Chile and Judeo-Christian Israel

Israel has invited the rescued Chilean miners to spend Christmas in Israel. "All expenses paid." The Israeli itinerary includes visits to Christian holy sites.

Israel enjoys strong ties to Christians around the world. This close relationship has marked the course of Zionism in Palestine. The Jewish Zionist movement developed alongside Christian ambitions for the Holy Land. It was the British victory over the Islamic Ottoman Empire in World War I that led to the creation of the State of Israel. In 1917, the Christian Zionist British Prime Minster Lloyd George authored the Balfour Declaration, the document that sanctioned Zionist, political aspirations in Palestine. Ironically, this Christian support for political Zionism was met with Jewish opposition:  Edwin Montague,  the only Jews in Lloyd George's Christian cabinet was the sole opponent of the Balfour Declaration.

Even earlier, Jewish Zionism existed and developed within the Christian Zionist world. British journalist, Victoria Clarke in her comprehensive history of Christian Zionism   Allies for Armageddon  documents the relationship between Christian- and Jewish-Zionism over a period of 350 years. Her fascinating  - and very readable  - history links contemporary Christian Zionism back to the mid-17th century to the re-admittance of Jews to England and to the beginnings American Exceptionalism.

American Zionism in Palestine started in the mid-19th century. One of the legacies of that period, the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem, is the preferred accommodation of the international press corps in Jerusalem.

Beginning somewhat earlier in the 19th century, British Zionism was characterized by the influx of Christian missionaries, including former Jews. The beautiful convent (now including a wonderful Bed & Breakfast) of Notre Dame de Sion in the picturesque village of Ein Karem was founded by two French, Jewish brothers who converted to Catholicism.

Similarly, the neo-Gothic church inside of Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate was built by the Solomon Alexander,  the first Protestant Bishop of Jerusalem. This former Galitzianer Jew moved to England. became a provincial rabbi, then abandoned Judaism and converted to Christianity. He re-entered the clergy this time as an Anglican priest,  and was sent to Palestine to head the Christian mission in Jerusalem as its first bishop.

The foundational impact of the mid-19th century Christian settlement in Palestine is evident to this day. The German Templars helped turn the village of Haifa into the major city it is today. They shaped the city's architecture. In Jerusalem, the Templars' "German Colony" is the trendy, hotspot in West Jerusalem. The templars are credited with the famous, or, infamous depending on your point of view) Jaffa orange brand.

Political Zionism developed in Christian Europe and is guaranteed today by Christian America. Christian Evangelicals famously back Israel and, the Israeli settler movement in particular. Israel, her emissaries and representatives around in American, nurtures this image of Israel as the Christian ally in the Middle East.

The European-American Christian context for Jewish Zionism explains an anomaly in Israeli policy. If Israel is truly the ally of Christians in the face of perceived Islamic encroachment, why are Palestinian Christians subject to the same discrimination, humiliation and intimidation as their Muslim neighbors?

The answer lies in the kinship Israel feels, not with Christians as Christians but as extensions of the Western world which Israel longs to be a part of.

 A case in point, is Israel's harsh response - through the agency of American Jewish organizations - to the Palestinian Christian

statement of principles

on human rights in Palestine. This Christian document was lambasted as anti-Semitic by such groups as the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

             High on the itinerary of the Chilean Christians will undoubtedly be the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. As Bethlehem is officially under Palestinian control, and the Old City of Jerusalem is internationally recognized as part of the Palestinian West Bank, the Palestinians, were understandably unhappy when Israel neglected to put their names on the Chilean invitation.

                                                      Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City of Jerusalem

I'd love to see the Chilean miners go to Israel, bid adieu to their official, Israeli minders and do a photo-op with the Palestinian custodians of Bethlehem and Jerusalem's holy Christian sites. The courtyard in front of the Church of the Holy Speluchre in the Old City of Jerusalem would make a great backdrop: representatives of all the churches that maintain a presence in the church, together with the Muslim family that holds the keys to he church, some Jewish clergy from Rabbis for Human Rights, and the 31 miners  - plus their families. 

Clergy Solidarity with Hyatt Workers

This evening 70+ of my fellow clergy, cantors, rabbis and Christian clergy gathered with Hyatt workers to protest the continuing exploitation of workers by Hyatt management. We protested outside the Hyatt Regency, on the Chicago River across from the Magnificent Mile.

U.S. Representative Danny Davis (no relation...) added his presence and words to the event. My colleagues, members of Reform Cantors of Chicago, led the clergy processional with Go Down Moses (Let My People Go).

                                                               
                                                                       With Cantor Scott Simon at the rally

There was a great atmosphere. Our Christian colleagues were good sports and incorporated a Jewish ritual into the event. As Rev. Lillian Daniel explained it: on the Jewish holyday of Purim, whenever we hear the name of the evil Haman, we make noise in protest. Similarly, at the rally, whenever a speaker said the word "injustice", everybody shook their 'clackers'.

Rabbi Peter Knobel, immediate past-president of the 1,800 member Central Conference of American Rabbis invoked the Biblical term "oshek" "exploitation" to describe Hyatt management's treatment of its workers. Hyatt Regency hosts major Jewish events in Chicago, as it is one of the only large establishments to offer kosher food. In light of this "oshek", Rabbi Knobel declared the Hyatt Regency "not kosher."

Rev. Chisum infused energy and roused the crowd to chanting with him. Sister Gwen Fary joined with my colleagues

Cantors Simon, Goldstein & Luck accompanying on guitar Cantors Mahler & Dresher & Sister Gwen Fary.

The overall theme of the event was the Passover exodus story. I spoke about Nahshone, the hero was, according to tradition was the first to brave the waters of the Sea of Reeds (the Red Sea). Jewish tradition credits Nahshone with the beginning of the miracle of the splitting of the sea. We ended the event with singing "We Shall Overcome." By that time, the challenge that faced the protesters was not Hyatt but the weather. I had to abandon the second half of my speech because I couldn't quite unfold the sheet of paper that was disintegrating in the rain...

The atmosphere was lively. It strikes me repeatedly, how enjoyable this activism is. I met up with old friends and met new people. The workers, clergy and organizers were all connected through the common commitment of solidarity with the workers in the face of shameless exploitation. I hope our public action gave the workers a boost and gave Hyatt executives reason to fear that their image will be tarnished unless they treat their workers with respect.

On Large Ink Toner Cartridges (or, the Absurdities of the Yemeni Plot Against Chicago)

So, all were aflutter in my adoptive hometown, Chicago. The news channels and my e-mail inbox were full of reports about Al-Qaida's failed attempt to fly explosives to a Chicago synagogue. According to the authorities, one of the packages was found on board a cargo plane in the U.K. Today, a British cabinet minister, flanked by a grim-faced David Cameron, announced, according to The Guardian's top headline, that, henceforth, the British have:

"imposed an immediate ban on large ink toner cartridges in hand luggage."

So, the British government's response to the latest terror scare is....to make air travellers' lives even more miserable - at least those passengers who are wont to schlep large ink toner cartridges in their hand luggage. For the rest of us: we can be calm in the knowledge that the large ink toner cartridges, that may contain explosives, are in the cargo hold. Wait a minute. Isn't that just like that plane that the British seized which, we are told, could have blown up?

Really, for the authorities' placebo sedative to work, the plan at least has to have the appearance of fixing the problem. This absurd plan makes one thing abundantly clear: there isn't much our fearless leaders can do to give us added security. (And they are doing plenty to make us unsafe, thank you very much.) Actually, I'm relieved that this latest security directive doesn't require us to give up any more of our civil liberties.

Except, of course, for the right to bear oversized ink cartridges. In our hand luggage.