; especially for the sake of the oppressed.
Yet, when it comes to the actions of Israel we get a little uneasy. (Even this last sentence is sure to ruffle some feathers).
When the conversation turns to Israel and its assault on Gaza, some unwritten (though they are practically written on stone) rules are invoked before the conversation is allowed to proceed.
First, there must be an unequivocal condemnation of Hamas. Check.
This includes their attack on Oct 7 and their stated goal of annihilating Israel. Check.
Second, there must be a complete acknowledgment of Israel’s existential fear of annihilation. Check
Third, there must be a condemnation of antisemitism. Check.
Once these boxes are all checked, the conversation may continue.
Several weeks ago I posted a breaking news story from +972 magazine discussing an Israeli military program blasphemously called “The Gospel” that used artificial intelligence (AI) to bomb civilian targets in Gaza.
Now +972 has broken a second story exposing two additional AI programs also being used for bombing Gaza. They are called Lavender and Where’s Daddy?
As the article describes, Israel’s favorite tactic is to bomb suspected — note SUSPECTED (Israel’s military leaders admit that the programs have as much as a 10% error rate) — Hamas fighters in their homes at night, slaughtering entire extended families in their sleep.
Apparently, the program title Where’s Daddy? is meant to be a cruel joke, as in: We know where daddy is sleeping, and we are going to bomb his entire family to smithereens. Ha ha ha.
Yes, Israel has intentionally been slaughtering civiliansfrom the beginning of its war against Palestinians in Gaza.
It is no accident that the death toll is now more than 33,600 people, 70% of whom are women and children. Over 13,000 of them under the age of eighteen.
Compare that last figure to the approximately 500 children killed during the past two years of fighting in Ukraine. Here is more tragic evidence of the gruesome anti-Arab racism animating the Jewish-supremacist state of Israel.
Below is a brief excerpt of the +972 article followed by a video clip of an excellent editorial by Krystal Ball from Breaking Point news:
During the early stages of the war, the army gave sweeping approval for officers to adopt Lavender’s kill lists, with no requirement to thoroughly check why the machine made those choices or to examine the raw intelligence data on which they were based. One source stated that human personnel often served only as a “rubber stamp” for the machine’s decisions, adding that, normally, they would personally devote only about “20 seconds” to each target before authorizing a bombing — just to make sure the Lavender-marked target is male. This was despite knowing that the system makes what are regarded as “errors” in approximately 10 percent of cases, and is known to occasionally mark individuals who have merely a loose connection to militant groups, or no connection at all.
Moreover, the Israeli army systematically attacked the targeted individuals while they were in their homes — usually at night while their whole families were present — rather than during the course of military activity. According to the sources, this was because, from what they regarded as an intelligence standpoint, it was easier to locate the individuals in their private houses. Additional automated systems, including one called “Where’s Daddy?” also revealed here for the first time, were used specifically to track the targeted individuals and carry out bombings when they had entered their family’s residences.
You know the old maxim, “If you want something done right, then do it yourself.”
Or, if you can’t do it all by yourself, then connect with a powerhouse group of dear friends who all share a common vision and do it together. It’s a lot more fun that way to work with highly competent friends who all want to work for the same goals.
This is the origin story of a new group that I am a part of that is creating a new podcast dealing with the violent, tragic — now genocidal — relationship existing between Israel and the Palestinian people.
The group’s name is “Christian Forum on Israel-Palestine.” Posted below is our first video were we introduce ourselves and briefly explain what we hope to accomplish in the coming months.
We are currently making arrangements to interview an important Israeli historian and activist (I will keep his name a secret for now) who will offer an insightful, vital introduction to the history of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
If you want to know who he is, then be sure to subscribe and come back!
I urge you to visit our YouTube page and press the subscribe button. You will not want to miss any upcoming conversations.
Here is the channel’s official description:
This channel promotes understanding about Israel-Palestine, by hosting conversations with scholars, activists, and people directly affected by events in the Holy Land. Each episode elevates an important voice, explores contrasting perspectives, and shares insights that we think are urgently needed. We want to challenge stereotypes, dismantle barriers, and humanize everyone involved. Rather than defend a single narrative, we encourage critical thinking and informed engagement with the complexities of Israel-Palestine. Join us as we imagine for the Muslims, Jews, and Christians of Israel-Palestine a future based on justice, equality, anddignity.
This gentleman shares a number of crucial insights into Israel’s manipulation of Holocaust memory, and the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
Both of these guys are friends of mine. I am a member of the discussion group they both mention. Darrell Bock is a Zionist and supporter of Israel. Rob Dalrymple is a non-Zionist and critic of Israel.
Here is a great example of how two brothers in Christ can disagree amicably while holding very different positions on an important subject — Israel’s assault against Gaza.
It makes for a very interesting conversation.
After the video, I make a few comments below to further nuance the conversation in ways that I thought could be helpful.
I notice that Darrell prioritizes Israel’s ostensible, divine right to the land over and above anyone else’s claims to the land as their home. I cannot agree with this decision for a number of reasons, both theological and practical.
Darrell wants to date the beginning of the Gaza trajedy to October 7. This is another example of what I call “APR time,” that is “After Palestinians Respond.” October 7 did not occur in a vacuum. The members of Hamas were responding to a very long history of Israeli antagonism. It was a response — yes, a terrorist response, but a response nonetheless — to Israel’s prior oppression.
The weight of the current problems cannot all be layed at the feet of Hamas. Yes, Hamas is bad news. But these hostilities existed long before Hamas came into the picture. They are now a major factor, but cannot be seen as the principle cause of today’s conflict in Gaza.
I am not a scholar of Hamas, but I will note that the Hamas charter (revised in 2017) does NOT call for the elimination of Israel, as so many seem to believe. You can read the full charter here. I agree with much of it, although I definitely do not endorse Hamas Islamicism. However, for the sake of fairness and honesty, I must point out articles 16 and 20 of the charter: 16. Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity. 20. . . . Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967 . . .
Notice two important points: Hamas condemns Zionism (as do I) NOT Judaism. It is an anti-Zionist movement; it is not promoting antisemitism, per se.
Secondly, the charter calls for a Palestinian state with its western border along the Green Line, the 1967 armistice border separating Israel proper from the West Bank. In other words, they ARE NOT calling for the eradication of all Jews from Palestine. They are calling for the eradication of Zionism from Palestine. As I do. I read these two sections to say that Hamas is calling for the coexistence of a Palestinian state and a non-Zionist Israel side by side. In other words, they are willing to accept a two-state solution.
“From the border to the sea, Palestine will be free” is not an antisemitic slogan. It is an anti-Zionist slogan calling for equal rights, justice and liberty for ALL the people of Palestine, Jews and Palestinians alike. The slogan has nothing to do with ethnic cleansing.
Whether or not you choose to believe Hamas and trust the words of their 2017 charter is a separate question from whether or not we represent them honestly and accurately in our debates. The 2017 charter explicitly contradicts some of the more common, extremist claims made about Hamas by the representatives of Israel and the defenders of political Zionism.
Regular subscribers will recognize Jonathan Kuttab. I have recently posted several interviews featuring my friend.
Here is another where Mr. Kuttab, who was educated partly in America, discusses the errors of evangelical, Christian Zionism and its contributions to the violence in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac is the pastor of the Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Christmas church. He is also a professor at Bethlehem Bible College.
This Christmas Eve, he delivered a power prophetic, gospel-inspired message directed at the western Christian church.
As the Gaza Strip is demolished, its people massacred, and ethnic cleansing continues unabated throughout the West Bank, far too many US evangelicals approve of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
As pastor Isaac says, “Silence is complicity.” Yes, too many remain silent, but even more damnable are the “Christian” voices raised in support of Israel’s war against Gaza because, some how or another, this slaughter is preparing the way for the return of Christ.
There are three things that I know with certainty about following Jesus. Walking with Christ never requires us to sanction, much less to embrace, ignorance, prejudice or bloodshed.
Those now approving of Israel’s genocide are committing all three of these inexcusable sins.
The following clip of Rev. Isaac’s message is 17 minutes long. Please take the time to listen to it in full. We all need to listen, lament, repent, and become activists for peace and justice in the name of Jesus Christ. We can begin by calling for a ceasefire in Gaza:
The following clip is a 12 minute interview with pastor Isaac broadcast by Democracy Now. Listen to him explain how the Palestinian people feel abandoned by the world, the Palestinian church abandoned by their western brothers and sisters. Remember — Gazan churches are being bombed; Gazan Christians are being murdered along with everyone else.
Have we no compassion for the Arabic-speaking family of God trambling in terror, huddled in the ruins of bombed out churches, desperately praying for God’s deliverance?
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac is a professor at Bethlehem Bible College as well as the pastor at the bethlehem Lutheran Christmas church. Terry and I often worship at this church whenever we are in the West Bank.
Pastor Isaac understands that now is the time for a prophetic word addressed to the western church. He declares hard truths powerfully.
He is a Christian leader speaking to his fellow believers in the western Church — a Church that largely approves of Israel’s current campaign of destruction against his people. How can this be?
