walford
10-22-2004, 04:03 AM
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=200410201052
With relations between the Jewish and Presbyterian religious communities at their lowest point in decades, it's hard to imagine what could have possessed the Presbyterian Church (USA) to decide this was the right time for a good-will visit with the leadership of Hezbollah.
A 24-member delegation from the church met last Sunday in Lebanon with Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, described in press reports as the commander of Hezbollah in South Lebanon. According to The Associated Press, the group was on a fact-finding mission that included tours of sites near the Lebanese-Israeli border. They were briefed on Hezbollah's network of educational and social services, and heard from Kaouk that his Shi'ite group would welcome better ties with the American people.
Hezbollah is deemed by the American government to be one of the most dangerous international terrorist organizations. It is responsible for a host of atrocities, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 270. Before September 11 it was responsible for more American terrorist deaths than any other group. It is believed to be responsible for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, still the deadliest anti-Jewish attack since World War II. And it is busy expanding its links to other terrorist groups; it is currently believed to be directing as much as 70% of ongoing terrorist violence in the West Bank.
At press time the leadership of the Presbyterian Church (USA) was said to be seeking to distance itself from the church's irresponsible behavior. But the hug-fest with Hezbollah is merely the logical conclusion of a course that was set last spring, when the church voted to divest itself of holdings in companies doing business with Israel. By singling out Israel for de-legitimization and demonization, the church sent a clear signal to its followers that the Jewish state is fair game and, by implication, that its enemies are valid partners in dialogue.
The church should use this opportunity to re-examine its shameful policies and return to sanity.
This is what the good Presbyterians are embracing having rejected Israel:
http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/Hiz_letter.htm
The Hizballah Program
... the whole world knows that whoever wishes to oppose the US, that arrogant superpower, cannot indulge in marginal acts which may make it deviate from its major objective. We combat abomination and we shall tear out its very roots, its primary roots, which are the US. All attempts made to drive us into marginal actions will fail, especially as our determination to fight the US is solid.
We declare openly and loudly that we are an umma which fears God only and is by no means ready to tolerate injustice, aggression and humiliation. America, its Atlantic Pact allies, and the Zionist entity in the holy land of Palestine, attacked us and continue to do so without respite. Their aim is to make us eat dust continually. This is why we are, more and more, in a state of permanent alert in order to repel aggression and defend our religion, our existence, our dignity. They invaded our country, destroyed our villages, slit the throats of our children, violated our sanctuaries and appointed masters over our people who committed the worst massacres against our umma. They do not cease to give support to these allies of Israel, and do not enable us to decide our future according to our own wishes...
...If you, Christians, cannot tolerate that Muslims share with you certain domains of government, Allah has also made it intolerable for Muslims to participate in an unjust regime, unjust for you and for us, in a regime which is not predicated upon the prescriptions (ahkam) of religion and upon the basis of the Law (the Shari’a) as laid down by Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets. If you search for justice, who is more just than Allah? It is He who sent down from the sky the message of Islam through his successive prophets in order that they judge the people and give everyone his rights. If you were deceived and misled into believing that we anticipate vengeance against you - your fears are unjustified. For those of you who are peaceful, continue to live in our midst without anybody even thinking to trouble you.
We don't wish you evil. We call upon you to embrace Islam so that you can be happy in this world and the next. If you refuse to adhere to Islam, maintain your ties with the Muslims and don't take part in any activity against them. Free yourselves from the consequences of hateful confessionalism. Banish from your hearts all fanaticism and parochialism. Open your hearts to our Call (da'wa) which we address to you. Open yourselves up to Islam where you'll find salvation and happiness upon earth and in the hereafter...
...We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve. This enemy is the greatest danger to our future generations and to the destiny of our lands, particularly as it glorifies the ideas of settlement and expansion, initiated in Palestine, and yearning outward to the extension of the Great Israel, from the Euphrates to the Nile.
Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel states that the Zionist entity is aggressive from its inception, and built on lands wrested from their owners, at the expense of the rights of the Muslim people. Therefore our struggle will end only when this entity is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated.
We vigorously condemn all plans for negotiation with Israel, and regard all negotiators as enemies, for the reason that such negotiation is nothing but the recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Therefore we oppose and reject the Camp David Agreements, the proposals of King Fahd, the Fez and Reagan plan, Brezhnev's and the French-Egyptian proposals, and all other programs that include the recognition (even the implied recognition) of the Zionist entity...
With relations between the Jewish and Presbyterian religious communities at their lowest point in decades, it's hard to imagine what could have possessed the Presbyterian Church (USA) to decide this was the right time for a good-will visit with the leadership of Hezbollah.
A 24-member delegation from the church met last Sunday in Lebanon with Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, described in press reports as the commander of Hezbollah in South Lebanon. According to The Associated Press, the group was on a fact-finding mission that included tours of sites near the Lebanese-Israeli border. They were briefed on Hezbollah's network of educational and social services, and heard from Kaouk that his Shi'ite group would welcome better ties with the American people.
Hezbollah is deemed by the American government to be one of the most dangerous international terrorist organizations. It is responsible for a host of atrocities, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 270. Before September 11 it was responsible for more American terrorist deaths than any other group. It is believed to be responsible for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, still the deadliest anti-Jewish attack since World War II. And it is busy expanding its links to other terrorist groups; it is currently believed to be directing as much as 70% of ongoing terrorist violence in the West Bank.
At press time the leadership of the Presbyterian Church (USA) was said to be seeking to distance itself from the church's irresponsible behavior. But the hug-fest with Hezbollah is merely the logical conclusion of a course that was set last spring, when the church voted to divest itself of holdings in companies doing business with Israel. By singling out Israel for de-legitimization and demonization, the church sent a clear signal to its followers that the Jewish state is fair game and, by implication, that its enemies are valid partners in dialogue.
The church should use this opportunity to re-examine its shameful policies and return to sanity.
This is what the good Presbyterians are embracing having rejected Israel:
http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/Hiz_letter.htm
The Hizballah Program
... the whole world knows that whoever wishes to oppose the US, that arrogant superpower, cannot indulge in marginal acts which may make it deviate from its major objective. We combat abomination and we shall tear out its very roots, its primary roots, which are the US. All attempts made to drive us into marginal actions will fail, especially as our determination to fight the US is solid.
We declare openly and loudly that we are an umma which fears God only and is by no means ready to tolerate injustice, aggression and humiliation. America, its Atlantic Pact allies, and the Zionist entity in the holy land of Palestine, attacked us and continue to do so without respite. Their aim is to make us eat dust continually. This is why we are, more and more, in a state of permanent alert in order to repel aggression and defend our religion, our existence, our dignity. They invaded our country, destroyed our villages, slit the throats of our children, violated our sanctuaries and appointed masters over our people who committed the worst massacres against our umma. They do not cease to give support to these allies of Israel, and do not enable us to decide our future according to our own wishes...
...If you, Christians, cannot tolerate that Muslims share with you certain domains of government, Allah has also made it intolerable for Muslims to participate in an unjust regime, unjust for you and for us, in a regime which is not predicated upon the prescriptions (ahkam) of religion and upon the basis of the Law (the Shari’a) as laid down by Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets. If you search for justice, who is more just than Allah? It is He who sent down from the sky the message of Islam through his successive prophets in order that they judge the people and give everyone his rights. If you were deceived and misled into believing that we anticipate vengeance against you - your fears are unjustified. For those of you who are peaceful, continue to live in our midst without anybody even thinking to trouble you.
We don't wish you evil. We call upon you to embrace Islam so that you can be happy in this world and the next. If you refuse to adhere to Islam, maintain your ties with the Muslims and don't take part in any activity against them. Free yourselves from the consequences of hateful confessionalism. Banish from your hearts all fanaticism and parochialism. Open your hearts to our Call (da'wa) which we address to you. Open yourselves up to Islam where you'll find salvation and happiness upon earth and in the hereafter...
...We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve. This enemy is the greatest danger to our future generations and to the destiny of our lands, particularly as it glorifies the ideas of settlement and expansion, initiated in Palestine, and yearning outward to the extension of the Great Israel, from the Euphrates to the Nile.
Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel states that the Zionist entity is aggressive from its inception, and built on lands wrested from their owners, at the expense of the rights of the Muslim people. Therefore our struggle will end only when this entity is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated.
We vigorously condemn all plans for negotiation with Israel, and regard all negotiators as enemies, for the reason that such negotiation is nothing but the recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Therefore we oppose and reject the Camp David Agreements, the proposals of King Fahd, the Fez and Reagan plan, Brezhnev's and the French-Egyptian proposals, and all other programs that include the recognition (even the implied recognition) of the Zionist entity...