AhlulBayt News Agency: The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine warned that using religious rhetoric to justify Israeli occupation policies is a “dangerous deviation,” stressing that such framing risks transforming a political conflict into a religious confrontation that threatens global peace and stability.
The committee, responding on Sunday to televised comments by U.S. Ambassador to Tel Aviv Mike Huckabee about expanding Israeli control in the Middle East, said that invoking religion to legitimize occupation or settlement expansion represents a grave moral and theological distortion.
It strongly condemned Huckabee’s claim of a so‑called “biblical right” for Israel to dominate the region “from the Nile to the Euphrates,” describing it as a dangerous misuse of religious interpretation to justify colonial and expansionist agendas.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson, excerpts of which were released Friday, Huckabee asserted that Israel should control the entire Middle East, basing his argument on religious interpretations and claims of biblical entitlement.
The committee said Huckabee’s remarks undermine international efforts aimed at achieving a just peace based on ending the occupation and respecting human dignity and the rights of peoples.
It emphasized that such discourse contradicts international law, the UN Charter, and even the core teachings of Christianity and the Bible itself.
The committee stressed that religious texts must be understood within their historical and theological context and cannot be used to justify the exclusion of peoples or the confiscation of their national rights.
It added that invoking a “biblical right” constitutes an abuse of religion and reflects the influence of politicized theological currents linked to Christian Zionism, which seeks to use faith to advance political agendas at the expense of justice and human rights.
The committee warned that this approach risks turning a political conflict into a religious one, threatening civil peace and regional and global stability, while fueling extremism and undermining prospects for peace.
It further cautioned that denying Palestinian rights endangers the historic Christian presence in Palestine, weakens religious and cultural diversity, and provides ideological cover for occupation, annexation, and displacement affecting both Muslims and Christians.
The committee urged the U.S. administration to clearly clarify its stance on Huckabee’s remarks in a way consistent with international law and the moral responsibility of political and religious leaders to avoid using religion in political conflicts.
It also renewed its call to churches and Christians worldwide to listen to the voices of Palestinian Christians—native to the land and witnesses to its history—and to reject any theology that uses religion to justify injustice or entrench occupation.
Huckabee’s comments align with broader Israeli expansionist claims, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on August 12, 2025, that he is “deeply committed to the vision of Greater Israel,” which includes occupied Palestinian territories and parts of Arab states from the Euphrates to the Nile—remarks that sparked widespread regional condemnation.
/129
Your Comment