Christian Perspectives

By Don Thorsen, Ph.D., Professor of Theology
Haggard Graduate School of Theology, Azusa Pacific University
October 4, 2008

Introduction

Let me share with you the story of how I first embodied and then repudiated the beliefs, values, and practices of Christian Zionism. Of course, when I developed my view of eschatology, neither I nor others with whom I was familiar used the terminology of Christian Zionism. Instead my view was best described as premillennial and pretribulational eschatology, including belief in a secret rapture of Christians that would imminently occur. But my largely subconscious view of Israel and the United States’ involvement in Mideast politics was essentially that of Christian Zionism. I gave unconditional preference to biblical prophecies thought to be predictive of Israel’s nationalistic resurgence, and the coming of Armageddon and the cataclysmic end of the world as we know it.

by James M. Wall

When Israel would not allow the Palestinian soccer team to practice in Gaza, the team held its practice sessions in Egypt. The documentary film Goal Dreams reminds us of the implications of that decision. Palestinians from Chile, New York and Spain who were trying out for the team arrived in Egypt with little difficulty, but Palestinians who had to travel the few miles from Gaza to Egypt were delayed for several days at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for "security reasons."

The same Israeli-controlled border crossing was more hospitable to a recent group of Palestinians entering Gaza from Egypt. Fatah, the political party favored by the U.S. and Israel in the current Gaza internal conflict, was allowed to bring in as many as 500 troops. According to the Washington Post (May 18), these troops were trained in Egypt "under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas."

The U.S.-trained Fatah forces are under the command of Palestinian national security adviser Mohammed Dahlan, who was appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas under pressure from the U.S. Tony Karon, a senior editor at Time.com, describes Dahlan as "the Gaza warlord who has long been Washington's anointed favorite to play the role of a Palestinian Pinochet" (tonykaron.com)-a reference to the Chilean military dictator installed with the help of the U.S. after a 1973 military coup led to the overthrow and death of President Salvador Allende.

Fred Bush, professor emeritus of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Seminary, looks at the religion of Islam from a distinctly Christian perspective, examining the similarities and differences of these two monotheistic faiths.

If the Lebanon war has shown the fragility of the region and the utter failure of unilateralism to solve anything, it has also shown the overwhelming power of the United States. While pragmatism is needed to shake up the Palestinian track, ultimately any serious breakthrough in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will require the strong and continuous engagement of the world's only remaining superpower.

by Daoud Kuttab

The results of the elections and the furor that accompanied it seem to have resulted in the pro-Hamas candidates to forget that they had technically run on a non-Hamas list. Instead of distancing themselves in word and deed from Hamas, the jubilant winners of the elections fell in the trap and began talking as Hamas victors, not as the victors on the list of reform and change, which they had actually run and won on.

by Daoud Kuttab

Over the years, Elias Chacour has gone head-to-head with local politicians, Israeli government officials and even leaders of his church who stood in the way of his vision and his projects to better the lives of his people. He has led marches to Jerusalem protesting treatment of Palestinians, faced down Israeli military, stubbornly continued to re-plant uprooted olive trees and to proceed with construction plans for his school despite government refusals for permits. In February that same priest became the first native Palestinian who is also an Israeli citizen to be named the Melkite Catholic archbishop of Israel.

By Patricia Lynn Morrison