Tag: Israel

Another Brave Editorial from Gideon Levy on Israeli Apartheid, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy has become the journalistic conscience of Israel.  And he continues to receive regular death threats as a result.

Rep. Tlaib, with family, being sworn in as a Congresswoman

His column today applauds the bravery of Reps. Tlaib and Omar in continuing to unmask the oppressive, undemocratic, and racist nature of Israel. And, ominously, the death threats against Tlaib, Omar and their families continues to rise, as well.

Levy’s piece is entitled, “Tlaib and Omar Make Things Clear About South Africa’s Successor.”

Of course, Israel is the “successor” to South African apartheid.

Below is an excerpt. You can read the entire article, complete with an

Rep. Omar, with her family, being sworn in as a Congresswoman

embedded video interview with Tlaib’s grandmother, here.

“Two American lawmakers helped reveal the truth about Israel to their country and the world. Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar should be thanked for this. And President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in their own way, helped uncover the truth. They are also to be thanked. The two of them, who banned the two legislators from entering Israel, saved us from another false representation.

“After all the human rights activists who have been barred from entering Israel, it took the ban on two American congresswomen to show that Israel is one of the only countries in the world that turns visitors away based on political views or opposition to a country’s regime.

“The Zionist left did its part as well. Stav Shaffir and Tamar Zandberg were distraught over the “damage to Israel’s image” that would be caused, so they advised the government on how to keep defrauding the world and claim that there is no apartheid while there is indeed democracy. Shaffir, who called Netanyahu a coward – he’s certainly far less a coward – wanted to explain to her American colleagues the “complexities of the conflict,” that wretched expression that serves the cowardly Zionist left, whose members love to use it to obscure the loss of their way and the clear fact that nothing is complex about apartheid.

“No one thought that the situation in South Africa was complex but the white nationalists and their sympathizers. Neither should anyone around the world make a mistake and think this about South Africa’s successor. Black-white, occupier-occupied – it’s not complex at all…

“These two courageous members of Congress, one from Minnesota and one from Michigan, have challenged the people in Israel who declare themselves against the occupation. Were these Israelis shocked by the entry ban because of damage to Israel’s image, or because of the representatives’ determination to work against Israel? Are they only declaring opposition to the occupation, or do they support activists like Tlaib and Omar and other BDS sympathizers?

“Israel almost beat them. Happily, Tlaib came to her senses and didn’t fall into the trap. The shameful proposal to let her visit her grandmother is a manifestation of colonialism: depoliticizing the Palestinian issue, transforming it from a national matter into a humanitarian one, and then portraying the occupation as merciful.”

What U.S. Politicians on the AIPAC Trip to Israel Will Never Learn, And Why Reps. Tlaib and Omar Were Right to Boycott It

The city of Ramallah is the provisional capital of the Palestinian state.  It is located in the West Bank region designated as Area A.

Supposedly, Area A is under the autonomous control of the Palestinian Authority.  Israeli propaganda says that the people living in this area have complete autonomy without the interference of Israeli forces.

Zionist literature, included ALL of the Christian Zionist work that I am reading these days, label Palestinian protesters against Israel as unappreciative, recalcitrant dead-enders who rebel simply because they hate Jews.

The proof, they say, is the supposed freedom and independence Palestinians have been granted by Israel throughout the West Bank in communities designated as part of Area A.

In other words, why else would Palestinians who have been granted their freedom continue to protest against good-natured Israel?  Obviously, they must be ungrateful anti-Semites.

Below is a video of Israeli soldiers harassing and firing tear-gas at a non-violent march of Palestinians near the city of Ramallah in Area A.

Check it out:

This confrontation between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians is something that politicians on a tour of Israel sponsored by AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) — such as the one recently boycotted by Reps. Omar and Tlaib — would never be allowed to see.

Forty-on Democrats and thirty-one Republicans participated in the most recent trip, sponsored annually by AIPAC.

Thankfully, the trip was boycotted by Reps. Omar and Tlaib because they know better.  These women know the truth about Israel.

Israeli public relations people sponsor these tours in order to repeat their government propaganda:

“Nothing to see here in Area A. These people are autonomous and independent. They live in freedom.  Disturbances are addressed by Palestinian police. Israeli soldiers are not allowed here.”

And this smiling gaggle of American doofuses, masquerading as

U.S. politicians being indoctrinated by Zionist propaganda on AIPAC sponsored tour of Israel

knowledgeable politicians, will then return home more ignorant and ill-informed about the plight of the Palestinian people than when they accepted a free trip to Israel from AIPAC.

And they will repeat these lies to their constituents, many of whom  are misguided Christian Zionists, about Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

The fact is, there is no place in the West Bank, Gaza or the state of Israel where Palestinians are truly free. They do not enjoy civil rights or genuine equality anywhere that is controlled by the Israeli government.

As you watch the video notice that the only people carrying weapons are the Israeli soldiers.  All of the Palestinians are unarmed. I have never seen any Palestinians carrying weapons at any of the protest marches I have attended in the West Bank.

I recognize one of the marchers as a friend of mine who is unwaverlingly committed to non-violence.

Some months ago he was released from an Israeli prison.

He had been arrested for the horrible crime of protesting the all-too common imprisonment of Palestinian children by the Israeli military.  He dared to stand in public with a home-made sign objecting to the arrest of 17 year-old  Ahed Tamimi for the dangerous act of slapping an Israeli soldier.

A soldier, by the way, who had just finished shooting one of her cousins in the head.

My friend’s arrest for protesting occurred in another section of Area A, where — the Israeli government assures us — the Palestinian people are free.

 

McDonald’s Takes a Stand and Boycotts the West Bank

Below is an excerpt from Gideon Levy’s latest article in the Israeli daily, Haaretz.  His piece is entitled “Thanks McDonald’s for Reminding Israel There is a Green Line, Even a Red Line.”

“McDonald’s presents: a model hamburger. It doesn’t appear on the menu and the company obscures its ingredients, but it’s clearly the flagship item – a boycott of the settlements. There are no Big Macs in Ariel and there will be no McRoyales in Efrat.

“The right is now demanding that this traitorous company be barred from opening a branch at Ben-Gurion Airport. A group called the Disabled Veterans’ Forum for Israel’s Security posted warning signs this week at the entrance to the company’s restaurants in Tel Aviv, modeled after the warning signs that tell Israelis not to enter the Palestinian Authority. It terms the McDonald’s boycott of the settlements “a disgraceful decision” and is urging a boycott of the company.

“That’s what happens to a hamburger that seeks to raise its head and do more than just sell an extra-large portion, that chooses to heed its conscience and not just be a hamburger.

“McDonald’s is a senior partner in the crimes of the meat industry and the holocaust of animals. It’s a symbol of globalization and capitalism. Its products are harmful to people’s health and the environment, and it doesn’t let its workers unionize.

“Nevertheless, we must now applaud its policy, which dates back to 2013, when its Israeli franchisee, Omri Padan, opposed opening a branch in Ariel. People of morality must therefore contemptuously cross through the warning signs that the right has posted at the chain’s branches and demonstratively buy a green salad with corn sticks as an act of support for the company’s courage and determination. It must not suffer because it took a step very few companies are willing to take, but that all companies should have taken long ago.

“The company’s official explanation may seem evasive, but it goes to the heart of the matter: “Alonyal [the franchisee] never had a license to open branches in the West Bank.” Boom. There is a Green Line. There’s even a red line.

“It’s true this separation is artificial, and it’s been dead for a long time already. It’s ridiculous to boycott the settlement of Itamar but not Tel Aviv, which funds it, guards it and legalizes its crimes.

“Nevertheless, McDonald’s has issued a resounding statement: The West Bank and Gaza aren’t here. It has said yes to Israel, no to the occupation, which counts for more than 1,000 protest signs at a demonstration. The franchisee never had a license in a piece of land to which Israel also never had a license…

“…Hamburger joints aren’t moral leaders. McDonald’s merely said what should have been self-evident to every commercial company: The franchisee for Israel isn’t necessarily the franchisee for the colonies of the occupation. Many Israeli and international companies ought to follow in its footsteps. Just as every law-abiding company has an obligation not to traffic in stolen property, so too it must not operate on stolen land.

“And there’s no other way to define the occupied territories and the settlements built there in violation of international law except as crime zones. Can a law-abiding company set up a legitimate business in Ofra, a settlement in which more than half the houses are built on privately owned land that was stolen by force from its legal owners? This bears no connection to ideology, or even morality, but only to operating within the law.”

Why My Posts Have Recently Become More Erratic

Perhaps you always thought my posts were erratic (…which reminds me of a story: back in the days when I was working with college students, I once met a young woman for coffee who asked me to define the word erotic. I thought this a bit odd, but answered her question and then asked one of my own.  Why do you ask?  “Oh,” she said. “I was trying to explain an idea to one of my professors. I was getting flustered and said, ‘Sorry, sometimes my thoughts become so erotic.’ I didn’t understand why he blushed and walked away.”  Ok. End of story.)

Even if you have always thought my postings were erratic – yes, I have erotic notions too, but I will never share them here with you – I feel the need to explain why they are now more erratic than usual.

I am trying to work diligently on my current book project, which means less time is available for blogging.  I will continue to post my occasional thoughts on theology, politics, world affairs and the church for you, my readers, who, for some odd reason, find my thoughts worth considering.

But, at least for the time being, the majority of my time will go to a new book addressing the damaging contributions made to the Israel-Palestine conflict by the advocates of Christian Zionism in the American church.

The book will have three interwoven streams of argument.

The first will discuss the history of Zionism and its implementation in Israel. The second will tell a few of the many heartbreaking stories I have personally encountered during my visits to the West Bank and Israel. The third will open up the Bible and explain how Christian Zionists (i.e. Christians who believe that modern Israel is God’s chosen nation) misinterpret Scripture with disastrously immoral consequences.

I am now working on chapter 4 (of a projected 12). After completing the first chapter that includes a personal story of Palestinian suffering, I sent a copy to my friends in the West Bank for their review. I have promised them that I will not publish anything personal without their approval.

So, after writing the story of a friend who was shot in the face, for no particular reason, by an Israeli soldier, I sent off the first draft.

Below is a short excerpt from his response:

You have presented a summary of our plight in the strongest way ever… It’s heart felt with facts and legal dimensions. It’s not biased with empty weak claims, but in defense of justice and humanitarian rights that’s rightfully presented. You made my soul cry and screaming…enough injustice…How the world is really blindfolded intentionally and unintentionally… I could never present our case any better…. thank you, brother…

Completing this book is my mission right now. It is one small thing that I can do. It may not be much, but just think of how different the world could be if everyone did the one small thing that they alone could do to improve the lives of others who were suffering.

I won’t disappear altogether, but I felt the need to tell everyone what I am up to.

My blog’s home page tells me that I have 485 subscribers. I find that hard to believe, to tell you the truth. I suspect that someone at Bluehost is pulling my leg. But I do appreciate those of you who actually exist out there is cyberspace and take the time to look at what I write.

I am extremely blessed. Yet, every day my blessings remind me of the unjust suffering endured by others whom Terry and I dearly love in the land of Palestine.

I am incensed at the way American Christians can use the Bible and theology to excuse the blatant oppression of an entire group of people. As I work my way through volumes of Christian Zionist literature I must periodically stop and take a break so as not to give myself a coronary.

Healthy theological debate is always worthwhile. But there is nothing healthy about any theology that teaches us, no matter how inadvertently, not to care about others.

No follower of Jesus Christ is ever justified, no matter what his/her theological argument may be, in siding with the strong against the weak; in enabling the powerful to exploit the powerless; in blessing the oppressors standing upon the neck of the oppressed; in using God’s word as a cover-story for murder, racial discrimination, and ethnic cleansing.

So, I’ve got to complete this task while I can.

Thank you for understanding.

The Poverty Stricken People of Gaza Continue to Threaten Israel’s Existence

Rockets have been fired from Gaza and Israel again worries about its imminent destruction…

Now for a word of sanity from Gideon Levy. His latest article is “The Gaza Ghetto Uprising.” You can read the article by clicking on the title above or take in the excerpt below:

“Everything is completely disconnected from context and reality, intentionally and willfully. Half a week after Holocaust Remembrance Day,  the knowledge that 2 million people have been locked up more than 12 years behind barbed wire in a giant cage doesn’t remind Israel of anything and doesn’t arouse anything. Half a week before Independence Day, the struggle for freedom and independence of another people is perceived as murderous terror for no reason.

“Even the desperate attempt to prevent the brink of starvation is perceived as greed; the effort to somehow impart the appearance of a holiday in the holiest month of the year is depicted as extortion. That’s how low the brainwashing goes and no one protests. Everyone accepts it with a shrug.  Anyone who doubts how hollow and destructive the inculcation of the Holocaust is in Israel should look at the responses in Israel to this Gaza Ghetto Uprising. Anyone who ignores the reality in Gaza or tries to deny its disaster has learned nothing.

“Gaza is a ghetto and what’s happening in the south is a ghetto uprising. There’s no other way to describe it. You can make claims against Hamas but you can’t make any claims against Gaza. It’s fighting for its freedom and no struggle is more just than its struggle, and Hamas is its leader.

“The countdown to Hamas’ death has already begun: Only seven more months until the UN report, until Gaza is unfit for human habitation. But Israel yawns and its spokespeople only know how to tout “deterrence,” that monster we’ve created to justify every killing, closure and bout of destruction, as we lie ourselves to death that there’s something to deter 2 million unemployed, desperate, humiliated people, some of whom are hungry or dying for lack of medical care, and all of whom are locked up…

“A country that is established on the memory of the ghettos, which only a few days ago sanctified that memory, hides its face from the much larger ghetto that it built with its own hands and doesn’t want to see, one hour from the center of that country. A country that was established in a bloody struggle will not recognize the justness of the struggle of another people and wonders whether that people even exists. A society that considers itself exemplary, which was established on the world’s indifference to its suffering, shows monstrous heartlessness to the suffering it is causing…”

Israeli Soldiers Shoot, Nearly Kill, An Unarmed Shepherd Boy

The Palestinian teenager was handcuffed and blind-folded, thrown to the ground.  When he tried to stand a soldier shot him and hit a major artery in his right leg.

He began to run. He was shot a second time, again with live ammunition.

Fortunately, a neighbor filmed the entire event. You can see for yourself in this Ha’aretz article.

The ever vigilant Gideon Levy has a follow-up account, giving more detail in today’s edition of Ha’aretz. Y0u can read the entire piece here, or check out the excerpt below:

“It all started last Thursday with a road accident in which Fatima Suleiman, a local teacher, was killed. Lately most of the access roads to the village have been blocked by the IDF, leaving one entrance, which opens dangerously onto the main road. That’s where Suleiman was killed. Osama Hajajeh attended the funeral, along with most of Tuqu’s residents, who are angry about their village being choked off by roadblocks. After the funeral, the young people went to demonstrate, some of them by throwing stones at military vehicles.

“Suddenly Hajajeh, a shepherd boy who had never been arrested, felt someone grabbing him from behind and throwing him to the ground. Between the olive trees, soldiers from the IDF unit had laid an ambush for the stone throwers. There were four to six soldiers, and after hurling the boy to the ground they handcuffed him behind his back, blindfolded him and began to drag him toward their jeep. At one point he remained kneeling on the ground, a soldier standing over him. The ground was thorny, Hajajeh relates now, from his hospital bed, so at one point he tried to get up for a minute and shake off the thorns. He now tells us, contrary to the published reports, that he had no intention of escaping – only to stand up. “How would I escape? With hands bound behind me and blindfolded?” he asks.

“The moment he stood up, a shot rang out. He says he didn’t feel anyone trying to grab him before the shot was fired at him. The bullet hit him in the right leg. Frightened to death, Hajajeh started to flee for his life. He didn’t yet feel pain in the leg, he says now, but he knew he was wounded. He had stumbled only a few steps before the second shot came, the bullet slamming into his left leg. Both shots struck him in the thigh, by the groin, but the second one hit a major blood vessel. He collapsed to the ground.

“He didn’t black out, but in the video clip he looks stunned. He remembers only that the woman from the village who reached him – also a teacher – removed his blindfold as he lay there.

“Ali-Mohammed Hajajeh, a construction worker of 47 with six other children – Osama is the third oldest – is a smiling man who understands that his son’s life was saved almost by a miracle. Osama remembers lying on the ground as the soldiers fired tear gas and brandished rifles at anyone who approached and tried to get him out of there. He was finally placed in the car of a village resident who rushed him to the local clinic; from there a Palestinian ambulance took him to the hospital. About half an hour passed from the moment he was wounded until he was evacuated.”

Hear the Gazan People Explain Their Protests

The Electronic Intifada posted an article yesterday where young men and women participating in the ongoing Day of Return Marches along the Gaza Imprisonment Fence explain why they continue to face down Israeli bullets week after week.

The article is entitled, “Why We Protest.” Click on the title for the entire article or read the excerpt below:

It is always important to listen to the ways in which others explain themselves, their actions and their attitudes.

When it comes to understanding Israel and Palestine, this is especially important because the Western media rarely tells the entire story, substituting Israeli government talking-points for real investigation.

The worst source of information, in this regard, is Christian media. Listening to the so-called “expert analysis” provided by Christian newscasters always makes me want to scream, shout, and pull my hair out because they are no different than the mainstream when it comes to mindlessly repeating the propaganda fed to them by Israel’s government.

Here are the typical explanations for why thousands of Gazan residents gather every week, offering up their bodies for Israeli army target practice:

  1. The vast majority of the Gazan’s who march are Hamas terrorists seeking to destroy Israel.
  2. Hamas completely controls the marches, directing everyone who participates.
  3. Israel is only defending its southern border from a hoard of would-be, foreign invaders who want to enter the country illegally. (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)
  4. The Palestinian Authority from the West Bank is trying to take control of Gaza away from Hamas so the people are out to defend Hamas.

Yes, I have heard each of these ignorant and utterly false “explanations” expressed by some Christian “expert” providing his/her insights into the “Palestinian problem” on Christian radio.

You can also read them all in any number of Christian news magazines, both in print and online.

However, I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that not a single one of these pontificators has every been inside of Gaza, or lived with a Gazan family, or interviewed any of the people who brave the live ammunition and tear gas shot at them by Israeli soldiers week after week.

How often do these spokespeople for Christian media let their audience hear, first hand, the words and the voices of the people who are being killed and wounded week after bloody week?  Never.

Folks, this is not journalism.  Nor is it Christian.

God’s people are supposed to care about Truth. If we care about the truth, then facts matter. If we want to know the facts, then we have to engage the people who are actually involved. We have to do research. We have to investigate. We have to listen to all sides, AND be open to hearing things we never expected. We have to be even-handed. We must be willing to change our minds. We’ve got to be willing to admit that we have been wrong, that we misunderstood. We have to stop repeating the things that others tell us to believe and learn to think for ourselves.

More than that, we must be ready to repent, to confess our past errors. We must speak Truth to Power as we Speak Up for those who suffer, who are marginalized and ignored.

We have got to call sin sin, identify evil as evil, and condemn atrocities even when committed by those we call friends.

Here are only two of the stories from this article:

“More than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the launch of the Great March of Return along Gaza’s boundary with Israel on 30 March 2018.

“Palestinians participating in the protest series are demanding their right to return to the lands on the other side of the boundary from which their families were expelled decades earlier.

“Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee.

“Protesters are also calling for an end to Israel’s land, sea and air blockade on Gaza, now in its 12th year, which has plunged the territory into poverty and despair.

“Mohammed Zaanoun, a member of the Activestills photo collective, has documented the Great March of Return since its beginning.

“Here protesters tell their stories and explain why they come back to the boundary week after week, despite Israel’s brutal crackdown.

Husam, 25, from Khan Younis, southern Gaza

“Last Friday, when I had the Palestinian flag painted on my face, I was hit by a gas canister directly in my back. I was badly injured and transferred to a hospital. I’m now being treated at home. I wish to recover so I can go [back to the protests] next Friday.

“Despite the killings and the injuries, I am still going. I think I will keep participating even if it lasts for nine years, not just nine months. One of the worst things I’ve seen was one of the Fridays during which about 60 people were killed, when they [soldiers] were killing youth randomly and shooting towards heads and legs. It was a horrific day. I felt like I was in a nightmare.

“It was so hard when I could not save one of my comrades who was bleeding on the ground after being injured by an Israeli sniper, and then he died. I can’t understand how they can kill unarmed people.

“After nine months, the world is still not doing anything. We need them to stand with us and to stop the killing of the unarmed youth by the occupying forces…

Aya, 21, from Gaza City

“I participate because it is our duty to demand our full rights, as the Palestinian people, despite the killing and the injuries. This is the march of a nation.

“I ask Avichay Adraee [the Israeli army spokesperson who advised Palestinian women on Twitter that it was best for them to stay at home] to sit next to his wife instead of spreading foolish speech. I have witnessed so many scenes of children being killed and the targeting of women, medics and the press. My oldest sister was seriously wounded but thank God she survived and she returned to the protest again. After all that time, the Return march continues and will not stop.

“I wish that the world would stop the oppression of the occupation and the killing of innocent, unarmed people. The difficult thing in my life is that I’m looking for a future amid the darkness. I wish to live in a society like any other Arab or Western society where there are no wars or killings, only justice, equality, love and peace….”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naturally, many folks (including many Christians) will accuse these people of lying. They will say, in effect, that they are not worth believing…

But why? Because they are Palestinians?

Are Palestinians not capable of telling the truth? Are they not able to think for themselves, to make up their own minds?

Such popular accusations of lying or serving as useful Hamas stooges not only express the crudest form of racism, they also reveal that the one expressing such foolishness has never put his/her life on the line for a heartfelt conviction.

How many people do you know who are willing to die for something they know is a lie?

U.S. Media Ignores Israeli Chants for Genocide While Condemning Legitimate Criticism of Pro-Zionist Lobby Groups

I am offering this post to highlight the stark contrast that exists between the way U.S. news outlets cover criticism of Israel (think of Rep. Ilhan Omar) vs. the way it covers, or fails to cover, truly horrific, racist events in Israel itself.

The difference is telling.

The events described in the article below occurred in 2016.  Think back two

A large anti-Palestinian rally in Tel Aviv. The sign says, Kill Them All

years ago. Can you remember hearing a news story describing these anti-Palestinian rallies in Tel Aviv?

Compare the number of times you’ve heard a public figure suggest that Ilhan Omar is an anti-Semite with the number of similar condemnations you’ve heard of these despicable Israeli demonstrations.

The article was written by Whitney Webb, a reporter for Mint Press News. She describes an anti-Palestinian rally in Tel Aviv, Israel.  The article is entitled, “Thousands of Israelis Take to the Streets Calling for Palestinian Genocide.”

Israel in 2016 was no different than it is today. No, I take that back. Israel in 2019 may be worse.

While mainstream America, including too many of our politicians, are ready to muzzle Israel’s critics, a sizeable portion of Israeli citizens publicly advocate racist violence against Palestinians.

So, which is the more “dangerous” type of speech?  Ilhan Omar’s criticism of the power of pro-Zionist lobbying groups in D.C.?  Or large public rallies in Israel calling for the genocide of the Palestinian people?

You can read the entire article by clicking on the title above.  I also provide an excerpt below:

“Israeli government concern over recent violence has led them to arrest Palestinians for social media content that could potentially lead to crimes. So far, 145 Palestinians have been arrested this year for ‘pre-crime’ via social media ‘incitement.’ This practice eventually led to a collaboration between Facebook and the Israeli government, whose joint effort to curb social media ‘incitement’ has led to the banning of several Facebook accounts of Palestinian journalists and news agencies.

“However, social media, as well as mainstream Western media, have failed to condemn Israeli ‘incitement’ against Palestinians, a practice that is surprisingly

Another anti-Palestinian rally in Israel, photographed by Dan Cohen, a Jewish-American journalist. The crowd was chanting, Death to Arabs.

common considering the little to no attention it receives. Often these anti-Palestinian posts, pictures, and rallies are rife with calls for genocide, with cries of ‘Death to the whole Arab nation’ and ‘Kill them all’ surprisingly common.

“Even the Times of Israel ran an op-ed article about ‘When Genocide is Permissible’ in reference to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Though the post was eventually taken down, it points to an all-too-common and dangerous mentality that social media, the Israeli government, and Western media ‘conveniently’ ignore.

“An Israeli news agency even put the then-suspected preferential treatment to the test and found that Facebook and the Israeli authorities treated calls for revenge from Palestinians and Israelis very differently.

“Even massive rallies calling for Palestinian genocide have been ignored entirely by social media and the corporate press. Earlier this year in April, a massive anti-Palestinian rally took place in Tel Aviv where thousands called for the death of all Arabs. The rally was organized to support an Israeli soldier who killed an already-wounded Palestinian by shooting him execution-style in the head…

“A Jewish reporter at the scene remarked that it seemed ‘more like a celebration of murder than anything.’ Despite the obvious animosity and incitement made evident at the rally, it isn’t difficult to imagine what the response would have been if this has been a pro-Palestinian rally calling for the deaths of Jews. The stark divide between what is permissible for Palestinians and what is permissible for Israelis should concern us all as the widespread bias of social media, the press, and many governments threaten to blind us from the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Christian Nationalism is Not Only Un-American, It Is Anti-God’s Kingdom

Perhaps you heard about the controversy stirred by Rep. Stephanie Borowicz’s recent (March 25) opening prayer in the Pennsylvania state legislature.  If you haven’t watched it yet, take a look below:

Personally, I hesitate to describe this exhibition as a prayer.  It’s more a sermon, or a spiritual rant.

Was it an accident that Rep. Borowicz chose to “pray” in this way on the very day that Pennsylvania’s first Muslim-American legislator was being sworn into office? If you believe that, then I’ve got some Florida swamp land to sell you, real cheap.

I don’t doubt that Rep. Borowicz sincerely believed that she was offering a necessary Christian witness when she stepped up front and spoke as she did. But that is no excuse for her colossal mangling of an opportunity, her deliberate insult to a new colleague, or the anti-Biblical ideology of Christian Nationalism woven throughout her speech.

Doesn’t she make friends with her colleagues? Doesn’t she show them love and respect, getting to know about their personal lives? Doesn’t she speak with them individually about the work Jesus has performed in her own life?

Rep. Movita Johnson Harrell, Pennsylvania’s first Muslim legislator

Wouldn’t she communicate more effectively on a one-to-one basis, in personal conversation?  Was this all for the benefit of the camera?

Finally, I am convinced that the brand of Christian Nationalism expressed in her prayer is one of the most significant impediments to the church’s witness today. No, Rep. Borowicz, America is not and never has been a “Christian nation,” raised upon the shoulders of exclusively Christian founders.

Neither is America’s “greatness” a product of the blind, unthinking support we give to the racist state of Israel.

Andrew Seidel has a good article at Religion Dispatches entitled, “Penn. Legislators Jaw-Dropping Prayer Showcases America’s Christian Nationalism Problem.”

I have excerpted a portion below:

“The prayer was jaw-dropping—literally. Watch Speaker Turzai, who introduced Borowicz. As she begins, his jaw drops, and then it drops again. By the end, he’s shooing her off the dais.

“This was 103 seconds of sectarian division and proselytizing and it speaks for itself: ‘at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, Jesus, that you are Lord.’

“That Borowicz meant for the prayer to intimidate non-Christians seems self-evident. It’s probably less clear to many observers that Borowicz’s prayer is also a symptom of the virulent strain of Christian nationalism under which America is suffering.

Christian nationalism is a political theology that claims we’ve “forgotten . . . God in our country,” as Borowicz said, and that we must return to that golden age of the American founding. This is wrong.

“The Founding Fathers chose to keep state and church separate precisely because religion is divisive and they were seeking to build a pluralistic nation. They didn’t build that nation or secure our freedom with theology or prayer, but with a Constitution that draws its power from We the People, not We the Christians.

“Religion only unites believers of the same stripe, it excludes all others and often calls for worse. An early Wisconsin Supreme Court justice put it eloquently: “There is no such source and cause of strife, quarrel, fights, malignant opposition, persecution, and war, and all evil in the state, as religion. Let it once enter our civil affairs, our government would soon be destroyed.” Borowicz’s proselytizing prayer is a perfect illustration of the division religion sows when mixed with our government.

“Brimming with sectarian arrogance and division, it was easy to miss the outright errors in Borowicz’s prayer: ‘God, for those that came before us like George Washington at Valley Forge and Abraham Lincoln who sought after you in Gettysburg, Jesus, and the Founding Fathers in Independence Hall, Jesus, that sought after you and fasted and prayed for this nation to be founded on Your principles in Your words and Your truth.’

“These historical moments were probably meant to be poignant ties to Pennsylvania and American history, but they lacked ties to reality, history, and nuance.

“For instance, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is typically rendered to include the phrase, ‘…that this nation, under God, shall…’ But history is a bit more nuanced, and unclear. Lincoln’s first two versions of the speech, written by Lincoln himself, don’t include the ‘under God’ and we cannot say for certain that he added those words during the speech itself.

“Borowicz’s other two examples are clear: Neither happened. Washington did not pray in the snow at Valley Forge and the delegates at the Constitutional Convention did not fast or pray. These are invented myths, not historical moments.”

Finally, I’d bet my bottom dollar that Rep. Stephanie Borowicz is a product of home-schooling, and that is where she first learned, not American history, but the American mythology embedded in her legislative lecture.

Question: does God respond to prayer requests based on myths?

In Israel Fascism Can Smell Like Democracy

Perhaps you have heard about the strange campaign ad recently released by Israel’s Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked. It describes her favorite perfume

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked

called Fascism. But she believes it smells like Democracy.

I am posting a copy of the ad with accompanying English translation below.  Take a look:

 

Throughout her political career, Shaked has objected whenever the Supreme Court has (periodically) defended the civil rights of Israel’s Palestinian citizens.

She despises “liberal” activists who condemn Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and described all Palestinians as inherently violent people who deserve to be eradicated.

She was a prominent advocate for Israel’s recently approved Jewish Nation-State Law which explicitly defines Israel as a state of, for and by Jews and Jews alone.

In other words, Shaked’s ad is mocking anyone who fails to understand what has, in fact, always been the truth about Israel — Israel’s political Zionism provides democracy for its Jewish population and no one else.

At least Shaked has the cajones to discard political double-speak. Unlike most politicians, she says what she means.

George Orwell once wrote that “political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Nothing embodies Orwell’s maxim on the political abuse of language more graphically than Zionism’s stranglehold on the definition of “acceptable discourse” concerning Israel.

Take, for instance, Israel’s insistence on referring to itself as the only democracy in the Middle East.

Shaked believes in that lie as much as any successful politician in Israel. It’s a given.  What sets her apart however is her willingness to say what she actually means, what in fact every Zionist politician means by those words.

Israel has never been a democracy for all its citizens. But that stark reality has always been obscured by the smoke and mirrors of Zionist propaganda and its successful redefinition of words like democracy.

Shaked, on the other hand, is a rare phenomenon:  she is an honest Zionist.

She has publicly declared that if genuine democracy (e.g. equal treatment for everyone before the law) happens to threaten Zionist Israel’s status as an exclusively Jewish state populated and governed by a Jewish majority (which it certainly does), then Israel must give up its pretense of democracy.

That is the point of her ad.  And, even though few will admit to it, that is why her ad has caused such a stir within Israel and around the world.

Shaked is not playing the traditional Zionist word-games.  And for that, at least, I admire her.

She presents the ugly face of political Zionism for what it is: a mask.

It may be a lovely mask for Israel’s Jewish majority – just as Shaked could be a model if she wanted a new career – but for Israel’s Palestinian minority, Zionism has always meant fascism.