This past November we hosted three people who are all advocating for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. We encourage you to check out this video made by our friends at Western Theological Seminary.
Category: Blog
Newsletter 2018 December
December 9, 2018, Prayer for Israelis and Palestinians
Pray with Israel/Palestine Sunday, December 9, 2018
Lectionary Selection: Luke 3:7-18
Prayers for Israel/Palestine:
God Who Hears the Cries of the Oppressed, bring relief to all in the world who suffer the political ruthlessness of a Tiberius, Pilate or Herod, to all who suffer the self-serving religious indifference of an Annas or Caiaphas.
Move the faithful in churches, synagogues and mosques, along with people of good will, to prepare your way, to fill every valley with justice, to level every mountain of greed, to make straight the crooked and to smooth the rough places in the world—and in us.
God, in those times when I’m left without words to pray, hear my sighs. But let neither my lack of words nor my sighs keep me from rising up to love and serve you by loving and serving others. In the name of the One who, for our sake, kept faith, hope and love under occupation. Amen.
Mission Stewardship Moment from Israel/Palestine:
“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius… (Luke 3:1-2).” Luke isn’t locating the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus on the calendar.
Luke is mixing politics and religion. He is signaling, as he does in Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46ff), that the life and ministry of Jesus will challenge the politics and the religion of his day.
In 2009, Palestinian Christians across a wide theological continuum released the document, Kairos Palestine. Reminiscent of the 1980s call from South African Christian leaders who challenged the legitimacy of the official “state theology” called Apartheid, the document describes the reality on the ground in Palestine: the effects of a harsh occupation; the refusal of decision-makers to commit themselves to the serious task of finding a resolution; and the deepening economic, environmental and cultural crisis in Palestine. Our sisters and brothers in Palestine implore us to confront Christian Zionism, a heretical theology that denies the rights and harms the lives of our Palestinian Christian family and their Muslim neighbors (with thanks to the “Global Ministries” department of the United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ).
Reflections on Pilgrimage to Peace event
Kairos West Michigan hosted Mae Elise Cannon (Churches for Middle East Peace), Jessica Montall (HaMoKed); and Sami Awad (Holy Land Trust) on Sunday and Monday, October 28 and 29 in Grand Rapids and Holland/Zeeland.
They brought us fresh perspectives on the prospects for “peace and security” in our troubled region of Palestine/Israel.
Jessica Montell was born and raised in a Reform Jewish household in Berkeley, California. She traveled to Israel as a teen-ager an fell in love with Israel. As a student at Oberlin College she honed her “feminist, anti-racist, social justice” sensibilities (Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Summer, 2006). At 33 years of age, in 2001, she became the Executive Director of B’Tselem, when they were battling the Israeli government’s policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinian suicide bombers (collective punishment). Now, as the Executive Director of HaMoKed, she works for the human rights of individuals who are denied justice through the legal system.
(HaMoKed seeks to end systematic torture by the Israel Security Agency, has filed over 60 High Court petitions to keep Palestinian homes from being demolished, and seeks legal status for spouses of Palestinians—from their website: www.hamoked.org.
In her remarks, she mentioned the achievements of fourteen (14) Israeli human rights organizations while lamenting the deepening separation of Arab Palestinians from Israeli Jews. She is glad for international spotlights shining on Israeli abuses of human rights, but affirms that Israelis must solve their own problems.
Sami Awad, a son of Bishara Awad, (the founder of Bethlehem Bible College, and frequent speaker in West Michigan), spoke too, as the Executive Director of The Holy Land Trust, a human rights, nonviolent organization he founded in Bethlehem. He lifted up the role of the Christian churches as important agents in the struggle for liberty and justice for all people in our troubled region. Citing Matthew 4:23, he emphasized how Jesus walked in the land, “preaching, teaching and healing”. Jesus did not place blame or interfere in governmental affairs. Yet when the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees was evident, he called them on it. “By the love you have for one another, they will know you are my disciples”, said Jesus (John 13:31-34).
The Holy Land Trust sponsors the “Bet Lahem Festival” which brings to Bethlehem hundreds of musicians, artists, spiritual practitioners, and human rights figures from across the globe to perform and share their knowledge.
The first question asked of the panel was, “What about HAMAS?” Sami was tabbed as the first responder: The way Israel has treated Gazans explains the emergence of HAMAS. 95% of the water is not drinkable. It is an open-air prison, with no easy entrances or exits. HAMAS was voted in by the residents because they were giving practical aid to Gazans. Jessica was critical of Gazans for calling the Friday protests, “The Great March of Return”, which only intensifies Israeli resistance. Yet, even now, Israel is in dialogue with HAMAS to regulate the Friday marches, to prevent violence.
Mae Elise Cannon is credited with originating the P2P visits (Pilgrimage to Peace). Her emphasis has been. 1). Attend to humanitarian aid; 2) Be sure you have your facts right (credible sources); 3) We can’t win the “moral argument” (both sides claim justification); and 4) Don’t give up the struggle, keep persisting.