World Vision is a “Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.”[i]
Yet World Vision instead of promoting peace by bringing the opposing parties together to explore areas of mutual agreement have engaged in rhetoric and implemented policies that polarise the situation. By doing so they make the possibility of a negotiated peace even more remote.
World Vision promotes a highly politicized and biased agenda, placing sole blame for the continuation of the conflict on Israel and paying little attention to legitimate Israeli security concerns or Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians. This includes calling the security barrier “illegal,”[ii] ignoring the fact that the barrier was built in the wake of the second intifada in which Israeli civilians were the targets of near daily suicide bombings.
World Vision Australia financially supports the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network[iii], which was established “by church leaders who saw a particular role for Christians to advocate from a faith perspective about Palestinian human rights.”
The Ecumenical Network “find inspiration and direction from the Kairos Palestine document[iv],” which denies Jewish historical connections to the land of Israel. The ecumenical network’s website features an “online resources” page, which includes texts that challenge Christian Zionism, as well as books and articles written by Naim Ateek, founder of anti-Israel NGO Sabeel[v], and others. Its website also promoted a May 16, 2014 event, organized by Friends of Palestine Western Australia, entitled “Commemorate Al Nakba: Protest Israeli Apartheid.“
World Vision endorsed the film, “With God on Our Side[vi],” which attacks Christian support for Israel and presents an “anti-Jewish theology” and “biased misunderstanding of ‘Jews,’ ‘Zionist,’ and ‘Israel.’” The film was condemned [vii] for being “biased, simplistic, and factually incorrect.” World Vision has since distanced itself from the film in a statement responding to its work and advocacy in the Middle East. But even in that statement, it cannot acknowledge Arab actions that foster military activity.
Tom Getman, former head of Palestinian operations[viii], has expressed virulently antisemitic hatred of the “Zionist enterprise” and its “idolatry.” In a video interview with Rev. Steven Sizer, Getman referred to members of Hezbollah as his “friends,” seeking their guidance regarding his position on Israel.
World Vision issued a joint statement[ix] on November 19, 2012, with 44 other highly politicized organizations, including American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)[x], Care International[xi], DanChurchAid[xii], Diakonia[xiii], Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)[xiv], Save the Children[xv], and Norwegian Refugee Council[xvi], calling on the international community to “apply immediate pressure on the government of Israel” and warning of a “widespread humanitarian disaster in Gaza brought on by a prolonged [Israeli] military occupation.”
The organization presents biased and historically inaccurate description of the conflict in its “Brief History of the Region[xvii].” The “history” fails to mention the Arab invasion that led to the 1948 War of Independence. Similarly, the profile offers no background or context to the 1967 Six Day War that led to Israel’s control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip simply stating that, “In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.”
During the 2014 Gaza war, World Vision called for a ceasefire, but stated[xviii] that, “There is no sign at the moment that this latest cycle of violence will contribute anything towards ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and therefore will not bring security for Israel.”
In 2010, World Vision reportedly financed a youth center[xix] named after Palestinian terrorist Abu Jihad[xx], a founder of Fatah who planned numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis, including a 1978 bus hijacking, which resulted in the death of 37 civilians.
In a July 14, 2004 in an opinion piece in The Age (Melbourne), World Vision Australia’s Chief Executive Tim Costello described the security barrier as “part of the problem, not part of the solution[xxi],” evoking the highly politicized claim that the barrier “is reminiscent of the Cold War and Eastern Bloc oppression.” Costello’s comparison reflects the Palestinian propaganda effort to compare the Berlin Wall, designed to keep citizens from fleeing, with Israel’s security barrier, which protects Israel’s citizens.
Put together, World Vision has been expousing and implementing an agenda that portrays Israel as the sole cause of Arab suffering in the Middle East and either ignores or obfuscates the contribution of Arab Militant Islamism, terrorism and corruption. Somehow World Vision cannot see that Arab leaders governing the West Bank and Gaza have offered no other peace solution to their people except further violence which has only brought them injury, misery, loss, ruin and death.
Endnotes
[i] World Vision, Homepage, www.wvi.org/es, accessed 4 September 2016.
[ii] World Vision, Alone: Palestinian Children in the Israeli Military Detention System. http://wvi.org/jerusalem-west-bank-gaza/video/alone-palestinian-children-israeli-military-detention- Accessed 4 September 2016.
[iii] Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network, About Page. http://pien.org.au/about/. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[iv] NGO Monitor (2 July 2012). BDS IN THE PEWS: European, US, and Canadian Government Funding Behind Anti-Israel Activism in Mainline Churches. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[v] NGO Monitor (16 Feb 2014). Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[vi] Rooftop Productions. With God on Our Side. http://www.withgodonourside.com/ Accessed 4 September 2016.
[vii] Freund J G (2011). A response to With God on Our Side. https://www.scribd.com/doc/49980263/A-Response-to-the-film-With-God-on-Our-Side#download. Accessed 4 September 3016.
[viii] Neuer, H (19 August 2016), http://www.unwatch.org/un-watch-op-ed-jerusalem-report-aid-workers-aiding-hamas/. UN Watch. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[ix] World Vision et al (19 November 2012). WV JWG Releases Joint Statement with AIDA. http://wvi.org/middle-east/pressrelease/wv-jwg-releases-joint-statement-aida. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[x] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/ngos/american_friends_service_committee_afsc_/.
[xi] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/ngos/care/
[xii] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/funder/danchurchaid_denmark/.
[xiii] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/funder/diakonia/.
[xiv] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/ngos/medical_aid_for_palestinians_map_/.
[xv] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/ngos/save_the_children_fund/.
[xvi] http://www.ngo-monitor.org/funder/norwegian_refugee_council_/.
[xvii] World Vision (date). A brief history of the Region. https://web.archive.org/web/20040207192727/http:/www.wvi.org/wvi/country_profile/profiles/jwbg.htm. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[xviii] World Vision (15 July 2014). Attacks that kill children have to be stopped immediately, says World Vision. http://www.wvi.org/jerusalem-west-bank-gaza/pressrelease/attacks-kill-children-have-be-stopped-immediately-says-world.
[xix] Marcus, I and Zilberdick, N (29 March 2010). Australian Christian charity funds
terrorist “Abu Jihad Youth Center”, http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1943. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[xx] Bolt, A (27 March 2010). How World Vision helped fund a monument to a Jew killer. Erald Sun. http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/how_world_vision_helped_fund_a_monument_to_a_jew_killer/desc/P0. Accessed 4 September 2016.
[xxi] Costello, (14 July 2004). For the children’s sake, tear down this wall! Fairfax Digital. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/13/1089694355635.html. Accessed 4 September 2016.
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