Dear Friend,
The words of witness of an "on the ground" participant in the struggles among Isr's and Pal's are compelling. "Friend" Tom Arendshorst was part of a CPT (Christian Peacemaker Team) experience last month. He has written about it. Here is his April 10 report. Thank you, Tom. (He is a graduate of the Kroc Institute on Peace, at Notre Dame) JRK
TOM’S KROC O’PEACE JOURNAL #81
A Time to Sow, A Time to Reap
Saturday, April 10, 2010:
We’re up and away early this morning, packed for our two home-stay nights in the South Hebron Hills village of At-Tuwani. The villagers’ barley is ripe, ready for harvest, and last night Israeli settlers from the adjacent Ma’on settlement grazed sheep on the Palestinians’ grain, destroying 30-40% of the vital crop. We’re going to accompany the villagers as they harvest their crop. It’s what Christian Peacemaker Teams do.
From At-Tuwani we hike a mile or so south on a rocky path, past olive groves on the right and a small pine-cypress forest above us on the left (which harbors an Israeli “outpost” hamlet, illegal even under Israeli military (IDF) law but protected by the military), to the little green vale where villagers are already at work. The entire group of twenty or so are an extended family; with them are an old Chevy truck and a scattered flock of sheep and goats. We –- Sharon, Milena, Gloria, Fathiyeh, Marlin, and I --- pitch in, pulling barley up in bunches by the roots, shaking off the valuable soil, stacking the grain into shocks, carrying shocks to the trailer, happily sipping little cups of steaming sweet tea every half-hour. The thorns mixed in with the barley make me wish I’d brought some work gloves with me.
Farther down the wadi we see the olive grove hacked down by settlers a year ago, growing anew. As usual, that crime elicited no investigation or response from the military or police. Settler (or even IDF) attacks against Palestinians or their property are almost routine. Because Ma’on settlers, adults and teens, so often have attacked and harassed (rocks, insults, pushing, hitting) the schoolchildren who hike two miles from the hamlet of Tuba to the At-Tuwani school, whose only path takes them past the edge of the settlement, CPT has worked out a deal with the IDF to escort the kids past the settlement twice each day. The CPTers meet the children at each end, to assure their safety and phone the IDF commander when the military jeep doesn’t show up. It’s bottom-up peacebuilding, resisting barriers and working for measures of justice in one village. We hitch along, red CPT caps on our heads, to watch the kids arrive and depart.
Not long before our visit Ma’on settlers reported a missing sheep to the IDF. Soldiers went to the Tuba hamlet and “investigated” by ransacking the Palestinians’ homes but not even bothering to look in the sheep pen. On another occasion several Israeli settler youths, armed with automatic rifles, threatened camping Palestinian shepherds near where we harvested barley and incited a fight. In the struggle one of the settler youths was shot. The settlers ran home. The next day IDF soldiers found the shepherd boy who’d reportedly fired the gun and killed him in his family’s home. Within the last two months Israeli police have abducted and beaten a twelve-year-old At-Tuwani shepherd, later releasing him without charge, and two boys who’d been attacked by a group of settlers (no settlers were arrested, of course).
Hebron and the South Hebron Hills are hotbeds of Israeli security concern and settler violence against Palestinians. I’ve asked several experienced observers about these extreme settler behaviors; they consistently estimate that 20-25% of settlers are violent Zionist extremists, the rest just Jews taking advantage of the settlement opportunity to develop their lives in Israel. The Israeli government invites new immigrants to be settlers in Palestinian territory, gives them stipends to live in nice apartments, ensures them unlimited water and unquestioning military security, and tacitly encourages their hostile, disruptive incursions into Palestinian society.
Sharon, four other delegates and I spend a night in the home of Atta Jabber and his family on the outskirts of Hebron, hard up against the expanding settlement town of Kiryat Arba. Atta’s family has lived here, on their property with its vineyards, for generations back into time. A couple of years ago the IDF came with its Caterpillar bulldozers and demolished Atta’s family’s house. The community helped Atta rebuild. The bulldozers came again and destroyed his house again. An Israeli woman, angry at her government’s treatment of Atta’s family, paid for the home to be built a third time, and it stands intact. But the IDF also blew up Atta’s cistern and cut off his water supply to his family vineyards by building a lovely Israeli-only highway between his home and his family’s vines. Atta has been arrested without charge and beaten so both legs were broken.
Atta’s stories present dramatic examples of Israeli occupation cruelties. But he presents his history without dramatic flair or emotion, and surprises me by combining the Palestinian hope for their legal rights with affirmation of Israel’s continuing existence. Indeed, I have not heard from any Palestinian the much-publicized insistence (in our U.S. press) that Israel “not exist.” I do hear, from Atta and multiple other sources, Palestinians’ fear of extremists’ violence, the fear that Palestinian terrorist attacks will enable the Israeli government to ratchet up the violence of its reprisals and pressure.
Atta’s wife makes us a delicious dinner of rice and chicken, and we meet the kids. I meet Atta’s mother and, after a flashlight look at her eyes, assure the family that her two cataract surgeries look excellent. Exhausted and eager for rest after dinner and our evening of conversation; Sharon and I make ready to plop down on two of Atta’s mattress pads, but he and his wife insist that we take their bedroom --- and their bed. We sleep like wintering little bears.
Viewed from the sky, as if a topographical map, Israel’s extension of settlements and Wall into Palestinian territory emerges not as some “natural” definition of reality but as an advancing line of battle, a strategic war of conquest. Here is an important water source; the Wall amoebas it away from the Palestinians who have depended on it for centuries. Here are arable fields adjacent to a little town; the Wall, or a new Israeli-only highway, cuts between and isolates people from crops. Here is Palestinian East Jerusalem, or a city near the established “Green Line” border dividing Israel from Palestine; Israeli military, government, and judiciary combine to bulldoze homes, take over property and construct new “settlement” condominiums, with encircling military security zones inside surrounding Palestinian communities. Here is a village or valuable farm out on its own in the South Hebron Hills, in the corridor Ariel Sharon saw as territorial connector between Palestinian West Bank and Palestinian Gaza; new settlement fortress-towns are constructed on hilltops encircling or next to those vulnerable targets.
The pressure is inexorable. Together with its apartheid system of separate, discriminatory laws and selective enforcement, discriminatory education, incapacitating limitations of movement, water theft, and economic crippling, the settlement-and-Wall process is one of slow, civilized, strangulation of the Palestinian people and society, an ethnic cleansing.
Viewed from the sky over time, will the occupation succeed in “cleansing” Palestine of Palestinians?
Peace,
Tom
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate;
Only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness
multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. . . The chain reaction of
evil --- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars --- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
--- Martin Luther King, Jr.: Strength To Love
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
What's Wrong with Xns for Israel? Asks Tony Campollo!
Christian Zionism: Theology that Legitimates Oppression
by Tony Campolo 05-19-2010
I recently returned from a speaking engagement at the Bethlehem Bible College; and what I witnessed firsthand sent chills up my back. Listening to the horror stories told to me by oppressed Palestinians elicited feelings ranging from indignation to compassion. What was particularly upsetting were the pained questions of an elderly Christian Palestinian woman, who asked, “Why don’t our Christian brothers and sisters in America care about what is happening to us? Do they even know we exist? Do they know that their tax dollars paid for the Israeli tanks that destroyed my house and the houses of my neighbors?”
Twenty-five years ago, Bethlehem was 70 percent Christian. Today less than 15 percent of its population is Christian. Sometimes heartless and dehumanizing treatment that Bethlehem Christians have had to endure over the years has led most of them to emigrate to other countries. To this exodus, many religious Zionists say, “Good riddance!” Presently, 42 percent of all Israeli citizens believe that all Palestinians should be removed from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The most serious threats to the well-being of the Palestinians in general, and to the Christian Palestinians in particular, come not from the Jews, but from Christian Zionists here in the United States. They are armed with a theology created in the middle of the 19th century by a disaffected Anglican clergyman named John Nelson Darby in Plymouth, England. With this theology, called “Dispensationalism,” they argue that according to their interpretation of Genesis 15:18-21, the Holy Land should belong exclusively to the Jews. They contend that all of this land is what was promised to “the seed of Abraham” and, according to their interpretation of biblical prophecies, Jesus cannot return until all of this land is occupied by Jews, and all others are forced to leave.
Of course, the Darbyites completely ignore the fact that the Arab peoples are also the seed of Abraham, having descended to the present day from Hagar, one of Abraham’s servants. They fail to notice that Abraham affirmed both Isaac (his son by Sarah) and Ishmael (his son by Hagar) as his seed and called both to be present to bury their common father (Genesis 25:9). Furthermore, they are also prone to ignore that the land that Christian Zionists argue should be occupied only by Jews stretches from the Euphrates River to the Nile (Genesis 15:18-21). This includes the land now occupied by Arabs in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. That would mean that all of the Arabs in those countries would have to be forced to leave their homelands. I need not spell out the ramifications of what that would mean.
It should be noted that no prominent theologians until Darby (i.e., Calvin, Luther, Augustine, Aquinas) ever mentioned anything remotely resembling these claims made by dispensationalists. This Johnny-come-lately theology of John Nelson Darby has permeated American Protestantism via the publication in 1908 of the incredibly popular Scofield Reference Study Bible. Too often Evangelicals have treated the Scofield reference notes at the bottom of each page of scripture with almost as much reverence as they do the holy writ at the top of each page. So prevalent is Darby’s dispensationalist theology that most Evangelicals would be surprised to learn that his prophecies of a “rapture” and the historical events that he taught would accompany the rapture are nowhere to be found in Christian theology prior to the mid-19th century. Darby’s prophecies make the early church fathers, along with the apostle Paul, seem stupid since Christ could not possibly have returned during their own times, as they were prone to expect.
Darby’s influence on American Protestantism has recently received an enormous boost with the publication of the Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Their series of books which are imagined accounts of events leading up to the rapture have sold more than 100 million copies.
You can gain some idea of the huge ideological support Christian Zionists have gained as of late by considering the extremist claims of television evangelist Pat Robertson, who says that Palestinian Christians have no right at all to any part of the Holy Land, even though in many instances it has been land that their ancestors have lived on for generations.
There are those who blame the Jewish lobbies for the 30 percent of all U.S. foreign aid that has gone to the State of Israel and which has enabled the Israelis to create the fourth most powerful army in the world. In reality, however, it is the Christian Zionists, led by such powerful televangelists as John Hagee who have been the primary sources of pressure on the U.S. Congress to financially back the Israeli military that has made the injustices I have described possible.
I personally have witnessed the sadness and disillusionment of Christian Palestinians who feel that their American Christian brothers and sisters could not care less about the sufferings that they must endure. What troubles them most is that their fellow Evangelicals in America have very little understanding of the way the entire Islamic world views what is happening in the Holy Land, and how American Evangelicals who unquestioningly support Israel’s policies are hindering evangelism among Muslims. They know that there is little understanding among American Christians that so many of the conflicts that exist between Muslims and Christians around the world are partially due to what is happening in the Holy Land. For instance, the media in the Muslim world has linked the oppression of Palestinians to the justification of attacks on Americans, in particular, and the western world, in general.
Given the historical existential situation, we, as American Christians, should lend support to the efforts to have safe and secure borders for the State of Israel and protection against terrorists; but we should be equally committed to having a well-established Palestinian state that also has safe and secure borders. We should be calling for the demolition of the separation wall that is as offensive as the Berlin Wall was. And we should be demanding that the border between these two states be the “green line” negotiated following the 1967 war.
Furthermore, we should be committed to a Palestine that has fair access to usable water and that its people have the same freedom to travel as Israelis presently enjoy.
We should be calling for justice for both peoples, because ours is a God who is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) and calls on we Christians to be agents of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18).
Tony Campolo is founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE) and professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University.
by Tony Campolo 05-19-2010
I recently returned from a speaking engagement at the Bethlehem Bible College; and what I witnessed firsthand sent chills up my back. Listening to the horror stories told to me by oppressed Palestinians elicited feelings ranging from indignation to compassion. What was particularly upsetting were the pained questions of an elderly Christian Palestinian woman, who asked, “Why don’t our Christian brothers and sisters in America care about what is happening to us? Do they even know we exist? Do they know that their tax dollars paid for the Israeli tanks that destroyed my house and the houses of my neighbors?”
Twenty-five years ago, Bethlehem was 70 percent Christian. Today less than 15 percent of its population is Christian. Sometimes heartless and dehumanizing treatment that Bethlehem Christians have had to endure over the years has led most of them to emigrate to other countries. To this exodus, many religious Zionists say, “Good riddance!” Presently, 42 percent of all Israeli citizens believe that all Palestinians should be removed from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The most serious threats to the well-being of the Palestinians in general, and to the Christian Palestinians in particular, come not from the Jews, but from Christian Zionists here in the United States. They are armed with a theology created in the middle of the 19th century by a disaffected Anglican clergyman named John Nelson Darby in Plymouth, England. With this theology, called “Dispensationalism,” they argue that according to their interpretation of Genesis 15:18-21, the Holy Land should belong exclusively to the Jews. They contend that all of this land is what was promised to “the seed of Abraham” and, according to their interpretation of biblical prophecies, Jesus cannot return until all of this land is occupied by Jews, and all others are forced to leave.
Of course, the Darbyites completely ignore the fact that the Arab peoples are also the seed of Abraham, having descended to the present day from Hagar, one of Abraham’s servants. They fail to notice that Abraham affirmed both Isaac (his son by Sarah) and Ishmael (his son by Hagar) as his seed and called both to be present to bury their common father (Genesis 25:9). Furthermore, they are also prone to ignore that the land that Christian Zionists argue should be occupied only by Jews stretches from the Euphrates River to the Nile (Genesis 15:18-21). This includes the land now occupied by Arabs in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. That would mean that all of the Arabs in those countries would have to be forced to leave their homelands. I need not spell out the ramifications of what that would mean.
It should be noted that no prominent theologians until Darby (i.e., Calvin, Luther, Augustine, Aquinas) ever mentioned anything remotely resembling these claims made by dispensationalists. This Johnny-come-lately theology of John Nelson Darby has permeated American Protestantism via the publication in 1908 of the incredibly popular Scofield Reference Study Bible. Too often Evangelicals have treated the Scofield reference notes at the bottom of each page of scripture with almost as much reverence as they do the holy writ at the top of each page. So prevalent is Darby’s dispensationalist theology that most Evangelicals would be surprised to learn that his prophecies of a “rapture” and the historical events that he taught would accompany the rapture are nowhere to be found in Christian theology prior to the mid-19th century. Darby’s prophecies make the early church fathers, along with the apostle Paul, seem stupid since Christ could not possibly have returned during their own times, as they were prone to expect.
Darby’s influence on American Protestantism has recently received an enormous boost with the publication of the Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Their series of books which are imagined accounts of events leading up to the rapture have sold more than 100 million copies.
You can gain some idea of the huge ideological support Christian Zionists have gained as of late by considering the extremist claims of television evangelist Pat Robertson, who says that Palestinian Christians have no right at all to any part of the Holy Land, even though in many instances it has been land that their ancestors have lived on for generations.
There are those who blame the Jewish lobbies for the 30 percent of all U.S. foreign aid that has gone to the State of Israel and which has enabled the Israelis to create the fourth most powerful army in the world. In reality, however, it is the Christian Zionists, led by such powerful televangelists as John Hagee who have been the primary sources of pressure on the U.S. Congress to financially back the Israeli military that has made the injustices I have described possible.
I personally have witnessed the sadness and disillusionment of Christian Palestinians who feel that their American Christian brothers and sisters could not care less about the sufferings that they must endure. What troubles them most is that their fellow Evangelicals in America have very little understanding of the way the entire Islamic world views what is happening in the Holy Land, and how American Evangelicals who unquestioningly support Israel’s policies are hindering evangelism among Muslims. They know that there is little understanding among American Christians that so many of the conflicts that exist between Muslims and Christians around the world are partially due to what is happening in the Holy Land. For instance, the media in the Muslim world has linked the oppression of Palestinians to the justification of attacks on Americans, in particular, and the western world, in general.
Given the historical existential situation, we, as American Christians, should lend support to the efforts to have safe and secure borders for the State of Israel and protection against terrorists; but we should be equally committed to having a well-established Palestinian state that also has safe and secure borders. We should be calling for the demolition of the separation wall that is as offensive as the Berlin Wall was. And we should be demanding that the border between these two states be the “green line” negotiated following the 1967 war.
Furthermore, we should be committed to a Palestine that has fair access to usable water and that its people have the same freedom to travel as Israelis presently enjoy.
We should be calling for justice for both peoples, because ours is a God who is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) and calls on we Christians to be agents of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18).
Tony Campolo is founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE) and professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Two-State Solution is DEAD
Dear Friend,
I gave up on the "two-state" solution about three years ago, for all the reasons mentioned by Mr. Benvenisti in the article I'm sending you now.
The "indirect" negotiations (talking about what to talk about) are a sham, a charade, a foil, another attempt to "keep talking" so that nothing changes on the ground except more settlement expansion by the Israelis, at the expense of the Palestinians. Give it some more thought and ask Team Obama not to get embroiled in this needless track. The better track is to talk about the kind of society Israelis and Palestinians can share on this postage-sized piece of land. Israelis, give up the notion of a "Jewish" state. How racist is this? And now Bibi is bringing in the "religious factor" from the Old Testament, to buttress the secular idea upon which the Zionist state was founded 43 years ago. How bad is this? JRK
Is the Middle East on a peace process to nowhere?
Israeli iconoclast Meron Benvenisti says negotiations for a Palestinian state are an illusion that perpetuates the status quo
Ian Black, Middle East editor, in Jerusalem
A Palestinian demonstration in the West Bank. Meron Benvenisti is convinced that a two-state solution in the Middle East is doomed to fail. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA
Meron Benvenisti has been talking, writing and arguing about the Israel-Palestinian conflict for much of the last 40 years. Now aged 76 he is as forceful, articulate and unconventional as ever – and convinced that President Barack Obama is doomed to fail in his attempt to cajole the two sides to hammer out a solution at the negotiating table.
Benvenisti, the Cassandra of the Israeli left, has long held the view that the occupation that began after the 1967 Middle East war is irreversible and that Israelis and Palestinians need to find an alternative to the elusive two-state solution that has dominated thinking about the conflict in recent years. Controversial and iconoclastic when he first advanced it, his thesis is gaining ground.
"The whole notion of a Palestinian state now, in 2010, is a sham," he told the Guardian at his Jerusalem home as the US intensified efforts to get the long-stalled peace process moving again. "The entire discourse is wrong. By continuing that discourse you perpetuate the status quo. The struggle for the two-state solution is obsolete."
George Mitchell, the US envoy charged with launching "proximity talks" between Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas – in the absence of direct negotiations – does not agree. Nor do Israelis who believe that without an end to the occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state the Jewish majority and democratic character of their own state cannot survive. Abbas and his technocratic prime minister, Salam Fayyad, are working towards independence, though Palestinian opinion seems increasingly sceptical about the prospects.
Benvenisti's book, Sacred Landscapes, is one of the very best written on the conflict, interweaving the personal and the political. It is also deeply sympathetic to the Palestinians and their attachment to the land. He defines the Zionist enterprise bluntly as a "supplanting settler society" but also warns that using labels is a way of shutting down debate. He is wary of Holocaust-deniers and antisemites who try to recruit his dissident views to serve their anti-Israel goals.
Benvenisti, a political scientist by training, served as deputy mayor of Jerusalem after the 1967 war and was heavily influenced by his academic research on Belfast, another bitterly divided city. In the 1980's his West Bank Data Project collated and analysed the information that showed how the settlers were becoming fatefully integrated into Israeli society – under both Likud and Labour governments.
Israel's domination, he says, is now complete, while the Palestinians are fragmented into five enclaves – inside Israel, in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the diaspora.
In this situation, the concept of two states is misleading. "What does it mean, a state? It's a solution for less than one quarter of the Palestinian people on an area that is less than 10% of historic Palestine." Palestinian leaders who are ready to accept this "are a bunch of traitors to their own cause". Ramallah, prosperous headquarters of Abbas's Palestinian Authority and the recipient of millions of dollars in foreign aid, is a "bubble in which those who steal the money can enjoy themselves".
Benvenisti's territorial assumptions are not based on the 2000 "Clinton parameters" which Yasser Arafat turned down, nor proposals submitted by Ehud Olmert to Abbas – which talk of Israel withdrawing from some 97% of the West Bank with compensating land swaps – but a far smaller area hemmed in by Jewish settlements, settler-only roads and military zones.
"For the last 20 years I have questioned the feasibility of the partition of Palestine and now I am absolutely sure it is impossible," he says. "Or, it is possible if it is imposed on the Palestinians but that will mean the legitimisation of the status quo, of Bantustans, of a system of political and economic inequality which is hailed as a solution by the entire world – unlike in South Africa.
"The entire paradigm is wrong. We are doing this because it is self-serving. It is convenient for us to stick to the old slogan of two states as if nothing has happened since we began advocating it in the 1980s."
Taken the salience of the settlement issue in the peace process – rows over Netanyahu's temporary freeze in the West Bank and new building in East Jerusalem triggered the recent crisis in US-Israel relations – it is startling to find that Benvenisti is so dismissive of it.
"Israel's domination of the West Bank does not rely on the numbers of settlers or settlements," he argues. "The settlements are totally integrated into Israeli society. They've taken all the land they could. The rest is controlled by the Israeli army."
Benvenisti relishes overturning conventional wisdom. "The Israeli left would like to make us believe that the green line (the pre-1967 border) is something solid; that everything that is on this side is good and that everything bad began with the occupation in 1967. It is a false dichotomy. The green line is like a one-way mirror. It's only for the Palestinians, not for Israelis."
He avoids speculating about future scenarios and makes do with the concept "bi-nationalism" – "not as a political or ideological programme so much as a de facto reality masquerading as a temporary state of affairs … a description of the current condition, not a prescription." And he sees signs that the Palestinians are beginning to adjust to the "total victory of the Jews" and use the power of the weak: demanding votes and human rights may prove more effective than violence, he suggests.
"The peace process," Benvenisti concludes, "is more than a waste of time. It is an illusion and it perpetuates an illusion. You can engage in a peace process and have negotiations and conferences - which have no connection whatsoever to reality on the ground."
I gave up on the "two-state" solution about three years ago, for all the reasons mentioned by Mr. Benvenisti in the article I'm sending you now.
The "indirect" negotiations (talking about what to talk about) are a sham, a charade, a foil, another attempt to "keep talking" so that nothing changes on the ground except more settlement expansion by the Israelis, at the expense of the Palestinians. Give it some more thought and ask Team Obama not to get embroiled in this needless track. The better track is to talk about the kind of society Israelis and Palestinians can share on this postage-sized piece of land. Israelis, give up the notion of a "Jewish" state. How racist is this? And now Bibi is bringing in the "religious factor" from the Old Testament, to buttress the secular idea upon which the Zionist state was founded 43 years ago. How bad is this? JRK
Is the Middle East on a peace process to nowhere?
Israeli iconoclast Meron Benvenisti says negotiations for a Palestinian state are an illusion that perpetuates the status quo
Ian Black, Middle East editor, in Jerusalem
A Palestinian demonstration in the West Bank. Meron Benvenisti is convinced that a two-state solution in the Middle East is doomed to fail. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA
Meron Benvenisti has been talking, writing and arguing about the Israel-Palestinian conflict for much of the last 40 years. Now aged 76 he is as forceful, articulate and unconventional as ever – and convinced that President Barack Obama is doomed to fail in his attempt to cajole the two sides to hammer out a solution at the negotiating table.
Benvenisti, the Cassandra of the Israeli left, has long held the view that the occupation that began after the 1967 Middle East war is irreversible and that Israelis and Palestinians need to find an alternative to the elusive two-state solution that has dominated thinking about the conflict in recent years. Controversial and iconoclastic when he first advanced it, his thesis is gaining ground.
"The whole notion of a Palestinian state now, in 2010, is a sham," he told the Guardian at his Jerusalem home as the US intensified efforts to get the long-stalled peace process moving again. "The entire discourse is wrong. By continuing that discourse you perpetuate the status quo. The struggle for the two-state solution is obsolete."
George Mitchell, the US envoy charged with launching "proximity talks" between Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas – in the absence of direct negotiations – does not agree. Nor do Israelis who believe that without an end to the occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state the Jewish majority and democratic character of their own state cannot survive. Abbas and his technocratic prime minister, Salam Fayyad, are working towards independence, though Palestinian opinion seems increasingly sceptical about the prospects.
Benvenisti's book, Sacred Landscapes, is one of the very best written on the conflict, interweaving the personal and the political. It is also deeply sympathetic to the Palestinians and their attachment to the land. He defines the Zionist enterprise bluntly as a "supplanting settler society" but also warns that using labels is a way of shutting down debate. He is wary of Holocaust-deniers and antisemites who try to recruit his dissident views to serve their anti-Israel goals.
Benvenisti, a political scientist by training, served as deputy mayor of Jerusalem after the 1967 war and was heavily influenced by his academic research on Belfast, another bitterly divided city. In the 1980's his West Bank Data Project collated and analysed the information that showed how the settlers were becoming fatefully integrated into Israeli society – under both Likud and Labour governments.
Israel's domination, he says, is now complete, while the Palestinians are fragmented into five enclaves – inside Israel, in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the diaspora.
In this situation, the concept of two states is misleading. "What does it mean, a state? It's a solution for less than one quarter of the Palestinian people on an area that is less than 10% of historic Palestine." Palestinian leaders who are ready to accept this "are a bunch of traitors to their own cause". Ramallah, prosperous headquarters of Abbas's Palestinian Authority and the recipient of millions of dollars in foreign aid, is a "bubble in which those who steal the money can enjoy themselves".
Benvenisti's territorial assumptions are not based on the 2000 "Clinton parameters" which Yasser Arafat turned down, nor proposals submitted by Ehud Olmert to Abbas – which talk of Israel withdrawing from some 97% of the West Bank with compensating land swaps – but a far smaller area hemmed in by Jewish settlements, settler-only roads and military zones.
"For the last 20 years I have questioned the feasibility of the partition of Palestine and now I am absolutely sure it is impossible," he says. "Or, it is possible if it is imposed on the Palestinians but that will mean the legitimisation of the status quo, of Bantustans, of a system of political and economic inequality which is hailed as a solution by the entire world – unlike in South Africa.
"The entire paradigm is wrong. We are doing this because it is self-serving. It is convenient for us to stick to the old slogan of two states as if nothing has happened since we began advocating it in the 1980s."
Taken the salience of the settlement issue in the peace process – rows over Netanyahu's temporary freeze in the West Bank and new building in East Jerusalem triggered the recent crisis in US-Israel relations – it is startling to find that Benvenisti is so dismissive of it.
"Israel's domination of the West Bank does not rely on the numbers of settlers or settlements," he argues. "The settlements are totally integrated into Israeli society. They've taken all the land they could. The rest is controlled by the Israeli army."
Benvenisti relishes overturning conventional wisdom. "The Israeli left would like to make us believe that the green line (the pre-1967 border) is something solid; that everything that is on this side is good and that everything bad began with the occupation in 1967. It is a false dichotomy. The green line is like a one-way mirror. It's only for the Palestinians, not for Israelis."
He avoids speculating about future scenarios and makes do with the concept "bi-nationalism" – "not as a political or ideological programme so much as a de facto reality masquerading as a temporary state of affairs … a description of the current condition, not a prescription." And he sees signs that the Palestinians are beginning to adjust to the "total victory of the Jews" and use the power of the weak: demanding votes and human rights may prove more effective than violence, he suggests.
"The peace process," Benvenisti concludes, "is more than a waste of time. It is an illusion and it perpetuates an illusion. You can engage in a peace process and have negotiations and conferences - which have no connection whatsoever to reality on the ground."
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Palestinian Christians "Get the Hell Out" of Palestine
And Who Wouldn't?
If YOU had to live with conditions like they have lived under, especially since 1948?
"Friend" Marlin (Sally) Vis have just returned from our region with this tale of the success of our friends, the Israelis, in getting Palestinian Christians (and Muslims) to leave land they covet for themselves and themselves alone.
Pray for conversion, a change of heart to allow "The Other" entrance and presence in "The Land" so coveted by both Jews and Palestinians. Thank you Marlin, for sharing yourself and your vision a "Shared Isr/Pal". JRK
Dear Friends and Family:
"It never gets better here." This from a close friend and partner in mission and ministry - a Palestinian Christian named Sami. Sami lives in Bethlehem. He has a wife and two children. Sami works tirelessly to train other Palestinians in the art of nonviolent resistance to the stifling occupation that overshadows all else in this land of bright sunshine and resurrection hope. Sami introduced me to dozens of Palestinian Christian children - middle school and high school. When asked what they hoped for in the future, almost without exception, they answered the same: "We hope to leave this awful place."
This awful place! This is the Land of Jesus, the land of their ancestors. Why would they call this place awful?
And why do they want to leave? "Don't you love this land?"
"Of course we love our homeland. But we have no freedom here. We have no future."
Where will they go? They'll come here, just as my grandparents did, and maybe yours as well. They'll go to Canada or one of the Latin American countries. And this region's loss will be the gain for whatever place receives them. They are bright and beautiful and committed to working hard to earn their own way. They speak English and Arabic and Hebrew and French too. They are leaders in their communities and will be again when they settle in your community or mine.
This want to leave their homeland is not a want born out of disconnect of place, but rather, a longing to have before them a playing field that is level, or at least not so uphill as to be an impossible climb. They want a chance to shine, and shine they will, these sons and daughters of the early church fathers and mothers - Just not here in the land of Jesus. They will not shine here, and that is a shameful fact of life in this Holy Land.
Please continue to pray for Sally and me as we seek to do whatever we can to assist those like Sami who work to keep the Palestinian Christian youth in the land of Jesus. If they leave, then who will represent Jesus in this place of conflict? Who will be the church here, if not these young shining lights? It is a crisis and Sally and I are committed to doing what we can to help.
Help us help them. Urge your church to support us financially. Travel with us to the Land of Jesus. Check out our brochure for 2011. Consider a Christian Peacemaker Delegation pilgrimage. We are hoping to conduct one of these every year. We just finished our first. Check out our blog for details.
Pray for us and for the Palestinian Christians who keep trying when trying is so hard to do. Young friends of ours have started a church in East Jerusalem. Sally and I support them in many ways and they are doing a brave, good work, reaching out to the Palestinian community and having success. We are so proud of them. Two of them are our regular bus drivers.
We are well, back in Zeeland after two months in Jerusalem. Our ministry grows and grows. We are overwhelmed with the possibilities that lay before us, and therefore, before all of us together. Because we are the church! We are together in this and in everything else that grows the Kingdom.
And we thank you. And we love you. And we pray for you as you pray for us. We invite you to join us in Jerusalem. You will be blessed and you will be a blessing! We promise.
Love and blessings
marlin and sally vis
If YOU had to live with conditions like they have lived under, especially since 1948?
"Friend" Marlin (Sally) Vis have just returned from our region with this tale of the success of our friends, the Israelis, in getting Palestinian Christians (and Muslims) to leave land they covet for themselves and themselves alone.
Pray for conversion, a change of heart to allow "The Other" entrance and presence in "The Land" so coveted by both Jews and Palestinians. Thank you Marlin, for sharing yourself and your vision a "Shared Isr/Pal". JRK
Dear Friends and Family:
"It never gets better here." This from a close friend and partner in mission and ministry - a Palestinian Christian named Sami. Sami lives in Bethlehem. He has a wife and two children. Sami works tirelessly to train other Palestinians in the art of nonviolent resistance to the stifling occupation that overshadows all else in this land of bright sunshine and resurrection hope. Sami introduced me to dozens of Palestinian Christian children - middle school and high school. When asked what they hoped for in the future, almost without exception, they answered the same: "We hope to leave this awful place."
This awful place! This is the Land of Jesus, the land of their ancestors. Why would they call this place awful?
And why do they want to leave? "Don't you love this land?"
"Of course we love our homeland. But we have no freedom here. We have no future."
Where will they go? They'll come here, just as my grandparents did, and maybe yours as well. They'll go to Canada or one of the Latin American countries. And this region's loss will be the gain for whatever place receives them. They are bright and beautiful and committed to working hard to earn their own way. They speak English and Arabic and Hebrew and French too. They are leaders in their communities and will be again when they settle in your community or mine.
This want to leave their homeland is not a want born out of disconnect of place, but rather, a longing to have before them a playing field that is level, or at least not so uphill as to be an impossible climb. They want a chance to shine, and shine they will, these sons and daughters of the early church fathers and mothers - Just not here in the land of Jesus. They will not shine here, and that is a shameful fact of life in this Holy Land.
Please continue to pray for Sally and me as we seek to do whatever we can to assist those like Sami who work to keep the Palestinian Christian youth in the land of Jesus. If they leave, then who will represent Jesus in this place of conflict? Who will be the church here, if not these young shining lights? It is a crisis and Sally and I are committed to doing what we can to help.
Help us help them. Urge your church to support us financially. Travel with us to the Land of Jesus. Check out our brochure for 2011. Consider a Christian Peacemaker Delegation pilgrimage. We are hoping to conduct one of these every year. We just finished our first. Check out our blog for details.
Pray for us and for the Palestinian Christians who keep trying when trying is so hard to do. Young friends of ours have started a church in East Jerusalem. Sally and I support them in many ways and they are doing a brave, good work, reaching out to the Palestinian community and having success. We are so proud of them. Two of them are our regular bus drivers.
We are well, back in Zeeland after two months in Jerusalem. Our ministry grows and grows. We are overwhelmed with the possibilities that lay before us, and therefore, before all of us together. Because we are the church! We are together in this and in everything else that grows the Kingdom.
And we thank you. And we love you. And we pray for you as you pray for us. We invite you to join us in Jerusalem. You will be blessed and you will be a blessing! We promise.
Love and blessings
marlin and sally vis
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The Essence of the Problem
Friends,
Kai Bird, in the Saturday, NY TIMES, gives us an illustration of the Essence of the Problem in Isr/Pal. Read it and weep. Read it and alert others in your world. JRK
Who Lives in Sheik Jarrah?
By KAI BIRD
AS a boy, I lived in Sheik Jarrah, a wealthy Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Annexed by Israel in 1967 and now the subject of a conflict over property claims, my former home has come to symbolize everything that has gone wrong between the Israelis and Palestinians over the last six decades.
Despite talk of a slowdown in Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, Jerusalem’s mayor, toured Washington earlier this week and told officials that the expansion into Arab neighborhoods is going ahead at full speed.
As a result, “The battle line in Israel’s war of survival as a Jewish and democratic state now runs through the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem,” writes David Landau, the former editor of the Israeli daily Haaretz. “Is that the line, at last, where Israel’s decline will be halted?” I hope so.
My family lived in Israel from 1956 to 1958, when my father, an American diplomat, was stationed in East Jerusalem. We lived in the Palestinian sector, but every day I crossed through Mandelbaum Gate, the one checkpoint in the divided city, to attend school in an Israeli neighborhood. I thus had the rare privilege of seeing both sides.
At the time Sheik Jarrah was a sleepy suburb, a half-mile north of Damascus Gate. One of my playmates was Dani Bahar, the son of a Muslim Palestinian and a Jewish-German refugee from Nazi Europe. Before the establishment of Israel in 1948, such interfaith marriages were uncommon, but accepted. Another neighbor was Katy Antonius, the widow of George Antonius, an Arab historian who argued that Palestine should become a binational, secular state.
The Sheik Jarrah of my youth is gone; Mandelbaum Gate was razed by Israeli bulldozers right after the Six-Day War in 1967 that united Jerusalem. But the city remains virtually divided. Few Jewish Israelis venture into Sheik Jarrah and the other largely Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, and few Palestinians go to the “New City.”
Today East Jerusalem exudes the palpable feel of a city occupied by a foreign power. And it is, to an extent — although much of the world doesn’t recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to halt the construction of new housing units for Jewish Israelis in the Arab neighborhoods. “Jerusalem is not a settlement,” he recently told an audience in Washington.
Not all Israelis agree with this policy. For over a year, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Israelis and Palestinians have been gathering in Sheik Jarrah on Fridays to protest the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes. Israeli courts have deemed these nonviolent demonstrations to be legal, but this has not stopped the police from arresting protesters.
In a cruel historical twist, nearly all of the Palestinians evicted from their homes in Sheik Jarrah in the last year-and-a-half were originally expelled in 1948 from their homes in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Talbieh. In the wake of the Six-Day War, Israeli courts ruled that some of the houses these Palestinian refugees have lived in since 1948 are actually legally owned by Jewish Israelis, who have claims dating from before Israel’s founding.
The Palestinians have stubbornly refused to pay any rent to these “absentee” Israeli landlords for nearly 43 years; until recently, their presence was nevertheless tolerated. But under Mr. Netanyahu, a concerted effort has been made to evict these Palestinians and replace them with Israelis.
This poses an interesting question. If Jewish Israelis can claim property in East Jerusalem based on land deeds that predate 1948, why can’t Palestinians with similar deeds reclaim their homes in West Jerusalem?
I have in mind the Kalbians, our neighbors in Sheik Jarrah. Until 1948, Dr. Vicken Kalbian and his family lived in a handsome Jerusalem-stone house on Balfour Street in Talbieh. In the spring, the Haganah, the Zionist militia, sent trucks mounted with loudspeakers through the streets of Talbieh, demanding that all Arab residents leave. The Kalbians decided it might be prudent to comply, but they thought they’d be back in a few weeks.
Nineteen years later, after the Six-Day war, the Kalbians returned to 4 Balfour Street and knocked on the door. A stranger answered. “He was a Jewish Turk,” Dr. Kalbian said, “who had come to Israel in 1948.” The man claimed he had bought the house from the “authorities.”
That year the Kalbians took their property deed to a lawyer who determined that their house was indeed registered with the Israeli Department of Absentee Property. Under Israeli law, they learned, due compensation could have been paid to them — but only if they had not fled to countries then considered “hostile,” like Jordan. Because in 1948 they had ended up in Jordanian-controlled Sheik Jarrah, the Kalbians could neither reclaim their home nor be compensated for their loss.
The Kalbians eventually emigrated to America, but their moral claim to the house on Balfour Street is as strong as any of the deeds held by Israelis to property in Sheik Jarrah.
If Israel wishes to remain largely Jewish and democratic, then it must soon withdraw from all of the occupied territories and negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. And if not, it should at least let the Kalbians go home again.
Kai Bird is the author of “Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978.”
Kai Bird, in the Saturday, NY TIMES, gives us an illustration of the Essence of the Problem in Isr/Pal. Read it and weep. Read it and alert others in your world. JRK
Who Lives in Sheik Jarrah?
By KAI BIRD
AS a boy, I lived in Sheik Jarrah, a wealthy Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Annexed by Israel in 1967 and now the subject of a conflict over property claims, my former home has come to symbolize everything that has gone wrong between the Israelis and Palestinians over the last six decades.
Despite talk of a slowdown in Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, Jerusalem’s mayor, toured Washington earlier this week and told officials that the expansion into Arab neighborhoods is going ahead at full speed.
As a result, “The battle line in Israel’s war of survival as a Jewish and democratic state now runs through the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem,” writes David Landau, the former editor of the Israeli daily Haaretz. “Is that the line, at last, where Israel’s decline will be halted?” I hope so.
My family lived in Israel from 1956 to 1958, when my father, an American diplomat, was stationed in East Jerusalem. We lived in the Palestinian sector, but every day I crossed through Mandelbaum Gate, the one checkpoint in the divided city, to attend school in an Israeli neighborhood. I thus had the rare privilege of seeing both sides.
At the time Sheik Jarrah was a sleepy suburb, a half-mile north of Damascus Gate. One of my playmates was Dani Bahar, the son of a Muslim Palestinian and a Jewish-German refugee from Nazi Europe. Before the establishment of Israel in 1948, such interfaith marriages were uncommon, but accepted. Another neighbor was Katy Antonius, the widow of George Antonius, an Arab historian who argued that Palestine should become a binational, secular state.
The Sheik Jarrah of my youth is gone; Mandelbaum Gate was razed by Israeli bulldozers right after the Six-Day War in 1967 that united Jerusalem. But the city remains virtually divided. Few Jewish Israelis venture into Sheik Jarrah and the other largely Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, and few Palestinians go to the “New City.”
Today East Jerusalem exudes the palpable feel of a city occupied by a foreign power. And it is, to an extent — although much of the world doesn’t recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to halt the construction of new housing units for Jewish Israelis in the Arab neighborhoods. “Jerusalem is not a settlement,” he recently told an audience in Washington.
Not all Israelis agree with this policy. For over a year, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Israelis and Palestinians have been gathering in Sheik Jarrah on Fridays to protest the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes. Israeli courts have deemed these nonviolent demonstrations to be legal, but this has not stopped the police from arresting protesters.
In a cruel historical twist, nearly all of the Palestinians evicted from their homes in Sheik Jarrah in the last year-and-a-half were originally expelled in 1948 from their homes in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Talbieh. In the wake of the Six-Day War, Israeli courts ruled that some of the houses these Palestinian refugees have lived in since 1948 are actually legally owned by Jewish Israelis, who have claims dating from before Israel’s founding.
The Palestinians have stubbornly refused to pay any rent to these “absentee” Israeli landlords for nearly 43 years; until recently, their presence was nevertheless tolerated. But under Mr. Netanyahu, a concerted effort has been made to evict these Palestinians and replace them with Israelis.
This poses an interesting question. If Jewish Israelis can claim property in East Jerusalem based on land deeds that predate 1948, why can’t Palestinians with similar deeds reclaim their homes in West Jerusalem?
I have in mind the Kalbians, our neighbors in Sheik Jarrah. Until 1948, Dr. Vicken Kalbian and his family lived in a handsome Jerusalem-stone house on Balfour Street in Talbieh. In the spring, the Haganah, the Zionist militia, sent trucks mounted with loudspeakers through the streets of Talbieh, demanding that all Arab residents leave. The Kalbians decided it might be prudent to comply, but they thought they’d be back in a few weeks.
Nineteen years later, after the Six-Day war, the Kalbians returned to 4 Balfour Street and knocked on the door. A stranger answered. “He was a Jewish Turk,” Dr. Kalbian said, “who had come to Israel in 1948.” The man claimed he had bought the house from the “authorities.”
That year the Kalbians took their property deed to a lawyer who determined that their house was indeed registered with the Israeli Department of Absentee Property. Under Israeli law, they learned, due compensation could have been paid to them — but only if they had not fled to countries then considered “hostile,” like Jordan. Because in 1948 they had ended up in Jordanian-controlled Sheik Jarrah, the Kalbians could neither reclaim their home nor be compensated for their loss.
The Kalbians eventually emigrated to America, but their moral claim to the house on Balfour Street is as strong as any of the deeds held by Israelis to property in Sheik Jarrah.
If Israel wishes to remain largely Jewish and democratic, then it must soon withdraw from all of the occupied territories and negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. And if not, it should at least let the Kalbians go home again.
Kai Bird is the author of “Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978.”
Friday, April 23, 2010
When Fellowship is Taboo
We know it is not "easy", caring about "the Other, the Enemy". Salim Munayer is director of a "reconcilation" ministry in Isr/Pal and has powerful insight into the "truth" about relationships. Read it and profit from this prophet. JRK
Fellowship: Breaking the Taboo
Reconciliation is not just one thing, it is many. However, if reconciliation does not include fellowship with people on the other side, people that we consider our enemy, then it is nothing. Fellowship is the fruit of reconciliation, its essence, and an unmistakable symbol of its power and ability to affect lives.
On the road toward reconciliation, there are many challenges to overcome. Among Israeli-Palestinian believers living in the conflict, these include differences in language, culture, theology, and the physical segregation of our communities. Over the years at Musalaha, we have developed a forum for people from both sides to meet each other, establish relationships, and discuss their differences in the context of friendship. This forum has proven to be beneficial and fruitful, as many participants in Musalaha activities have remained committed to the process of reconciliation and to the friendships they have established. But, in spite of the success we have seen, we are also very aware of the external factors which influence and can prevent this process, such as the political situation, wars, and violence. As the conflict and discussions about the conflict intensify, dividing lines are made clearer, and fellowship becomes taboo.
People on both sides bear the burden of pressure to prove their loyalty to their own ethnic or national group. Recently, the theological and political debate has been heating up, and a new dynamic has developed within the body of the Messiah: inner-group pressure to avoid meeting with people from the other side. This pressure has been felt by both Israeli and Palestinian believers, telling them to avoid fellowship with each other, to refrain from the exchange of ideas, and to restrict their meetings to only those who agree with their specific political or theological opinions. In the words of Miroslav Volf, “there is far too much dishonesty in the single-minded search for truth, too much injustice in the uncompromising struggle for justice.”[1] This pressure seems to be on the rise in recent weeks and months, and can take the form of personal discussions, or emails and letters. Either way the pressure is the same: we are not to meet with the other side, we are to stay within the bounds of our own group.
In this atmosphere of internal group pressure, two biblical examples come to mind. The first is found in the book of Acts, when Peter is staying in Jaffa, and receives a vision from God. He sees a sheet filled with unclean animals descend from the sky, and is told to kill and eat them. After Peter objects, claiming that he has never eaten anything unclean, the voice of God speaks clearly, telling him that what God has cleansed must not be called unclean. After this Peter is summoned to meet with Cornelius, a Roman centurion in Caesarea. When Peter meets with Cornelius, he explained, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” (Acts 10:29) When Peter returns to Jerusalem, the brethren had already heard of his meeting with Cornelius, and of his preaching to the non-Jews. Therefore, when they met with him, they challenged him, saying “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” (Acts 11:3) This was unheard of and was considered sinful. Peter was forced to explain himself, and told them of his vision from God.
This story has received much theological treatment, most of it focusing on the issue of purity, and the dynamic of clean vs. unclean. Commentators usually point to the fact that Cornelius was uncircumcised and not Jewish, in order to explain why the brethren in Jerusalem had such a strongly negative reaction to Peter’s meeting with him. While this was certainly part of the reason for their reaction, it fails to recognize another fact: the fact that Cornelius was the enemy. As a Roman centurion, Cornelius was the enemy in that he represented an oppressive military occupation that was resented and feared among Peter’s people. Cornelius embodied the military might of Rome as much as its pagan gods, therefore Peter’s meeting with him was not only a spiritual, but a political betrayal of his people. Furthermore, to go to the house of Cornelius in Caesarea (named after Caesar, ruler of Rome), the seat of Roman military and political power, and share a meal with the enemy was, in the eyes of the brethren from Jerusalem, the height of treason.
The second story is found in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, when Peter and Paul came to Antioch. In order to understand this story, it is important to remember that the early followers of Jesus were deeply involved in a debate over a very controversial issue: what was to be done with the new, non-Jewish believers in the Messiah? Paul’s ideas on this issue were not accepted by everyone in the church. Rifts were developing and the situation was tense, not unlike the situation we face today.
In this story, Paul explains how he had to rebuke Peter for hypocrisy. For while Peter had no problem sitting and eating with the non-Jews, and having fellowship with his new brothers and sisters as long as the brethren from Jerusalem did not know about it, as soon as they arrived, he “withdrew and separated himself,” from their company. (Galatians 2:11-13) Why was Paul critical of Peter? Because he gave in to the inner group pressure he felt to exclude those who are different, the outsider, the other. Also, as a leader, Peter’s actions had an influence on others as well, since people were watching him to see which side he would take in the debate. As a result of Peter’s weakness, “the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.” (Galatians 2:14) The fact that Peter, of all people, should be guilty of this hypocrisy, when he was the one who had personally seen God’s vision, should tell us something about the difficulty of standing up for one’s convictions, and about the strength of inner group pressure.
The problem with the brethren from Jerusalem was not their zealous adherence to the arduous standards of the Law, nor was it the fact that they disagreed with Peter and Paul theologically. The problem was that they allowed their disagreement to interfere with their fellowship. It is no sin to disagree on theological or political grounds. These disagreements will occur no matter how we may strive towards uniformity of belief. In fact, they represent the plurality of humankind’s understanding of God’s incomprehensible nature, each perspective adding richness and texture to the collective vision. However, as soon as we permit these differences and disagreements to stand in the way of fellowship, we are in opposition to God’s will and His commandment, to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If there was ever any ambiguity concerning who our neighbor is, Jesus made it clear in His parable of the Good Samaritan. It is the outsider, the other, the enemy.
It is no surprise that both of these stories revolve around the issue of eating with people considered as outsiders. In the days of Peter and Paul, fellowship was symbolized by eating together, the act of sharing a meal with others. This is why Jesus chose a meal to remind us of the sacrifice He made on the cross. “Take, eat” He said, for “this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” This is why He chose a meal to unify us all as one body, saying “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” Fellowship is a sacred act, and if we neglect it there will be consequences. “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you.” (I Corinthians 11: 29-30)
When we allow something to stand in the way of our fellowship, we become susceptible to the sickness of hate and anger, which is contagious and easily spread. The only way to check the spread of this disease is to return to fellowship through God’s love. To return to reconciliation. It is not an easy path to follow. It is far easier to surround ourselves with those who agree with us, those who will not challenge us. But this is not what God has called us to. Take the example of Peter. He slid back into his comfort zone so quickly, and had to learn the same lesson a second time. This is because reconciliation is a process, a slow process, but one that is our sacred duty as believers of the Messiah. We are commanded to break the taboo of meeting with, and of loving the other through fellowship.
Salim J. Munayer
Musalaha Director
Evan Thomas
Musalaha Chairman of the Board
Edited by Joshua Korn
Musalaha Publications Manager
[1] Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, Abingdon Press, 1996, p. 29
Fellowship: Breaking the Taboo
Reconciliation is not just one thing, it is many. However, if reconciliation does not include fellowship with people on the other side, people that we consider our enemy, then it is nothing. Fellowship is the fruit of reconciliation, its essence, and an unmistakable symbol of its power and ability to affect lives.
On the road toward reconciliation, there are many challenges to overcome. Among Israeli-Palestinian believers living in the conflict, these include differences in language, culture, theology, and the physical segregation of our communities. Over the years at Musalaha, we have developed a forum for people from both sides to meet each other, establish relationships, and discuss their differences in the context of friendship. This forum has proven to be beneficial and fruitful, as many participants in Musalaha activities have remained committed to the process of reconciliation and to the friendships they have established. But, in spite of the success we have seen, we are also very aware of the external factors which influence and can prevent this process, such as the political situation, wars, and violence. As the conflict and discussions about the conflict intensify, dividing lines are made clearer, and fellowship becomes taboo.
People on both sides bear the burden of pressure to prove their loyalty to their own ethnic or national group. Recently, the theological and political debate has been heating up, and a new dynamic has developed within the body of the Messiah: inner-group pressure to avoid meeting with people from the other side. This pressure has been felt by both Israeli and Palestinian believers, telling them to avoid fellowship with each other, to refrain from the exchange of ideas, and to restrict their meetings to only those who agree with their specific political or theological opinions. In the words of Miroslav Volf, “there is far too much dishonesty in the single-minded search for truth, too much injustice in the uncompromising struggle for justice.”[1] This pressure seems to be on the rise in recent weeks and months, and can take the form of personal discussions, or emails and letters. Either way the pressure is the same: we are not to meet with the other side, we are to stay within the bounds of our own group.
In this atmosphere of internal group pressure, two biblical examples come to mind. The first is found in the book of Acts, when Peter is staying in Jaffa, and receives a vision from God. He sees a sheet filled with unclean animals descend from the sky, and is told to kill and eat them. After Peter objects, claiming that he has never eaten anything unclean, the voice of God speaks clearly, telling him that what God has cleansed must not be called unclean. After this Peter is summoned to meet with Cornelius, a Roman centurion in Caesarea. When Peter meets with Cornelius, he explained, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” (Acts 10:29) When Peter returns to Jerusalem, the brethren had already heard of his meeting with Cornelius, and of his preaching to the non-Jews. Therefore, when they met with him, they challenged him, saying “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” (Acts 11:3) This was unheard of and was considered sinful. Peter was forced to explain himself, and told them of his vision from God.
This story has received much theological treatment, most of it focusing on the issue of purity, and the dynamic of clean vs. unclean. Commentators usually point to the fact that Cornelius was uncircumcised and not Jewish, in order to explain why the brethren in Jerusalem had such a strongly negative reaction to Peter’s meeting with him. While this was certainly part of the reason for their reaction, it fails to recognize another fact: the fact that Cornelius was the enemy. As a Roman centurion, Cornelius was the enemy in that he represented an oppressive military occupation that was resented and feared among Peter’s people. Cornelius embodied the military might of Rome as much as its pagan gods, therefore Peter’s meeting with him was not only a spiritual, but a political betrayal of his people. Furthermore, to go to the house of Cornelius in Caesarea (named after Caesar, ruler of Rome), the seat of Roman military and political power, and share a meal with the enemy was, in the eyes of the brethren from Jerusalem, the height of treason.
The second story is found in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, when Peter and Paul came to Antioch. In order to understand this story, it is important to remember that the early followers of Jesus were deeply involved in a debate over a very controversial issue: what was to be done with the new, non-Jewish believers in the Messiah? Paul’s ideas on this issue were not accepted by everyone in the church. Rifts were developing and the situation was tense, not unlike the situation we face today.
In this story, Paul explains how he had to rebuke Peter for hypocrisy. For while Peter had no problem sitting and eating with the non-Jews, and having fellowship with his new brothers and sisters as long as the brethren from Jerusalem did not know about it, as soon as they arrived, he “withdrew and separated himself,” from their company. (Galatians 2:11-13) Why was Paul critical of Peter? Because he gave in to the inner group pressure he felt to exclude those who are different, the outsider, the other. Also, as a leader, Peter’s actions had an influence on others as well, since people were watching him to see which side he would take in the debate. As a result of Peter’s weakness, “the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.” (Galatians 2:14) The fact that Peter, of all people, should be guilty of this hypocrisy, when he was the one who had personally seen God’s vision, should tell us something about the difficulty of standing up for one’s convictions, and about the strength of inner group pressure.
The problem with the brethren from Jerusalem was not their zealous adherence to the arduous standards of the Law, nor was it the fact that they disagreed with Peter and Paul theologically. The problem was that they allowed their disagreement to interfere with their fellowship. It is no sin to disagree on theological or political grounds. These disagreements will occur no matter how we may strive towards uniformity of belief. In fact, they represent the plurality of humankind’s understanding of God’s incomprehensible nature, each perspective adding richness and texture to the collective vision. However, as soon as we permit these differences and disagreements to stand in the way of fellowship, we are in opposition to God’s will and His commandment, to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If there was ever any ambiguity concerning who our neighbor is, Jesus made it clear in His parable of the Good Samaritan. It is the outsider, the other, the enemy.
It is no surprise that both of these stories revolve around the issue of eating with people considered as outsiders. In the days of Peter and Paul, fellowship was symbolized by eating together, the act of sharing a meal with others. This is why Jesus chose a meal to remind us of the sacrifice He made on the cross. “Take, eat” He said, for “this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” This is why He chose a meal to unify us all as one body, saying “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” Fellowship is a sacred act, and if we neglect it there will be consequences. “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you.” (I Corinthians 11: 29-30)
When we allow something to stand in the way of our fellowship, we become susceptible to the sickness of hate and anger, which is contagious and easily spread. The only way to check the spread of this disease is to return to fellowship through God’s love. To return to reconciliation. It is not an easy path to follow. It is far easier to surround ourselves with those who agree with us, those who will not challenge us. But this is not what God has called us to. Take the example of Peter. He slid back into his comfort zone so quickly, and had to learn the same lesson a second time. This is because reconciliation is a process, a slow process, but one that is our sacred duty as believers of the Messiah. We are commanded to break the taboo of meeting with, and of loving the other through fellowship.
Salim J. Munayer
Musalaha Director
Evan Thomas
Musalaha Chairman of the Board
Edited by Joshua Korn
Musalaha Publications Manager
[1] Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, Abingdon Press, 1996, p. 29
Friday, April 16, 2010
Team Obama on Isr/Pal, Requirements for "Peace"
Dear Friend,
Secretary Hilliary Clinton has articulated the latest version of the Team Obama position on Israel/Palestine.
I'm summarizing it, giving you the last (and most important) part. She spoke last night (April 15), at the dedication of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace in Washington D.C.
After reviewing aspects of the tortuous path, especially condemning HAMAS (Gaza) and praising the FATAH steps (West Bank), she details what the Obama administration is expecting of the Palestinians; and then the Israelis; and the Arab states. Discern for yourselves whether we have reason to HOPE that underlying issues can be addressed and resolved according to the wishes of the majority populations of both peoples.
If time is a problem for you, scan the bold print for highlights. JRK (with thanks to the ATFP (American Task Force on Palestine).
The PLO has emerged as a credible partner for peace. It has rejected violence, improved security, made progress on combating incitement, and accepted Israel’s right to exist.
The Palestinian Authority’s two-year plan envisions a state that is based on pluralism, equality, religious tolerance, and the rule of law, created through a negotiated settlement with Israel, and capable of meeting the needs of its citizens and supporting a lasting peace with Israel. And under the leadership of President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, the PA is addressing a history of corruption and building transparent and accountable institutions that can provide the necessary foundation for that future state. The United States has partnered with the PA to improve the effectiveness of its security forces. Reforms have increased public confidence in the courts -- last year they handled 67 percent more cases than in 2008. The PA is building schools and hospitals and training teachers and medical staff, and even developing a national health insurance program.
Sound fiscal policies, support from the international community – including hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone from the United States – and improving security and rule of law have led to significant economic growth. More and more Palestinians in the West Bank are finding jobs, starting businesses, and lifting themselves and their families out of poverty and the economic stagnation that resulted from the Intifada. The number of new business licenses issued in the West Bank in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 50 percent higher than the same period in 2008. And three new venture capital funds are set to launch this spring with the support of American, Arab, and European investors.
Considerable work remains. The PA must redouble its efforts to put an end to incitement and violence, crack down on corruption, and ingrain a culture of peace and tolerance among Palestinians. The leadership should refrain from using international organizations, particularly the United Nations, as platforms for inflammatory rhetoric. And we strongly encourage President Abbas and his government to join negotiations with Israel. Israelis must see, too, that pursuing the path of progress and diplomacy can and will lead to peace and security. But there is no doubt that, so far, the progress we are seeing in the West Bank is positive and encouraging.
Last year I visited a classroom in Ramallah where Palestinian students were learning English through a U.S.-sponsored program that has taught thousands of Palestinian young people. They were studying Women’s History Month and Sally Ride, the first woman astronaut and a personal hero of mine. The students, especially the girls, were captivated by her story. When asked for a single word to describe Sally and her accomplishment, one student responded: “hopeful.”
Today hope is stirring in the West Bank because of strong leadership and hard work. People are seeing a difference in their daily lives. And parents can imagine a future for their children that holds more than conflict and humiliation.
But this progress is tenuous. Without increased support from the international community, including from the Arab states, without larger, steadier, and more predictable financial support, the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to build institutions and spur growth will run out of steam. If the PA cannot overcome corruption and smuggling, development will fall short. And if it fails to control violence, the progress will slow to a halt.
Sustaining and extending positive development also requires Israel to be a responsible partner. The Netanyahu Government has lifted roadblocks and eased movement throughout the West Bank. These are encouraging moves that will improve quality of life, but Israel can and should do more to support the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to build credible institutions and deliver results to their people. Both sides would benefit from a real partnership that fosters long-term growth and opportunity.
Ultimately the fate of these efforts hinges on the peace process. In contrast to Hamas, the Palestinian Authority has staked its credibility on a path of peaceful coexistence. Even more than economic opportunities, Palestinians yearn for a state to call their own, for the dignity that all people deserve, and the right to chart their own destiny. If Mahmoud Abbas cannot deliver on these aspirations, his support will fade and Palestinians will turn to alternatives – including Hamas. And that way leads only to more conflict.
Vindicating the Path of Peace
For Israel, that means accepting that concrete steps toward peace – both through the peace process and in the bottom-up institutions building I have described – are the best weapons against Hamas and other extremists. Prime Minister Netanyahu has embraced the vision of the two-state solution. But easing up on access and movement in the West Bank, in response to credible Palestinian security performance, is not sufficient to prove to the Palestinians that this embrace is sincere. We encourage Israel to continue building momentum toward a comprehensive peace by demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, stopping settlement activity, and addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza. And it should refrain from unilateral statements and actions, including in East Jerusalem, that could undermine trust or risk prejudicing the outcome of talks.
Israel has worked hard in recent years to improve security, and, along with the increased capacity and commitment of Palestinian security forces, the number of suicide bombings has – thankfully – dropped significantly. As a result, however, some have come to believe that Israelis, protected by walls and buoyed by a dynamic economy, can avoid the hard choices that peace requires.
But that would mean continuing an impasse that carries tragic human costs, denies Palestinians their legitimate aspirations, and threatens Israel’s long term future as a secure and democratic Jewish state. Israelis and Palestinians alike must confront the reality that the status quo has not produced long-term security or served their interests, and accept their share of responsibility for reaching a comprehensive peace that will benefit both sides.
So too must the Arab states, who worry about the destabilizing impact of extremists like Hamas but don’t do enough to bolster the efforts of the Palestinian Authority. It is in their interest to advance the Arab Peace Initiative with action, not just rhetoric, and make it easier for the Palestinians to pursue negotiations and achieve an agreement. If the Arab Peace Initiative is indeed the genuine offer it appears to be, we should not face threats by certain Arab states that it will be "taken off the table" each time there is a setback. We look forward to a deeper conversation about implementing the Initiative and the concrete results it would bring to the people of the region. And we are encouraged by the work of a number of NGO’s and civil society groups, including some who are represented here, to articulate a more complete vision of the benefits of peace.
For our part, the United States understands the need to support the reforms of the Palestinian Authority and continue efforts to restart substantive negotiations. We know that we cannot force a solution. The parties themselves must resolve their differences. But, we believe that through good-faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree to an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the ‘67 lines, with agreed swaps, and Israel’s goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israel’s security requirements.
This path is not easy. It will require all parties, including Israel, to make difficult but necessary choices. And it will take bold leadership. We have seen it before – old adversaries like Sadat and Begin extending the hand of peace because they knew it would make their people stronger – and it is called for once again today.
Reflecting on one of his many conversations with Egyptian President Mubarak, Danny Abraham observed that, “There is no question that… many of the leading figures in the Arab world know what benefits a full peace with Israel will bring to their countries, but they also know that in the prevailing political climate it is dangerous to state such a truth.”
Changing that climate will require mobilizing a broad constituency for peace that can provide a political counterweight to the forces of division and destruction. There is an ever-more pressing imperative to make the case for peace clearly and publicly. And the most compelling arguments will be the results people – Israelis, Palestinians, all the people of the region – see in their daily lives.
In Leah Rabin’s book, she writes about the thoughts that preoccupied her husband during his last day. He wondered how deep support for peace ran among his people. In the quiet moments around their kitchen tables or in coffee shops and busy markets, did they believe in peace? Because Rabin understood that agreements between leaders are the beginning, not the end. Whether peace takes hold depends upon it becoming a habit of the heart. In order for it to be real, people have to learn to live and work and go to school together. Peace must grow in our homes and in our communities. It must to be nurtured between and among human beings, and then passed on to our children.
Today, as Danny Abraham likes to say, peace is possible in the Middle East. The way forward is clear. All it requires is the political will – from the leaders, the people, and the partners – to choose peace, and to turn the promise of a safer, more secure, and more stable future into reality.
Secretary Hilliary Clinton has articulated the latest version of the Team Obama position on Israel/Palestine.
I'm summarizing it, giving you the last (and most important) part. She spoke last night (April 15), at the dedication of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace in Washington D.C.
After reviewing aspects of the tortuous path, especially condemning HAMAS (Gaza) and praising the FATAH steps (West Bank), she details what the Obama administration is expecting of the Palestinians; and then the Israelis; and the Arab states. Discern for yourselves whether we have reason to HOPE that underlying issues can be addressed and resolved according to the wishes of the majority populations of both peoples.
If time is a problem for you, scan the bold print for highlights. JRK (with thanks to the ATFP (American Task Force on Palestine).
The PLO has emerged as a credible partner for peace. It has rejected violence, improved security, made progress on combating incitement, and accepted Israel’s right to exist.
The Palestinian Authority’s two-year plan envisions a state that is based on pluralism, equality, religious tolerance, and the rule of law, created through a negotiated settlement with Israel, and capable of meeting the needs of its citizens and supporting a lasting peace with Israel. And under the leadership of President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, the PA is addressing a history of corruption and building transparent and accountable institutions that can provide the necessary foundation for that future state. The United States has partnered with the PA to improve the effectiveness of its security forces. Reforms have increased public confidence in the courts -- last year they handled 67 percent more cases than in 2008. The PA is building schools and hospitals and training teachers and medical staff, and even developing a national health insurance program.
Sound fiscal policies, support from the international community – including hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone from the United States – and improving security and rule of law have led to significant economic growth. More and more Palestinians in the West Bank are finding jobs, starting businesses, and lifting themselves and their families out of poverty and the economic stagnation that resulted from the Intifada. The number of new business licenses issued in the West Bank in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 50 percent higher than the same period in 2008. And three new venture capital funds are set to launch this spring with the support of American, Arab, and European investors.
Considerable work remains. The PA must redouble its efforts to put an end to incitement and violence, crack down on corruption, and ingrain a culture of peace and tolerance among Palestinians. The leadership should refrain from using international organizations, particularly the United Nations, as platforms for inflammatory rhetoric. And we strongly encourage President Abbas and his government to join negotiations with Israel. Israelis must see, too, that pursuing the path of progress and diplomacy can and will lead to peace and security. But there is no doubt that, so far, the progress we are seeing in the West Bank is positive and encouraging.
Last year I visited a classroom in Ramallah where Palestinian students were learning English through a U.S.-sponsored program that has taught thousands of Palestinian young people. They were studying Women’s History Month and Sally Ride, the first woman astronaut and a personal hero of mine. The students, especially the girls, were captivated by her story. When asked for a single word to describe Sally and her accomplishment, one student responded: “hopeful.”
Today hope is stirring in the West Bank because of strong leadership and hard work. People are seeing a difference in their daily lives. And parents can imagine a future for their children that holds more than conflict and humiliation.
But this progress is tenuous. Without increased support from the international community, including from the Arab states, without larger, steadier, and more predictable financial support, the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to build institutions and spur growth will run out of steam. If the PA cannot overcome corruption and smuggling, development will fall short. And if it fails to control violence, the progress will slow to a halt.
Sustaining and extending positive development also requires Israel to be a responsible partner. The Netanyahu Government has lifted roadblocks and eased movement throughout the West Bank. These are encouraging moves that will improve quality of life, but Israel can and should do more to support the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to build credible institutions and deliver results to their people. Both sides would benefit from a real partnership that fosters long-term growth and opportunity.
Ultimately the fate of these efforts hinges on the peace process. In contrast to Hamas, the Palestinian Authority has staked its credibility on a path of peaceful coexistence. Even more than economic opportunities, Palestinians yearn for a state to call their own, for the dignity that all people deserve, and the right to chart their own destiny. If Mahmoud Abbas cannot deliver on these aspirations, his support will fade and Palestinians will turn to alternatives – including Hamas. And that way leads only to more conflict.
Vindicating the Path of Peace
For Israel, that means accepting that concrete steps toward peace – both through the peace process and in the bottom-up institutions building I have described – are the best weapons against Hamas and other extremists. Prime Minister Netanyahu has embraced the vision of the two-state solution. But easing up on access and movement in the West Bank, in response to credible Palestinian security performance, is not sufficient to prove to the Palestinians that this embrace is sincere. We encourage Israel to continue building momentum toward a comprehensive peace by demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, stopping settlement activity, and addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza. And it should refrain from unilateral statements and actions, including in East Jerusalem, that could undermine trust or risk prejudicing the outcome of talks.
Israel has worked hard in recent years to improve security, and, along with the increased capacity and commitment of Palestinian security forces, the number of suicide bombings has – thankfully – dropped significantly. As a result, however, some have come to believe that Israelis, protected by walls and buoyed by a dynamic economy, can avoid the hard choices that peace requires.
But that would mean continuing an impasse that carries tragic human costs, denies Palestinians their legitimate aspirations, and threatens Israel’s long term future as a secure and democratic Jewish state. Israelis and Palestinians alike must confront the reality that the status quo has not produced long-term security or served their interests, and accept their share of responsibility for reaching a comprehensive peace that will benefit both sides.
So too must the Arab states, who worry about the destabilizing impact of extremists like Hamas but don’t do enough to bolster the efforts of the Palestinian Authority. It is in their interest to advance the Arab Peace Initiative with action, not just rhetoric, and make it easier for the Palestinians to pursue negotiations and achieve an agreement. If the Arab Peace Initiative is indeed the genuine offer it appears to be, we should not face threats by certain Arab states that it will be "taken off the table" each time there is a setback. We look forward to a deeper conversation about implementing the Initiative and the concrete results it would bring to the people of the region. And we are encouraged by the work of a number of NGO’s and civil society groups, including some who are represented here, to articulate a more complete vision of the benefits of peace.
For our part, the United States understands the need to support the reforms of the Palestinian Authority and continue efforts to restart substantive negotiations. We know that we cannot force a solution. The parties themselves must resolve their differences. But, we believe that through good-faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree to an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the ‘67 lines, with agreed swaps, and Israel’s goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israel’s security requirements.
This path is not easy. It will require all parties, including Israel, to make difficult but necessary choices. And it will take bold leadership. We have seen it before – old adversaries like Sadat and Begin extending the hand of peace because they knew it would make their people stronger – and it is called for once again today.
Reflecting on one of his many conversations with Egyptian President Mubarak, Danny Abraham observed that, “There is no question that… many of the leading figures in the Arab world know what benefits a full peace with Israel will bring to their countries, but they also know that in the prevailing political climate it is dangerous to state such a truth.”
Changing that climate will require mobilizing a broad constituency for peace that can provide a political counterweight to the forces of division and destruction. There is an ever-more pressing imperative to make the case for peace clearly and publicly. And the most compelling arguments will be the results people – Israelis, Palestinians, all the people of the region – see in their daily lives.
In Leah Rabin’s book, she writes about the thoughts that preoccupied her husband during his last day. He wondered how deep support for peace ran among his people. In the quiet moments around their kitchen tables or in coffee shops and busy markets, did they believe in peace? Because Rabin understood that agreements between leaders are the beginning, not the end. Whether peace takes hold depends upon it becoming a habit of the heart. In order for it to be real, people have to learn to live and work and go to school together. Peace must grow in our homes and in our communities. It must to be nurtured between and among human beings, and then passed on to our children.
Today, as Danny Abraham likes to say, peace is possible in the Middle East. The way forward is clear. All it requires is the political will – from the leaders, the people, and the partners – to choose peace, and to turn the promise of a safer, more secure, and more stable future into reality.
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