A guest post by Ben White
Next March, Bethlehem Bible College in the Israeli-occupied West Bank will host an exciting conference, ‘Christ at the Checkpoint: Hope in the midst of conflict’, which comes after the success of the first such gathering in 2010. There is an impressive range of speakers lined up, representing a variety of perspectives and backgrounds, a real strength of the conference. These leaders, professors, and theologians are gathering under the shadow of the Separation Wall in order to “seek a proper awareness of issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation”.
I am excited and honoured to be part of this, and one of the things I’m looking forward to is engaging with old friends like Messianic Jewish professor Richard Harvey. We debated each other five years ago at All Nations College, and the tenor of that exchange – intense, heated, but never personal – has characterised our conversations since. (Sadly, Richard has been criticised by an extreme minority for even participating in such a gathering.)
Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 has already been promoted by the likes of BMS World Mission, CMS, and Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding – and see this invitation by Dr. Gary Burge, of Wheaton College in the US. You can keep up to date with the conference on Facebook and Twitter. Hope to see you there!
Ben White is a writer and activist, author of Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide
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Aaron 07.15.11 at 2:28 pm
The conference is debated on this widely-read Messianic Jewish blog:
http://roshpinaproject.com/2011/06/14/should-messianic-jews-speak-at-christian-anti-zionist-conferences/#comments
I can’t see a single commentator endorsing Richard Harvey’s decision to speak at the conference. As a British Messianic Jew, I can safely say that Richard Harvey does not speak at this conference in my name, and I cannot think of any other British Messianic Jews who would endorse his participation. So not sure where you get your “extreme minority” from, Ben.
paul 02.29.12 at 11:15 am
Cf Websites Online re Nonviolence Manual 101 (as to Apartheid Violence)
Tools, Writers, Syllabi http://home.comcast.net/~nonviolence101/search.htm; http://home.comcast.net/~nonviolence101/; http://nonviolenceinternational.net/?page_id=403;
Updated Monthly => http://home.comcast.net/~apartheid101/search.htm;