|
In this mailing:
by Ingrid Carlqvist
• June 29, 2016 at 7:00 am
- Priests are
afraid to talk about Jesus during mass. — Eva Hamberg, priest and
professor, who in protest resigned from the priesthood and left the
Church.
- The Church of
Sweden may be headed towards "Chrislam" -- a merging of
Christianity and Islam. Swedish priests, noting the religious fervor
among the Muslims now living in Sweden, enthusiastically take part
in various interfaith projects.
- "There are
reliable sources from Egypt, showing that the Saudi royal family is
really a Jewish family that came from Iraq to the Arabian Peninsula
sometime in the 1700s. They built an army with the aid of British
officers fighting the Ottoman sultanate." — Imam Awad Olwan,
with whom a priest, Henrik Larsson, is cooperating in an interfaith
project.
- "The
involvement that the Church of Sweden has shown for the
vulnerability of Christian Palestinians, has been replaced with
indifference to the ethnic cleansing of Christians in Syria and
Iraq. In these countries, it is mostly Muslims who commit the
atrocities, which is evidently enough to make the Church of Sweden
concentrate on climate change and environmental issues
instead." — Eli Göndör, scholar of religion.
The King, Queen and Crown Princess of Sweden attend
the archiepiscopal ordination of Bishop Antje Jackelén at Uppsala
Cathedral, June 15, 2014. (Image source: Church of Sweden)
The Church of Sweden has departed from being a strong and stern
state church. In the past, Swedes were born into it and, until 1951, no
one was allowed to leave the church. These days, however, it is an
institution that has very little to do with Christianity or Jesus. Sweden
now, according to the World Values Survey, is one of the world's most
secular countries; every year a large number of Swedes leave the church.
It used to be that only atheists left the church; now it is the
devout Christians that leave -- in protest against the church's
increasingly questionable relationship to the Christian faith.
by Shoshana Bryen
• June 29, 2016 at 4:30 am
- Israeli policy
(assisted by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden) produced perhaps the
best possible outcome.
- The UN
Secretary General's Report on the Gaza Flotilla concluded that
Israel was within its rights to use force, and found the blockade of
Gaza to be legal.
- Turkey agreed
to Israel's original condition to the flotilla ships -- aid bound
for Gaza will offload in Ashdod.
- Israel had also
wanted to oust Hamas from Turkey -- something that may not have been
accomplished. But Turkey, by agreeing to a number of humanitarian
projects in Gaza, will increase its leverage over Hamas in ways that
might benefit Israel.
Israel had wanted to oust Hamas from Turkey --
something that may not have been accomplished in this week's deal.
Pictured above: Turkish President (then Prime Minister) Recep Tayyip
Erdogan (right) meeting with Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal (center) and
Ismail Haniyeh on June 18, 2013, in Ankara, Turkey. (Image source: Turkey
Prime Minister's Press Office)
The announcement of Turkish-Israeli rapprochement was touted first
as an economic achievement for Israel. It should be noted, however, that
Turkey-Israel civilian trade, as distinct from military trade, was
already robust, rising from $1.5 billion in the first half of 2010 to
$5.6 billion in 2015. Israel has an interest in Turkey as a customer for
Israeli natural gas fields, but a number of countries -- including Russia
-- also seek partnerships in natural gas.
by Burak Bekdil
• June 29, 2016 at 4:00 am
- Ironically, the
futile Turkish effort to end the naval blockade of Gaza is ending in
quite a different direction: Now that Turkey has agreed to send
humanitarian aid through the Ashdod port, it accepts the legitimacy
of the blockade.
The ups and downs of Turkey's relations with Israel --
what comes next?
Left: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (then Prime Minister) shakes
hands with then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, on May 1, 2005.
Right: Erdogan shakes hands with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on January
3, 2012.
Ostensibly, almost everyone is happy. After six years and countless
rounds of secret and public negotiations Turkey and Israel have finally
reached a landmark deal to normalize their downgraded diplomatic
relations and ended their cold war. The détente is a regional necessity
based on convergent interests: Divergent interests can wait until the
next crisis.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the deal, calling it a "hopeful
signal for the stability of the region."
Secretary of State John Kerry, too, welcomed the agreement. "We
are obviously pleased in the administration. This is a step we wanted to
see happen," he said.
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment