I need hardly say that I’m still reeling from the dreadful news from London yesterday. What follows has to do with moral clarity over terrorism, so I make no apology for posting on my usual topic today.
A favourite theme of anti-Israeli propaganda is that Palestinian children are being killed in much greater numbers than Israeli children (160 and 8 respectively in 2004, according to one source). Well, the (comparatively) low figure on the Israeli side might just have something to do with the hated security barrier. As for the Palestinian children, here’s one more to add to the stats – a young lad shot dead just because he was going through that difficult shooting at worshippers phase.
A word to Christian Aid, who, so a little electronic bird tells me, seem to have been nosing around Christian Hate? just lately (you’re very welcome). I imagine your partners in the Palestinian Centre for Human (meaning Palestinian) Rights will be logging this as another unprovoked human rights violation. Myself, I’d say that on the evidence to hand the primary responsibility for this boy’s senseless death rests with the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (just as the primary responsibility for the carnage in London does not rest with Tony Blair). Care to leave a comment?
Finally a couple of links for anyone needing an antidote to today's Guardian and Independent: here is the latest from Norman Geras, and here is Mr Grumpy (suspected by some of being Hyde to Cyrus's Jekyll).
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6 comments:
Much Christian criticism of Israel involves Marcionism/Palestinian
Replacement Theology, not Israel's alleged sins. See "Replacement
Theology Redux: A Self-destructive amalgam of Jew hatred and Christian
dhimmitude" by Andrew Bostom ( http://www.orthovox.org/orthovox/03-08bostom.htm ) and "Christians who hate the Jews" by Melanie Phillips ( http://pws.prserv.net/mpjr/mp/sp160202.htm ). Such articles well explain the vehement and visceral character of such critiques.
N.Friedman. I followed your links a few days ago and was ovewhelmed by them. I had actually read Melanie Phillip's article over a year ago but the seriousness of consequences of it which is really now becoming so evident is so frightening.
I thought/hoped that what has been happening was mainly due to ignorance and a lack of information about Israel. But if these people are following an anti-semetic religious dogma then I fear that we are doomed.
I wouldn't expect to encounter replacement theology to any great degree in the mainly liberal Christian circles I move in. But if you have a look on the Christian Aid site you'll find documents that point to two theological influences - on the one hand replacement theology, and on the other hand liberation theology, and specifically a variant called Kairos theology which grew out of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa (hence, I suppose, the enthusiasm for describing Israel as an apartheid state). I think this latter has a great deal of influence on liberals.
These theologies are pretty much mutually exclusive. The frightening thing is that that does not stop their adherents drawing together on an anti-Israel, Islamist-friendly political platform.
And of course we've seen the same unholy alliance at work when Rowan Williams lined up with the appalling Bishop Riah to vote for the disinvestment resolution.
Thanks Cyrus, I'll read up on this. Seems like all the mutually exclusive movements have one thing in common. Their hatred of Israel.
Anita and Cyrus,
The person to read regarding replacement theology as it relates to Islamic politics is Bat Ye'or, an Egyptian Jewish refugee, now British citizen, who lives in Switzerland and writes (and thinks) in French and, most recently, writes in English.
While she is occasionally polemic and while some confuse her, because she does not follow the party line regarding Muslim "tolerance," for a right winger - which she most definitely is not -, her understanding of the noted issue is unequalled, at least so far as I know. Her somewhat conspiratorial toned but remarkable book Eurabia - about how France pushed, with the goal of dominating the Arab regions, European policy to become anti-Israel but in the process brought demographic and cultural changes to Europe which undermine Europe's Western oriented politics and culture - has a truly brilliant chapter on Marcionism.
Note when reading her that she writes and thinks in the French essay style rather than in the anglo-analytical style. In any event, she is the person mentioned in Andrew Bostom's essay.
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