08 February 2005
WHO'S WHO IN CHRISTIAN AID
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As the politicized agenda of Christian
Aid regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict is gaining increasing
attention through campaigns such as Bethlehem's
Child and Pressureworks, it is also important to examine the
key decision makers in this very powerful NGO.
The following summary provides a list of key quotes and activities related to Middle East politics and ideology among members of Christian Aid's Board of Trustees and its Director, Daleep Mukarji. As will be seen, while the intensity of the commitment varies, the pro-Palestinian views are consistent, and explain the sharp bias of this organization's activities.
REV JOHN GLADWIN, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
- 62-year-old Rev John Gladwin, Bishop of Chelmsford and Chair of Christian
Aid's Board of Trustees, is an Evangelical Christian, a member
of the Church
of England's General Synod since 1990, and speaks frequently
on Israeli-Palestinian political issues.
- In a July
2002 speech to the General Synod, Gladwin claimed that terrorism
and violence are the result of "Israel's illegal occupation of
the 1967 territories", thereby ignoring the decades of war, terror
and rejectionism prior to 1967. He also set out a number of conditions
for peace, including the Palestinian 'right of return' but failed
to call for an end to Palestinian terror.
- According to journalist
Melanie Phillips, writing in The Spectator, 16 Feb.2002,
Gladwin "shares the view that the Jews have no particular claim
to the promised land. Christianity and Islam, he says, can lay
equal claim. And although he says Israel's existence is a reality
that must be accepted, his ideal is very different. A separate
Palestinian state would be merely a 'first step'. 'Ultimately,
one shared land is the vision one would want to pursue, although
it's unlikely this will come about'."
- Gladwin is a patron of the Friends
of Sabeel UK, whose other major patron is Afif Safieh, the
long-time PLO representative in the UK. The Sabeel Ecumenical
Liberation Theology Center describes
itself as "an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement
among Palestinian Christians", promoting Palestinian Liberation
Theology which "hopes to connect the true meaning of Christian
faith with the daily lives of all those who suffer under occupation,
violence, discrimination, and human rights violations" and "promotes
a more accurate international awareness of the current political
situation and encourages Christians from around the world to work
for justice and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people."
VAL FERGUSON, VICE-CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
PAUL DEAN
- Member of Christian Aid Executive Committee
- Ecumenical Chaplain at St Albans Abbey
- Addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a 12
October 2002 speech, mentioning his attendance at a 2001 conference
of the highly-politicized Sabeel Center as well as visits to Bethlehem,
Hebron and the Gaza Strip.
DAVID GOODBOURNE
- Member of Christian Aid Executive Committee
- General Secretary, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
- November 2003: Initiated
letter to the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, which echoed Palestinian
political claims regarding Israeli security barrier: "The erection
of the 'separation wall' or 'security fence' poses a very serious
threat to many facets of Palestinian life, with over 210,000 people
in danger of being effectively cut off from their farmlands, workplaces,
schools and health clinics. It also further undermines the search
for peace itself." There was no mention of the Palestinian terror
that led to the construction of the barrier.
CLEPHANE HUME
- Executive member, World Federation of Occupational
Therapists
- Delivered
6 April 2003 sermon at St. John's Church, Edinburgh stating:
"In the complexities of the links between Palestine and the Iraqis
who saved Jenin, the turmoil in the Holy Land, where the building
of the wall round the occupied territories brings back memories
of Berlin, the divisions between Palestine and Israel seem even
greater."
DAVID CORNICK
- General Secretary of the United Reformed Church
- Signatory on 10 October
2001 letter to Tony Blair stating: "We would wish to remind
Government of the risk of creating Muslim solidarity against the
West if energy is not also perceived to be put into dealing with
long-standing concerns over the Israel-Palestinian crisis and
the situation in Iraq."
MICHAEL LANGRISH
- Bishop of Exeter
- Spoke at January 2003 launch of Christian Aid's "Losing
Ground - Israel, poverty and the Palestinians" stating: "It
is quite impossible to engage in any serious study of the history
of the present conflict without becoming aware of the self-serving,
and at time deeply duplicitous, policies of various western governments
which have made victims of Israeli and Palestinian, Arabs and
Jews alike."
DALEEP MUKARJI, DIRECTOR OF CHRISTIAN AID
- Born in India
- Became Director of Christian Aid in April 1998
- Profiled in The
Guardian, 5 May 2004:
- "Liberation theology has inspired many of us; we want to be part of a movement to change systems and structures, including the use of civil disobedience and protest, though never the use of violence."
- Following a June 2003 visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Mukarji
referring to Israel's security barrier stated: "It appeared
that huge, open-air prisons were being built, to destabilise and
demoralise Palestinian communities."
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