“I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE” (Genesis 12:3)
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Dear Friends,
Last Monday, July 30th, I experienced a most painful shock when I read the Jerusalem Post of that date. A major headline stated: “EVANGELICALS’ LETTER SUPPORTS TWO-STATE SOLUTION”.
The Jerusalem Post had a short summary of the letter entitled: “Open Letter to President Bush from Evangelical Leaders”, published in the New York Times on July 29, 2007.
The letter, signed by several dozen Evangelical Clergy and activists urged the Bush Administration not to “grow weary” in its attempt to negotiate a “lasting peace” in the region.
The authors of this letter also sought to correct what they called a “serious misperception” that all American Evangelicals objected to the establishment of a Palestinian State. They expressed a hope that the awareness of a large body of Evangelical support for a permanent status agreement between Israel and the PA would “EMBOLDEN” Bush.
In other words, the authors of this letter are reassuring President Bush that he has their enthusiastic support to shaft (dictionary definition: to treat in a harsh, unfair, or treacherous manner) the Jewish People by dividing the Holy Land.
I am reproducing the letter to President Bush from Evangelical leaders, in its entirety, including a list of the signatories. I am including my reaction to each paragraph of the letter.
Letter to President Bush from Evangelical Leaders
Published: July 29, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write as evangelical Christian leaders in the United States to thank you for your efforts (including the major address on July 16) to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to achieve a lasting peace in the region. We affirm your clear call for a two-state solution. We urge that your administration not grow weary in the time it has left in office to utilize the vast influence of America to demonstrate creative, consistent and determined U.S. leadership to create a new future for Israelis and Palestinians. We pray to that end, Mr. President.
[Ruth Matar: the authors of the letter urge President Bush not to grow weary in the short time he has left, to divide the Holy Land!]
We also write to correct a serious misperception among some people including some U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes the vast majority of the West Bank. Nothing could be further from the truth. We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. We hope this support will embolden you and your administration to proceed confidently and forthrightly in negotiations with both sides in the region.
[Ruth Matar: the authors of this letter are trying to impress upon President Bush that they are Evangelicals, but in spite of this, that they are very much in favor of the creation of a Palestinian State, including all Judea and Samaria.]
As evangelical Christians, we embrace the biblical promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you.” (Genesis 12:3). And precisely as evangelical Christians committed to the full teaching of the Scriptures, we know that blessing and loving people (including Jews and the present State of Israel) does not mean withholding criticism when it is warranted. Genuine love and genuine blessing means acting in ways that promote the genuine and long-term well being of our neighbors. Perhaps the best way we can bless Israel is to encourage her to remember, as she deals with her neighbor Palestinians, the profound teaching on justice that the Hebrew prophets proclaimed so forcefully as an inestimably precious gift to the whole world.
[Ruth Matar: These “eminent Bible scholars” who composed this letter to President Bush quote the biblical promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you.” (Genesis 12:3) Why do they deliberately omit the second half of this famous quotation, which is: “… and whoever curses you I will curse” ? (Genesis 12:3)]
Historical honesty compels us to recognize that both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine. Both Israelis and Palestinians have committed violence and injustice against each other. The only way to bring the tragic cycle of violence to an end is for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a just, lasting agreement that guarantees both sides viable, independent, secure states. To achieve that goal, both sides must give up some of their competing, incompatible claims. Israelis and Palestinians must both accept each other’s right to exist. And to achieve that goal, the U.S. must provide robust leadership within the Quartet to reconstitute the Middle East roadmap, whose full implementation would guarantee the security of the State of Israel and the viability of a Palestinian State. We affirm the new role of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and pray that the conference you plan for this fall will be a success.
[Ruth Matar: Here I would like to quote Pastor Jim Vineyard, who is a true Christian Zionist. He states in a letter to a friend: “the so-called ‘Palestinians’ came into existence after the end of the Six Day War in 1967, created by Yasser Arafat. They do not stretch back ‘millennia’, as the several dozen Evangelical clergy and activists state in the New York Times open Letter! PURE HOGWASH!”]
Mr. President, we renew our prayers and support for your leadership to help bring peace to Jerusalem, and justice and peace for all the people in the Holy Land.
[Ruth Matar: Give us a break! You are not praying to bring peace to Jerusalem or Justice and peace to ALL the People in the Holy Land, certainly not to the Jewish people.]
Finally, we would request to meet with you to personally convey our support and discuss other ways in which we may help your administration on this crucial issue.
Sincerely,
Ronald J. Sider, President, Evangelicals for Social Action
Don Argue, President, Northwest University
Raymond J. Bakke, Chancellor, Bakke Graduate University
Gary M. Benedict, President, The Christian & Missionary Alliance
George K. Brushaber, President, Bethel University
Gary M. Burge, Professor, Wheaton College & Graduate School
Tony Campolo, President/Founder, Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education
Christopher J. Doyle, CEO, American Leprosy Mission
Leighton Ford, President, Leighton Ford Ministries
Daniel Grothe, Pastoral Staff, New Life Church (Colorado Springs)
Vernon Grounds, Chancellor, Denver Seminary
Stephen Hayner, former President, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland Church, Member, Executive Committee of the NAE
Jo Anne Lyon, Founder/CEO, World Hope International
Gordon MacDonald, Chair of the Board, World Relief
Albert G. Miller, Professor, Oberlin College
Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary
David Neff, Editor, Christianity Today
Glenn R. Palmberg, President, Evangelical Covenant Church
Earl Palmer, Senior Pastor, University Presbyterian Church Seattle
Victor D. Pentz, Pastor, Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta
John Perkins, President. John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation & Development
Bob Roberts, Jr., Senior Pastor, Northwood Church, Dallas
Leonard Rogers, Executive Director, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
Andrew Ryskamp, Executive Director, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
Chris Seiple, President, Institute for Global Engagement
Robert A. Seiple, Former Ambassador-at-Large, International Religious Freedom
Luci N. Shaw, Author, Lecturer, Regent College, Vancouver
Jim Skillen, Executive Director, Center for Public Justice
Glen Harold Stassen, Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary
Richard Stearns, President, World Vision
Clyde D. Taylor, Former Chair of the Board, World Relief
Harold Vogelaar, Director, Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice
Berten Waggoner, National Director, Vineyard USA
* * *
Dear Friends,
The final paragraph of the letter to the President is most interesting and also quite worrisome.
I would love to be able to listen in on this suggested meeting between the authors of this Letter and President Bush.
What exactly do these Evangelicals, who are looking to carve an Arab State out of Covenant Land, promised by the G-d of Israel to the Jewish People, mean by “other ways” in which they may help President Bush?
Might there be a suggestion or veiled threat that they may stop their financial and/or political support if President Bush does not accept their help on what they consider “this crucial issue?”
I would very much appreciate your feedback on this Letter from Jerusalem, and am anxiously expecting your replies.
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.
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