Nieuws
12 juli 2011
Reactie Vrienden van Sabeel Noord Amerika op persbericht Simon Wiesenthal Centrum
Friends of Sabeel--North America
Simon Wiesenthal Center Tactics Shameless
NEWYORK - The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (www.theIPMN.org) responds to yet another shameless attack by the Simon Wiesenthal Center(SWC) on concerned Christians who work tirelessly towards peace and justice inIsrael/Palestine. This time it follows SWC's response to the release of the Kairos Palestine Document Study Guide that was recently published by a special committee of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. The irony of the attack is that by rejecting the Kairos Palestine Document and the Presbyterian Study Guide, the SWC has placed itself in the untenable position of rejecting both violent and nonviolent responses to illegal occupation and apartheid. Kairos Palestine, written by Christian leaders in Palestine, embraces the nonviolent approach towards oppression,modeled by such important historical and global figures as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
It is shameless that the Simon Wiesenthal Center now equates Christian nonviolent response to oppression with fanatical, extremist violence. This is no surprise given the organization's own tolerance of the same, in regard to extremist Jewish groups that have settled illegally in the Occupied PalestinianTerritories and the Center's refusal to back down on building their "Museum of Tolerance" on top of an 800 year-old Muslim cemetery.
Since 2004,the rank and file of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has gained a growing awareness of the injustice of occupation in Palestine. Israel's illegal occupation and apartheid policy (Hafrada, separation in Hebrew) makes the useof words like 'peace' by the Israeli government and such Zionist organizations as the Simon Wiesenthal Center a cruel and cynical joke being perpetrated on all peace-seeking Palestinians and Israelis.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center's credibility as an honest broker came into question as aresult of its ill-conceived attack on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) justprior to that body's national gathering in Minneapolis in 2010. The SWC unilaterally condemned a Middle East Study Committee report that had not yet been published or released. It is now using similar tactics in regard to the work of the PC(USA) Middle East Monitoring Group and its just-released KairosPalestine Study Guide in order to muzzle dialogue.
The Study Guide gives all Presbyterians the opportunity to honestly reflect on the reality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and on how Christian believers maintain their faith and respond to their calling by Jesus Christ, in the face of oppression. The Study Guide responsibly places the important emphases of "hope for liberation, nonviolence, love of enemy, and reconciliation" from the document in the context of the Biblical values of faith, hope and love.
The Israel Palestine Mission Network stands behind every effort to foster healthy and open debate about the conflict in Israel/Palestine in a way that sheds light on truth rather than perpetuate the darkness of falsehoods. In this way, the new study document of the PC (USA) Middle East Monitoring Group continues the historic Presbyterian tradition of honest dialogue regarding faith and the most difficult issues with which the people of God contend.
In joyful obedience to the call of Christ, and in solidarity with churches and our other partners in the Middle East, this network covenants to engage, consolidate,nourish, and channel the energy in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) toward the goal of a just peace in Israel/Palestine by facilitating education, promoting partnerships, and coordinating advocacy. Our network speaks TO the Church not FOR the Church.