Archbishop Justin Welby Where is Your Moral Compass?

The Lambeth Witness Group of Campain, have produced a leaflet to protest the continued complicity of the Church of England with the pro-Israel lobby regarding the Gaza genocide.

As leader of the Church of England, your job involves standing up for human rights, peace, and justice. 

But, when it comes to Israel, you never go to the heart of the matter. 

We are glad you have called out the killing and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, but you never denounce the root cause, which is Israel’s long-term ethnic cleansing programme. Nor do you call out our government’s enduring diplomatic and military support for Israel. 

As Israel starves, burns and bombs the civilian population of Gaza and the West Bank, you treat it as if it were acting out self-defence, on a higher moral plane from Hamas. 

We see no rationale for this. Some of Hamas’s actions on October 7 were war crimes, and need to be investigated. However, it is Israel’s ethnic cleansing project that drives the whole cycle of violence. 

As far back as 1937 the father of the Israeli nation David Ben Gurion wrote: “We must expel the Arabs and take their places”. And since 1948, Israel has killed, maimed, dispossessed and exiled Palestinians, occupying their land, destroying their homes and infrastructure, and stealing their natural resources. These are war crimes.

Too often, you have denounced British people who stand up for the Palestinians as anti-Semitic, fanning the flames of culture wars. And you have not backed up your assertions with hard evidence. 

And when Iran attacked Israel, you tweeted a prayer for Israel – but you didn’t denounce Israel’s provocative attack on an Iranian consulate, which is a war crime.

As head of the established Church, and with 26 bishops in the House of Lords, you can and should do better. It is time to hold Government to account. So please show moral leadership and demand that the British government immediately:

• Insist on a permanent ceasefire
• End all diplomatic, military and logistical support for Israel’s war 
• End all arms supply to Israel, a move that polls show would have overwhelming public support, and
• Renew funding for UNRWA, Gaza’s crucial provider of food and humanitarian aid that Israel has dishonestly sought to discredit.

The Coming Last Day’s Temple: Ready to Rebuild?

Just 500 metres by 300 metres, the Temple Mount, or Haram Al Sharif as it is called in Arabic, is probably the most disputed plot of land on earth. Hal Lindsey claims, ‘I believe the fate of the world will be determined by an ancient feud over 35 acres of land.’

Many Christians share the belief that the Islamic shrines must be destroyed and that a Jewish Temple must and will be rebuilt – very soon. But this won’t be a museum replica of the one king Solomon built or be just another attraction for pilgrims to the Holy Land. No, this Temple will be built for one purpose and one purpose only – for bloody animal sacrifices, and lots of them.

In this article we want to explore the case for rebuilding the Jewish Temple; consider whether the Bible predicts such an event; and if so, where and how it might be built. We will then look at what the New Testament has to say on the subject and some of the implications for Christianity should the Jewish Temple be rebuilt. Finally, we will reveal that the Temple is actually under construction (but don’t peep).

However eccentric or strange it may seem, influential Christian leaders are actively promoting and funding Jewish religious groups who want to destroy the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the third most holy shrine within Islam. They want to replace it with a fully functioning Jewish Temple. They are doing so because they believe the Bible mandates it. Indeed, some Christians like pastor Clyde Lott, a Pentecostal rancher from Mississippi, are even trying to breed the perfect red heifer to assist in future Temple sacrifices. According to the Book of Numbers chapter 19, the ashes of a red heifer are needed to purify the priests and altar before sacrifices can be offered again.

The search for the red heifer has been described as a ‘four legged time bomb’.

Read the rest of the article here which is a summary of one of the chapters from my book, Zion’s Christian Soldiers.

Zion’s Christian Soldiers: Seven Chapters

A 4 page summary of the book

Bible Study Guide

Does God Have One People or Two? (John 15)

A homily given at the weekly Sabeel Jerusalem Service 25th April 2024

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:1-7)

Who are God’s ‘chosen people’? Does God have one people or two? A simple question. In our gospel reading today, the Lord Jesus is crystal clear as to the answer. I am sure you have heard numerous sermons on John 15. We rightly focus on Jesus profound description of himself, “I am the Vine”. It is the last of the seven great “I am” statements Jesus made recorded uniquely in John’s gospel. What is the context? In Exodus 3, when Moses asks God his name, the Lord says “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). The website Got Questions has a helpful explanation.

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Mardin Artuklu University: Courage Award

The 24th International Beth Al-Maqdis Academic Symposium was held at Mardin Atuklu University, Turkey, 18-20 April 2024. The conference theme was “Zionism and Academia: Pressures, Fears and Challenges”. Besides giving a presentation entitled, “A Biblical Refutation of Christian Zionism”, during the conference, I was also honoured to receive the Mardin Artuklu University Courage Award.

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European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP)

As chair of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions(ICAHD-UK), I am pleased to represent them on the ECCP committee.

The ECCP is a network of 43 European organisations, NGOs, trade unions and solidarity groups from 18 European countries,  dedicated to the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, justice and equality.

Red Heifers From Texas and the Jewish Temple

Register for this important Sabeel webinar here:

In anticipation of the forthcoming launch of the newly established Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism (ISCZ), you are invited to an important conversation, “‘Red Heifers’ from Texas’ & Misguided Attempts to Build the Temple: Countering the Destructive Consequences of Christian Zionism and Third-Temple Extremism”–a conversation taking on a new urgency in light of recent events. 

Organized by the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre in Jerusalem, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), and the Israel-Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) of the Presbyterian Church USA and sponsored by a diverse coalition of movement partners, this online conversation was birthed in response to an open call from Palestinian Christian leaders to the global church as well as all persons of good will. 

As detailed in the letter, the extremist Temple Institute, aided by Christian Zionist extremists in the United States, aims to sacrifice a “red heifer,” claiming that such a sacrifice is necessary to purify a priest who would then be designated “clean” to enter the Holy of Holies of a rebuilt Jewish Temple. The group’s plans would require the relocation or destruction of Masjid al-Aqsa, including the Dome of the Rock, within the Haram al-Sharif. 

Such a plan is not only a great affront to the hope of multi-religious coexistence in Jerusalem but an invitation to regional, if not global, warfare. In the face of this madness, Palestinian clergy have called upon all persons of goodwill to condemn this plan because actions like this accomplish nothing except for escalating hatred, instability, and violence. 

As such, it is imperative that we inaugurate a global intra-Christian dialogue focused on the repudiation of Christian Zionism among other forms of political extremism. 

Featuring: Alex Awad, Shadia Qutbi, Stephen Sizer, Addie Domske

Jerusalem Day Rally: Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

View my short presentation at the Jerusalem Day Rally held in Whitehall, London, here. The text is below.

What does the word Jeru-salem mean? It means “city of peace” In the Psalms we are told to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). Why are we told to pray for the peace of the city of peace? Perhaps because God knew people would interpret the word “peace” in contradictory ways. That is why the prophet Jeremiah warned “‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14).

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Southampton Peace Rally for Gaza and Palestine

Do you remember the film Miss Congeniality staring Sandra Bullock who plays a police officer. There’s a scene in which she enters the Miss USA beauty pageant. Each contestant steps up to the microphone to answer the question, “What’s the most important thing our society needs?” They each smile and give the same cliched answer – “world peace“. All except Sandra Bullock who replies, “Harsher punishment for parole violators”. The crowd goes silent and Sandra Bullock realises they don’t share her enthusiasm for justice, so she adds, “And world peace” and the crowd goes wild.

Although the scene makes light of ‘world peace’, Sandra Bullock is making a point, “If we all believe in ‘world peace’, if we all want ‘world peace’ why, oh why, is it so elusive? Because peace begins, for exampole, by holding parole violators accountable. That is why the prophet Jeremiah warned “‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14). 

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Turning our World Upside Down (John 20)

It is confession time. I didn’t mean to do it. I know I should not have done it. Every week I carefully avoid looking but this Friday I did. I don’t know what possessed me. I put it down to mid-life crisis. My eyes just wandered and there it was, the most enticing, the most tantalizing, the most tempting job offer I have ever read in the Church of England Newspaper. 

“It’s True Adelaide is a great place… No doubt you’ve read about Adelaide’s fine weather, fine beaches, fine food and fine wine. Its all true! South Australia wants people who see their future in its progressive climate. The archbishop of Adelaide welcomes enquiries from clergy wishing to minister in parishes and schools. Find out more about South Australia at www.southaustralia.com. Send your expressions of interest to…” and then it gave the address.

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