People from all over the world form an almost continuous stream flowing into the hills and ancient streets of Israel/Palestine, the Holy Land, as it is known by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. On a pilgrimage of sorts, these global tourists, mostly Christian, they ride about from site to site on big buses, take pictures, and relax in the comfort of their hotels. This week, however, these hallowed hills and streets, particularly those of Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth, are buzzing with the voices of young adults from over 38 different countries who are here for starkly different purposes. We are here to join the Palestinian people in their 65-year struggle to “move mountains,” specifically the mountains of injustice and unthinkable oppression that Israel has constructed in this land. This “Moving Mountains” conference, hosted by Sabeel, an ecumenical Christian organization fighting for peace and justice alongside the Palestinians, has brought us face to face with many Palestinian friends and the myriad inhuman and horrifying atrocities, the “nakbas” (catastrophes), that characterize this 65 year occupation and the Palestinians current existence in this land.
Never before in my life have the face of Christ and the face of evil been so vividly discernible side by side. Evil manifests itself in “the wall” and dozens of checkpoints that literally imprison hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who cannot travel to family, jobs, and especially the places they once called home before Israel’s illegal seizure and occupation of Gaza and large parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank. It haunts childhood and lacerates families through Israel’s night raids of refugee camps (65 year old communities now) where they arrest, incarcerate and sometimes abuse children, let alone doing the same to adults. Evil never seems to sleep here, as Israel continues to demolish thousands of Palestinian homes and leave the families homeless, illegally appropriates more land and makes new Israeli settlements, and aggressively oppresses and impoverishes Palestinians through Israel’s comprehensive system of economic subjugation: a system in which imports and exports are severely limited, almost all development is stifled and shut down, and dependency on foreign aid and Israel’s economy is forcefully skyrocketed to astronomical levels. In more ways than one could possibly express in words, Israel, arguably history’s quintessential paradigm of an oppressed people, has now, specifically in the form of the Israeli state government, grotesquely become the very evil, an imperial oppressor, from which God redeemed them over and over again through the biblical account.
Nevertheless, wherever evil shows its ugly face, the power and presence of God in Christ lives and moves in the spirit of those who struggle. Sabeel and its many friends and partners living and working here in the midst of Israeli occupation evince a potency of faith and hope that will remain etched into my memory forever. Refusing to succumb to the temptations of a militarized, imperial system, Sabeel and its friends, along with an enormous majority of the Palestinian population, engage in an astonishingly diverse array of nonviolent actions, demonstrations, and protests in a holistic effort to restore a just peace here in their homeland with Israel. Rev. Naim Ateek, the founder of Sabeel, became the first person to develop and put forth a contextually Palestinian liberation theology, calling his people to stand together in the subversive spirit of Jesus to nonviolently resist the Israeli occupation and seek liberation from its oppression. In this same spirit, we met dozens of youth and young adults who have courageously embodied Ateek’s liberation theology, practicing resistance in ways ranging from sharing their stories and visions of hope with us so that we might advocate on their behalf, to putting their lives on the line as they join nonviolent demonstrations aimed at unmasking the inhumanity and evil of occupation.
To give a literal “human” face to these ideas, the faces that so vividly reflect the “face of Christ” here, let me honor a few of the people here that left an indelible impression of hope on my heart. First, there was a group of Orthodox Christian youth that I got to know fairly well: Humam, Jamal, Marianne, and Veronica. After seriously long days with jammed schedules, at about 11 at night, this group invited me to come pray with them to close the day. Together we stood, facing a small candle and an icon on a table, as they took turns praying and singing in Arabic, while I prayed for them, their families, country and others in English. As part of their church’s prayer network, they prayed for people in their communities who were sick or had cancer, for families that had members in prison because of the occupation, and for their own country and others that are suffering from internal conflict. The passion and fire in their hearts emanated around the room each time we prayed, revealing the centrality of faith in their lives, the best tool they have in seeking freedom and justice for their community and all people of Palestine.
Secondly, I want to honor and remember my dear friend Rame, my roommate and best friend I made in Palestine. Besides the endless laughter that he sparked in me, Rame was a cavernous treasure trove of insight and deep feelings toward the occupation and life within its walls. Despite having some type of mental development deficiency, and English as his second language, he was able to unleash his boundless love on the world around him in many, profound ways. From his continuous acts of service to those around him, his efforts to verbally encourage others, and his dedication to prayer with myself and those listed above, Rame perpetually enfleshed the love and face of Christ. It was during one of our numerous conversations about the occupation, faith, and life that Rame spoke something that will forever be the hallmark of my perception of this unthinkable situation of injustice. After talking about how he wishes Israel and Palestine could have one flag to symbolize their need for unity, he began to say that the occupation must come to an end, plain and simple. In conclusion he encapsulated this feeling that burns deep within his heart, and those of almost every Palestinian and some Israelis, in these words: this story (meaning the story of occupation, the 65 year travesty of evil and suffering in this land), must finish. In calling it a story, he made it clear that this occupation, like every story, has a definitive end, a reality we all believe is coming. This story has pages that are yet to be written. Unfortunately, the pen, as in most stories, has largely been in the hand of the powerful, people who use their power to suppress and oppress so that success might be their indulgence all the more. By the faith and determination of people like Rame and my other Palestinian friends here, along with all of us global neighbors who stand in solidarity with them, however, the authorial pen of this story of occupation has a great chance to fall in the hands of the oppressed who are seeking peaceful, nonviolent, Kingdom-centered transformation of their society, their land, and their lives here in Palestine.
Thank you for reading this message of hope for Palestine. There will be another, possibly more, to come in the near future based on the rest of my experiences here. Let God’s Kingdom come!
