feralnostalgia:

bankston:

January 2, 2012. Jerusalem. In one of the most blacked-out stories in America right now, the US military is preparing to send thousands of US troops, along with US Naval anti-missile ships and accompanying support personnel, to Israel.

Oh, shit.

not cool.

It wasn’t hard to find corroboration, though I haven’t yet found the “thousands of [U.S.] troops” that this piece mentions.

(Source: paganbuddha, via ca2mgfe5si8o22oh2)

While there is plenty in this news story about Glenn Beck’s plan to move to the Dallas area that may turn your stomach, only the very last sentence puts real fear in my heart.

Meanwhile, Beck is gearing up for his “Restoring Courage” rally in Israel next month, a sequel to the “Restoring Honor” rally he held in Washington the same time last year.

Glenn Beck?  In Israel?!?  May God have mercy on us all!

The Anglican Archbishop of Southern Africa, the Most Reverend Thabo Makgoba, addressed the conflict in the Middle East at a United Nations meeting this week:

Mr Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great honour and privilege to participate in this meeting. It is also a great challenge. First, because this is a vast and complex subject to address in only 15 minutes; and second, because very little has been left unsaid.

In reflecting on the status of Jerusalem from the perspective of its religious and cultural significance, my key question is this: how can people of faith, predominantly from outside the region, best help the direct parties to the conflict find a just, sustainable, lasting, peace?

My experience as a South African tells me genuine dialogue is the only way forward - a way that truly can bridge brutal and violent divisions over many decades. Only dialogue can take us beyond the physical separation barrier, to mention one very obvious symbol on the Israeli side; or beyond the disparate, and even contradictory, voices, stances, actions, on the Palestinian side.

To talk about Jerusalem, we must first ask ourselves, ‘What do I mean by “Jerusalem”?’. We all have many different Jerusalems. There are:

• Christian, Jewish and Muslim Jerusalems;
• past, present and future Jerusalems;
• spiritual Jerusalems, geographical Jerusalems and political Jerusalems;
• the Jerusalems experienced by those who live there;
• the Jerusalems of spectators from outside;
• and the Jerusalems of ideologies, international posturing and power games.

We use one word for them all.

The incongruity of this hit me when I was privileged to visit the sprawling modern city two years ago. My brief visit taught me how little I know what I am doing when I use the word ‘Jerusalem’.

The huge range of meanings, some allegorical or symbolic, often become confused and misleading. Faith communities need to take particular care - for we appropriate, and interpret into our own situations, texts written by people separated by centuries, even millennia. These were written in very different cultures, addressing very different circumstances to those we face today. None of our Scriptures are what we might call balanced forensic history, telling the whole story with the sort of accuracy we might expect from a UN Commission today. …

Let me commend two particular resources, for better understanding the significance of Jerusalem from the perspective of the Palestinian Christians. First, the works of Palestinian Christian theologians, such as Naim Ateek, especially on Biblical interpretation. And second, the Palestinian Kairos document, published by leaders of the main historic churches, East and West, last December (and available online).

In some respects, this echoes the original ‘Kairos Document’, written by black South African theologians in 1985. Kairos is one of the Biblical words for time - a decisive moment, where action needs to be taken. Our Kairos document was a Christian, biblical and theological commentary on the apartheid crisis of that time. Through it we explored how faith, culture and politics were interwoven. While they could not be wholly separated, we and our cause were nonetheless hugely helped by seeing clearly how each impinged upon the others in how we understood our situation.

The Palestinian Kairos document is similarly ‘a document of faith and work’ which describes current realities, and how their beliefs are both challenged by, and shape their assessment of, the situation today and their hopes for tomorrow. They beautifully sum up the religious, cultural, and political significance of Jerusalem in the following passage:

Jerusalem is the foundation of our vision and our entire life. She is the city to which God gave a particular importance in the history of humanity. She is the city towards which all people are in movement - and where they will meet in friendship and love in the presence of the One Unique God, according to the vision of the prophet Isaiah … “In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established … and all the nations shall stream to it … They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Is. 2: 2-5).

Today, the city is inhabited by two peoples of three religions; and it is on this prophetic vision and on the international resolutions concerning the totality of Jerusalem that any political solution must be based. This is the first issue that should be negotiated because the recognition of Jerusalem’s sanctity and its message will be a source of inspiration towards finding a solution to the entire problem, which is largely a problem of mutual trust and ability to set in place a new land in this land of God.

Wise words indeed. So let all of us who are people of faith - especially those of us from the faith communities of this holy city - join in praying for and working to effect the peace, God’s just and lasting peace, of Jerusalem, of all our Jerusalems.

Amen.

These words of several Jerusalems sing in Undercover Nun’s heart.  It is very true that even the name of this great city arouses different images, different meanings, different feelings for us.  How can we expect the nations of Israel and Palestine to find peace when there are such different understandings of what this holy city, Jerusalem, means and is?

Undercover Nun continues to pray for my brothers and sisters in these lands.  May God have mercy on all our souls.

The Israeli government has apologised after its press office emailed to journalists a spoof video about the flotilla which tried to dock in Gaza.

The video shows people dressed as peace activists singing “we con the world” to the tune of We Are the World.

A spokesman said the video did not represent the Israeli government’s view.

The video contains real footage of the Israeli raid on the flotilla in which nine activists died.

Wow, way to stay classy, Israel! I’m trying to remember my readings from Joshua… did God command the Israelite army to mock the dead Canaanites after killing them?  Maybe I missed that part. 

Here I am, trying to follow the prophet Micah when he passes along God’s instruction to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with [our] God.  Silly me!

I pray for those who died, that they may find eternal joy and peace in the arms of our all-loving God.  And I pray the same for those who wielded weapons against them, those who gave the order to do so, and those who were silently complicit.