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Palestinians laud US Christian stand
Palestinian religious leaders have welcomed efforts by two US-based Christian groups to exert economic pressure on Israel in response to its repressive policies against the Palestinians. This week, the US-based Episcopal Church said it would contemplate action against companies involved in the occupation of Palestine, especially in the construction of the separation wall Israel is building in the West Bank. The wall, declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, is viewed by the bulk of the international community as a land grab and an attempt to kill any prospect of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank.Earlier, another American church, the Presbyterian Church, embarked on a campaign to against companies involved in the building of Jewish-only settlements in the occupied territories. "We salute these two churches for taking these courageous steps to help the oppressed Palestinian people," said archimandrite Ata Allah Hanna, spokesman of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. "We do hope and pray that other churches and groups will act similarly in fulfilment of Jesus Christ's ideals of siding with the victims of oppression." He told Aljazeera.net the churches' decisions were not made hastily or haphazardly. "They dispatched their representatives to Palestine who saw the enormity of Israeli repression and persecution. It is imperative to point out that no real Christian can accept, condone or ignore the colossal crimes Israel is committing in this holy land." Some Jewish leaders have denounced the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches' attitudes towards its barrier. "There is a certain moral blindness here that is very hard for me to understand," Rabbi Erec Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, was quoted as saying on Friday. "There is no parallel pressure on the Palestinians. That is unfair," said Yoffie, who has been convincing the leaders of the Presbyterian Church to revoke its campaign. Responding to the claims of a Jewish leader that the campaign was motivated by anti-semitism, Ikrima Sabri, the mufti of Palestine, said: "These rabbis are with Israel, right or wrong. They want the world to turn a blind eye to the slow-motion holocaust Israel is carrying out against five million defenceless and helpless human beings whose fault is their enduring yearning for freedom from Jewish tyranny." Posted by: Fred 2004-10-03 |
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