The Israel-Palestine issue continues to divide Christians all over the world and a solution to the problem of Palestinian rights to self determination in their land of birth seems further away than ever. How can Christians respond to this ongoing oppression? This blog gives a new perspective countering what has been called the fastest growing cult in America…Christian Zionism.
It also seeks to challenge the media driven hype and misinformation about this issue and seeks to give a forum to those who recognise that, while we have our differences, Jews, Muslims and Christians can live together in peace and mutual respect in the Holy Land as well as the rest of the world.
Craig Nielsen lives in Adelaide, South Australia and is author of “Israel-Palestine: A Christian Response to the Conflict” (the book has recently been republished and will be available from Amazon Books). Initially from a Pentecostal background, Craig worships at Fishgate Uniting Church in Adelaide and works as a Secondary School Mathematics teacher. He is a member of Australian Friends of Palestine Association and Action for Palestine, a club affiliated with the Clubs Association of the University of Adelaide. He can be contacted at cmnselection(at)hotmail.com.
Israel-Palestine 
19 comments
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March 28, 2011 at 9:24 pm
Joel and Hannah Hill
Please send us updates via email.
Thanks!
Joel & Hannah
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April 27, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Darlene
Hi Craig,
I’ve started a Facebook page called Christians United for Peace. We are about 3 months old and have about 1,000 members. Join us on Facebook if you can. I have linked to this website and your Mondoweiss article. Good job!
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April 30, 2011 at 11:41 am
Michael Cecil
The only way of *effectively* countering Christian Zionism is by addressing very directly the *theological* origin of all of these conflicts among and between Jews, Christians and Muslims; which is the disinterpretation of the Doctrine of “resurrection” in the Egyptian-Pharisaical doctrine of the physical raising of a dead body from the grave…
When it was taught by Isaiah, Daniel, Jesus & Mohammed as a Doctrine of ‘Rebirth’.
Teaching this ONE Doctrinal Truth would “strike at the root” of the violence in the Middle East.
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September 19, 2011 at 9:43 am
Yoram Getzler
I can not help be curious…are you all aware in any way, that by denying the presence of the Jewish (Hebrew) temple in Jerusalem, the Palestinian/Arab/Muslim world is denying the legitimate presence of Christianity as well?
If there were no Jews in Judea two thousand years ago, (500 years before the birth of Islam), then where was Jesus the Jew (Judean) born, where and to whom did he preach?…and in what language?
Did Paul travel the ancient world preaching the good news to the Arab/Islamic diaspora? Did he travel to Damascus to preach in… the mosque?
As the Muslims say “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people”
The inability of the Arab/Muslim world to recognize the legitimate historical claim of the Jewish people to any of the land between the river and the sea is the foundational cause of this conflict, and is the first step in delegitimation of the Christian presence there as well.
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September 24, 2011 at 6:10 am
craignielsen
Thanks Yoram for your comments. I’m not sure who you are talking about when you mention people denying the fact that Jesus was Jewish or that Jewish people were in Israel two thousand years ago. I have not personally met anyone, Arab, Muslim or otherwise who says such things. That is not to say that there are not some fanatics that believe such things. My point is that no matter how you conceive of it, any entitlement to Israel-Palestine by the Jewish people does not give them the right to dispossess anyone or create a state where full equality of rights do not exist. Continually hiding behind the racist ideology of other states, be they Arab, South African or whatever, will not make the case for Israeli Apartheid any stronger.
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September 25, 2011 at 8:50 am
Yoram Getzler
I am not sure who you have been talking too. But I suspect your conversations and reading have been limited to the English language , and with people who would not emphasize that aspect of their belief with a Christian such as yourself.
As you may know, English is not the language of dialogue or conversation in Arab contraries. So to really know what is being said within that community we need to either learn Arabic or rely on translations.
There are of course fanatics everywhere these days. So, please notice that many of the quotes are from “official” sources.
I suggest that you access the translation site of Palestine Media Watch if you want to really learn what the Palestinians say to each other about the history of the land. There is no greater authority.
You can do this at >http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=5452<. If you doubt the authenticity of their translations surely you can find a web site or someone you trust who can do translations for you.
Even at the UN Abbas, the spokesperson for the Palestinian people would not complete the phrase
“Two states” with the final four words of the original…”for two people”.
Is there an official representative of the Palestinian Authority or the PLO where you live? If so I challenge you to write to him and ask “Do the Palestinians accept the claim of the Jewish people to having lived in the land (between the river & the sea) two thousand years ago?” SIMPLE. If there is not a representative where you live you can write to the PA Foreign Office in Ramallah, Occupied West Bank (zip code not necessary)
You speak of “the right to dispossess anyone or create a state where full equality of rights do not exist.”
True. That is why within Israel, Muslims; Christians; Buddhists & Atheists have full and equal civil and individual rights.
I would also point out that only after Israel took control of holy sites such as the Temple mount in Jerusalem and the Cave of the Patriarchs Hebron have they been open to all human beings, regardless of race religion gender or national identity. This was not true under Muslim rule nor is it today in the holy Muslim city of Mecca.
The limitations on the Arab inhabitants of Judea & Samaria are in keeping with the need of protection from a hostile population which threatens and educates future generations in the ancient practice of Jew-hatred.
Israel is not an apartheid state. If you do not accept my word, then ask a black South African how often he was treated by a white doctor, if he had any problems riding on a bus with European people. Or better yet, ask a European South African if he of his wife was ever treated by a black doctor?
While we are far from a perfect state, there are black marks which we do not deserve.
And while I know it is no response to your anti-Zionism, I can not help but ask by what historical justification do you, personally originally live on the land of truly ancient “natives”. Probably the original truest aberrational inhabitants of any area of the earth with the possible exception of Africans.
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September 25, 2011 at 10:27 am
craignielsen
Dear Yoram, I had a look at the website and was a little dismayed to find that Palestine Media Watch is an Israeli organisation. It is somewhat difficult for me to believe that they are impartial in the matter. Would you consider an Arab organisation that set itself up as an Israeli media watch group to be impartial? I know that articles written in Israel in Hebrew are often deliberately translated very differently into English. In any case I will have a good look at the site. I would also remind you that both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, men who have had extensive experience living under an apartheid regime, have both declared that the policies of the state of Israel towards the Palestinians are examples of apartheid. Am I not correct in saying that 93% of land in the state of Israel is available for sale only to Jewish people? Was this the case before the state of Israel was created? I believe it is the limitations put on the Arab inhabitants in the West Bank and Gaza that are cause the violence in the first place. In times before the Zionist colonization project it is a simple fact that Jews and Muslims were not at each others throats like they are now.
Even if the PA or Hamas try this ridiculous tactic to try and delegitimize the Zionist state of Israel, it really makes no difference to the basic demand for justice and equality for all in the Holy Land. If someone tried to delegitimize the colonialism of the British in Australia by an argument that was just as ridiculous as the one you say the PA use against Israel, this would not automatically make the dispossession of the Australian Aboriginals legitimate. It is a case of two wrongs don’t make a right.
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September 24, 2011 at 8:57 am
Steve Ornstein
Hi Craignielsen, I am a little confused by your narrative you have created in the name of “truth”. Since when does any person or country need to abide by your definition of “equality of rights”? Your narrative of what an “Apartheid” is does not nor never has expressed itself in anyway on the ground in the West Bank or in Israel pre-67. A two state solution appears to be the logical choice but the present rhetoric from the UN by Abbas makes it almost impossible. Your assumptions of a different arrangement in the West Bank means unfairness and a loss of freedom. That may not be the case if it does evolve out of impasse.
BTW, I know of NO country where the dispossession of others did not take place one time or other. Including today and even in western states under eminent-domain.
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September 24, 2011 at 10:09 am
craignielsen
Thank you Steve for your comments. I guess no country “has” to abide by my definition of “equal rights” (certainly my country, Australia, has not). The point is that I see no reason why any of them shouldn’t. My take on this is that even if every country in the world chooses to reject the idea of equal rights, that does not mean that it is the right thing to do. i totally disagree with your comment that” “Apartheid” is does not nor never has expressed itself in anyway on the ground in the West Bank or in Israel pre-67” I think Israel was always built on the principle of “Hafrada”. I believe this fitted in very well the Zionist understanding that assimilation or integration of Jews with gentiles is ultimately impossible. Certainly the situation since ’67 has been one of Apartheid and must end. I think that a two state solution was the most logical choice but it has been the continued policy of settlement construction by all Israeli governments that is the real cause of why that solution will not work. How does the fact that nearly every country at some time in the past has dispossessed peoples make it OK for Israel to do it?
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September 24, 2011 at 9:01 am
Steve Ornstein
I also notice that your links are generally by anti-Zionist, anti-Israeli authors. So it appears that you have already made up your mind and have closed it to the entire truth of life that is flourishing through out the country. Sad that we must contend with another lost soul that is trying so hard to De-legitimize the Jewish people.
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September 24, 2011 at 10:27 am
craignielsen
As you have probably noticed, my blog is generally anti-Zionist. I do, as I have mentioned in my blog, think that there were some forms of Zionism that were far more reasonable and fair than the current style of Zionism in Israel today. Your comments about my close mindedness are a little pointless. We all have our biases. Could it not be that you are close minded as well? Could it be that I reject Zionism because it has chosen to indulge in the same type of oppression as my own country has done for some 200 years? My country is still struggling to find the path of reconciliation with those who were dispossessed in order to make way for European settlers and I think Israel will not find reconciliation with the Palestinians for many years if it continues down the path it is currently pursuing In the end I am quite confident that reconciliation will occur, but perhaps not in my lifetime..
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October 19, 2011 at 11:12 pm
John Hillary
Hi Craig,
I write this here because I can find no contact address.
This note is about your blog ad for your book. This started appearing a few weeks ago and comes in black on the left across part of your articles, making them very difficult to read. I don’t know how to get rid of it and in any case feel it should not be there like that anyway.
Please tell me how to remove it, or better still, do so yourself and replace it with something user friendly. As it is, I won’t bother to visit if it stays as is.
I like your site and what you do, but this is just a pain!!
Cheers.
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October 19, 2011 at 11:21 pm
craignielsen
Hi John,
Is that any better? Sorry about that, it was meant to be a picture of some anti-Zionist Rabbis and one of Nelson Mandela. It looked ok from my end of things but obviously doesn’t work on everyone’s system. I have noticed a slight drop in my hits per day! Perhaps that is why. Thanks.
Craig
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October 19, 2011 at 11:23 pm
craignielsen
By the way my contact is cmnselection(at)hotmail.com
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November 9, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Steve
I’m getting a 404 on this page:
https://craignielsen.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/australian-support-for-palestinian-state/
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November 9, 2011 at 11:39 pm
craignielsen
Yes, sorry about that. There was a mistake in how I put the post together. My apologies. I will try to put it up again later.
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February 6, 2012 at 9:59 am
Roger B
Nelson Mandela, met him too, wonderful man for our cause.
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March 22, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Pellervo Kokkonen
Dear Craig,
Do you mind if I translate some of your blog posts in Finnish and post them on http://www.pyhamaa.net website aimed at distributing information about the plight of Palestinians and Christian response to Israel Palestine conflict (including bishop Munib Younan sermons etc.).
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March 23, 2012 at 12:26 am
craignielsen
Yes that is OK. Thanks Pellervo
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