Dear Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
I am writing to you as a fellow evangelical Christian who has been to both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
I am shocked by your stance on Israel not having to withdraw from the areas it conquered in 1967. Israel's occupation of the Palestinians in these areas involves checkpoints, house demolitions, and victimization of civilians by both soldiers and settlers. The Palestinian people are living under a cruel and inhuman occupation; I have been to Hebron and Bethlehem and East Jerusalem this summer. I have seen soldiers push around old men and destroy shops, I have spoken to Palestinians whose homes have been demolished and whose children have been shot by the IDF, I have been beaten up by settlers who used a metal pipe to send a friend and I to the hospital, I have seen my Palestinian friends get assaulted and arrested by heavily armed soldiers at peaceful demonstrations. I have met Palestinians and Israelis who have lost everything because of the violence of the occupation and the violence of Palestinian extremists that it fuels.
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ said that blessed are the peacemakers, and blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness in Matthew 5. The occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is unjust and only provokes more bloodshed.
He died on the cross for us, so we could go to Heaven to be with God. Please follow Him and work for a just peace in the middle east that will give both Palestinians and Israelis dignity and security. Please call for an end to the occupation.
In His Name,
I am writing to you as a fellow evangelical Christian who has been to both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
I am shocked by your stance on Israel not having to withdraw from the areas it conquered in 1967. Israel's occupation of the Palestinians in these areas involves checkpoints, house demolitions, and victimization of civilians by both soldiers and settlers. The Palestinian people are living under a cruel and inhuman occupation; I have been to Hebron and Bethlehem and East Jerusalem this summer. I have seen soldiers push around old men and destroy shops, I have spoken to Palestinians whose homes have been demolished and whose children have been shot by the IDF, I have been beaten up by settlers who used a metal pipe to send a friend and I to the hospital, I have seen my Palestinian friends get assaulted and arrested by heavily armed soldiers at peaceful demonstrations. I have met Palestinians and Israelis who have lost everything because of the violence of the occupation and the violence of Palestinian extremists that it fuels.
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ said that blessed are the peacemakers, and blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness in Matthew 5. The occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is unjust and only provokes more bloodshed.
He died on the cross for us, so we could go to Heaven to be with God. Please follow Him and work for a just peace in the middle east that will give both Palestinians and Israelis dignity and security. Please call for an end to the occupation.
In His Name,
