30 March 2005:
CHRISTIAN AID'S CONTINUING OBSESSION
Christian Aid's campaigning and obsession with attacking Israel is further
evidence that the goals of its leadership
are primarily political, and not charitable. In the 6 months beginning
September 2004, CA has issued several reports, campaigns, press releases and
expensive advertisements all presenting strong pro-Palestinian political
positions. (List and links at the end of this report.) These activities
consistently minimize the impact of Palestinian terrorism, and make false or
unverifiable claims regarding Palestinian victimization within Israeli
self-defense policies.
Following the notorious "Child
of Bethlehem" campaign during the Christmas period, and the anti-separation
barrier ad in the Guardian, the latest attack was issued in the immediate
aftermath of a Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, as Christian Aid
released a 2
March press statement inappropriately entitled "Palestinians need
economic as well as military security". Equating victims with
perpetrators, the statement says: "The fragile ceasefire between Israel
and the Palestinians has already been shattered - Tel Aviv has suffered another
suicide bomb and Israel continues military activities in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories." This organization repeats the amoral equivalence
between a terrorist atrocity and Israeli self-defense aimed at preventing
further bloodshed.
As documented
by NGO Monitor, Christian Aid routinely uses the facade of a charitable
organization to pursue a highly political and ideological pro-Palestinian agenda.
Its assertions are based on slogans that distort the history and the details of
this conflict. Commenting on the 1 March 2005 London Palestinian
reform conference, Christian Aid claims that "the root cause of
Palestinian poverty - Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank, Gaza
Strip and East Jerusalem - was not on the agenda". The statement quotes
Bernard Sabella of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees, Middle
East Council of Churches, who claims
"The biggest stumbling block [to peace] is the reality of continued
occupation", ignoring Palestinian responsibilities as laid out at the
London conference itself.
Failing again to examine the evidence, Christian Aid's PR statement relies
on its highly politicized partners (e.g. Adalah, Physicians
for Human Rights - Israel, the Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees and Palestine Monitor) in the Gaza
Strip who claim that "residential areas have been shelled by the Israeli
Defense Forces." As always, the context is eliminated and the press
statement includes a photograph of a greenhouse in Gaza "destroyed by
Israeli forces". Seemingly in response to rising criticism, Christian
Aid's Director, Daleep Mukharji was compelled to defend
his organization in an op-ed for the Jewish Chronicle on 11 March. While
attempting to explain his position, Mukarji failed to address the fundamental
issues raised by Christian Aid's activities, completely ignoring the
"Child of Bethlehem" and other prominent campaigns. Despite
Mukharji's words of condemnation of suicide bombings and Palestinian human
rights violations, the statements from official Christian Aid material promotes
a different agenda altogether.
In summary this "charitable" organization has continued to mount
entirely politicized attacks on Israel while excusing Palestinians from their
responsibilities to promote democratic reform and end terror. This failure to
recognize changing realities in the Middle East can only harm the hopes for
peace that are now slowly emerging.
Christian Aid's anti-Israel activities since September 2004: