Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Epistle to the Moonbats, 11 Mar 2008
The book's many factual errors and omissions have been thoroughly exposed by now. Whose Land? indeed teems with fabrications, half-truths and the mendacious employment of quotes to present a much distorted picture of the Middle East conflict, obviously with the intent of making Israel the guilty party and the Arabs the innocent victims. Only those already biased against Israel, like moonbats of the far left and antisemite wingnuts of the far right will find this book of any value.
Burge stops just short of endorsing the murder of innocent civilians while falsely accusing humanitarian Christian organizations with impeccable credentials of being minions of Israeli politicians. He conceals the real reason why Palestinian Christians are leaving the territories: Muslim oppression, instead blaming the ongoing emigration on Israel. For an excellent study of the demographics of the region, I recommend From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters.
Burge demands of a country under siege a utopian standard of behavior while ignoring the brutality and human rights abuses of groups like Hamas and the PLO, as well as the Arab countries surrounding the Jewish State. The religious Apartheid of Saudi Arabia is never mentioned nor the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt. For verifiable facts about religious freedom in the Levant, please see Because They Hate by Brigitte Gabriel and Now They Call Me Infidel by Nonie Darwish.
With the exception of Lebanon, there is no democracy amongst Israel's neighbors. This does not concern Burge at all. So the facts that around 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs and 16% of its citizens are Muslims are not important to him. For the record, at the last check its Arab citizens were represented by 10 members in the Israeli parliament belonging to three political parties: Balad, Hadash and the United Arab List - Ta'al. Writers that ignore facts like the aforementioned have an agenda.
The terrible history of Christian Antisemitism is revealed by books like inter alia The Crucifixion of the Jews by Franklin Littell and Christian Antisemitism by William Nicholls. Often referred to by the euphemism "Anti-Judaism," it is the same thing with the same fruits: oppression, humiliation, expulsion and murder. It has been in existence for 19 centuries and helped to fan the flames of the Holocaust - see Our Hands Are Stained with Blood by Michael L Brown and The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Antisemitism by David Kertzer. The specific doctrine is called Replacement Theology or Supercessionism. Gary Burge is an adherent.
These are some of the signs of a Christian Antisemite:
1) Some form of (mostly covert) Replacement Theology. 2) Extreme allegorizing of the Jewish scriptures, in particular the twisting of Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel in order to usurp every promise for "the church" or arguing that the original texts refer to Christ. 3) The blurring of the distinction between the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant regarding ownership of the land and the conditional Mosaic Covenant of laws. 4) A formless, ethereal view of mankind's ultimate destiny wherein no distinctive cultures or national identities survive since all become "one in Christ". 5) A cursory treatment or derisive view of the facts that led to the rebirth of Israel and of the subsequent wars. 6) An undertone of disdain and malice towards the Jewish people that cannot be totally concealed, although they try hard.
In Whose Land? The hostility towards Israel is slightly more subtle than in the work of Burge's associates Stephen Sizer and Naim Ateek. Christians must be very discerning when reading Leftist theologians like these, as well as of course those Rightwing Christian Antisemites like Pat Buchanan. For further information on replacement theology and its current manifestations, I highly recommend Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged by Barry Horner. Paul Charles Merkley's illuminating Christian Attitudes to the State of Israel has the facts on where various Christian denominations stand today on the issue of the Jewish State.
I do not recommend Whose Land? Whose Promise? to anyone seeking objective facts about the tragic and dangerous situation in the Middle East. Moonbats, wingnuts and replacementistas who are consumed by the most ancient hatred will certainly have their prejudices reinforced by it. For those truly searching for truth, the best place to start is Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell Bard.
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14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Attempt to deligitimize Israel, 11 Mar 2008
The book's plethora of factual errors and omissions has been thoroughly exposed by the experts. Whose Land? indeed teems with fabrications, half-truths and the mendacious employment of quotes to paint a much distorted picture of the Middle East conflict with the intent of making Israel the guilty party and the Arabs the innocent victims.
That the Middle East conflict is politically and morally complex, is not in dispute. People of good will have different opinions about the issues, but when the unending misery of so vast an area is consistently blamed on a few million people in a tiny country and when at the same time all the wrongs of the globe are blamed on less than 0.5% of its population, one ought to become highly suspicious.
Burge stops just short of endorsing the murder of innocent civilians while falsely accusing humanitarian Christian organizations with impeccable credentials of being minions of Israeli politicians. Paul Charles Merkley's illuminating Christian Attitudes to the State of Israel provides a more balanced look at Christian groups in the Holy Land. Burge also conceals the real reason why Palestinian Christians are leaving the territories: Muslim oppression, and instead blames the ongoing emigration on Israel. For an excellent study of the demographics of the region, I recommend From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters.
Burge demands of a country under siege an impossibly high standard of behavior while ignoring the brutality and human rights abuses of groups like Hamas and the PLO, as well as the dismal situation in Arab countries surrounding the Jewish State. The religious Apartheid of Saudi Arabia is never mentioned nor the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt. For verifiable facts about religious freedom in the Levant, please see Because They Hate by Brigitte Gabriel and Now They Call Me Infidel by Nonie Darwish.
With the exception of Lebanon, democracy is absent amongst Israel's neighbors. This does not concern Burge at all. So the facts that around 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs and 16% of its citizens are Muslims are not important to him. For the record, at the last check its Arab citizens were represented by 10 members in the Israeli parliament belonging to three political parties: Balad, Hadash and the United Arab List - Ta'al. Writers that ignore facts like these have an agenda.
Books like The Crucifixion of the Jews by Franklin Littell and Christian Antisemitism by William Nicholls reveal the awful history of Christian Antisemitism. Often referred to by the euphemism "Anti-Judaism," it is the same thing with the same fruits: oppression, humiliation, expulsion and murder. It has been in existence for 19 centuries and helped to fan the flames of the Holocaust - see Our Hands Are Stained With Blood by Michael L Brown and The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Antisemitism by David Kertzer. The specific doctrine is called Replacement Theology or Supercessionism. Gary Burge is an adherent.
These are some of the signs of a Christian Antisemite:
1) Some form of (mostly covert) Replacement Theology. 2) Extreme allegorizing of the Jewish scriptures, in particular the twisting of Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel in order to usurp every promise for "the church" or arguing that the original texts refer to Christ. 3) The blurring of the distinction between the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant regarding ownership of the land and the conditional Mosaic Covenant of laws. 4) A formless, ethereal view of mankind's ultimate destiny wherein no distinctive cultures or national identities survive since all become "one in Christ". 5) A cursory treatment or derisive view of the facts that led to the rebirth of Israel and of the subsequent wars. 6) An undertone of disdain and malice towards the Jewish people that cannot be totally concealed, although they try hard.
There seems to be a concerted campaign to deligitimize Israel by Anglicans like Burge, Stephen Sizer and Naim Ateek. Christians must be very discerning when reading Leftist theologians like these, as well as of course those Rightwing Christian Antisemites like Pat Buchanan. For further information on replacement theology and its current manifestations, I highly recommend Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged by Barry Horner. The aforementioned book by Paul Merkley has the facts on where various Christian denominations stand today on the issue of the Jewish State.
I do not recommend Whose Land? Whose Promise? to anyone seeking objective facts about the tragic and dangerous situation in the Middle East. For those honestly searching for truth, the best place to start is Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell Bard.
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19 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading title reveals hidden agenda, bias and hostility., 18 Jul 2003
This book presents a cloaked attack upon what are described herein as "Christian Zionists" as well as the State of Israel itself. We are presented with an extremely selective criticism of what is clearly outlined in the Hebrew-Christian Bible pertaining to the Eternal heritage of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.The tone of this work very much borders on Replacement Theology, promoting an agenda which can but isolate Israel & the Jewish people, and which is utterly devoid of any Scriptural accuracy or depth. Very disturbing when this is supposed to be a book promoting a so called "Christian" perspective. Even from the cover picture depicting a Palestinian child facing an Israeli tank, the book presents a veiled hostility against the Jews, Israeli Government policy and all those who would support the Jewish State at this time. A number of renown experts in Biblical Prophecy are named and criticised. Some individual aspects of Biblical Prophecy are even themselves criticised, but no veritable alternative or interpretation is included. A number of wonderful Christian organisations who are supportive of Israel also receive much unwarranted, baseless criticism. Much reference is made here of the ‘Palestinian issue', but only in an extremely selective manner which is utterly supportive of the Palestinian ‘cause' and extremely biased and hostile towards the Israelis. Whilst not exactly going as far as "justifying" Palestinian terrorism and the murder of innocent Israeli civilians, the book pulls no punches in it's tone which alleges that some of the major causes of the strife that has resulted in terrorism and the loss of so many Israeli and Palestinian lives is the "theft of Palestinian land...." etc.. The Israeli side of the story is largely ignored here, in what I can only, respectfully, describe as a personal attack upon Zionism and Israel. Having studied the field of Biblical prophecy, Israel & the Holocaust for approaching 30 years I find it difficult in words alone to express the dismay that I felt whilst analysing this work. As a Christian I feel dismayed to find myself reminded that much of the anti-Jewish sentiments prevalent in some elements of the Church during the latter period still exist. I cannot recommend this book. Thank you.
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