Category Archives: Middle East

Over 1000 Clergy and Laity Co-Sign Letter to Archbishop of Canterbury in Support of EAPPI

9th April 2013

Dear Archbishop Justin,

We write as representatives of organisations and as individuals who are deeply involved in the search for peace with justice in the Holy Land to express our deep concern over the remarks that have been attributed to you in a recent interview with the newspaper “Jewish News”. Amongst the aspects of the interview with which we were most saddened were that you regretted not voting against the General Synod decision to support EAPPI.

As you know, the main criticism that was levelled against EAPPI before the vote was, in the words of one of their more strident opponents, that it created “a cohort of very partisan but very motivated anti-Israel advocates who have almost no grasp of the suffering of normal Israelis”.

However, EAPPI seeks a just solution to the problems in the Holy Land that will benefit both Palestinians and Israelis. It operates in terms of what it calls “principled impartiality” with its Code of Conduct stating: “We do not take sides in this conflict and we do not discriminate against anyone but we are not neutral in terms of principles of human rights and international humanitarian law. We stand faithfully with the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. We want to serve all parties in this conflict in a fair and unbiased manner in word and action.”

In our experience, all Ecumenical Accompaniers are scrupulous in their determination to be fair to all sides in their work, as befits both the programme and the senior positions they often hold as Church leaders, in the legal profession, as teachers and many other areas.

Its participants are given a full briefing on a wide variety of Israeli perspectives including taking an extended tour of the Holocaust Museum and travel to Sderot to meet Israeli people affected by rockets fired from Gaza. Their discussions with Israelis also include briefings from those who work with Palestinians most directly – some of whom wrote most powerfully in support of EAPPI when it came under its most sustained attack.

One of these was Professor Jeff Halper, who wrote as an Israeli Jew and as one of the founders of EAPPI in Geneva to remind us of the particular challenges that EAPPI addresses in the Palestinian West Bank. He says that many of these have no parallel for Israelis, “where children hardly need to be escorted to school and where children of settlers are escorted by the Israeli army, and Palestinian children walking miles through the hills of Hebron to school and being regularly attacked by thugs from the settlements armed with baseball bats and guns. Anyone who tries to equate the “sides” ignores the immense power differential created, among other things, by the Israeli Occupation. (Last time I looked, the Palestinians were not occupying Tel Aviv or demolishing Israeli homes.)” He went on to say that “as the head of an Israeli peace and human rights organization that tries to stop Israel’s wanton demolition of Palestinian homes (27,000 so far since 1967, almost none for “security” reasons), I call on the Synod to give the EAPPI all the support it can.”

It need hardly be added that some of the organisations who have attacked EAPPI most vociferously have seldom been noted for their own impartiality in the Middle East conflict, promoting as they do their “Speak out for Israel” campaign.

Many of us are frequent visitors to the Holy Land and are passionate in our belief that peace with justice will only come when all communities have their need for security, equality and dignity addressed. But this will not come whilst discriminatory laws, home demolitions, planning restrictions, checkpoint and movement restrictions and enforced family separations persist. Indeed, we agree with the former Speaker of the Knesset Avraham Burg that the constant building of illegal settlements on Palestinian land, not only prevents the emergence of a viable Palestine but jeopardises the future of the state of Israel.

We welcome the news that you are to visit the Holy Land in June. In hoping that you get the opportunity for a comprehensive view of the conflict, we encourage you to visit Israelis from all sides of the spectrum of opinion, including those who are risking so much in the campaign to end the occupation. We also encourage you to visit Palestinians who are suffering behind the walls, including the Christian community in Bethlehem, the people of the Jordan Valley, those living in refugee camps such as Aida and Balata as well as the people of Gaza who are so often marginalised and forgotten. We also encourage you to visit with international lawyers, who can provide vital background on the legal obligations, such as in the 4th Geneva Convention, that a situation of Occupation imposes.

Please support those who are advocating for peace with justice, please support those who are risking their reputations and even their lives to oppose military domination of one by another and please speak out for those who oppose oppression. Above all, we ask you to hear the 2009 Kairos call of the Palestinian Christians, who ask “are you able to help us get our freedom back, for this is the only way you can help the two peoples attain justice, peace, security and love?”

This comes with our prayers, support and good wishes for your important ministry.

Yours sincerely,

Laura Abraham, Founder of the Peace Cycle
Issam Aburaya
Suzy Andrews
Revd John Angle
Revd Alan Ashton
Right Revd Riah Abu El Assal, retired Episcopal Bishop of Jerusalem
Revd Andrew Ashdown, Enham Team Rector
Fr Robert Assaly, Chair Canadian Friends of Sabeel
Revd Warren Bardsley, Methodist minister and former Ecumenical Accompanier
Leonard Beighton
Leila Bentley
Karen Chalk, former Ecumenical Accompanier and Administrator of ICAHD UK.
Revd Colin Chapman
Anne Clayton, Friends of Sabeel UK
Diane Conti
Janet Davies
Joy Davies
Rebecca Dawson
Verity Elson, St Andrew’s Church Cobham
Adam Estle, Executive Director, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
Noushin Framke, Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church
Angus Geddes, member of Havant URC
Sharen Green
Professor Mary Grey, Emeritus Professor of Theology, University of Wales
Norma Hashim
Kamel Hawwash
Revd Dr Fiona Haworth, Chaplain, University of Worcester
Revd Canon Garth Hewitt, Honorary Canon of St George’s Cathedral Jerusalem
Donna Hicks, Convener, Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Israel Network
Revd Wendy Hough
Carol Hylkema, IPMN
Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Barbara Ivy
Lucy Janigian
Revd Stuart Jennings, Methodist Minister and University Chaplain
Darlene Jones-Owens, Christians United for Peace
Keith Killough
Salaam Khoury
Stevie Krayer, signing as a concerned Jew
Revd Emma Langley, Priest in Charge of St Alban’s Church, Bristol.
Dibartolo Laurie
Dr Stephen Leah, Member of the Methodist Conference
Cilla Lynch
A.J. McDonald Jr. Christians United for Peace
Joy McKenzie
Audrey McKenzie
Elizabeth M. Molchany, USA, Attorney-at-law
Mary Morris, USA, former Ecumenical Accompanier
Jon Neall, former Ecumenical Accompanier
Michael Newbold
Revd Steve Openshaw, Ramsbottom and Edenfield Team Ministry
Revd Tom Patton, Methodist Minister and former Ecumenical Accompanier
Miranda Pinch, former Ecumenical Accompanier
Penny Potter
Dee Poujade, Ecumenical Accompanier
Ronan Quinn, Armagh, former Ecumenical Accompanier
Alexandra Pupo Quintino
Linda Ramsden, Director of ICAHD UK
Christine Robson
Len Rogers, Former Executive Director, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
Revd Chris Rose
Revd Dr Stephen Sizer, Vicar of Virginia Water
Revd Alison Shaw, Vicar St Boniface, St Budeaux, Plymouth, Sabeel Peninsula
Philip & Denise Small
Andrew Smith
Colin South, Chair of Living Stones
Jake Terpstra
David Toorawa
Maggie Vicuna
Michaela Whitton, peace activist
Revd David Willis
Revd Simon Winn
Revd Anna Wright, Blyth Valley Team Ministry, Wenhaston

If you wish to add your signature to this letter please do so here

For more information on EAPPI

For the Love of Zion

“Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” (Romans 10:1-2)

Unanswered Questions?

Why is there such a close relationship today between the Christian Right, the American political establishment and the State of Israel?  Why after 40 years, does Israel continue to occupy territory in Lebanon (the Sheba Farms), Syria (the Golan Heights) and Palestine (the West Bank) while Syria has been pressured to withdraw from Lebanon? Why is Israel allowed to retain nuclear weapons while Iran is threatened with a pre-emptive attack for aspiring to obtain nuclear technology?  And how have Britain and America become the focus of so much hate in the Arab world and the target for Islamic terrorism – despite out commitment to  the rule of international law, democracy and human rights?  The answers to these questions remain inexplicable unless we factor in what is now probably the most influential and controversial movement amongst Christians today – Christian Zionism.

 The Significance of Christian Zionism

Let me give you a flavour of the movement and their strategy from a recent speech given by John Hagee. Hagee is the Founder and Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church, an 18,000 member evangelical church in San Antonio in Texas. Hagee broadcasts a national radio and television ministry to Americans on 160 T.V. stations, 50 radio stations and eight networks into an estimated 99 million homes worldwide on a weekly basis. In 2006 he founded Christians United for Israel with the support of 400 other Christian leaders.

 For 25 almost 26 years now, I have been pounding the evangelical community over television. The bible is a very pro-Israel book. If a Christian admits “I believe the Bible,” I can make him a pro-Israel supporter or they will have to denounce their faith. So I have the Christians over a barrel, you might say.[1]

The assumption Hagee makes, that Bible-believing Christians will be pro-Israel, is the dominant view among evangelical Christians, especially in the USA.  In March 2007, Hagee was a guest speaker at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. He began with these words: “The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened.

There are 50 million Christians standing up and applauding the State of Israel…” As the Jerusalem Post pointed out, his speech did not lack clarity. He went on to warn:

It is 1938. Iran is Germany, and Ahmadinejad is the new Hitler. We must stop Iran’s nuclear threat and stand boldly with Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East… Think of our potential future together: 50 million evangelicals joining in common cause with 5 million Jewish people in America on behalf of Israel is a match made in heaven.[2]

The Pew Research Centre recently discovered that 60% of evangelicals said they supported the state of Israel,[3] and 32% cited their religious beliefs as the primary reason for such support.[4]

The Unity Coalition for Israel, which brings together over 200 different autonomous organizations, is the largest pro-Israel network in the world. They claim to have 40 million active members, and lobby on behalf of Israel through 1,700 religious radio stations, 245 Christian TV stations, and 120 Christian newspapers. [5] Besides, Christian’s United for Israel, the other three largest Christian Zionist organizations are the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, Christian Friends of Israel and Bridges for Peace. A powerful lobby movement? You bet. Christian Zionism is undoubtedly a dominant force shaping US foreign policy in the Middle East.[6]

What about your Presuppositions?

Discovering what the Bible has to say about the relationship between Israel and the Church, in history and prophecy, is not just an academic exercise. What we believe and understand affects how we behave and act. Let me illustrate. If you believe the Bible predicts an imminent war of Armageddon with Israel and the United States on one side and the Islamic and Communist world on the other, then you will not lose any sleep over the stalled peace process. And when you read about yet more bloodshed and suffering in the Middle East it will confirm what you already think is going to happen.

However, if you believe peace and reconciliation between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East is not only possible, but also God’s will; that the UN Declaration of Human Rights is based on Judeo-Christian principles; and that the consistent implementation of international law should form the basis for our diplomacy in the Middle East, then you will act to achieve peace with justice. Our presuppositions not only shape our beliefs but also our actions.

 Postponement or Fulfilment?

Why does this subject arouse such strong emotions among Christians, and evangelicals?  Because the very gospel is at stake. The question to have at the back of your mind as you read further is this: Did the coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection and the founding of the Church, fulfil or postpone the biblical prophecies concerning Israel? Is the Church central to God’s purposes on earth, or a temporary side show? In answering this question, evangelicals tend to fall into one of two camps – covenantalists and dispensationalists. Now there are variations of each, but if you haven’t heard of the terms before, you are not alone. Most evangelicals don’t necessarily know which they are.

Covenantalism or Dispensationalism?

Covenantalists tend to see the coming of Jesus as the fulfilment of the promises made to Israel while dispensationalists tend to see it as the postponement of those promises.  Covenantalists believe the Bible teaches that God has one ‘chosen people’ called out from among the nations. Dispensationalists believe the Bible teaches that God has two separate and distinct peoples – the Church and Israel. They believe that the biblical promises made to the ancient Israelites apply to their Jewish descendents today. If Covenantalists emphasize the continuity within God’s progressive revelation, Dispensationalists emphasize the discontinuity, distinguishing seven ‘dispensations’ in biblical history when God has tested mankind in a different way, and each time they have failed. They believe the present Church Age or Dispensation of Grace will fail and soon come to an end. Then during the Millennium, Jesus will reign as King of the Jews in Jerusalem and the unfulfilled promises of the Old Testament will be realised.

Covenantalists tend to regard promises relating to the Land, Jerusalem and the temple as annulled or fulfilled in the Church. Dispensationalists tend to see them as still in force and either being, or about to be, fulfilled in Israel today. Covenantalists tend to be neutral or positive about the future before the return of Jesus being either amillennial or postmillennial. Dispensationalists tend to be premillennial and pessimistic about the future.[7]

Read more here and other chapters here. Buy the book here.

Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions summarises the book.

A set of Seven Bible Studies can be downloaded here.

[1] John Hagee, The One Jerusalem Blog,  25 January 2007. http://www.onejerusalem.org/blog/archives/2007/01/audio_exclusive_12.asp <Accessed March 2007>

[2] “Christians for Israel” Editorial, The Jerusalem Post, 14 March 2007. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879085796&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull <Accessed March 2007>

[3] The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, “Many Americans Uneasy with Mix of Religion and Politics,” August 24, 2006. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, http://peoplepress.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=1084 <accessed March 2007>

[4] The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, “Americans’ Support for Israel Unchanged by Recent Hostilities,” July 26, 2006. The Pew Research Center, http://pewresearch.org/reports/?ReportID=37

[5] http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/about/index.php <Accessed March 2007>

[6] See Robert Jewett & John Shelton Lawrence, Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2003); Timothy Weber, On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals became Israel’s Best Friend (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2004); and John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, ‘The Israeli Lobby’, The London Review of Books, 23 March 2006,   http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html

[7] See chapter 7 and the glossary for an explanation of these terms.

Bahrain: When Civil Disobedience is Morally Justified

Thomas Jefferson once asked:

“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?”

In the 18th Century, on both sides of the Atlantic, there would likely have been a consensus that the answer was self-evident – civic responsibility was but the outworking of a higher responsibility to God.

Not so today. In a largely secularized West, while we value our democratic heritage which balances the role and responsibilities of politicians and citizens, many fail to appreciate these values are rooted in eternal truths and immutable laws.

Unless there are moral absolutes by which we judge society, society becomes absolute.

Every person is created equal in the image of God and therefore worthy or dignity and respect. The Christian scriptures insist we have clear responsibilities to both God and the state.

This was taught by Jesus: ‘Give … to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ (Matthew 22:21). The religious leaders of his day had tried to expose Jesus as either a collaborator with, or rebel against, the hated Roman Empire. Jesus insisted he was neither.

Our responsibility is to obey God for those who rule do so only under His authority.

We must first, obey our political leaders as God’s servants. Second pray for our leaders that God will give them wisdom and selfless impartiality in their role. Third, hold them accountable when they depart from their divinely appointed role.

The Christian scriptures teach: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1a). The state’s authority is derived from God. So whether we enjoy good or bad government, the state is a divine institution with God’s authority.

But this also means we can say to rulers what Jesus said to Pilate at his trial, ‘You would have no power [authority] over me if it were not given to you from above.’ (John 19:11).

This is because the role of government is to commend those who do right and punish those who do wrong. (Romans 13:3). This means we should submit up to the point where obedience to the state would result in participation in evil, or disobedience to God. If the State ever commands what God forbids, or forbids what God commands, then our moral duty is to resist the government.

We must disobey the State in order to obey God. In this way we can contribute, with our lives if necessary, to the return of good government and secure a better future for our children than the one we inherited.

In the early Church, the Apostles were forbidden by the Jewish authorities to speak in the name of Jesus. They replied, “We must obey God rather than human beings.” (Acts 5:29).

This is the Christian justification for civil disobedience. Whenever human laws contradict God’s law, civil disobedience becomes a sacred, religious duty.

There are notable examples in British history of those who opposed slavery, who campaigned for trade union rights, who lobbied for an end to the use of child labour, and called for the emancipation of women. But this civil disobedience must be peaceful and non-violent.

Martin Luther King once said, “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding. It is a sword that heals.”

So, while we are to submit to the state’s God-given authority, we must remain opposed to both tyranny and anarchy. Our responsibility as citizens, whether here or in Bahrain, is to cooperate with, but hold governments accountable to fulfill their God-appointed role. That will lead not only to better government but also a more peaceful and stable society.

That is why I support the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain. The arc of history bends toward justice. May God give the people of Bahrain, justice, liberty and security before we meet to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Bahrain’s Pearl Revolution.

Presentation delivered at the conference organized by the Bahrain Pro-Democracy Group ‘Understanding the Roots and Prospects of Bahrain’s Revolution’ held at King’s College, London, 6th February 2013.

A few photos of the early part of the event can be seen here

See also:

Press TV UK seminar sheds light on Bahrain’s revolution
Bahrain Freedom Movement
Frontline Club Bahrain Revolution 2nd Anniversary

Chinese Translation of Seven Biblical Answers

A Chinese version of  Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions, based on my book Zion’s Christian Soldiers is now available.

The Chinese version was kindly translated by Lo Yuk Fai. Presentations in Chinese were delivered recently for Macau Bible Institute, Sawtow Christian Church Hong Kong and All Saints Cathedral, Kowloon.

See more photos of recent visits to China here

See also:

Seven Bible Studies : Seven Biblical Answers : Seven Biblical Answers Video

Evangelical Theology & American Politics in the Middle East

On September 12th, following the tragic news of the murder of Ambassador Stevens, together with members of his staff, sheltering in the US Consulate in Benghazi, a grief stricken Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton asked a simple question. A question that was on the lips of many Americans: “How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction?” Andrew Bacevich, writing in Newsweek, asks,

“Why the Arab anger against the United States? Why the absence of gratitude among the very people the United States helped save, in the very countries Americans helped liberate? The way Secretary Clinton frames the question practically guarantees a self-satisfying but defective answer.”

The question, he argues, is predicated on three propositions that are regarded as sacrosanct by most US politicians and policy makers.

“First: humanity yearns for liberation, as defined in Western (meaning predominantly liberal and secular terms). Second: the United States has a providentially assigned role to nurture and promote this liberation… Third: given that American intentions are righteous and benign (most of the time) – the exercise of US power on a global scale merits respect and ought to command compliance.”[i]

I would add a fourth proposition, assumed as self evident, especially among Evangelicals, that, as God’s ‘chosen people’ the security of the State of Israel is synonymous with US interests in the Middle East and her God ordained role.

The problem is that the Arab world and Muslims, in particular, do not only not share these propositions, they repudiate them theologically. It is not that they do not aspire to political freedom from despotic rulers and oppressive governments. The Arab Spring has shown that many do indeed hunger for freedom. The problem is, observes Bacevich, “that 21st century Muslims don’t necessarily buy America’s 21st century definition of it – a definition increasingly devoid of moral content.”

Freedom of speech is assumed sacrosanct even if it offends those of other religions. Whether the movie, Innocence of Muslims was indeed responsible for sparking Muslim outrage and the subsequent violence against US interests is irrelevant. The promotion of the film by Fundamentalist Christians and their antipathy toward Islam certainly is.  What we tend to ignore, while Muslims cannot forget, it the simple fact is that for more than 100 years, Christians in the USA and Europe have sponsored, defended, funded and sustained the Zionist enterprise in preference to developing normative relations with the Arab world.

Continue reading →

Broken Promises: The Road to Balfour

A paper on the historical link between proto Christian Zionism and the Balfour Declaration delivered at a conference organised by the Balfour Project in association with the Church of Scotland at the Quaker Meeting House in Edinburgh on Friday 2nd November.

Introduction

In this presentation we are going to trace some of the significant events and individuals that led to the Balfour Declaration.

1. Puritanism and the Conversion of the Jews

The road to Balfour began in the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation brought about a renewed interest in the Old Testament and God’s dealings with the Jewish people. From Protestant pulpits right across Europe, the Bible was for the first time in centuries being taught within its historical context and was given its plain literal sense. At the same time, a new assessment of the place of the Jews within the purposes of God emerged.

Puritan eschatology was essentially postmillennial and believed the conversion of the Jews would lead to future blessing for the entire world. In 1621, for example, Sir Henry Finch, an eminent lawyer and member of the English Parliament, published a book,

The World’s Great Restauration (sic) or Calling of the Jews, (and with them) all the Nations and Kingdoms of the Earth, to the Faith of Christ.

By the late 17th Century and right through the 18th Century, especially during the period of the Great Awakening, postmillennial eschatology dominated European and American Protestantism.[1] The writings and preaching of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758),[2] as well as George Whitefield, were influential in the spread of the belief that the millennium had arrived, that the gospel would soon triumph against evil throughout the world. God’s blessings of peace and prosperity would follow the conversion of Israel, prior to the glorious return of Christ.[3]

Continue reading →

“We are in the Middle of a World War” says Vicar of Beirut

“We are in the middle of a world war. I tell everyone to read Colin Chapman and Stephen Sizer”.

“He thanked Stephen for his courageous and important work in the Middle East and for his encouragement to his own church in Beirut.”

Revd Nabil Shehadi, RIBA, MA
Vicar, All Saints’ International Congregation
www.allsaintsbeirut.com
Alpha Adviser for Lebanon/Alpha publishing
www.alpha.org
Archbishop of Canterbury’s personal representative
to the Oriental Orthodox Church

 

Jesus the True Emancipator

Nadim Nasser : Jesus is the True Emancipator 1 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

The Revd Nadim Nasser, Director of the Awareness Foundation, preached at Christ Church on the story of the life changing encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John chapter 4. Nadim is the only Syrian priest serving in the Anglican Church.

His second sermon at Christ Church was a little different so here it is:

Jesus the True Emancipator 2 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Christianity in the Middle East: Living Faith or Museum Piece?

There will be a special public lecture by The Revd Nadim Nassar, Director of the Awareness Foundation, at Southwark Cathedral on Tuesday 23rd October 2012.

Doors open at 6.30 pm, and the lecture starts at 6.45 pm. After the lecture, there will be time for questions.

Tickets are £10 each (£5 each for Friends of the Awareness Foundation). Tickets are available from the Awareness Foundation or telephone 020 7730 8830.

The Awareness Foundation is an educational, ecumenical and international charity, founded in 2003 in response to the disturbing increase in religious conflict and violence around the world. Our Patron is the Archbishop of Canterbury.

We work to help Christians make sense of their faith and culture in the 21st century, and to increase their awareness of their neighbours’ faiths and cultures, so that they can live in a diverse society without fear and without compromising their beliefs. We believe that greater understanding among religions and among peoples will ultimately defeat extremism, and help nurture an environment where people can live together in peace.

You can learn more about us by clicking here.

Click here to meet our staff..