Early next month the Methodist Council will receive an update on the work of the Methodist Church in its opposition to the State of Israel following the report to the 2010 Methodist Conference entitled Justice for Palestine and Israel. This update will eventually go to the 2011 Methodist Conference.
It would be sensible for a member of the council to seek to amend the report to reflect the worsening human rights position in Palestine. Amnesty International reported this week:
Five Palestinian men were executed by the Hamas de facto administration in Gaza during
2010, in the first executions to be carried out in either part of the Palestinian Authority since
2005. Two men, convicted in 2009 by military courts of “collaboration” with the Israeli
military and involvement with murder, were executed in Gaza City on 15 April 2010. Three
others, convicted of murder in separate cases prior to 2010, were executed in Gaza City on
18 May 2010. At least 11 new death sentences were imposed by military and criminal courts
in Gaza in 2010.
Should members of the Methodist Council be under any illusion that within the Palestinian Authority area all is well they should just watch this video which claims to show Hamas militia attacking a wedding party and undertaking extra judicial executions.Modern British Methodism has traditionally been opposed to the use of the death penalty.
A guest speaker at the 2010 Methodist Conference said that "some things which Hamas does
are appreciated by Christians" (Daily Record day two 25 June 2010, Methodist Recorder 1 July 2010). I trust that the death penalty and extra-judicial murder are not among those "things" that are "appreciated" by Naim Ateek and his Methodist "Friends of Sabeel".
Note: For all intents and purposes the State of Israel has abolished the death penalty. Only two people have been executed in the history of the 63 year old state, the last in 1962.
It would be sensible for a member of the council to seek to amend the report to reflect the worsening human rights position in Palestine. Amnesty International reported this week:
Five Palestinian men were executed by the Hamas de facto administration in Gaza during
2010, in the first executions to be carried out in either part of the Palestinian Authority since
2005. Two men, convicted in 2009 by military courts of “collaboration” with the Israeli
military and involvement with murder, were executed in Gaza City on 15 April 2010. Three
others, convicted of murder in separate cases prior to 2010, were executed in Gaza City on
18 May 2010. At least 11 new death sentences were imposed by military and criminal courts
in Gaza in 2010.
Should members of the Methodist Council be under any illusion that within the Palestinian Authority area all is well they should just watch this video which claims to show Hamas militia attacking a wedding party and undertaking extra judicial executions.Modern British Methodism has traditionally been opposed to the use of the death penalty.
A guest speaker at the 2010 Methodist Conference said that "some things which Hamas does
are appreciated by Christians" (Daily Record day two 25 June 2010, Methodist Recorder 1 July 2010). I trust that the death penalty and extra-judicial murder are not among those "things" that are "appreciated" by Naim Ateek and his Methodist "Friends of Sabeel".
Note: For all intents and purposes the State of Israel has abolished the death penalty. Only two people have been executed in the history of the 63 year old state, the last in 1962.
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3 comments:
Well said, David!
An excellent piece David!!
I'm not really around too much at present but a few minutes to add to your voice -
perhaps the Methodist Conference would also be interested in items written by Palestinains (as opposed to those biased and blinkered Jews) - note the words of none other than a Palestinian NGO - the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights as quoted by The New York Times - neither of whom, putting it mildly, are renowned as friends of the Jewish State!
This week the PCHR in Gaza (uncharacteristically) condemned the building, storage and handling of deadly rockets in densely populated areas, a practice that has led to injuries and deaths of civilians.
The Palestinian NGO claimed that recent rocket explosions and locally produced projectiles had damaged homes in Gaza. There were also explosions in the factories where rockets were being produced or being stored. It claimed that its investigations had revealed that several people had been severely wounded, including a young woman and her 7-month-old baby.
Calling on deaf ears, it urged the Hamas government to investigate “and take measures to protect Palestinians and their property" adding that “members of the Palestinian resistance continue to treat (manufacture) and store explosives in locations close to populated areas posing a severe threat to the Palestinian residents.”
Hamdi Shaqura of PCHR said that investigating such matters was risky in Gaza. "Militant" groups deny responsibility. He noted that the Hamas Interior Ministry blamed Israel for the landing of what were actually locally produced rockets on Palestinian targets.
Of course ... it's all Israel's fault!
OJ
That OJ. I'll look up the URL and feature that during next week.
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