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Christ at the Checkpoint media organiser supports Islamic Jihad terror leader

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Christ at the Checkpoint is implacably hostile to the Messianic world.

First we had Stephen Sizer saying that Messianic Jews in Israel expressing any support for Israel were an “abomination“, and then apologising for it when caught on camera – whilst still blaming the Messianic Jews who called him out on it.

Then we had Stephen Sizer boasting of Richard Harvey’s attending Christ at the Checkpoint, even though Sizer has openly implied that Richard Harvey is a heretic, for his Zionism.

We have also had Ben White smearing Messianic Jews who oppose Christ at the Checkpoint as an “extreme minority“, and also smearing Messianic Jewish pastor Tim Gutmann for expressing theological support for Israel.

Recently, Christ at the Checkpoint  2012 has claimed that concerned Messianic Jews are “undermining” reconciliation efforts.

Let’s meet the man spreading this message.

This is Porter Speakman:

This man is responsible for all the media for Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 – Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, and so forth.  He insists that Christ at the Checkpoint has nothing to do with antisemitism, and respects the Messianic Jewish believers.

He tweeted in support of a known antisemitic terrorist this week:

Hashtagging Khader Adnan: A Global Protest on Twitter by @JalalAK_jojo - http://tinyurl.com/6s38w78#KhaderAdnan

@NoahPollak @DidiRemez Israel is the one turning#KhaderAdnan into a hero by it’s administrative detentions. @CIFWatch #whatsthecharge
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Who is Khader Adnan? He is a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group which attacks Jews. Via CIF Watch, here is a video of Adnan encouraging more Palestinians to become suicide bombers:

Here is a photo of some of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s victims:

Tali Hatuel was just 34, when she was killed by members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose terrorists shot her and her family. She was 8 months pregnant. Her four daughters, Hila (11), Hadar (9), Roni (7) and Merav (2), also died in the attack.

PIJ victims:

Ayelet Shahar Levy, 28, and Hanan Levy, 33, Gad Marasha, 30, of Kiryat Arba; Yonatan Vermullen, 29, of Ben-Shemen, Ayelet Shahar Levy, 28, and Hanan Levy, 33, Ayelet Shahar Levy, 28, and Hanan Levy, 33, yala Levy, 39, of Elyachin; Smadar Levy, 23, of Hadera; Lydia Marko, 63, of Givat Ada; and Sima Menahem, 30, of Zichron Yaakov, Inbal Weiss, 22, of Zichron Ya’akov; Yehiav Elshad, 28, of Tel-Aviv; and Samuel Milshevsky, 45, of Kfar Sava Steven Kenigsberg, 19, of Hod Hasharon, Maharatu Tagana, 85, of Upper Nazareth; Michael Altfiro, 19, of Pardes Hanna; Shimon Edri, 20, of Pardes Hanna; Meir Fahima, 40, of Hadera; Aharon Revivo, 19, of Afula; Alon Goldenberg, 28, of Tel Aviv; Mogus Mahento, 75, of Holon; and Bella Schneider, 53,  Nisan Avraham, 26, David Smirnoff, 22, of Ashdod; Liron Avitan, 19, of Hadera; Avraham Barzilai, 19, of Netanya; Dennis Blumin, 20, of Hadera; Eliran Buskila, 21, of Hadera; Zvi Gelberd, 20 of Hadera; Violetta Hizgayev, 20, of Hadera; Ganadi Issakov, 21, of Hadera; Sariel Katz, 21, of Netanya; Vladimir Morari, 19, of Hadera; Yigal Nedipur, 21, of Netanya; Dotan Reisel, 22, of Hadera; David Stanislavksy, 23, of Netanya; Sivan Wiener, 19, of Holon; Zion Agmon, 50, of Hadera; Adi Dahan, 17, of Afula; Shimon Timsit, 35, of Tel-Aviv, Eliyahu Timsit, 32, of Sderot, Adrian Andres, 30, of Romania; Boris Shamis, 25, of Tel-Aviv; and Xu Hengyong, 39, of China, Moshe Hezkiyah, 21, Ari Weiss, 21, of Ra’anana, Osnat Abramov, 16, of Holon; Indelou Ashati, 54, of Hadera; Liat Ben-Ami, 20, of Haifa; Ofra Burger, 56, of Hod Hasharon; Ilona Hanukayev, 20, of Hadera; Suad Jaber, 23, of Taibe; Iris Lavi, 68, of Netanya; Eliezer Moskovitch, 40, of Petah Tikva; Nir Nahum, 20, of Carmiel; Esther Pesachov, 19, of Givat Olga; Aiman Sharuf, 20, of Ussfiyeh; Sergei Shavchuk, 35, of Afula; Anat Shimshon, 33, of Ra’anana; Sharon Tubol, 19, of Arad, Pedro Magram, 51, of Kfar Sava, and Gastón Perpiñal, 15, of Ra’anana; Madin Grifat, 23, of Beit Zarzir, Dror Weinberg, 38, of Jerusalem; Samih Sweidan, 31, of Arab al-Aramsha; Tomer Nov, 19, of Ashdod; Gad Rahamim, 19, of Kiryat Malachi; Netanel Machluf, 19, of Hadera; Yeshayahu Davidov, 20, of Netanya; Igor Drobitsky, 20, of Nahariya; David Marcus, 20, of Ma’aleh Adumim; and Dan Cohen, 22, of Jerusalem, Yitzhak Buanish, 46; Alexander Zwitman, 26; and Alexander Dohan, 33. Rabbi Yitzhak Arama, 40, Noam Apter, 23, of Shilo; Yehuda Bamberger, 20, of Karnei Shomron; Gavriel Hoter, 17, of Alonei Habashan; and Zvi Zieman, 18, of Reut,  Moshe (Maurice) Aharfi, 60, of Tel-Aviv; Mordechai Evioni, 52, of Holon; Andrei Friedman, 30, of Tel-Aviv; Meir Haim, 74, of Azor; Hannah Haimov, 53, of Tel Aviv; Avi Kotzer, 43, of Bat Yam; Ramin Nasibov, 25, of Tel-Aviv; Mazal Orkobi, 20, of Azor; Ilanit Peled, 32, of Azor; Viktor Shebayev, 62, of Holon; Boris Tepalshvili, 51, of Yehud; Sapira Shoshana Yulzari-Yaffe, 46, of Bat Yam; Lilya Zibstein, 33, of Haifa; Amiram Zmora, 55, of Holon; Igor Zobokov, 32, of Bat Yam. Foreign workers: Krassimir Mitkov Angelov, 32, of Bulgaria; Steven Arthur Cromwell, 43, of Ghana; Ivan Gaptoniak, 46, of Ukraine; Ion (Nelu) Nicolae, 34, of Romania; Guo Aiping, 47, of China; Li Peizhong, 41, of China; Mihai Sabau, 38, of Romania. Zhang Minmin, 53, of China died of her wounds on January 13. Eli Biton, 48, of Moshav Gadish; Shahar Shmul, 24, of Jerusalem Assaf Moshe Fuchs, 21, of Kibbutz Gvat, Kiryl Shremko, 22, of Afula; Hassan Ismail Tawatha, 41, of Jisr a-Zarqa; and Avi Zerihan, 36, of Beit Shean, Assaf Abergil, 23, of Eilat; Udi Eilat, 38, of Eilat; Boaz Emete, 24, of Beit She’an; and Chen Engel, 32, of Ramat Gan, Avner Mordechai, 58, of Moshav Sde Trumot, Mazal Afari, 65, of Moshav Kfar Yavetz Gabriel Uziel, 20, of Givat Ze’ev  Avihu Keinan, 22, of Shilo, Eyal Yeberbaum, 27, and seven-month-old Shaked Avraham, both of Negohot, south of Hebron; Ze’ev Almog, 71, of Haifa, and his wife Ruth Almog, 70; their son Moshe Almog, 43, and grandsons Tomer Almog, 9, and Assaf Staier, 11, all of Haifa; Zvi Bahat, 35, of Haifa; Mark Biano, 29, of Haifa, and his wife Naomi Biano, 25; Hana Francis, 39, of Fassouta; Mutanus Karkabi, 31, of Haifa; Sharbal Matar, 23, of Fassouta; Osama Najar, 28, of Haifa, cook; Nir Regev, 25, of Nahariya; Irena Sofrin, 38, of Kiryat Bialik; Bruria Zer-Aviv, 59, her son Bezalel Zer-Aviv, 30, and his wife Keren Zer-Aviv, 29, with their children Liran, 4, and Noya, 1, all of Kibbutz Yagur. Lydia Zilberstein, 56, George Matar, 59, of Haifa. Alon Avrahami, 21, of Or Yehuda, Adi Osman, 19, of Kfar Sava, and Sarit Schneor-Senior, 19, of Shoham Tali Hatuel, 34, and her daughters - Hila, 11, Hadar, 9, Roni, 7, and Merav, 2 – Adaron Amar, 20,  of Eilat; Aviad Deri, 21, of Maale Adumim; Ofer Jerbi, 21, of Moshav Ben-Zakai; Ya’akov (Zelco) Marviza, 25, of Kibbutz Hama’apil; Kobi Mizrahi, 20, of Moshav Mata; and Eitan Newman, 21, of Jerusalem. Elad Cohen, 20, of Jerusalem; Aiman Ghadir, 24, of Bir Makhsur; Aviv Hakani, 23, of Ashdod; Za’ur (Zohar) Smelev, 19, of Ofakim; and Lior Vishinski, 20, of Ramat Gan. Tal Bardugo, 21, of Jerusalem, Nir Sami, 21, of Jerusalem, and Israel Lutati, 20, Gideon Rivlin, 50, of Ganei Tal, itzhak Buzaglo, 40, of Mishmar Hayarden; Aryeh Nagar, 37, of Kfar Sava; Yael Orbach, 28, of Rehovot; Ronen Reuvenov, 30, of Tel Aviv. Odelia Hubara, 26, of Jerusalem,  Dan Talasnikov, 21, of Nir Galim, Bi Shude, 46, from Jilin province in northeastern China. The Palestinian workers: Salah Ayash Imran, 57, of Khan Yunis, and Muhammed Mahmoud Jaroun, of Khan Yunis. Avi Karouchi, 25, of Beersheba, Yevgeny Reider, 28 of Hermesh Avihai Levy, 17, of Beit Hagai Aviad Mansour, 16, of Otniel, Dana Galkowicz, 22, of Kibbutz Bror Hayil, Dov, 58, and Rachel Kol, 53, of Jerusalem Michael Kaufman, 68, of Hadera; Pirhiya Machlouf, 53, of Hadera; Sabiha Nissim, 66, of Moshav Ahituv; Jamil Qa’adan, 48, of Baka al-Gharbiya; and Ya’acov Rahmani, 68, of Hadera, Genia Poleis, 66, of Hadera Larissa Grishchenko, 38, of Hadera, Haim Amram, 26, of Netanya; Alexandra Garmitzky, 65, of Netanya; Daniel Golani, 45, of Nahariya; Elia Rosen, 38, of Bat Hefer; and Keinan Tsuami, 20, of Petah Tikva. Yosef (Yossi) Shok, 35, of Beit Hagai, Philip Balhasan, 45, of Ashdod; Rozalia Beseneyi, 48, and Piroşca Boda 50, of Romania; Marcel Cohen, 73, of Nice, France; Ariel Darhi, 31, of Bat Yam; Victor Erez, 60, of Givatayim; Binyamin Haputa, 47, of Lod; David Shaulov, 29, of Holon; Lily Yunes, 42, of Oranit. Lior Anidzar, 26, of Tel Aviv. Daniel Wultz, 16, of Weston, Florida (USA).  Eilat residents Emi Haim Elmaliah, 32, Michael Ben Sa’adon, 27, and Israel Zamalloa, 26.  Liran Banai, 20, of Ashkelon, Shimon Mizrahi, 53 of Bat Hefer and Eli Wasserman, 51, of Alfei Menashe Maj. Eliraz Peretz, 32, of Eli and Ilan Sviatkovsky, 21, of Rishon Lezion.

Who will still argue that Christ at the Checkpoint is truly about reconciliation?

Colin Chapman: Hezbollah leader has a “very genuine” spirituality

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Meet antizionist theologian and Hassan Nasrallah fan Colin Chapman, who will speak at Christ at the Checkpoint 2012:

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of Hezbollah.

Nasrallah has called for death to Israel, death to America, the destruction of the West, considers Jews as the enemies of Allah, and glorifies and encourages Islamist martyrdom.

Here’s a compilation of some of his diatribes:

Nasrallah is the leader of Hezbollah, a jihadist group which murders Jews around the world.

Here’s Colin Chapman writing about Nasrallah’s “very genuine” spirituality:

Sheikh Nasrallah is an incredibly charismatic and gifted orator who can hold crowds spellbound for hours (I have often watched him on television) not only by talking politics, but by expounding the Qur’an and communicating a very genuine Shi’ite spirituality.

Chapman also attempts to place Nasrallah’s vile comments about Israel within the context of “Israeli occupation” – a somewhat shakey argument which seems to ignore Hezbollah’s name and charter, the fact that Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, and Hezbollah’s suspected murder of Jews in Argentina in 1994.

Here Chapman has much in common with Ben White, who considers Hezbollah a nationalist rather than an Islamist movement, linking to an article in which Syrian Christian leader Elias Zahlawi encouraged his congregation to:

“Pray for the resistance, pray for Hassan Nasrallah. He is defending justice.”

Neither Colin Chapman or Ben White care to mention how Hezbollah was using Christian villages as shields in its war against Israel. Colin Chapman and Ben White frequently write for Fulcrum about the Middle East.

Chapman’s article on the Israel-Hezbollah war started off comparing Beirut with the Biblical account in Lamentations of the destruction of Jerusalem. Chapman’s is the father of modern UK Christian anti-Zionist movement, and his 1983 book Whose Promised Land? introduced Jewish power theories back into Christianity.

Ben White, meanwhile, has claimed that he understands why some peole are antisemites, and that Israel is to blame for two of the three causes of the rise of antisemitism in Europe.

It is unsurprising that both men will address Christ at the Checkpoint 2012, given that Stephen Sizer is conference organiser:

Christ at the Checkpoint 2010: Hamas and Hezbollah will soften themselves!

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Colin Chapman on Hamas and Hezbollah at CATC 2010:

The Constitution of Hamas and the documents of Hizbollah are uncompromising in the way they state their objectives and the Islamic principles on which they are based. But from my reading of books about these organisations and recent press reports I am sure that there is a strong pragmatic streak in every Islamist leader. In the context of decades of violence in Northern Ireland, the breakthrough came when the British government stopped talking only with the moderates and started drawing the so-called extremists into the negotiations. It is desperately important that the outside world allows the space and time for Islamist ideology to be softened and modified by pragmatism.

Here are some excerpts from the Hamas charter that Chapman refers to:

“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).

[...]

The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised. To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.

[...]

Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. “May the cowards never sleep.”

[...]

The Islamic Resistance Movement consider itself to be the spearhead of the circle of struggle with world Zionism and a step on the road. The Movement adds its efforts to the efforts of all those who are active in the Palestinian arena. Arab and Islamic Peoples should augment by further steps on their part; Islamic groupings all over the Arab world should also do the same, since all of these are the best-equipped for the future role in the fight with the warmongering Jews.

Here is a Hezbollah document on resistance:

When Hizbullah resists in Lebanon against the Zionist Jewish occupation lying heavily on its soil in the South and West Bekaa, it is exercising its legitimate and sacred right that was once exercised by the French and American peoples.

Considering Hizbullah’s resistance to the Zionist Jewish occupation as “terrorism” is a kind of injustice, discrimination besides being a renunciation of the Bill of Human rights and the Charter of the United Nations.

Therefore, we call on the peoples of the world to distinguish between aggression, which is none other than terrorism, and the honest resistance that is the only way to deter the aggression and confront the terrorism resulting from that aggression. Israel is an aggressive entity that practices terrorism; occupation is one of the forms of terrorism. Hizbullah of Lebanon is a popular resisting trend against occupation and terrorism.

What reason do we have to believe Colin Chapman here, over the words of Hamas and Hezbollah?

What evidence do we have of Islamist ideology being, or becoming, pragmatist?

Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 and Abdul Fattah Hamayel

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Arabic news agency Abouna reported in 2010, that Bethlehem governor Abdul Fattah Hamayel was present at the original Christ at the Checkpoint conference.

What do we know about Hamayel? According to Passia.org:

Born in Kufr Malik in 1950; attended Military College in Baghdad; Fateh member and activist, for which he was imprisoned for 17 years in Israeli jails; released in a prisoner exchange in 1985 but re-imprisoned in 1990 and deported to Jordan in 1992; has published Lullabies Behind Bars, a collection of Arabic poetry written while in prison; was allowed to return to Palestine in 1994; served as Fateh Sec.-Gen. in the Ramallah district; was elected PLC member (Fateh) for the Ramallah constituency in the Jan. 1996 elections; member of the PLC Interior and the Budget and Financial Affairs Committees; became a Minister of State without portfolio in the cabinet of PM Mahmoud Abbas on 30 April 2003 (until Oct. 2003).

During this time, Fatah was responsible for multiple terror attacks in Israel.

Hamayel hit the headlines in the UK in 2003, when he admitted to the BBC that the PA funded the terror group, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

As govenor of Bethlehem, Hamayel has since put a man on trial for “slander and defamation”, just for criticising PA medical facilities.

Here is Hamayel praising the murderer of 3 Israelis, Amer Abu Sarhan:

Will Haayel be at Christ at the Checkpoint 2012?

If so, then I wonder if Wayne Hilsden or Evan Thomas will still consider this delightful conference to be about peace and reconciliation.

Messianic Jewish speaker for CATC 2012: “I oppose all forms of anti-Semitism”

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This is hugely significant.

Richard Harvey, a key Messianic Jewish participant in Christ at the Checkpoint 2012, has told the print edition of Israel Today:

My participation doesn’t mean that I agree with all the aims of the conference or the views of the conference organizers. In fact, as I will be saying in my paper, I believe in God’s continuing election of the Jewish people, which includes the Land promises, and oppose all forms of anti-Judaism, anti-Semitism and supersessionism . I am going to meet my Arab brothers and sisters in Christ to talk, listen and pray with them, to seek to model the reconciliation between enemies and the unity that we have in the Gospel.

When the CATC papers are made public following the conference, it will be very straightforward to assess the extent, to which Richard Harvey does assert his opposition to “all forms of anti-Judaism, anti-Semitism and supersessionism.”

It will also be straightforward to see how clear his challenge is, to the Checkpoint 2012 organisers and participants who are responsible for pushing theological antisemitism.

Of course, there are many forms of antisemitism to oppose at Christ at the Checkpoint 2012.

There is Shane Claiborne, who thinks “the cross lost” when Bonhoeffer tried to kill Hitler. CATC 2012 awarded its blogging prize to Keith Giles, who compares Israel with Pharisees who just persecute Christians. CATC 2012 allies with Dr Jim West, who admires Nazi theologian Kittel.

CATC is being organised by Alex Awad, who has previously shared a platform with terrorist reps and a Holocaust denier, and Rev Stephen Sizer, whose writings have recently been scrutinised and critiqued for anti-Jewish racism by Rev Nick Howard in the British magazine Standpoint.

Richard Harvey will have to share a platform with Ben White, who has previously stated:

I do not consider myself an anti-Semite, yet I can also understand why some are.

It seems to me that Richard Harvey has given himself an impossible task – not least because Checkpoint 2012 organiser Sizer appears to see Richard Harvey as a heretic due to his Zionism.

So it is difficult to see how Dr Harvey can oppose “all forms of anti-Semitism” at Checkpoint 2012, without tackling the antisemitism of Christ at the Checkpoint itself.

Shane Claiborne: when Bonhoeffer tried to kill Hitler “the cross lost”

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Meet Christian speaker Shane Claiborne:

“With tears and laughter, Shane Claiborne unveils the tragic messes we’ve made of our world and the tangible hope that another world is possible.”

Claiborne is scheduled to speak at the Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 conference, which Stephen Sizer is organising, and where Ben White is also speaking. The conference will take place next month (March 5-9, 2012).

Here is Claiborne speaking about theology and war. Watch from 02:13, when Claiborne begins speaking about German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s role in the attempt to assassinate Hitler:

“I think even Bonhoeffer was wrong. There’s an interview with Hitler’s secretary in a movie called Blind Spot, and she tells about when the assassination attempt failed, and Hitler was very interestingly protected from the bomb, he was convinced at that point, more than ever before, that God was protecting him and his mission, and he went forward with renewed vigilence like ever before. So I would say on the day that Bonhoeffer did that, the cross lost, and that violence just perpetuated.”

According to Claiborne, when Bonhoeffer tried to assassinate Hitler “the cross lost”.

For many Christians, the cross cannot lose, because there Jesus finally defeated death on the cross. Christ’s sacrifice was the once-and-for-all victory over sin.

But surely, if the cross could lose, it would have “lost” when Hitler began to exterminate Jews and Gypsies, and many other innocent people. If Claiborne is correct, then the cross was winning throughout Hitler’s reign, until someone tried to kill Hitler, when the cross “lost”.

This, combined was Claiborne’s language about Hitler being “very interestingly protected” from the attempt on his life, appears to be very disturbing theology. Claiborne later denounces Hitler’s genocide of Jews as “really really terrible theology” and a “skewed theology” – however, he does not claim that “the cross lost” when Hitler killed Jews, in the way that he claims “the cross lost” when Bonhoeffer tried to put an end to Hitler.

Recently, Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 has been courting the support of Dr. Jim West, an American theologian who admires the Nazi theologian Kittel.

There are many other reasons to be concerned about antisemitism at Christ at the Checkpoint 2012.

Also attending this conference, are American megachurch pastor Joel Hunter, the President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference Samuel Rodriguez, popular US preacher (and former “spiritual adviser” to Bill Clinton) Tony Campolo, and President of the World Evangelical Alliance, Sang-Bok David Kim.

The conference recently awarded its blogging prize to a man named Keith Giles, who has previously stated:

Finally, I would like to ask what the fundamental difference is between today’s secular Jewish nation of Israel and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day? Both reject Christ as the Messiah and persecute Christians in Palestine. Should we support a government, any government, who persecutes our brothers and sisters in Christ?

At the last Christ at the Checkpoint conference in 2010, Lutheran pastor Mitri Raheb argued in a speech that Jews are not native to Palestine:

I’m sure if we were to do a DNA test between David, who was a Bethlehemite, and Jesus, born in Bethlehem, and Mitri, born just across the street from where Jesus was born, I’m sure the DNA will show that there is a trace. While, if you put King David, Jesus and Netanyahu, you will get nothing, because Netanyahu comes from an East European tribe who converted to Judaism in the Middle Ages.

Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 is doing what it can to bring antisemitic theology back into the lifeblood of mainstream Christian theology.

Israel slams award for pastor exposed by the Rosh Pina Project

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In October 2011, RPP broke the story of Mitri Raheb’s racist theory about Jewish blood, espoused during a paper which he delivered at Christ at the Checkpoint. Since then, our research was highlighted by the Hudson Institute and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The state of Israel has now seen fit to comment on Pastor Raheb’s conduct.

Now in February 2012, the Jerusalem Post reports:

BERLIN – Israeli Embassy representatives expressed dismay with the decision of a German media NGO and former German president Roman Herzog to honor the Bethlehem- based Rev. Mitri Raheb, because of what they term his efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state’s existence.

Israeli diplomatic sources in Berlin told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that “Raheb is connected to a document – ‘Cairo Palestine’ – that defines Israel as an Apartheid state and calls for a boycott of Israel. It is an extremist and racist document which does not contribute to reconciliation and peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. We regret that one of its authors is receiving acknowledgment in Germany.”

Last week, the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor and the Simon Wiesenthal Center sharply criticized The Media Control, the German NGO responsible for the award, and Herzog’s decision to deliver a keynote speech in Raheb’s honor in late February.

According to the Wiesenthal Center, “in speeches given to various religious symposia and church summits (including the infamous 2004 US Presbyterian assembly that approved a boycott and divestment campaign against Israel), Raheb promoted a ‘Palestinian theology’ that purports that Jews are not the Chosen People and therefore have no right to the Holy Land.”

German-Israeli friendship groups urged Herzog, who served as president of Germany from 1994-1999, to reconsider his participation at the event honoring Raheb. In an early February letter from the German-Israeli friendship society (or DIG) in Freiburg, its representative Andrea Lauser noted that Herzog’s life motto was “Truth and Clarity,” and expressed hope “that you follow this motto in connection with Dr. Raheb.”

DIG Freiburg said that Raheb had made “racist statements about Israel and Jews” and that his anti-Israel comments contradicted the message of the German media prize for “Alternatives to Violence and Radicalization.” As such, the letter stated, it made no sense that Raheb had been chosen for the award.

The letter also cited Herzog’s speech at the Bergen- Belsen extermination camp in Poland in 1995, in which he said the “history of failure began not after the [Nazis’] seizure of power in 1933,” but long before. He also said in that speech that the “danger of totalitarianism is always present – and not only in Germany, but in the entire world” – a statement that DIG said showed Raheb’s views represented a fascist outlook.

The Rhein-Neckar/Mannheim DIG appears to be the first group to have called for Herzog to pull the plug on his participation because of Raheb’s stance on Israel. In a late January letter to the former president, the group described Raheb as “a prominent Palestinian Christian who delegitimizes the Jewish people and fights the existence of the State of Israel.”

Post e-mails and telephone calls to Herzog were not immediately returned.

Herzog has so far refused to issue responses to the growing German and international criticism of his decision to honor Raheb.

The Media Control group, which awarded the prize to Raheb because his “acts are a symbol of humanity,” defended the award in an e-mail to the Post.

“The German Media prize [has worked] 20 years for neutrality, balance and peace. And that is why [former prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin and [President] Shimon Peres were honored,” wrote Karlheinz Kögel, the founder of the Medien prize. He added that he has “generously supported the Peres Center for Peace.”

“In this year, we will make sure that the [award ceremony] event supports the coming peace process,” he continued. “The prize ceremony will not be misused for one-sided statements.”

The World Council of Churches, the Jewish People, and Christian Zionism

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Stuart Dauermann has an interesting post here which helps us gain insight into the default anti-Israel stance of the mainline historic Protestant Christian denominations. It certainly informs as to why Christ at the Checkpoint is drawing so many Protestant Christian leaders.

Again we see in place a liberal tendency to prefer the general to the specific, an antipodal antipathy to particularism, and surely, to Jewish particularism. Israel is assumed to be the destabilizing factor in the region.

We also note an antipathy toward, and stereotyping stigmatization of what is commonly termed Christian Zionism, any theological enthusiasm for the Jewish state and its eschatological significance. This is why the Introduction of the Assembly’s Statement on the Middle East laments how “historical factors and certain theological interpretations have often confused Christians outside in evaluating the religious and political developments in the Middle East.”[1] This is code language for disparaging and stigmatizing Christian Zionism as an unhelpful source of confusion and instability. It seems clear that the World Council of Churches feels obligated to side with the (Arab) churches in the Middle East and how their leaders represent themselves, their people and their plight. It also seems clear that Israeli Jews would do well to look elsewhere than to the World Council for fairness, support and understanding. This would include the many Israeli Jesus believers whose protest against such World Council construals of the situation remain unaddressed.

Read full post here

Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 promotes more theological antisemitism via blogging prize

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Meet Keith Giles:

Finally, I would like to ask what the fundamental difference is between today’s secular Jewish nation of Israel and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day? Both reject Christ as the Messiah and persecute Christians in Palestine. Should we support a government, any government, who persecutes our brothers and sisters in Christ?

So the Jews are basically, bad evil Pharisees.

Keith Giles must have missed that Paul identified as a Pharisee, long after becoming a disciple of Yeshua. Yeshua himself moved amongst the Pharisees, some warned him of Herod’s evil intentions against him, and the Pharisee Joseph of Arimathea even gave Yeshua a proper burial tomb.

Here is Keith Giles interviewing Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 social media organiser and tweeter, Porter Speakman Jr:

PORTER: The Old Testament is full of that sort of thing. God constantly addressed ideas of justice with the Jews all the time. Even the King of Israel couldn’t oppress non-Jews without incurring God’s wrath. Today we want to give Israel carte blanche and allow them to do whatever they want without ever questioning what is being done, and frankly that’s not being a very good friend to Israel.

KEITH: No it’s not.

PORTER: We need to love them enough to say that what they’re doing is wrong and try to help them find better responses.

KEITH: In Psalms 50 God calls the Jews “my Holy Ones” and later he says to the same people, “you wicked” because they cast God’s words aside. So, “chosen ones” or not, the whole point of being blessed of God is to bless all the Nations. Even as Jesus pointed out, there were many lepers in Israel but the prophets were sent to the pagans.

PORTER: Yes, it’s not just that Christ was the Messiah, but that he was the Messiah for all nations and not just for the Jewish people.

Basically, Jews can’t be trusted to do “whatever they want”, so they need Gentile Christians like Porter Speakman to hold them in check.

Israel’s chosenness is deliberately used against Jews, in this interview. The underlying assumption, is that Jews think they have a right to persecute non-Jews, because they are “chosen ones”.

This interview won the Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 blogging prize, despite its pushing more antisemitic theology. Fitting.

Christ at Palestinian checkpoints?

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Munther Isaac writes, of his trip to Gaza:

 First we went through a Hamas checkpoint, were they registered our names. Then we went to the Fatah checkpoint, which coordinates and the checks with the Israelis about every traveler before letting us go through to the Israeli point. There we went through a very long and complicated search as if we were in an airport and even worst! They have very advanced technology and they also opened the bags and searched them piece by piece.

Obviously only the Israeli checkpoint is a theological problem or a sin!