While these sentiments are, in themselves,
morally unconscionable, the stain is spread as a result of the
activities led by taxpayer-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The Church of Scotland report is influenced by the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center,
a Jerusalem-based Palestinian Christian group. Sabeel is a major actor
in the effort to convince Christian churches worldwide to support
anti-Israel boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS). Sabeel’s
influence is noted in the report’s main theme: the “promise to Abraham about land is fulfilled through the impact of Jesus, not by restoration of land to the Jewish people.”
This is called replacement theology, or supersessionism, whose origins run deep in Christian history. Its central claim is that “national
Israel has somehow completed or forfeited its status as the people of
God… and the church is now the true Israel that has permanently replaced
or superseded national Israel as the people of God.” After the
Holocaust, the Vatican and many mainline Protestant churches
reinterpreted this theology to avoid breathing life back into
antisemitism.
In contrast, Sabeel laces its Palestinian
Liberation Theology, developed by founder Rev. Naim Ateek, with
supersessionist language, forging it into a theological sword to
undercut Jewish religious and historical claims to Israel. As such it
“Christianizes” Palestinian nationalism, which in one of its
foundational documents (the PLO Charter) declares, “Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history.”
Ateek has been developing his thesis since 1989 when he wrote, “The
tragedy of many Zionists today is that they have locked themselves into
the nationalist concept of God. They are trapped in it and they will be
freed only if they discard their primitive image of God for a more
universal one.”
Ateek’s shocking belittlement of Judaism is
odious. But its echo in the Church of Scotland’s report ratchets up its
offensiveness: “Christians must not sacrifice the universalist,
inclusive dimension of Christianity and revert to the particular
exclusivism of the Jewish faith because we feel guilty about the
Holocaust.”
Sabeel is an official partner of the Church of Scotland, which describes Sabeel as an organization that “promotes non-violence and reconciliation.” How such intolerant rhetoric can be seen as inspiring reconciliation is difficult to see.
The Church of Scotland is not alone in
fostering support for Sabeel. Many Western governments, especially in
Europe, outsource their foreign aid through a network of Christian
humanitarian aid NGOs. In this manner, Sabeel receives financial
support from the governments (and the taxpayers) of the Netherlands,
Sweden and Canada.
The Swedish government, through its International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), funds Diakonia, a partnership of five Swedish churches. Sabeel states that “Sweden, a country which was strongly pro-Zionist in the past, manifests strong support [for Sabeel’s agenda],” and that “Diakonia is closely associated with Sabeel.” In 2008 Diakonia funded Sabeel’s Nakba Memory program. In 2011 Sabeel received SEK 225,000 ($32,390) from Diakonia for its “Community Program.” And in 2012, Diakonia donated €44,277 to Sabeel.
This is how Western taxpayers in the 21st century are subsidizing medieval religious intolerance.
It is bad enough that the Church of Scotland
echoes Sabeel’s radical Palestinian nationalist agenda, and as a result,
undermines the positive and historical developments in post-Holocaust
Jewish-Christian relations. The fact that Western governments are
funding and enabling the poisonous message spread by groups like Sabeel
is no less disturbing.
No comments:
Post a Comment