Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace | Page 52

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace

legal and political strategies that brought more rights to African Americans as a whole, though many
remained in poverty. Because African Americans in the NAACP had citizenship and could appeal to the
federal courts, they had tools not available to Hamas and other Palestinians, who have tried to defend
themselves by force. Thus Palestinian political and civil organizations have been put in situation where
nonviolence has meant further victimization while fighting back, a la Hamas, has meant even more
thorough destruction. For the contrast between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois approaches, see
Gary Dorrien, The New Abolition: WEB Du Bois and the Black Social Gospel (New Haven: Yale UP,
2015).
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2016/02/16/u-s-should-stop-subsidizing-bad-israeli-economicand-occupation-policies/#53e94375463d
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The invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu was developed by the Israeli ambassador and the Republican
Speaker of the House of Representatives and reflected an unprecedented intrusion into US politics by a
foreign head of state, although the lines between Israeli and US citizenship, political, and financial activity
are often blurred. Since the Iran agreement, Netanyahu has argued the US should provide more military aid
to Israel as it was endangered, although most observers see the reverse as true. As this document is
finalized, US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro has criticized the Israeli government: “Too much vigilantism
goes unchecked, and at times there seems to be two standards of adherence to the rule of law, one for
Israelis, and another for Palestinians. . . Hovering over all these questions is the larger one about Israel’s
political strategy vis-a-vis its conflict with the Palestinians.” Scholar Juan Cole, commenting on the
sometimes insulting exchanges that followed, noted, “Then yesterday [Jan. 21, 2016] the Netanyahu
government made Shapiro’s point for him by announcing that it will steal 350 acres of Palestinian land near
Jericho in the Jordan Valley.” See: http://www.juancole.com/2016/01/netanyahu-demands-more-billionsfrom-us-after-iran-deal-insults-us-ambassador-steals-more-land.html Along with the taking of Palestinian
land, Israel demolished six structures built by the European Union as part of their aid to the Palestinian
economy: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-idUSKCN0UZ11P
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This statement comes near the end of the rationale leading into the recommendation section of Breaking
Down the Walls.
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Minutes, 217th General Assembly (2006), p. 944.
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Minutes, 218th General Assembly (2008), p. 1223.
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Using torture is a grave charge, yet publicly defended by some, hence multiple sources: The use of
torture in interrogations of Palestinians: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.645587 The use
of torture generally: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/TERRA-INCOGNITA-On-torture-Israels-failedpolicy-438229 Torture and children: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgovernment-tortures-children-by-keeping-them-in-cages-human-rights-group-says-9032826.html Also:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinian-israel-children-idUSBRE95J0FR20130620 The practice of
torture by the Bush Administration and Presbyterian opposition to torture:
https://www.pcusa.org/resource/resolution-against-torture/
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The Kairos Palestine document has led to support groups in other countries as well as among the
Christian churches of Israel-Palestine: http://www.kairospalestine.ps/content/kairos-document
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See http://www.christatthecheckpoint.com/index.php/en/ Through biennial conferences sponsored by Bethlehem
Bible College, “The mission of “Christ at the Checkpoint” is to challenge Evangelicals to take responsibility to help
resolve the conflicts in Israel/Palestine by engaging with the teaching of Jesus on the Kingdom of God.” This group
opposes Christian Zionism, based on texts such as Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s
offspring, heirs according to promise.”
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Wolterstorff, Justice: Rights and Wrongs, Princeton: Princeton UP, 2010.
This section is informed by the General Assembly resolution:
http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/global/resolution-confronting-christian-zionism/ For further
reading on Christian Zionism, we recommend: Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. The Politics of Apocalypse: The
History and Influence of Christian Zionism. Oxford: One World Pub., 2006.
Gunner, Göran and Robert O. Smith, eds. Comprehending Christian Zionism: Perspectives in
Comparison. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.
Prior, Michael. Zionism and the State of Israel: A Moral Inquiry. London: Routledge, 1999: pp.103-155.
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