In his book “The Case for Peace,” Alan Dershowitz shines a light on the hatred barriers to peace. “Externally generated hatred and distrust is a true enemy of peace” (p.156). Hateful language and attitudes are directed against Israel from mainstream academics, politicians, religious leaders, state controlled media, and diplomats. Anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate speech, including comparing Jews to Hitler, denying the holocaust, citing the falsified “historical document” the Protocals of the Learned Elders to justify violence, comparing Israel to South African apartheid, singling out Israel for UN sanctions, make it far more difficult for moderate Israelis and Palestinians to work towards peace through compromise. On the flip side, most of the hatred against Palestinians comes from marginalized extremists who have little authority or influence over mainstream supporters of Israel. Significantly smaller in number, some Jews and American evangelical Protestants oppose peace making compromises claiming that God gave all of Israel to the Jews through a covenant with Abraham and compromise would be a violation of Jewish law. However, in this argument, the eternal principal of Jewish law pikuach nefesh, the transcendence of life over nearly every other value is overlooked. Extremists have often dominated the attention of ordinary citizens, overshadowing the many efforts of moderate Israelis and Palestinians towards peace. In the end, “the case for peace is a hope for two homelands, side by side and prospering, with mutual respect for democratic governance and an enduring season of shalom and salaam” (p. 203).
Crossing from Israeli into Palestinian territory during our visit to Bethlehem, we witnessed the tangible division between Arabs and Jews. The geopolitical divisions of border disputes, continuing terrorism, division of holy sites, and nuclear threats began many years ago BCE (ok, so nuclear threats are more recent) Abraham and Sarah’s impatience and unbelief in the fulfillment of God’s promise of an inheritance through a son in their old age led to the birth of Ishmael by Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant (Genesis 16). However, when God fulfilled His promise to Abraham through the miraculous birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:1-7) Sarah asked Abraham to send Ishmael away (Genesis 21:8-13). The line of Isaac became the Jewish people we know today, through whom the promised blessing and inheritance has been fulfilled. The line of Ishmael also became a nation just as God spoke “I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring” (Genesis 21:13), Arabs. Since that time Jews have been forcibly ruled by the Roman empire, relegated to ghettos and denied membership into trade unions ýn the Middle Ages, kicked out of their country of residence if they did not convert during the Inquisition, encountered blood libel reports of Jews kidnapping Christian children for rituals, attempted and succeeded in creating a natýon state of their own, and survived the holocaust. While peace making efforts between Arabs and Jews have been unfruitful, the division between these two nation groups are perpetuated by hatred.
As I uncovered more of the story of enduring legacies and indoctrination of hate towards each other, I began to realize how easy it is to demonize, dehumanize, and objectify others, particularly those who are not like us. I was challenged to reconsider how I look at people instead of seeing them as sacred, beloved, and worthy. When we look at people through the eyes of Jesus, we see our own hatred, our own violence, our own brokeness, and maybe a glimpse of our own holiness. When I begin to see my own brokeness mixed with beauty, I can begin to see God in everyone I meet. I can see the One I love in those I don’t even like. Henri Nouwen writes, “In the face of oppressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands. Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, their smile is my smile.” I am not so ignorant or bold to claim that I have the answer to peace in the Middle East, but one thing I have been convicted of is my own role in the process, to see God in the people I meet and love them with the hope of Christ’s redemptive love.
