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West Bank occupation unacceptable: Vatican

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The following article from the Australian today is misleading. 'The Vatican' HAS NOT issued the condemnation. It was issued IN the Vatican by a conference of Middle East Bishops, as can be seen by clicking on Israel slammed critical remarks made by Middle East Catholic bishops and also Disappearing middle eastern Christians, disappearing bishops by David Goldman

THE Vatican has issued one of its strongest condemnations yet of Israel's "occupation" of the West Bank.

It has rejected the use of biblical texts by Jewish settlers to justify "injustices".

Releasing a strongly worded document by the synod of bishops for the Middle East, a senior Archbishop also challenged the notion of Jews as "the chosen people", saying such a concept no longer existed.

After a two-week conference, which ended with a meeting with the Pope, the bishops called on the international community to pressure Israel to end the occupation.

"Recourse to theological and biblical positions, which use the word of God to wrongly justify injustices, is not acceptable," the statement said.

At a news conference, the head of the committee, Greek-Melchite Archbishop Cyrille Bustros, said: "The Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands. "We Christians cannot speak of the promised land as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people.

"This promise was nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people -- all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people."

The bishops called for a two-state solution, saying this would allow Jerusalem to acquire its "proper status -- which respects its particular character, its holiness and the religious patrimony of the three religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim."

Only 2.1 per cent of those living in Israel are Christian -- the Vatican says there is a slow decline but Israel says while the percentage is low in absolute numbers, Christians are growing but being outnumbered because of Jewish and Muslim birthrates.

Israeli spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Australian he was surprised by the strength of the Vatican statement and that it was both theological and political.

"The debate over who holds the correct interpretation of the scriptures was something debated in the Middle Ages and it would seem unwise to try to revisit that," he said.

Asked about the criticism of the use of the Bible to justify Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, Mr Palmor said: "Firstly, this has not been any official policy in Israel by any government and, secondly, he who has not sinned should cast the first stone -- that is something they should understand."

original article http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/west-bank-occupation-unacceptable-vatican/story-e6frg6so-1225942961688

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To the Personal attention of Archbishop Cyril Bustros

Dear Archbishop,
I pray this mail will find its way to you, although I have my doubts. In it, I wish to convey my disappointment and shock that you could utter the statement, "For Christians, one can no longer talk of the land promised to the Jewish people, because the "promise" was abolished by the presence of Christ." If memory serves me well, Christ was Jew. Was he not?
Nor, am I sure that the opinions and revisions of history have anything to do with the word of God. Indeed, the 2nd commandment warns us of the implicit manipulations of man, and how his interpretations of the makings of God and Heaven can alter the reality of Heaven to a point of non-recognition. Therefore, we should not tamper with that which is God given. In this regard, even you might should a bit more humility in opining that which is promised to mankind by God.

I might also remind you of how Islamists have run Christians out of Lebanon and turned what was once a center of Mid-Eastern culture and commerce into a cauldron of hatred, war and fascism. Moreover, the Christian population of Israel has grown over the years, while Christians have been driven from all Islamic run areas, regimes and indeed by islamist Palestinians. While considerable safe in Israel, is a Christian truly safe in "Palestine?"

Perhaps you might consider greater focus more on your religious duties and distance yourself from political statements and the political arena so as to avoid being naively used in a manner that will only bring more harm and strife, and in no way lead to the causes of freedom, equality, and the ability of all people in the Middle East to practice religion peacefully.

Respectfully,
Brian R. Burr

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REPLY FROM MELKITE EMAIL ADDRESS

I have forwarded your message to the desk of the Archbishop. It is unfortunate that his words in support of Arab Christians were phrased in a way that they might have been seen as anti-Jewish.
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MY RESPONSE :

I agree with you, but it's more than that. He is supposedly a man of God. He is not a politician. He should really reserve comment and public opinion about issues which are not his field of expertise, especially when those can so easily be abused in a manner which can costs lives and personal injury. Moreover, as a man of God, he should really stay out of the sovereign affairs of a country which I assume would love to turn its weapons into plowshares, and avoid sending its young men and women into harms way.

But Israeli's are forced to defend themselves from all sides - inclusive Archbishop Bustros. Today the onslaught comes from an egregious ideology called Islam; 500-1000 years ago by the Inquisition and aggression of the Catholic Church. Blood guilt makes for odd bedfellows, perhaps. But, thanks for your comments.

B. Burr

Posted by brian_007 on 2010-10-27 03:52:50 GMT

Today, Judaism is still under siege by inter alia, an egregiously repressive and abusive ideology called Islam. 500-1000 years ago, Judaism was under siege by an egregiously repressive and abusive ideology called Catholicism. Now, as pointed out, Archbishop Bustros attacks the one country in the Middle East with the Christian population is growing, and where the practice of Christianity is protected by law. He seemingly aligns himself and Catholicism with an ideology which repudiates Christians as non-believers, and where the practice of Christianity is prevented by law. I chuckle at how guilt finds odd bedfellows.

Posted by Brian_007 on 2010-10-26 19:56:24 GMT

Pope Benedict is not backward in coming forward when he is reported to have said something when he hasn"t. He was present at this synod held at the Vatican and would have had ample opportunity to refute it personally or through his spokesman. Paul Kelly, a Catholic himself and Editor in Chief of the Australian, would not allow an important story such as this be printed without it being valid. Sometimes "fathers" holy or not, do or do not say things they should. As Catholics we know this very well and I"m sorry. He still may clarify what he did or didn"t say on the record, until then the whole article remains as it is.

Posted by Lynne Newington on 2010-10-26 03:11:05 GMT

Bustros fulminated as a dhimmi in the mohammedan realm but failed to speak as a Catholic archbishop in every statement he uttered. In asserting that Jews were not the "chosen people" he went against the spirit of Nostra Aetate. If no Jews, then no Christians. That the German Pope failed to bring Bustros to heel, points to where the Vatican is heading. Bustros" statement of Jews using religion to justify injustices, is good old Christian bigotry about the vengeful Jewish God and Jew as opposed to the forgiving and saving Christian God and its gentle believers. (As a Holocaust survivor, I will at any time testify to two millenia of Christian forgiveness). When Bustros spouts the Arab line in an act of ingratiating himself to his tormentors and talks about an occupation and Palestian lands, he is lying. There was no Palestine nation to occupy and the disputed territory that came under Israeli rule as a result of repulsed Arab aggression was not assigned to Palestinians as they only created their identity in 1965. In asserting that God"s promise was nullified by Christ - the Jew Yeshua they claim to have been the annointed one - Bustros is reverting to supercession or, if you will, to replacement theology. That is something Christians were supposed to have renounced. In all that, Bustros deliberately ignores that the basis of Zionism is not the hypostesised biblical real estate document, but the inalienable right of a people to self-determination. Pity that Bustros is not Christian enough to extend that right to the Jewish people, who give his co-religionists the only place in the Middle East where they can practise their religion freely and safely.

Posted by paul2 on 2010-10-25 14:01:47 GMT

The Jews are the only people in history who have willingly considered allowing the Arabs dwelling in the region of the West Bank to establish a sovereign State which they wish to call Palestine,even whilst allowing it to be an apartheid state,that is free of Jews. And yet they are castigated at every turn for not letting this process advance. What has happened to the world?

Posted by Danny on 2010-10-25 12:14:20 GMT

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