Disinvestment Letter sent to Anglican Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Riah Hanna Abu El Assal

From a Christian friend

13 March 2006

Dear Bishop Riah

I am writing concerning the Church Synod's vote regarding disinvestment in companies trading with Israel, having just recently read your letter on the internet.

I have in the past lived in Israel for eight years, two of which were spent in a Palestinian Arab Moslem village, and have also stayed with a family in the Deir El Balah refugee camp in Gaza, so I am not a stranger to the sufferings of either side. I do know though that the whole issue is the Islamic world's refusal to accept the right of the only Jewish State to exist.

I also know that this is the view of many Palestinian Christians who unfortunately are in the error of what is known as Replacement Theology, the belief that Israel has been replaced by the Church and that God has finished with the Jews and has no further plan for them. I also know that there are some Palestinians who have a deep love for Israel.

I wonder if you have ever read the diary of the renowned Scottish Church minister Robert Murray McCheyne, or the bookThe Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, both of whom visited Palestine in the mid nineteenth century.

If you have, you will know that both these independent men testify to the fact that the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs have rather a short history in the land, as do most of the Jews. I am so glad that the Christians at Christ Church in the Old City have distanced themselves from this awful decision, and that both the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, and Canon Andrew White have spoken of the sense of shame they feel.

You know that for nineteen years, between 1948 and 1967 Jordan occupied the West Bank, annexing it in 1950 and during the same period Egypt occupied Gaza, and neither of those Arab countries gave the Palestinian Arabs a homeland. What a way for Arabs to treat their fellow Arabs.

In 1948 there were also many Jewish refugees from Arab lands, but we are not still hearing about them, because Israel absorbed them. She treated her refugees humanely.

Yes, there have been house demolitions, but don't forget that some of those houses contained tunnels through which weapons were being smuggled. The Palestinian Arabs have also suffered in other ways.

We in the European Union have been giving about ten million euros each month to the Palestinian Authority, but very little of it seems to have reached the ordinary Palestinian Arabs who are suffering.

It seems to have found its way into the pockets of Yasser Arafat and his fellow thieves. Mrs Arafat for instance has been living in luxury in Paris whilst her people have been suffering privation.

The frustration of the Palestinian Arabs has been quite deliberately forced to boiling point by the Arab world until it has at last boiled over into suicide bombings, the brunt of which has been borne by Israel, and Israel gets the blame. It is bad enough being a victim without being blamed for it.

Yes, I do want justice for the Palestinian Arabs they have suffered far too long, but I also want justice for Israel. I may not be able to stop the Synod from disinvesting in Caterpillar, but I assure you that whenever I find Israeli produce in my local stores I will purchase it because I cannot in all good conscience support your hypocrisy.

Sincerely,

VHS

--Israel Hasbara Committee is a voluntary organization disseminating truth about Israel and the Jewish people.