Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice Director and Palestinian pastor Rev Munther Isaac appealed to Christians across the world to reject Zionism, saying it discredits Christianity.
He addressed an inter-faith lecture at the Gatesville Mosque in Cape Town on Friday afternoon.
The event was organised by the Coalition for Good, the Gift of the Givers and the Gatesville Mosque.
Isaac, who is a fierce critic of the conflict in Gaza, says Palestine is the birthplace of Christianity.
He says the war in Gaza is not a religious one, but a project of settler colonialism.
Isaac says, “Who are Palestinians Christians? We are the first Christians. We are the descendants and heirs of the first church in Jerusalem. Friends, Christianity did not start in Europe, Christianity started in Palestine. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not in Rome, he was raised in Nazareth and according to our scriptures, he was crucified and raised in Jerusalem. The first Christian community was in Al-Quds, Jerusalem.”
ZIONISM
He says Zionism has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus or the heart of Christianity and has called on Christians across the world to reject supremacy of any sort.
Isaac says, “Christian Zionism must be judged by the fruits of Zionism, so what are the fruits of Zionism? They are clear, settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, military occupation and today, a genocide in Gaza, and so I ask my Christian brothers and sisters around the world, can we really place the word Christian before all of this? Are colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide, compatible with the teachings of Jesus? For sure not and by the way many Jewish voices protest these crimes and say not in our name, not in the name of the Jewish faith and the numbers are increasing all over the world.”
He says more than 50 000 Palestinian Christians have been displaced since the Nakbah.
Gatesville Mosque Imam Shaykh Abduragman Alexander says, “We pray earnestly that Allah almighty grant victory to all the oppressed people in Palestine, in Gaza, in Sudan, in Kashmir and all over the world. May Allah grant victory and may Allah divinely intervene against oppressors and tyrants of the world, amen.”
This is the second time Isaac addressed the Gatesville Mosque congregation during an inter-faith lecture.
