Sponsor Sabeel Seeks Israel's Destruction Rev. Jeffrey Barz-Snell is absolutely right when he asserts (Letters, June 3-16), “There must be a way to be a supporter of Israel and yet be critical of particular policies of the current Israeli government.”

The problem is not criticizing Israeli policies. The problem is efforts to de-legitimize Israel by singling it out for condemnation, or worse, invoking the Christian teachings of contempt against the Jewish state. And sadly enough, Sabeel — the group that held the anti-Israel conference at First Church in Salem, Unitarian — has done both.

Despite what Pastor Karl Gustafson reported at the beginning of the conference, Sabeel is not a peace organization, and its founder, Jerusalem-based Episcopalian theologian Naim Ateek, is not a bridge builder. Sabeel is a font of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian propaganda and Ateek is a weaponizer of Christian theology for use exclusively against the State of Israel.

For proof of Sabeel’s role as a source of propaganda, readers can go to the group’s website, sabeel.org, and read the statement written after Yasser Arafat’s death. This statement portrays Arafat as the father figure of the Palestinian people but makes no mention of his involvement in the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed. Moreoever, it makes no mention of the Friday sermons encouraging violence against Israelis that were broadcast on Palestinian television with Arafat’s approval. Nor does Sabeel mention the billions in foreign aid he stole from the Palestinian people during his lifetime. Despite Sabeel’s efforts to portray Arafat as the next Nelson Mandela, Arafat was a tyrant responsible for great human suffering on both sides of the Arab/Israeli conflict.

Another problem with Sabeel in full evidence at the conference was the group’s habit of whitewashing Palestinian society of its problems. Hilary Rantisi, a Palestinian Christian, asserted that relations between Christians and Muslims in the West Bank and Gaza are fine and that both are suffering under the occupation. The reality is that Palestinian Christians suffer from daily acts of intimidation and humiliation from their Muslim neighbors and that the growing popularity of Hamas bodes ill for the already-beleaguered Christian minority. It has long been understood by close observers of the Arab/Israeli conflict that Palestinian Christians try to deflect Muslim hostility by demonstrating their value to the cause of Palestinian nationalism. Sabeel and its supporters want us to respond emotionally to the powerlessness of Palestinian Christians, but do not want us to consider the impact this powerlessness has on the story they tell to audiences in the U.S.

All of this raises an important question. If the cause of Palestinian nationalism is so righteous, innocent and non-violent, why is it necessary to use Palestinian Christians to make its case to audiences in the U.S? Why not have representatives from the Palestinian Authority come to the U.S. to tell us about the evils of Israeli policies? Representatives from the Palestinian Authority would be in a much better position to tell us what happened to the billions stolen from the people it was charged with helping and offer some “context” to the Jew-hatred broadcast on Palestinian Television — before and after Arafat’s death.

The answer is simple. An honest discussion of these issues would undermine confidence in the notion that the Palestinians are willing and able to live in peace next to their Israeli neighbors and offer some understanding as to why the separation barrier was necessary.

If the First Church of Salem is truly “a fellowship grounded in liberal Christianity,” it should offer an unequivocal condemnation of the teachings of contempt offered by Sabeel and its founder Naim Ateek. Moreover, the church has an obligation to promote an honest discussion of the problems of Palestinian society that encourage violence against Israel. Until then, the church cannot lay claim to informing the North Shore’s collective conscience, but will merely be regarded as a source of hostility toward Israel.

Dexter van Zile
The David Project
Boston