[Dialogue] Palestine/Israel conflict

Tue Jul 3 14:21:51 EDT 2007

Great Israel/Palestine Resources Diann.

As shared earlier by Karen Bueno, the United Methodist Women's Israel- 
Palestine study is an excellent resource and can be purchased online  
at Cokesbury or the UMW Resource Center:
http://www.missionresourcecenter.org/wdstore/default.asp?page=2

I have been involved at the Regional level training leaders of this  
study and will lead it four times in July at Schools of Mission  
across Texas.

Diann's resource is a very good one for Mohammed Alatar with  
Palestenians for Peace who also has a DVD titled The Iron Wall that  
my friend Ann Helmke (Co-Director of the San Antonio peaceCENTER)  
helped to write the script:  http://www.palestineonlinestore.com/ 
films/theironwall.htm

Several other resources I recommend are as follows:

*DVD:  Searching for Peace in the Middle East by Foundations for  
Middle East Peace: http://www.fmep.org/

*Father Chacour's Books and DVD: http://lluker.faculty.ltss.edu/ 
Elias_Chacour.htm
We visited his school last November and were convinced his method of  
Interfaith Education from Kindergarten through college will be key to  
the future of Israel & Palestine.  His DVD & books are worth the read  
and viewing.

*Mohamed Elibiary in Dallas is the Founder, President & CEO of the  
Muslim Organization, The Freedom & Justice Foundation.  Mohamed and  
two other Muslim colleagues went with me on the Interfatih Pilgrimage  
of Peace Nov 2007 to the Holy Land and provides from a Muslim  
perspective what is happening in the US on their website:  http:// 
www.freeandjust.org/

Shalom, Salaam, Peace
Wanda
Wanda Holcombe

On Jul 2, 2007, at 9:33 PM, McCabe, Diann A wrote:

> Here is the website:  http://www.aipac.org/
>
> Someone I know went to their conference this past year and was  
> bowled over by their power and influence.  All of the major  
> Democratic candidates were there speaking to the audience gathered,  
> as was Cheney.  The sentiment against Iran by the AIPAC crowd was  
> strong.
>
> For another side, check out Mohammed Alatar with Palestenians for  
> Peace. http://traubman.igc.org/MeetingMohammedEng.doc
> He spoke at our university in 2005.
>
> --Diann McCabe
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net on behalf of Jim Rippey
> Sent: Mon 7/2/2007 4:21 PM
> To: 'Colleague Dialogue'
> Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Palestine/Israel conflict
>
>
>
> Karen, good for you.  I've been struggling with the whole Israeli- 
> Palestinian dilemma for years.  I was glad to see what you had  
> written and I appreciate what the author you quoted is saying about  
> the involvement of the "Rapture" Christians.  However, I consider  
> them somewhat of a side show.  Most already are part of Bush's  
> base, so they have influence.  But the real impediment to progress  
> for Israeli-Palestinian peace is the extremely powerful lobby,  
> AIPAC, which has a virtual strangle hold on Congress and the  
> Administration.  Every presidential hopeful who has said anything  
> sympathetic about the Palestinian plight has been immediately  
> jumped on by AIPAC's extremely talented, well funded, ruthless  
> opinion manipulators.
>
>
>
> Hillary was booed by AIPAC when she uttered sympathetic remarks  
> about Palestinians, and it quieted her.  Pelosi said something  
> sympathetic and she was so criticized it cowed her and she scurried  
> back to Congress and gutted an appropriations bill that proposed  
> refusing to fund any war against Iran unless Congress had voted  
> approval.  The reason AIPAC has such power is that it is comprised  
> of, or at least in bed with, hard line ultra conservative, very pro- 
> Israel, rich sources of money which candidates feel they dare not  
> alienate.  And when you hear Sen. Joe Liberman agitating for  
> preemptive strikes against Iran, you are most likely hearing the  
> voice of AIPAC and it's hard liners.
>
>
>
> The squelching of debate in this country is in radical contrast to  
> what happens in Israel.  There is a very strong, vocal minority  
> there  that speaks out often and strongly against what's  
> happening.  And they get covered in the press.  In the U.S.,  
> Tikkun's Rabbi Lerner recently issued a comprehensive statement on  
> the whole situation including AIPAC's role.  He has gotten many  
> death threats along the way. (I will send a copy of his remarks to  
> anyone who asks.)  Jimmy Carter's stress on the necessity for an  
> Israeli-Palestinian settlement was on target and he got soundly  
> trashed by supposedly knowledgeable people, with AIPAC help I'm sure.
>
>
>
> There are good books by American and Israeli Jews which deal  
> forthrightly with the injustice of the present situation and offer  
> constructive suggestions.  Also if you read in the book, Israel, a  
> 50th-anniversary history by Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official  
> biographer, you will find interesting facts.  Facts that are mostly  
> ignored by U.S. main stream news and certainly by the current  
> administration's strong support of Israel.  Gilbert is obviously  
> very pro Israel but he is too good an historian to hide important  
> facts.  A careful reader will learn how often active Jewish  
> militant groups killed innocent Arabs and others in what are now  
> condemned as terrorist bombings when Arabs do it.
>
>
>
>  In September of 1948, the UN=s  mediator was killed in a targeted  
> assassination in Jerusalem. That mediator was the Swedish Count  
> Bernadotte, a man who had saved thousands of Jews from Hitler. He  
> was killed because the terrorists objected violently to details in  
> his mediation proposal.  All these attacks were carried out by  
> members of the Jewish terrorists groups: the Irgun and Stern  
> gangs.  The leader of Irgun was Menachem Begin. The Stern gang=s  
> leaders included Yitzhak Shamir.  Neither man was ever put on  
> trial.  Begin became Israel=s prime minister in 1977; Shamir became  
> prime minister in 1983.  Israel has not always insisted that  
> terrorists cannot be rewarded. (I can cite page numbers if anyone  
> is interested.)
>
>
>
> Currently, there are some 500 Israeli COMBAT veterans who are so  
> appalled by how Palestinians are treated that they refuse to serve  
> again in Occupied territory.  Some have gone to jail instead.
>
>
>
> My wife and I stretched our budget last year and gave more than was  
> comfortable to help Democrats get elected.  THIS YEAR WE ARE  
> BALKING.  No more, or very limited exceptions, as long as  
> Democratic candidates cow tow to AIPAC.  There are reasons why  
> stronger Democratic control of Congress could improve some  
> situations.  But I am convinced we will soon be at war with Iran.   
> AND THEN IT WON'T MATTER WHO CONTROLS CONGRESS.  All efforts and  
> all funds will go "to support our troops."  I hope I am wrong.
>
>
>
> Jim Rippey in Bellevue, NE.   A Dialogue fellow traveler and  
> brother-in-law to the late Terrence Wright.
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:dialogue- 
> bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Don Hinkelman
> Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2007 9:48 PM
> To: Colleague Dialogue
> Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Palestine/Israel conflict
>
>
>
> If you have correctly identified the root contradiction--an  
> imaginal story which links land ownership with faith, then is not  
> one of the keys to change, to recontextualize faith as something  
> apart from "Holy Lands".  How about... "Faith with holy lives, not  
> holy lands."
>
>
>
> Troubled and concerned,
>
> Don Hinkelman
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Jim Wiegel here.  I am in the west bank, near Bethlehem working on  
> a project to combine ica methods and community development with 2  
> approaches to conflict transformation to work on an approach to  
> use.  One of the participants brought up the deep, mutually  
> antagonistic stories that the great religions here have about each  
> other and who owns this land.  not easily dealt with.
>
> KarenBueno at aol.com wrote:
>
> The Israel/Palestine Issue
> by Karen Bueno
> 7-1-07
>
> I picked up the April issue of "Response" magazine, a publication  
> of United Methodist Women this morning.  Though it is June, I was  
> behind in my reading.
>
> This magazine issue dealt with Palestine and Israel, through  
> stories of women and children who are living in the conflicted  
> areas and through essays of what needs to happen to stop the violence.
>
> One of the articles is entitled "Understanding Christian Zionism",  
> a term that refers to the right wing United States churches which  
> preach the second coming of Jesus.  According to the article, the  
> right wing belief is that the second coming and the end of the  
> world will happen when the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem and the  
> mosques are removed.  Therefore, those theologians, and the  
> politicians they support, believe that United StatesâEUR(tm)  
> financial support of Israel is justified.
>
> Since the United States is supporting Israel, the rest of the  
> Middle East Muslim countries are angry with the US, and this has  
> led, at least in part, to the unrest and the terrorist movement.   
> The authors from the United Methodist Women are calling for  
> financial divestment in Israel to bring pressure on the Israelites  
> to stop the violence.  That kind of financial pressure helped to  
> end apartheid in South Africa, and could help here.
>
> I have greatly simplified the argument, IâEUR(tm)m sure, but please  
> respond with your opinions and facts regarding this peace and  
> justice issue.
>
> *******
> Karen Bueno, formerly Karen Wright, spouse of Terrence Wright,  
> served in Fifth City and other locations of the Ecumenical  
> Institute from 1969 to 1973, then were affiliated with the Denver  
> House.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> <winmail.dat>
> _______________________________________________
> Dialogue mailing list
> Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net