Can Ethnic Cleansing Bring Back Jesus?
by Juan Cole Rick Perlstein of the Village Voice acquired a damning memo (“you’re not supposed to have that”) demonstrating the hold the loony Christian far Right has on Bush Middle East policy. The gem in the article is the account of how Iran-Contra criminal mastermind and current National Security Adviser Elliot Abrams tried to reassure the Christian Zionists that an Israeli “withdrawal” from Gaza will not interfere with Jesus coming back because it wasn’t part of ancient Israel. Actually, this is right. Gaza was in Philistia, not Judah, which was to its east. But for that matter, when the kingdoms split, the West Bank wasn’t in “Israel” either, it was in Judah. So the loony tunes Christians who are trying to kill and dispossess the poor Palestinians to drag Jesus back may as well just give it up. He wasn’t treated well enough by humankind the first time to want to come back, so we’re on our own, and we may as well stop being barbaric to one another in his name.
