Common Grounds

EQUALITY, EQUALITY, EQUALITY – Feared in the Land of ‘Zionism’ …

September 15, 2018 11:10
By Abraham A. van Kempen

Source: The Times of Israel

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/equality-equality-equality-feared-in-the-land-of-zionism/

Published SEP 14, 2018

When the Palestinians are Freed, SO ARE WE.

In my letter to President Barack Obama, dated 29 January 2015, I asked: “Instead of heading toward a Native American model with Palestinians confined on reservations amid a sea of Israeli settlements and security zones, why not [authenticate Israel’s democracy with] open borders, freedom of movement? Mr. President, many people around the world would like to hear you say: ‘Mr. Netanyahu, tear down those walls.’”
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When the Palestinians are Freed, SO ARE WE…

August 31, 2018 10:49
By Abraham A. van Kempen

Source: The Times of Israel

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/to-avoid-criticism-do-nothing-be-nothing/

Published AUG 31, 2018

To Avoid Criticism, Do Nothing, Be Nothing? Not Jeremy Corbyn! As Mr Jeremy Corbyn is being raked over the coals I can only admire him more. He’s doing what a leader does … guiding us through the irresolvable toward the attainable. As a signatory of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, a British Subject, and a Jew, I salute Mr Jeremy Corbyn.
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Will Evangelicals Ever Champion BDS?

August 23, 2018 18:34
By Abraham A. van Kempen

Could the 70 million American Evangelicals with their 600+ followers worldwide endorse and promote the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to rein in Israel? Yes! But first they must snap out of their trance idolizing Israel. Modern Israel rejects the prophetic ideals of Judaism. The fullness of Christianity reflects the prophetic ideals.
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To Dignify or To Destroy

September 04, 2018 00:50
By Abraham A. van Kempen

Source: The Times of Israel

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/to-dignify-or-to-destroy/

Published SEP 3, 2018

Let’s Change the Way America Thinks About Israel-Palestine …

That’s my mission. Going against the current, diving into the deepest storm and keeping my head above the rolling waves while whirling in clashing swirls to gently but firmly channel American Evangelicals back into the fullness of Christianity! So, what’s my mission? Nothing short of helping to change the way America thinks about Israel-Palestine; and, resuming my training to cross the Dead Sea in 2020, from Jordan to Israel, swimming on my back at age 70 when the time is ripe. Because … when the Palestinians are freed, so are we.
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Year 5779 … Can Oil and Vinegar Become One?

September 10, 2018 16:17
By Abraham A. van Kempen

Source: The Times of Israel

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/year-5779-can-oil-and-vinegar-become-one/

Published SEP 10, 2018

Yes! Just shake the bottle! The particles will freely move and become one. Freedom of movement – freedom from bondage, freedom from borders – is the essence that sparks fusion. Freedom is catalytic. Bondage is cataclysmic.
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Evangelicals … Go with Your God-Instincts!

October 05, 2018 12:16
By Abraham A. van Kempen

When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian Quest to Co-Exist, which ‘Joshua,’ do most Evangelicals invoke? Is it the Joshua in the times of Moses or is it the Joshua (Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yehoshuʿa) whose name in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is also Yeshua Hamashiach, ‘Jesus the Messiah, the ‘Anointed One,’ ‘Salvation,’ the Prince of Peace?
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UNPACKING THE ACTUAL IMPACT OF BDS ON ISRAEL'S ECONOMY

October 10, 2018 15:05
Source: The Jerusalem Post

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Unpacking-the-actual-impact-of-BDS-on-Israels-economy-569049

By Adam Reuter / GLOBES
Published October 10, 2018

One of the goals of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement is to hurt the Israeli economy. The movement may not be as effective as many believe it to be.
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QUESTIONS TO CHRISTIAN ZIONISM

April 10, 2019 17:05
Source: https://jonathankuttab.org/uncategorized/questions-to-christian-zionism/

By Jonathan Kuttab

Published March 2, 2018

I am a Palestinian Christian and the most pressing question about Christian Zionism for me is not its theological predictions about the end times, prophecy, or the Second Coming, since the Bible makes clear that no one knows the exact time for the fulfillment of these prophecies, except the Father (Mark 13:32), and Christian church history has been full of those who made wrong predictions about the end times and the Second Coming, starting with St. Paul himself, through Martin Luther, and up to Hal Lindsay.
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Looking for the Brothers and Sisters of Jesus: Challenging the Ideas of Israelism (including Christian Zionism and Replacement Theology)

April 09, 2019 12:47
By Steven Paas

Source: http://stevenpaas.chichewadictionary.org/publications/Looking_for_the_Brothers_and_Sisters_of_Jesus-02_April_2019.pdf

Published March 30, 2019
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No Country for Palestinians

April 09, 2019 15:02
Source: Project Syndicate

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/israel-election-netanyahu-occupation-by-daoud-kuttab-2019-04?utm_source=Project+Syndicate+Newsletter&utm_campaign=638f955af5-sunday_newsletter_07_4_2019&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_73bad5b7d8-638f955af5-93791313&mc_cid=638f955af5&mc_eid=284f1f0e24

By DAOUD KUTTAB

Published April 2, 2019

The Israeli general election should have given Israelis an opportunity to choose between war and peace. Instead, Israelis will have a choice between war and more war, between occupation and more occupation, even if the candidates avoid using those terms.
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