US Christian Right torments Palestinian Christians

[Guest abeata]

Exodus of the

Palestinian Christians

The Palestinian Christian is an endangered species. When the modern state of Israel was established there were about 400000 of us. Two years ago the number was down to 80000. Now it

[Guest yod]

So why do American Christians stand by while their leaders advocate the expulsion of fellow Christians? Could it be that they do not know that the Holy Land has been a home to Christians since, well

[other one]

Thanks Yod, I have been wondering about that.

Sam

[Guest abeata]

Response. 1:

Dear Professor Ata,

Thank you very much for your email. I must say that it struck me in a

variety of ways. I found it somewhat disturbing, enlightening, puzzling and

humbling. I hope you don't mind that I have taken your email and answered

individual points as needed.

You wrote: The Palestinian Christian is an endangered species. When the

modern state of Israel was established there were about 400000 of us. Two

years ago the number was down to 80000. Now it's down to 60000. At that

rate, in a few years there will be none of us left.

Palestinian Christians within Israel fare little better. On the face of it,

their number has grown by 20000 since 1991. But this is misleading, for the

census classification 'Christian' includes some 20000 recent non-Arab

migrants from the former Soviet Union.

My response: I have seen various figures, but most are close to what you

have quoted. I have always found this alarming. In a twisted sort of irony I

have met many Christians who feel such attachment for the region that they

sometimes express desire to move there.

You wrote: So why are Palestinian Christians abandoning their homeland?

We have lost hope, that's why. We are treated as non-people. Few outside the

Middle East even know we exist, and those who do, conveniently forget.

My response: I believe that many Americans know of the existence of

Palestinian Christians, but unfortunately I believe that their view has been

adulterated by slanted journalism that depicts the siding of a few

Palestinian Christians with Yassar Arafat as indicative of the beliefs of

the general Palestinian Christian population. It isn't helped by Arafat's

shrewd attempts to pretend solidarity with Palestinian Christians. My

personal opinion is that we are being deceived here in America and that the

majority of Palestinian Christians do seek peace with Israel.

You wrote: I refer, of course, to the American Religious Right. They see the

modern Israel as a harbinger of the Second Coming, at which time Christians

will go to Paradise, and all others (presumably including Jews) to Hell. To

this end they lend military and moral support to Israel.

My response: I believe that the teachings found endemic to the Religious

Right are steeped in false assumptions about who is going where and how this

will happen. My web site (www.LastDay.info) demonstrates my beliefs by what

I find in the Bible rather than the regurgitations of myths perpetuated in

false teachings. I have indeed taken side with Israel against the Intifada.

I am not against the Palestinian people but against the violence and their

choice of leadership.

My beliefs, based on the Bible, are that the Jews are the apple of God's

eye. He refers to Israel as his wife. But she is a wayward wife filled with

sin and wickedness. God has clearly pronounced that in the end-times she

will rebel against the covenant he made with her. She will do this by

entering what Isaiah called a covenant with death. That is, she will

desperately seek peace with her enemies apart from God and will give some of

her covenant lands to her enemies in order to procure that peace she

desires. She will indeed have that peace for 3.5 years and then God will

severely punish Israel by letting her enemies have at her. This will last

for another 3.5 years before Jesus Christ comes. At that time he will

resurrect ALL who have stood firm in the faith to the end, whether they are

faithful Jews, Christian Palestinians or other believing gentiles makes no

difference. God seeks obedience from ALL of his people.

I, as a Christian American do agree with American military and moral support

of Israel. As long as America sides with the covenant then we are not

against God. Unfortunately our president supports the establishment of a

Palestinian state. By supporting this he stands against the covenant and so

God will severely punish the US just as he will all who stand against his

covenant with Israel. That covenant made with Abraham is to be everlasting

and it will be, regardless of the desires of mankind.

You wrote: Even by the double-dealing standards of international diplomacy

this is a breathtakingly cynical bargain. It is hard to know who is using

whom more: the Christian Right for offering secular power in the expectation

that the Jewish state will be destroyed by a greater spiritual one; or the

Israeli Right for accepting their offer.

My response: Again, the Religious Right does not represent all Christian

Americans as evidenced by my growing newsletter subscription list. The

Religious Right is often sadly mistaken because, as the name implies, they

are religious but not necessarily believers. By the time Jesus comes Israel

will have been nearly annihilated by the forces of a world that is bent on

evil rebellion. They will have no love loss for Israel. Along with Israel's

destruction will come the near extermination of true Christians. When Jesus

comes he will deliver wrath upon his enemies and save the remnant of Israel

and true gentile believers and resurrect those who have already fallen

asleep. Most of the Religious Right's adherents are shallow in their

beliefs. They will be among those who fall away from the faith as the time

of testing comes upon the world.

You wrote: What we do know is that both sides are abusing the Palestinians.

Apparently we don't enter into anyone's calculations.

The views of the Israeli Right are well known: they want us gone.

My response: I am guilty of saying little to defend Christian Palestinians,

I will take immediate steps to rectify my oversight. I am sorry, please

forgive me. You must understand though that I differentiate between

Christian Palestinians and non-Christian Palestinians. I do this the same as

I would with all humanity. The line is drawn and clear; People are either

believers or not in Jesus Christ. I see no difference in the lost condition

of an American non-believer and a Palestinian non-believer. And likewise

with true believers. Therefore I will continue to speak up on behalf of the

covenant by standing against a Palestinian state on covenant lands. There

are alternatives that all parties are guilty of not pursuing seriously.

Israel's lack of love in regards to Palestinian rights will be dealt with

severely by God, but so will the Palestinian violence upon Israel. America

will be judged because she has lost her way and no longer understands God's

word or looks to it for guidance. She will continue to act with good

intentions but at the moral expense of all!

The faithful Jews read God's word and see what will come upon them. They are

afraid and therefore they react to events. They are the keepers of Judaism

and if they are faithful then they will be saved. They know that they are

being isolated by the secular powers of Israel. They see that Israel is

abandoning God and thus heading for desolation as spoken of in the Bible.

They are desperate to keep God at the center of an exclusively Jewish

culture. Their extremist are not always right, but they on the right are not

all extremists. These people will be blind to the ultimate truth of Jesus

Christ and their brotherhood with you as a Christian until Jesus himself

lifts the veil from their eyes on the last day of this age.

You wrote: Less well known are the views of the American Religious Right.

Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) said: 'God Appeared to Abraham and said:

"I am giving you this land,"the West Bank. This is not a political battle at

all. It is a contest over whether or not the word of God is true.'

My response: I don't know the context in which this statement was taken

from, but by itself it is true. I agree with it based on what I explained

earlier.

You wrote: House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) was even more

forthright: 'I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank. I happen

to believe that the Palestinians should leave.'

There is a phrase for this. Ethnic cleansing.

My response: I don't agree with this statement. I do believe that the West

Bank belongs to Israel but I believe that the Palestinians, if they choose

to, could live under Israeli law in an Israeli state and voice. Israel on

its part would do well to allow a more pluralistic society based on moral

concerns. Israel had taken the steps of allowing the Palestinians

self-governance (since then almost destroyed by the Intifada) within Israel.

I think this model can work biblically with further concessions by both

parties.

You wrote: So why do American Christians stand by while their leaders

advocate the expulsion of fellow Christians? Could it be that they do not

know that the Holy Land has been a home to Christians since, well. since

Christ?

My response: Good questions and good points, but the situation is not that

simple. Christians were persecuted in the Holy Land from the time of Christ

along with other peoples and by other peoples. What shall we say of the

exodus of Christians from Lebanon? Is it at the hands of Jews? This is far

more complex than that. The bottom line is that American Christians wouldn't

be accepted in Israel either if didn't protect and support Israel through

huge loans and grants. Israel will never be the home of Christians until

Jesus Christ comes and establishes his kingdom in Jerusalem.

Whatever select American leaders say, it is the President who is charged by

the our constitution with the formation and maintenance of foreign policy

for the US. President Bush has made it clear that he supports a Palestinian

state. This would suggest at least a temporary state of relief is on the way

for Palestinians, but it will cost Israel dearly. God will first punish

Israel for her unfaithfullness and then he will expend his wrath upon her

enemies.

You wrote: Do not think I am asking for special treatment for Christians.

Ethnic cleansing is evil whoever does it and to whomever it is done.

Palestinian ChristiansMaronite Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Armenians,

Baptists, Copts and Assyrians have been rubbing shoulders with each other

and with other religionsMuslims, Jews, Druze and (most recently) Baha'is for

centuries. We want to do so for centuries more. But we can't if we are

driven out by despair.

My response: I agree. The only advice I can give is what we receive in the

Bible, "When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another." Matthew

10:23. I'm sorry if that sounds non-caring. I care deeply for my brothers

and sister in Christ all over the world. I believe that you will get your

state of Palestine, God has shown me in his Word. This grieves me because I

know what will follow and it will be truly horrible. Not just for the Jews

but for people such as yourself. Islam will not stop with the Jews. You must

know that although you are proud to be a Palestinian you are considered an

infidel to the adherents of Islam. They will not be satisfied by driving the

'Zionist entity' into the sea. They will come against all who stand firm in

the name above all names - Jesus Christ!

You wrote: What we seek is support: material, moral, political and spiritual.

As Palestinians we grieve for what we have lost, and few people (the

Ashkenazi Jews are one) have lost more than us. But grief can be assuaged by

the fellowship of friends.

My response: I am your friend and in the love of Jesus Christ I love you and

all Palestinians, believers or not. Just as I, a believer in Jesus Christ,

must put my faith above my patriotic love for my country so must you put

your faith above the patriotic love of your people and culture. We must love

our people, but the causes of this world are not to be placed above the

cause of Jesus Christ, but rather at his feet in humble submission to his

sovereignty over the affairs of men!

I am committed to prayer for your people and I will be more outspoken on

behalf of Christian Palestinians. If Christian Palestinians want to be

supported by Americans then they must be seen standing firmly for the faith

and against the violence of the Intifada. Your terrible situation cannot be

morally supported if violence against the people of the covenant is

supported by people who claim to be of Jesus Christ.

I prayed I have served you well,

R. Loudenslager

LastDay.info Ministries

Response 2: (Associate Editor THE WITNESS - USA)

Your query was forwarded to me by Aba Ata with a request to respond.

Others, I am sure, will bombard you with analysis of scripture,

Christological exegesis, and much else I am not qualified to present, let

alone defend. However I would only ask for a brief moment of your time to

propose a couple of points to fairly consider.

Let us strip away the endless midrash of historical explanations and get to

the central issue.

If grace and charity is the example of Christ, even when he was with the

Gentiles or those far outside the fold, then how do we condone persecution

and oppression of any person even if that oppression was (and it wasn't in

this case) furthered by choice? What sin or suffering doesn't involve some

choice, even if it is unknowing? Did the choice of Jews to be Jews and to

live in Poland mean they deserved the Holocaust? Did family who happened to

be Cambodian deserve to be hauled to the killing fields? What about the

following generations and their choices? This line of thinking simply

transfers the moral onus onto those who are defenseless or who deserve our

compassion. No greater hubris can I imagine than for us to set ourselves in

the place of God, to make the determination of who and what deserves love or

salvation, to usurp the role of Jesus Christ in judgement and to somehow

view this paltry speck of dust populated by tiny sentient primates as the

thing which determines God's vision. Only the father knows the time. Not

me, not the Zionists, not even Christ, and certainly not you.

But, even if we were to accept the general thesis that somehow the latest

round in the historical quagmire which is the "Holy Land" has something to

do with the end-times, what is it to any of us? What kind of twisted person

is willing to consciously use an entire nation of people as a sacrifice for

their own salvation? Who would use such an idea to persecute someone or

worse, to supposedly act as their friends and to promote their agenda when

they truly believe in their heart that most of them will be wiped out and

sent into the void (at best)? In this sense we could be referring to either

the Jews or the Palestinians. Either way it is cynicism at its worst. This

is the ultimate expression of selfish narcissism, the ultimate placement of

one's own well-being over that of others, the blasphemy of all blasphemies.

It is, in a sense, another crucifixion. Indeed, even if I were remotely

inclined to believe all this nonsense (and I certainly am not) it would seem

to me that the final cut is being made but certainly not in the direction

you might suppose.

We cannot force the world into a particular relationship with the divine.

Hate and persecution IS the human condition. That is the deterministic, the

necessary, the socio-biological response, the curse, the eternal us vs. them

which Judaism and Christianity have wrestled with for 3000 years. It is

simply tribalism, and God is not a member of a tribe. By acting in this way

you are not promoting the end of THE world, but the end of YOUR world and

several other people's worlds along with it. It is just another chapter of

suffering which has been repeated over and over and over again in the name

of so many gods in so many places.

Finally, as an archaeologist I think I can say with some authority that the

people of Palestine (Jews and Arabs alike) have maintained their continuous

presence in that land despite invasions, wars, persecution, genocide,

deportations, and oppression without pause for many millennia. The ancient

people who identified themselves as Judah did not wipe out the indigenous

populations of Palestine because many of them were themselves indigenous to

Palestine. So it remains today. The simplistic notions of anthropology,

history, and prehistory which many people propose when speaking about Israel

usually reflect a deep methodological and subjective ignorance of these

fields of knowledge. In terms of the substance of your claims about

Zionism, it would seem that the history of the movement is well documented.

I have copied a recent article below which you might find informative and

succinct. It is not my place to criticize the theological ideal of Israel

or its meaning in Judaism and Christianity. The reality of it, however, is

another matter.

Peace, J. Eighmey

[Arthur Durnan]

But doesn't Jesus Christ bring UNITY and HEALING to the Body whether the Body is composed of Israelis, Palestinians, Russians or Americans or whatever? And shouldn't the settled Word of God SETTLE all matters of discussion for professing Christian believers? Strange it is that those who so often claim to be Christian in name are not necessarily Christian in nature or conduct.

Shouldn't we no longer remain whatever we call ourselves, and commence to be known (by life & lip) as believing & practicing twice-born (John 3:1-7) individuals? To ask is to answer.

Let names & sects and parties fall,

And Jesus Christ be all in all.

AMEN!

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com

[Guest yod]

The saddest thing about that post would be if this is the majority opinion of us from the perspective of our Palestinian brothers (christians)

As I mentioned in another thread...it must be terribly hard to be a Palestinian christian. You are under constant threat of death for loving the King of the Jews.

[Guest abeata]

Response to our Christian Palestinian eternal misery:

THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE PALESTINIAN(Christian) PEOPLE

> PART 1, WHO KILLS THE HUMAN BOMBERS?

> Charles E. Carlson

>

> Israeli official sources claim that suicide bombers from Palestine

> have killed 248 Israeli under the age of 18 years since the Intifada

> began in 1987. Human rights groups say 2931 Palestinians have been

> shot or bombed to death, including 541 children, in just the last

> four years. Men in uniform deliberately fractured the arm of a 10-

> year old boy named Kamal, and the life was crushed out of an American

> girl named Rachael under a Caterpillar bulldozer. "SUICIDE BOMBERS"

> ARE BLAMED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FOR NEARLY EVERY DEATH IN ISRAEL.

>

> This writer has consistently argued that it is far more accurate to

> lay the responsibility for deaths on both sides on the doorstep

> of "Christian-Zionist" leaders of American churches and "celebrity

> media Christians" who, we find, are more bloody handed than a handful

> of young adults with crude homemade bombs. Were it not for these

> failed religious men of peace there would be no suicide bombers,

> there would have been no Day 911, Iraq would not have been destroyed

> and 600 dead American military would still be alive, as would

> countless Iraqis who been killed. See ENDING OUR PLAGUE:

> ( http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/EndPl.htm )

>

> Without Christian-Zionist influence there would be an uneasy peace

> between the Muslims and secular Jews who were forced long ago to

> share Palestine, and the Christian-Zionist followers who enable war

> are proud of what they have done. They are the crucifiers of the

> Palestinian people. To see why, we must examine the issues-suicide

> bombers, torture and assassinations-in context.

>

> AN EXCUSE FOR MURDER

>

> Israel needs an excuse for its public assassinations policy, which it

> claims has killed 327 Palestinians. It is not acceptable before the

> eyes of other world leaders to execute a crippled and aged religious

> leader, even if he is politically active. Other politicians cannot

> help but wonder if one of them might be next. World revulsion is

> rising. The excuse offered is that Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, 66, founder

> and political leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), was

> involved in the "suicide bombings." (http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?

> rpr/Yassin.htm)

>

> Israel must also have an excuse to build a thirty-foot concrete wall

> around three million people. It is not enough to call it a "fence."

> Again, the excuse is the "suicide bombers."

>

> Israel's policy of torturing detainees could not exist without an

> excuse. Israel's excuse for each and every brutal act is always the

> same. But do the acts of the human bombs validate assassination and

> torture? The statistics and logic say no.

>

> OBSERVATIONS IN GAZA

>

> I will refer to the Gaza Strip because I have contacts there and

> first-hand observations to rely on, having personally witnessed a

> missile attack against civilians and interviewed persons and agencies

> that specialize in the impact of mass terror on an imprisoned

> society. In Gaza I studied the motivation behind the suicide bombing.

>

> Are the acts of the human bombers a valid reason for the murder of

> Sheikh Yassin and those who were with him at prayer on a Friday

> dawn? Statistical reports from American and Israeli media and

> testimony from mental heath agencies in Gaza City say they are not.

> Human bombs are a result, not a cause of Israel's ongoing aggressions.

>

> THE TERM "SUICIDE BOMBER" IS ITSELF ORWELLIAN. There is nothing

> suicidal about these humans who carry the bombs. It is doubtful that

> a single bomber ever "committed suicide" in the sense of carrying out

> a bombing for the deliberate purpose of killing himself or herself.

>

> According to the Israeli government, most "suicide bombers" are

> unsuccessful and never detonate a bomb. If the motive was to end

> their lives, a Palestinian man or woman could hardly pick a less

> certain way to do it. They face extreme physical challenges and a

> terrible risk of being taken prisoner. There are easier ways to kill

> oneself, such as drowning in the nearby Mediterranean or jumping off

> a three-story building. The bomber's purpose is to end the lives of

> others, which is also the purpose of every "smart bomb" fired by the

> Israelis. The bomber's own life is a sacrifice. Suicide bombers are

> soldiers without uniforms.

>

> WHERE ARE THE BOMBERS WHO LIVED?

>

> Based on the Israeli claims, the vast majority of human bombs are

> killed, captured, or arrested in advance. It is reasonable to

> wonder, based on Israel's human right record, if they die a terrible

> and lonesome death, for as best I can tell, they are never heard from

> again. One must ask, what becomes of them?

>

> People in Gaza have told me the Israeli spy system is the best in the

> world; anyone can be watched at any time. Israel no doubt does

> discover most bombers before they get started, since the bombers are

> operating from within a closely guarded prison. They must first make

> a jailbreak in order to carry a bomb out of Gaza into Israel. Theirs

> must be a most frightening mission, requiring determination and

> extreme courage far beyond what I can even imagine.

>

> The thought of being taken alive by the Israelis while in possession

> of a bomb must be terrifying, given the knowledge that capture will

> probably lead to a slow, agonizing death far worse than instant

> incineration or decapitation. Israeli interrogators are capable of

> inflicting suffering more painful than even Mel Gibson was able to

> portray in his movie of Christ's death on the Cross. Based on

> Israel's record, known to every Gaza child, the Israelis do things to

> extract information that Gibson could not dare portray on the screen!

>

> If most human bombers are caught, as Israelis claim, what becomes of

> these prisoners? Why do we never hear about them again? I have yet

> to hear of a trial of an "attempted suicide bomber." What is done to

> the hundreds of young adults Israel says it intercepts? It is time

> we found out.

>

> It is also time we found out about the tens of thousands who have

> been arrested and who remain in custody, sometimes for years without

> charges, simply because they were suspected of something. Sheikh

> Yassin lost an eye in a beating he sustained during interrogation

> before his release from an Israeli prison in 1991. Israelis did not

> spare a quadriplegics in a wheel chair.

>

> Israel uses incidents it brings upon itself to justify its policies.

> Thus, when a youth, a man or a woman bomber destroys a bus on which

> dozens of Israeli soldiers are probably riding, Israel accelerates

> its daily air raids against the civilian population of Gaza. It

> never stops bombing, invading, molesting, assaulting, humiliating and

> detaining. It only increases or decreases the pressure and the

> viciousness of the attacks, all of which are characterized as

> reprisals.

>

> GREATLY EXAGGERATED

>

> In the entire 17-year history of the uprising against the occupation,

> generally referred to as the Intifada, there have only been about one

> hundred human bombs exploded; Israeli government reports are somewhat

> confusing as to exact numbers when it comes to the "suicide

> bombers." Ariel Sharon reported in a speech during the 2003 Jenin

> occupation that there had been 58. Our count is taken from Israeli

> Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports. The Israeli Defense Force also

> produces slightly conflicting reports in a monthly bar chart

> listing "attempts" versus "successful suicide bombings." In February

> 2004 its charts show a total of 136 explosions from September 2000

> through December 2003. Whichever number is correct, 58 or 136, it is

> a small number indeed. We will use 100, because we have the name,

> age, and rank of every person killed in those 100 reported bombings.

>

> Each human bomb carries a very small charge of explosives--only the

> amount one person, sometimes a woman, can carry. Incidents of mass

> terror by Israelis using warplanes, tanks and helicopters are much

> greater in number and limited in killing power only by how much US

> taxpayers will finance. These attacks go on somewhere every night

> and probably number in the thousands. The attack I witnessed was one

> of three I could hear in the distance in a single week. Mercifully,

> it stopped at 4:00 AM after 40 missiles were fired. I photographed

> about 20 of them before my camcorder battery went dead.

>

> Shootings and beatings at checkpoints and in homes, detainments and

> harassment never end and do not even make print unless a foreign

> reporter or photographer happens to be on hand. Palestinian hospital

> records and records of humanitarian organizations indicate that as

> many as 2000 of their children have been killed by Israeli since the

> beginning of the First Intifada in October of 1987, and many more

> have been wounded and maimed. It is children of this war who have

> grown up to be the human bombers.

>

> Torture of Palestinian prisoners

>

> Torture in Israel is no secret; it is acknowledged at the highest

> level of its government, the Supreme Court. Alexander Cockburn,

> author of THE POLITICS OF ANTI-SEMITISM, states, "every government

> tortures prisoner; Israel is the only one that admits it."

>

> The barbaric practice of extracting confessions from "detainees" by

> torture has always been used in Israel and was legitimatised in

> Israel by the 1994 Landau Decision. Human rights groups have fought

> against the use of torture for some 50 years, and it has been the

> subject of many UN resolutions, including one that declared Israel to

> be a "terrorist state."

>

> For a few years Israel forbade the practice, probably to get

> the "terrorist" sanction lifted, but the Landau decision legalizes

> what has always been practiced. * The Landau Commission Report

> (CAT/C/16/Add.4) permits "MODERATE PHYSICAL PRESSURE" as a lawful

> mode of interrogation. See committee against Torture: Israel. 12/6/94

>

> Any Israeli military or policeman may torture detainees as long as it

> can be passed off as "moderate pressure." The problem is, nobody is

> allowed to watch to see how "moderate" the torture really is.

> Extreme pressure can be applied as long as no one is officially

> watching and the pressure does not leave extreme and obvious marks on

> the victim. Israel has developed torture methods that do not show

> much, but some signs can be clearly seen anyway.

>

> "Torture" is a terrifying word in the English language, too horrible

> to contemplate. It is truly an instrument of terror. It is a word

> we associate with the sadist Henry the 8th. It is the kind of

> terrorism perfected in the Russia gulag by the Bolsheviks. Millions

> have migrated to Israel. Alexander Solzhenitzyn's books on life in

> the gulag have sections devoted to the interrogation methods used.

> Israel has adopted the same methods.

>

> Among the common forms of extreme torture used by Israelis is the

> breaking of bones of boys caught throwing rocks. We reported one

> such incident three years ago. A 10 year old boy named Kamal Ali

> As'idah who lives with his parents and four sisters in Jerusalem was

> caught throwing rocks on April 6, 2001 and was "detained" by Israeli

> defense forces.

>

> Young Kamal happened to be photographed by a Reuters photographer

> while being dragged away by six soldiers much larger than him. So

> frightened was the boy that his jeans were visibly soaked with his

> own urine. Israelis contemptuously referred to Kamal as "the piss

> child."

>

> KAMAL IS ONE OF MANY

>

> What is unique about Kamal's detention is that some Americans

> actually went to the trouble to see what happened to Kamal in

> detention. His father later told the Editor of Washington Report

> that his son was released after eight hours, badly beaten to the head

> and legs and with his throwing arm was broken. But this brutality

> against the child was not the end of it. As retribution for his

> son's act, Kamal's father was fired from his job with an Israeli tour

> bus company when the employer learned of the incident.

>

> See the stories of Kamal with vivid photos:

> http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/011123pw.htm and

> http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/010725pw2.htm

>

> Israelis beat and break the bones of 10 year olds all the time and

> the media ignores it. Mid-eastern doctors have told me that men are

> often raped with sharp instruments and beaten on every body part,

> particularly the genitals. Electric shock leaves few outward marks.

> Women prisoners are not excluded from torture.

>

> Selective execution is another form of the systematic physiological

> torture inflicted on the entire population of Gaza. Israel's

> admitted assassinations of some 327 suspected persons all rely on the

> same justification: "suicide bombings." But statistics reveal this

> is a flimsy excuse. Physical and mental torture (terrorism) is an

> everyday fact of life in Gaza. Civilians are bombed, burned,

> incinerated and buried. Everyone knows victims, and reprisals

> against families are and always have been standard fare in occupied

> Palestine.

>

> Bombing where least expected is a form of psychological torture that

> implants fears in the minds of innocent civilians, especially the

> children, who learn their parents cannot hide or protect them.

> Bombings and the constant threat of bombings are forms of torture

> inflicted on every Gazan mother, father and child. They live with the

> knowledge that a bomb or tank shell could come through a wall any

> time. Children in the camps are killed on their doorsteps by rubber-

> coated zinc bullets shot by soldiers who will be held blameless

> regardless of circumstances.

>

> I did not feel "awe" at the enormous show of American firepower as I

> watched hovering Apaches pounding away from over my rooftop; I felt

> anger and frustration that there was no way to resist it. It did not

> make me want to leave Gaza; it made me want to be a Palestinian,

> maybe even a human bomb if there was no other way.

>

> I began to resent the Israelis at the checkpoints and the American

> government's ongoing gifts of guided bombs to be fired from Apaches

> and F-16s supplied and paid for by American taxpayers. I resented

> the night vision magic that allow the men in the Apaches to see me on

> my rooftop without me being able to see them. I resented the

> churches back home for their blind enabling of the genocide they

> support and faun over but refuse to look at. There is no room for

> disbelief in Gaza. When you are there you see the mass torture.

>

> The effect on the people of Gaza was explained to me vividly by Dr.

> Eyad R. El Sarraj, founder of the GAZA COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH

> PROGRAMME. Dr. Sarraj told me of the epidemic of bedwetting that

> plagues the families, who are living in amazingly tight quarters,

> sometimes eight or more in a single room. As seen with Kamal, the

> brave little rock thrower who the Israelis insulted after breaking

> his arm, bedwetting comes from terror.

>

> Dr. Sarraj also stated that his organization systematically tracks

> down the families of "suicide bombers," whose homes are always

> immediately destroyed. He stated that in every case, without

> exception (this was in March 2002) every bomber had witnessed one or

> more acts of abuse against his father by the Israelis, such as a

> severe beating or a long period of imprisonment. What father's son

> cannot understand such an emotion? It made me wanted to go out with

> them and throw rocks.

>

> According to a 1993 British Medical Journal study of 1500 Gaza

> children, 90% had been tear-gassed, 52% had been beaten, 11.2% had

> been detained, 97% had seen their homes raided, and 1.1% had seen

> their homes destroyed.

>

> In another study of 477 former "detainees" it was found that 29.14%

> required psychiatric intervention, 24.72% had some form of organic

> brain damage, and 41.9% had trouble adapting to family life. This

> study went on to say, "70% of the children in the Gaza Strip had been

> exposed to 4 or 5 traumatic experiences."

> (Source: PALESTINE IN TRANSITION, GAZA COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMME)

>

> TORTURE OF DETAINEES

>

> "Detainee" is an Israeli euphemism for someone who is taken away

> without arrest or charge, to be tortured and held indefinitely

> without contact with the outside world. The detainee disappears just

> as the Russians described by Solzhenitzyn disappeared into the "Black

> Mariahs" (prison vans) of the gulag. The detainee is allowed no

> lawyer or phone call. Some are never seen again, and of those who

> are, most report they were questioned and systematically tortured

> both mentally and physically.

>

> By torture I do not mean the mild inconvenience and discomfort one

> might encounter in any police station in America if you are

> arrested. I once experienced painful overly tight handcuffs clamped

> on me by a person who wanted it to hurt. It did. My arms may not

> have been quite the same for a while, but this is not torture, as the

> detainee experiences it. I was not terrorized because I knew the

> surly cop would not kill me. I was never afraid, just

> uncomfortable. Terror is the fear that comes from knowing you might

> be killed and there is no one to protect you. That is what the Gazan

> faces when he is detained.

>

> Everyone in America knows that torture is illegal and he will only be

> pressed to the point of discomfort. Not so in Israel where tight

> handcuffs that cut off the blood and leave little scars and bruises

> would be a picnic for a detainee. He faces unchecked deliberate

> brutality called "moderate pressure." Israeli style torture has been

> carried to the point of death in more than a few well-documented

> cases, and permanent physical and mental impairment that cannot be

> measured is a routine result of the Israeli policy of violent shaking

> considered "moderate force." Abuse that can be detected, like

> Kamal's broken arm, is just shrugged off as an accident resulting

> from resistance. This is clearly seen in interviews with the Israeli

> military in the award winning film, People and the Land (link)

>

> Israel justifies all torture by blaming it on the "suicide bombers."

> No matter what it does or how many people it maims and kills, its

> acts are always laid at the feet of those few who go on impossible

> raids to bomb Israeli targets with a few pounds of explosives by

> walking into their very lair and exploding the bomb by hand. Israel

> makes no other effort to justify reprisals, detention, assassination

> or torture; it offers no explanation for why it executes entire

> families because one member is "suspected."

>

> If you debate an Israeli about the bulldozer driver who purposely

> mashed an American college student named Rachel Corrie to a pulp,

> your opponent will invariably respond that she was defending

> suspected "suicide bombers" and deserved her punishment, as did the

> homeowners of the house being bulldozed. If you ask about the

> deliberate starvation of Gazan children by locking down the Gaza

> Strip, just as the USSR locked down the gulags, the answer will be

> that the "bombers" cause it.

>

>

> The separation "wall" that is a functional replica of the Berlin Wall

> is, we are told, in response to the "bombers." The raping of men

> with sharp instruments while under interrogation, or the crushing of

> reproductive organs with batons and boots are all needed because of

> the "bombers." Never mind that there were no "suicide bombers" for

> the first 39 years of the Israeli conflict and that torture was at it

> worst in those early years because there was so little international

> interest or concern.

>

> Torture is carried on against mothers and dads by the constant din of

> nighttime bombings and the hunger that threatens many. Every act of

> brutality, be it the breaking of 10 year old Kamal's arm, the murder

> of aged religious leader Sheik Yemeni, the assassination of human

> rights protesters or photographers who photograph the wrong scenes,

> the building of a wall that encroaches on and cuts up still more

> Palestinian land and deprives Palestinians of still more water--all

> are excused as responses to the acts of less than 100 young people

> who knew they and their people had little or no future.

>

> Israel is perhaps the only country in the world where torture is

> legal, and it is not denied. What is denied is that the practice of

> brutalizing prisoners is carried out far beyond the allowable limits,

> as thousands have reported. Israel practices terrorism

> against "detainees" as a method of deterrence. It breaks the arms of

> children caught throwing rocks, imposes indecent humiliation and pain

> to extract the names of family and friends, and shakes men almost to

> death to destroy their brain cells, making some incapable of being an

> enemy -all to deter them from standing up against Israel.

>

> The people living in the cantons of Gaza and the West Bank have been

> subjected to crucifixion for 54 years. It is documented and

> undeniable. Compare this to the frail acts of 100 human bombers who

> all died at the end of their mission.

>

> Recommended book:

>

> JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM - GRACE HALSELL, who trekked through the West

> Bank, Gaza Strip, and Israel, the Holy Land, home of Islam,

> Christianity and Judaism. This is a rare balanced view from inside

> Jewish, Christian, and Muslim families, with a sad but true chapter

> about torture before the first Intifada. $12.50

>

> http://www.whtt.org/catalog/product_info.p...&products_id=58

>

>

> WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS (www.whtt.org)

> Strait Gate Ministries

> P.O. Box 14491

> Scottsdale, AZ 85267

> 480 947 3329 (cecarl@whtt.org)

[Guest yod]

This writer has consistently argued that it is far more accurate to

> lay the responsibility for deaths on both sides on the doorstep

> of "Christian-Zionist" leaders of American churches and "celebrity

> media Christians" who, we find, are more bloody handed than a handful

> of young adults with crude homemade bombs.

an outrageous lie!!!

This thing is so full of inciteful lies that I hardly know where to begin...or why anyone would believe this smack.

They are coming after the Sunday people now.

[gypc]

To the stater of this thread, whoever you may be. You have not said one word to us yet. Do You want to discuss or do you want to keep pouring out your propaganda reports?

Who are you and what do you want from us?

I have a novel idea: PRAY FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest abeata]

First hand account from Christian victims in the Holy Land. Jesus is speaking through his people finally..to YOU READERS:

"This was a month we regarded with mixed feelings. On the one hand it was a month of great celebrations because of the openings of our new ad-Dar Cultural and Conference Center and Dar al-Kalima Health and Wellness Center; while on the other hand, we had experienced deep worries about an escalating conflict and tensions. We were inaugurating state of the art facilities with an enormous potential for Bethlehem and Palestine; while being haunted by a history of conflict, revenge and apartheid. We were worried that tensions might escalate at any minute and we might be forced to again postpone the opening of our new facilities. It happened to us twice before. We know what it means. It is like sitting on the top of an active volcano, not knowing when it will erupt again.

Living in this part of the world taught us to never take life for granted. Every day is a new gift. But it is exactly because of this that we insist on investing in a better future.

At a time when a wall of separation and apartheid is being built around Bethlehem we are here investing in people who dare to cross boundaries