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About Jesus - Steve Sweetman
P
L O Propaganda I understand that the
Palestinian Liberation Organization's charter, published in July 1968,
may be considered outdated, but its contents are embraced by millions of
people today. Even some
Christians, although disputing the details of the document, accept its
premise that Jews have no right to statehood or land.
The following is article 20 from the PLO charter. "The
Balfour Declaration, the Mandate Document, and what has been based upon
them are considered null and void. The
claim of an historical and spiritual tie between Jews and Palestine
does not tally with historical realities nor with the constituents of
statehood in their true sense. Judaism,
in its character as a religion of revelation, is not a nationality with
an independent existence. Likewise,
the Jews are not one people with an independent personality.
They are rather citizens of the states in which they
belong." The Balfour Declaration
mentioned above is the 1917 British document that stated the necessity
of a Jewish state. The
Mandate mentioned above is the 1922 League of Nations decision that
mandated Article 20 states that
there is no historic or spiritual relevance to the argument that claims
there is a link between Jews and Palestine. It states that Jewishness
is a religious designation, not an ethnic designation, and therefore,
doesn't constitute a reason for statehood.
It also states that Jews aren't one ethnic people, but a mixture
of ethnicities living in various countries where they should remain.
In response to article 20
I raise two questions. Is
being Jewish a religious designation or it is an ethnic designation too?
Do Jews have any historic or spiritual claim to Palestine? In answering these
questions as a Christian I refer you to the book of Genesis which is
considered by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others, to be a credible
source of ancient history. Genesis 12:1 and 2 (NIV)
states the following. "The
Lord had said to Abram, 'Go, from your family, your people, and your
father's household to the land where I shall show you.
I will make you into a great nation." This
passage addresses three issues; ethnicity, land, and nationhood, the
three issues addressed in article 20 of the PLO charter.
Concerning ethnicity; Abram's departure from his ethnic people
implies that God would create a new ethnic race through him.
Concerning land; Abram would be shown a parcel of land in present
day The promises of oneness
of ethnicity, land, and nationhood, as seen in Genesis 12:1 and 2 are
incorporated into what is known as the Abrahamic Covenant.
These promises were directed to Abram, to his descendents, and,
to a future Jewish Messiah. For
further details you can read my article entitled "The Abrahamic
Covenant". As an aside,
both logic and law dictate that you cannot remove any part of a covenant
without nullifying the covenant. Therefore,
if Jewish land and statehood rights are removed from the Abrahamic
Covenant, as some Christians assert, the covenant is nullified and the
promise of a Messiah no longer exists.
The promise of Jews being
of one spiritual ethnic people is confirmed in the following articles of
the covenant. "I
will greatly increase your numbers … I will make you very fruitful …
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and
you and your descendents … to be your God and the God of your
descendants (Genesis 17:3 - 7)."
"Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him
Isaac. I will establish my
covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendents after
him (Genesis 17:19)." The
promise of Jewish statehood is confirmed in the following articles of
the covenant. "I will
make you into a great nation (Genesis 12:2)."
"Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation
(Genesis 18:17 - 18)." The
promise of a Jewish homeland in Palestine
is confirmed in the following articles of the covenant.
"The From
the above articles of the Abrahamic Covenant we understand that
Jewishness is both an ethnic and religious designation, and, Jews are
entitled to statehood in Palestine. The Mosaic Covenant, the
foundation of Judaistic law that came into existence some 400 plus years
after the Abrahamic Covenant, also confirms
Here's an historical fact
that is often ignored. Despite
the hundreds of thousands of Jews that were executed and exiled from
I'm not naïve.
I won't change the minds God has designated the Jews to be a religiously based ethnic race of people,
having the right of statehood and the
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