Hyde Presses U.S. on Israeli Wall

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | J+M+J April 1, 2004 | Robert Novak

[Siobhan]

There is hardly a more resolute supporter of Israel in Congress than Rep. Henry Hyde, the venerable chairman of the House International Relations Committee. That is why his March 25 letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell is so important. It is a plea to deflect Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's wall around the Holy Land from its planned position blocking the Scriptural pathway of Jesus Christ.

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[Siobhan]

Wall going in the middle of the Via Crucis..... ping.

Our Lady of Sorrows, .............

[Romulus]

If Israel will not at least defend the integrity of Christian holy places -- something I hardly expect from radicalised islamics, but which the state of Israel has committed in writing to do -- then I have no use for them. None.

[NYer]

''Christian charity, sacred sites and the living Christian community in the Holy Land will be destroyed.'' The wall, the priests said, ''could forever change the Holy Land and the people who live in and visit this cherished historic land.''

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[Siobhan]

Is it possible that you missed the fact that this article was written by Robert Novak and is about Henry Hyde and his concern for Christians and Christian holy sites in the Holy Land?

[TopQuark]

''I fear that important religious sites will become museums for commercial purposes and will no longer be maintained as places of spiritual worship shared by billions across the world,''

You should not act on your fears, Senator, but on facts. What past actions of the Israeli government gave you any indication that this is even an issue?

Were you also acting so resolutely when Palestinians blew up a 2000-year-old synagogue in Jerico? when they desecrated Rachel's tomb? Those were facts, specific actions, not "fear" thereof --- where were your resolutions then, senator?

Novak and his anti-Israeli game he's been playing for ever. And it appears to work: you Siobbhan quoted Novak's characterization of Hyde.

Since when in America taking sides is more important that principle. Hyde may be a supporter of Israel -- what does this have to do with his stance on a particular issue? Only for people that lack principle, such as Novak, is this important.

[TopQuark]

More of Novak's tricks:

The Rev. David Jaeger, representing the Holy See, is a native-born Israeli citizen who has been working on this problem for 27 years Aha! The problem existed for much, much longer and only now came to the surface! That is the impression he sneaks into the mind of the reader.

but has run into the Sharon wall. And both Sharon and "his" wall existed for all 27 years? Make up your mind Mr. Novak.

Poor Novak: he alone must fight those sinister Joooos.

[thoughtomator]

They're not even defending the integrity of Jewish holy places. And of course the Muzzies just aim to destroy all of them, both Jewish and Christian.

[Alouette]

''Christian charity, sacred sites and the living Christian community in the Holy Land will be destroyed.'' The wall, the priests said, ''could forever change the Holy Land and the people who live in and visit this cherished historic land.''

Anyone who really cares about maintaining Christian holy sites and supporting the Christian community in the Holy Land should have something to say about the ongoing trashing of these sites and the persecution of Christians by the Palestinian Authority.

The only way to safeguard all the sites that are sacred to Christians in the Holy Land is to prevent them from ever coming under the control of the Muslims.

[BlackElk]

Robert Novak, whatever his many virtues, has been a supporter of all things Arabic and an opponent of all things Israeli for several decades going back at least to the Yom Kippur War and the Six Days' War.

Israel is our ally and vice versa.

We need to see this in perspective, insist as Christians and as Americans that the Via Dolorosa and other sites sacred to Christianity be open and available and protected by the Israeli government, and not be tempted by talk of generalities such as protecting "Christians" which can easily be construed as an argument that Palestinian Christians are somehow to be off limits to Israeli law enforcement.

Palestinian Christians are largely Catholic, as am I, and under the religious leadership of the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem/Archbishop of Jerusalem one Michael Sabbah who is utterly unashamed in his tolerance of anti-Israeli activity among Palestinians generally and among his own flock specifically. Sabbah is part of the problem and not part of the solution. If I am wrong about Michael Sabbah, I am eager to be corrected.

Presidential advice to Prime Minister Sharon that Christians are the overwhelming majority of Americans and a very important part of Dubya's constituency and that the US insists that the Christian shines be available and protected should suffice.

We should not allow generalized talk about protecting "Christians" to become a mantra to facilitate Palestinian terrorism and create a protected class of terrorists. If I should ever visit the Holyland and visit the shrines and the places important to Gospel accounts, I will be delighted to be examined minutely for bombs or weapons (under the reigning circumstances) and that everyone else be similarly examined lest I an mine be blown to smithereens by Mohammed el Rootie Kazootie and 25 pounds of plastique meant to exterminate infidels such as Israeli citizens (including Arabs), Jews of any nationality, Catholics like me or you or Palestinian Christians or anyone else.

The Sharon policy of blood and iron is, if anything, too modest by far. People who intentionally blow up school buses full of Orthodox Jewish school children as an attack on the peaceful religious zeal of the Orthodox and Chassidic Jews or any school buses full of any school children for any reason, have earned execution in the streets (since Israel does not have judicially ordered executions).

Henry Hyde is a wonderful man and I have every confidence that he will make the appropriate distinctions in his advice to State Department and to Dubya.

To pray for peace is a noble and Christian thing to do but we must practice war as necessary until peace may be achieved. There is absolutely no detectable desire on the part of the Palestinian militants to cooperate in any peace not achieved by the killing of the last Jew and reclaiming Israel for the expansion of the Third World Marxist pigsty that is said by the Arafats to be "Palestine."

[sinkspur]

Robert Novak, whatever his many virtues, has been a supporter of all things Arabic and an opponent of all things Israeli for several decades going back at least to the Yom Kippur War and the Six Days' War.

Notwithstanding the content of the article, this fact must be kept in mind.

[monkeyshine]

It's a good tourist attraction. Israel should build the wall around Jerusalem not through it.

[Romulus]

</an argument that Palestinian Christians are somehow to be off limits to Israeli law enforcement.

Excuse me, but when have Palestinian Christians ever been a problem for Israeli law enforcement?

As for the Latin Patriarch, and his shamelessness -- there's a lot of shamelessness in that part of the world, and the Israelis take second place to nobody in that competition. Insofar as Sabbah encourages nonviolent civil resistance to the manifest injustices and indignities heaped upon Palestinians by Israeli elements bent on driving them off the land, I am all for him.

Indeed, the President's advice to Sharon about access to holy sites should suffice, but the Administration seems to be too busy writing a legal basis into Iraqi law for an introduction of abortion in that country, leaving no time to deliver advice to our ally, or else delivering it with a wink from our leader who's carefully triangulating his reelection. I call your attention to Zenit's story of March 25 about Israel's systematic denials to grant visas to Christian religious personnel:

Franciscan Father David Jaeger, a spokesman of the Holy Land Custody, told AsiaNews: "We are dealing with a very serious problem indeed, one which is getting worse by the day. Promises made by top-ranking government officials have not been kept so far," he said. "They won't let us know their reasons behind the new policy. There are no official channels of dialogue to bring about a resolution to the situation."

One is left wondering whether the de-Christianisation of Palestine is an explicit policy of Israel. There's nothing Israel could do more likely to radicalise those remaining and provoke a final terrorist offensive so savage that it will be able to claim self-defense in clearing the land altogether. Perhaps this is their endgame in the consolidation of this utopian project. Win or lose, it's a bloody prospect. So far as I can see, neither side wants anything less than total victory. It's a very dangerous game they are playing.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

I agree with Romulus. If Israel wants to offend the last friends they have left, so be it.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

The only way to safeguard all the sites that are sacred to Christians in the Holy Land is to prevent them from ever coming under the control of the Muslims.

Since the time of the Crusades up to 1948, there had been no issue with access to Christian Holy Sites despite "control by Muslims". Only with the advent of Israel, and in particular with the 1967 war, has this been an issue.

[rmlew]

The Muslims are deChristianizing the land, not Israel. Take a look at Demographics under Israeli and Palestinian control of Bethlehem.

Israel is not trying to push Arabs off the land (I wish it were). Take a look at general demographics.

[rmlew]

As long as dhimmi were quiet, theMuslims simply slowly tried to pressure them. Once Jews rejected their role as Dhimmi, Christians were put under increased pressure by the Muslims. However, the problem isnot the uppity Jews, but the Muslims who cannot stand a Jewish or Christian state.
Look at Lebanon!

[Hermann the Cherusker]

Have you ever heard of a Palestinian Christian terrorist? I have not.

But can you expect people who daily see their freedom curtailed by random Israeli police state tactics, violence and expropriation of property for lashing back with terrorism? What is their other recourse aside from leaving Palestine altogether? Do you honestly believe they have any recourse to civil procedures to halt the slow expropriation of all Arab owned land in Palestine? They aren't even allowed to move about freely in the West Bank, let alone, vote, or use other freedoms we take for granted. Do you remember when Israel shut down every Palestinian school for years? The numerous times they've prevented Palestinians from going to work? How do you think "settlements" are founded? Its not as if someone wasn't on the land before the Israeli settlers show up.

I work with a man whose family has lost everything three times now - twice to the Israeli's: first in 1948, then 1967; and once again in 1990 to Saddam after they had done what Israel really wanted and left Palestine for another Arab country, in this case Kuwait. You think he wants to go and hug Sharon and Co. because they've been so nice to him and his family? When can he expect recompense for the property they stole from him twice? Would you like to try starting your life over three times with nothing? Many Jews in the AJC and ADL organizations and the State of Israel cry on and on about property stolen from them by the Germans and others in WWII, but they don't think twice about stealing the property of Palestinians. To the victor goes the spoils, they say.

You know what is surprising? Its surprising every Palestinian has not already gone nuts and blown himself up to try to kill Israelis from being made to live like prisoners in their own land.