Anyone with a bit of historical understanding will recall that there were always some Christians who actually sided with the USSR and the Communists during the Cold War. They were useful idiots who parroted Marxist propaganda while siding against the West.
We find similar things today. There are some Christians who think Israel and the West are the aggressors while Hamas and political Islam are somehow the good guys. There are plenty of examples of this. Consider someone who recently was featured on a Tucker Carlson interview.
He has a very large following and sadly has gone full-tilt nutso when it comes to Israel and the Jews. He often has various ‘guests’ on his show who demonise and denigrate Israel, including historical revisionists and Holocaust deniers. Recently he had on an American nun, Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos.
She is a long-standing critic of Israel who routinely makes excuses for Islamist terrorism. She is also the sister of progressive Democrat George Stephanopoulos. Thankfully there has already been plenty of pushback against this insanity. Consider two recent articles on her and Tucker:
But the main point of this piece is to offer a much different view of Israel and the Middle East from some Christians who live there. The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has released a “Statement on the Dangers and Defects of Recognising a Palestinian State at this time.” It is worth sharing the entire document here.
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The current diplomatic drive by members of the international community to recognise a Palestinian state without Israeli consent is ill-conceived and fraught with defects and dangers. First of all, it stymied the recent progress towards a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal in Gaza, as Hamas leaders instantly realized they could harden their demands and still gain statehood. It also abandoned the remaining Israeli hostages to the cruel hands of Hamas, which is deliberately starving to death those hostages who are still alive.
This misguided campaign, if continued, also would severely undermine peace and stability in the Middle East, and erode established international law that has served the community of nations well in modern times. Further, it would mark a sharp and problematic departure from the longstanding international consensus that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is best resolved through direct negotiations between the parties themselves.
Such unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at this time fails for multiple reasons:
1) In the wake of the October 7 terror massacres, it would be a reward for Hamas terrorism and a grotesque, insensitive gesture in the face of the worst atrocities committed against the Jewish state and people since the Holocaust.
2) The Palestinians do not meet the criteria for statehood, as they do not have a sole, unified authority in effective control of the territories they claim. The Palestinian Authority is rife with corruption and has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of most Palestinians, while Hamas is a radical and irredeemable terror militia that should not be granted legitimacy from any quarter. Further, the Palestinian Authority continues to reject Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, as evidenced by its official media outlets and schoolbooks which still openly deny Israel’s rightful place in the region, and indoctrinate future generations towards hatred and violence against Israel, thus revealing their true intentions.
3) The drive to recognise Palestinian statehood under current circumstances shows profound ignorance of the present division of roles within Palestinian politics. Though still complicit in acts of terror, the Palestinian Authority has largely opted to wage lawfare to delegitimise Israel and secure Palestinian statehood in all the historic Land of Israel, while Hamas has chosen to stay on the path of “armed resistance” – i.e., terrorism and violence. By granting recognition of a Palestinian state amid the prolonged conflict ignited by the October 7 massacres, the international community is telling the Palestinians that terror and violence bring results, thereby bolstering Hamas vis-à-vis the PA and setting back peace efforts perhaps for generations.
4) Israel has a superior legal and historic right and claim to sovereignty in the disputed territories in relation to the Palestinians, which was duly recognised through binding decisions by the international community at the San Remo Conference of 1920 and in the British Mandate in Palestine adopted by the League of Nations in 1922.
5) Granting recognition of a Palestinian state without Israel’s consent would not only violate the Oslo Accords of 1993 – to which many of the nations now considering recognition were witnesses – it also would break from decades of binding UN Security Council resolutions built on the sound principle of direct bilateral negotiations. Such a breach would represent a serious betrayal of Israel’s trust, and would sacrifice the sanctity of international agreements on the altar of political expediency.
6) Such a move would derail peace efforts and destabilise the region by giving the Palestinians false hopes that they can unilaterally achieve statehood outside of direct bilateral talks with Israel.
7) Those European nations who are supporting this diplomatic initiative are violating the European Union’s customary practice of acting only by consensus on major foreign policy issues, as several EU member states firmly oppose this effort.
8) Some nations considering this move are doing so for narrow domestic interests, such as France seeking to appease the growing threat of radical Islamist elements within its borders.
9) This campaign for recognition of a Palestinian state is a feeble and reckless response to the current wave of global antisemitism and will only add more fuel to this societal scourge around the world, which all nations must now confront with courage and not cowardice.
We call on the international community to discard with the current ill-advised diplomatic effort to force Palestinian statehood upon Israel and to focus instead on the immediate need to conclude a ceasefire and hostage release deal that also addresses the future administration of Gaza. Such an agreement must include the safe return of all living and deceased Israeli hostages in Gaza, and the disarming and universal banishment of Hamas.
We also call on Christians everywhere to act and pray in line with this principled, moral stand, and especially to reach out to their communities and national leaders concerning the errors and dangers of unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Now is the time to faithfully pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and to speak out boldly against antisemitism and for a just peace built on biblical truths and principles.
Blessings from Jerusalem
Jurgen Buhler & David Parsons
3 Replies to “Christians At Odds Over the Middle East”
Thanks Bill. I don’t listen to Tucker Carlson as I never know what he thinks or whose side he is on and those videos confirm my thoughts.
One reason why conservative Christians and truth seekers are not on Israel’s side is due to a Lord Rothschilds making a way for Israel to become a state back in 1947/8 and because the Rothschilds are involved in controlling the monetary system of this world these people think Israel is behind or linked to the Cabal/Deep State. It may be true some Israelis are as the Israelites have not always been obedient to God, but as you’ve explained many times, Israel is a ‘freedom country’ compared to the Arab nations around it. I wish someone would send Prime Minister Albanese and other world leaders the song written and sung by Pat Boone from the Exodus called ‘This Land Is Mine’ here is one 3 min audio of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVniy5nLixo&list=RDKVniy5nLixo&start_radio=1
I find it interesting that this nun is churning out such rubbish safely within the boarders of the United States. Why doesn’t she go and operate from Islamic strongholds and see how long she lives with a spurious claim of being Christian. She would not be long for this world in such places as they frequently arrest, imprison, torture, and murder Christians,.
Thanks Bill. I don’t listen to Tucker Carlson as I never know what he thinks or whose side he is on and those videos confirm my thoughts.
One reason why conservative Christians and truth seekers are not on Israel’s side is due to a Lord Rothschilds making a way for Israel to become a state back in 1947/8 and because the Rothschilds are involved in controlling the monetary system of this world these people think Israel is behind or linked to the Cabal/Deep State. It may be true some Israelis are as the Israelites have not always been obedient to God, but as you’ve explained many times, Israel is a ‘freedom country’ compared to the Arab nations around it. I wish someone would send Prime Minister Albanese and other world leaders the song written and sung by Pat Boone from the Exodus called ‘This Land Is Mine’ here is one 3 min audio of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVniy5nLixo&list=RDKVniy5nLixo&start_radio=1
I find it interesting that this nun is churning out such rubbish safely within the boarders of the United States. Why doesn’t she go and operate from Islamic strongholds and see how long she lives with a spurious claim of being Christian. She would not be long for this world in such places as they frequently arrest, imprison, torture, and murder Christians,.
Quite right Dave.