On Monday, February 23, 2014, the Israeli Knesset enacted a new law that recognizes Muslim and Christian Arab communities as separate identities, giving them their own representation in an employment commission. The law passed by a margin of 31 to 6.
The new law passed by the Knesset favoring Christians is, to say the least, a deceitful political stunt by Likud-Beiteinu members aimed at sowing seeds of division among Christians and between Christians and Muslims.
For the last sixty-five years, the government of Israel has not shown favoritism or bias towards the Christian community of the land, so why now?
During the Nakba of 1948, the Christians, like the Muslims, were dispossessed by the Zionists and were forced out of their homeland. Furthermore, during the military rule imposed by Israel on all Palestinians who stayed inside the Israeli state (1948-1966), Israel did not show favoritism to Christians over Muslims. Both were discriminated against and both were treated as unwanted aliens in their own land. There is a plethora of documentation to substantiate the history of that period. The problem for Israel in those days was not the Palestinians’ religious affiliation but their Palestinian national identity.
I believe that the new law reflects the moral bankruptcy of the government of Israel. Indeed, it must be in trouble to allow itself to stoop so low as to blatantly use this tactic to attempt to win the support of some Christians abroad, and, at the same time, sow dissent among Christians and Muslims. It is the old adage of “divide and rule.” This law is sinister in that it exploits the sensitive tensions among the religious communities of the Middle East, especially in light of what has been happening in Egypt and now is happening in Syria.
I am certain that the Palestinian community is mature enough not to fall into such a despicable religious trap.
There is another dishonest and hidden angle to this law. Jewish religious tradition has always considered Christianity, not Islam, as the mortal enemy of Jews and Judaism. This is due to the fact that the Christian faith came out of the same foundation as the Jewish faith, namely, the Hebrew Scriptures, i.e. the Christian Old Testament. I still remember the Israeli religious establishment discouraging Jewish students from visiting Christian churches while encouraging them to visit Muslim mosques. The advisory pointed out that there was greater affinity between Judaism and Islam, while the gap was quite wide between Judaism and Christianity.
What has caused this sudden infatuation with Palestinian Christians to merit new legislation? Or is it just an ugly political stunt? What favors can the right-wing Israeli government give the Palestinian Arab Christians who are Israeli citizens? Will it restore their confiscated land to them? Will it grant them equality with their fellow Jewish citizens? Or are we witnessing another divisive Israeli ploy similar to when Israel set the Druze community apart from its Arab base?
It is worth mentioning that over sixty years ago, Israel managed to make the Druze religion a separate ethnic entity, thus separating them from their Arab roots. Through this new legislation, Israel wants to make the Christian religion a separate ethnic identity in order to separate them from their Arab Palestinian roots. But in spite of what Israel has done to the Druze community, an increasing number of young Druze men have been resisting imposed Israeli military service.
Israel has been very shrewd in concocting devious ways and means to impose its will on the Palestinians and keep them weak and divided. It continues to connive ways to limit and even deprive them of their rights to the land so they will give up and leave.
I am certain that the Christian community in Israel will see through this new Israeli legislation, will expose its sinister nature, and reject it. It is my hope also that our people’s resilience and maturity will foil the Israeli government’s insidious objectives. This we can do through our unity and solidarity, as well as through our determination to continue to work for a just peace, inclusive democracy, and human dignity for all the people of our land.
Always, in politics, the game of divide and conquer. It would be surprising to me to discover this strategy is not at play. Of course it is. It’s politics after all. How you get this across to American Jews and Christian fundies? Good luck at that!
/Jewish religious tradition has always considered Christianity, not Islam, as the mortal enemy of Jews and Judaism. This is due to the fact that the Christian faith came out of the same foundation as the Jewish faith, namely, the Hebrew Scriptures, i.e. the Christian Old Testament./
Really , not say from all those Jews that were murdered in the name of Jesus ?
“I am certain that the Christian community in Israel will see through this new Israeli legislation,”
The Christians have always been divided among themselves as witnessed by the violent confrontations between Catholics, Orthodox, Armenians and so on over Jerusalem’s holy places and Israel has had a stranglehold on all of them, perhaps a bit less on the Anglicans and other Protestants.
As to Catholics and others under papal authority, there an arrangement between the Vatican and Israel whereby Israel leaves the Catholics “almost” alone to run their affairs in exchange for the Vatican not making waves about the occupation and other ugly sides of Israeli oppression. The Vatican has been spooked and kept off-balance for years with accusations of antisemitism thrown at it at every opportunity.
For the Greek Orthodox, there is an agreement between the PA, Israel, Jordan and the Church in Greece that the Greek Orthodox Patriarch has to be always chosen by these parties and of course, acceptable to Israel. Since the occupation, all the Patriarchs have been practically hand picked by Israel with the PA and Jordan going along for the ride. The Greek Orthodox Church with the last 2 Israeli picked Patriarchs have been heavily involved in corruption on a grand scale, most of it involving the sale and/or lease of church property to Israel in Jerusalem and elsewhere to be used for building settlements.
The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem is practically the largest landowner beside the JNF. The Knesset, the PM residence, the Museum and most government buildings in Jerusalem are built on lands leased from the Greek Orthodox Church. All of these and several other commercial properties in Jerusalem are on leases set to expire in 2053 when Israel will have to vacate all these properties that will become properties of the Church. There has been ongoing talks with the new Patriarch to renew these leases but the Greek Orthodox community in Jerusalem is blocking the negotiations. Israel is claiming the last Patriarch (now under some kind of house arrest in Jerusalem) renewed these leases for another 99 years (beyond 2053) but they can’t come up with any such documents.
The new law may have more to do with these leases and with dissociating Christians from the PA and Jordan than with splitting the Palestinians. In any event, the Christians represent a small minority among Palestinians but having them on side with Israel would make Israel’s finishing off of the Muslims that much easier. Muslims and Christians will be losers with the new law.
Palestinian sectarian divide has been try in the past by the zionist even before the state of israel was created.
Philip Weiss mention it when he was reading John Judis book Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict
https://mondoweiss.mystagingwebsite.com/2014/02/heritage-judiss-controversial.html
another source http://links.org.au/node/206
if i was israel i would be looking at its own growing sectarian divide between the Jewish religious extremist and the secular population
http://www.jewishjournal.com/rabbijohnrosovesblog/item/israels_secular_vs_religious_divide_the_most_acute_tension_in_israeli_socie
I think one of the goals of this tactic is to appease American Christians. Frankly, many are shocked by the criminal activities which the israeli government inflicts on Palestinians Christians. I think the Palestinian community would do well to seek to sew increasing discord between the zionists and their supporters in the US and the US’s Christian community, especially the Catholics.