Eugene Doyle: Christ wasn’t born in a stable so that Palestinians could be born in tents
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE: By Café Pacific‘s guest contributor and Solidarity publisher Eugene Doyle
I have just attended a wonderful Christmas concert at St Mary of the Angels in Wellington – the Bach Choir, the Chiesa Ensemble and excellent soloists sent a thrill through my body. The final piece, Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, triggered these thoughts.
The Gloria, of course, is a traditional element of the Catholic mass, and the maestro’s version is one of the Christmas favourites. But in 2024, in the midst of the Gaza genocide, surely Christian observance means more than, for example, turning up to church, enjoying the choir, and having a cup of tea and a scone.
How then should Christians translate Gloria in excelsis Deo?
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Gloria in excelsis Deo. Glory to God in the highest.
The best way to venerate is to emulate. Which is why the American Christians like to ask themselves: “WWJD” (What Would Jesus Do?) — quite a practical question. The curious part is they come up with the craziest answers.
American bombs, delivered by Israeli soldiers, have torn thousands of Palestinian children apart. Thousands today need new artificial limbs. Most, for want of Christian charity, will never get them.
A year ago, in the early days of these crimes against humanity, I heard the best and wisest sermon of my life by Palestinian minister Reverend Munther Isaac, delivered in the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. He titled his sermon “Christ in the rubble” .
‘Christ in the Rubble’ sermon, Christmas 2023. Video: Democracy Now!
Fearing not just for Gaza but for all of Palestine and what will come next, he said:
“We are tormented by the silence of the world.
Leaders of the so-called Free World lined up one after the other to give the green light to this genocide against a captive population.”
“Here we confront the Theology of Empire,” he said, a theology that enlists even the Bible to justify killing men, women and children on an industrial scale. A year later, hundreds are still being killed every week. All means of existence are being denied the people of Gaza.
Jurists and scholars from one end of the earth to the other say we are witnessing genocide. Do you think Jesus Christ would approve of such conduct by an all-powerful army supported by the richest Christian-majority nations?
Recall his righteous rage when he drove the moneychangers from the temple; their transgression is small-change compared to what is being done to the children of Gaza. WWJD?
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. And peace on earth to people of good will.
Jesus, a Palestinian, died a violent death at the hands of a colonial regime working in concert with local elites. We know where his sympathies would lie today — with the refugees, the starved, the sick, the persecuted.
When confronted with something on this scale, it is important we refrain from despair or helplessness. We can be part of building a global movement of solidarity with suffering humanity.
- This is a time for activism eg, join demonstrations in support of Palestine. They bring good people of all faiths and outlooks together.
- Tell your bank and your stockbroker (if you have one) to divest from Israel. If you are an ASB customer, check out the Don’t Bank on Apartheid campaign.
- Donate to organisations like Justice for Palestine.
- Gift books on Palestine for Christmas. I recommend The 100 Years War on Palestine by Palestinian American writer Rashid Khalidi and A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe.
- Expand your news sites. Al Jazeera is the best mainstream media site. Jadaliyya.com is edited by distinguished scholar Mouin Rabbani. Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor are more informative than our major news sites.
- Write to Parliamentarians, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters, about your concerns, eg, that it is time to
- join South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ;
- expel the Israeli ambassador in protest;
- take our US ally to task for their part in the genocide;
- call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire;
- withdraw NZ troops from Operation Prosperity Guardian;
- call on New Zealand to live up to its obligations under the International Court of Justice ruling 19th July 2024 “not to recognise as legal the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Territories and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation”; and
- restore and massively increase funding to UNRWA and to condemn attacks on the United Nations and to call genocide by its name.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Thou who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
Jesus was not born in a stable so that thousands of Palestinians could be born in tents.
If God so loved the world, do we imagine God would approve of the satanic violence being meted out to 2.3 million Palestinians this Christmas?
Would God forgive the leaders of all the Western governments, including New Zealand’s, who have actively supported this daily slaughter of the Innocents?
The Babe Jesus isn’t the only baby we should be caring about this Christmas. All people of goodwill need to oppose these crimes and do all we can to bring to a close Israel’s war on Palestinians.
Miserere nobis. Have mercy upon us.
Come on, people, let us support the Palestinian people in their hour of need.
Amen
Eugene Doyle is a writer based in Wellington. He has written extensively on the Middle East, as well as peace and security issues in the Asia Pacific region. He hosts the public policy platform solidarity.co.nz He is a lapsed Catholic who has maintained lifelong contact with some of the nuns who played an influential part in his upbringing. Eugene also contributes articles to Café Pacific and Asia Pacific Report.
“We are tormented by the silence of the world. Leaders of the so-called Free World lined up one after the other to give the green light to this genocide against a captive population.””
We too are captured. Our media is captured, our political class is captured. Unless we put an end to this capture, then the only difference between what is happening in Gaza and what will soon happen to us is time!
The Hon W Peters, MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Wellington
Re: Middle East war – an Open Letter
26th Oct 2024
Dear Mr Peters,
I have appreciated comments you have made concerning the self-inflicted impotence of the United Nations, and so I feel sure you won’t mind hearing from one of the many New Zealanders who are distressed by what is happening in the Middle East, but who also feel a certain impotence which is why most don’t bother to speak up.
Numerous media commentators, aid agencies and the UN itself have made it plain that Israel’s actions go way beyond anything that can rightly claim to be self-defence, and include violations of international and humanitarian law. Israel’s present government has a wider agenda. It is also widely acknowledged that the only reason why Israel can continue its pursuit of that agenda is because the USA continues to supply it with the means of doing so – even as it speaks of the need for the war to stop.
Even allowing for Mr Biden’s own domestic reasons for wanting an end to the war, it is nevertheless hard to avoid the impression that USA’s much publicised pursuit of cease-fire talks is not much more than an attempt to pre-empt ‘day-after’ charges of complicity in war crimes, because the reality is that the USA could stop the war tomorrow if it was really serious about doing so.
I realise that NZ is in a difficult position because of its dependence on USA for both its security and its trade. But when the ‘day after’ does come, it would be good if history could show that we at least did what we could within our limits. For too long – decades – western nations have looked the other way while Israel continued to encroach on Palestinian lands and destroy Palestinians’ livelihoods and lives. In that way we helped to breed Hamas and Hezbollah. The present problem did not start on Oct 7th last year.
I understand there is an established protocol that entitles/requires you as Minister to call any Ambassador to account for unsatisfactory conduct by that Ambassador’s country. If that is correct, has the United States’ continuing support for Israel’s actions which responsible judicial bodies have condemned me the requirement for activating that protocol?
Does not the USA’s ambassador owe it to allies like NZ, and to fair-minded Jewish people living in this country, to explain the USA’s double-speak – i.e. professing its desire for a cease-fire while enabling Israel to continue what it is doing? The USA’s contempt for the role of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court is equally despicable, and all the more because of the impotence of the UN itself. Perhaps the ambassador could even explain how Mr Biden’s self-confessed position as a Zionist is consistent with his talk of a two-State solution, given that Zionism does not allow for a two-State solution.
I’m sure there would be plenty to talk about!
With good wishes,
Peter Cullinane
Bishop Emeritus, Catholic Diocese of Palmerston North address supplied]
I grew up with parents and family who fought the Nazis. My generation grew up with an education that included the genocide of Jews (and others), which we concluded was deeply immoral and inhuman. Only later was this labelled a holocaust, a deserved but unfortunately politicized term. In short holocaust/genocide was inculcated in our minds as deeply evil.
So was makes the latest genocide any less deeply evil?
That is because the Zionists want to hold the words holocaust genocide as belonging to them and only them. But of course what they practice is what was practiced on them in WWII
I grew up with parents and family who fought the Nazis. My generation grew up with an education that included the genocide of Jews (and others), which we concluded was deeply immoral and inhuman. Only later was this labelled a holocaust, a deserved but unfortunately politicized term. In short holocaust/genocide was inculcated in our minds as deeply evil.
So was makes the latest genocide any less deeply evil?
Any real Christian has read Matthew 27:25.
You can tell that ‘christian’ supporters of ‘israel’ aren’t real Christians, because they reject their Prophet Jesus, and the book they claim to believe in while actually worshiping his enemies.
The main problem with people is that they believe what they want to believe and ignore anything that disagrees with their opinions. It even creeps into my thinking at times so it is easy to understand how those with an ill-informed world view keep repeating the same mistakes.
What is Zion? Is it a portal to the other end of the universe? In our dogmatic hubris have we opened the gates of hell with our newfound religion, ‘science’? According to Nasa via Youtube, the sun has switched polarity some months ago and is this maybe even cause for hope? “The last shall be first and the first shall be last” has some resonance here.
Also, if my children were starving and crying I would justifiably be ‘looting’, as you say xenophobically, and that’s nothing compared to the systematic looting of our hearts, minds and souls by the technomaniacs making billions on the stockmarket with a usurped surveillance machine.
With all due respect to any and all true religion, jews are not necessarily zionist, neither are zionists necessarily jewish. Jay-Z and Diddy are useful scapegoats hiding the middlemen of the war machine.
Thank you to Bishop Peter Cullinane for at least attempting a civilised dialogue and to Eugene and Mr Bradbury ditto.
Should B.D.S. work it would pay to look at some of our service providers.
The violent looting by armed criminal gangs is allowed by Israel. Any attempt to secure a convoy is ruthlessly suppressed.
Exactly, that’s why genocidal monsters like Winston Peters oppose Hamas. Because they protect Palestinians from looters, as well as Peters’s zionist masters.