Les protestations n'ont pas tardé à fuser: les évêques catholiques en Terre sainte, le Vatican, le Hezbollah au Liban, le Conseil général des Maronites, etc. Pour les évêques, ces attaques "s'inscrivent dans un contexte plus large d'attaques continues contre les chrétiens en Israël durant des années". "Il y a quelques mois seulement, des copies du Nouveau Testament ont été brûlées publiquement dans la cour d'une synagogue à Or Yehuda" près de Tel-Aviv, rappellent-ils. "Depuis des années, la chrétienté déploie beaucoup d'efforts pour faire cesser certaines manifestations d'antisémitisme mais ce sont à présent les Chrétiens en Israël qui sont victimes d'un antichristianisme latent", affirment-ils. Des médias israéliens ont rapporté quelques années plus tôt que des curés de Bethléem étaient souvent harcelés par des Juifs extrémistes, qui crachaient sur leur croix. Dans un communiqué, le bureau de presse du Saint siège a qualifié cette émission de "blasphématoire" qui a "ridiculisé" Jésus et Marie (s), exprimant " sa tristesse" de voir ainsi brocarder " ces deux enfants d'Israël" selon les termes du communiqué.
Il est triste de souligner ces attaques, mais encore plus trite de se rendre compte que ce qui touche aux symboles du Christianisme n'est pas aussi virulemment décrié au niveau mondial que ce qui touche aux symboles juifs ou islamiques. Un recul de religiosité? De ferveur ? De volonté? L'affaire des caricatures du Prophete Muhammad au Danemark avait enflammé des milliers, voire des millions d'individus ...
A une époque dite du dialogue interreligieux et de la rencontre des cultures, il est malheureux de constater l'existence et la prolifération de l'irrespect au nom de la liberté d'expression - dans ce cas, s'agit-il d'une question de vengeance? Les moyens de critiquer constructivement une religion, une culture, des individus ou des communautés sont innombrables. Nul besoin de tourner en ridicule pour affirmer une réprobation quelconque... On voit bien qu'il s'agit de manifestation de la haine d'autrui.
Le chemin du dialogue est certes pavé d'obstacles, notamment au Moyen-Orient, mais il est temps de lutter pour le respect réciproque avant de parler de convivialité... Heureusement que ces luttes existent, mais elles restent sous-médiatisées. Une reponsabilité incombe aux 'faiseurs de paix': celle d'oeuvrer à la diffusion d'une culture de paix, et de ne pas se contenter de travailler dans les coulisses.
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Vatican, Catholic bishops and Hizbullah allied in condemnation of Israeli TV show
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Catholic bishops in the Holy Land expressed outrage on Friday over what they called "repulsive attacks" on Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary after an Israeli TV program spoofed them. Hizbullah issued a statement on Thursday condemning the show. "We, the members of the Assembly of the Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land deplore and condemn with utter dismay the repulsive attacks on our lord Jesus Christ and on his mother, the blessed Virgin Mary, carried out on Channel 10 of the Israeli television," a statement by the bishops said.
Hizbullah said it was "deeply concerned with the insults against the blessed Virgin Mary and one of our great prophets Jesus Christ."
"Hizbullah puts this heinous offense in the hands of all defenders of human rights and freedom of belief," it said. "Zionists should put an end to their racism and their ridicule of religious symbols."
Earlier this week, the private channel broadcast a series of skits, one of which suggested the Virgin Mary "was impregnated at the age of 15 by a school friend." Another said Jesus died at a young age "because he was fat" and that his excess weight would have made it impossible for him to walk on water.
In the program, Israeli comedian Yair Shlein joked that since Christians "deny the Holocaust, then I want to deny Christianity." Following protests, he later apologized to Arab Israeli Christian dignitaries.
| |
"It is unconceivable that such incidents have to occur in Israel which hosts some of the holiest shrines of Christianity," said the statement, signed by the Latin patriarch of Occupied Jerusalem as well as Armenian, Chaldean, Greek, Maronite and Syrian Catholic bishops.
The pontiff is scheduled to visit Israel in May. But the Vatican said Friday it has formally complained to the Israeli government over what it called an "offensive act of intolerance."
A statement from the Vatican press office said its representative in Israel complained to the government about the show, which was broadcast recently on private Channel 10, one of Israel's three main TV stations.
The statement said the government quickly assured the Holy See that it would intervene to interrupt the transmission and get the broadcaster to publicly apologize. - AFP, with The Daily Star
C'est malheureux!
ReplyDeleteDe plus, ce genre de nouvelles ne fait pas vraiment la une des journaux. La cause palestinienne et le tribunal international pour le meurtre de l'ex-premier ministre libanais Rafic Harir.. si!
Merci!
Merci Roland pour votre commentaire.
ReplyDeleteJe suis entrain de suivre d'ailleurs les résultats de la rencontre de plus de 80 pays au Caire pour soutenir la reconstruction de Gaza - en l'absence du Hamas.
N'oublions pas que les discours et actions de la part d'israéliens sont rarement 'criticables' en Europe et en Amérique du Nord; donc, il est 'normal' que l'on n'entende pratiquement rien concernant la question de l'irrespect envers les figures les plus importantes au sein du Christianisme. La politique l'emporte ici sur la ferveur religieuse.
Jewish Peace News: Look to the West Bank
ReplyDeletehttp://jewishpeacenews.blogspot.com
Commentator Ben White writes: 'For a real sense of
where the conflict is heading, look to the West Bank,
not just Gaza.' While media attention is focused on
the Israeli elections and the continuing humanitarian
crimes in Gaza, White argues that events in the West
Bank are perhaps of greater political significance.
These events include Israeli raids and abductions that
seem to be targeting Palestinian civil resistance
(second item below -- which includes a video link and
action alert); further restrictions on Palestinian
movement and rights in East Jerusalem; and a massive
increase in settlement activity (third item below).
Taken together, these represent a firm and confident
consolidation of the (Israeli military) gains of the
occupation: and, as White puts it, 'a further reminder
that the two-state solution has completed its
progression from worthy (and often disingenuous) aim to
meaningless slogan.'
Judith Norman
(1) The real Israel-Palestine story is in the West Bank
Ben White
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/20/israelandthepalestinians-israeli-elections-2009
February 20, 2009
"The Ultimate Aim is the Transfer of Arab-Israelis"
ReplyDeleteBy Conn Hallinan
Counterpunch - March 3, 2009
http://www.counterpunch.org/hallinan03032009.html
One of the more disturbing developments in the Middle
East is a growing consensus among Israelis that it
would acceptable to expel-in the words of advocates
'transfer'-its Arab citizens to either a yet as
unformed Palestinian state or the neighboring countries
of Jordan and Egypt.
Such sentiment is hardly new among Israeli extremists,
and it has long been advocated by racist Jewish
organizations like Kach, the party of the late Rabbi
Meir Kahane, as well as groups like the National Union,
which doubled its Knesset representation in the last
election.
But 'transfer' is no longer the exclusive policy of
extremists, as it has increasingly become a part of
mainstream political dialogue. 'My solution for
maintaining a Jewish and democratic state of Israel is
to have two nation-states with certain concessions and
with clear red lines,' Kadima leader and Israeli
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told a group of Tel Aviv
high school students last December, 'and among other
things, I will be able to approach the Palestinian
residents of Israel, those whom we call Israeli Arabs,
and tell them, ` your national solution lies
elsewhere."
Such talk has consequences.
According to the Israeli Association for Civil Rights,
anti-Arab incidents have risen sharply. 'Israeli
society is reaching new heights of racism that damages
freedom of expression and privacy,' says Sami Michael,
the organization's president. Among the Association's
findings:
* Some 55 percent of Jewish Israelis say that the
state should encourage Arab emigration;
* 78 percent of Jewish Israelis oppose including
Arab parties in the government;
* 56 percent agree with the statement that 'Arabs
cannot attain the Jewish level of cultural
development';
* 75 percent agree that Arabs are inclined to be
violent. Among Arab-Israelis, 54 percent feel the
same way about Jews.
* 75 percent of Israeli Jews say they would not
live in the same building as Arabs.
The tension between Israeli democracy and the country's
Jewish character was the centerpiece of Avigdor
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu Party's campaign in the
recent election. His party increased its Knesset
membership from 11 to 15, and is now the third largest
party in the parliament.
Lieberman, who lives in a West Bank settlement near
Bethlehem, calls for a 'loyalty oath' from Arab-
Israelis, and for either expelling those who refuse or
denying them citizenship rights. During a Knesset
debate last March, Lieberman told Arab deputies, 'You
are only temporarily here. One day we will take care of
you.'
Such views are increasing, particularly among young
Jewish Israelis, among whom a politicized historical
education and growing hopelessness about the future has
fueled a strong rightward shift.
In a recent article in Haaretz, Yotam Feldman writes
about a journey through Israel's high schools, where
students freely admit to their hatred of Arabs and lack
of concern about the erosion of democracy.
'Sergei Liebliyanich, a senior, draws a connection
between the preparation for military service in school
and student support for the Right' Feldman writes, '`
It gives us motivation against the Arabs. You want to
enlist in the army so you can stick it to them.I like
Lieberman's thinking about the Arabs. Bibi [Benjamin
Netanyahu, leader of the rightwing Likud Party] doesn't
want to go as far.'
Feldman polled 10 high schools and found that Yisrael
Beiteinu was the most popular party, followed by Likud.
The left-wing Meretz Party came in dead last.
In part, the politicalization of the education system
is to blame.
Mariam Darmoni-Sharviot, a former civics teacher who is
helping implement the 1995 Kremnitzar Commission's
recommendations on education and democracy, told
Feldman, 'When I talk to a civics class about the Arab
minority, and about its uniqueness in being a majority
that became a minority, my students argue and say it's
not true that they [Arabs] were a majority.' She said
when she confronted teachers and asked why students
didn't know that Arabs were a majority in 1947, the
teachers become 'evasive and say it's not part of the
material.'
In part, students reflect the culture that surrounds
them.
'Israeli society is speaking in two voices,' says
Education Minister Yuli Tamir. 'We see ourselves as a
democratic society, yet we often neglect things that
are very basic to democracy.If the students see the
Knesset disqualifying Arab parties, a move that I've
adamantly opposed, how can we expect them to absorb
democratic values?'
All the major Israeli parties voted to remove two Arab
parties, United Arab List-Ta'al and Balad, from the
ballot because they opposed the Gaza war. Balad also
calls for equal rights for all Israelis. Kadima
spokesperson Maya Jacobs said, 'Balad aims to
exterminate Israel as a Jewish state and turn it into a
state for all its citizens.' Labor joined in banning
Balad, but not Ta'al.
The Israeli Supreme Court overturned the move and both
parties ended up electing seven Knesset members in the
recent election.
'The ultimate aim here,' says Dominic Moran, INS
Security Watch's senior correspondent in the Middle
East, 'is to sever the limited ties that bind Jews and
Arabs, to the point that the idea of the transfer of
the Arab-Israeli population beyond the borders of the
state, championed by Yisrael Beiteinu, gains increasing
legitimacy.'
This turn toward the Right also reflects an economic
crisis, where poverty is on the rise and the cost of
maintaining the settlements in the Occupied Territories
and Israel's military is a crushing burden. Peace Now
estimates that the occupation costs $1.4 billion a
year, not counting the separation wall. Israel's
military budget is just under $10 billion a year.
According to Haartez, the Gaza war cost $374 million.
Some 16 percent of the Jewish population fall below the
poverty line, a designation that includes 50 percent of
Israeli Arabs.
'The Israeli reality can no longer hide what it has
kept hidden up to now-that today no sentient mother can
honestly say to her child: ` Next year things will be
better here," says philosophy of education professor,
Ilan Gur-Ze'ev. 'The young people are replacing hope
for a better future with a myth of a heroic end. For a
heroic end, Lieberman fits the bill.'
Intercommunity tension manifests itself mainly in the
Occupied Territories, where the relentless expansion of
settlements and constant humiliation of hundreds of
Israeli Army roadblocks fuels Palestinian anger.
This past December, settlers in Hebron attacked
Palestinians after the Israeli government removed a
group of Jewish families occupying an Arab-owned
building. In response, the settlers launched 'Operation
Price Tag' to inflict punishment on Palestinians in the
event the Tel Aviv government moves against settlers.
Rioters torched cars, desecrated a Muslim cemetery, and
gunned down two Arabs.
Settler rampages on the West Bank are nothing new, even
though they receive virtually no coverage in the U.S.
media. But a disturbing trend is the appearance of
extremist settlers in Israel. Late last year Baruch
Marzel, a West bank settler and follower of Kahane,
threatened to lead a march through Umm al-Fahm, a
largely Arab-Israeli town near Haifa.
'We have a cancer in our body capable of destroying the
state of Israel,' Marzel told The Forward, 'and these
people are in the heart of Israel, a force capable of
destroying Israel from the inside. I am going to tell
these people that the land of Israel is ours.'
Arab-Israelis charge that settlers-some of them
extremists re-settled from Gaza three years ago- played
a role in last year's Yom Kippur riots in the mixed
city of Acre and forced Arab families our of their
houses in the east part of the city. Arabs make up
about 14 percent of Acre and 20 percent of Israel.
Rabbi Dov Lior, chair of the West Bank Rabbinical
Council, has decreed, 'It is completely forbidden to
employ [Arabs] and rent houses to them in Israel.'
The Adallah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights is
urging Israeli Attorney General Mernachem Mazuz to
investigate 'Wild incitement to racism against Arabs in
general and the [Arab] residents of Acre in
particular.'
On Oct. 15, three days after the Acre riots, two Arab
apartments in Tel Aviv were attacked with Molotov
cocktails. Seven Jewish men were arrested. The Arab
residents of Lod and Haifa charge that they too are
being pressured to move.
In the case of Lod, municipal authorities are open
about their intentions. Municipal spokesman Yoram Ben-
Aroch denied that the city discriminates against Arabs,
but told The Forward that municipal authorities want
Lod, to become 'a more Jewish town. We need to
strengthen the Jewish character of Lod and religious
people and Zionists have a big part to play in this
strengthening.'
However, the growing lawlessness of West bank settlers
and Jewish nationalists has begun to unsettle the
authorities in Tel Aviv. After rightwing extremists
tried to assassinate Peace Now activist Professor Zeev
Sternhell, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said the
intelligence organization was 'very concerned' about
the 'extremist right' and its willingness to resort to
violence.
Even Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said 'We are not
willing to live with a significant group of people that
has cast off all authority,' and called Operation Price
Tag a 'pogrom.'
So far, however, the government and Shin Bet have done
little to rein in the rising tide of rightwing terror,
which is aimed at Jews as well as Arabs.
Ahmad Tibi of the Arab Ta'al Party says that while Arab
Israelis feel threatened by what Ben Gurion University
political scientist Neve Gordan calls a 'move toward
xenophobic politics,' Tibi warns that, 'It is the
Jewish majority that should be afraid of this
phenomenon.'
Readers might want to subscribe to Jewish Peace News at
jpn@jewishpeacenews.net for a very different picture of
Israel than most Americans get.
[Conn Hallinan is a foreign policy analyst for Foreign
Policy In Focus (online at www.fpif.org) and a lecturer
in journalism at the University of California, Santa
Cruz.
Conn Hallinan can be reached at:
ringoanne@sbcglobal.net]