Making Sense of Jesus

As I write, Israel is bombing the Gaza Strip. Israel says the goal of the bombing is to stop a stream of rockets being fired from Gaza at Israeli towns and cities. Hamas says the rockets are a response to Israel’s economic blockade of Gaza.

There are several things that are difficult about this bombing. I've just walked home from speaking with neighbors about why the bombing of Gaza and why firing rockets at Israel are both wrong. People are dying. Numbers start to become meaningless and leave you numb: Israeli news tells us that hundreds of rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip in the past six months. Our Palestinian neighbor's TV tells us that 350 people have been killed, 1500 wounded. Do these things even matter? There's no way we can know the names of all the people who have been killed. There's no way we will ever understand what it's like to live in an Israeli town close to the border and have seconds to get to cover because another rocket has been fired from Gaza.

Both of these issues lead us to a different set of questions: how should we respond to these things? What do we say to Israelis that point out what it's like for residents of those Israeli towns? What do we say to Palestinians in Gaza who have had homes come crashing down on them as a result of missiles fired from airplanes? In such a heated atmosphere as this, people are quick to dismiss you if you seem to support either 'side'. One thing we try to do is to help those around us see what we see; when I talk with Mohammed, Ahmed, Noora, Moshe, Jacob, or Ronit, I'm not talking with 'one of them', I'm talking with neighbors, acquaintances, friends. We wish those militants launching rockets or the pilots dropping bombs could see the same. PEOPLE live there, not Jews or Arabs; people.

At home, in North America, we feel so helpless. We can raise our voice in protest but we alone can't change the fact that people here are committing violent acts against one another. We can't help that Israel begins bombing the Gaza Strip, treating all the men, women, children, all the families there, as if they are the very same people committing the horrible acts of launching rockets towards Israeli towns.

Sitting here, in Israel/Palestine, we still feel helpless. We can speak to friends and neighbors and explain why not all 'Jews want to take over all of Palestine' or why not all 'Arabs want to kill Israelis.' It's something, but it feels like so little when rockets are being fired, bombs are being dropped, and entire people groups have made each other the 'enemy'. So what can we do? One small but (we think) significant thing, is to love the people around us well. We can live what it means to be in the Kingdom of God and provide an example of what it looks like to follow Jesus in a world that is fallen. 'Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you' seems easy enough, until you actually have enemies and are suffering persecution. It's not easy to live in God's Kingdom and physically be in a different place, but this is what God asks of his followers. Because we are not Palestinian or Israeli, we aren't invested in the conflict here in the same way. And yet we love those around us, who are invested in it. We can touch their lives and speak to them as close friends. Living in a place like this, Jesus suddenly starts to make more sense. This is why Jesus talked so much about loving 'others' and our 'enemies' and there being a 'narrow gate'. He makes more sense when we have to fight through our natural reaction to protect ourselves and what's ours and start the striving required to truly love other people that are different than us. We live in God's Kingdom, while residing in a different place.

Please pray for the people of Gaza. Pray for those who are trapped in homes or have missiles being shot at them and haven't done anything wrong. Pray for those who live in Israeli towns like Sderot and Ashkelon who have had rockets shot at them. Pray for those firing missiles from helicopters and airplanes and those launching rockets, that they will see the humanity of those they view as enemies. Pray that this place of long-standing conflict will know peace and that all people here, whether Jew, Christian, or Muslim, can live with equal rights in a place free of war, suspicion, and hatred.

A Modern Christmas Story

(A little tough to follow, but so are the realities of this place...)

In Luke chapter 2 we are told of Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem from Nazareth. It’s a familiar story this time of year, the travel of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, where Mary gives birth to Jesus. Thousands of travelers will come to Bethlehem this year to celebrate Christmas in the place where Christ was born some 2,000 years ago. However, the people who live here in Israel/Palestine who would be able to follow the same path that Jesus’ parents took so long ago are few in number.

There are two major groups of Israeli citizens in Israel; there are Israeli Jews, and there are Israeli Palestinians. Israeli Jews aren’t allowed to enter ‘Area A’. Israeli Palestinians are at the moment. The West Bank is currently divided into three separate ‘Areas’ as a result of the Oslo agreements from 1993. Area A is where the Palestinian government has full security and civil (water, electric, utilities, etc.) control. Area B, where Palestinians have civil control and Israel has ultimate security control. And Area C, where Israel has civil and security control. Driving through the West Bank there are signs indicating Area A as being illegal for entry by Israeli citizens. This is generally only applied to Israeli Jewish citizens, and Palestinians that have Israeli IDs are allowed to cross checkpoints and enter Area A. Looking at a map, one can see that the West Bank is far from being mainly Area A. In fact, the West Bank currently looks like Swiss cheese, with large Palestinian population centers, like Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem designated as Area A, and most of the rest of the land Areas B or C.

So, Israeli Palestinians would be able to go from Nazareth (an Israeli town whose population is mainly ethnically Palestinian) to Bethlehem (‘Area A’, a Palestinian town whose population is almost exclusively ethnically Palestinian). Who else would be able to make the trip? Well, Palestinians born in the West Bank are issued West Bank IDs by the Israeli government. Palestinians with West Bank IDs aren’t allowed to enter into Israel proper (Tel Aviv, Nazareth, anywhere in the Galilee, or Jerusalem) without special permission. Often our Christian friends and neighbors are given this permission from the Israeli government at Christmas or Easter; it’s rare for our Muslim friends and neighbors to get this permission. So any Palestinian born in the West Bank is out, unless they’re granted special permission.

There’s a third type of ID that some Palestinians have (Just to review, so far we’ve got Israeli Palestinians, who are Israeli citizens, and West Bank Palestinians. In Area A, West Bank Palestinians live under Palestinian law. In Areas B and C, they are governed by an Israeli military authority, but have no vote in Israeli elections or any chance of getting Israeli citizenship.). The third type of ID that some Palestinians have is called a ‘Jerusalem ID.’ Palestinians born in Jerusalem have the option of taking Israeli citizenship or taking a Jerusalem ID. A Jerusalem ID is different from a West Bank ID. Palestinians with a Jerusalem ID have freedom of movement both in Israel and in the West Bank. Generally, Palestinians from Jerusalem don’t want to take Israeli citizenship as a way of protesting what they view to be Israeli occupation of east Jerusalem. That’s three possible IDs that a Palestinian born in Israel/Palestine could carry: an Israeli ID (if s/he holds Israeli citizenship), a West Bank ID, or a Jerusalem ID.

So who would be able to make the same trip today that Joseph and Mary made over 2,000 years ago? Well, Israeli Jews wouldn’t be allowed to enter Bethlehem today (being forbidden by the Israeli government out of concern for individuals’ safety). Israeli Palestinians are currently allowed to enter Area A. Palestinians with West Bank IDs could get to Bethlehem, but they’re not allowed to places like Nazareth unless they’re granted permission from the Israeli government. Palestinians with Jerusalem IDs could make the trip since they’re allowed to live in Israel and allowed to enter the West Bank. There’s a whole other category of people we haven’t talked about yet though, one that Jesus himself would be included in: Jews born in the West Bank.

Jews born in Areas B or C qualify as Israeli citizens (since Bethlehem is Area A, I don’t know how Jesus would be categorized today). This is one of the biggest problems we have with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. Israeli Jewish citizens live in the West Bank and live under Israeli civil law. They can vote in Israeli elections and use the Israeli airport in Tel Aviv. Palestinians born in the same place are ruled by Israeli military instead of civil law and have to travel to Amman when they want to fly.

Seeking justice in this part of the world often involves working not for something extreme, liberal, or radical. Often it involves asking for basic, simple things: the application of law equally to all people regardless of race or religion. Asking Israel to take practical steps as regards the West Bank: make Israeli citizens leave and pull out of the area militarily, or annex the land and make all the people living there citizens, regardless of their ethnicity. Calling for an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank is often viewed as radical or extreme, but looking at modern day conditions in light of the Christmas story helps us see the situation for what it really is: an absurd arrangement that in the end isn’t really good for anyone, be they Jew, Christian, or Muslim.