A Response to Representatives of the International Messianic Jewish Community to their joint statement on "Christ at the Checkpoint"

Leaders of the UMJC and MJAA joined forces again this month to issue a statement on a matter of deep concern for the Messianic Jewish community. The statement, on the "Christ at the Checkpoint" conference scheduled for March 5-9 in Bethlehem, included leaders of the International Messianic Jewish Alliance and the International Association of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues.

We had a really bad day today. Nine Palestinian very young children were killed and 40 other children injured (some severely) in one horrific fiery traffic accident today and another child was killed in a separate traffic accident...

If Jesus were to be born in Bethlehem today, he would have difficulty crossing from Bethlehem to Jerusalem for the same security reasons. Moreover, Mary and Joseph may have to flee to Canada to avoid the current political turmoil in Egypt.

Munther Isaac- Director, Christ at the Checkpoint Conference, writes about the conference in March 2012 in Bethlehem and quotes Lynne Hybels, co-founder of the Willow Creek Church and one of the speakers at the Conference:
"I am still pro-Israel, but I’ve also become pro-Palestine, pro-peace, and pro-justice and pro-equality for Jews and Arabs living as neighbors in the Holy Land. And the bottom line is always: pro-Jesus!”

Many Christians in America think of Jews and Christians as “us” and anything that sounds Muslim or Arab as “the other.” But the call of Jesus is to be more loving towards the “other” than towards the people we think of as “us.”

It is our Christian duty to become aware of what is going on in political circles and on the ground and then to take a stand with the truth. Christians are not called to be morally passive and politically indifferent but rather to be active in promoting solutions that will bring about reconciliation and an end to the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Jewish settlers, the Israeli government and “Christian Zionists” are the main cause of Palestinian Christian emigration from the Middle East, not the rise of Islamic extremism, according to the chiefs of two Palestinian Christian groups.
In protesting letters to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Anglican Priest Naim Ateek of Sabeel and Kairos Palestine Coordinator Rifat Odeh Kassis chastised the head of the Anglican Communion for citing increasing Islamic extremism as a key factor in the departure of Christians from the region.

Jeff Walton, July 7, 2011, Front Page Magazine

The Secretariat General of the Ecumenical Committee for Christian Education in Palestine decided to apply the Kairos – Palestine document in both the 9th and 10th grades, during its meeting held at the Dar El Kalimah School in Bethlehem.

From abouna.org

Bethlehem Bible College invites you to the upcoming international Christ at the Checkpoint conference which will be held from March 5-9, 2012 at the Convention Palace in Bethlehem, Palestine.

The overarching theme of the conference will be “Hope in the Midst of Conflict”. This conference will build on the success of the first Christ at the Checkpoint conference which was held in March 2010.