Arab Christian clergymen call Jews 'satanic'

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Wednesday, May 1, 2002

[JohnHuang2]

Outraged by the protracted standoff between Israelis and Palestinians at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a considerable number of Arab Christian clergymen – including some heads of various churches – are publicly condemning not only Jews and Israel, but Christians in the West – especially in the United States – for siding with Israel.

Here, as translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, are recent statements made by several Arab Christian clergy. MEMRI is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East.

Attacks on Christians in the West

Father Manuel Musalam, head of the Latin Church in Gaza, told Palestinian Authority television:

Had we lived in the days when the Church was a [real] Church that controls the world – a Crusader war crueler than the Crusader wars of the past would have been waged [against Israel]. … Where is Christianity?! … We called upon them: "Save Jesus." But it appears that the Christians [in the West] have no connection to us. … We told the Christians in the West: In Afghanistan, you moved heaven and earth to protect the Buddha statue; in your belief and ours, Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity are much greater than a Buddha statue …

Therefore I, the Christian Palestinian, say in all rage and daring to the Christians of the world: You are loathsome! You are contemptible! You are cowards! – because you cannot carry the message of Jesus in your hearts. The message of Jesus is one of love, sacrifice, mercy, life, and manhood, and these Christians of the world have no mercy, no compassion, no manliness, no sacrifice. I do not mean only towards us, but even towards the Jews, as not only do the Jews kill us – we also kill them, because we are in a war of self-defense…

We – and I say this brutally, because he who remains silent is Satan – are facing the filthy Christians of the West. … We hear that the American Congress is demanding that Bush unleash Israel to slaughter the Palestinians. What kind of Christian is this?! This is not Christianity; it is not even paganism. This is Christianity of the jungle. Our New Testament is not their New Testament, our Jesus is not their Jesus, our [Church of the] Nativity is not their [Church of the] Nativity, and our peace is not their peace. I will say still more: Our God is not their God …

Father Musalam voiced similar sentiments at a meeting between heads of church in Gaza City and a delegation of Muslim clerics from the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Religious Endowments:

The Western Christian, without love, tolerance, truth, and justice in his heart, must cast away his New Testament. The New Testament and Christianity are innocent of that [Western Christian]. If I were the head of the church where the American president Bush worships, and he came to pray, I would bar him from entering, because he has renounced the church's moral standards.

During the same meeting, Bishop Alex, head of the Roman Orthodox Bishopric of Gaza, said: "Real Christianity means love and harmony, and it exists only in Palestine and the Holy Land. In contrast, Western Christianity is false. Anyone who claims he is a Christian but has no love or tolerance in his heart is no Christian."

Condemnations of Protestantism and the American political leadership were voiced by the Egyptian Coptic Church as well, which typically enjoys good relations with the West via the Coptic communities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. In an article titled, "Oh Mr. Bush, Are You Christian or Crusader?" Coptic priest Marcus 'Aziz Khalil wrote:

Israel knows how to mislead the leaders of many countries, deceiving them that [to believe] they have common interests with it. … It managed to drug the leaders of those Christian countries – especially those who belong to no religion and do not know the road to Heaven, or who take religion's name and image but are totally distanced from its essence. They are manipulated by Israel, like marionettes, to destroy their religion. [Israel] has also managed to brainwash some whom it discovered to be highly susceptible because of their surly nature. Israel planted among them the spirit of hatred and rage towards the Arabs and Muslims – as it did to George Bush Sr., who attacked Iraq, and behold, it continues on its path with George Bush Jr., who attacked Afghanistan ...

If only God would intervene to defend the world from these enemies of peace. Although they swathe themselves in sheep's clothing, they are wolves seeking to kill the flock. … We Christians of the East, who in the past refused to stand by the Crusaders and stood by our Muslim brethren, are also opposed to the negative deeds of the Western governments biased in favor of Israel despite its arrogance and even though it damages the holy sites. We say to Mr. Bush: During your term, Jesus' name is disgraced by the attacks on the holy places. Are you a Christian, Mr. Bush? I doubt it. Perhaps you are a Crusader. God alone knows.

Egyptian Shura Council member Dr. Nabil Luka Babawi, an expert in criminal law and a Copt, attacked President Bush in an article titled "Judas Is Back":

Today, 2,000 years since the Judas affair, the same scenario repeats itself, and the Christian rulers betray Jesus. These rulers have become the Judas of our time. They have sold out the Messiah for their own private interests, and so as not to anger the Zionist lobby in America … Perhaps the Church of the Nativity will be destroyed and turn into rubble. Bush, the head of the Christian rulers, will be responsible for what happens to it. He is proving to be the Judas of our time, for he has sold out the Messiah for the American Jewish vote. ...

Babawi published another article in the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram slamming his fellow Copts living in the West for their failure to support the Palestinians:

Today the Jews shell the Church of the Nativity with artillery, and the Copts in the diaspora do not pressure members of the American Congress with a demand to stop the attack on the Church of the Nativity and on Al-Aqsa Mosque … Why are the American Copts and Muslims not demonstrating to condemn the behavior of the madman Sharon, who began to behave like a madman after he was hit in 1948 in a sensitive place of his body by a bullet, leaving him with one testicle only [sic]. This has affected him psychologically, and he has become a crazy psychopath using power to hide his weak point. …

Elias 'Awwad, head of the Palestinian Roman Orthodox Church, said, "The Zionist movement controls European and American public opinion … For this reason, we witness a weakness in the defense of the Christian holy sites on the part of America and the European countries ... These people [Western Christians] deal first of all with their interests, not their religion. … In my view, they are not Christians, because they do not act according to the precepts of the New Testament. …"

The Bishop of the Assyrian Orthodox Church of Mt. Lebanon and Tripoli, George Saliba, stated the following regarding Christian leaders in the West:

Unfortunately, in the West today – Europe and America – all these [Christian leaders] are not Jews, but are led by the Jews. This religion [Judaism] is the enemy of God, the enemy of people, and the enemy of Christianity. … There must be an awakening among the rulers of these countries, so that they return to punishing Zionism for its evil deeds towards all people. I hope it will be soon. …

Jesus once said to the Jews: "You are the sons of Satan, and you do the will of your father Satan." They answered: "No, we are not the sons of Satan, we are the sons of Abraham." He replied to them: "Had you been the sons of Abraham you would be acting [in accordance with] the acts and precepts of Abraham. Therefore you are the sons of Satan. …"

Jews throughout the generations

Father Manuel Musalam compared the armed Palestinians in the Church of the Nativity to Jesus on the cross:

We kneel before the Palestinian in the besieged Church [of the Nativity]. He hungers, but he is steadfast; he thirsts, but he is steadfast. These words were not born in a vacuum. The one who said "I am hungry" when he was on the cross was our Lord Jesus himself. … Our Palestinian people in Bethlehem died like a crucified martyr, on the rock guarded by the Israeli soldiers armed from head to foot who have no compassion, love, life, or tolerance. …

The Jew has a principle from which we suffer and which he tries to impose on people: the principle of the "gentiles." To him, the gentile is a slave. They [the Jews] give the [Palestinians] working in Israel only a piece of bread, and tell them: "This piece of bread that you eat is taken from our children, and we give it to you so you will live not as free men on your land, but as a proletariat and slaves in Israel, to serve us …" The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are based on this principle, and anyone who reads the Protocols feels that we are in this period with the Jews. …

The Church, the Pope, the Christians, and the New Testament clearly state that, according to Christian belief, the ones who killed Jesus are the Jews, and there is no way to deny or renounce this… The Jews are the ones who killed Jesus; after him, [they killed] the Christians, and after them, the Muslims. Now they are again killing both the Muslims and the Christians. Throughout history, we have seen that the Jews persecuted the Christians at the beginning of the Church, and now they are again persecuting the Church, and Islam …

As is known throughout the world, even in our time, they always accuse the Christians … The case of Pope Pius XII is bad enough. They accused him of terrible things… They attack the Church because the Pope was not as strict as they wanted in protecting the Jews from Nazism – while the Jews found shelter only in the Church and with Christian families …

In a letter to the editor of the Egyptian Coptic weekly Watani, Egyptian Coptic clergyman John Jirjis wrote:

I do not wonder at the deeds of the leaders of the Israeli people, as they are the followers of Herod the tyrant who ordered all the two-year-old boys of Bethlehem murdered so as to kill Jesus, but failed!! They are the followers of the chief priests, who saw Jesus and his miracles and heard his precepts, yet accused him of heresy and called for his crucifixion! They are those who forced [Pontius] Pilate to crucify Jesus. … although Pilate conceded that Jesus did not deserve crucifixion. They still live with their dark and cruel hearts, rejecting all the prophecies of their prophets. The sight of their bloodstained hands is not unfamiliar to the human race!!

The Coptic priest Marcus 'Aziz Khalil wrote:

From the human point of view, the existence of the State of Israel is an historic sin. It is not sufficient to deem this sin the crime of the generation; it is one of the unforgivable sins, and no means of purification will help them… The belief on which the Jews have based their state is null and void, but they have taught their sons from infancy that it is the proper belief. …

The Hezbollah television station Al-Manar gave its viewers an exclusive broadcast of a lecture on "Christianity's View of the Jews" by the Bishop of the Assyrian Orthodox Church of Mt. Lebanon and Tripoli, George Saliba, at an Islamic institute for religious studies. He said:

… As is known, the Jews think that only they are human. Only they are the sons of Adam. As far as they are concerned, all the [other] peoples have the status of beasts. Gentiles. This contradicts the message of God in the world … Do you know what they did to the prophet Isaiah? … They took him and sawed him with a wood saw, from head to foot, while he was still alive. They cut him in half. …

---

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Certainly these people are not Eastern Orthodox Christians.

They claim otherwise. 'The Roman Orthodox Church is a member of the Standing Episcopal Conference. The oldest conference of orthodox bishops in the United States of America. Est. Anno Domini-1951. In paternal affiliation with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.' This is from their linked 'Statement of Communion'. There is no mention of Middle East issues on the website, but there is something odd about it, including its claim to be an 'Orthodox Benedictine' group. Since it includes a denunciation of 'Caesaro-Papism', I guess that they can't stick this one on Rome.

[livius]

This is rather off-topic for this thread, so I won't go into it at great length, but anyone with a pair of eyes can see that nationalism has always been one of the great afflictions of the Orthodox Church, which for lack of an outside focus, often identifies all too closely with the country or ethnic group where it finds itself. This is one of the reasons, MarMema, that the OCA took the name Orthodox Church IN America rather than OF America.

Don't be so ready to take offense! I criticized the Catholic Church, too. We have to be willing to look at problems in our churches objectively, and the problem of fragmentation and excessive national identification is certainly an Orthodox problem.

[FormerLib]

Yes, they claim otherwise. SCOBA, however, lists these members; Orthodox Church in America, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, Serbian Orthodox Diocese, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA.

Simply put, we've never heard of them!

And if I only had a nickel for every group that put up a website claiming to be recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch!

[FormerLib]

This is one of the reasons, MarMema, that the OCA took the name Orthodox Church IN America rather than OF America.

Well, you're certainly making it very clear how little you understand of the Orthodox!

The Orthodox Church is ONE church. The OCA is the part of the Orthodox Church that is IN America! Get it!

If they wanted to be a solely nationalist church, then they would have selected "Orthodox Church OF America."

Begone, bigot! Your lies are recognized for what they are.

[white trash redneck]

So it seems that the crazy gene is carried on the "Arab" chromosome rather than the "Muslim" chromosome. Ralph Peters reached the same conclusion here in the WSJ Monday.

[Stavka2]

What most people, including the Jews, miss is that the Jews/Hebrews were choosen not for some genetic purpose or other such superiority, but because of their acceptance of God's commandments. As such, none religious Jews are no more choosen people then say Hindues. With the coming of Christ, the Choosen People were expended to more then just Hebrews but also to Gentiles. Officially. While this was officially done, in practice, this had already happened but to a smaller degree. The Samaritans and even the God Fearers (certain Greeks) had already become Jews though they were not Hebrews. So, in other words, even in days before Christ, it was alredy established that belief was more important then some genetics. Thus, to be of Isreal has truelly nothing to do with who your mother was.

[Stavka2]

No, what he is saying that the Jews will convert because at last they will accept He whom they did not accept the frist time. So, in the end we will all still be with the Messiah, Christ.

[Stavka2]

The Orthodox Church does not accept the automatic damnation of man. Even none Christian, who lead a sacremental life, can be saved. To believe otherwise would be to damn Christianity. Why? Simply, to take an example of a man who never heard of Christ but lived a righteous life is still damn, is to say that God creates people to be damned, which means there is predestination and no free will. If there is no free will, then what was the point of Christ?

[BibChr]

Nnnnnno. That's only part of the truth, and part-wrong.

It is a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, involving their descendents. Read Jeremiah 31:35-40; Israel as a national entity has a place in the plan and economy of God FOREVER.

At the same time, a relationship with God could always be had by anyone of any race by faith in God's Word. But that doesn't erase national distinction in terms of God's unconditional covenant.

Nor is this to be confused with the church of Christ, which didn't exist until Pentecost, and which is not in any way Israel (nor is it ever so called in the Bible).

Dan
The Science of Bible Reading

[MarMema]

'The Roman Orthodox Church is a member of the Standing Episcopal Conference. The oldest conference of orthodox bishops in the United States of America. Est. Anno Domini-1951

Well I didn't know what the Standing Episcopal Conference was so I did a search on it and found this -

"The Standing Episcopal Conference (SEC) - a brotherhood of independent, self-governing Hierarchs and Jurisdictions in North & South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand & the Phillipines. Established 10 years before SCOBA by its founding jurisdiction The Holy Orthodox Catholic Patriarchate of America."

Looks like they founded this SEC themselves. LOL. Still not related to us and perhaps not to you either.
Here is a site with some more info - here

That is definitely not one of our icons and I don't know who these people are. The fact that they celebrate a western rite and/or ( according to their site) accept the celebration of a western rite conclusively eliminates them from our recognition. There is no western rite in our church, period. Not that I am trying to stick them on you either. :-)

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

And if I only had a nickel for every group that put up a website claiming to be recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch!

Seeing that this outfit apparently was virtually unknown until this Palestinian Authority story, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the whole thing was financed by Saudi Arabia. (Seeing the Saudi position on Christianity it would certainly put somebody in an embarassing position though -- LOL!)

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Here is a site with some more info - here

They have a very pretty website, with lots of nice Java (I guess) scripts. Did you check out the history link on the page, it drops all kinds of names, which you are likely to make more sense of then I can. They seem to be claiming to be an offshoot of the Ukrainian Orthodox, as best as I can tell.

[MarMema]

anyone with a pair of eyes can see that nationalism has always been one of the great afflictions of the Orthodox Church

Yes I do see problems with nationalism in some of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox churches in this area, but not in the Greek or Antiochian churches. By this I mean some parishioners have a tendency to want to put issues like language or custom at the forefront, rather than God. It is a cultural nationalism and not a political one.

[MarMema]

It should be no surprise to you that BibCHris has a link entitled "The Science of Bible Reading".

LOL!!! The wedding of rationalism to Scripture.

[AlGone2001]

And finally I could tell you that as Christians, we Orthodox are closer to Judaism than any other Christian faith.

That wasn't the goal of Christianity.

One (Judaism) follows the letter of the law, while one (Christianity) follows the letter of grace.

I greatly appreciate the fact that you observe the biblical rituals based on the Jewish calendar (I suppose).

They follow a lunar month, while we observe the solar month in the western world.

All of the observances are great if we do them out of pure love and appreciation, instead of out of the observance of any law.

The feasts of Exodus 23 teach us much about Messianic expectation, and we can see them fulfilled in the person of Jesus.

I have never taken the Pesach Seder, but have studied it in-depth. I hope to attend one with my family in the residence of a Messianic (Jew) family one day.

I strongly believe that while we are not bound to the law, Christianity has lost the depth of some biblical understanding simply by ignoring the Jewishness (did I just make up a word?) of the Gospel.

God bless you,

Roger

[MarMema]

They seem to be claiming to be an offshoot of the Ukrainian Orthodox, as best as I can tell.

You have to wonder, if they had the cash and energy to begin a church, and they want so badly to be united with us, why not just start out with us?

We have several missions in this area now, both Greek and OCA. It is not so hard to start an Orthodox mission and be a real Orthodox church.

So what's the bottom line? What is it that they did not want to do or accept, and why hasn't SCOBA acknowledged them? That's the really scary part of these Orthodox-wannabes out there. And I have seen the websites of other groups like this one, using the word "orthodox" and trying to look like us, even listing numerous links to our sites.

[Red Jones]

things have changed here on FR. Six to eight weeks ago if someone posted this article there would be an organized effort of bigotry to shout all kinds of frequently racially oriented insults and other disruptions to destroy the thread. They would try to provoke people into saying things to get the thread pulled. Today this thread is tolerated in a civil manner here. That is a very positive change here at FR.

I don't see what should be controversial about what the arab christians above are saying. Palestine has been a prison camp for the last 30 years as far as I can tell and about 5 million people live in that prison camp. The large majority of those people are completely innocent of anything. But they are treated as though they are guilty. They cannot travel it seems, for a long time they couldn't send their kids to schools, today I understand the PA has hate schools for them. But if you grew up among those 5 million palestinians you would see the Israelis as being bad people.

Jesus did speak very negatively towards the jewish hierarchy that rejected him, read Matthew, you'll see.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

You have to wonder, if they had the cash and energy to begin a church, and they want so badly to be united with us, why not just start out with us?

I don't know. From my point of view, there is plenty to be done just getting the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Patriarch of the West to get back in communion with each other. After all, theologically we have more in common than either of us has with the Copts, and folks here are always confusing them and you (folks keep confusing liturgy with theology). Liturgy is a beautiful reflection of our faith, and there is a certain problem with history (what is a crusade or two among friends, right?), but it hopefully will not keep us apart for another thousand years.

[Stavka2]

Even our women cover their heads for the same reason and our Icons have no pictures of the Father, since he is every where and every thing.

[Stavka2]

The Church of Christ is the New Isreal, the metaphysical Isreal.