Jerusalem Post

International Edition

Week ending 28 Jan., 1995

page 22

Letter to the Editor

From ........... GRANT BOOTH LIVINGSTONE

CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL

Sir, - In "Rabin rejects Christian churches' call for international guarantees for Jerusalem," January 7), Haim Shapiro says "the Christians" demand international instead of Israeli rule in Jerusalem.

After years of religious reporting, what's his excuse for such confusion?

He should correct, not perpetuate, the notion prevalent in many ignorant European circles that the politics of the Roman Catholic Church and its tradition bound sisters speaks for "the Christians."

Several Christian Zionist organizations and many congregations in Jerusalem, reflecting millions of Bible-believing Christians abroad, uphold Israeli rule in Jerusalem. It is biblically ordained and has proved fairer for Christians and other non-Jews than any rule Jerusalem has had in 2,000 years, or could expect from the UN or any other conceivable international (or papal-authorized governance), certainly from what could be expected if, God forbid, Israel's appeasement crowd were to yield any control over Christian matters in Jerusalem to Arafat and Islam.

Christians whose faith rests on the Bible rather than tradition or human authority are Israel's best friends.

GRANT BOOTH LIVINGSTONE Jerusalem.

Haim Shapiro comments:

The report should have indicated that the signatories of the memorandum were the heads of the historic churches, which are the Christian communities officially recognized as such by the government of Israel.

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