“They (the Christians) deny the Holocaust, so I want to deny Christianity. Somebody has to teach them a lesson.” In a satirical broadcast on the Israeli channel 10, a so-called humorist thought it was good to take revenge on “the Vatican” and “the Christian Church”. Short defamatory sketches were shown during the course of two broadcasts. They seriously offended Christ and the Virgin Mary, as well as clergy as a whole: from the pope to all religious, passing by way of the cardinals and bishops. Even the altar boys and girls were not spared.
On Wednesday morning, February 18, the public radio station Kol Israel in Arabic enabled its listeners to call in, and the Christians could say how shocked they were by this. For Hebrew is not only the language of the Jews; all of Israel’s Arabs also speak it and among them the Christians. Like many Jewish citizens of Israel, they watch channel 10, which has broadcasts like “Who wants to win millions”, “The weak link”, “Survivor”, etc. Which European channel today would dare to show anti-Semitic or revisionist sketches without causing a general outcry? And what would be the reaction of the Jews of Israel and the world?
So it is very legitimate this time for the Christians of Israel to speak out in their own name and in the name of Christians all over the world. Especially in the present context, in which the Catholic Church, after the revisionist statements by Mgr. Williamson, said and said again through the voice of the pope himself and of many bishops, priests, and religious not only that it is “intolerable and unacceptable” to deny the Shoah, but also that “the hatred and contempt for men, women and children which manifested themselves during the Shoah were a crime against God and against humanity”, and that “there is no place in the Church for those who deny the Shoah”.
This program’s deliberate desire to attack the Christian faith is just as scandalous as all the attacks against Judaism and the Shoah. However, it seems that they do not shock certain Israeli Jews as much as anit-Semitism and revisionism do. The Assembly of Bishops in the Holy Land, representing all the Catholic Churches in the country, published their strong protest in a press release on Wednesday . At the same time as thanking those from among the Jewish and Muslim leaders who communicated how they felt about this scandal, the press release also recalled the more or less latent anti-Christian climate that has been present in Israeli society for years. Channel 10 was not the first “faux-pas” where that is concerned.
The same press release calls for measures to be taken against these offenses and those who commited them. It demands that Channel 10 publicly ask pardon and that it not authorize any repetition of such offensive broadcasts.
The outrageous remarks made in these sketches flatters neither their author nor those who laughed at them. The many misunderstandings regarding Christianity that these parodies contained also prove that the author thought he could make people laugh based on his own ignorance of Christianity. For most Israelis know very little about Christianity. Just as most Christians know almost nothing about Judaism and its many currents of thought.
Real, deep, sincere and mutual respect will be judged by the kind of efforts made by each one to get to know the other. At least where this is concerned, we are equal.
Mab
Read more on the Website of the Latin Patriachate
On Wednesday morning, February 18, the public radio station Kol Israel in Arabic enabled its listeners to call in, and the Christians could say how shocked they were by this. For Hebrew is not only the language of the Jews; all of Israel’s Arabs also speak it and among them the Christians. Like many Jewish citizens of Israel, they watch channel 10, which has broadcasts like “Who wants to win millions”, “The weak link”, “Survivor”, etc. Which European channel today would dare to show anti-Semitic or revisionist sketches without causing a general outcry? And what would be the reaction of the Jews of Israel and the world?
So it is very legitimate this time for the Christians of Israel to speak out in their own name and in the name of Christians all over the world. Especially in the present context, in which the Catholic Church, after the revisionist statements by Mgr. Williamson, said and said again through the voice of the pope himself and of many bishops, priests, and religious not only that it is “intolerable and unacceptable” to deny the Shoah, but also that “the hatred and contempt for men, women and children which manifested themselves during the Shoah were a crime against God and against humanity”, and that “there is no place in the Church for those who deny the Shoah”.
This program’s deliberate desire to attack the Christian faith is just as scandalous as all the attacks against Judaism and the Shoah. However, it seems that they do not shock certain Israeli Jews as much as anit-Semitism and revisionism do. The Assembly of Bishops in the Holy Land, representing all the Catholic Churches in the country, published their strong protest in a press release on Wednesday . At the same time as thanking those from among the Jewish and Muslim leaders who communicated how they felt about this scandal, the press release also recalled the more or less latent anti-Christian climate that has been present in Israeli society for years. Channel 10 was not the first “faux-pas” where that is concerned.
The same press release calls for measures to be taken against these offenses and those who commited them. It demands that Channel 10 publicly ask pardon and that it not authorize any repetition of such offensive broadcasts.
The outrageous remarks made in these sketches flatters neither their author nor those who laughed at them. The many misunderstandings regarding Christianity that these parodies contained also prove that the author thought he could make people laugh based on his own ignorance of Christianity. For most Israelis know very little about Christianity. Just as most Christians know almost nothing about Judaism and its many currents of thought.
Real, deep, sincere and mutual respect will be judged by the kind of efforts made by each one to get to know the other. At least where this is concerned, we are equal.
Mab
Read more on the Website of the Latin Patriachate