Sunday, March 26, 2006
The Iraqi embassy to Canada released a remarkable statement concerning the "Christian Peacemaker Teams"...it's as though they're not grateful for CPT's help or something:
In a statement obtained by the National Post, the Iraqi embassy called CPT "willfully ignorant" and "outrageous," and accused the Chicago-based group of being on the side of anti-democratic forces in Iraq.
"The Christian Peacemaker Teams practises the kind of politics that automatically nominate them as dupes for jihadism and fascism," the embassy's statement said.
"The statement shows they even share the rhetoric of the jihadists, even if they do it out of naivete. Despite their claimed affinity for 'non-violence,' this is false.
"Politically, they are on the other side of this war. Christian Peacemaker Teams are objectively on the side of the fascists, Saddam Hussein's loyalists and al-Qaida in Iraq.
"It is abundantly clear that Christian Peacemaker Teams are opposed to and, in effect, at war with Iraqi democrats, Americans, the British, and the rest of the multi-national Coalition."
A British-led special forces team on Thursday rescued three CPT members , who were kidnapped in Baghdad on Nov. 26...
...The Daily Telegraph is also reporting today that the Christian activists refused to fully cooperate with an intelligence unit sent to question them...
If the Christian Peacemaker Teams are naive but "on the side of the fascists, Saddam Hussein's loyalists and al-Qaida", then who kidnapped them? The people whose side they are on?
Sabeel is coming to Harvard on Sunday, April 2.
http://www.memorialchurch.harvard.edu/ef/faithlife.shtml
A Christian-Palestinian Life: Faith and Struggle
Jean Zaru
Sunday, April 2, 9:30 a.m.
The Memorial Church, Pusey Room
Jean Zaru is a Palestinian Christian who lives in Ramallah, outside of Jerusalem. Hers is an inspiring and unique voice: Palestinian Christians live as modern-day disciples of Jesus in the land of his birth. They also experience oppression from the State of Israel, a country rooted in the Jewish faith, the very foundation of our Christian heritage. Palestinian Christians are at the same time a religious minority in Palestinian society, with Muslims making up the vast majority of the population, which leads to many different expressions of life, faith and politics.
Jean Zaru is an internationally known peace activist and a founding member of Sabeel, an ecumenical Palestinian Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. She is an inspiring voice in the Middle East Council of Churches, where she is known for her work on Islam and human rights. A dynamic speaker, Jean Zaru believes that "Equality, respect, dignity and human rights are the basis of spiritual action. The Gospels compel us to work for justice, mercy and peace... all of humanity is created in the image of God." You will not want to miss the opportunity to hear Jean Zaru.
this is a nice comment by the Iraqi government. right on. the behavior of the CPT illustrates two psychological phenomena.
the first is, identification with the aggressor. having utterly renounced violence in their own lives, whom do they side with? the people who are most revolting in their use of violence.
second, the powers of cognitive dissonance. the very people i am here to help kidnap me, kill one of us just because of his nationality, and does that get me to even pause in my vilification of the USA and my glorification of the vilest folk on the planet? apparently not.
impressive.
Ingrates, certainly. Simpletons out of a willful ignorance, absolutely. Moral vapidists, for all intents and purposes.
Most importantly though and more positively, very much agree that this statement from the Iraqi Embassy in Canada is spot on and thoughtfully articulated. A minor statement, essentially, but in its own way its a forceful and duly proportioned statement, representing some real substance and sense of self.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HC28Df01.html
Mal, I'm giving that Spengler piece a "ho hum" rating. He starts a little silly, comparing western religion to what's going on in Afghanistin, then makes his usual point -- that that's true Islam and it's incompatible with Western democracy, but in the middle he rambles all over the place.
Not his most interesting piece I'm afrain, unless I'm misreading it.
During WWII Orwell pointed out an important fact: Objectively considered, pacifists aid the fascists.
The same can be said any time a free society is battling a fear based society.
I know the question asked was whose side are the CPT on. The simple answer is any side that opposes the US, Israel, etc., etc.
More importantly, let's ask whose side were the Swords of Righteousness on? Apparently they were 50:50 split between pure jihaddists and pure extortionists who fell out when the jihaddists executed Tom Fox. Neither group -- jihaddist nor extortionist -- are on the side of the Iraqi people any more than the CPT are. All would see the broad population living in a totalitarian state of some sort or another.