Religious Dimensions of the Israel Palestinian conflict

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday April 08, 2002 20:30 by Deborah Manasse - Bicom

Interesting counter propaganda to the Palestinian position

Some Thoughts on the Religious Dimensions of the Present Israeli-Palestinian conflict
As the world focuses on events surrounding the Church of the Nativity, it is important to note the following:

· Israel has no intention of using violence against Christian Holy sites, representatives of Christian Churches or any other peaceable figures in Bethlehem and elsewhere. In this context, it is important to mention that reports concerning the death of a priest at St. Mary’s Church were proved to be false. The Vatican’s ambassador to Israel has apologised to the IDF for the incorrect report . This is another instance of false Palestinian propaganda.

· Israel’s actions in Bethlehem and elsewhere are designed to uproot the Palestinian terrorist infrastructures. Absent any official Palestinian attempt to combat the terrorism running rampant from within these areas, Israel has been forced to act in order to protect its citizens.

· The only reason the Church of the Nativity has become a focus of attention is because armed Palestinians have taken refuge in the Church, cynically abusing the sanctity of the church. The principle of “asylum” was never meant to provide safe cover for terrorists shooting from a church.

· Israel seeks a resolution of the stand-off at the Church of the Nativity that will avoid violence and unnecessary loss of life. Such a solution is in the hands of the Palestinian gunmen who continue cynically to use the Church as a sanctuary.

· The Palestinian clamour surrounding the Church of the Nativity is particularly interesting in light of the continued failure of the Palestinian side to respect the religious shrines and sensibilities of all three monotheistic religions:

Ø Palestinians regularly target Jewish religious shrines and sensibilities:

· Since the beginning of the present crisis in September 2000, the Palestinians have consistently acted against the religious shrines and sensibilities of Israel’s Jews.
· Desecrations of Jewish sites include the destruction of Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus in October 2000, vandalism of the synagogue in Tekoa and the ancient synagogue in Jericho, the repeated stoning of Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall, and many other incidents.
· Palestinian terrorists have repeatedly timed their attacks to coincide with the Jewish Sabbath and other Festivals, culminating in the Passover massacre at the Park Hotel in Netanya on March 27, 2002. Other attacks have been purposely directed at those attending religious celebrations such as Bar Mitzva celebrations.
· These actions dovetail with virulent anti-Semitic incitement commonplace in the Palestinian media and educational system and amongst pro-Palestinian groups abroad (In demonstrations outside the Israeli Embassy in London this week, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been heard calling for the killing of Jews).

Ø Palestinians use Muslim and Christian shrines for promoting violence:

· Palestinians have consistently used Christian shrines as sanctuaries for armed men, and as sniper positions for firing against Israeli troops.
· In the latest upswing of violence, Palestinian gunmen have forcibly taken control of churches, monasteries and hospices, including the Church of the Nativity.
· On 2 April 2002 an anti-tank rocket was fired against the IDF from within the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.
· In a separate incident, Palestinian terrorists have used nuns as a human shield in order to try to guarantee their own safety when leaving a monastery in Bethlehem.
· Palestinians have made unfounded and untruthful claims about supposed Israeli actions against holy sites and religious figures, with the specific intent of whipping up anti-Israeli feeling on religious grounds.
· Palestinians have also executed fellow Palestinians in Bethlehem and hung their victims’ bodies in Manger Square.
· The Haram-A-Sharif, Jerusalem’s Temple Mount holy to Muslims as well as Jews, has been used on numerous occasions, most recently in late March 2002, for launching rocks and stones against Jews praying below at the Western Wall.

· Israel is fundamentally opposed to the efforts by many on the Palestinian side to cast the conflict in the Middle East in religious terms.

· The issues in dispute between Israel and the Palestinians can only be resolved through a process of political accommodation through negotiation, not through terror or incitement of religious hatred.

· Israel calls on the international community to resist efforts by the Palestinian leadership and other apologists to bring religion into this conflict and to cynically exploit the religious sensibilities of millions of people around the world.