Last week our House of Bishops met over three days in Wellington. On the third day we met with the NZ Catholic bishops. One outcome of that third day meeting, as we digested news of a deadly explosion at Al Ahli Arab Hospital (sometimes described as a Baptist hospital but in fact run by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem for many years), was the following statement (reported here).
"War is once again destroying people’s lives in the Holy Land. This new cycle of violence in this long conflict brings us new images of bloodied bodies and the anguished cries and faces of children, women and men – both Palestinian and Israeli. We’re seeing homes destroyed, lives shattered and hope for peace strangled.
The Anglican and Catholic Bishops of Aotearoa New Zealand, meeting together in Wellington this week, jointly express their horror at the latest acts of violence and join international voices in calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Anglican Archbishop Philip Richardson said: “Hospitals and civilian infrastructure are protected under International Humanitarian Law. Such niceties of law did not protect the wounded in Al Ahli Anglican Hospital and the people who were seeking sanctuary and protection. There are no winners in war: so often, it is innocent people who are maimed and killed.”
The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a wound that has continued to fester. Various diplomatic efforts to find a solution have failed because of the unwillingness to honour international agreements. Violence will never be a solution.
Bishop Steve Lowe, President of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference said: “As Bishops, we endorse the work of those groups and institutions in Israel and Palestine who work for peace, justice, and reconciliation. Such work recognises our common humanity. This is the path that we advocate for peace in the Holy Land.”
The bishops jointly ask: “Our government and diplomatic authorities to advocate for an immediate ceasefire and the opening and ongoing safeguarding of humanitarian corridors.
“In this very emotional time, we cannot let anger lead us into antisemitism or Islamophobia. Let us remember that there are innocent victims on both sides of the conflict. To our fellow interfaith religious leaders, we ask: let us unite in prayer and action for a lasting peace.
“To the people of Aotearoa New Zealand: we urge you to pray for peace and to support aid appeals for those impacted by this humanitarian crisis.”
In Psalm 130 we hear: ‘Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord; hear my voice. O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading.’
“May we too be attentive to those who call out to us from the depths of despair and destruction. May we commit ourselves to being instruments of peace,” the bishops concluded."
Our Anglican Missions Board is running an appeal for the hospital - details are here.
I continue to ask - at least myself - will Hamas repent of the evil deeds it committed on 7 October 2023 against Israeli citizens?
3 comments:
The "explosion" at the Al Ahli hospital carpark and the ensuing reaction does bring out interesting questions of truth and credulity for religious believers, and how the world is filtered to us through news media.
First, it is now clear that the incident was almost certainly caused by the failure of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket fired from an adjacent cemetery - a collocation that is both ironic and blasphemous, but no less so than the way Hamas uses hospitals and schools as rocket sites.
Second, it is clear that the hospital was not hit but rather there was a significant fire in the carpark that burned out a number of cars - what you would expect from rocket fuel. There are no pictures of bodies or wounded or clothing or other articles where mass death suddenly happens. It didn't take me long to wonder how, within 20 minutes of the event, Hamas was claiming '500 are killed' - at night time, in a place without street lighting! Since I know it takes ages, even in daylight, to ascertain true casualty figures, I was immediately dubious about this. Further, an 'explosion' that kills 500 (later "corrected" to 471 by Hamas!) would injure thousands more - and cause structural damage to the hospital - of which there was none.
So where did this fictional figure of 500 come from? I recalled that the Palestinian leader in the West Bank claimed that the Israelis 'killed 500' in the Battle of Jenin in 2002 (or so) - when the truth was 52-54 (with about 28 Israeli soldiers killed). So I am sure some people died in that carpark fire but I seriously doubt it was in the hundreds. We don't believe casualty reports from Ukraine and Russia, so why the credulity here?
Third - and this is the most disturbing point - the Hamas propaganda claim that 'Israeli airstrike kills 500 in hospital' was immediately picked up and relayed to the world *as fact* by the BBC, the New York Times and other outlets - before they had checked or verified anything. So across the Islamic world, from Sudan to Sydney, from Djibouti to Detroit, the word goes out that the Jews bomb hospitals to kill sick Muslims. The blood-libellers of medieval Europe couldn't have done a better job.
These news agencies have spent the past week rowing back from these false claims - but the damage is done. What does it tell us that these self-appointed gatekeepers of news are willing to believe and peddle falsehoods?
Peter, your concluding question is whether Hamas will 'repent of its evil deeds'. One hope and prays so (hard as it is to pray for a young man who excitedly messages his mother: 'I have killed ten Jews with my bare hands!'), but for Israel the question is actually existential: the literal destruction of Hamas is their goal, not its rehabilitation (or repentance). The Allies in 1945 didn't want penitent Naziism in Germany, it wanted its destruction.
Pax et bonum
William Greenhalgh
When is the Archbishop of tikanga pakeha being announced?
There will be an announcement when there is confirmation of who the archbishop will be. The question of a date for the next meeting of the Tikanga Pakeha Conference is being worked on. Diaries if not planets need to align, etc!
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