B’nai B’rith decries German prize to Palestinian pastor

B’nai B’rith International called on organizers of a German media prize to reconsider its award to a Palestinian pastor.

The Rev. Mitri Raheb, of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, has a longstanding reputation for promoting anti-Israel theology and narratives, according to B’nai B’rith.

In a letter to organizers, B’nai B’rith executive vice president Daniel Mariaschin wrote that Raheb “is distinguished by an extensive record of highly offensive statements that, any positive work notwithstanding, make him ill-suited to receive the endorsement implied by a prestigious German honor that has been bestowed on the likes of Helmut Kohl, Hillary [Rodham] Clinton, Rudolph Giuliani, Angela Merkel and the Dalai Lama.”

Raheb’s views echo replacement theology, which asserts that Christians have superseded Jews in the divine plan and have inherited God’s promises to Jews, according to the letter. — jta