Wednesday, May 10, 2006
How lovely. Sabeel's Naim Ateek is receiving an award from the Episcopal Peace Fellowship:
The EPF statement of award noted, “Canon Naim Ateek’s voice is heard around the world as a strong voice of faith and nonviolence. His message of nonviolence states, ‘as a Christian, I know that the way of Christ is the way of nonviolence and, therefore, I condemn all forms of violence and terrorism whether coming from the government (of Israel) or from militant (Palestinian) groups.’”...
Yeah, I condemn the cops and the criminals, too. Yeesh. Ateek is no strict pacifist, as the quote below will show, and I won't belabor Ateek's history here, but for those how aren't familiar, just do a search for Sabeel and for Ateek and you'll get the picture. Here's another item we haven't posted before, though: Naim Ateek describes the ravaging effects of Israel's "Iron Wall" strategy on the West Bank and Gaza. This is a description of a pre-9/11 rant Ateek delivered, railing against the power of AIPAC, ZIonists' 'use' of the Holocaust, and Christian Zionism. Here is all you need to know about what Naim Ateek is about:
By not demanding "absolute justice," he said, Palestinians are making a significant concession. They are seeking only "justice connected with mercy." For most Palestinians, he asserted, it means that they do not "seek destruction of the state of Israel and 100% of the land. They are only seeking the approximately 22% of the land that was in Arab control until the 1967 war: the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem."...
Got that? Absolute justice for Ateek is the destruction of Israel. Anything short of that goal is a compromise. Leaving aside the bogus 22% claim (Arabs are in control of, and Jews are barred from, far more than 22% of "historic Palestine") Ateek does not concede that Israel should exist, there's just not much he can do about it at the moment (though he's working on it). Gee, thanks for nothing.
Ateek himself is non-violent, but he has a great deal of understanding for the violent if they act in a cause he believes in. He himself simply prefers different means to the same end.
That is the man that the Episcopal "Peacemakers" feel should be rewarded. Shame.
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