Israeli MP tears up New Testament in parliament
Says the Gospels are responsible for the killing of millions of Jews and should be consigned to the 'garbage can of history'
Yesterday a photographer captured the shocking scene of Israeli MP Michael Ben-Ari tearing up a copy of the New Testament and throwing it in the bin. He did not commit this act in just any old place; he did it in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament.
Mr. Ben-Ari is a member of HaIhud HaLeumim (National Union), a religious Jewish right wing party close to the Occupy Movement.
The gesture, which brings to mind the action of U.S. pastor Terry Jones who set fire to a copy of the Koran, was in response to an “unacceptable provocation” by the Israeli Bible Society, an Evangelical entity which in recent days sent a copy of the New Testament in Jewish to all 120 Israeli MPs.
“We are pleased to send you this book which we hope will help you and illuminate your way,” the accompanying letter written by Victor Kalisher read. “We hope and pray that this book may help you in your important position in service of the people.”
A very unwise move in a country like Israel where Christian proselytism is a topic that has always caused tension. Arutz Sheva, the news agency that is most sympathetic to the religious conservatives, promptly reported the news the other day, with the headline: “Christians Flood Knesset with ‘New Judaism’”.
The article said many MPs were furious about this gesture and that Tzipi Hotolevy, a member of the Likud party, has specifically asked Knesset’s president, Reuven Rivlin, “to put a stop to the dissemination of what she said is outright missionary material in the Knesset.”
But yesterday, Michael Ben-Ari decided to go even further and got a photographer to capture the moment when he publicly ripped the pages out of the book in question and then threw them in the bin. As he did so he said: “This abominable book [the New Testament] brought about the murder of millions of Jews in the Inquisition and autos da fé.” “This is a provocation by church missionaries and there is no doubt that this book and those who sent it belong in the garbage can of history.”
Full story: Israel: MP tears up Gospel after calling it an “abominable book”
Source: Vatican Insider
Mr. Ben-Ari is a member of HaIhud HaLeumim (National Union), a religious Jewish right wing party close to the Occupy Movement.
The gesture, which brings to mind the action of U.S. pastor Terry Jones who set fire to a copy of the Koran, was in response to an “unacceptable provocation” by the Israeli Bible Society, an Evangelical entity which in recent days sent a copy of the New Testament in Jewish to all 120 Israeli MPs.
“We are pleased to send you this book which we hope will help you and illuminate your way,” the accompanying letter written by Victor Kalisher read. “We hope and pray that this book may help you in your important position in service of the people.”
A very unwise move in a country like Israel where Christian proselytism is a topic that has always caused tension. Arutz Sheva, the news agency that is most sympathetic to the religious conservatives, promptly reported the news the other day, with the headline: “Christians Flood Knesset with ‘New Judaism’”.
The article said many MPs were furious about this gesture and that Tzipi Hotolevy, a member of the Likud party, has specifically asked Knesset’s president, Reuven Rivlin, “to put a stop to the dissemination of what she said is outright missionary material in the Knesset.”
But yesterday, Michael Ben-Ari decided to go even further and got a photographer to capture the moment when he publicly ripped the pages out of the book in question and then threw them in the bin. As he did so he said: “This abominable book [the New Testament] brought about the murder of millions of Jews in the Inquisition and autos da fé.” “This is a provocation by church missionaries and there is no doubt that this book and those who sent it belong in the garbage can of history.”
Full story: Israel: MP tears up Gospel after calling it an “abominable book”
Source: Vatican Insider
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