HYPOCRISY AND DUPLICITY OF THE FUNDING AND MISSION AGENCIES

Israel Affairs, 2021

Using primary archival and other contemporary sources, this article explores the relationship between the Christian mission and Israel as a modern Jewish nation-state from its establishment in 1948 until 1965, when section 13a of the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law, 5722–1962, was enacted in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). Since the rebirth of the State of Israel, a number of Christian Protestant Churches and missionary organisations have worked to convert Jews to Christianity. The State of Israel opposed such proselytising yet wished to maintain its commitment to freedom of religion as stated in its Declaration of Independence. Furthermore, it did not wish to damage foreign relations with the Christian world.

Hyperion University of Bucharest, 2021

This article explores the relationship between the Christian mission and Israel as a modern Jewish nation state. From the rebirth of the state of Israel in 1948, some Christian Protestant Churches and missionary organizations have acted to convert Jews to Christianity. The State of Israel has opposed such proselytizing yet wishes to maintain its commitment to freedom of religion as stated in its Declaration of Independence; nor does it wish to damage relations with the Christian world.

Nations and Nationalism, 2008

ABSTRACT. This article asks why transnational Jewish donor organisations have been increasingly providing financial support to Palestinian social movements and NGOs in Israel when many of the main recipients are strong critics of the Jewish character of the state and act to promote Palestinian national claims within Israel. The article evaluates a number of plausible explanations, some generated by interest-centric theories while others are driven by ideational underpinnings. The study concludes that the donors do not view the interests of the Jewish state and the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel (PAI) in zero-sum terms. Having internalised liberal values of minority rights and pluralism in their countries of residence (mainly the United States), donating foundations believe that the development of the PAI is both normatively desirable and strengthens Israel as a whole because it facilitates the minority's integration into Israel's society and bolsters its civic culture, and therefore, it also contributes to the country's security. These findings are theoretically significant because they demonstrate how the interpretation of communal interest is strongly related to the normative social environment in which transnational activists operate.

Christian Zionism and Foreign Policy: Exploiting Religion Today, studies of Moslem fundamentalism, and its impact on relations between states, have become particularly fashionable, with far less attention being devoted to the influence of other religions. This article therefore considers the phenomenon of what has become known as ‘Christian Zionism’, as manifested in particular in the United States of America, and its influence on foreign policy formulation. It suggests that there has always been an important element of religious moralising in US foreign policy, which has gone hand in hand with more down-to-earth business interests, but that recently the evangelical side of American Christianity has allied with active support for Israel and its policies. In the words of the British embassy in 1972, this can be labelled ‘American Zionism’. The paper compares the well-known Walt-Mearsheimer critique with a fascinating study produced by the British Embassy in Washington in 1972. It implies that Christian Zionism, subtle though it can be, has developed into a new and unwelcome extremist tendency in foreign policy, and that it needs to be scrutinised at least as much as the phenomenon of Moslem fundamentalism. The paper demonstrates that as far back as 1972, the British Embassy recognised the power of the Zionist Lobby in the US, and the methods it used to promote Israeli foreign policy. The paper concludes that religion is often cynically exploited by the promoters of hard-nosed business and political interests, and that these, in conjunction with religious fanaticism, are a danger to international stability. Dr. William Mallinson, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece.

2004

In the wake of the Holocaust, as human rights norms have come to the fore, NGOs have become major actors in international politics in general and in the Arab-Israeli conflict in particular. These organizations and their leaders form an extremely powerful "NGO community" that has propelled the anti-Israeli agenda in international frameworks such as the UN Human Rights Commission and

Journal for The Study of Religions and Ideologies, 2013

Israel has always mattered to American Christians. They are among the strongest supporters of the State of Israel in the United States. The paper argues that the support that was extended by American Christians in general and the Christian Right in particular, to Israel and the Jewish people is the continuation of a long tradition in conservative American Christians rooted mainly in their theological doctrine. However, the study shows that the Christian Right is ambivalent in its view on Jews. On the one hand, Jews are considered to be God's chosen people and to have a special Biblical status and role. On the other hand, the Christian Right is allegedly anti-Semitic, as it views Jews as a condemned nation for their rejection of Christ as the Messiah, the reason for which they are unsaved and need to be converted to Christianity. Interestingly, both views, love and hatred of Jews, are based on the Biblical teachings and grounded in conservative Protestant theology; their paradoxical views on Jews are not a new phenomenon among conservative American Christians. Nevertheless, the study found that the support of the American Christians of the establishment of the State of Israel goes beyond theological doctrines or values. In fact, the humanitarian considerations of the liberal Christian and secular organizations in particular, were significant in contributing to the establishment of the Jewish state.

Journal of the Evangelical Missiological Society, 2023

Zionism historically refers to the international movement to establish a Jewish homeland, a hope that was fulfilled by the present state of Israel. Christian Zionists were instrumental in facilitating the establishment of the modern state. Their continuing support for Israeli political interests, territorial expansion and security has been at the expense of pursuing peace-making, justice, and human rights for Palestinians. The result has been to create a missiological emergency with serious harm to the Church in the Middle East and its mission in the Muslim world. Personally observing the adverse consequences on Arab Christians and Muslims forced the author to reflect upon and discern flaws in his dispensational theology – a theology that is widely held by Christian Zionists. The article proposes a corrective that is (a) true to Scripture, (b) truly dispensational, and (c) compassionate and just toward the Palestinian Christians and Muslims, as well as Israelis, by addressing seven arguments of Christian Zionists. Focusing on misinterpretations or misapplications of scripture relating to the modern state of Israel, this study demonstrates that theological and political support for modern Israel does not logically follow from a dispensational interpretative framework. Nevertheless, future fulfillment of biblical promises to national Israel can still be expected. This theological corrective that can serve to advance the mission of God in the Middle East.

2014

A study of Christian Zionist strategies used to support and assist the State of Israel Silje Belghaug Knarud Master's Degree Thesis in History of Religion 60 Credits Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Autumn 2014 II III "Bringing God's Chosen People Home" A study of Christian Zionist strategies used to support and assist the State of Israel Silje Belghaug Knarud Master's Degree Thesis in History of Religion 60 Credits Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages

Overview Donors at the recent conference on the reconstruction of Gaza pledged an unprecedented $5.4 billion. At the same time, it can be argued that violations of Palestinian rights in Gaza – and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) – would not be possible without international aid policies that, at least since the 1980s, have actively supported Israel and offered Palestinians development projects in exchange for rights. In this policy brief, Al-Shabaka Policy Member Nora Lester Murad examines aid through the lens of " complicity " and exposes shortcomings in current legal frameworks. She argues that regardless of the limitations of applicable law, international aid actors are fundamentally responsible to those they seek to assist and must be held accountable for the harm they cause or enable. She identifies the areas in which questions need to be asked and concludes with some of the steps that Palestinian civil society and the international solidarity movement should take. Eight Questions Regarding Aid to Palestinians Palestinians have a right to request international aid, and donors have an obligation to provide it. The manner in which this aid has been provided, however, may actually facilitate violations of Palestinian rights under international humanitarian law (IHL). The failure of international actors to act in line with their obligations as third-state and non-state actors enables the status quo to continue, incriminating aid actors in ongoing violations. In fact, several factors that are actually under the control of the international aid system coalesce into an aid regime that facilitates violations of Palestinian rights. These include: 1) Donor categorization of the situation of Palestinians living under the Israeli occupation as an " emergency " year after year as leads to short-term interventions that perpetuate need by focusing on symptoms rather than causes; 2) The policy of non-confrontation with Israel regardless of its actions conveys international acquiescence and contributes to Israeli impunity; and 3) The lack of accountability of the aid system itself has enabled it to marginalize Palestinians and become self-serving.

Politics and Religion Journal, 2017

The creation and evolution of the United Nations (UN) as a political body since the 1940s has had a mobilizing impact on the political and civic structures of all countries around the globe. National governments and their diplomatic structures have created new professional figures and institutions in order to integrate with the UN, civil society actors and organizations have adapted and professionalized in order to access this new field of action, and also religious actors and organizations have moved into the orbit of transnational political and legal debates. Karsten Lehmann's book tells the story of this last group-the religious actors-on their way into the UN's institutional and ideational universe. The heart piece of the book is a historical case study of two religious nongovernmental organizations (RNGOs), the Catholic lay organization Pax Romana and the World Council of Churches' Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, and their development as UN accredited NGOs from the mid-1940s until the present. Around these two case studies, the author constructs a dense theoretical debate on two levels, first on the role of religion in international relations, second on religion, secularization and politics. The two-levelled theoretical approach makes this book of interest for two sets of readers: first, the academic community of IR scholars interested in religion; and second sociologists of religion. The first will benefit from what the author calls "opening the black box of religion", the second from the debate on political and elite activism inside religions. The book presents itself as a treatise in good academic tradition: eight chapters, two of which theoretical and methodological, chapter 4 gives an overview over the empirical field, chapters 5 and 6 comprise the case studies, chapter 7 is a comparison of the cases and outlook, and chapter 8 ties the material back to the theoretical questions. More narrative and a little less meta-discursive directions by the author to the reader would have made the book a more fluid and certainly no less relevant, engaging and insightful read. At the same time, the book has the great merit of setting the terminology straight and offering theoretically motivated, workable definitions of key-terminology ("religious actors", "religious affiliation", "activism", "church diplomacy"), which recommends the book for future reference.