Dear Members,
The very brave Rector of St James’ Piccadilly, the Rev Lucy Winkett, is now under attack. For the 12 Days of Christmas her church has run a Palestinian Festival, Bethlehem Unwrapped. But the highlight and indeed main purpose of this was an exact replica of the Wall around Bethlehem, installed in the courtyard outside her church. This event received almost no main stream news coverage although the Wall has attracted many thousands of visitors. Her Bishop, Richard Chartres, ( with whom she has a good relationship and whom she alerted of the event) will receive hundreds if not thousands of letters and emails condemning the initiative.
She would be very grateful indeed if anyone were to write to Chartres in her support and I would strongly, strongly urge you to do this. If you are part of a church perhaps you could organise a letter writing campaign.
The Church Times which has been on side re Palestine for a very long time carried a good piece:
But even Israel’s strongest critics must recognize her remarkable press: can you imagine any UK editor of a national newspaper printing the following piece which supports the BDS movement, while slamming Israel for her ‘murdering of Palestinians’ whom she treats as ‘sub-humans’? ?
http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/1.562539
Is it possible that the ever louder howls of fury coming from the extremist Zionists are because they are beginning to realize they no longer control the narrative?
Also from Haaretz, forwarded by one of our members, Kate Thick, is this opinion, seeing the current increase in violence, as an indicator of change:
Peace is an ideal, but it undermines stability. It leads to bloodshed in the short and medium terms. The events of recent months are only a prologue. As Kerry persists, progresses and approaches the target, the violence will increase. Extremists among both Muslim Arabs and Israeli Jews will try to bury the renewed hopes of peace under the same rivers of blood with which they drowned their predecessors.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.565399
and another comment on Kerry, forwarded by Arthur Goodman who criticizes the piece only on Kerry’s lack of aspiration in trying for a Palestinian ‘‘toehold’’ in East Jerusalem, rather than most of it. But if Thomas Friedman represents a mainstream current of Jewish New York feeling, this must be good news.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/friedman-secretary-kerrys-derring-do.html?
Happy New Year!