On a visit to Jerusalem in the mid-1990s, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, said ruefully that so many Palestinian Christians were emigrating in despair from the West Bank that the Christian holy places would soon become Disneyland attractions rather than places of “living worship”.

Three and half years into a second intifada, the situation is still deteriorating. Only one branch of Christianity — Christian Zionism — feels comfortable in the Holy Land these days. The reason is simple: while the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Churches line up behind their embattled and dwindling Palestinian flocks to protest against Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank and the expansion of settlements there, Christian Zionists stand shoulder to shoulder or even comfortably to the right of Likud and the Orthodox rabbis.

Among its demands are more Jewish settlements on the West Bank, the relocation of Palestinians to neighbouring Jordan and even the razing of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque to make way for the third Jewish Temple.
… Read more » … lire la suite »