The issues are more important than who is saying things.
That is why I will responded with DOCUMENTS on this PRETENDED BALANCED
Christian Comment.
In fact in the past I gave documented respond about who really are the
International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem.
Please read it at: http://www.al-bushra.org/hedchrch/labibkobti.html
Now permit me to respond to the issues.
You will in between the article the DOCUMENTED ANSWER
ICEJ STATEMENT ON CURRENT CONFLICT IN ISRAEL
Date:12/5/2001 6:33:00 PM Pacific Standard Time
TO:Dear All,
Some more balanced Christian comment
...
----- Original Message -----
From: ICEJ meid
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 2:13 AM
Subject: ICEJ STATEMENT ON CURRENT CONFLICT IN ISRAEL
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
P. O. Box 1192, Jerusalem 91010, Israel 7 Tel (02) 566 9823/561 9389
7 Fax:
+972.2.566 9970 7 Email: icej@icej.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, 5 December
2001
ICEJ STATEMENT ON THE CURRENT CONFLICT IN ISRAEL
THEY SAY:
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem is a worldwide Christian
ministry headquartered in Jerusalem, where we have been daily witnesses
for
more than twenty years to the ups of downs of the Arab-Israeli conflict
and
international efforts to bring it to a peaceful resolution. We have
a proven
track record of reaching out in sincere Christian love to all the peoples
of
the Holy Land, Jews and Arabs alike, and consider ourselves to be an
informed
and concerned observer to this dispute.
ANSWER:
1) They have always accused Arabs and Arab Christians of many things.
In 1997 and in 1998 they pretended that the Arab-Christians were persecuted
by the Arab-Muslims. Investigations were held and they found that it was
just a lie that was worked between them and PM Netanyahu.
Please visit and read the answers of the Head of Christian Churches
in Jerusalem: http://www.al-bushra.org/holyland/0persecution.htm
2) When the Israelis withdraw from Bethlehem. They were angry and called to boycott the Christmas in Bethlehem. When in fact the Arab-Christians and not the Irish or American, or Italian or any European Christian have been celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem and for over 200 years now. How then they are fair to the Arab-Christians.
Can anybody give me any activity they give to the Arab-Christians? School. hospital, day care ...
You may like to ask Rev. Don Wagner about that, he was from them and found the truth about them. Please write and ask him at dwagner@northpark.edu
THEY SAY:
We are convinced that successive Israeli governments have made genuine
efforts
to achieve peace with their Palestinian Arab neighbors, but cannot
say the
same regarding the Palestinian leadership under PLO chief Yasser Arafat.
Last
year, both before and after the launching of the violent Palestinian
intifada,
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak staked his entire political career
on the
hope that Arafat would accept his unprecedented offer of generous and
risk-filled concessions on the most sensitive issues in this long struggle.
Instead, the Palestinian Authority responded by unleashing radical
Islamic and
nationalist militias in a purported "war of liberation" to end the
very
"occupation" Israel had just demonstrated it was willing to terminate
peacefully.
ANSWER:
1) About the generous offer of PM Barak, you can read the facts on
these website where you can find yourself all the TRUTH:
1) This first one is worked by Gush Shalom who will be getting tomorrow
in Stockholm the Noble PRIZE for peace:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/offers.doc
2) This second document shows that Barak is to blame also about
Camp David, and who says that the adviser of President Clinton himself.
He says: "Writing in the New York Review of Books, Robert Malley, who was
Mr. Clinton's special adviser on Arab-Israeli affairs, claims that Mr.
Barak failed to honor previous Israeli agreements – assurances which Mr.
Clinton had been personally guaranteed to Mr. Arafat. Mr. Barak, the author
writes, failed to fulfill promises to withdraw from three villages around
Jerusalem and to release Palestinian prisoners – provoking an angry confrontation
with Mr. Clinton."
Please read all the article at: http://www.al-bushra.org/israel/jul23.html
3) In fact in his election Campaign against Sharon have always said with pride: During my time as PM I did not give anything to the Palestinians, when the Likud with Netanyahu did give Hebron, so do not let Likud again to the government with Sharon. He in fact did not honor any agreement signed in the White House with Clinton.
4) About the "unleashing radical Islamic and nationalist militias in a purported "war of liberation" to end the very "occupation" Israel had just demonstrated it was willing to terminate peacefully."
I am happy that they speak about OCCUPATION. Then they recognize that
the Palestinians are under occupation.
But the fact that everybody know and even the Mitchel proposal have
spoken about and all the specialist have insisted on that the VISIT of
Sharon to Al-Aqsa and the killing of people with life ammunitions UNLEASHED
the INTIFADA. It was not the result of Camp David then as they say.
It is just unfair historically to say things that all the specialists
on the region, including the Israelis do not agree with.
THEY SAY:
Over the past year, there has been enormous loss and suffering on both
sides
of this conflict. As Christians, we are members of a faith bound to
reconciling men to God and to each other, and we pray every single
day for
peace in this region. But we also are bound to truth, and thus have
no choice
but to lay the blame for the current suffering of Israelis and Palestinians
squarely at the feet of Arafat and his corrupt and callous regime.
ANSWER:
You can see that they just take the stand of the Israelis without trying even to understand the side of the Palestinians
1) Without doubt that the Palestinians should stop all kind of terrorist acts and stop killing the innocent Jewish people. THIS SHOULD STOP. Resisting the OCCUPATION is the right of any people under occupation. This is the international LAW, But the killing of innocent is not resistance.
2) They do not speak about the many settlements that Sharon have built
on the 22% of what remains to the Palestinians. Please find about the over
15 new settlements on The site of ARIJ, www.arij.org or the Israeli Peace
Now at www.peacenow.org
Or at http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/qpal/pal_maps.htm.
3) They do not speak about Arafat putting a lot of people in jail but Israel bombed the jail and killed a lot of them and the others escaped including Abu-Hanoud that Israel killed just before the arrival of general Zinni
4) The Occupied territories is divided into over 60 cantons, Arafat cannot go from a place to another, his police stations have been bombed by the helicopters here and there. He does not have real jails, the IDF come in and out any time into the occupied Territories and control more these territories with their spy airplanes, and Mossad than Arafat.
5) Here I am not defending Arafat. I am not a fan of him. He should
do all his best, the USA have said 100% of action, but can he get 100%
result?
If here in the USA we could not find the terrorists and we have
the FBI, the CIA and all means to control our airports, and borders how
we can ask from somebody who do not have even borders? How we can control
frustrated people under occupation for 34 years, without work, jailed in
their villages, with more settlements here and there, with house demolition
...
Can anybody control his own children and know where they go specially
if they are frustrated and angry? Can anybody of you be held responsible
of the acts of his frustrated and angry children?
We need to be fair and accurate in our judgments.
THEY SAY:
The PA has made areas under its control a training base and safe haven
for
terrorists, no less than the Taliban's sheltering of the al-Qaida network
in
Afghanistan. Peace in this region is a certain impossibility until
this
Palestinian web of terror has been eradicated. Arafat has refused to
dismantle
this terrorist infrastructure, despite his signed obligations to do
so.
Rather, he has armed and incited these militant elements, many under
his
direct command, for the purpose of inflicting casualties that are deliberately
intended to pry even more concessions out of Israel.
ANSWER:
1) All this is what the Israelis say. The USA and Europe do not agree
on that. How do you want me to agree myself and believe on it and call
on people to believe on it.
2) The comparison with Taliban is not fair and accurate.
If it is so we can compare the Israeli occupation with the NAZI and
the Arabs jailed in their villages as CAMP OF CONCENTRATIONS and the Palestinian
suffering under Occupation for more than 34 as a HOLOCAUST.
In fact some authors are saying this and not me.
THEY SAY
Israel, on the other hand, has acted with patience and restraint for
the past
15 months. But the recent death of some 33 innocent civilians and wounding
of
nearly 300 others in a grisly week of terrorism has made the situation
intolerable. As a democratic state, Israel has the right and duty to
defend
its citizens.
ANSWER:
1) The Israeli restrain resulted in the killing of over 900 Palestinians
and over 20,000 Injures. You can read this yourself with the Updates from
Amnesty International, the human rights stands and the Religious leaders
calls
at: http://www.al-bushra.org/hedchrch/updates.htm
2) Again it is hard to see the killing of the innocent Israelis. This
should be condemned and should never happen again. But we should be fair
to say that the Israelis have killed and killed with Sharon we did not
see one day without killings.
Sharon was reprimanded by the International Community many times for
excessive of force and killings,
Please see again: http://www.al-bushra.org/hedchrch/updates.htm
THEY SAY:
It is important to note that the current wave of Palestinian violence
came
after US President George W. Bush took the unprecedented step of publicly
endorsing the "vision of a state of Palestine" and an end to the "occupation."
He Also dispatched a trusted American military figure, retired General
Anthony
Zinni, to the region to oversee implementation of a ceasefire. These
measures
were meant to provide Arafat the incentives he said were necessary
to take
actions to quell the intifada. Yet it had the opposite effect, as Palestinian
violence escalated to its worst in recent memory.
THE ANSWER:
1) Yes, I agree the USA wanted to help and the Palestinians should give us as Americans again a chance. Unfortunately some people who do not want to see this acted in a terrorist way. But not all the Palestinians acted like that. In fact the majority are victims of both the Palestinian terrorists and the Israeli Occupation. They are killed from both.
2) Before the arrival of General Zinni in the same week, the Israelis
have killed over twenty Palestinians including the 5 children from the
same family. Please read what happened in the day before the arrival of
General Zinnia
at: http://www.al-bushra.org/hedchrch/miftah.html
Now, the Bush Administration is no longer asking Israel to act with
restraint.
The reason is clear. The US Government has come to the realization
that Arafat
has fooled the world for far too long and must be held accountable
for the
disaster he has brought upon his own people.
We need to pray for justice, peace and TRUTH.
Only TRUTH can lead to Justice and then to peace.
I join all who want to pray for Justice, Peace ant TRUTH.
Abouna Labib Kobti