MIDDLE EAST CRISIS OPEN LETTER
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein ‘not following the same press reports’ as Pope Francis
‘Men and women of religion should be able to turn our eyes heavenward and perceive our God, loving parent, weeping over the loss of all God’s children – Israelis and Palestinians.’
Dear esteemed Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Warren Goldstein,
We at the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg have been reflecting on your message addressed to Pope Francis, published on social media on 20 December 2023. We do understand your anguish at what has happened over the past two-and-a-half months in Israel and Palestine.
As Catholics, we seek to engage with your message in a constructive way, in the spirit of the profound relationship between Jews and Catholics that has developed over the past decades since the Second Vatican Council.
You call on the Pope to stand fully behind the State of Israel.
He has been closely following the unfolding events. He has been in regular contact with Israeli and Jewish leaders. He has expressed his grief at the deaths of the innocent, especially those cruelly murdered on 7 October, and has received the families of the hostages, seeking to find a way to help and guarantee their release.
In fact, since he became Pope, his promotion of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians has been a cornerstone of his vision for a world based upon our shared values.
In these past weeks, the Pope has also been following closely the events inside Gaza. He has been in almost daily contact with the Holy Family parish in Gaza City.
Just three days before you released your call, an elderly woman and her daughter were gunned down by an Israeli soldier in the courtyard of the church.
The home of the Missionaries of Charity, housing 54 disabled people, was bombarded by a tank.
The water tanks and electrical generator of the Catholic compound were destroyed by an Israeli missile.
War is war, but the incessant attacks on civilians cannot be cloaked in “just war” theories.
The number of civilian deaths is exceptionally high when compared with other war situations in the past decades.
It seems that you and the Holy Father are not following the same press reports.
The comparison of what happened during the Shoah, when six million Jews were slaughtered in a meticulously planned genocide over an extended period of years, and the events of 7 October, when a bloodthirsty mob of armed terrorists went on a killing spree, is, we believe, very troubling.
However, we would like to point out that your repeated comparison of Pope Francis to Pope Pius XII is unfortunate. It has now been shown that, notwithstanding harsh judgments on Pope Pius’ alleged silence, he acted to save Jews from the Nazi beast wherever he could.
As the Holy See’s ambassador to Germany in the 1930s, he repeatedly expressed his disgust with the Nazis and their barbarism. Whereas Pius might remain a controversial figure, Francis has always stood with Jews in their time of need, in Argentina and throughout the world.
Surely it is important to distinguish between anti-Semitism and criticism of the State of Israel, its government and its army.
We say with absolute conviction that the Catholic Church stands alongside the Jewish people in the fight against anti-Semitism, committed to rooting out this cancerous evil wherever it rears its ugly head.
However, at the same time, the Church is completely committed to the struggle for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine.
The Palestinian people have suffered injustice for too long and the only way to guarantee peace is also to guarantee justice, equality and security for Palestinians.
Finally, you underline “jihadist” violence that promotes attacks on Jews and Christians. This is indeed a horrific feature of our world today.
Unfortunately, this type of ideology is not specific to Muslims.
Some Christians have promoted and continue to promote “crusader” violence against Jews and Muslims.
Similarly, within the Israeli government coalition today, there are Jews who promote extremist violence against Christians and Muslims.
Some Israeli parliamentarians and ministers have called for dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza or turning Gaza into a soccer stadium.
We all have, in our own backyard, terrifying proponents of genocide and devastation.
For this very reason, we as men and women of religion should be able to turn our eyes heavenward and perceive our God, loving parent, weeping over the loss of all God’s children – Israelis and Palestinians.
We as religious leaders, in dialogue and friendship, must develop a language that can promote the very values that promote “tikkun olam”, the repairing of our broken world.
Dear esteemed Rabbi Goldstein, we hope that we can continue to work together for a better South Africa and a better world! DM
At least the Rabbi puts his name behind what he stands for and takes responsibility for it . The Jesuits is a faceless, nameless group of people. It is so easy to hide and not take responsibility in this way.
Not faceless the Jesuits have been around for 500 years .They are the scholars , teachers and missionaries of the Catholic Church As Pope Francis is from the same order only right that responded. And they needed to respond because as a catholic i am not part of the Rabbi’s war. I first saw Rabbi’s comments in the Jerusalem Post they most likely were to Christian Zionists ( Evangelicals ) . Non of the traditional churches support the killing of the innocent by either side. That is where men of faith should be.
Well said dexter
Denise this is incredibly ignorant. Read up on the Jesuits. More importantly how can you be so angry at a message that is so positive. Religious leaders who sell hate have no legitimacy. Goldstein has defamed the office of the chief rabbi. He needs an intervention and a retirement package.
You silly person! The Jesuits are an Order of clergy in the Catholic Church that have a known hierarchy, all of whose members are known, and who have informed the intellectuality of the Church for centuries. I will point out that Pope Francis is a Jesuit – the first to be a Pope, I believe. Thus, NOTHING like a faceless group of people.
Is that the chief rabbi of South Africa? I couldn’t watch that rubbish he was spouting to the end. More like chief Zionist, I didn’t detect a shred of religious humanity in it. I do find it somewhat ironic amusing that religious bodies are turning on each other describing how they have enabled or ignored genocide for centuries, as religion has been the driver and excuse for so much conflict. All these holy tomes that call for peace, kindness, humility, humanity seem to invoke the opposite in many of their readers.
That is how the ‘extremists’ in all formations have, and now with growing fervour continue to operate . There have been and will always be ‘issues’ of dissatisfaction to exploit .
What chutzpah from Goldstein, lecturing the pope! It’s a typically South African reflex: a middle-sized fish in a tiny pond overestimating its importance in the wider scheme of things.
Very problematic. The same nutters who came for israel are coming for the church next. Better start watching more carefully what’s going on and get ready. You are next!
As a catholic no nutters are coming for me. If anyone can justify the slaughter of 20 000 ( mainly women and children) has a skewed value and moral system. And to go further and chastise a priest and his congregation for calling it out , that is at its mildest disappointing.
As a catholic you have absolutely no moral ground to stand on, so your disappointment is only disappointing to you. Anyone with a shred of an idea of the attrocities your church have perpetrated over the years is currently rolling their eyes.
Yes, “Hidden Name”, profound insights. Really. We are all enlightened by your even-handed discourse 🙄
Everyone fighting – and killing – to be the most righteous.
Isn’t religion just the best.
Why can’t everyone just live in peace? In my opinion it’s just common decency. There’s proof that hamas built tunnels underneath hospitals, etc. I’m Afrikaans so definitely not affiliated to either side. I too want the killing the killing to stop but do believe that Israel has the right to protect themselves against terrorists who hide behind their own people
Comment about Hamas by IDF , by using human shields this has caused the high number of civilians , by former head of UK military . ” That comment would be valid if the ammunition used by IDF was smart munitions , but with the release of information by both IDF and US that the bulk of artillery rounds and missiles used are dumb that explanation goes out the window.” That is why former and current military officers that fought in the “war on terror” in western nations are uncomfortable with the bombing campaign of the IDF . Why the phrase “Human Shields ” is slowly fading and “Indiscriminate bombing ” becoming more prominent.
Fantasitc response. Goldstein needs a reality check.
To all who are critical about Israeli actions and policies and get accused of antisemitism and the holocaust is brought up to counter critics point to keep in mind. Statement by a former Israeli Education Minister and winner of the Israel Prize ” It’s a trick. We always use it. When in Europe ,somebody criticizes Israel , we bring up the Holocaust. When in the United States people are critical of Israel, then they are anti-semitic ” This trick has been used by Israeli Jews and there Jewish supporters around the world for 75 years and still being used and it has worked and still working today. I think Rabbi Goldstein has added a new trick Islam as a threat against Christians to cover up Israeli crimes against humanity. You could understand politicians using the trick , but a religious leader ?
Minister Shulamit Aloni ,can you believe she also won a human rights prize.
Yep, predictably Jesuits, the death-to-all-enemies defenders of the Catholic Church and their darling Pope (a tool of Satan, some have argued in the past) have leapt to his defence. Popes have been killers and supporters of evil (cf the failure of Pius XII to confront the evils of Nazism and his allowing Nazis to escape from Europe at the end of WW2). Popes only do what is in the best interests of the Catholic Church. Morality be damned. We see it now – Pope Francis allowing blessings of gay couples
The myth of Pious XII being a Nazi sympathiser was refuted years ago by none other than Golda Meir, and also Einstein. I respect their opinions much more than those of social media.
You forgot to add Santa Claus and the Easter bunny to your list
Different books
If you take sides in war, you are a war mongerer. I appreciate this letter for its call for peace. It represents the ethos of all religions – to love and care for one another. Warring and hate speech fall out of the ethos of all the formal religions, surely ? So then it’s interesting to read these comments. They appear to be a cameo of the war itself and I wonder what it will take to move from righteous indignation to love? Seems like a utopia too far away.