–a personal response to an appeal from former UM missionary to Palestine, The Rev. Dr. Alex Awad:
Is the Church Committed to Middle East Peace? –by gary doupe
To those who sense kinship with the earth, the universe, and all its creatures, no one is ever foreign, for every human is sister-brother-neighbor. We are one.
In the land which is holy to participants in three great religious traditions, designs of separation still challenge human unity.
In the wake of Holocaust and genocide, as the human family looked for hope and restoration for the world’s Jewish people, a new crisis emerged in the Holy Land. Jews seeking a homeland became a threat to longtime residents of that fruitful land: Muslims and Christians, living there together in peace. In 1947-48, inhabitants of some Palestinian villages, like Deir Yassin, were massacred; other villages were overrun and their inhabitants driven off. Hearing of these events, many additional Palestinian families left their homes and gardens to seek temporary refuge, and were not allowed by the new Israeli government to return. Palestinians who remained during the struggle began adjusting to a status of inequality.
After the War of 1967—in Gaza and the West Bank—Palestinians faced Occupation by the Israeli Defense Forces. Now, seventy years after the proclamation of the State of Israel, the Palestinian Diaspora remains the largest refugee population in the world.
Many have yearned for a just peace. Yet violence has remained: the violence of intimidation by an occupying military power, bombs dropped from the air, knives and explosives wielded in retaliation. Children: both Palestinian and Israeli, have died because of the hostile parties’ and the world’s lack of imagination. Power in the form of money and weapons still flows from the United States—principally to the State of Israel, which is by far the largest recipient of U.S. aid in the world.
When American Christians visit the Holy Land, most often the “living stones” of the Holy Land’s Palestinian Christian community are relegated to the periphery of attention, or ignored altogether. The aspirations of millions for a just peace have been scarcely heard, or dismissed in favor of a proposed arrangement that would keep the heavy weight of power, privilege, and control with the Jewish state as Palestinians lose freedom, autonomy and self-respect.
Peace is always possible. We speak not of a “poor peace” that reinforces the unjust sufferings of a people made refugees through no fault of their own. We speak, rather, of a just peace, in which the dignity, property, and rights of Palestinian families is acknowledged and restitution afforded. We speak of a peace not imposed but nurtured through a growth in awareness and a change of heart.
If you travel to the Holy Land, visit not only the “holy sites” that connect pilgrims with profound meanings of their faith traditions. Visit also the holy communities: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. Receive their hospitality and hear their stories. Listen with compassion, then return home to think through the politics and policies of America in regard to the future of this land. For good or ill, much power resides in America!
Recognize the pain experienced by all communities in the land, as each yearns to create a wholesome future for itself and its children. Let your legislators know what you have learned, and seek their leadership for a just and hopeful peace.
Encourage peace-seeking groups, and support compassionate, wise leaders as they engage with members of the United States Congress and Administration. Speak up for peace among nations and peoples, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
May the blessings of peace abide with you as you seek the good of all God’s children of Israel-Palestine, and the wider Middle East. Peace is possible. Seek peace and pursue it! May the blessing of Eternal Compassion empower you!
–the rev. dr. gary doupe 2018-Dec.