Diego Garcia Deal Stokes Debate on Islanders' Right to Self-Determination

A U.S. Navy sub calls at the American base at Diego Garcia, 2022 (USN)

Published Dec 24, 2025 1:57 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

Having delayed the legislative process in the face of growing opposition to the plan to surrender sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territories to Mauritius, the British government is planning an attempt to force the legislation through the UK Parliament after the Christmas recess.  The legislation provides for a lease-back arrangement which will allow for the continued operation of the US Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia.

From a security perspective, the terms of the deal have already been questioned.  Once sovereignty is handed over, there would be no recourse should the Mauritius government, a close ally of China, renege on aspects of the deal; potentially the Mauritians could license other governments to establish quasi-commercial facilities on the outer islands. A Mauritian presence would be established on Diego Garcia itself, in theory symbolic but able to monitor activity at the base.  Provisions requiring prior warning should the base be used to launch operations against third parties undermine one of the key strategic values of the facility.

The case for Mauritius to take control over the Chagos historically enjoyed international support in the UN General Assembly and elsewhere on the basis that it was an anti-colonial move, even though Mauritius had never governed the Chagos and signed away any right to do so in 1965.

But in the light of the agreement, anti-colonial sentiment is now swinging away from Mauritius, which will in effect become the colonial power over the Chagos, to backing the right of the Chagossian people to self-determination.  Chagossians were not consulted when Mauritius and the United Kingdom came to their recent agreement.

Reflecting this extraordinary reversal, exiled Chagos islanders have now elected one of their number as their First Minister, and plan a fight to assert their right to self-determination.  The newly-elected First Minister, ex-British soldier Misley Mandarin, has said that Mauritius has no connection whatsoever to the Chagos islands, and that Mauritius does not recognize the rights of Chagossians descendants to return to the islands. He contends that a majority of Chagossians are happy for Diego Garcia to be reserved for the US Naval Support Facility, but says Chagossians want the right to return to the outer islands of the archipelago and to remain British citizens. He also contends that the Mauritian interest in the Chagos was only ever a lever to extract another financial settlement from the United Kingdom.

One of the international organization’s premier forums for liberal, anti-colonial discourse, the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, has expressed ‘deep concern’ over the agreement, noting that it ‘explicitly prevents the return of the Chagossian people to their ancestral lands in Diego Garcia Island’.  The committee called ‘on both Mauritius and the United Kingdom to suspend ratification of the agreement, and to engage immediately in a renewed dialogue to ensure the free, prior and informed consent of the Chagossian people’.

The fate of the Chagos Archipelago was never definitively ruled upon by the United Nations General Assembly or the International Court of Justice, whose opinions were advisory.  It remains to be seen if the British government – whose Prime Minister and Attorney General are both human rights lawyers - pays heed to the latest advice of the United Nations, or whether it pushes through a deal which yet again ignores the wishes of local people, which by precedent were certainly respected in the Falkland Islands. 

From a security perspective, the desire of both the US and UK governments is that the operations of the Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia continue, but fade once again from public view into obscurity, hidden in the middle of nowhere from the rest of the world.  First Minister Misley Mandarin, who has said he would rather die than be ruled by Mauritius, plus his growing band of backers, are unlikely to allow that to happen.  This opens up the prospect that Chagossians will take matters into their own hands.

How Trump supporters' brains are hijacked by his whoppers

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Donald Trump gather outside a polling station on Election Day in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 5, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

Michael Signorile,

 The Signorile Report

December 24, 2025 


On my Sirius XM program, I discussed the almost comical hearing this month in which a top FBI official, flanked by dog-killing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, claimed antifa — short for anti-fascist — was the “number one terrorist” threat in the United States. Yet he couldn’t answer repeated questions from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) about where the group’s headquarters are, or how many people are actually in the group:

Michael Glasheen, operations director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, said antifa was the agency’s “primary concern” and “the most immediate violent threat that we’re facing.”Glasheen did not answer a question from the top Democrat at the hearing, U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, about the group’s location. When asked about the number of members, Glasheen said it was “very fluid” and that “investigations are active.”

“Sir, you wouldn’t come to this committee to say something that you can’t prove,” Thompson said to Glasheen. “I know you wouldn’t do that. But you did.”

Later, Glasheen was asked if the Proud Boys were still on the FBI’s list of domestic extremist organizations — after they were added in 2018, under Trump’s first term — but he didn’t answer, just saying, “We’re in the process right now of changing our categories for domestic terrorism.”

After I played the clips of the exchanges and commented on the ludicrousness of this — and the dangers — Steven from Los Angeles, clearly a MAGA supporter, called the program to disagree with me, claiming antifa is a terror threat he has witnessed firsthand.

Antifa of course doesn’t exist as any organized nationwide group. Some people engaging in protest call themselves ant-fascist, and often take on the name antifa — even carrying banners and other identifiers — but they mostly act independently of others who might use the term to to identify themselves.

The majority of those who call themselves antifa are opposed to violence, per the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration. Even if some people have called themselves antifa and have engaged in or inspired violent actions in one place or another during protests (which has happened), that doesn’t mean there’s an organized group engaged in actual organized terror plots.

But Steven didn’t get that, claiming vandalism in LA and elsewhere was “terrorism” which was coordinated by “Antifa”.
Steven: Okay, so I, um, I disagree with you, uh, living on the West Coast. Whether it’s antifa, whether you want to call it, whatever organization it is. But, I mean, they’ve ruined the streets of Los Angeles. San Francisco is a dump. Um, uh, Oregon is a dump. Uh, Seattle, Washington.MS: Who who did this? Who ruined the streets? What did they do?
Steven: It was. Well, whatever organization you want to call it. Uh, the people that were protesting on the streets.
MS: You said antifa.
Steven: Well, that's who they're supposed to be, right?
After I pressed him on what they’re doing he said that in Portland and other places, “These people are on the streets every day. They're yelling at cars. The traffic is stopped.”

Yelling at cars? Yes, that’s what he said.
MS: Okay, Steven, that's not terrorism.Steven: What is that? Terrorism. The stores are all closed.
MS: No, Stephen, that's not terrorism. You could tell me about vandalism. You could tell me about protests. You could even tell me about rioting, if you want, which we haven't seen.
But a terrorist and a terrorist organization are highly coordinated groups of people with plots and plans to take down the government or send a message to a group of people, and they engage in mass violence, bombings, mass shootings, kidnappings.
Why is our government spending all this money on this? You're telling me about what? Graffiti in Los Angeles?

He went on about how yelling at protests and throwing things — not explaining more — was terrorism.

But then when I brought up actual terrorism — January 6, police officers bludgeoned, the Proud Boys making threats, and the Oath Keepers, per law enforcement, stockpiling weapons at a hotel in Virginia, with a plan to bring them up the Potomac to take the Capitol — he had a very different answer.
Steven: You know what? I don't think we'll ever know the truth of that whole situation.

Oh yeah, it got a little hot from there before I ended the call! Listen in and let me know your thoughts!

Michelangelo Signorile writes The Signorile Report, a free and reader-supported Substack. If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism.

Woke — Weaponized language

Bob Topper

 December 25, 2025

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Image by mana5280.

In 1939, Billie Holiday gave voice to a nation’s darkest truths with Strange Fruit, her haunting lament for the bodies of Black men and women hanging from trees in the Southern states. The year before, bluesman Lead Belly had recorded Scottsboro Boys, a ballad chronicling the prosecution of nine Black teenagers falsely accused of rape. At the end of his song, he offered a warning — “stay woke”— a phrase that would enter the Black lexicon as a call to vigilance, a reminder to remain alert to the dangers of racism, especially in the South.

Weaponizing Woke

Decades later, in 2019, The New York Times published the 1619 Project, a sweeping account placing slavery at the center of the American narrative. This interpretation clashed with the idealized, rose-colored version of history cherished by conservative groups, particularly White Christian Nationalists. Conservatives disparaged the article as “woke,” a derisive abuse of the word.

Everyone can and should be proud of our American heritage. The founders and the ideals they championed, freedom, equality and democracy shaped the world’s first liberal democracy. They revolutionized government and brought an end to the oppressive autocratic throne-and-altar alliance that had ruled western culture and denied basic human rights for centuries.

But the new American society was flawed. The treatment of Black people and native Americans was shameful. Yet the nation progressed. The civil war ended slavery, the 19^thAmendment ensured women’s voting rights, and the Civil Rights Act banned discrimination, and more gains ensued for Americans with disabilities, Native Americans, and LGBTQ+. Still, the struggle to achieve Jefferson’s ideal of equality continues.

Clear thinking people know that good and bad are found in the history of every nation, and that the strongest nations are those willing to confront their failures. Germany, for instance, requires its students to learn about the Holocaust. America’s liberal education showed similar courage, until compromised by the Trump Administration’s recent attacks on our universities and museums. To deny historical truths, or to disparage them as “woke,” is both wrongheaded and corrosive.

Fundamentalists Spread the Word

Until the middle of the past decade the word “woke” pertained to racial awareness. But in that decade fundamentalists began to wield the word as a pejorative, and broadened its scope to mock other progressive views, especially views on sexuality and gender. Liberals, guided by scientific findings, accepted that human sexuality is more complex than the binary of male and female. Gender exists on a continuum, encompassing gay, lesbian, intersex, and trans identities—each a natural variation of human life.

Christian extremists, however, cling to scripture and reject modern science. That is their right. But they are wrong to scorn those who see things differently and to repeat an old pattern: the refusal to reconcile faith with fact.

This conflict is not new. Galileo was imprisoned in 1610 for asserting that the earth revolved around the sun. Darwin, in 1859, was branded a heretic for theorizing that humankind evolved rather than descended from Adam and Eve. Most Christians today agree with Darwin’s findings, and all accept a heliocentric solar system. Yet fundamentalists remain unwilling to accept the science of human sexuality, despite overwhelming evidence. Over seven percent of the population identifies as gay, lesbian, or trans. If one believes in a divine order, then surely such diversity must have been intended.

Unwilling to reconcile their beliefs, fundamentalists disparage those who accept the modern understanding of human sexuality just as they disparage people who have the courage to view America’s racial history objectively. They wield the word woke as a cudgel against all DEI initiatives.

By misappropriating woke, they dilute the meaning of the word and, at the same time, reveal the childish pettiness that has overcome the minds of present-day Republican conservatives. Frustrated by their inability to defend antiquated beliefs with rational arguments, they deny truth and scorn people who think critically. This is a remnant of the times before the Enlightenment when fear and ignorance permeated society and witches and heretics were burned at the stake.

Using language to attack, control, and manipulate others conceals the underlying fear, ignorance, and insecurity of Christian extremists. This tactic serves not only as a mask for their own anxieties, but also as a tool to demean, intimidate, and incite hatred toward those with differing views. By distorting the meaning of words and using them as weapons, fundamentalists attempt to undermine critical thinking and rational argument, diverting attention from the substantive issues of our time. Their reliance on language as a weapon derives from a refusal to reconcile faith with actual inquiry and perpetuates discord within American society.

No wonder we are so divided.

Bob Topper is a retired engineer and is syndicated by PeaceVoice.

UTOPIAN SOCIALISM & SEX MAGICK

Amanda Seyfried sees 'The Testament of Ann Lee' as a search for divine safety

(RNS) — The actress's portrayal of the Shaker movement founder has earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

Amanda Seyfried, center, and ensemble in “The Testament of Ann Lee." (Photo © 2025 Searchlight Pictures)

Kathryn Post
December 22, 2025
RNS


(RNS) — At first glance, the story of 18th-century Shaker founder Ann Lee may not seem like an intuitive choice for a movie musical.

The religious movement leader’s life was punctuated by harrowing moments, from enduring the death of her four infant children to facing violent mobs who condemned her as a heretic. And while plenty of musicals dabble in religion, the genre isn’t known for taking religious subject matter seriously.

But the new film “The Testament of Ann Lee” — which comes to select theaters on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) — manages to depict sincere religious fervor without mocking it and to embrace music and dance without appearing contrived. After all, ecstatic worship was part of what earned the Shakers — known in the movement’s early days for “shaking off” their sin through ecstatic dance — their name.

In many ways, it’s the apparent contradictions that make the movie memorable. It’s a musical, but it’s also a historical drama. It depicts a woman who fiercely spearheaded a religious movement, but whose understanding of liberation is at odds with many modern definitions; Lee was consumed by the idea of sin and sexual purity.

Those tensions are deftly depicted by Amanda Seyfried. The actress has taken on film musicals before, but “Ann Lee” is an entirely different project than “Mamma Mia” or “Les Misérables.”

For Seyfried, who has said she is not religious, Lee’s story isn’t about the existence of God or about religious visions and miracles. Instead, it’s about the human urge to cling to something greater than yourself to cultivate a sense of protection, and the importance of community.

Still from “The Testament of Ann Lee.” (Photo © 2025 Searchlight Pictures)

“We get so lost in the fear of daily life and the complication of daily life,” Seyfried told RNS. “Life is hard, which is why we search for a higher power, whether it be God or Mother Nature, Jesus, it doesn’t really matter who your higher power is … whether it’s a woman or a man or an elephant or a f—ing cat. It’s that these entities make you feel safe.”

Seyfried’s gritty, visceral performance has earned her a Golden Globe nomination. The film was also nominated for the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival and was featured in The New York Times’ list of movies to see this winter.

Mona Fastvold co-wrote the film with her partner, Brady Corbet, and she developed the idea and directed the film. The pair also co-wrote the 2024 Oscar Award-winning film “The Brutalist.” She told RNS she was gripped by the story of Lee, whom she described as “one of America’s first feminists, really fighting for equality and acceptance.”



Born into poverty in Manchester, England, Lee grew up illiterate. She eventually joined an English religious sect that preached sin could be expelled from the body through dancing and chanting. Following the deaths of her four children, each in infancy, Lee became convinced that sex is what separated humanity from God.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Why the legacy of Shakers will endure

Director Mona Fastvold, center, with cast and crew on the set of “The Testament of Ann Lee.” (Photo © 2025 Searchlight Pictures)

Eventually, Lee founded her own religious group and moved to America, where she established a utopian community. Her followers, who called her “Mother,” came to see Lee as the female reincarnation of Christ. She taught that celibacy, even in marriage, and confession of sin were both key to achieving salvation. The Shakers claimed 6,000 members at their height around 1840; today, three Shakers are believed to remain.

The film’s telling of Lee’s life is more fable than strict biopic. Fastvold said the screenplay was based on in-depth research but also relied on intuition to fill in the blanks of Lee’s story. From Fastvold’s perspective, the religious movement was largely fueled by Lee’s grief and trauma. The film depicts the loss of Lee’s children in painful detail and links that grief to the release Lee discovered in religious ecstasy.

“For her, the immense trauma that she suffers, unspeakable trauma, her only way out of it is through faith,” Fastvold said. “I cannot mother my children. So I’m going to mother the entire world.”

Seyfried agreed with Fastvold’s interpretation, telling RNS that she viewed Lee’s relationship with God as a “means of survival” and “based in needing to feel safe.”

But while the screenplay and camera work keep Lee’s spiritual transformation and emotional arc front and center in the film, that intimacy is balanced by a narrator, who at times questions the more miraculous elements of the Shakers’ origin story. Those questions add to the mythical dimensions of the narrative.

“I wanted to try and be as generous and respectful as I possibly could without idealizing them at the same time,” Fastvold said.

Fastvold’s attentiveness is perhaps most exhibited in the worship scenes, which were carefully choreographed by Celia Rowlson-Hall. Early on, before adopting prescribed marching rituals in worship, the Shakers were known for vocalizing and for improvised movements that lasted for days. Fastvold told RNS she wanted to ensure these improvised scenes evoked genuine reverence, so the filmmakers teamed up with Rowlson-Hall to create a “movement language” where every gesture had meaning — some symbolized releasing pain, for example, or receiving strength from above.

Amanda Seyfried, center, and ensemble in “The Testament of Ann Lee.” (Photo by Searchlight Pictures/William Rexer/© 2025 Searchlight Pictures)

“Leading up to it, we did a lot of exercises with the cast and everyone to feel free and comfortable enough with each other to really go there … in an honest way,” Fastvold said.

Seyfried began rehearsing the dance scenes a full year before shooting.

“It has to be second nature because it’s second nature to them. It’s subconscious,” Seyfried said. “Their movements are coming from another, an otherworldly source. They’re coming from devotion. They’re coming from what their body is asking them to do in communion with God.”

While Fastvold said the movie isn’t a “traditional musical,” she described the musical elements as “integral” to the film. “All of my cast members just had to work together as a community, as a group, in order to achieve that,” she said.

RELATED: What makes for charisma? Religion historian tries to understand the mysterious force.

Seyfried added that she hadn’t known about Lee prior to making the film but now sees how her story demonstrates the same physical and emotional needs people seek to fulfill today.

“Most of us want to find purpose in our short lives,” she said. “And that should be uniting us — that we need to constantly be reminded that humanity hasn’t changed that much over the centuries.”

Seyfried said Lee’s story is also timely in that it’s about an illiterate, poor immigrant woman who “did the impossible” by creating a society where people of all races and genders were equal.

“We need to look to leaders who lead with compassion and nurturing, and (create) space to thrive for the greater good of the community,” said Seyfried. “We’re all in it together.”

 

Greek Unions Protest Repair Period for Israeli Cruise Ship

Published Dec 24, 2025 10:58 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

Trade unions in Greece are protesting plans for a cruise ship with alleged links to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to be allocated space at a Greek yard for extensive repair and maintenance work.

The Athens-based World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) wants Greek authorities to revoke the approval for the allocation of space for Crown Iris, a cruise ship that is allegedly due to arrive at the Public Power Corporation (PPC) pier in Keratsini, Piraeus, for the repair work.

Operated by Israeli cruise line Mano Maritime (Mano Cruise), Crown Iris has links to the IDF since the beginning of the Gaza war and the Israel-Iran conflict this year, WFTU claimed. The ship has participated in the rescue of Israelis, specifically bringing back hundreds of thousands back to Israel from Cyprus.

Following the eruption of the Iran-Israel war this year, Crown Iris participated in an operation to rescue foreigners stranded in the country. In June, the ship delivered more than a thousand foreign visitors from Israeli shores to Cyprus, then took aboard more than 2,000 Israeli citizens for the return voyage back.

Launched in 1992, the 32,396 gross tonnage ship was originally ordered by Birka Line as MS Birka Queen from the Wärtsilä Marine Turku Shipyard in Finland. She was however completed by Kvaerner Masa-Yards as MS Royal Majesty for Majesty Cruise Line. The ship, which has a capacity for 2,000 passengers, changed ownership several times before she was acquired by Mano Maritime in 2018.

The ship operates holiday cruises from the ports of Haifa and Ashdod in Israel to destinations like Cyprus, the Greek islands, France, Croatia, Malta and Italy, and it is not a stranger in Greek yards. In 2019, Crown Iris went through an extensive refit in Chalkis Shipyards that resulted in all the guest rooms being renovated and five new restaurants installed. Other amenities that were added include a basketball court and a water slide.

Israel's recent activities in Gaza are unpopular in Greece, and the planned return of Crown Iris to Greece for repair and maintenance works has touched off a furor, with WFTU and the Workers Militant Front (PAME) condemning the management of Piraeus Port Authority/COSCO for allocating space for the works.

“We demand that they immediately revoke the approval for the allocation of space to the Crown Iris and make that space available to commercial ships wishing to carry out extensive repair works, and at the same time allocate the requested areas at the PPC pier in Keratsini for new ship constructions,” said WFTU in a statement.

WFTU added that it will oppose any repair or maintenance works being carried out on Crown Iris in Greece and went on to urge the Piraeus Regional Union and other trade unions at the port to remain on militant alert and not to participate in any work that facilitates the ship in its attempt to approach the repair docks.

US Jewish organizations call on Trump to rescind travel ban on Palestinians

(RNS) — The new ban blocks travel to the U.S. for people with Palestinian Authority documents, essentially most Palestinians in the West Bank. The U.S. is also trying to act as a broker for a peace deal that would give the PA authority to govern Gaza.

President Donald Trump talks to the media as he walks to Marine One from the White House, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Yonat Shimron
December 24, 2025

RNS


(RNS) — Eight U.S. Jewish organizations have written a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to rescind the most recent travel ban, especially its restriction on Palestinians with documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.

The new ban, which Trump issued on Dec. 16, blocks travel to the U.S. for people from Syria, South Sudan, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, as well as people traveling with Palestinian Authority documents — essentially, most Palestinians in the West Bank.

More than 35 countries are now under U.S. travel restrictions. American Jewish groups committed to an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement are particularly concerned that banning Palestinians from the country might undermine the United States’ role as peacemaker.

“Your administration has publicly asserted an interest in stabilizing the Gaza ceasefire and preventing a return to widespread violence, yet this policy moves in the opposite direction,” the letter says. “By further restricting Palestinian travel and engagement, the proclamation weakens and delegitimizes the Palestinian Authority at a moment when its credibility, capacity, and international support are essential.”

The letter was written by the group New Jewish Narrative and co-signed by Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, J Street, the National Council of Jewish Women, the New York Jewish Agenda, Partners for Progressive Israel, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and The Workers Circle.

Palestinians living in the West Bank can access Palestinian Authority travel documents, sometimes called passports. Palestinians living in Gaza may also accessed them in the past but now have far tighter restrictions on travel.

RELATED: Can evangelical faith in Israel survive MAGA and the Gaza war? Israel is betting millions on it

Two displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the heavily damaged Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Oct. 11, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

After a two-year relentless assault on Gaza by Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Trump laid out a peace plan to end the conflict. The plan envisioned the Palestinian Authority eventually taking over the governance of the Gaza Strip from Hamas.

A travel ban, the letter argues, further weakens the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank.

“The U.S. is claiming to take this role of peacemaker there in the region, which includes the realization of the obvious need for rebuilding Palestinian institutions there,” said Hadar Susskind, president and CEO of the New Jewish Narrative. “For the U.S. to say, ‘Oh yes, we want to make it better, we want to make peace, we want to rebuild Palestinian institutions,’ and then to take this action … is first and foremost going to have a real impact on people’s lives in terms of their ability to come here. But beyond that, politically speaking, it’s yet another blow to undermine the Palestinian Authority.”

Trump and his top advisers have argued that the restrictions are necessary to protect national security. But he has also shown disdain for immigrants. After last month’s shooting of two National Guard troops, Trump vowed to “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries.”

In August, the Trump administration announced it was pausing approvals of visitor visas for people from Gaza after agitator and activist Laura Loomer called incoming flights a “national security threat” in social media posts. She was referring to flights with injured children who were evacuated from Gaza to the U.S. for medical treatment. Loomer is known for her anti-Islam activism.

The new travel restrictions, which go into effect Jan. 1, would most affect an estimated 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.

The letter says, “This measure does not target specific individuals who pose a credible threat; instead, it forecloses access for students, medical patients, civil society actors, and family members based solely on the documents available to them. At a moment of profound humanitarian need and regional instability, this policy further restricts already limited avenues for lawful travel and engagement, compounding harm to civilians while doing nothing to advance security.”

The letter from the Jewish groups was dated Dec. 23 and is also addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Opinion

Recognizing a Palestinian state isn't an antisemitic act

(RNS) — Security for one people should not come at the expense of another’s freedom.

Displaced Palestinians with their belongings pass destroyed buildings as they return to their homes in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Oct. 10, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to pause their war and release remaining hostages. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)

Daoud Kuttab
December 24, 2025

RNS


(RNS) — Since the Dec. 14 attack that killed 15 people at a Chabad Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticized for what was considered his weak approach to antisemitic incidents in the months before the shooting.

Far from Sydney, the criticism has taken a local spin and shape. Barely had the news of the shooting broken when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked the Bondi Beach attack to Australia’s recent decision to recognize the state of Palestine, which it did in September, a day after the United Kingdom did the same. “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire,” said Netanyahu.

The day of the shooting, Bret Stephens, a columnist for The New York Times, held up the massacre in Sydney as a warning to those who voted for New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim to lead the city, in a column titled, “Bondi Beach is What ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Looks Like.” In an interview during the mayoral campaign, Mamdani had declined to condemn the phrase, leading to accusations of promoting violence.



Intifada — which means “shaking off” in Arabic — refers to the Palestinian people’s resistance to the Israeli military occupation of their land. It has nothing to do with racist-based violence against people of a different religion.

The attack on Jewish worshippers gathered to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah at Sydney’s Bondi Beach is a grave violation of the sanctity of life and of the right to worship freely. Any assault on people because of their faith must be condemned unequivocally and without qualification. Such violence is a sin against God and a wound to the conscience of humanity and should not be used to score political points.

All people, but especially people of faith, mourn the victims in Australia and stand with the Jewish community. All people are also called to resist the misuse of religious suffering for political ends.

Rabbi Yossi Friedman speaks to people gathering at a flower memorial by the Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on Dec. 16, 2025, after the Dec. 14 shooting in Sydney, Australia. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Christian leaders in Jerusalem joined the global moral outcry against the killing of the innocent Australian Jews holding a religious ceremony. The Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches strongly condemned the attack, describing it as an assault on innocent life and a desecration of a sacred religious celebration. “Our hearts break for the victims and for the Jewish community in New South Wales,” they said, lamenting that a festival of light was overshadowed by violence.

Rooting their response in shared faith, church leaders reminded believers that reverence for human life lies at the core of Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. “God commands us to respect all innocent human beings — this is a belief shared by all the children of Abraham,” the statement said. That calling was powerfully embodied by Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim man who intervened during the Sydney attack, tackling one of the assailants and likely saving many lives. His actions stand as a testament to faith lived out through courage and solidarity.

The Rev. Jack Sara, president of Bethlehem Bible College, likewise denounced the attack, saying the sad act contradicts God’s will. “This should not be. This is not God’s will for humanity. God’s will for every human being is life — and life in its abundance.” He called on believers worldwide to mourn with the bereaved and pray for healing.

Jerusalem Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna echoed this consistent moral position: “Regardless of the identity of the perpetrator or the victims, the killing of civilians must always be denounced.” He noted that the Palestinian leadership condemned it and he cautioned against turning this tragedy into a political instrument, warning that doing so dishonors the victims and deepens division.

In light of this response, it is completely inappropriate and utterly unfair to combine recognition of Palestine with the rejection of the scourge of antisemitism.

The moral call for a Palestinian state has hardly been limited to Australia. More than 80% of United Nations member states and 4 out of 5 permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have done so. Albanese pointed out as much when asked whether he thought there was any connection between recognizing Palestine and the Bondi Beach attack. “No, I don’t,” he said. “Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognizes a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East.”

Rather, many Christian leaders see the recognition of a Palestinian state as consistent with international law and with biblical principles of justice, equality and the inherent dignity of all peoples.

In their Christmas message this year, church leaders in Jerusalem again called for peace and justice, saying: “Despite the difficulties and condemnations, we nevertheless pay heed to the Prophet Jeremiah’s warning against those saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. For we are fully aware that, despite a declared cessation of hostilities, hundreds have continued to be killed or suffer grievous injury.”


(Daoud Kuttab is the publisher of Milhilard.org, a news site focused on Christians in Palestine, Israel and Jordan. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Can evangelical faith in Israel survive MAGA and the Gaza war? Israel is betting millions on it

(RNS) — Conservatives have long seen supporting Israel as an act of faith. Now, critics such as Tucker Carlson say Christian Zionism is a heresy, while more progressive Christian voices denounce Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

U.S. Christian pastors and influencers wave Israeli flags as they visit at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Bob Smietana and Yonat Shimron
December 23, 2025
RNS


(RNS) — On Jan. 6, about 100 North Carolina pastors and their wives will travel to Israel on an all-expenses-paid trip. They will tour Galilee, where Jesus ministered, and go to Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified. On Jan. 11, they’ll have a private dinner with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

The trip is organized by the American Renewal Project, a group dedicated to mobilizing evangelical pastors to run for office. An anonymous donor gave David Lane, a Texas political operative and evangelical Christian, $2 million for the effort.

“We believe in the Abrahamic covenant,” Lane said. “God said to Abraham, I give you my word that I’m going to give you the land. So the land is the Jews’, and because we’re evangelicals, we have been grafted in. And you know, the evangelicals are the best friends of Israel.”

But those beliefs are changing. Pro-Israel evangelicals, sometimes known as Christian Zionists, have found themselves under fire in recent months from their fellow conservatives — including podcasters and provocateurs Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens — and from Palestinian Christians and other U.S. activists who reject the idea that the modern state of Israel is the same construct as the ancient Israel of the Hebrew Bible.

Palestinian Christians at Chicago conference ask fellow believers to stand against Gaza war

In the wake of the devastating war in Gaza — in which more than 70,000 Palestinians (the majority of whom are reported to be women and children) have been killed — many younger Americans, including evangelicals, have become skeptical of Israel and of the billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded weapons the U.S. provides to it.

The latest University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll found a growing gap between younger and older evangelical Republicans. While 59% of older evangelical Republicans (age 35 and older) said Israeli actions in Gaza were justified, only 36% of younger evangelical Republicans (ages 18 to 34) said the same.

Mike Evans, left, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, stands with freed hostages during a ceremony with U.S. Christian pastors and influencers at the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas in 2023, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

That pushback blew up online earlier this month after a video of U.S. evangelical Mike Evans, speaking to a group of 1,000 evangelical pastors, went viral. The video showed the pastors on a mass trip to Israel, organized by the Christian Zionist group Evans founded, Friends of Zion.

Evans professed his love for Israel in the video, and critics on social media began to claim he had sold out America by promoting a foreign country. The trip was funded partially by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs “to secure religious and political support for Israel.”

“We’re going to train 100,000 Christian ambassadors to be ambassadors in their own country, for the state of Israel, to defend Israel’s brand and to combat antisemitism,” Evans said in a video clip.

Evans has also feuded with Carlson, especially after the latter criticized Christian Zionists during an interview with Nick Fuentes, who has espoused antisemitic views. Evans told The Jerusalem Post that Carlson made comments Evans thought were reminiscent of the Nazis.

In a recent interview with podcaster Theo Von, Carlson accused Israel of genocide and called it an insignificant country that the U.S. should abandon. He also denounced pastors such as Evans who refused to criticize the war in Gaza, saying they’d made “deals” with the Israeli government.

(Image by Tumisu/Pixabay/Creative Commons)

That uproar came on the heels of another controversy about a plan to target megachurches with pro-Israel messages. Earlier this year, a Christian marketing group called Show Faith by Works began work on a $3.2 million marketing project paid for by the Israeli government.

The Show Faith by Works project includes creating a traveling pro-Israel museum for display at churches, Christian colleges and Christian events, and a “geofencing” campaign targeting churchgoers with pro-Israel ads, according to the filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Geofencing is a form of digital marketing that promotes messages to consumers within specified physical locations.

The goal of the project is “encouraging Christians to have a more favorable view of the Nation of Israel, and to encourage Christians to visit Israel for tourism purposes,” according to the filing.

The geofencing campaign, which came under criticism from several Christian denominations that had churches targeted, including the United Methodist Church, has since stalled.

“We feel like the comments about geofencing were intentionally misleading by those who wanted to slander the project,” Chad Schnitger, a marketing professional for Show Faith by Works, said in an email. “Geofencing is a common marketing tool that has been used for over a decade and cannot be used to track people.”

Both controversies revealed that Christian Zionists are now facing political realities for which they were not prepared.

“It’s really become a multifront struggle for the traditional pro-Israel evangelical position — not just a one-front, left-right struggle,” said Daniel G. Hummel, author of the book “Covenant Brothers,” which looks at how Christian Zionism has shaped the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. “I’m not sure if there are really robust strategies yet on how to address it.”

Attendees watch monitors as Tucker Carlson speaks during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, Dec. 18, 2025, in Phoenix. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)

In podcasts, webcasts and vertical video platforms such as TikTok, conservative influencers including Carlson, Owens and Fuentes traffic in conspiracy theories and inflammatory comments that often veer into antisemitism. Owens has also been among those who have tied the assassination of Charlie Kirk to Israel, without evidence.

Criticism of Israel has also grown from centrist evangelicals.

“If you truly care about the people of Israel, you have to also care about their Palestinian neighbors, even for the sake of the security of Israel,” said Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 36 Christian denominations, mostly Protestant but also Orthodox and Catholic, that advocate for equality, human rights, security and justice in the Holy Land.

These U.S. churches are particularly concerned with the plight of Palestinian Christians, who have faced military occupation, forced displacement, discrimination and persecution at the hands of Israel. Yet concern for Palestinian Christians has been minimized by U.S. evangelicals or wholly ignored because of their unflagging support for Israel.

Recently, another collective, the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East, has formed, advocating for peace, justice and engagement among Jews, Christians and Muslims in the region. One of its members, Randy Tomlinson, a Southern Baptist layman who lives in the Nashville, Tennessee, area, said he’s been hearing concerns from a lot from older pastors in the denomination.

“Twenty-six months into this war, more and more people are saying, ‘I look at what I’m seeing in the land and I’m not sure I can square that with my faith, and I don’t know what to do about it,’” Tomlinson said.

He doesn’t advocate abandoning Israel, but he does think evangelicals need to think more critically about Israel’s actions.

“I can ask God to bless the Jewish people but that doesn’t preclude me from loving the Palestinian people, from my heart breaking for the Palestinian church that’s dying,” he said. “We’re a generation or two away from not being the church in this place where the church started, and so, I think we need to get out of that zero-sum mindset, and get back to a point where it could be both.”

Evangelicals have long seen Israel’s rebirth in 1948 and the capture of the West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War as signs that biblical prophecy has been fulfilled. Beliefs about the end times and the second coming of Jesus are often tied to Israel — in large part because of the strain of theology known as dispensationalism, which has flourished over the last 200 years. That theology inspired the idea of the rapture, the popular “Left Behind” book series, and other apocalyptic tales.

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But that theology has started to fade, especially with the evangelical resurgence of Reformed theology based on the works of John Calvin. And if Christian Zionist groups can no longer count on a theological consensus among evangelicals about Israel, that’s a problem. “That’s where you’re basically turning it into a PR political conversation and Israel doesn’t look great in that conversation in recent years,” Hummel said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry, aware its public profile has crashed, has allocated $150 million in its annual budget to rehabilitate its image, especially among evangelicals. Responsible Statecraft reported that that includes a $6 million contract with a firm called Clock Tower X, owned by former Trump campaign strategist Brad Parscale, to deliver “at least 100 core pieces of content per month” — including videos, audio, podcasts, graphics and text — and “5,000 derivative versions” monthly. The project will help game algorithms and manage artificial-intelligence frameworks with a positive message about Israel. The campaign messages will be distributed via Salem Media Network, a conservative Christian media group.


Israel’s foreign ministry also has a campaign with Bridges Partners, a Washington-based consulting firm, to create an influencer network called the Esther Project (of no relation to the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther). Influencers can earn as much as $7,000 per post.

The publicity produced for these campaigns not only portrays Israel in a good light, it also characterizes Palestinians chiefly through the prism of Hamas. It asserts that Palestinians are complicit in Hamas’ leadership, financing and military operations and accuses them of sheltering terrorists.

Many evangelical groups are still invested in helping Israel. Luke Moon, executive director of the Philos Project, is developing a new program called Generation Zion, aimed at training young evangelicals and young Jews as advocates for Israel. Moon, who said the Philos Project gets no funding from Israel, attended AmericaFest, an annual conservative event organized by Turning Point USA, this past week, hoping to recruit students and other younger Americans to support Israel.

Moon recently left the task force dedicated to fighting antisemitism within the conservative Heritage Foundation after its president, Kevin Roberts, defended Carlson’s podcast with Fuentes.

He believes a straightforward reading of the Bible shows that Israel should matter to Christians.

Along with the decline of dispensationalism and the rise of conservative critics, pro-Israel groups face more pragmatic challenges, Moon said.

Philos Project logo. Courtesy image

“We don’t have a good grasp on social media, on the pro-Israel side,” he said.

Hummel said some Christian Zionists have begun citing what he called “blessing theology” to promote the idea that Christians should support Israel. Some of those Christian Zionists are Pentecostal or charismatic Christians who see supporting Israel as part of the prosperity gospels. Others are Southern Baptists or evangelicals who say that the Bible commands them to support Israel.

Earlier this year, when Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist minister, visited the City of David — an archaeological site in Jerusalem — he quoted from a familiar passage of Genesis to justify U.S. support for Israel. “Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed,” he said, quoting Genesis 12, according to his official remarks. “And I come here tonight because I’d rather have a blessing than a curse.”

Evans, of Friends of Zion, worries younger evangelicals and younger Americans generally will no longer support Israel. He blamed America’s universities for that, as well as online influencers such as Carlson, who have large audiences. Evans has seen the polling, and things don’t look good.

“The Israel haters have achieved an astonishing amount of damage to the young generation,” he said.

Evans said that while he loves Israel, he does not believe the nation always does the right thing, in the same way that the U.S. has flaws. For him, there’s a more fundamental connection to Israel that’s inspired pastors to support Israel.

“Their faith came out of this land,” he said. “Their Bible came out of this land. So that’s their connection. It’s not about politics or prophecy.”

And there are plenty of evangelical pastors who will still gladly travel to Israel, especially on a free trip.

Mike Burner, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Statesville, North Carolina, is one of them. He and his wife, Lobby, will be part of the group heading to Israel next month with the American Renewal Project.

“I’m in love with the Lord, and the Lord loves Israel,” Mike Burner said. “So, I’m going to love Israel. Do I think Israel is still the apple of his eye? I do. God said he is going to save Israel. I believe that. I believe that’s one of the promises he makes, and he keeps every one of his promises.”

Now other evangelicals are saying that uncritical support for Israel is un-Christian.

“That’s not Jesus’ way, that’s not peacemaking,” Tomlinson said. “That’s not caring for the other, that’s not praying for those who persecute you. I cannot hear Jesus saying that.”