Category Archives: Anglicans for Israel

AFI acts against BBC bias

A letter to Mark Thomson, Director-General of the BBC, from Simon McIlwaine of Anglicans for Israel:

Dear Mr Thomson

I wish to complain about the outrageous allegation on the BBC website that: “All Israeli settlements within land occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war are judged illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. ”

This is utter rubbish! As a solicitor, I would be intrigued to know the authority for this proposition.

The Settlements are Not Illegal! Lawful owners of land have not been wrongfully deprived of it.

By contrast, however, Jordan expelled Jews from land they had lawfully bought in what is now called “the West Bank” after launching a war against Israel in 1948.
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Support for Lord Carey

An Open Letter from AFI to the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey:

Dear Lord Carey

I was appalled to read in the Sunday Times of the attacks on you by several members of our Church at the weekend.

Our friends and supporters within both the Anglican and Jewish communities share your sadness at these unfair criticisms and we pray that all those who may be
seeking to divide the Anglican Communion will have their hearts and eyes opened to righteousness by the Lord.

We are deeply appreciative of your friendship towards Israel and the Jewish people at a time when many of our Jewish brothers and sisters feel increasingly isolated and threatened.

We at AFI – who also find ourselves vilified and traduced – suspect that it is your refusal to join the orgy of Israel-bashing within our Church which is the true motivation for this attack and we pray that truth will prevail in our Church.

With blessings from all at Anglicans for Israel.

Yours sincerely,

Simon McIlwaine

Oppose the Bishop Riah visit

Anglicans for Israel, consisting both of members of the clergy and laity of the Anglican Church has expressed its grave concern at the visit of the controversial Bishop of Jerusalem, Riah Abu El Assal, to several churches in England.

AFI coordinator, Simon McIlwaine said:

“Bishop Riah does not represent the sentiments of most ordinary Christians in the Middle East, who deplore his calls for a boycott of Israel. We are concerned that Bishop Riah seems singularly unwilling to confront the menace of Islamic extremism, which terrorises and hurts so many Christians in the region and is the cause of their flight from places like Bethlehem, instead finding it more convenient to blame the Jews for all the problems of the area. We challenge him to give a true account of his views on suicide terrorism and to respond unequivocally to the disturbing allegations that he has quoted from the Koran to sanctify those who kill themselves in the course of terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli civilians.”

We at AFI consider his apparent adherence to an Islamicised replacement theology, which seeks to disavow God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible and his rejection of the Biblical connection of the Jewish people to the Land and State of Israel to be nothing short of blasphemous.
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