Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 14:37:42 GMT -5
I'm afraid this is a post and run, but I'll be back to discuss.
religionnews.com/2018/01/08/is-trump-widening-a-rift-between-the-evangelicals-and-mideast-christians/
More at the link.
This article hit home for me partly because of my own month-long trip to Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank a few years ago. I went alone, though I have the good fortune to have a close friend in NY who is a Jordanian Christian (and so hung out with her family when in Jordan), another good friend from law school who is an Israeli native living in Tel Aviv (he attended school in the U.S. and worked here a few years), and a third good friend who worked for the U.N. in Jerusalem. I also stayed in Christian guesthouses for more than a week in Jerusalem (I heartily recommend them, btw -- cheap, clean, well-located, and no, they won't make you pray).
Between all of those things, I had a LOT of conversations with Christians living in the area. And I can tell you, pretty much all the Christians I met were incredibly bitter about the Israeli treatment of Palestinian Christians and the way some of its policies and actions affected them and their families. Some of the employees at my guesthouses had family in the West Bank just a few miles away, and found it incredibly difficult to see them. I have numerous stories from these people -- will share them later. I admit, my own view of Israel did some shifting while I was there -- I entered the country with an attitude not unlike c.e.lawson's, and emerged with a "hmmm. yeah, there's definitely another side here."
Anyway -- I think many evangelical cheerleaders of Trump's Jerusalem moves in the U.S. seem to regard the Israel question largely in terms of Israel vs. Meanie McMeanie Hostile Terrorist Muslims, and, rather ironically, don't give too much consideration to the Christian population in the area and how they might feel about Trump's actions and how it might effect them.
religionnews.com/2018/01/08/is-trump-widening-a-rift-between-the-evangelicals-and-mideast-christians/
When President Donald Trump announced in December he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and call for the U.S. embassy to be moved there, some of his loudest cheerleaders were American evangelicals.
Members of Trump’s unofficial evangelical advisory board were consulted on the decision, evangelical-led groups such as Christians United for Israel advocated for the change, and conservative Christian leaders such as Jack Graham were quick to applaud the move on Twitter.
But the faith-fueled praise overshadowed a possible consequence: Namely, an escalation of simmering tensions between Middle Eastern Christians — especially those living in the occupied Palestinian territories — and American evangelicals seeking to balance hard-line support for Israel with concern for their fellow faithful.
More specifically, the move appears to make an already delicate existence even more complicated for Palestinian Christians, who make up around 2 percent of the population of the West Bank and less than one percent of the Gaza Strip, according to the CIA’s World Factbook.
Although the Jerusalem announcement was celebrated by Israelis such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it also sparked widespread condemnation among Palestinians and faith leaders across the globe. Muslim groups, the head of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Pope Francis were all quick to express reservations about the decision or its timing, which many described as hindering peace efforts between Palestinians and Israel.
Palestinians claim Jerusalem as the capital of the state for which they seek U.N. recognition, and resent Trump’s decision to change American policy, which had held that the city’s status should be determined during peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
But some of the most dramatic faith-rooted pushback came from the region’s dwindling Christian population.
A group of Jerusalem churches issued a letter in the lead-up to the decision arguing that recognizing the city as Israel’s capital would cause “irreparable harm.” Shortly after the announcement, the Palestinian Christian mayor of Bethlehem — a city in the occupied West Bank where the biblical Jesus was said to have been born — ordered Christmas lights to be turned off for several days in protest.
Members of Trump’s unofficial evangelical advisory board were consulted on the decision, evangelical-led groups such as Christians United for Israel advocated for the change, and conservative Christian leaders such as Jack Graham were quick to applaud the move on Twitter.
But the faith-fueled praise overshadowed a possible consequence: Namely, an escalation of simmering tensions between Middle Eastern Christians — especially those living in the occupied Palestinian territories — and American evangelicals seeking to balance hard-line support for Israel with concern for their fellow faithful.
More specifically, the move appears to make an already delicate existence even more complicated for Palestinian Christians, who make up around 2 percent of the population of the West Bank and less than one percent of the Gaza Strip, according to the CIA’s World Factbook.
Although the Jerusalem announcement was celebrated by Israelis such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it also sparked widespread condemnation among Palestinians and faith leaders across the globe. Muslim groups, the head of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Pope Francis were all quick to express reservations about the decision or its timing, which many described as hindering peace efforts between Palestinians and Israel.
Palestinians claim Jerusalem as the capital of the state for which they seek U.N. recognition, and resent Trump’s decision to change American policy, which had held that the city’s status should be determined during peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
But some of the most dramatic faith-rooted pushback came from the region’s dwindling Christian population.
A group of Jerusalem churches issued a letter in the lead-up to the decision arguing that recognizing the city as Israel’s capital would cause “irreparable harm.” Shortly after the announcement, the Palestinian Christian mayor of Bethlehem — a city in the occupied West Bank where the biblical Jesus was said to have been born — ordered Christmas lights to be turned off for several days in protest.
More at the link.
This article hit home for me partly because of my own month-long trip to Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank a few years ago. I went alone, though I have the good fortune to have a close friend in NY who is a Jordanian Christian (and so hung out with her family when in Jordan), another good friend from law school who is an Israeli native living in Tel Aviv (he attended school in the U.S. and worked here a few years), and a third good friend who worked for the U.N. in Jerusalem. I also stayed in Christian guesthouses for more than a week in Jerusalem (I heartily recommend them, btw -- cheap, clean, well-located, and no, they won't make you pray).
Between all of those things, I had a LOT of conversations with Christians living in the area. And I can tell you, pretty much all the Christians I met were incredibly bitter about the Israeli treatment of Palestinian Christians and the way some of its policies and actions affected them and their families. Some of the employees at my guesthouses had family in the West Bank just a few miles away, and found it incredibly difficult to see them. I have numerous stories from these people -- will share them later. I admit, my own view of Israel did some shifting while I was there -- I entered the country with an attitude not unlike c.e.lawson's, and emerged with a "hmmm. yeah, there's definitely another side here."
Anyway -- I think many evangelical cheerleaders of Trump's Jerusalem moves in the U.S. seem to regard the Israel question largely in terms of Israel vs. Meanie McMeanie Hostile Terrorist Muslims, and, rather ironically, don't give too much consideration to the Christian population in the area and how they might feel about Trump's actions and how it might effect them.