Dexter Van Zile, ALGEMEINER
Anti-Israel graffiti on the Israeli security wall in Bethlehem. The wall comes under heavy criticism from those who claim it cuts off Palestinian communities from one another. From March 10-14, the Bethlehem Bible College and Holy Land Trust host the anti-Israel “Christ at the Checkpoint” conference. Photo: Garry Walsh via Wikimedia Commons.
Last week, approximately 600 Christians descended on Bethlehem to attend the 2014 Christ at the Checkpoint Conference organized by Bethlehem Bible College. The organizers and presenters of this conference say that they want to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but they just cannot stop themselves from engaging in an ugly propaganda war against the Jewish state.
In other words, they cannot refrain from lying about Israel, repeatedly and shamelessly.
Three times during the conference, attendees were told that Israel has constructed a security barrier that completely surrounds the city of Bethlehem. Two people called it a wall and a third described it as a wall and fences.
No matter how they describe it, the security barrier, which was constructed to stop terrorists from crossing from the West Bank into Israel, does not surround the city. Even the map of the West Bank provided in the program for Christ at the Checkpoint shows this. The eastern and southern sections of the city are not confined by a wall.
Nevertheless, on the first night of the conference, Bethlehem Mayor Vera Baboun said the city is “surrounded with a wall.” I was in the audience when she said this and there were Palestinian Christians sitting next to me who didn’t bat an eye after hearing this lie.
This was not an honest mistake. Baboun is the mayor of the city, for heaven’s sake. We all know politicians lie, but this is a bit much.
Mayor, will you please stop lying?
Then, in a short film shown to the audience on the first full day of the conference, March 11, Qustandi Shomali, a professor at Bethlehem University, said “Bethlehem is surrounded by a wall and the Bethlehem population cannot reach very easily other areas in the West Bank.”
Again, I was in the audience when this film was shown and no one in the audience voiced a word of objection. Not one word. And again, this was not an honest mistake, for Shomali lives in nearby Beit Sahour. He knows that Bethlehem is not surrounded by a wall.
Professor, will you please stop lying?
And then on Friday, March 14, the last day of the conference, Sami Awad, executive director of Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian non-profit, appeared in a short film in which he claimed that “Today, Bethlehem is a city that is completely surrounded by walls and fences. The wall completely engulfs the city.”
I was not in the room when the film was shown, but it is on Youtube, right here. It goes without saying, (but has to be said), this was not an honest mistake. Holy Land Trust is headquartered in Bethlehem. Awad works in the city. He knows the route of the barrier.
Sami, will you please stop lying?
Probably not. This is not the first time Awad has uttered this falsehood. He said it to an audience of Christians in Galveston, Texas, in 2009. He was called out on it in a piece published on CAMERA’s website in 2012. And yet he said it again two years later. Did he expect not to get caught?
The upshot is this: Three different people offered the same lie to an audience comprised mostly of Evangelical Protestants from the United States and Europe. They told people that the city in which they were currently staying was surrounded by a security barrier, when in fact it isn’t.
This lie has been repeated so many times it is astounding.
Sami Awad’s father, Bishara, offered repeated this lie in a fundraising video produced in 2007 or 2008.
It was repeated by 60 Minutes reporter Bob Simon in a notoriously dishonest segment that aired in 2012. The show hasn’t corrected.
It was repeated by Simon’s boss, CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager at a talk he gave at St. Mark’s Church in New Canaan, Connecticut, one year later. Fager said he would “look into” the issue, but like I said, the show hasn’t corrected.
This lie was offered by former Lutheran Bishop Margaret Payne on a radio show in 2009. She refused to retract.
And in 2013, after the lie was debunked numerous times, Gary Burge offered his own version of this lie in the “new and revised” edition of his error-laden book, Whose Land? Whose Promise?
This lie, as easily exposed as it is, is unbelievably resilient. It has been repeatedly debunked. And yet people keep repeating it or refuse to retract it even after they’ve been given overwhelming evidence that what they’ve said is not true.
And people have seen others called out on the lie, and yet they repeat it themselves.
Why? Why not invoke Qalqilya – a place in the West Bank where numerous suicide attacks were launched from? For people indifferent to Qalqilya’s history as a source of terror attacks during the Second Intifada (like many of the folks at Christ at the Checkpoint), images of this city would be very compelling. Why lie about Bethlehem?
Simple. The lie that the Israelis have built a wall that completely surrounds Bethlehem confirms people’s theological understanding of Jew as enemies of God and of humanity itself. People want proof for this belief and this lie gives it to them, the facts be damned.
Bethlehem, you see, is the city of Jesus’ birth. And in the Christian world view, when Israel strangles the city of Bethlehem with a wall, it is akin to constricting God Himself.
This was the message offered by Bob Simon in the 60 Minutes segment that aired in 2012. Simon said “The wall completely surrounds Bethlehem, turning the little town where Christ was born into what its residents call an open air prison.”
It’s no mistake that speakers at the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference kept reminding attendees that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just a few minutes from the hotel where the confab was being held.
And it’s no mistake that other speakers kept telling the Christians in the audience that Israel had built a wall around this city.
It’s a simple lie, but not an innocuous one. It’s part of a hateful message. When coupled with scripture and theology, this lie offers a very evil message about the Jewish people and their homeland. People who repeat this lie, as so many people have, are not merely purveyors of misinformation.
They are broadcasters of hate.
They should be ashamed of themselves.
.Dexter Van Zile (@dextervanzile) is Christian Media Analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (@cameraorg). He attended the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference that took place in Bethlehem on March 10-14, 2014
@ yamit82:
Pardon me Darlin, I now understand what you meant about Christian churches in another post. I humbly beg forgiveness from your beneficence.
Concluding segment of article by architect of the Security Barrier
The fence’s route
“While there is broad public consensus in Israel about the need to construct a security fence, many dispute the route. The Israeli government did not wish to unilaterally delineate a political border. Negotiations with the Palestinians were always on the horizon; however, the closer you get to the horizon, the further away it moves from you. Since Israel has declared that the fence is only a security line and is not a political borderline, a position with which the Palestinians agree, then clearly, the route of the fence will be changed in the framework of a peace agreement. We’ve seen this in action when lines were redrawn with Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
The Israeli Supreme Court tried to strike a balance between Israel’s security needs and Palestinians’ rights when it originally formulated the route. The Israeli security establishment has since changed the route to minimize damage to the Palestinians, at the expense of legitimate security considerations. I have no doubt that had these checks and balances been in place in 2002, we would have avoided some of the mistakes made.
Israel’s weak public opinion campaign
On this front, the State of Israel could, and should, have done much more. The Palestinians managed to present the security fence as a wall to the world, although less than 5% percent of the project is a concrete wall. Along the rest of the route, it is a wire fence. What’s more, the Palestinians claim that Israel seeks to annex 40% of the West Bank area through the fence.
Obviously, this claim is false. The fence does not change the status of the land nor is it used to annex any territory to Israel. Less than 8% of the West Bank remained on the Israeli side. The Palestinians also claim that 400,000 Palestinians are inevitably going to be left on the Israeli side. Clearly, this claim, too, is a blatant lie. The fact is that less than 1,500 inhabitants carrying Palestinian identity cards are living on the Israeli side of the fence, apart from the East Jerusalem Palestinians, who have the status of permanent residents in Israel.
The Palestinians depict, in vivid colors, the alleged looting of lands by Israel. However, in their international public relation campaigns they have made no mention of Israel’s humanitarian solutions, which included bypass roads and passageways to enable free movement for the Palestinian population or by opening dozens of passageways to allow the local Palestinian peasants to reach their agricultural plots on the Israeli side of the fence. As far as public opinion and awareness are concerned, Israel has failed to get its message across about its security rationale and the numerous attempts to minimize any disruptions to the daily lives of Palestinians.
‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ the American poet Robert Frost wrote in his poem “Mending Wall.” However, having served as the IDF’s chief architect for the security fence, I must demur. [Actually, Frost’s irony was lost on Col. Tirza — dw]
The fence has created a conceptual and physical barrier between two neighboring peoples who have been entangled in conflict for a century but still hope to live in peace. I would have gladly done without the fence. Yet, we had no choice but to build it in order to protect our lives and our children’s lives. And I do hope that the day will come when the threat of terror will no longer cast its dark shadow over our lives and we will be able to live peacefully, safely and securely, with our Palestinian neighbors, the day when there will be no need for any fences or walls.”
Col. (Res.) Dr. Dany Tirza was, from 1994 to 2007, in charge of regional strategic planning and the formulation of Israel’s security positions in negotiations with the Palestinians in the IDF Central Command, and served as the IDF’s chief architect for the Security Fence.
Second of three-part article by the architect of the Security Barrier
The security point of view
“The drastic reduction in the number and severity of terror attacks, and the calm, the sense of security restored within Israel, cannot be attributed solely to the fence. It is merely the visible barrier perceived as a means of separation. The security goal, in fact, has been achieved through the combined efforts of all the parties concerned, including the IDF, intensive military activity, quality intelligence-gathering and security coordination with the Palestinian police. Bottom line: Israel has won the war against Palestinian terror, while Palestinians failed to achieve their political objectives through terror.
The political point of view
Israel has, to a large extent, succeeded in establishing the concept of separation. More than just serving as a barrier that blocks passes to Israel, the fence carves out an area, which enables the two sides to lead their lives separately. This concept has paved the way to broad national agreement on the solution of two states for two peoples. [Not too sure about that remark; maybe so, maybe no — dw]
The international point of view
The fence has been a major factor leading to the de-legitimization of Israel in the world. The Palestinians took advantage of its construction to promote their propaganda and present an exaggerated, distorted picture of the injustice supposedly done them.
Israel had no choice
Following the Camp David failure, and given the murderous Palestinian terror that disrupted daily life, Israel had no choice but to build the security fence. The decision on the fence’s construction was made in conjunction with two other measures in 2002. First, the Defensive Shield Operation aimed to damage and destroy terror infrastructures in the West Bank areas under Palestinian control. Second, a proposed Mideast conference was designed to open a political horizon and chart the region’s political direction.
The political horizon initiative was launched in an attempt to show Palestinians that there was another way to settle the conflict. However, the Palestinians managed to avoid a political solution to the conflict again. The security fence was an essential defensive move taken by the Israeli government in order to protect its citizens…”
Final segment, coming up.
Israeli Security Fence Architect: Why The Barrier Had to Be Built
First of three parts
“Much like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the story of the security fence between Israel and the West Bank consists of two different narratives, each claiming to be the ultimate, truthful account. As head of the military body in charge of planning its route, and a member of negotiation teams with the Palestinians over the past two decades, I have come to see the situation in a more nuanced light.
Much like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the story of the security fence between Israel and the West Bank consists of two different narratives, each claiming to be the more accurate, writes Col. (Res.) Dr. Danny Tirza. As head of the military body in charge of planning its route, he says the battle against terror may be won, but the war over public opinion is lost.
Author Col. (Res.) Dr. Danny Tirza Posted July 1, 2012
The Palestinian terror onslaught that began in September 2000, and raged on until 2006, has been obliterated from our collective memory all too readily. We have unwittingly adopted its Palestinian name, the Second Intifada, thus actually accepting the view that confirms Palestinian valor in steadfast resistance, and legitimate opposition, to an Israeli occupation.
Palestinian ingenuity in maneuvering public opinion has even succeeded in stirring sympathy for the cause among large parts of the Israeli public. Indeed, the Palestinian public opinion campaign has caused many Israelis to forget that it was the Palestinians who instigated the bloody confrontation when they tried to compensate for political gains denied them at the Camp David Summit in 2000 through terror. It was not Hamas that launched the murderous attacks on Israeli citizens, but rather the Tanzim, the militant wing of the Fatah, which was led by Marwan Barghouti, under the direct command of the “Rais” — President of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat.
Former Israeli governments, under the leadership of both Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon, were against the construction of a security fence for internal political considerations. The decision to build the first part of the security fence was made in June 2002, following a horribly bloody March, when 139 Israeli citizens were murdered in terror attacks.
While the Israeli governments saw the security fence as no more than a physical, temporary barrier designed to block Palestinian terror, the Palestinians managed to maneuver the public into believing it was a unilateral Israeli move to delineate permanent borderlines and gain hold of Palestinian lands. The confrontation between the sides evolved into an asymmetric war: Whereas the Palestinians targeted Israeli civilians, every effort was made by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) not to harm innocent Palestinian civilians while carrying on the struggle against Palestinian terror. The security fence, constructed with the sole purpose of defending the citizens of Israel, has since become the focus of anti-Israeli criticism worldwide.
Today, a decade after the construction of the security fence, we can look back and examine the decision in light of the outcome…”
Part Two, coming up.
This is only one of MANY lies about the barrier.
The most frequent & ubiquitous of these lies is that which claims that the ‘whole barrier [all 443 miles of it] is a wall’ — when in fact 95-96 percent of it is constituted by chain-link fencing.
The remaining 4-5 percent (including part of the Bethlehem boundary) is composed of concrete wall
— because these are areas where terrorist sniper bullets have taken innocent lives, and something more substantial than fencing is obviously needed.
The proper name for the structure should be NOT the ‘Apartheid Wall’ — but THE ARAFAT BARRIER — because in a very real sense, <a href="that little creep built it“>that little creep built it.
The only thing it has in common with ‘apartheid’ is that both the barrier AND the apartheid system were the BRAINCHILD of their respective countries’ political LEFT, not its Right.
And in both cases, it was the Right which eventually (quite in spite of itself) came to defend it.
In Israel, the people came around to endorsing the barrier — because in the words of Alexandre Dumas, “nothing succeeds like success.” It worked. The numbers of Israeli deaths plummeted in the wake of its construction.
— And the consequent need for reprisals against Pali perpetrators likewise dropped off — leading to fewer PALI deaths as well.
The most important point to be made about it, though, is that Israelis don’t ‘like’ the barrier. It’s a pain-in-the-ass all the way around (not just for the Palis).
Give GOI an excuse to take it down & I suspect they’d jump at it like a dog on a bone.
So if the Arabs, or the Euros, or even the bogus ‘Christians’ who created the Christ-at-the-Checkpoint conference (in order to woo Evangelicals away from their natural Zionism) — or anybody ELSE who gives aid & comfort to the Pali barbarians — really DO want to see an end to the barrier, all they need do is get good-‘n-clear on one very simple matter:
Once the Palis & their leadership finally get the picture that terrorism is out of order — and not merely because it’s counter-productive to their interests — but also because it’s morally reprehensible
— the barrier will dissolve faster than a sand-castle at high tide.
Don’t hold your breath waiting.
It seems to me they are shameless liars !!!! Since their names and organizations could be/are known, how about writing in local journals in a state/county they live in or/and in well recognized Christians magazines all over the world to expose them? Unless their lies are exposed to the public, I don’think they would be willing to stop their lies.
Solutions have presented themselves in spite of Jewish disunity, negligence and incompetence. The “arab spring” has cause Ishmael to feed on itself and spend less time on attacking the Jews. Boris(vlad) rattling his sabre is giving europe another problem to worry about after its financial problems. The muslim influx to europe provides a growing internal problem to europe which may cause civil strife and distract from Israel. Europeans will find the rationalizations to persecute the jews so the jews, as usual, will need to get out of their way and leave them to the muslim crocodile to whom they try to feed the Jews.
they must lie in order to maintain their existential lie: supersessionism. This is what marries the europeans to the muslims. Jews continue to respond to these folk as if they are speaking with a person who can be persuaded by reason. In actual fact they are speaking to people who will lie, libel and incite in order to accomplish their goal of destroying the Jewish people especially the Jewish return to Israel. Jews must come to see the europeans and christians involved in these ventures similarly to the nazis. Could reason have persuaded the nazis to cease their thefts and murders? The only thing that prevented the nazis from completing their task was their obstruction and destruction: the same is true with these jew killers. When jews wake up they will cease playing along with the pretend game that the euro is wearing the “emperors clothes”. It is alright to pretend as a strategy to disarm and destroy your enemy but the Jews believe that the euros and churches are not their existential enemies. Supersessionism drives the euros, propagandizes the euro seculars and incites the muslims. The enemy needs to be met and destroyed in his own house. Boris at the gates of europe and the muslim termite infestation of europe are not bad for the Jews. The Jews will be made to leave europe anyway.
The fact is , altho they will not admit it , is that the theology of both these so-called monotheistic religions is baseless AND the only way they can supplement each other is to attack that religion on which theirs is based – ie they lie, as often as they wish [ to the extent that they believe the lie] and in so doing discredit their own beliefs [ if they have any]. These people are the scum of the western world because they should know better.It is such people who will bring us to a war situation.
I think that the solution to this is to expose the dhimmy psychology of the Arab Christians.
They know well that they are oppressed by the Muslims, they know that Muslims are persecuting, even exterminating them everywhere. They are afraid of Muslims. They are not afraid of Jews. So they attack the Jews because it is safe, and because they think that by making a common case with Muslims against the Jews they will score some brownie points with the Muslims. In reality they are getting brown-nose from licking the Muslim asses.
Once this is exposed, their propaganda will lose all strength.
Bethlehem’s ‘Christ at the Checkpoint’ Conference: A Personal Report
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/bethlehems-christ-at-the-checkpoint-conference-a-personal-report/2014/03/18/
I did not go with the intention of making waves but did so anyway. I was outed on the first day when, in an opening session introducing ‘the conflict’ vis-à-vis ‘The Palestinian Church,’ everyone in attendance was asked to introduce themselves and who they represented. When I announced that I was reporting for The Jewish Press, there was no turning back.
In that first session, our teacher, Reverend Alex Awad, instructor and Dean of Students at BBC, put up a photo of carnage from a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem that took place during the Second Intifada. He said, “We renounce the horror of atrocities committed by both sides.”
My hand went up. “I see horror in the picture we are looking at, the horror of innocent civilians slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists. You say that Israel is guilty of equal atrocities? Specifically, what has Israel done that is comparable to this?”
Awad hemmed and hawed, then said, “Well, there is the Apartheid wall, the dehumanizing checkpoints and, of course, so many Palestinians killed by Israeli armed forces.” The entire classroom of about 200 erupted in cheering and applause.
When the room quieted, I followed up. “Are you saying, then, that Israeli military operations in response to terrorism are an atrocity equal to or even worse than the carnage of Israeli bodies we are looking at on the screen?”
“Yes,” Awad replied, “they are.” More cheers and applause exploded from the class.
I tweeted Awad’s words, “2nd intifada Israeli military operations were terrorist acts, no different than suicide attacks against Israel.” I added the conference’s official hashtag, #CATC2014 and then one consisting of my initials, #BS. And so began the first of five long days.
Want to know what ensued as it happened? Go to twitter.com and search #CATC2014. Read everybody’s tweets from beginning to end, from 10 to 15 March.
Read them and weep.
Except for explicit calls to violence, every part, every aspect of rhetoric by Islamic Fatah and Hamas was brilliantly, horrifically ‘Christianized’ by the 5-day gathering that calls itself, ‘Christ at the Checkpoint.’ Read More http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/bethlehems-christ-at-the-checkpoint-conference-a-personal-report/2014/03/18/2/
Bethlehem’s ‘Christ at the Checkpoint’ Conference: A Personal Report
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/bethlehems-christ-at-the-checkpoint-conference-a-personal-report/2014/03/18/
I did not go with the intention of making waves but did so anyway. I was outed on the first day when, in an opening session introducing ‘the conflict’ vis-à-vis ‘The Palestinian Church,’ everyone in attendance was asked to introduce themselves and who they represented. When I announced that I was reporting for The Jewish Press, there was no turning back.
In that first session, our teacher, Reverend Alex Awad, instructor and Dean of Students at BBC, put up a photo of carnage from a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem that took place during the Second Intifada. He said, “We renounce the horror of atrocities committed by both sides.”
My hand went up. “I see horror in the picture we are looking at, the horror of innocent civilians slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists. You say that Israel is guilty of equal atrocities? Specifically, what has Israel done that is comparable to this?”
Awad hemmed and hawed, then said, “Well, there is the Apartheid wall, the dehumanizing checkpoints and, of course, so many Palestinians killed by Israeli armed forces.” The entire classroom of about 200 erupted in cheering and applause.
When the room quieted, I followed up. “Are you saying, then, that Israeli military operations in response to terrorism are an atrocity equal to or even worse than the carnage of Israeli bodies we are looking at on the screen?”
“Yes,” Awad replied, “they are.” More cheers and applause exploded from the class.
I tweeted Awad’s words, “2nd intifada Israeli military operations were terrorist acts, no different than suicide attacks against Israel.” I added the conference’s official hashtag, #CATC2014 and then one consisting of my initials, #BS. And so began the first of five long days.
Want to know what ensued as it happened? Go to twitter.com and search #CATC2014. Read everybody’s tweets from beginning to end, from 10 to 15 March.
Read them and weep.
Except for explicit calls to violence, every part, every aspect of rhetoric by Islamic Fatah and Hamas was brilliantly, horrifically ‘Christianized’ by the 5-day gathering that calls itself, ‘Christ at the Checkpoint.’
In the aftermath of attendance, I find myself nauseous, shocked and soiled in my soul. The language and sensibilities of my own evangelical Christian faith were prostituted—offered, sold and used—to seduce, ensnare and captivate young evangelicals, millennials, the sons and daughters of Christians who stand with the Jewish State.
What can be done to stem this tide, to neutralize this virus? In my opinion, we cannot stop it. It is too late for that. We can, however, rescue and recruit a faithful remnant. How? This essay is not the place to set forward a comprehensive strategy. But it can acknowledge that our strategy must include three key points.
First, we must identify, empower and promote Jewish and Arab voices who respectfully understand Christianity and stand with the State of Israel. Jewish voices like Kay Wilson, articulate and witty survivor of thirteen vicious stab wounds in her attempted murder by Palestinian terrorists in 2010 – the same year as the first CatC conference. Like Yishai Fleisher, well known to readers here, who recently attended the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, Tennessee, engaging in spirited and respectful dialogue with leaders of U.S. evangelical Christianity. Like Jonathan Feldstein, an orthodox Jew who regularly and successfully writes for the top evangelical magazine, Charisma. Like Ardie Geldman who for more than ten years has addressed anti-Israel tour groups, most of them ‘Christian,’ that include a token visit to ‘a settler’ in Efrat. Like orthodox Rabbi David Nekrutman, pursuing a Masters degree in Christian studies at Oral Roberts University.
And Arab voices like Jerusalem reporter Khaled Abu Toameh. Like Nazareth’s Fr. Gabriel Naddaf, advocate of full integration into Israeli society. Like many, many Arabic-speaking Israelis who proudly serve in the IDF.
Second, we must focus our engagement on millennials, the same demographic #CATC2014 is targeting, and winning without opposition. This means aggressive use of social media, empowerment of millennials in our camp, and a rhetorical warfare mentality that embraces guerrilla tactics. Things like strategic counter-attacks, especially in blogging and social media, that both expose and mock the lies from the likes of #CATC2014. No more voluntary castration by the enemy’s pompous mandate to be ‘nice’ and thereby sacrifice the truth. God has not called us to be nice; He has called us to be holy. And wise. And strong; strong in His strength.
Last of all, but first in importance, we must seek God’s counsel before every engagement, every encounter, not after. Does He want us to send spies? Quietly march around Jericho for seven days? Blow horns and smash pots? Slay giants with a sling stones? Fight in a conventional way, perhaps by hosting a ‘counterpoint’ conference? Obtain our strategies from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or from the tree of life?
People of the Book, with God as sole commander, it is time to counterattack.