Читать книгу Christian Zionism ... Enraptured Around a Golden Calf - Abraham A. van Kempen - Страница 17

Israel today, as affirmed by the president of Israel’s Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, is “a Jewish and democratic state”²⁷, yet Israel’s Declaration of Independence speaks of “equal rights for all citizens, regardless of religion, race, or gender”²⁸. Theologian David Novak in ‘Zionism and Judaism A New Theory,’ implores that “’Jewish’ and ‘democratic’ have to be rethought so the two elements of Israeli statehood might be correlated … that rethinking must be theological if it is to be rooted in the Jewish tradition.”²⁹

“We are sojourners (gerim) before you, transient tenants (ve-toshavim) like all our ancestors (II Chronicles 29: 15)” … “without future prospects in this world … That is, unlike God, no humans can truly own anything or any place in this world, because we are all mortal creatures; here today and gone tomorrow (Psalm 49: 7-13).”³⁰

Thus, King David states, “everything is Yours [belongs to God] (II Chronicles 29: 16).” The Torah clearly stipulates: “There shall be one civil law (mishpat ehad) for both the sojourner (ka-ger) and the native-born (ka-ezrah), for I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 24: 23).” To paraphrase God, "Co-existence among people demands equal rights."

But let’s talk brass tacks. How will Modern Israel treat the indigenous Palestinians?