Christian democratic solidarity with the weak: A study of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)’s attitude towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (1980-2010)

This thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its most prominent years in government between 1980 and 2010. By analyzing primary source material in the form of personal statements from key CDA members, election programs and official party documentation, it focusses on two aspects of the CDA’s identity: (1) its membership of a family of Christian democratic parties, whose political identity is based on an explicit appeal to Christian values in general; and (2) its primary objective of both “nationally and internationally appealing to the responsibility of the strong to show solidarity with the weak” as laid out in the party’s Statement of Principles in 1980. This thesis concludes that the CDA, throughout its years in government, has been gradually drifting away from these aspects of its Christian democratic identity, because of (1) the...Show moreThis thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its most prominent years in government between 1980 and 2010. By analyzing primary source material in the form of personal statements from key CDA members, election programs and official party documentation, it focusses on two aspects of the CDA’s identity: (1) its membership of a family of Christian democratic parties, whose political identity is based on an explicit appeal to Christian values in general; and (2) its primary objective of both “nationally and internationally appealing to the responsibility of the strong to show solidarity with the weak” as laid out in the party’s Statement of Principles in 1980. This thesis concludes that the CDA, throughout its years in government, has been gradually drifting away from these aspects of its Christian democratic identity, because of (1) the CDA’s core principle of solidarity being originally inspired by Catholic social doctrine, (2) the Israel-Palestine conflict having been an internally dividing topic ever since the start of the CDA, and (3) the increasing support of the secular vote having made the party’s successes possible in the first place. This combination of factors has often made room for circumstances in which not always the content of the party’s foundational Statement of Principles was of the utmost priority. Moreover, it has often resulted in a negligence of the protection of those Christian values and traditions in places where Christian solidarity was actually needed the most. While this research gives an interesting insight into the CDA’s developing understanding of solidarity towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, future research on the connection between Christian democratic politics and threatened Christian communities in the rest of the world might be a welcome addition to the discussion.Show less

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Christian democratic solidarity with the weak: A study of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)’s attitude towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (1980-2010)