Stephen Sizer: Persona Non Grata in Iran
This is a guest post by efrafandays
Like Seismic Analysis, I share the pain at reports of the Rev. Dr. Stephen Sizer’s being refused a visa to attend a conference on Palestine in Iran. Call me old Mr. Unadventurous, but I would be reluctant to attend *any* conference hosted by the Khomenist regieme never mind those which are even remotely connected toIsrael but, although I can choose my friends on a more sound criterion than being refused a visa to Iran, this potentially allays some of the criticisms of Sizer which I discussed in the latter part of this missive.
When visiting Iran last winter for… erm… another “conference”, Bibles and Christian literature had been found in Sizer’s luggage. Instead of – as I would hope any self-proclaimed Christian evangelical and proponent of replacement theology would do – admitting he was concerned for the pastoral care of his Iranian brethren and sistren, as I stated:
He was at pains to assure Iranian authorities that his “primary objective is not to plant a church” but to discuss the inquities of “Christian Zionism”.
Maybe this didn’t wash with the Khomenist authorities, especially as in the link to Sizer’s page I give above, he states:
On March 5th 2009, two Iranian Christian women, Miss Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad (30), and Miss Maryam Rustampoor (27), were arrested by the Iranian security forces. Their only crime is that they are committed Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus. They are being unfairly labelled as ‘anti-government activists’, because of the hostility of the government towards practising Christians.
(Of course, the risk to these two unfortunate women is real and high, and I do not wish to impute any negative comment towards them.)
I would hope that Sizer does not now push ‘Islamophobia’, in which he considers having a go at Israel to be more important than caring for fellow Christians and proselyting his faith to non-Christians individuals in Muslim majority countries; just as I would hope he does not hint at anti-Arab racism in which he uses the epithet “Children of Hagar” [1] as a pejorative. However, I am left with a lingering sense of an obsequiousness towards the Khomenists in his missive.
But from little acorns and all that… G-d speed, Stephen!
[1] I stress I do not believe that Arab ethnicity and ownership of of modern Israel and adjacent territories and/or states can be justified through ancient Biblical verses. Then again, unlike some people, I am not attempting to disinherit an entire national group through my own exegesis of a verse in Galatians. I also don’t think the I-word or the Z-word is a bad word.
Comments
| 18 May 2009, 9:10 am |
Surely it is time that Stephen Sizer was given his own show on Press TV.
| 18 May 2009, 9:14 am |
And of course I know it’s Seismic *Shock*.
I’ve just opened the gates to hell at Efrafa Warren, have I not?
| 18 May 2009, 9:33 am |
Contrast the visit by a non-Jewish Iranian to Israel:
http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/persianabyss/entry/an_iranian_in_tel_aviv
| 18 May 2009, 9:42 am |
Oh well. Stephen’s congregants in sunny Virginia Water will now be able to hear even more of his preaching in the summer holidays.
| 18 May 2009, 9:50 am |
“sunny Virginia Water”
Are you sure?
| 18 May 2009, 9:55 am |
Barad, from your article, I love:
“an Iranian man in his forties…complains that Israel is a socialist country and that it is impossible to make money here with all the taxes and regulations.”
http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/persianabyss/entry/an_iranian_in_tel_aviv
| 18 May 2009, 9:56 am |
“They are being unfairly labelled as ‘anti-government activists’, because of the hostility of the government towards practising Christians.”
How long, do you reckon, before we find out who’s really to blame?
| 18 May 2009, 9:57 am |
Pearl Harbour is better looking, Zkharya.
| 18 May 2009, 10:25 am |
Stephen Sizer very much favours a Palestinian state, and has before called for such a state to be a ‘one state.’ He said this, not at an Arab League or UN or other such international gathering, but at a conference in Indonesia alongside reps of Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah:
http://seismicshock.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/stephen-sizer-responds-to-criticism/
Now let’s imagine there were a Palestinian “one state” with the Iranian-backed Hamas in power. What would be the implications for the Christians in the region? Surely the tragic situation of Marzieh and Maryam would repeat itself in Palestine.
I hope that Rev Sizer has realised this and is reconsidering his alliances. If he wants a Palestinian state then surely he would desire it to be a state in which minorities are treated fairly. Especially as Sizer claims that Israel’s failure to treat its minorities fairly means that its existence cannot be justified Biblically.
The denial of his visa into Iran is most welcome news, and highlights the differences between the worldviews between Sizer and the Khomeinists. Stephen Sizer is in a very influential position and can use his pulpit to highlight the plight of Christians such as Marzieh and Maryam. It is encouraging that he has found his voice to stick up for his fellow Christians and I hope his ministry moves further in this direction.
| 18 May 2009, 10:35 am |
Barad, from your article, I love:
“an Iranian man in his forties…complains that Israel is a socialist country and that it is impossible to make money here with all the taxes and regulations.”
http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/persianabyss/entry/an_iranian_in_tel_aviv
Zharya,
Not my experience of Israel these days-there are very poor and very rich people but the days of the kibbutzim and socialism are well past from what I see.
Cue angry posting from a kibbutznik…
B.
| 18 May 2009, 11:05 am |
I stress I do not believe that Arab ethnicity and ownership of of modern Israel and adjacent territories and/or states can be justified through ancient Biblical verses.
Its OK not to believe in any of that. The problem is that Hamas, hezbollah and many Islamist Muslims believe Israel is “Muslim Land” based on their close adherence to he Koran and so its worth replying in the same way and point them to the part of The Koran where God gave Israel to His Chosen People.
Either we all agree with the religious element or all agree to keep religion out of it.
| 18 May 2009, 11:08 am |
You are right regarding socialism etc in Israel, Barad. However, the decline of all that stuff has not meant that the sluggish bureaucracy and red tape that they brought in their wake have disappeared. If only….
| 18 May 2009, 12:17 pm |
“The problem is that Hamas, hezbollah and many Islamist Muslims believe Israel is “Muslim Land” based on their close adherence to he Koran and so its worth replying in the same way and point them to the part of The Koran where God gave Israel to His Chosen People”
Until fairly recently the Palestinian cause ws advanced on more or less secular grounds whether nationalisrt, marxist or “third world/anti imperialist.
With the advance of militant Islamism such secular advocacy seems to have declined and Palestinian advocates seem to back Islamist groups – “We are all Hezbollah”.
And yet froma secular popint of view surely the Islamist case for Palestine is the worst possible one – obscurantist and mediaeval – and of the kind that no leftist would support in any other circumnstances. If you want to look at the “Islamist” case objectively and equitably, with 56 odd Muslim states and a single Jewish one Israel would have to win the argument hands down.
Don’t mistake me – I’m not saying this is all there is to it. A Palestinian state alongside Israel may well justifiable on other grounds and I don’t doubt that Palestinians have many grievances. I find it astonishing however how uncritically the argument proceeding form “Islam” seem to have been digested by (erstwhile?) secular supporters of the Palestinians despite being the very worst argument that could be deployed on their behalf. Jerusalem may well be Islam’s 3rd holiest place but it is Judaism’s only one!
| 18 May 2009, 12:30 pm |
Stephen Sizer: Persona Non Grata in Iran
Not just in Iran.
| 18 May 2009, 12:35 pm |
THIS IS IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS
Some commenters have tried to insinuate lies into my mind about Quilliam being anti-Israeli. They (Quilliam) have told me that they risk their lives supporting the existence of Israel – which has nothing to do with critcising Israeli policies and ex? Nazi ministers.
You Gadarene swine of the hard line! Pull down your underpants for a change, unstitch your tight arses and let love in. My metaphor is drawn from the science of sexology.
GET BACK TO YOUR THREAD, undeserving bastards.
| 18 May 2009, 12:42 pm |
Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka…
| 18 May 2009, 1:00 pm |
So what? He can easily claim it’s because of zionism, Jews and whatnot
| 18 May 2009, 1:51 pm |
Sizer and other supercessionist Christians who sup with the devils of Islam and consort with religious and political antisemites will come a cropper one day.
The Christian religious antisemites and apologists for Islam, knowing practically nothing of Islam, its aims and tactics and its opinions of them as filthy kaffirs – though repeated ad nauseam by the chiefest clerics of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran etc -may believe that they are potentially protecting themselves and the remnants of Christian communities in Muslim countries, and in those European countnries being gradually islamised. They are sadly mistaken.
And Sizer is a disgusting, amoral coward, whose full conviction of the truth of Christianity is questionable in the light of his mealy-mouthed explanation to the jihadist regime of Iran.
| 18 May 2009, 2:19 pm |
” “sunny Virginia Water”
Are you sure?”
zkharya. It is sunny there today. Are you, perchance, inferring that Stephen’s congregants do not fall asleep in the back of his sermons and are willing imbibers of his ghastly version of replacement theology?
| 18 May 2009, 2:41 pm |
I would hope that Sizer does not now push ‘Islamophobia’, in which he considers having a go at Israel to be more important than caring for fellow Christians
I have my doubts.
Iran has for decades prohibited people from bringing bibles into the country, and I’m sure Sizer has been fully aware of that policy
| 18 May 2009, 3:06 pm |
“zkharya. It is sunny there today. Are you, perchance, inferring that Stephen’s congregants do not fall asleep in the back of his sermons and are willing imbibers of his ghastly version of replacement theology?”
No. It’s just raining in Cardiff. Are you one of his congregants?
| 18 May 2009, 3:08 pm |
“Pearl Harbour is better looking, Zkharya.”
Hawaii. Of course.
“But Pearl Harbour sucks, and I love you”.
| 18 May 2009, 3:12 pm |
the problem is your words ” entire national group” . Do you mean to say that all Palestinians are of one ethnic identity? You would be wrong. Try doing more research. You will find that there are a whole bunch of enthic mixes in the pot, there is enough data of every invasion, settlements by Arabs, maps dating 1830 showing the origin and language of all. When you suppose this you must then suppose that Jews were never there. You would be wrong. Have you ever heard of the thriving Jewish community of Gaza in the 16th century, or the ancient Hebron community, do they not have just as much a right to dignity?
While knowing will not solve any of today’s problems, it does shatter a myth – the indigenous Arabs and the invading Jews. Simply not true. Research the last five hundred years before you say that.
Israel’s ethos is not based on a bible verse but historic ties that go way back, the Bible only illustrates that, all the place names are familiar and real.
As to Stephen Sizer , he is naive, stupid and igonorant, which there is no need for, he could easily be far more well informed, there is enough information out there today. He chooses to ignore at the expense of many voices who disagree with him totally and not just on Christian or Jewish issues.
| 18 May 2009, 4:55 pm |
“No. It’s just raining in Cardiff. Are you one of his congregants”
No. I’m Jewish.
| 18 May 2009, 7:48 pm |
“As to Stephen Sizer , he is naive, stupid and igonorant, which there is no need for, he could easily be far more well informed, there is enough information out there today.” – donas.
I don’t think that’s the whole story somehow. There’s accidental ignorance, which if you’ve got any sense holds you back from making pronouncements on the subject in question, and there’s deliberate ignorance. Which raises questions about why ignorance is deliberately chosen.
I shall be down near Virginia Water soon, as my son lives round there. I may take something along to throw during the sermon.
| 19 May 2009, 9:50 am |
My dear Felix -you seem to be taking my criticism of a certain aspect of Quiiliam’s methodology very much to heart and I’m not quite sure why.
As I’ve said before, I support their general aims and admire much of their work, but on the issue of blaming Islamist extremism in the UK on things that happen in Israel, I think they are failing to analyse the root causes of extremism correctly and fear that their aims will be compromised by the use of this rather lazy argument.
‘They (Quilliam) have told me that they risk their lives supporting the existence of Israel – which has nothing to do with critcising Israeli policies and ex? Nazi ministers.’
Now my medic’s black humour side would retort to this by saying that I didn’t know they’d joined the IDF, but seriously Felix, don’t you think it’s very indicative of the true characteristics of the situation that Quilliam’s members say that in supporting Israel’s existance they are endangering their lives -presumably they mean that the threats come from their own community -and yet all these people like the various Roses, Chomskys et al who advocate Israel’s demise do not suffer threats from within their own community?
As I have also stated before, Avigdor Lieberman is far removed from my way of thinking, but I think that it is also lazy to brand him as a Nazi (not to mention tasteless) -I have yet to see what fascist policies he has implimented since coming to power.
I guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one Felix. I simply cannot give carte blanche endorsement of any particular body’s policies just because I agree with their general aims. I truly believe that Quilliam have made a wrong call on this one, just as I truly believe that it is ridiculous to blame anti-Semitism in Europe on Israel’s policies and actions.
If we really want to solve the problems of Islamist extremism and Leftist anti-Semitism we need to look behind the fig leaf of blaming Israel for these two blights on our society.
“They are being unfairly labelled as ‘anti-government activists’”
That is not an unfair label. It’s perfectly reasonable given that it is the Islamic Rebulbic of Iran. In a theocratic state, of course rival religions are seen as subversive!