{"id":1073,"date":"2007-07-06T14:54:42","date_gmt":"2007-07-06T14:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godspolitics\/2007\/07\/duane-shank-reality-vs-rhetori.html"},"modified":"2007-07-06T14:54:42","modified_gmt":"2007-07-06T14:54:42","slug":"duane-shank-reality-vs-rhetori","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2007\/07\/duane-shank-reality-vs-rhetori.html","title":{"rendered":"Duane Shank: Reality vs. Rhetoric on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy is so eager to attack Sojourners that he rarely pays attention to the facts. And, we usually ignore his smear tactics. But there are occasions when he steps over the line. His recent column, “Sojourners for Hamas,”<\/a> in which he attacks God’s Politics contributing blogger Philip Rizk’s article, “Christians in Gaza,” <\/a> is one of those occasions.
\nFor Tooley, it seems that Rizk\u2019s biggest sin is that he is trying to explain the reasons for the growing strength of Hamas and extreme Islamist groups in Gaza. Rizk cites a World Bank study on the desperate economic conditions in Gaza and writes, \u201cIn light of the constantly deteriorating situation in Gaza, extremism has been on the rise\u2026\u201d and that this situation is largely due to \u201cthe economic siege placed on the Gaza Strip because of the Hamas government.\u201d To Tooley, simply noting this obvious reality means that Rizk (and by extension, Sojourners), \u201cexcoriates the U.S. and opponents of Hamas\u201d for the violence in Gaza and earns us the inflammatory title of his piece.
\nBut Rizk\u2019s is hardly a unique observation. A new report covered in The Jerusalem Post<\/em>\u2014“Rights group: Israel ruining economy in Gaza Strip”<\/a> notes that in Gaza, \u201cEighty-five percent of the population is already dependent on food aid from international organizations and the number is growing.\u201d The report was issued by an Israeli human rights organization, Gisha<\/a>, whose “goal is to protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians, especially Gaza residents, [and] promote rights guaranteed by international and Israeli law. ”
\nThe Gisha report was also covered by the British newspaper The Guardian<\/em> in this story: “Blockade helps Gaza militants, says report.”<\/a> It notes the report\u2019s conclusion that \u201cIsrael’s latest blockade of Gaza is threatening to destroy the territory’s commercial sector and drive more people into the hands of extremists \u2026 The report by Gisha, an Israeli human rights organization, concludes that the increase in poverty and dependency will lead to a further radicalization of Gaza’s population, which will cause further violence and attacks on foreigners \u2026\u201d
\nAccording to Tooley’s logic, I guess that also makes Gisha\u2014whose board of directors and staff includes Israeli law professors, military veterans, and other human rights advocates\u2014apologists for Hamas.
\nJust for the record, Sojourners supports Israel’s right to exist and live in peace and security. We have consistently condemned terrorism\u2014the deliberate use of violence against innocent civilians. And we have said that no matter what the grievances or injustices, deliberate violence against civilians must be universally and unequivocally condemned. Killing innocent civilians (often families and children) is evil and must be steadfastly opposed. We have also opposed the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the resulting human rights violations. Trying to explain the causes of extremist terrorism, as Philip Rizk did and as Gisha has, does not make them, or us, apologists. It means we look at the real world rather than an ideology.
\nDuane Shank<\/strong> is the senior policy adviser for Sojourners\/Call to Renewal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy is so eager to attack Sojourners that he rarely pays attention to the facts. And, we usually ignore his smear tactics. But there are occasions when he steps over the line. His recent column, “Sojourners for Hamas,” in which he attacks God’s Politics contributing blogger Philip…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDuane Shank: Reality vs. Rhetoric on Gaza - God's Politics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2007\/07\/duane-shank-reality-vs-rhetori.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Duane Shank: Reality vs. Rhetoric on Gaza - God's Politics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy is so eager to attack Sojourners that he rarely pays attention to the facts. 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