c. 2006 Religion News Service
Robertson Remarks Tying Sharon Illness to God’s `Enmity’ Draw Criticism
(RNS) Jewish leaders and critics of the religious right have condemned comments by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson implying that God’s “enmity” had caused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s recent stroke.
“Sharon was personally a very likable person and I am sad to see him in this condition, but I think we need to look at the Bible and the Book of Joel,” Robertson said on his program Thursday (Jan. 5), the day after Sharon suffered a massive stroke.
“The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who `divide my land.”’
Of Sharon’s deal with the Palestinians to pull out of Gaza, Robertson said: “He was dividing God’s land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU (European Union), the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, `This land belongs to me. You’d better leave it alone.”’
A transcript and video links to Robertson’s comments were distributed by People for the American Way, a liberal activist group and frequent critic of Robertson’s.
“Pat Robertson leaves us speechless with his insensitivity and arrogance,” said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way.
In a statement, Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts said the religious broadcaster “is simply reminding his viewers what the Bible has to say about efforts made to divide the land of Israel.”
Watts added that Robertson was upset that Neas’ office would “lift his comments out of context and widely circulate them in an attempt to discredit him.”
Trent Duffy, a deputy White House press secretary, on Friday told reporters onboard Air Force One that Robertson’s remarks were “wholly inappropriate and offensive, and really don’t have a place in this or any other debate.”
A range of Jewish organizations also reacted to Robertson’s comments.
“The suggestion that Mr. Sharon is being punished by God is profoundly offensive to all Jews, regardless of their religious outlook or political persuasion,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the New York-based Union for Reform Judaism.
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America called Robertson’s remarks “deeply troubling” and Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said they reflected “pure arrogance.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Clergy Union Wins $100,000 Severance Pay for Priest Who Viewed Porn
BORAS, Sweden (RNS) Sweden’s clergy union has secured a 32-month severance package worth about $100,000 for a Lutheran priest who was fired for viewing pornography on church computers.
Mats Johansson Flygg, a union official, said the parish that fired the Church of Sweden priest had insufficient grounds to dismiss him because he did not break any law.
“You can’t sack someone that way. Before you expel someone from their duty as a priest, the person must commit a crime which carries a penalty of not less than two years in prison,” he said.
Flygg said the priest admitted to inadvertently logging onto pornographic sites while researching homosexuality. The cleric’s name was not released because of confidentiality reasons.
After discovering that the priest had viewed pornography on several occasions in the pastor’s office, the Varmlands parish complained to the Karlstad Diocesan Board. A warning was issued by the board but the parish council later dismissed him, saying it was inappropriate for the priest to remain in a position of leadership.
The union stepped in and the parties reached an agreement calling for the retraction of the dismissal and the voluntary resignation of the priest, who served the small parish for about 20 years.
“His severance pay could have been higher because he is just 50 years old. He should have been paid until he reaches 65 but we compromised,” said Flygg, who is also a priest.
The union representative noted that although the priest is still a priest in the church, he cannot serve in the Karlstad Diocese anymore. “I am sure he will try to get new work in another part of the country,” Flygg said.
_ Simon Reeves
Activists Rally Against Deaths of Sudanese Refugees in Egypt
(RNS) U.S. religious and human rights groups are condemning a recent raid by Egyptian police on a camp of Sudanese migrants in Cairo that resulted in at least 20 deaths, although activists say the death toll was far higher.
The Dec. 30 assault was called an “extraordinarily underreported incident” by the Washington-based Institute on Religion and Democracy. The Washington office of Human Rights Watch has called for an independent commission to investigate the matter.
“The high loss of life suggests the police acted with extreme brutality,” said Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East division. “A police force acting responsibly would not have allowed such a tragedy to occur.”
The incident occurred at a squatter camp outside the Cairo office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some 2,500 Sudanese migrants had been encamped outside the office since September, protesting poor living conditions and seeking resettlement to a third country.
As many as 5 million Sudanese _ including Muslims, animists and minority Christians _ have fled their war-raved homeland for exile in Egypt.
Police said the deaths were caused by a stampede of protesters, while migrants said the deaths were the result of police brutality. UNHCR officials condemned the action. “There is no justification for such violence and loss of life,” said Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner.
On Thursday (Jan. 5), several dozen protesters demonstrated outside the Egyptian Embassy in Washington. Mohamed Ahmed, a spokesman for the U.S chapter of the Sudanese Marginalized Forces Forum for Peace and Development, urged the Egyptian ambassador to launch an investigation.
“We are very sad and frustrated about the incident in Cairo, particularly the killing of women and children in a very brutal and unlawful way,” Ahmed said during the protest.
Activists also dispute the death toll. Steven Wondu, the U.S. representative of the Sudanese People Liberation Movement, said tallies collected in Egypt put the death toll at more than 250.
U.N. officials say a 2005 peace agreement would allow those refugees to return home, but the IRD’s Faith McDonnell said it was still unsafe because the peace accord had “yet to fully be implemented.”
_ Chris Herlinger and Enette Ngoei
Ohio Imam Accepts Deportation Order to the Middle East
CLEVELAND (RNS) The spiritual leader of Ohio’s largest mosque agreed Thursday (Jan. 5) to a deportation order after he was convicted of lying about his links to Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations.
Fawaz Damra, the imam at the Islamic Center of Cleveland in Parma, Ohio, will be sent to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt or the Palestinian territories. Damra’s first choice, Canada, rejected his request.
Damra, 44, will remain in a Michigan jail until his deportation is resolved, which could take weeks or months, said Matt Albence, deputy special agent for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Friends and supporters expressed regret and sympathy for Damra. “He agreed to be deported just to get away from it, to put it behind him,” said Haider Alawan, a close friend.
“It’s been very trying and hard for his wife and children.”
Federal agents arrested Damra at his home in November, and government attorneys immediately began deportation actions. A jury in federal court in Akron convicted Damra in 2004 of lying about his links to Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations when he applied for U.S. citizenship in 1994. A judge sentenced him to two months in prison and stripped him of his citizenship.
Alawan said he didn’t believe his friend was a threat to anyone.
“Just because they’re going to deport him doesn’t mean he’s guilty of anything,” Alawan said.
Damra was born in the West Bank and came to the United States in 1988. He and his wife, Nasreen, have three children.
“It’s a decision that will have to be made between him and his wife and the children,” Alawan said. “They’re American, so it’s going to be rough to change.”
_ James F. McCarty
Quote of the Day: Islamic sorority founder Althia Collins
(RNS) “Partying is allowed in Islam, but it’s how you party. You can have fun with girls and it doesn’t have to include men.”
_ Althia Collins, an Alexandria, Va., businesswoman who has helped create Gamma Gamma Chi, the nation’s first Islamic sorority. She was quoted by The Washington Times.
KRE/PH END RNS
