The Christ at the Checkpoint conference scheduled for 2012, aims to:
“provide an opportunity for evangelical Christians who take the Bible seriously to prayerfully seek a proper awareness of issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation.”
To do so in a Christian way, you would need a commitment to truth.
Here is the 3rd affirmation of the Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 conference:
As followers of Jesus Christ we regret more than 60 years of conflict. We look forward to the time when the conflict will end and both peoples will enjoy genuine reconciliation. We commit ourselves to be peacemakers and to this ministry of reconciliation. As such we stand resolutely against all forms of violence and racism, regardless of the perpetrators.
Is Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 against all forms of violence?
They claim to be.
More importantly – do Christ at the Checkpoint organisers and speakers, tell the truth about political violence?
Here is Christ at the Checkpoint organiser Stephen Sizer, speaking about the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, that was intercepted by Israeli forces:
Getting behind the flotilla is a fantastic way [that] people here in Malaysia can help. Getting relief supplies into Gaza, breaking the siege. It embarrasses America and it embarrasses Israel. The ordinary human beings are willing to risk their lives to sail supplies into Gaza. We saw what happened to the Turkish flotilla. Coming up very soon there’ll be a larger flotilla […] so we’re really excited about what we can do together.
Remember – Christ at the Checkpoint organisers and participants claim to be against violence.
Let’s just remind ourselves of the Turkish flotilla’s cargo.
Adam Deifallah writes:
There are five easy, safe and legal crossing-points in Israel through which to reach Gaza: the northern Erez crossing, the eastern Karni crossing (specifically designed for cargo), the southern Sufa crossing, the Kerem Shalom crossing and Rafah. If the flotilla’s real intention were to deliver aid to Palestinians, it could be done wth no problem by passing through any of these points.
Items truly for humanitarian aid get through to citizens already. It is only those deemed as “dual-use” — things like steel pipes, fertilizer and cement — that are blocked. Some of the items on last year’s flotilla included ballistic vests, gas masks, night-vision goggles and clubs. You can expect more of the same this time.
Strange cargo to call “relief supplies”, surely.
Moreover, the Turkish flotilla was all about raising funds for Hamas, and open antisemitism, Jew-baiting, and martyrdom. Yet Sizer supports this outfit without hesitation.
Earlier this year, Christ at the Checkpoint speaker Ben White addressed a PSC meeting, commemorating one year on from the flotilla.
Here is what Sami Awad – another Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 speaker – had to say about the flotilla, in the week after the event:
The world woke up Monday morning to a shocking and tragic scene, as Israeli commandos launched an unprovoked raid on a flotilla carrying nonviolent activists attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
According to Sami Awad, the flotilla activists were “nonviolent”.
Yet this was found on-board their cargo:
As were these:
Here are the “nonviolent activists” of the Gaza flotilla, loading weapons on-board:
Here they are calling for the murder of Jews:
Here is one of the flotilla leaders, calling for participants to throw Israeli commandos overboard:
You can see antisemitic hate preacher Raed Salah in the front row, on the flotilla.
Salah thinks Jews did not turn up for work on 9/11, and Jews baked matzah bread with the blood of Christian children, during the Middle Ages:
Sizer, White and Awad all support Raed Salah as a political voice.
So CATC 2012 speakers like Ben White, Stephen Sizer and Sami Awad, claim to oppose violence and racism, but are happy to pretend the Gaza flotilla 2010 was non-violent and non-racist.
This is dangerous theological and moral ground.
Here is a full list of speakers, at Christ at the Checkpoint.
