Papua New Guinea will join a handful of countries to open an embassy in Jerusalem, a decision long sought by pro-Israel church groups in the deeply Christian Pacific nation, and as Prime Minister James Marape seeks to boost foreign investment.
Marape has pledged to voters to make Papua New Guinea (PNG), a resource-rich, but largely undeveloped nation north of Australia, the “richest black Christian nation.”
He previously told parliament Israel was important because of its agriculture technology; however, church groups have long lobbied for a Jerusalem embassy.
Photo: AFP
On Saturday last week, Marape announced he would travel to Israel for the embassy opening on Tuesday next week. He also said a law would be introduced to officially declare Papua New Guinea a Christian country.
A delegation of pastors is traveling to Israel for the opening, PNG government and church officials said.
DREAM
“We have to have the relationship with Israel. This is what the people have been dreaming of,” Pastor Peter Harut, PNG delegate for International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, a Christian Zionist group, said in a telephone interview.
The majority of countries with an official diplomatic presence in Israel have their embassies in Tel Aviv, with only the US, Kosovo, Guatemala and Honduras basing theirs in Jerusalem.
Citing Jewish biblical roots, Israel deems Jerusalem its indivisible capital. That status has not won wide recognition abroad, and Palestinians want the east of the city — which Israel captured in a 1967 war, and is the site of major Jewish, Christian and Muslim shrines — as the capital of their hoped-for future state.
United Nations for Israel, a Florida-based Zionist group with pastors in PNG, wrote to Marape to congratulate him.
In the letter viewed by Reuters, the group’s president, Dominiquae Bierman, who has visited PNG several times to preach, said she was “very involved in bringing the Biblical Message to your nation about the importance of honoring Israel.”
“This includes positioning the embassies of all the nations in the eternal capital of Israel, Jerusalem,” Bierman said.
SPECIAL GUEST
Israel has yet to formally announce the embassy opening, but an Israeli official told Reuters Marape would be visiting from Monday to Wednesday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending Tuesday’s opening.
The visit would allow Netanyahu to burnish his statesman credentials amid diplomatic deadlock on other fronts for his hard-right government.
An Israeli official who requested anonymity said the PNG embassy would have 200m2 of floor space and can expect to get a discount of about 70 percent on municipal property tax as part of standing policy meant to draw embassies and corporations to Jerusalem.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
RSS