CMEP Rewards Palestinian Violence

The Churches for Middle East Peace, a so-called “peace-making” group has issued a letter to the U.S. Department of State, asking officials to call on Israel to halt the excavation at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. By failing to call on the Palestinians to halt their acts of violence, the CMEP offers a propaganda victory to the PA’s Muslim Waqf, which has caused hysteria in the Middle East by falsely asserting that the construction threatens the structural integriy of Al-Aksa Mosque.

The letter issued on February 9, 2007 reads in part: “Unless Israel quickly stops the excavation work, and the planned construction, we fear that violent protests will break out in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and far beyond.”

The excavation, conducted in preparation for construction of a permanent walkway that will allow access to the Temple Mount to non-Muslim visitors, does not threaten in any way the structural integrity of the Al-Aksa Mosque as Palestinian leaders have asserted. The work is taking place approximately 180 feet from the Temple Mount.

The excavation is taking place between the Dung Gate into the Old City and the Mugrabi Gate that leads to the Temple Mount itself. Even YNET’s Yehuda Litani, who has called for the excavation and the construction to stop, reports the work is “apparently justified” because the “embankment leading to the Mugrabi Gate above the Western Wall’s square had been badly damaged in recent years and required thorough renovation work.” Currently, access to the Temple Mount is achieved with a temporary wooden walkway that Israeli officials plan to replace with a more permanent structure — hence the construction. (Non-Muslim tourists are an important source of revenue to tour guides and vendors on the Temple Mount.)

In response to the excavation (necessary to construct support pilings for the walkway), Palestinians rioted, throwing rocks at a Canadian tour bus and at Israeli soldiers on Friday, Feb. 9, 2007.

What the CMEP’s letter underscores is a problem on the part of much of Christian “witness” about the Arab-Israeli conflict — a persistent tendency to regard Palestinian misbehavior as unremarkable. In its letter to the U.S. Department of State, Israeli excavation is criticized, but Palestinian stone-throwing is condoned by silence.

The CMEP’s predictable refusal to condemn Palestinian acts of violence and its failure to call upon Palestinian leaders to promote calm and raise their concerns through diplomatic channels — and not through stone-throwing protesters — only encourages further acts of violence and intimidation on the part of Palestinians.