Moving Toward Minimalist Catholic Zionism
It's 8:03 AM on Tuesday. I am of course deeply troubled by the IPC report of famine in Gaza, and also by the Israeli double-tap strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis (cf. Israel’s attack on hospital in Gaza may constitute a war crime on many fronts | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian). I am not ready to ditch my Christian Zionism altogether - that would be throwing the theological Zionist baby out with the alleged Israeli war crimes bathwater - but I do now seem to be moving from evangelical Christian Zionism toward consideration of minimalist Catholic Zionism.
Video above: Famine in Gaza City: Did the UN’s hunger monitor ‘forge’ the numbers? • FRANCE 24 English.
Video below: Minimalist Catholic Zionism.
More to follow next Monday, God willing. May we get a ceasefire, outside journalistic access to Gaza, and a scale-up of humanitarian relief in the meantime.
Three questions I am asking myself and Google Gemini as I contemplate this situation from another angle on Wednesday night. 1) Is Hamas open to releasing all the remaining hostages at once in a deal that Netanyahu is seriously willing to consider? 2) How should Hamas best be dealt with? 3) Does Egypt agree that Hamas is off the Arab League script with its refusal to disarm for a peace deal? I am concerned that God might want me to keep me farther away from public comment on geopolitical hotspots, on the one hand, and that God wants me to nudge the UN Security Council toward a vote on a resolution that calls on Hamas to a) release all of the remaining hostages and b) disarm and/or leave Gaza as part of a permanent ceasefire, on the other. If Hamas won't agree within a reasonable time frame, as the Council sees it, I pray there should finally be Council consensus that Hamas is thereafter designated a terrorist organization by the UN, with sanctions applied to all known Hamas members, including its representatives outside of Gaza. I don't think we need a "balanced" resolution that makes demands on Israel at this point. This is about the Council giving Hamas a reasonable and unequivocal ultimatum. I have little doubt that Israel will make the appropriate adjustments to this move by the Council, and if it doesn't, that is really a separate issue for a separate Council resolution. IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI am upset to learn that Pope Leo XIV has accused Israel of collective punishment. That is up to the ICC and the ICJ if not an independent tribunal established by the UN Security Council. Unfortunately, after 9 months of investigation, the UN is still unable to determine whether a female staffer ever worked alone with Karim Khan at a private residence. Doesn't the ICC keep security log-in records? Doesn't the ICC Chief Prosecutor need a security detail? What steps have been taken to insure this kind of allegation doesn't derail the Court's work in the future? What kind of organization is this?
ReplyDeleteChristian clergy in Gaza should lead by example and evacuate to safe zones in compliance with Israeli orders. If Hamas makes this unsafe, Christian clergy in Gaza should request armed IDF or international military escorts for themselves and their church members. If there is no safe place for the evacuees to go, Pope Leo XIV should demand that Israel, Egypt and the UN make this a top priority and a condition for evacuation compliance. This is not the time for Christians in Gaza to resist Israeli evacuation orders. The New Testament does not support this. If Hamas agrees to disarm, consistent with Israeli and Arab League demands, the Christians in Gaza would not need to evacuate. Who is really driving the Christians away from their churches, the IDF or Hamas terrorists?
ReplyDeleteAs I am about to view the Daily TV Mass this Saturday morning I realize it's probably not my place to opine on what Pope Leo XIV should or shouldn't do. Forgive me and send insight, Heavenly Father.
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