What side is Jesus on in the Israel-Hamas War?
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. (MT 5:9 NLT)
"Christoformity is a hermeneutic for real life decisions by real followers in real situations. Nor is it as simple as "What would Jesus do." Rather we ask, how do I embody the incarnation of God's redemptive love in this moment for this person or persons or situation as one who is in communion with Christ through the Spirit?"
--Scot McKnight in The Audacity of Peace
Stop the genocide! Stand with Israel! Both are slogans of public rallies, supported by faith-based organizations. Widely discrepant understandings of the conflict, its history and its complexity further complicate the situation.
The world is rightly concerned about the Israel-Hamas war that has been going on now for over a month. Thousands of people have lost their lives, disproportionately affecting non-military people, with children bearing the greatest brunt of the violence (See World Health Organization ). Worldwide, there are protests and rallies seeking to end the violence while supporting Israel or the Palestinian people.
A quick history of a complex situation:
The land we describe as Palestine has been occupied by multiple nations and empires for nearly three millennia such as Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, British, and Israelis. Rarely, in the occupation of Palestine have the inhabitants been empowered to self-rule. In 1947, Israel was appointed a homeland in Palestine by the United Nations after centuries of oppression and the victims of incalculable cruelty as reflected in the Jewish Holocaust of WWII. The granting of a Jewish homeland was awarded without consulting the non-Jewish Palestinian residents. Prior to WWI, Jewish and Arab Palestinians experienced plurality of religion under the control of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire after WWI, the British took control of Palestine with the intention to continue the mutuality, but violence and WWII, led to a proposal of a two-state solution where the Jewish population would control 55% of the land in Palestine (See Map below). From 1917 to 1947, due to primarily European Jewish immigration, the total Jewish population went from 6% to 33% of the total population. In 1948, Israeli military forces expelled at least 750,000 Arab Palestinians from the agreed upon non-Jewish territories and expanded to control 86% of the total Palestinian land. Israeli officials maintain that this was done to provide security in the face of significant and public threats and violence from Non-Jewish Palestinians and multiple neighboring nations. Since then, there have been nearly continuous fighting between various liberational Palestinian factions and Israel, including involvement of multiple international communities. In the 76 years, the land that has been originally for Non-Jewish Palestinians has been continually eroded and isolated, which is also reflected in the governance of the Arab Palestinian areas which are also increasingly being overseen by the Israeli security forces (see second map below). In Gaza, there are nearly 2 million Arab Palestinians who are under the control of Hamas, a violent Islamic resistance movement who are estimated to have 20 thousand members but are supported and armed by numerous nations who support the liberation of Palestine from Israel control. The vast number of Palestinians in Gaza and the West bank are not affiliated or a member of Hamas. Most non-Jewish Palestinians see the nation of Israel's exclusionary presence as an illegal and immoral occupying force where Non-Jewish Palestinians have no rights, voice, vote or freedom of movement. Meanwhile, most Jewish Palestinians understand their presence in Palestine as a right to have a homeland and to live in peace. Compare the maps contrasting the changes from the proposed 1947 plan and the current allocation that was agreed to in 1995.
Historically, both well-meaning and not so well-meaning Christians have used Scripture to promote violence, exploitation, and greed. In the American history, we see countless examples of weaponizing the Bible to promote Indigenous genocide, the enslavement and brutality of African People, the exploitation of entire working classes, and the objectification of women. All of which are antithetical to the great themes of Scripture.
I would argue that Jesus is deeply concerned about Palestine and ALL of its peoples. Jesus identifies with those who are suffering and oppressed (MT 25:31-46). Interestingly, he doesn't place ethnic, creedal, or faith-based criteria on those to whom he identifies with. He literally embodied his ethic of love, which cannot be earned but simply granted.
"Jesus not only sought to address the symptoms associated with suffering, but--and here's the rub--he sought to alleviate the systematic causes of suffering." --Obery Hendricks in The Politics of Jesus.
We often think that the God of the Old Testament is a God of war and judgement, contrasted with Jesus' ethic of love and grace. Jesus had to convince even those who knew him best that he was the reflection of God, the creator. Jesus told his disciples that "Anyone who has seen me has seen the father" (Jn 14:9). So Jesus was literally "God in flesh". His priority was loving ALL others, including his enemies (MT 5:44).
This is important in our consideration of the violence in Palestine because many who profess to follow Jesus, often struggle to develop a hermeneutic (process of hearing Scripture) that interprets Scripture through the words and will of Jesus. This means that the Old Testament Scriptures are to be interpreted through the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. In other words, there is a temptation to find Old Testament Scriptures that appear to justify violence, death, exploitation, and cruelty, and interpret Jesus' words in light of those things. Often seeking to justify a self-serving complicity in ongoing injustice.
Dr. Mitzi J. Smith, professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary states "Reading the Bible has always been and continues to be both a political and theological undertaking. The theological is political, and the political is very often supported by contextual theological constructions." (Smith, Insights from African American interpretation, 2017). Political in this sense, refers to the structures of relatedness and way in which decisions are made within a group of people. Dr. Smith is stating that our theological insights from scripture has significant political realities, and conversely, our political realities shape our theological understandings.
Indiana Wesleyan Professor J. Russell Hawkins (The Bible Told Them So: How Southern Evangelical Fought to Preserve White Supremacy, 2021) demonstrates how inappropriate interpretation of Scripture was used to maintain and promote racial segregation, by all means necessary, including church sanctioned violence. Theologian Kaitlyn Schiess (The Liturgy of Politics, 2020) convincingly argues that evangelical church is largely "unaware of the formative power of politics". In the same way that segregationist theology was informed largely through cultural ideologies, often the formation of "Biblical Ethics" is largely formed as a reflection of our cultural preferences.
Nowhere is politically informed Biblical interpretation more apparent than the diverse approaches to understanding a theology of land and consideration of the current nation of Israel. The contemporary concept of nation-state and ownership was not a Biblical theme as all land belonged to God.
"The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants." (Leviticus 25:23 NIV)
Western Christian theological perspectives towards Palestine rarely considered the perspectives or experiences of the indigenous people of Palestine, recalling that prior to 1947, Jewish residents of Palestine comprised less than 10% of its inhabitants. Relying overwhelmingly on Euro-American Colonial theological paradigms, the personhood and perspectives of non-Jewish Palestinians are infrequently valued. Recent Biblical scholarship has been transparent in revealing that the tendency of most historical Biblical studies are overwhelmingly pro-Israel and Anti-Arab and Palestinian (Theologies of Land: Contested land, Spatial Justice, and Identity, Yeo and Green ed, 2021).
In the book of Joshua, which is often used to justify cruelty against indigenous people globally by Christian people, (See "Myths that America Believes", Hughes, 1997) we get a glimpse of God's perspective when it comes to occupying Palestine.
Joshua 5:13-14
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
It's fascinating that the representative of God, does not pledge support for Israel or Jericho. Remember that the general direction toward cities in Palestine, was to be an offer of peace and cohabitation (DT 20:10). In the directions that Joshua is given, the emphasis is on God's activity in bringing down the great wall of Jericho. Even in that activity, there are exemptions to the destruction for Indigenous persons, such as Rahab. Scripture would amplify God's hatred for death through the prophet Ezekiel where he declares "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." (Ez 33:11). The original approach to the promised land does not imply exclusive occupancy of Palestine, and indeed, even in the height of the ancient nation of Israel, the land was occupied by various people groups. The remainder of the Old Testament reveals a stepwise progression toward inclusiveness of Gentiles (not simply cohabitation of similar space), ultimately fulfilled in the person of Jesus and the creation of the Church.
This has significant application in regard to the Israel-Hamas war:
1. God mourns the violence and loss of life regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or faith orientation.
2. Jesus identifies with the suffering of all, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or faith orientation.
3. Jesus judges his Church on its willingness to address those who are suffering (Mt 25:31-46).
4. Jesus advocates for being peacemakers in the midst of conflict.
Attempts by theologians to develop a "Just-War" theory based upon war as last resort, proportionality of response, a just cause (to face urgent ongoing evil) and a definable win has largely been a failure. While this blog is not a sufficient forum to discuss the merits and flaws of Just War theory, one can argue that the subjective nature of each factor, varies significantly depending upon the perspective.
Historian Jemar Tisby (Color of Compromise, 2019) described the historical struggle within the American Church whether to accept complicit Christianity (expressing cultural values through religious practices) or courageous Christianity (embodying Jesus' Kingdom message through contextually appropriate means). Courageous Christianity is marked by peacemaking and extending grace, which always exacts a toll on those who bring it.
The courageous Jesus ethic is not seeking to justify continued violence or promote redemptive violence myths. Nor is the courageous Jesus ethic promoting a revisionist theological paradigm that posits the current nation of Israel as the fulfillment of Abrahamic and Davidic covenants or that God has granted Israel an exceptionalism that is beyond critique. A majority of the Biblical prophets were critical of Ancient Israel, particularly in regard to injustice, while offering unique rights and responsibilities as a result of a covenantal relationship with God.
Courageous peacemaking calls for:
1. Seeing the lives of ALL Palestinians as reflective of the image of God, each sacred to God, our creator. This means advocating and empathizing with all who are victims of the violence. Like the Commander of the Angel-Armies in Joshua 5, refuse to prioritize lives as more precious or less valuable in the eyes of God. We mourn with all who mourn. We demolish the ridiculous polarity that implies to advocate for Jewish persons right to live in safety and security means that we are disregarding the rights of Arab Palestinians to have the same. And we reject the idea that demanding an end of Israeli occupation and oppression means that we sanction Antisemitic violence. God is for ALL Palestinians.
2. Using resources to provide for humanitarian needs everywhere it is needed (I Jn 3:17). The great commandment of Jesus is to love others and that means blessing them when they are in need. It also means refusing to provide the means and support for continued violence. This is accomplished through diplomatic and economic leverage.
3. In declaring the dignity of all people groups, recognizing the Biblical concept of Shalom that means people have the right to live in safety, with economic security, and freedom from oppression of every type (Micah 1:4). This means promoting a peace plan where ALL Palestinians have a seat at the table and have the right for autonomy, security, and justice. Justice should be primarily restorative and distributive, as well as retributive. This means that criminal behavior as defined in international law should be confronted and penalized appropriately (retributive justice). People who have been affected by the violence should be compensated by the guilty parties when possible (restorative justice). Finally, new plans that redistribute land and other assets based on equity and fairness that allows all Palestinians to pursue life and liberty.
In 2009, Palestinian Christians wrote a document called "Kairos Palestine" to protest the illegal occupation and ongoing violence against non-Jewish Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. South African Theologian and Activist Allan Boesak describes the intent of the document that is even more applicable today:
"The Palestinians call their document "A Word of Faith, Hope and Love from the Heart of Palestinian Suffering."...For Kairos Palestine love is not a sentimentalized, spiritualized concept that seeks to lift us up above the realities of occupation, war, oppression, and suffering that are the burdens of their daily lives. Love includes love for both friends and enemies... Kairos Palestine insists that love is resistance. This is the way it expresses itself in situations of oppression, domination and dehumanization. Love resists by walking in the ways of justice. Hence Kairos Palestine rejects violence: the violence of the state and the violent response of desperate Palestinians who believe that violence is the only language the occupier understands. But they forget that the language of violence is incessantly, unceasingly spoken by the occupier with the very intention that it will become the only language the oppressed will ever know how to speak...As long as the occupier can call forth an anticipated, almost programmed violent response from the occupied, the belief in what is essentially a futility is strengthened. Changing the language of response to oppression empowers the oppressed, weakens the grip of violence, places the initiative in the hands of the powerless. "The ways of force must give way to the ways of justice."" (Pharaohs on Both Sides of the Blood-Red Waters, 2017)
14 years later, a new letter was written by a coalition of Palestinian Christians. I encourage you to read it here. It is a call to understand the complex situation and suffering from the point of view of the Palestinian people.
I prayerfully submit that we are being invited to participate in the empowering of the Palestinian Church to embody the witness of Jesus for courageous peacemaking. This is consistent with the Biblical narrative that God is for all people and that all churches have a "ministry of reconciliation" which requires justice (retributive, restorative, and distributive) for reconciliation and reconciliation is a prerequisite for Shalom.
Praying for Peace
This is excellent. Thank you.
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