Paulson Post

The developments of this week in the centuries-old Israel-Palestine conflict have created a lot of clashes of opinions. Christians have taken sides, mostly on the Israeli side. The media is divided but mostly on the side of Israel. The reasons for the support for Israel are many. First sympathies. Historically, they had been a persecuted minority except in India and probably in the United States. Who can ignore the six million Jews who died in Hitler’s gas chambers? The sorrowful part of their history, along with the propaganda in favour of them, has created a lot of sympathy for them. In addition to the popular sympathy for Israel, some Christians also find that what happens in Israel is the fulfilment of Biblical prophecies. These Christians think that all Palestinians are Muslims, though a significant number of them are Christians. Many Christian Holy places are in Palestinian territory (including Bethlehem, Jericho, Hebron, etc.). Many Christians think that the Jewish nation ...

‘Hebron’ means ‘league’, ‘confederation’ or by extension ‘friendship.’ This is the place where Patriarch Abraham bought a small patch of land to bury his wife Sara. Later it turned out to be the place where all the patriarchs and matriarchs except Rachel had their resting place. Today there stands the Ibrahami Mosque (as the Muslims calls it) or the Cave of the Patriarchs as the Jews would like to call it. Sibling rivalry begins with names! Abraham was a landless wanderer when his wife died in this area. Though God had promised him the land to his offspring he had none yet. Genesis 23 tells us the story of how patriarch Abraham came to own the place called Hebron. The Hittites who owned the land offered a burial space free but Abraham politely turned their offer down. He wanted the burial cave owned by Ephron the son of Zohar who also was so kind to offer the cave of Macpelah free of cost. However, Abraham had to persuade him with the help of the elders of the Hittites to sell it to ...

We were figuring out our way to lunch. The lunch menu is the Arab speciality Makluth, something similar to the Biryani but much less spicier. However, our group was stopped by a person who said we should take another route avoiding the main road. The Israeli military who entered the Palestinian territory has tear-gassed the street against a bunch of youth who were protesting against the death of a Jordanian on the Allenby bridge the previous day. A wall that separates Bethlehem from Israeli territories. Just a few feet away from Jacir Intercontinental Hotel in Bethlehem. Here on the streets stones are returned by bullets and tear gas It has become the routine of the day for the Palestinian youth in Bethlehem. They throw stones at the tower built on the walls that separate the Palestinian areas from Israeli areas. The Israelis call it 'security wall' and the Palestinians condemn it as 'separation wall.' You can see them all around. The truth is that only 3% ...

Terrorists who have some religious associations give religions a bad name. Recent events like the attack on Mumbai (26/11) make us think if religions promote violence only. However, the picture is far from truth. There are narratives of conflicts, violence and bloody battle accounts in the Bible. This makes some think that Bible promotes violence. However, they miss out the many visions of peace that the bible have. One such vision is found in the prophecy of Isaiah in the second chapter. Part of this vision is inscribed on the walls of the UN building in New York: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore" (Isaiah 2:4). This probably was a very popular vision about the future in those days since another prophet by the name Micah also has this in his book (Micah 4:3). Thus it should rather be called a shared vision of the prophets of the Bible in the eight...