Mar
19
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
The loss of the Nazareth mayoralty in the March 11 recall elections marked the beginning of the end of the Israeli Communist Party in Israel. Ramez Jaraisi, the mayor for nearly four decades, lost to Ali Salam, who won more than 61% of the city’s votes.
Israeli Communist leaders in Nazareth accepted defeat and issued a statement six days later to congratulate the new winners, stating that they accepted the will of the people of Nazareth. They also promised to search hard for the reasons for their political setback. Jaraisi gained almost the same number of votes, 16,000, while his opponent (who was his deputy for years) won over the votes that went to other groups that competed in the first round against Jaraisi.
While the election campaign turned sectarian in the early stages of the election campaign, that Salam’s “Our Nazareth” list was endorsed by well-known Christian leaders and clergy reduced much of the tensions. Many feel that the religious-sectarian issue was manufactured, rather than a real reflection of any Christian-Muslim tensions on the ground.
The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, a coalition led by the Israeli Communist Party, has been the major political force for Palestinian citizens of Israel since it was created in this form in 1977. The Jabha as it is called in Arabic, or Hadash in Hebrew, has maintained an Arab-Jewish partnership despite the vast majority of its members and voters being Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel. Israeli Communists, through different coalitions, have maintained three or four members of the 120-member Israeli Knesset since the establishment of Israel. Continue Reading »
Mar
19
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
Christian Zionism, which cites the Bible to support Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands, received heavy criticism at a conference organized by Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem the week of March 10 and attended by Al-Monitor.
Theologians from Europe and North America as well as Palestinian speakers presented lectures full of biblical references at the third Christ at the Checkpoint conference questioning the validity of what is referred to as dispensational doctrine.
Rev. Alex Awad, pastor of the East Jerusalem Baptist Church, explained how Christian Zionism has led many Christians to blindly support Israel. Awad then went even further, describing the wariness of many evangelicals toward calls for peace. “Some Christians are suspicious of peace because they’ve heard sermons that delegate peace and peacemaking as the work of the Antichrist,” Awad said. “But the Bible calls us to be peacemakers,” he added.
Awad, who is also dean of students at Bethlehem Bible College, the conference founder and sponsor, explained that many evangelicals think that supporting the actions of the State of Israel, even if they violate human rights and dehumanize Palestinians, is a way to obey and love God. He asserted, “They conflate political backing of a secular state with spiritual blessing upon God’s chosen people.” Continue Reading »
Mar
19
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
The killing of Raed Zeiter, a Palestinian-Jordanian judge, at the entry to the Israeli-controlled side of the King Hussein Bridge on March 10 has resulted in an explosion of anger in the Hashemite kingdom. Protests and marches took place late that night near the Israeli Embassy in Amman. The following day, a vigil at Amman’s Justice Palace saw thousands of lawyers and judges unite in denouncing the killing. Students also protested at various universities, but perhaps the strongest voices were raised at the March 11 afternoon session of the Jordanian parliament, where legislators demanded in unison that the government expel the Israeli ambassador and recall Jordan’s envoy to Tel Aviv. Many even went so far as to call for scrapping the Israeli-Jordanian peace agreement. Others sought clemency for Ahmad Daqamseh, the Jordanian soldier who killed seven Israeli girls on the Jordan’s side of the northern crossing point in March 1997 and has served more than half of his 25-year sentence.
The killing took place just two weeks after Amnesty International produced a report detailing how “trigger-happy” Israeli soldiers often abuse their firepower. The shooting of Judge Zeiter very much fits the profile of the way well-armed Israeli soldiers conduct themselves, likely due to the impunity provided by the Israeli establishment. The study found that in most cases, Israeli soldiers are not held accountable for premeditated killings. Amnesty judged these premeditated wanton killings — in which the soldiers’ lives are not in danger — to be war crimes.
Continue Reading »
Mar
19
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
A Palestinian college in Bethlehem will host a weeklong conference aimed at weakening the traditional evangelical support to Israel, despite strong Israeli pressures.
The third Christ at the Checkpoint Conference at the Bethlehem Bible College is expected to host the “widest and most diverse†group of evangelical Christians, according to conference organizers. The conference scheduled to commence on March 10 will feature well-known evangelical speakers from around the world as well as Palestinian Christian theologians and activists. Speakers include Geoff Tunnicliffe, secretary-general of the World Evangelical Alliance, and Joseph Cumming, who previously served as the director of the Yale University Divinity School’s Reconciliation Program.
Messianic Jewish leaders Evan Thomas and Daniel Juster will be present, along with Holy Land Trust Director Sami Awad and Bethlehem Bible College President Jack Sara.
Participants will hear leading world evangelicals critique traditional pro-Israeli Christian theology, interact with fellow Palestinian Christians and take note of the suffering that Israel and its occupation is causing for Palestinians. Continue Reading »
