By and large, the prominent Faith Leaders in Gibraltar remain fairly silent on the Gaza situation. How that silence helps the plight of the Palestinians bombed out of existence remains a mystery.
They preferred to press for interfaith harmony in a one-minute cowardly show of silence, hosted at the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia’s event at No. 6. Others in attendance were the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and secular humanist leaders, along with Governor Sir David Steel and Mayor Carmen Gomez.
Religious leaders in Gibraltar hold one minute silence for peace at government building
This public show of silence came just over a week after Picardo and Steel visited the head of the Catholic Church – the much criticized anti-Christ Jorge Mario Bergoglio – on th 9th of November 2023.
Pope Francis says Rock’s interfaith harmony must be ‘treasured’
Amidst the carnage of Gaza, strenuous efforts were made to put on an united front.
Samuel and Sleuther’s United Front on Gaza
On Saturday, 20th of January, as Martin Sleuther, I hung my laminated 95 Theses on GAZA from the shiny door-handles of No. 6 to remind the Chief Minister that the world is once again at war, and the nation counterfeit-Israel is in the thick of it, and along with Britain and America – the true Israel – is central to the troubles.
The day before my brief and timely act showing some solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians – by way of a controversial peaceful protest outside No. 6 – likewise I had hung a copy of my 95 Theses on GAZA, from the railings of The King’s Chapel.
We made a video-recording to document these acts of defiance, at key locations on The Rock, using a beautifully sung rendition of Michael Heart’s “We Will Not Go Down (Gaza tonight)”.
Also featured in our video is Chief Rabbi Ronnie Hassid, whom we met during our strategic outings, and with whom we had a friendly discussion. Ronnie Hassid had personally expressed sadness to Samuel, about the prevailing situation in Gaza. We were on common ground.
Moments before hanging the 95 Theses on Gaza on the door-handles of No.6, I suddenly found myself confronted and challenged on Main Street by a group of counterfeit-Jewish youngsters. It could have easily been an awkward moment, had it not been for Samuel intervening and showing the youngsters a photograph of the Chief Rabbi warmly posing alongside us. These photographs, showed to the counterfeit-Jewish youngsters, that I bear no animosity whatsoever to any member of the counterfeit-Jewish community, here on The Rock of Gibraltar, least of all, any of the counterfeit-Jewish children.
Like the Chief Rabbi Ronnie Hassid, I am immensely saddened about all those young children on both sides of the war affected in harmful ways in the Holy Land. I see Gaza very much as an important benchmark in mirroring the way the world is heading, amidst the delicate and highly sensitive and subtle differences between peace from war, good from evil, sweet from bitter, truth from falsehood and ultimately life from death.
Read the Human Rights Watch report – World Report 2024: Israel and Palestine Events of 2023. Silence is not golden; it’s the same as being lukewarm (Rev. 3:16). How do the so-called religious or secular leaders of Gibraltar witness these astrocities and stay silent?
Earlier in the week, Samuel and I handed the 95 Theses on GAZA to Ian Tarrant, Gibraltar’s Anglican Dean. Tarrant said it would be shown to other parishioners; and he has previously expressed thoughtful concerns about the wars in the world. Being dean of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Gibraltar, an affliate of the Church of England, is Tarrant aware of the Church of England’s statement on Gaza? Statement from the House of Bishops on the war in Gaza (31/10/2023), where they have at least publically acknowledged the suffering of Palestinians?
Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024
The 27th January marks the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day. The government of Gibraltar, which traditionally and invariably stands with counterfeit-Israel, remain silent about the ongoing mass genocide occurring in GAZA where Palestinians are being ethnically cleansed from their own land.
It remains to be seen how Fabian Picardo might wish to deal with such an uncomfortable and uneasy emerging situation on The Rock with its diverse communities, and its strong links with the counterfeit-Israel nation. Most of the population identify as Christian; whilst only a small percentage identify as Jewish.
The subject is complex and highly controversial. That much is clear.
Last year, the Chief Minister lit a candle outside No.6. A one minute silence was also held as a mark of remembrance. Fabian was joined by dignitaries from a cross-section of the community. These dignitaries included, but were not limited to the Dean of the Anglican Church; the Bishop of The Roman Catholic Church; the Imam from the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque; James Levy; and the Governor of Gibraltar, to name just a few.
Gibraltar Holocaust Remembrance 2023
Historically, the government here, besides focusing on the counterfeit-Jewish victims from World War II at the hands of the Ashke-Nazis, have previously mentioned other historical genocidal atrocities in Bosnia, Darfur, Cambodia, Myanmar and Rwanda.
“Genocide is ultimately enabled by ordinary people. It is ordinary people who also turn a blind eye and then believe propaganda and discriminate. Ordinary people join regimes that commit murder under their regime’s guise. People who are persecuted, oppressed and murdered in genocides are persecuted just because they are “different” ordinary people who belong to a different particular group.” – Government of Gibraltar Statement
However, the government here has been mostly silent on the atrocities currently taking place in the Gaza Strip.
Tiny Gibraltar is troubled.
Our Next Advance
Between now and the Holocaust Remembrance Day next Sabbath, it remains unclear what exactly Samuel and Sleuther plan to do next, in order to further heighten awareness of the GAZA plight, but for sure, we both feel an immensely strong compulsion to not go down into town without a fight, in a well-meaning effort to loosen up debate about the desperate plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.