With the focus of the entire world trained on Prime Minister Sharon's forcible handover of the entire Gaza sector and the northern part of the West Bank, I figured that I would ask--what should the Christian response to this be?
Sharon says the idea was all his and that the reason for disengagement is that it has become too costly, and not worthwhile, to hang onto this coastal strip, but I have a fairly strong suspicion that in actuality the move was imposed on him by Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, etc. as part of the "roadmap" for peace--possibly with the pullout being made a condition of continued aid to Israel (which I don't support, but that's for another thread).
The situation is much akin to what happened in Sri Lanka in the late '80s. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa ordered a withdrawal from the disputed northeastern coastal lands of Sri Lanka (now fully occupied by the LTTE), under pressure from his giant neighbor India. Like Sharon, he also waged an all-out war on his own ultra-religious dissidents (the JVP Buddhist nationalist party).
Thus, I am asking two questions:
(A) Was this forcible pullout the right thing to do? In addition to the actual questions of the land, I urge you to think about the consequences of the pullout and the impact on the people involved. (For instance, many of the militant dissident colonists who had to be dragged out are now in Israeli military prisons, where there is speculation that they are being tortured for their crimes.)
(B) Does a moral, upright Christian have an obligation to confront his or her government about possible furtive pressuring it has done to another nation?
Sharon says the idea was all his and that the reason for disengagement is that it has become too costly, and not worthwhile, to hang onto this coastal strip, but I have a fairly strong suspicion that in actuality the move was imposed on him by Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, etc. as part of the "roadmap" for peace--possibly with the pullout being made a condition of continued aid to Israel (which I don't support, but that's for another thread).
The situation is much akin to what happened in Sri Lanka in the late '80s. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa ordered a withdrawal from the disputed northeastern coastal lands of Sri Lanka (now fully occupied by the LTTE), under pressure from his giant neighbor India. Like Sharon, he also waged an all-out war on his own ultra-religious dissidents (the JVP Buddhist nationalist party).
Thus, I am asking two questions:
(A) Was this forcible pullout the right thing to do? In addition to the actual questions of the land, I urge you to think about the consequences of the pullout and the impact on the people involved. (For instance, many of the militant dissident colonists who had to be dragged out are now in Israeli military prisons, where there is speculation that they are being tortured for their crimes.)
(B) Does a moral, upright Christian have an obligation to confront his or her government about possible furtive pressuring it has done to another nation?