Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Thursday 5 January 2017

By George, Vicar! Another Turbulent Priest!

To date, the Asia Pacific regional contingent on the rather strangely titled "Board of Reference"of Rev Dr Stephen Sizer's so-called "Peacemaker Moderators" outfit, which is to be launched on 6 May following the vicar's resignation from his Surrey pulpit on Easter Sunday, consists of the following persons:
 Dr Philip Church, a senior research fellow at Laidlaw College in New Zealand whose publications include (as joint editor) The Gospel and the Land of Promise: Christian Approaches to the Land of the Bible, published in 2011.
Alistair Donaldson, who lectures in Biblical Theology, Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics at Laidlaw College and is the author of“The Kingdom of God and the Land: The New Testament Fulfillment of an Old Testament Theme,” an essay in the above-mentioned book.
The Right Revd Azad Marshall, about whom I wrote here
Rev Abraham W. Yeung, principal of the Macau Bible Institute (more here)
and
Sydney Anglican priest and keen amateur boxer Father Dave Smith, a sort of antipodean Sizer whose anti-Israel bias will be familiar to regular readers of my blog.
See, for example, his breath-taking Al Quds Day corker here
 Father Dave is seen in this photo practising some nifty dance steps at a function given by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) last year.
The president of APAN (the top photo, rather tellingly showing Arabic poems superimposed on a certain map, was a prize at their annual dinner in 2015) is another cleric with a hostile view of Israel.

For report click here
He's British-born, Aussie-raised George Browning, former Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.

A firm and outspoken BDSer is he.

Yesterday (4 January) a letter by Browning was printed in the Brisbane Courier Mail, which has long been one of the most anti-Israel of Australian newspapers.

It's behind a paywall, but is entitled "Malcolm Turnbull is wrong Australia must not side with Israel"

Intended as a riposte to  prime minister Turnbull's condemnation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, it consists of the usual bile, with all the usual Israel-hating disregard for Israeli sufferings, Hamas atrocities, and Arab rejectionism.

It concludes:
"For the prime minister to ally Australia with Israel against both our ANZUS partners and almost the whole of the international community raises some troubling questions regarding his foreign policy priorities.
What Australian interests are being served in taking such an isolated position on an issue of such international sensitivity? Has Mr Turnbull thought through the national security implications of this policy?
While such partisanship may win him the support of certain powerful domestic constituencies [emphasis added], it is no substitute for a realist foreign policy based upon an understanding that Australia’s interests are best served by upholding a regime of collective security grounded in a commitment to universal human rights and international law."
(Above at left, a "domestic constituency" with which APAN flirted in May last year.)

APAN-indoctrinated Aussie politicians pose in Canberra late last year

What is striking about Browning's letter is the number and calibre of the comments denouncing his stance.

At random:

Commenter Michael:
"So despite the multitude of Human Rights abuses in Saudi Arabia,Syria, Iran and other predominately Muslim countries the UN over the last year has made the majority of it's rulings against Israel.
 The Muslim countries and Palestinians have openly professed to destroy Israel and have backed that up by launching major wars in 1948,1967 and 1973. Followed up by a constant barrage of missiles and Terrorist attacks on the Israeli population to this day. The West bank was secured by Israel 1967 after four Arab nations attacked Israel in an attempt to wipe it out.
Palestininan "ambassador" Izzat Abdulhadi addresses APAN
Nearly 2 million Muslims are free to work and reside in Israel without threat,no Jew is permitted to reside in the surrounding Arab countries. Children in Palestinian are raised and taught to hate the Jews by their leaders so what hope is there of a peaceful coexistence?
Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat in 2000 rejected the two state solution put on the table by Israel which included handing over the Gaza strip and most of the West Bank, simply because they refuse to  recognise Israel as a nation.I am glad that after the Holocaust the Jews swore"Never again" and that because of the hatred shown towards them by the surrounding Arab nations and even yourself. The Jews have far more claim to that land than any other nation,secular history and archaeological finds and the bible  show the deep roots the Jews have with this land. The Israeli's currently share their land with nearly two million Muslims who work and study freely in that nation,it is far more than what the surrounding Arab nations offer to a Jew.
APAN uses a Jewish refugee's poster from the Mandate period
Maybe if the Palestinians had accepted the generous two state solution offered to them in 2000 which included the Gaza strip and the majority of the West Bank it may have produced peace. The offer was turned down flatly by Yassar Arafat the Palestinian leader who refused to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as a nation and began a series of terrorist attacks on the Israeli population This is still the belief of the surrounding Arab nations openly professed by their leaders who would like to see Israel removed from the map. With this open aggression shown to Israel and it's citizens they have no other choice than to defend themselves."
Commenter Les:
For report (and VIDEO of Turnbull dancing) click here
'The Jews were permitted in Article 80 of the UN Charter recognising the League of Nations "Mandate For Palestine", to live ANYWHERE in Palestine - including Judea and Samaria (Note the Jewish Names) which the Arabs are now claiming for a future Arab State. When Jordan invaded Israel on the declaration of Israel's independence, they moved in Arab settlers, and the UN did nothing.
If this was a war between Arab and Arab over Palestine, no-one would care. Half a million people can die in Syria but this gets only one resolution in the UN General Assembly, but if Israel expands towns and cities in Area C, which even Abbas recognises would go to Israel in exchange for other land in Israel, the UN gets upset, claims "illegality" without any real legal reason, and passes twenty motions against Israel. No wonder even Ban ki Moon, the outgoing Secretary General of the UN said the UN is biased against Israel.'
Commenter Russell
"What's a former Australian Anglican Bishop doing as President of a Palestinian Avocacy Network anyway? Does he support the terrorist activities of Hesbollah and Hamas?"
Commenter Katherine
"Actually he does - in 1993 Bishop Browning, as he was then known, denounced Israel for deporting 415 Palestinian Hamas militants back to Lebanon. They were plotting to murder israeli citizens and were involved in bus bombings. He's be[en] a virulent Israel hater for a very long time"
Commenter Russell again:
Interesting isn't it how the anti Israel constituency simply ignore the terrorists atrocities of Hezbollah and Hamas whose sole aim is the entire destruction of Israel. If these torrorist organisation laid down their weapons there would be peace. If Israel laid down their weapons they'd cease to exist."
Commenter Jonathan:
"Yeah Israel can have peace with a Palestinian government that pays lucrative pensions to the family of anyone who murders a Jew and refuses to recognise that Israel has any right to exist at all. We should totally side with murderers and Muslim extremists"
Commenter Colours:
"I stand with Israel against a genocidal medieval theocracy. It always makes me uncomfortable how often you can scratch the surface of a Protestant minister and find a Jew hater hiding underneath."
Hear, hear, sir or madam!

Any bets the ex-bishop of Canberra and Goulburn will be co-opted onto Stephen Sizer's "Peacemaker Mediators" outfit before long?

2 comments:

  1. “The Jews have no rights in Jerusalem,” repeated Faisal, citing a League of Nations inquiry which showed, he said, that the Wailing Wall was part of the Al Aqsa Mosque. “Another wall can be built for them and they can wail against that.”

    SOURCE: The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'ud (chapter 43, page 419) by Robert Lacey, published in 1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, ISBN-10: 0006365094 ISBN-13: 978-0006365099

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    “[USA] President [Jimmy] Carter added insult to injury. No Arab leader he had ever met, he declared, actually wanted to see the creation of a truly independent Palestinian state…”

    SOURCE: The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'ud (chapter 47, page 454) by Robert Lacey, published in 1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, ISBN-10: 0006365094 ISBN-13: 978-0006365099

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    “Of course,” says one Saudi prince, “if God granted us a wish,
    we would like the Palestinians to vanish off the face of the earth.
    We know that they are only nice to us because they want our money.
    They are dangerous men with Marxist tendencies.
    But their disappearance would be a second wish.
    The first wish is the disappearance of Israel.”

    SOURCE: The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'ud (chapter 47, page 455) by Robert Lacey, published in 1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, ISBN-10: 0006365094 ISBN-13: 978-0006365099

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    Daniel Patrick Moynihan said this in 1982 June 18 at a rally at the United Nations:

    “Much of the world has chosen to view Israel’s actions in Lebanon through the prism of selective morality. Many were silent when Syrian troops and armed radical bands occupied the country. They were silent when Syrian missiles were placed in Lebanon. They were silent when death and destruction rained down on Israeli settlements. They were even silent when they Syrian regime destroyed one of its own cities in response to entrenched political and religious opposition.”

    “But the world finds its collective voice when Israel sets out to liberate Lebanon from those who would use her as a pawn in their political machinations; and let us never forget that the introduction of foreign troops in Lebanon would never have been possible without the provision of weapons by the Soviet Union.”

    ReplyDelete
  2. This lot too -- https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/10075/scottish-christian-group-back-boycott-divestment-sanctions-israel-solidarity

    ReplyDelete

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