I beg to differ with Pr. Jeff

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In reading Pr. Jeff's recent post, regarding former President Jimmy Carter's laying a wreath on the grave of Yasser Arafat, we will have to agree to disagree. He was a saint by no means nor was he the worst sinner either. Having lived in Palestine in the 1980s during the first Palestinian uprising, I could see there was more than enough blame to go around for all parties concerned, not just Israeli and Palestinian. Christian Zionists didn't help the situation either with their blanket approval of everything Israel did and their blanket condemnation of all things Palestinian.

It has been wonderful the last five years to be here in the New England Synod, a companion synod to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land because of my time spent there. Bishop Munib Younan was the keynote speaker at last year's New England Synod Assembly. Here is a link to the PowerPoint he presented. A number of visits have been made to the Holy Land by folks from this synod to visit not just the holy places, but the holy people, the living stones, our brothers and sisters in Christ in that place.

"Blessed are the peacemakers" (Mt 5:9). Let us pray for the whole people of God.

Picture from the ELCJHL website.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Dear Ivy,
I enjoyed reading your post re: Pr. Jeff's post. Pr. Jeff called Arafat "the father of modern terrorism." Pr. Jeff gives Arafat too much credit. Arafat is hardly the "father" of modern terrorism. His career in terrorism didn't begin until the late 1960's. Before him, there was Yitzhak Shamir, who as leader of the Stern Gang, assassinated U.N. mediator Count Bernadotte. And Menachim Begin, a leader of the IZL, whose team smuggled explosives into the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, blowing it up and killing some 90 or more British, Arab, and Jewish office workers. In time, both were "rehabilitated" and became prime ministers of Israel. As you wrote, one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter.
By the way, I never liked Arafat. I do like and admire President Carter.
David
By the way, I read and enjoyed some of your other postings. I can see you developing as a fine candidate for the ministry. Keep up the good work.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
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