Christian Attitudes

Link: http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD103105

On October 20, 2005, the Lebanese press reported that a delegation from the Presbyterian Church USA, headed by Father Nihad Tu'meh and with Robert Worley as its spokesman, visited southern Lebanon at the invitation of Hizbullah, and met there with the terrorist organization's commander in southern Lebanon, Nabil Qawuq.

A year ago, a meeting between a US Presbyterian delegation and Hezballah took place. From a transcript:

Sheik Nabil Qauq : The American policy today is similar to an owl bringing bad tidings. All we hear from Bush are words of war, evil, destruction, killing, siege and threat. This aggressive inclination is a real danger to all monotheistic religions and it harms Christianity.

Elder Ronald Stone: We treasure the precious words of Hizbullah and your expression of goodwill towards the American people. Also we praise your initiative for dialogue and mutual understanding. We cherish these statements that bring us closer to you. As an elder of our church, I'd like to say that according to my recent experience, relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders.

Could that be because the Jews object to your anti-Semitism?

The recent meeting was not much better, and the prejudice of the Presbyterian representatives against Israel and Jews is very clear. They and Hezbollah understand one another perfectly.

Delegation spokesman Robert Worley said:
"We do not wish to defend the U.S. administration. We all elected the Democratic Party against the Republican Party. Rest assured that we will return to the U.S. in order to continue our activity for peace, and we want to hear about the charity activities and the cultural and social activities organized by Hizbullah in south [Lebanon]. The Americans hear in the Western media that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization, and they do not hear any other opinion. They know nothing about the party's concern for the people of the south. We have suffered much pressure on the part of Jewish organizations in the U.S. because [of our help in] divesting corporations working with Israel."

Oh dear, those Jews! They will keep objecting to people trying to persecute them or destroy their State!

Evidently, one man’s terrorist is another man’s promoter of cultural and social activities. Hezbollah’s recent bombardment of Northern Israel may simply have been a conceptual work of art, with which they hope to win next year’s Turner Prize. You know that artists are always misunderstood in their own time.