Concerns Re the Middle East
~ The Rev. Dr. Tom Eggebeen ~
In the midst of all the “news,” from one perspective or the other, it’s difficult, at best, to appreciate the complexities of the conflict. With this essay, I give expression to my understanding of the issues involved, and I hope it helps you, the reader, to better understand and think about the challenges of peace in the Middle East. I’m grateful to my friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Gary Sattler, whose comments, corrections, and additions have made this piece ever so much the better!
None is righteous, no, not one!
So notes the Apostle Paul!
In all such things, wherein folks, or nations, or any other entity, try to claim the high moral ground, Paul’s sweeping generalization helps to set the record straight and put us on the right footing.
With the cease fire in effect, as I write, we have a chance to clear our own thinking and come to grips with the reality of the struggle since 1948, the founding of the State of Israel - in a land that had been under the jurisdiction of the Assyrian Empire (721 bce), the Babylonian Empire, Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire, until 634 CE, when the area was taken by Muslim armies from Arabia and then, finally, the Ottoman Empire; after WW1 and the defeat of the Ottomans (who had sided with the Austro-Hungarian and German nations), Palestine fell under British rule mandated by the Allies. With the inception of State of Israel, 1948, upwards of 300,000 Palestinians lost their land and their homes.
Meanwhile, across Christian lands, anti-semitism grew (it’s a long and horrible story) - Jews were labeled “Christ Killers” … and subject to repeated, sporadic, and sometimes horrendous pogroms - culminating in the Holocaust. Throughout Nazi-dominated Europe, plenty of Christians and their governments cooperated in the effort to eradicate the Jew.
As early as the late 1800s, some Jews began to dream of a homeland, a place of safety, where they and their children could live without fear, and live their faith and culture.
The British Balfour Declaration of 1917, during WW1, announced British support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people in Palestine,” while expressing concern for the rights of Palestinian Arabs.
During WW2, nation after nation eventually closed their doors to Jews fleeing Germany; the United States turned away a ship of refugees, ultimately forcing the ship to return to Europe, and most everyone on board, to their death at the hands of the Nazis. More and more, Jews gave up hope of living with their Christian neighbors, and pushed all the more for a homeland. The Western Nations, with their own deep inbred anti-semitism, were more than happy to create a nation for the Jews.
With the inception of State of Israel, 1948, upwards of 300,000 Palestinians lost their land and their homes.
To make a long story short, bloodshed has been a tragic element of life in that part of the world for a very long time, and has remained a recurring event on both sides, since 1948. It is our fervent hope that there is a solution to this dreadful situation.
Whatever that solution may finally be, it’s imperative, I believe, to support the State of Israel, while at the same time challenging the extremists who push for an expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and the further expulsion of Palestinians; it’s equally important, I believe, to seek a two-state solution for the Palestinians, and to condemn the Hamas violence and its stated purpose: the destruction of Israel.
A carte blanche approval of everything the State of Israel does helps no one, not even its own citizens, any more than does a carte blanche approval of Hamas or other such groups.
The question of the ongoing expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has to be considered as part of the problem, even as is the failure of the Palestinians to face the reality of Israel’s existence.
For some conservative Christians groups in the US, the suggestion, as I read a few days ago, that this a godly struggle against a godless people is not at all helpful. A conservative pastor wrote: ”As Christians, we know that what’s happening in Israel is not a human struggle; it is a spiritual struggle against the forces of darkness.”
The problem is this: such thinking violates the truth noted by Paul, and spiritualizes a very human, flesh-and-blood struggle that has gone on, and goes on, on every continent. This world is not easily divided up between the good and the bad, and such thinking only adds to the problem, and blocks communication.
Israel must be protected, but so must the claims of the Palestinians (not to be confused with Hamas, the warlords of Palestine). Everyone has to be made to feel safe; everyone has to be protected, only then will people be able to speak and to listen.
Many years ago, I visited Israel, and had a Sunday afternoon chat with a Palestinian shopkeeper in Jerusalem, who served me delicious tea, for there were no customers at hand. I’ll never forget what he said, “We all just want to make a living, and there are crazies on both sides.”
Let us pray for the peace process, the continuation of the cease fire, and the delivery of aid. Let us pray that the moderate leaders on both sides will be given a chance to work for justice and peace.
It’s a complex situation, for which there are really no perfect answers, certainly no easy ones, but there are, I believe, answers that can be good enough, and just might work. We cannot guarantee success, but by trying nothing we can guarantee failure. Let us continue to pray for Shalom, Salaam, Peace!
