#0202_A_View_From_East_Jerusalem

Sent to 0202:

"The Islamic Waqf [1] thanks Jerusalem Churches [for their statement which says] that Evangelical Christian-Zionism is 'against the Bible and Jesus':

Director General of Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs thanks the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Dr. Munib Younan, for the Bishop’s position and clarification on December 17th that Evangelicals who support Trump’s decision on Jerusalem are against the Bible. Yunan stated: “[t]he positions of our Christian churches around the world are in support of justice and peace in Jerusalem.” However, Yunan maintained that “Christians also face some Christian groups in the world that view the developments in the Middle East and Jerusalem from a narrow religious apocalyptic perspective. This group, whom we refer as Evangelicals, are the ones who politicize religion and “religionize” politics. Unfortunately, they view the wars, concerns, displacements, destruction and injustice in the Middle East, as a precursor to the second coming of the Messiah.”

“However, we, the true evangelicals, including the Arab evangelicals, completely disagree in letter and in spirit with these groups who do not support justice, and who politicize religion with misconceived unrealistic scenarios about the Middle East,” added Bishop Yunan.

“Although some of them may have influence over decision makers in the United States [2], we, Arab Christians, view this group as representative of extremism religiously and politically, not as a representative of true Christianity. This group does not comprehend justice nor does it care about human rights.” Yunan added that “just as Your Majesty has disavowed a misguided terrorist group that does not represent true Islam, describing them as 'khawarej' [3], we, Arab Christians, disavow this Christian group that does not represent the Bible nor Christ. To us they are 'khawarej', outlaws to the church.”

Bishop Yunan’s statement was welcomed and endorsed by attendees including the heads of Churches of Jerusalem, who participated in the Christmas event at the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ on Sunday 17th December 2017, at the invitation of His Majesty King Abdullah II [of Jordan].
In their speeches, all heads of Churches reaffirmed that His Majesty is the Custodian of Jerusalem Christian and Muslim Holy Sites and they requested His Majesty to defend these sites in the UN, UNESCO, ICJ and other international forums.

His Majesty expressed appreciation for the churches and Islamic Awqaf [plural of Waqf] of Jerusalem for honoring the Pact of Omar, which established the values of coexistence and peace in the holy city, dating back to the seventh century. […]

The religious leaders expressed support for His Majesty’s recent speech at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s extraordinary summit, and the King’s affirmation that the right of Muslims and Christians to Jerusalem is eternal."

– Waqf statement, spread via Whatsapp

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0202 Editor's Note:
[1] The Waqf (literally, religious endowment) refers to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, which essentially functions as the religious and civil administration of the Haram Al-Sharif. Since 1187, some sort of Waqf has always governed the Haram Al-Sharif, the most recent of which was established immediately after the 1948 war by Jordan. Following the 1967 war in which Israel took control the Old City of Jerusalem, the Israeli government decided to maintain Jordanian custodianship of the Waqf. Today, it is governed and funded jointly by the Jordanian and Palestinian Authority Waqfs.
[2] This reflects the common belief that Donald Trump's December 6th statement recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was the result of pressure from his Evangelist support base.
[3] Khawarij (Arabic: 'outlaws') is a term for a religious group of an extremist nature that left Islam at the beginning, in the middle of the 7th century. Today, this is a common term used by extremist and violent currents in Islam. For further reading, see https://goo.gl/u6p3uu

#Religion #Christianity #Waqf #Trump

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