Bishop challenges religious zealots over Jerusalem

Bishop challenges religious zealots over Jerusalem

-10/12/05

Evangelical Lutheran Bish

Bishop challenges religious zealots over Jerusalem

-10/12/05

Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan of Palestine and Jordan has appealed for Jews, Christians and Muslims to respect each others’ faith and religious traditions in Jerusalem, the city over which Jesus also wept.

In an article published in Israel’s daily Haaretz newspaper, and syndicated through the International News Alliance, Bishop Younan noted that an opportunity had been missed in October 2005 with the rare convergence of the Jewish High Holidays and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

He declared: ìThis month of feasts should have encouraged us to see hope and promise together in Jerusalem. Instead, it became a showcase for exclusive claims of one religion over another, of freedom for some at the expense of others.î

Bishop Younan singled out ìright-wing evangelical groupsî and ìsome Jewish zealotsî for trying to rouse militant moves for a ëThird Templeí on the sacred Temple Mount to ìhasten the coming of the Messiah.î

He explained that the ìTemple Mountî overlaps the ìHaram al-Sharif,î the third holiest site for Muslims, which now holds the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques.

The Israeli Chief Rabbinate has said that it is forbidden for Jews to walk there because the Third Temple can only be built once the Messiah comes.

But Christian and Jewish extremists, with money and support from the US, are itching for a confrontation and use distorted biblical evidence to support their case.

Commented Bishop Younan: ì[T]o protect the right of the Jewish and right-wing Evangelical Christians to worship as they like, Palestinians were locked behind barricades, closed-off streets and even denied access to their holy sitesÖ Jews were also periodically denied access to pray at one of their holy sites, the Tomb of the Patriarchs [the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron], in order to give precedence to Ramadan prayers.î

The bishop, who has also recently called for the unconditional release of the Christian Peacemaker Team captives in Iraq, and who wants to see a just settlement for both Palestinians and Jews in the Middle East, also spoke of Jesusí weeping over Jerusalem in the Gospels.

He concluded: ìIf Jesus were to look out at Jerusalem today, he would weep again over a [city] that is being turned into the exclusive realm of one group at the expense of others. Justice and truth-telling are necessary for the birth of peace and reconciliation. Faith leaders cannot be silent when religion is used to provoke conflict and justify exclusive rights for one group and collective punishment for another.î

Bishop Munib Younan’s book Witnessing for Peace: In Jerusalem and the World is available in association with Ekklesia, as is evangelical scholar Stephen Sizer’s Christian Zionism: Road Map to Armageddon?

[Also on Ekklesia: Jerusalem church leaders praise non-violent activists; Palestinian bishop seeks mercy for Iraq peace workers; Christians relate experiences as Palestinian election monitors; Christian peace activists arrive in Israel; Lutherans call for two-state solution in Israel and Palestine]

Bishop challenges religious zealots over Jerusalem

-10/12/05

He declared: ‘This month of feasts should have encouraged us to see hope and promise together in Jerusalem. Instead, it became a showcase for exclusive claims of one religion over another, of freedom for some at the expense of others.’

Bishop Younan singled out ‘right-wing evangelical groups’ and ‘some Jewish zealots’ for trying to rouse militant moves for a ëThird Temple’ on the sacred Temple Mount to ‘hasten the coming of the Messiah.’

He explained that the ‘Temple Mount’ overlaps the ‘Haram al-Sharif,’ the third holiest site for Muslims, which now holds the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques.

The Israeli Chief Rabbinate has said that it is forbidden for Jews to walk there because the Third Temple can only be built once the Messiah comes.

But Christian and Jewish extremists, with money and support from the US, are itching for a confrontation and use distorted biblical evidence to support their case.

Commented Bishop Younan: ‘[T]o protect the right of the Jewish and right-wing Evangelical Christians to worship as they like, Palestinians were locked behind barricades, closed-off streets and even denied access to their holy sitesÖ Jews were also periodically denied access to pray at one of their holy sites, the Tomb of the Patriarchs [the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron], in order to give precedence to Ramadan prayers.’

He concluded: ‘If Jesus were to look out at Jerusalem today, he would weep again over a [city] that is being turned into the exclusive realm of one group at the expense of others. Justice and truth-telling are necessary for the birth of peace and reconciliation. Faith leaders cannot be silent when religion is used to provoke conflict and justify exclusive rights for one group and collective punishment for another.’