Father Berrigan’s address to a largely Arab audience generated controversy: was it or was it not anti-Semitic. The author agrees with some and disagrees with other parts of the speech and offers a survey of the varieties of the Zionist "settler ethos."
According to Yehezkel Landau, a religious peace activist, the conflict over the land of Israel-Palestine will be resolved only when each side recognizes the other ‘as a potential sibling and partner" in the struggle for liberation.
It is important that Westerners be aware of the presence of Arab Christians in Israel who are a living link between ourselves and the earliest Christian churches. They are descendants of people who have lived in the land for over 1,500 years, and their perseverance over the centuries deserves our respect and support.
In her return to Israel the author discovered that the values of progressive Judaism and Zionism to which she was committed have been deeply eroded in the past decade by forces over which there seems to be little control. The import of cheap Arab labor, the eroding of progressive Judaism and Zionism, Israel’s dependency on the U.S., the growth of fundamentalism and other issues of importance have undermined Israel.
The author reviews two books on the contemporary Holy Land.. A secular state where the key is citizenship, rather than ethnic or religious identity, can create new opportunities for both Israelis and Palestinians to transform history and identity into a new synthesis.
Two American missionaries in Palestine are asked, why does the U.S. blame the Palestinians for what is happening, abstain from or veto UN resolutions, and welcome Ariel Sharon with open arms?
The first step Israel must take in reaching an accommodation with the Palestinians is to "Recognize (them) as fellow human beings who are angered by past humiliations but who can become friendly when treated with respect."
The use of religious validation to settle secular conflicts is a misuse of religion and a disservice to politics. Biblical prophecy anticipates a future of hope for humankind; it does not, however, provide an atlas for establishing the geographical boundaries of the countries that seek that hope.
Professor Klein describes the manipulation of Israel and the U.S. in refusing to move from unilateralism to end-game negotiations. It is the settlers, not Israel, that are "converging.," thus leaving the Palestinians behind three layers of borders.
According to Israel’s defenders, to speak on behalf of Palestinians is to seek Israel’s annihilation. A reversal has taken lace in Jewish history; and the victims have become victors.
A major theme for Wyschogrod is that God’s election of Israel is based solely on God’s unalterable love and hence cannot be abrogated from the human side.
Most people have little firsthand knowledge of Mideast history. Their sympathies are largely shaped by the media, a weak reed. Directions are given, in ascending order of difficulty, to help readers separate the rabid from the rational variety: 1. Identify the rabid style, and dismiss it. 2. Distrust the provocative literary image. 3. Maintain a sense of reality. 4. Consider the probable source. 5. Determine the critic’s ideology. 6. Suspect the worst.
The Talmud demands a higher standard that one’s merely absolving oneself of direct responsibility. Thus citizens of Israel take their politics seriously though most of the population is made up of nonobservant Jews. But even these people are willing to take note of the writings of Deuteronomy and the Talmud.
A review of three books on Israel and Palestine. The reviewer fears that in the long run some 16 million Jews will not be able to withstand a Muslim tidal wave.
Can Jews criticize the state of Israel without being perceived as disloyal? Can Christians criticize the state of Israel without being perceived as anti-Semitic? How can Jews and Christians talk creatively and honestly with one another about the state of Israel?
In providing political and economic support for Israeli militancy against Palestinian Christians and Muslims, Christian Zionists are aiding the collapse of Christianity in the Holy Land.
The Israelis have made a desert bloom by confiscating far more than their share of the water from Palestinian lands. Palestinians could do the same. But it would require cooperation between the two -- plus U.S. aid.
Palestinian Christians are in danger of being slowly destroyed, because of a combination of Israeli lawlessness, American religious right misunderstanding of the Bible, and American politicians' hypocracy and cyncism.
This report is the third of a three-part series on Israel by Editor James M. Wall: Israel has found itself in the uncomfortable role of an occupying military power, controlling the lives of a large population of Palestinian Arabs. Both the Jewish people and the Palestinian Arabs insist the time has come for them each to have their own homeland.
A viable two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is dying; perhaps it is already dead. This reality should prompt new theological and political analysis among Christians and others who yearn for justice, peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.
The peace process for the Middle East must have ironclad deadlines and fixed objectives: a rapid and phased end to occupation, the complete removal of settlements, Palestinian self-determination and statehood with Jerusalem as a capital for both Palestine and Israel, and a real security framework for all nations of the region.
As a Jew, the author finds that her supposed enemies, the Palestinians, look very different up close. Jews in the U.S. who deeply care about juistice, have a unique role in addressing the struggles in the Middle East, since they are able to do so more objectively than can the people caught up in the day-to-day struggles. By working for justice, we are working for both peoples.
The author describes how modern Zionism has attempted to expropriated the land of Israel. He suggests an alternative theological model, one from an earlier chapter of Zionism.
Much of the Israeli occupation is hidden -- a web of zones, restrictions and intrusions to maintain control. Injustice is gaining ground. Only deeds of love and truth will bring peace..
A "sacred river" has become a drainage ditch and the sea into which it empties is drying up. Restoring them to health will require a cooperation that can only come about when the area’s debilitating conflicts are resolved.