ACDP’s pronouncements on Gaza are decidedly unChristian
A press statement by the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) just before the Easter weekend made my blood boil.
While in Israel on a “peace mission” on invitation from South African Friends of Israel (SAFI), ACDP MP Marie Suikers attacked the government for its position on the Israel/Gaza conflict and specifically the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case.
She described it as “theatrical”, “blatant propaganda” and done for “short-term political gain in the Western Cape”.
In an interview with Cape Talk, she went further: “The actions of the government are experienced as quite insulting to Christians,” she said.
I want to be clear that I condemn Hamas’ actions on October 7, 2023.
They were despicable acts of terror and I also hope and pray that all the remaining hostages will be released safely to their families as soon as possible.
At the same time, it should be blatantly clear to everyone that Israel’s actions cannot be described as self-defence or proportional retaliation.
Israel is committing war crimes and acts of genocide against the people of Gaza and nothing, absolutely nothing, can justify this.
Not only have they killed almost 33000 people of which 13000 are children, but by cutting off water, food and aid supplies, they are directly responsible for a growing number of deaths through starvation.
This is a matter of fact, not political opinions, campaigns or theatrics. A former colleague of mine, James Elder, is in Gaza for Unicef. As someone who has seen humanity’s darkest sides, he is not prone to exaggeration.
In a recent interview with the BBC, James described how the lack of food and water is affecting the already “paper-thin children” of Gaza which he called “a coffin for children”.
The UN, WHO, World Food Programme and every other aid agency working in Gaza have appealed for more aid trucks to be allowed entry to avoid large-scale famine. This is what our government asked the ICJ to enforce.
They also called for a ceasefire, as have, the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and hundreds of global Christian church leaders, but not the ACDP, because they believe it is offensive to Christians.
How on earth can putting an end to the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent people be offensive to Christians? The ACDP must be reading a different Bible from the one I read and studied.
Although they expressed sadness about loss of life and property in Gaza, members of the ACDP continue to hide behind a theology of neutrality (ironically while having tea with Friends of Israel) and continue to attack those, like our government, who have tried to put an end to the violence.
The ACDP’s argument that the ANC only went to the ICJ for shortterm political gain in the Western Cape is also ridiculous.
Apart from the fact that the ANC knows that it will not be able to win back the Western Cape, it was the DA that antagonised Muslim (and many Christian) voters in the province, when it painted over Palestinian murals.
The ACDP also insists that the war can be stopped immediately if the Israeli hostages are released, but makes no reference to the fact that by ending its supply of missiles and weapons to Israel, the U.S. can stop this war in a matter of days. Instead, the ACDP plays a bit of its own politics, by warning that South Africa’s position puts international, specifically American, trade in jeopardy. Like the vast majority of South Africans of all faiths, I was extremely proud of my country when we presented our case at the ICJ.
For once we stood up for what was morally right. On Easter Sunday, I listened to a sermon by Dr Reverend Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Lutheran from Bethlehem.
Standing next to a cross anchored in rubble from houses bombed in Gaza, he lamented that so many people of faith watched silently as genocide became normalised.
“They created a narrative — even a theology — to normalise genocide,” he said.
He then told the story of a little Palestinian boy who was rescued after an Israeli air strike on his home a few days earlier.
“I need water, I’m thirsty,” were his first words as he was pulled from the rubble.
Isaac remarked that Jesus also asked for water after hours on the cross. Those who crucified him, gave him vinegar. Palestinians are pleading desperately for the world to rescue them and to give them water, food and medicine.
Like the biblical vinegar, “sorry about loss of lives” platitudes and one-sided “peace” missions do not help or change anything. And that, ACDP, is what Christians find insulting, not the actions of those who are trying to stop the suffering.