Saturday, December 23, 2006
The Archbishop of Canterbury is sad, so sad:
BBC: Israel barrier saddens Archbishop
Dr Rowan Williams and other UK church leaders passed through the barrier on their way to Bethlehem while on a Christmas pilgrimage to the town.
There was a "fear of the other and the stranger which keeps all of us in one or another kind of prison", he said...
Fear of being blown up or shot is another strong motivator.
Israel "says."
He has also said he is worried about an exodus of Christians from Bethlehem, changing its historic Christian nature.
"We are here to say, in this so troubled, complex land, that justice and security is never something which one person claims at the expense of another or one community at the expense of another," Dr Williams said.
"We are here to say that security for one is security for all. For one to live under threat, whether of occupation, or of terror, is a problem for all, and a pain for all."...
Whatever all that gobbledygook means... People have a right to protect themselves, particularly via passive means. "[I]n 2004, half the Israeli fatalities caused by [suicide] attacks were committed by extremists from Bethlehem." Archbishop, let us cast our eye inward to our own (your) co-religionists and ask what we have done to help ensure our neighborhoods are not used as launching pads to attack our neighbors. That is old fashioned basic responsibility. Once upon a time it may have been possible to stand up and speak out, but now your silence and misplaced blame have allowed your populations to dwindle to such an extent that you are little more than hostages on the hoof.
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What is striking about Rowan Williams in this context is that Williams' is no minor intellect, very much to the contrary. And yet, whether due to a self-blinded quality, a disproportionate ideological/political empathy for the Arab refugees aka "Palestinians," or for some other reason still, he simply cannot allow himself to assess, in reasonable/rational terms, the fundamental security issues reflected in the barrier, which has in fact proven to be effective and has now been well documented as such.
Conceivably, one might be able to better appreciate someone like Williams if he were to first acknowledge the effectiveness of the barrier, then attempt to apply a certain "logic" that finesses such an acknowledgement. Instead, Rowan Williams forwards such nonsense as "We are here to say that security for one is security for all. For one to live under threat, whether of occupation, or of terror, is a problem for all, and a pain for all," which is a bit like applying a trite, pollyannish moralism to a genuine dire or critical existential threat.
In fact, it's not simply "a bit like" that, that is precisely what Rowan Williams is doing. Given both his position and proven intellect, such, bare minimum, has to be regarded as a dereliction of duty.