Dear ,

I am happy to share with you December's newsletter from the Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism (ISCZ). Please find below our most recent post, "Uninvited in Advent: Church Chooses Silence over Solidarity," by Rev. Dr. Shannon Smythe.

In addition, Bad Theology: Busted | Episode 3 - The History of Christian Zionism with Rev. Dr. Stephen Sizer, is now live and publicly available for download!

Also find the following recommendations:

• The latest Librarian's Corner, an author spotlight and reading recommendation from ISCZ Library Manager Deanna Roberts
• A link to the new "Last Christian in Bethlehem" YouTube channel, featuring videos and interviews from the forthcoming film, giving voice to Palestinian Christians facing an existential threat to their lives in the Holy Land. 
• A holiday season resource from Friends of Sabeel North America, "FOSNA's Guide to Difficult Conversations about Christian Zionism."
• A recording of the FOSNA Michigan regional conference, "Never Again for Anyone: Mobilizing an Interfaith Movement Against Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing & Genocide in Palestine" (AM Session | PM Session)
• An opportunity to support the essential work of ISCZ

All the best,

Jesse Steven Wheeler

Associate Executive Director, FOSNA: A Christian Voice for Palestine

Khaled al-Hassan (1928-1994) was an early adviser of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) leader and a founder of the Palestinian resistance organization Fatah. Al-Hassan was born in Haifa and he and his family lived there until Israel's capture of the city in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. His family settled in Sidon, Lebanon, but he left for Egypt where he was briefly detained "just for being Palestinian." Upon his release, he reunited with his family in Lebanon and lived there for a while until relocating first to Syria and then Kuwait. In addition to numerous interviews and press statements, al-Hassan published several booklets in Arabic and one book in English setting out his views on a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Published in 1992, Grasping the nettle of peace: a senior Palestinian figure speaks out advocates for a bold confederation model for Mideast peace, suggesting that Israel, Palestine, and Jordan form a Swiss-style union with shared governance, a position that challenged the mainstream PLO view of the day.