Tag Archives: Gaza

Bishop of Toronto calls for Gaza ceasefire

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The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil has written a letter to his diocese asking “our leaders” (politicians, presumably) to urge for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

What does this really mean, one wonders. It can’t mean that he wants pressure put on Hamas to release the Jewish hostages and surrender. That would produce an immediate ceasefire; if he meant that, he would say so.

The only other possibility is that he wants Israel to stop the war before it is won, leaving Hamas intact, guaranteeing further atrocities against the Jewish people. That, after all, is what Hamas has promised, although Asbil seems to think it would result in everyone joining hands and warbling I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing In Perfect Harmony. Maybe that’s what the Jews at the music festival were singing shortly before they were murdered, raped, beheaded, tortured  and carted off as hostages.

So he doesn’t want a ceasefire at all; he wants Israel to lose its war against Hamas.

If bishops must insist on meddling in politics, I do wish that they would occasionally choose the right side.

Read it all here:

Dear Friends,

For the last 216 days, the first item on our news has been about war in the Land of the Holy One. The scenes of destruction, human suffering and sorrow leave an indelible mark on all of us. In the face of it all, it is tempting to turn away and say, “We can do so little; what can we do?”

The Anglican Church of Canada keeps this Sunday as Jerusalem Sunday. It reminds us that we all have a special relationship with the Land of the Holy One, and we are called to pray for its peace. Canadians have a particular bond of friendship with the Diocese of Jerusalem: the Diocese of Ottawa is its companion diocese, and Archbishop Hosam Naoum is a dear friend of our Church. Many of us have had the privilege of visiting St. George’s College in Jerusalem for a pilgrimage course and have met, learned about and witnessed the experience of Palestinian Christians in the Middle East.

The incessant violence and warfare in Israel and Gaza is overwhelming in its statistics: 1,100 Israelis and 34,000 Palestinians dead since Oct. 7, 2023, and 1.7 million people displaced in a humanitarian crisis, with emergency aid agencies unable to cope with the need and unable to cross the access points.

Enough is enough.

Calls for a ceasefire are increasing internationally, and I join with those who are crying out: the time for a cessation of violence is past due.

Bishop Riscylla, Bishop Kevin and I will be participating in parts of the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage in Toronto this weekend, organized by KAIROS. This global movement of walking (or rolling) in prayerful solidarity with the people of Gaza will help raise awareness, raise money for humanitarian aid, and hopefully exert pressure on our leaders to urge a ceasefire now.

Anglican Church of Canada supports Israel and Hamas ceasefire

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Bishops Linda Nicholls and Susan Johnson sent a letter to Justin Trudeau thanking him for supporting the recent UN resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

To state the obvious, Trudeau cares not a whit what Anglican and Lutheran bishops think about Middle Eastern wars. Israel and Hamas care even less. Still, it is only fitting that the ACoC is applauding this resolution from the UN, an organization that is only a little bit less corrupt than the ACoC itself.

Predictably, the letter goes on to excoriate Israel for its actions – which, by and large, do fall within the bounds prescribed by just war guidelines – while ignoring the savage murder, rape, torture, and mutilation of Israeli civilians by Hamas.

The letter ends with a plea for the one thing that would guarantee the absence of a “lasting peace”: a ceasefire before Hamas is destroyed.

Is the Anglican Church of Canada antisemitic, stupid or both?

From here:

We write today to express our thanks for Canada’s vote on December 12 to support the UN General Assembly Resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Though the resolution, with its additional demands, is not binding, the vote is significant for its moral weight and the glimmer of hope it represents for Israelis, Palestinians and the whole world.   We are grateful for Canada’s alignment with other nations to act now, as the President of the General Assembly said, ‘on one priority -only one- to save lives’. Canada’s recent pledge of $60 million dollars to the work of the UN Relief Works Agency in preparing and delivering aid shipments and other acts of compassion and care will certainly help in this catastrophic time.

We also join many other Canadians seeking your leadership in concrete, concurrent actions toward a permanent peace. We believe it is only through an end to the occupation and a just, comprehensive and lasting peace settlement that the security of both Palestinians and Israelis can be assured.

From decisions endorsed by our assembled church bodies in June 2023, we call upon the Government of Canada to:

  • take active leadership with other nations to end the illegal Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and West Bank since 1967, including settlement construction and expansion in these territories, and by challenging increasing settler violence, upon Palestinian persons and properties, with the full authority of international laws,
  • make strong commitments to protecting the human rights and safety of children and youth, to closely monitor and report on the treatment of Palestinian children arrested by Israeli forces and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system, and on the increasing numbers of Palestinian children killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied territories where a climate of impunity and an almost total lack of accountability persists, and
  • take leadership and support local women’s peace building initiatives as reflected in the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP)and National Action Plan of Women, Peace and Security.

As you know, the effects of the war are devastating, and a ceasefire is essential to addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to building a lasting peace. The members of our churches continue to earnestly pray for peace. Let us all take every opportunity to choose peace and work for peace.

The Anglican Church of Canada is Antisemitic

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It hates Jews.

I can think of no other rational explanation for the latest missive from the ACoC on the war in Gaza. It calls for a ceasefire before Hamas has been defeated and the kidnapped Israeli hostages have been released.

It ignores the fact that civilian casualties are being caused by cowardly Hamas terrorists using civilians as human shields.

It ignores the fact that Israel warns civilians that buildings are going to be bombed, advises them to leave and Hamas shoots them as they do.

It ignores the fact that Hamas houses its headquarters in hospitals, mosques, kindergartens and schools in order to cause maximum civilian casualties when attacked.

It believes civilian casualty numbers produced by cowardly terrorist thugs who allow no freedom of the press, no free elections, or free anything else, rather than numbers from the IDF, whose government has all of the above.

And it expresses no outrage over the deaths of Muslims in these conflicts. Why? Because no Jews are involved:

Ethiopian conflict: 395,000 – 800,000 cumulative deaths

Yemeni civil war: 377,000 deaths

Deaths at the hands of Boko Haram: 368,000

Deaths from the war in Syria: 350,000

The Anglican Church of Canada reserves an especially vitriolic hatred for Israel. It hates the fact that God chose Israel. It hates Jews.

From here:

Dear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,

Thank you for writing yesterday and for your remarks in response to our letter of October 18th, in which we urged you to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow potable water, food, medical care and more to reach the people of Gaza.

Thank you for your decisions and statements made in recent days, reiterating the importance of both Israel and Hamas respecting international law, ensuring the swift and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid, and of protecting Israeli and Palestinian civilians. Thank you for evacuating Canadian citizens to safety.

Much has happened in the weeks since our last letter. The siege of Gaza has worsened, resulting in the deaths of more than 11,400 Gazans, including 4,700 children. All hospitals in Gaza City are now closed, as hundreds of thousands of people require medical care. More than one million Palestinians have now been forcibly displaced into smaller and smaller areas in southern Gaza, where humanitarian aid remains at critically low levels. Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased dramatically, and East Jerusalamites live in fear and danger of racist attacks, including assaults upon Christians and Church leaders.

The anti-Israel bias of the Anglican Church of Canada

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On October the 17th, the Anglican Church of Canada issued the following statement condemning the murder of Jews by Hamas:

On Saturday the world watched in horror as Hamas launched a rapid, devastating barrage of violence against Israel. Rockets, drone attacks, the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages have ignited long simmering tensions between Israel and Palestine. Israel has responded with ongoing rocket attacks and the death toll on all sides rises daily.

On October the 18th, the ACoC wrote a letter to Justin Trudeau demanding respect for international law in Gaza. This was provoked by the bombing of the Al Ahli Arab hospital which is run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. Unlike the devastating barrage of violence in the prior statement, the bombing fell into the much worse category of a crime against humanity. Because it was not aimed at Jews.

The Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, in one deft move, have not only demonstrated their anti-Jewish bias, but collectively shot themselves in the foot: the rocket that destroyed the hospital was fired by Hamas.

From here:

In the strongest terms, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem condemns this atrocious attack that has transpired in the heart of Gaza. Initial reports suggest the loss of countless lives, a manifestation of what can only be described as a crime against humanity. Hospitals, by the tenets of international humanitarian law, are sanctuaries, yet this assault has transgressed those sacred boundaries. We heed the call of Archbishop Justin Welby (Archbishop of Canterbury), who implored for the safeguarding of medical facilities and the rescission of evacuation orders. Regrettably, Gaza remains bereft of safe havens……… An urgent appeal resonates for the international community to fulfill its duty in protecting civilians and ensuring that such inhumane horrific acts are not replicated.

Justin Welby bombs his own twitter (X) feed

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Yesterday Justin Welby quoted the BBC saying: Hundreds feared dead or injured in Israeli air strike on hospital in Gaza:

He is correct, of course, it is an appalling loss of innocent lives. The problem with his tweet, though, is that the hospital was bombed by Hamas, not Israel.

Welby later, in a face-saving backpedal, said “We must exercise restraint in apportioning blame until the facts are clear.” He should have said “I”:

What he failed to note was that the rocket was intentionally aimed at civilians, it just hit the wrong ones.

Bishop Anna Greenwood-Lee tweets sympathy for Gaza inhabitants

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The bishop of the Diocese of British Columbia has expressed her concern for the humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza, as well she should.

The only problem is, on October 7th, the day Hamas started raping grandmothers, beheading babies and shooting every Jewish civilian they encountered, she made no mention of the fact. Although to be fair, Hamas was inclusive: they also shot some Muslim civilians.

Instead, she lamented that the life of whales is disrupted by ships’ propellers.

I wonder if it has occurred to her that the misery in Gaza is more the fault of Hamas than Israel?

Desmond Tutu wants a global boycott of Israel

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Read it all here.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, in an exclusive article for Haaretz, calls for a global boycott of Israel and urges Israelis and Palestinians to look beyond their leaders for a sustainable solution to the crisis in the Holy Land.

The past weeks have witnessed unprecedented action by members of civil society across the world against the injustice of Israel’s disproportionately brutal response to the firing of missiles from Palestine.

[…]

I asked the crowd to chant with me: “We are opposed to the injustice of the illegal occupation of Palestine. We are opposed to the indiscriminate killing in Gaza. We are opposed to the indignity meted out to Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks. We are opposed to violence perpetrated by all parties. But we are not opposed to Jews.”

Earlier in the week, I called for the suspension of Israel from the International Union of Architects, which was meeting in South Africa.

The extraordinarily blinkered conclusion Tutu reaches is:

The pursuit of freedom for the people of Palestine from humiliation and persecution by the policies of Israel is a righteous cause. It is a cause that the people of Israel should support.

There is no mention of Hamas repeated violating ceasefires, using Gazans as human shields, having the destruction of Israel in its charter, the fact that, for propaganda, Hamas wants its citizens to die or the indoctrination of children to hate Jews. The article is reproduced on the Anglican Communion News Service; since it is sitting there without editorial comment, we must assume that the ACNS is untroubled by Tutu’s viewpoint.

Here is a different view from someone who has not succumbed to the miasma of leftist pollution that is afflicting Tutu’s neocortex:

Israel and Gaza on the Moral Maze

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Here is a BBC program where, among others, Rev Giles Fraser and Melanie Phillips discuss topical ethical issues. This discussion is about Gaza and Israel. My favourite part is around 35:40 where an incensed Giles Fraser protests that the IDF fired on him while he was standing on a big pile of rubble: of course, the IDF does not fire indiscriminately at civilians.

It comes as no surprise that the least coherent contributor to the debate is a professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College London.

The camera always lies

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As Malcolm Muggeridge used to enjoy saying – even when he was standing in front of one.

Never more so than in Gaza. If you’ve ever wondered why photographs of injured or dead Gazans – or old photos of dead Syrians posing as Gazans – litter Western media yet there are no images of Hamas firing rockets, it’s not because they are off somewhere teaching Sunday school: it’s because they shoot journalists who try to photograph them.

From here:

“I met today with a Spanish journalist who just came back from Gaza. We talked about the situation there. He was very friendly. I asked him how come we never see on television channels reporting from Gaza any Hamas people, no gunmen, no rocket launcher, no policemen. We only see civilians on these reports, mostly women and children.”

“He answered me frankly: ‘It’s very simple, we did see Hamas people there launching rockets, they were close to our hotel, but if ever we dared pointing our camera on them they would simply shoot at us and kill us.’”