Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 41 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Life Arts   

There's Nothing Christian about Zionism

By       (Page 1 of 7 pages)   32 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message eileen fleming
Become a Fan
  (17 fans)
A quick introduction quoting Dr. Ilan Pappà © on You Tube

There's Nothing Christian about Zionism


(
Image by Unknown Owner)   Details   DMCA





On March 20, 2006, I traveled from the Little Town of Bethlehem: Occupied Territory to the Mount of Beatitudes in Israel. This awe inspiring site sits above the shimmering Sea of Galilee where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and I ended up delivering my own Sermon on that Mount!

Four Franciscan Sisters, one each from Syria, Jordan, Malta and Italy care for the shrine and the pilgrim guests at the Hospice Center where I spent two nights and a day of silent reflection after nine days on a Sabeel Reality tour through occupied Palestine.

At dinner a Catholic Pentecostal from Scotland introduced himself and asked me why I was there and what church I was from.

I responded that I have Irish Roman Catholic, Polish Jew, Russian Orthodox DNA, but my rock is The Beatitudes.

He looked even more perplexed when I told him I had come to the Mount of Beatitudes to decompress and reflect upon my nine days in Occupied Territory. I asked him if he were aware of the work of Sabeel, the Palestinian Christian liberation theology organization founded by a 1948 refugee, which promotes a theology of liberation, based on justice, peace, non-violence and reconciliation with all people regardless of faith path or nationality.

He sternly admonished me; "God gave this land to the Jews! The Bible never mentions Palestine, and that is that! God gave this land to the Jews and that is that!"

I responded just as fervently that the Palestinian Christians are the descendants of those who first followed Jesus and they have been denied inalienable human rights by the Israeli government. I told him the Christians in the Holy Land have shrunk from 20% of the total population to less than 1.3% since 1948 and if things don't change soon, there will be no Christians left in the land where Christ promised that it is the peacemakers who are the children of God.

He sputtered, "But the Jews have suffered! God gave this land to the Jews and that is that!"

This really got my Irish up and I retorted, "Yes they did because good people did nothing for far too long, and now the oppressed have become the oppressors. In the 21st century good people are unaware, ignoring or are in total denial of the injustices Israel gets away with in the so called Holy Land. And the Hebrew prophets, such as Micah reminded the people of what the Lord requires: To be just, to be merciful and to walk humbly with your God!"

I could NOT shut up although I knew that that Scotsman was trying to get away from me, but, I was on a tear and barely took a breath as I told him that instead of staying in Israel for his entire visit, he should go and witness life in the occupied territories; go and see the effects of The Wall on his spirit and see what it has done to the Palestinian economy. I told him he should go and tour some of the Bethlehem refugee camps and see the ruins of all the uncompensated home demolitions. I brought it on home by telling him that I also doubt that God was ever in the real estate business!

His eyes had bugged out and his mouth had dropped open while the torrent of words spewed out of me. After I finally shut up, he stammered, "But there is suffering everywhere!"

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 3   Well Said 3   Valuable 3  
Rate It | View Ratings

Eileen Fleming Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Eileen Fleming,is a Citizen of CONSCIENCE for US House of Representatives 2012 Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org Staff Member of Salem-news.com, A Feature Correspondent for Arabisto.com Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

An Evening with Helen Thomas and Flashback to John Lennon and Vanunu Mordechai

Ending the Year with same old prayer: Freedom for Vanunu Gaza and Palestine

John Lennon, Dorothy Day and Christmas 2010 in the UK

There's Nothing Christian about Zionism

Justin Bieber thinks he's seen Jerusalem

I hear dead people talking

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend