I’ve been uncharacteristically silent about the abhorrent and evil attack on Israeli civilians on October 7 and the subsequent atrocities being committed by the Israeli military, on Palestinian civilians in the guise of ‘self defence’.
What I have been doing is wrestling with some theology that is still hanging on despite the obvious deconstruction that I’ve been doing over the last 10 years or so. What is hanging on for me is the biblical narrative of Israel as God’s ‘treasured possession’ and the Covenant made with them: “I will be your God and you will be my people” and all that entails.
“Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Exodus 19:3-6
Alongside that identity is the promise God made to Abraham – “I will give you this land for your descendants”. This idea of “The Land” and what it means to the Jews as an inheritance in perpetuity (hell, I even wrote an essay on this in property law when I studied my Law degree!), has clouded my thinking and blinded me to the reality of the nearly 100 year old ‘issue’ of what is happening in Palestine.
I realise how ironic this is after spending a significant amount of time learning and teaching Australian First Nations perspectives regarding connection to Country and the destructive consequences for their lives and culture when the land was taken from them. I mean, here I was being an awesome ally and advocating on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the lead up to The Voice referendum, and I couldn’t see past that darn Old Testament “promised land” theology, to see the similarities in their experiences of colonization.
As well as rethinking old theology, I also needed to trouble myself to learn about and understand the history of Palestine and Israel in modern times – which is what I did today.
I can thank my friend Sandi for voicing her own struggles as an ex-evangelical, and the recommendation by another friend Ron, of a podcast that I spent 4 hours listening to. The podcast gave me what I would now call a good grasp of the historical context leading to what happened on Oct 7, and what is happening now.
I cannot recommend this podcast enough. It’s called “Theology in the Raw” and I suggest starting with ‘A Palestinian Christian’s perspective on the Israeli/Palestinan war’ with Daniel Bannoura. Daniel was born in Jerusalem and grew up in a Christian family in Bethlehem. In this podcast conversation, he gives a 150 year historical and political overview of Jewish and Palestinian relations, which have led to the recent war in Gaza. You can find it here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/theology-in-the-raw/id1018952191?i=1000632252019
I have been so conflicted because what Hamas did was so utterly disgusting and vile. I’ve seen so many horrendous images and videos of beautiful young people at a music festival just slaughtered. But I also know the response of Israel is disproportionately out of control and terrifying and the images of dead children, women and men crying in anguish and destruction of buildings beyond repair, are just as heartbreaking.
So I’ve sat in the confusion that the ‘good guy’ has become the ‘bad guy’ and just closed my eyes, and my mouth, praying it would stop somehow.
But I can’t stay sitting in it. I can’t keep rushing through Instagram stories where others are speaking out and trying to hide from my own biases based on Old Testament theologies I might not even agree with anymore.
How can I reconcile these two equally abhorrent acts? How can Christians who might think in a biased way about Israel and ‘the land’ and who hold to ideas about Christian eschatology which says that the Jews need to return to the land before Jesus can come back, reconcile this with what we are seeing the Israeli military do?
Why do they/ we/ I feel the need to ‘side’ with an oppressor in the face of clear war crimes amounting to genocide? And how do I continue to deconstruct these long held beliefs about Israel’s right to this land in what I now recognize to be a modern act of colonization?
I think that what has moved me going forward is a reminder to listen to the prophets. And I thank Daniel Bannoura for this as well.
“Do justice, love mercy”
“Do not forget the widows and orphans.”
“Shelter the outcasts”.
“Deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor”.
For a comprehensive list of see:
The Prophets
Those men and women who were called to speak out even when it was risky, even when it was ignored, even when they didn’t want to.
They spoke out when Israel broke that covenant I had been clinging to, they spoke out when Israel oppressed her neighbours, they spoke out when the Israelites treated each other and other nations despicably. And given that we have quite a number of books of the prophets in the Old Testament, Israel broke the covenant time and time again and I guess, continue to do so. God’s ’chosen people’ have not always been terribly good at being a ‘light to the nations.’
There are people still speaking out about the actions of the Israeli government – ‘modern day prophets’ – secular and religious Jews, Messianic Christians, Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Political leaders, religious leaders, aid organizations, everyday people, all “praying for the peace of Jerusalem”. It doesn’t make you anti-Semitic to speak out against an oppressive regime. It makes you human.
The Prophets ALWAYS called for justice- it’s the heart of God. It’s the mark of God’s people. It’s the one condition to the covenant.
“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.”
Zechariah 7:9-10
When God speaks about justice God doesn’t mean punishment of an offender for a crime (although there are aspects of that definition inherent as well). Christians (especially Catholic Christians) sometimes use the term ‘social justice’ when talking about issues of injustice in the world – inequality, racism, sexism, OPPRESSION.
Social justice wants “to make right” – it’s first and foremost, a relational term rather than a legal one — people living in right relationship with God, one another, and the natural creation.
So if I can’t sit in the confusion and I can’t ignore it, what do I know now?
I understand you can’t eradicate Hamas by bombing the hell out of Gaza – you can’t exterminate the resistance of an oppressed people. Oh sure, you can kill militants and generals, but more will follow in their wake because you can’t kill the desire for justice.
Palestinian people will always want to fight back against 75 years of occupation that has seen every aspect of their lives regulated.
Israel won’t get peace by subduing a people. Has that ever worked anywhere? Maybe the way to stop militant and violent resistance is by giving oppressed people freedom and justice.
No justice, no peace.
Peace comes out of justice. When people are treated humanely, with compassion and respect, as well as given the right to self determination, then we have a chance at peace.
That means calling for justice to be established in Israel/Palestine. We need to be ’on the side’ of the oppressed and the marginalized- just like Jesus, whose ministry was of liberation and who rejected violence and said “go and do likewise”.
If Jesus is still my go to on how to live in this world, and I know how Jesus would react in situations of injustice, then what am I to do?
If the Gospel (Good News) is still relevant today (and I believe it is), then the Kingdom of God (God’s rule in people’s hearts) should be working outward and into others lives to restore right where there is wrong. To bring justice where there is injustice.
What I’ve learned today is that calling October 7 pure evil without any analysis of what preceded it, and denying the Palestinian people context, is dehumanizing. Yes what happened on October 7 is atrocious AND so is the response of the Israeli government.
We can, and should, condemn the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians AND we can, and should, at the same time, criticize what Israel is doing right now and call for them to stop.
Daniel Bannoura made me realize that “If your heart goes out to Israeli civilians but doesn’t go out to Palestinian civilians” there’s something wrong. And If we criticize Hamas but not the Israeli government for what they’ve been doing for years, or if we refrain from criticizing our own governments and the American government’s unconditional support for Israel, then we are possibly “a product of a white suprematist ideology that sees the Israeli as a human and Palestinians as subhuman” whether we know it or not. This is a shocking thing to realize when one considers themselves enlightened and educated. But when we know better, we do better.
We are all on a ‘character arc’ – we should be constantly looking at long held beliefs and ideas, and where appropriate, denouncing them and moving forward. I’ve done this many, many times in my life and I don’t expect this will be the last.
Whether you believe in God or not; whether you call yourself a Christian or not; there is no denying the sentiment of the famous prayer of St Francis:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.”
And Psalm 122
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”
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