Christian NGOs and Israel
December 27, 2012 Leave a comment
A few days ago, the Commentator published an article by me (text below) on the reasons why so many Christian organisations working in the Middle East are hostile towards Israel. There are a good number of excellent pro-Israel organisations, who seek to serve both sides of the divide in Israel and who successfully keep a non-political stance. Why can so many others not do the same. If the organisations working in Palestinian areas insist on being so poisonously anti-Israel, why do the pro-Israel groups not behave in the same way towards Palestinians? Who is showing a more Christian face to the world; the ones serving Palestinians while actively and loudly denigrating Israel, or the ones quietly serving both communities and hating neither? This blog in the Times of Israel by NGO Monitor echoes these concerns.
Dexter Van Zile (Why are Christian charities bashing Israel? 15th December) admirably exposed a major problem in the Christian development agency universe; a problem that too often seems to focus on only one geographical area in the whole world. Embrace the Middle East (an evolution of a long-standing agency with a history of excellent work on behalf of the poor of the Middle East), Christian Aid, World Vision, The Amos Trust and many others do provide aid to the poor and they do engage in commendable development projects in the cultural and religious turmoil we call the Middle East. Sadly, however, the majority of such charities seem to have an unacceptable political bias where this one geographical area is concerned – that narrow strip of land popularly known as “Israel-Palestine” or “Palestine-Israel” depending on your worldview! As someone who has worked in the Christian charity sector for over 25 years and with a special concern in the Middle East, I would like to offer a four point rationale for this anomaly in the mindsets of otherwise thoroughly admirable, caring organisations. Read more of this post
Habima at the Globe
June 5, 2012 Leave a comment
Firstly, the Globe Theatre is to be complimented for going ahead with their invitation to Israel’s national theatre company in the face of some fairly high level pleas from British theatrical figures to boycott them. Secondly, Habima executed not only a superb performance of the apposite Merchant of Venice, to packed houses and rave reviews, but they refused to be put off by the few demonstrations that made it past the tight security and didn’t pause their acting once when banners were displayed or other demonstrations took place. Not only was the Globe’s security apparatus swift and efficient in dealing with troublemakers, but the strong police presence and airport-style search arches combined to remove most demonstration banners from anti-Israel protestors before they even reached their seats. Congratulations to both Habima and The Globe.
I am an inveterate people-watcher and I love going to marches and demonstrations to observe both sides, as well as the reactions of passers-by. In the case of the anti-Habima demonstration, the Zionist Federation organised a Jewish/Christian counter-demonstration, which the police had placed round a corner out of sight of the pro-Palestinians. Walking around between the two, it was clear that no more than 40-50 pro-Palestinian supporters had turned out (this was at the Monday, first night, performance). Read more of this post
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Filed under Antisemitism, Current Events, The BDS Campaign, The Delegitimisation of Israel Tagged with anti-Israel, anti-Zionism, antisemitism, BDS, delegitimisation, Globe Theatre, Habima, PA, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, PSC, The Commentator, ZF