Tag Archives: Israel

A Christian Response to Israeli Apartheid

A presentation given in the Centre for Advanced Islamic Studies, University of Malaysia, at the Second International Conference on Palestine Studies

Download a pdf copy of my presentation.

On 28 August 1963 Martin Luther King, co-led a civil-rights march of 250,000 people in Washington DC against racism and segregation. In what has become probably the most well-known and widely quoted speech in history, King shared his dream of a diverse but united multi-ethnic nation:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by their character. When we let freedom ring, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”[1]

The origins of institutional racism can be traced back to the European colonization of the Americas and Africa and to the slave trade. With the abolition of slavery, institutional racism evolved into American segregation, German Antisemitism and South African Apartheid. 

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Israel’s Strategic Weapon: America’s Christian Zionists

This week I recorded an interview with Faisal Mohammad for Turkish TRT entitled ‘Israel’s Strategic Weapon: America’s Christian Zionists’. It has apparently gone viral with over 300k+ viewings in jless than a week. The programme explores why Netanyahu cited the Hebrew scriptures to justify his genocide in Gaza. You can view the programme on the following channels:

YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Israel’s war rhetoric is laced with biblical references, a ploy aimed at wooing Christian Evangelicals in the US. Here’s how British theologian Stephen Sizer unpacks this phenomenon.

Read the article by Faisal Mohammad for TRT based on the interview here

For a more comprehensive refutation and deconstruction of Christian Zionism see here:

Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions (an introduction and summary of below)

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Israel’s Fall: God’s Purpose in Election (Romans 9:1-5)


Back in 1967, Nelson Bell, the editor of Christianity Today and father-in-Law of Billy Graham, wrote in an editorial for the journal, 

“For the first time in more than 2,000 years Jerusalem is now completely in the hands of the Jews gives a student of the Bible a thrill and a renewed faith in the accuracy and validity of the Bible.” 

Eleven years on, in 1978, President Jimmy Carter, claimed,

“The establishment of the nation of Israel is the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and the very essence of its fulfilment.”[1]

45 years on, that seems increasingly hard to defend when Israel is acknowledged by many human rights organisations to be an ethno-nationalist apartheid state. This week, the US/Canadian denomination, the Disciples of Christ, became the latest to adopt a resolution naming Israeli apartheid, acknowledging that “many of the laws, policies and practices of the State of Israel meet the definition of apartheid as defined in international law.”[2]  

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One Democratic State Coalition UK (ODSC-UK)

A meeting to arrange the launch of the One Democratic State Coalition UK (ODSC-UK), was hosted by Cafe Palestina in London on Saturday 8th July.

ODSC-UK is an inclusive coalition of organisations and individuals committed to One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC) in Palestine.

Founding organisations include the Convivencia Alliance, Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions UK (ICAHD-UK), Jewish Network for Palestine (JNP) and Peacemaker Trust.

Whether as an individual or organisation, we invite you to endorse the ODSC manifesto, and if in the UK, join the ODSC-UK coalition. If you endorse the manifesto please let us know via mail@ODSC.uk

United Against Apartheid: Jerusalem Day

John Wesley preached outdoors because the Church of England denied him a pulpit over his evangelical theology. He could have left the Anglican Church but didn’t. They didn’t want him. His theology was too evangelical. His love was too extravagant. His methods too unorthodox. So they shut him out of churches and pulpits. They could not silence Wesley. Instead he preached in the open air – in fields, markets, and cemeteries and the crowds loved him.

Today it was my privilege to read and expound the scriptures in the open air in Whitehall outside Downing Street before an estimated 15,000+ Jews, Muslims, Christians and those of no faith, all with police protection. It was truly one of the highlights of my ministry. (click on the photo above to watch my presentation). The text of my presentation together with photos and more short videos may be found below.

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Jonathan Coulter on CAMPAIN and the Church of England

In this interview Jonathan Coulter explains the work of CAMPAIN and reasons for their recent Open Letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

You can read and sign the Open Letter here

Background to the Open letter:

Jonathan’s article “What is Wrong with the the IHRA working definition of antisemitism?“

View other YouTube interviews here

Glory to God in the Lowest- A Book Review: Dr Donald Wagner

This is a truly inspirational story of how a young conservative white evangelical Christian became a passionate life-long campaigner for Palestinian rights. 

The book reveals the heavy price Don has paid for his commitment to justice, peace and reconciliation. Don clearly stands in the subversive but non-violent tradition of Mohandas Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandella. 

I simply could not put this book down. It is a compelling, detailed, eye-witness commentary on the unfolding tragedy of Palestine over the past 40 years. It is also a searing indictment of the failure of the West, tragically with the complicity of the Church, to hold Israel accountable to its obligations under international law and repeated UN Resolutions. 

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Looking Forward to Armageddon?

A presentation on the historical roots and political agenda of Christian Zionism given for members of Bath Friends of Palestine at the Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institute in October 2022.

Christian Zionism has long been a powerful factor in the creation and maintenance of the state of Israel, but what exactly does it believe?

Dr Stephen Sizer examines the historical roots, theological basis and political agenda of a Bible-based worldview that today defends apartheid, denies justice to the Palestinians and only perpetuates conflict in the Middle East.

Bath Friends of Palestine

The Battle for Jerusalem

The Battle for Jerusalem from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

What provides you with most security? After your faith and your family, what comes next? Probably your home.

It is probably your largest monthly financial expense or, if the mortgage is paid, your most valuable asset. You may have only just moved in yesterday. Your life, your memories, your hopes and dreams are still carefully packed away in those unopened boxes, but it is still your home. Or you may be living in your parents home. You may have been born there, grown up there, never spent a night anywhere else. What ever, your home is your security. The place where you can lock the door, feel secure, be yourself, protect your loved ones, raise your family.

Now imagine losing it. Not to a mortgage company through repossession, not because of a divorce settlement or an act of nature be it fire or flood, but lose it violently to a foreign government. Imagine being woken at 6:00am by riot police with dogs and bulldozers. They force you out at gun point.

They give you 15 minutes to remove your possessions.

They demolish your home in front of you. Then a week later, they send you the bill. It happens every day. Salim and Arabiya Shawamreh live in Anata, a village to the east of Jerusalem.

In June, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that their home could be demolished – for the fifth time. Four times it has been demolished and four times friends and international volunteers have rebuilt it.

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With God on our Side

I am delighted to endorse a new film being launched this autumn produced by Porter Speakman Jr and Rooftop Productions.

“With God On Our Side takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God’s chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel. Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel’s security as a whole.

This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn’t favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians.”

Launch: Autumn 2009. More news soon.

With God on our Side – Website, FaceBook and YouTube