On May 13 Israel will celebrate sixty years of independence in a homeland that provided a refugee from persecution and mass murder in Europe. Palestinians recall the events of 1948 as a catastrophic dispossession and the beginning of a long exile from their homeland that continues to this day. Both communities regard the Holy Land as a “homeland”
On April 25-26 I attended a conference at Villanova University sponsored by Friends of Sabeel – North America, of which I am a member. Sabeel, which is the Arabic word for “the way” is a Palestinian liberation theology center based in Jerusalem. The conference was titled: “The Quest for Place and Peace in the Middle East.” In his keynote address, Rev. Naim Ateek, the founder of Sabeel, urged that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be grounded on principles of nonviolence: “nonviolence is not one option out of many. For us Palestinian Christians it is the only option and the only strategy. We cannot call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ and believe in or condone the use of violence and terrorism. We are looking forward for the time when the Israeli occupation of Palestine will end. Without this kind of justice there cannot be peace.”
A recurrent question at the conference was “whose homeland is Israel/Palestine?” I believe it is important that Christians challenge the powerful political role and theology of what is known as Christian Zionism. Such spokespersons as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell and John Hagee (who recently pledged support to John McCain) claim that Israel must remain in complete control of the territory, of the land promised to Abraham. Approximately 20 million adherents to their apocalyptic theology believe that the Bible mandates uncritical support for an expansionist Israel state as a necessary prelude for the second coming of Christ. In their view, when Jesus returns to Jerusalem, some Jews will acknowledge him as the Messiah. Those who don't will be slaughtered in the final battle just before history's final end. Israeli officials are willing to accept the political and financial support of Christian Zionists while ignoring their anti-Jewish theology.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the present conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the ongoing hatred of many Middle Easterners toward America will not reach a plausible solution until the Israel/Palestine issue is solved. And for Christians this entails also the rejection of the theology of Christian Zionism.
Tom Philipp
