Do Palestinian Christians hold the key to peace and justice
in the Middle East? A view from South Africa

By KAIROS THEOLOGIANS FORUM, South Africa

2009 DECEMBER 19

Introduction

Against a graffiti wall someone enthusiastically wrote: Jesus is the answer.

As it goes with graffiti, someone replied: Yes, but what is the question?

Amongst the graffiti against the separation (apartheid) wall in Bethlehem there is this question, attributed to the well-known Palestinian writer Edward Said: Since when does a militarily occupied people have the responsibility for a peace movement?

A suggestion towards answering Said’s question has recently been provided by a group of Christian Palestinians. The response is presented in the Palestine Kairos Document (PKD) under the title: A moment of truth – A word of faith and hope from the heart of the Palestinian suffering”. To South Africans and many other the document is a strong reminder of the “Kairos Document” issued by South African Christians during the height of Apartheid in 1985.

The PKD does not pose a simple “yes” or a “no” to Said’s almost rhetoric-sounding even tongue in the cheek question.

In a clear, non-missionary, or non-proselyting way the PKD simply and unashamedly says “The Jesus narrative is the answer”.

Probably more precisely: “The Jesus story and its message, fundamental at least to Abrahamic faith communities, is the answer.” The core of the Jesus story, “the new teaching” of Jesus is: ‘the logic of love’ namely, freedom through love with no conditions.

With Edward Said’s question in mind, this article draws some comparisons with the South African Kairos Document (SASAKD) and the Kairos Palestine document (PKD Furthermore it locates the role of the Christians in Israel-Palestine in the attainment of peace and justice there as viewed also from and informed by the South African Christian faith struggle against apartheid.

Comparisons with the South African Kairos Document

It is acknowledged, especially as an early response, that comparisons between these two documents could well become unduly forced and formalistic. Nevertheless the following comparisons in terms of both the context and text could be drawn.

• Without going in too much detail it is widely accepted that South Africa under apartheid and Palestine under Israeli occupation share basic similarities. The immediate experience of déjà vu by South Africans involved in the struggle against apartheid upon visiting Palestine is a considerable tell tale. In additions there is consensus amongst such persons that the experience of Palestinians is much worse and more complex than what South Africans experienced under apartheid.
• The SASAKD addressed a situation dominated by Christianity. The vast majority of South Africans are at least nominally Christian. The Apartheid state drew its legitimacy from Christianity. Dominant churches supported and legitimized apartheid. The PKD speak to a situation of de facto apartheid by “foreign” military occupation legitimized by both Jewish (Zionist) theologies and widespread international Christian strands of (Zionist) theologies.
• The weight of numbers of Palestinian Christians may count for little if anything in the bigger scheme of things. A Christian theological document might therefore not initially shake the foundations of the Israeli state as the SAKD did in South Africa. Whilst the Israeli state may decide to ignore the voice of a tiny percentage of the Palestinian population, the PKD will have several other effects, and this could lead to the foundations of the current Israeli state’s position internally and internationally being shaken:
• Whatever the differences in context and text, the fundamental parallels are that Christians in both South Africa and Palestine found themselves in situations whereby profound prophetic positions have been required by the respective situations. This includes radical prophetic contextual analyses. In addition the prophetic pronouncement is that the situation faced is one of fundamental sin and evil. Hence the call on Christians that resistance of this evil is a Christian duty of faith and conscience. Ultimately the strongest spiritual challenge, at least to Christians is that biblical and theological support for and legitimization of this situation and policy of government is not only an affront to Christianity it furthermore creates a situation whereby the credibility and integrity of the Gospel becomes compromised. The PKD says the theological justification of the occupation of Palestine and Palestinians “is far from Christian teachings”, in short: heresy.
• As with the SAKD and with reference to the South African regime’s narrative, the PKD deconstructs the dominant Israeli narrative to the majority of Israelis inside and outside Israel and their supporters in the West and elsewhere and probably to the vast majority of Christians wherever they are found. E.g. To be against the policies of and even to resist the Israeli state is not anti-Semitic; the core issue at hand is simply the Israel’s state’s illegal and immoral occupation of Palestine; not all Palestinians/Arabs are Muslims; not all Palestinians support violence; not all Palestinians are terrorists not even by the strictest definition thereof; the core issue is not a conflict between Judaism and by implication Judeo-Christianity on the one hand and Islam on the other; the occupation is sin, as viewed from a Palestinian Christian point of view; theological justification for the occupation is to say the least “far from Christian teaching”; Palestinians (Christians and Muslims) are also people of the Holy Land.
• Similar to the SAKD the PKD provides a radically different narrative about justice and reconciliation from the Christian point of view. Justice does not come from the oppressor. In a way the message is: Israel, the West, Christians, Arabs and Muslims, see our oppression. Moreover, and in particular Israel, see your own dehumanization. Cross over to us and let us reason together in the logic of love which transcends the divisions. There is no or little middle ground and compromise between fundamental injustice and justice.
• The PKD document provides, like the SAKD a Christian spiritual analysis and message of encouragement and empowerment to oppressed Palestinians. The PKD repeatedly relate to the logic and politics of love which in turn creates a different dynamic and analysis to the run-of-the-mill political analyses. This position clearly takes the struggle against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and life and as sanctioned by the West and dominant Western Christianity to the level of conscience and spirituality. In this sense it does undoubtedly serve as internal spiritual encouragement to Palestinians (Christians and Muslims) as well as those who are in solidarity with them the world over including Christians, Jews and Muslims.
• The Palestinians also experience how the powerful are clearly more disposed to believe the narratives of the powerful. After all the adage stands: The powerful stories are the stories of the powerful. South Africans struggling against apartheid knew this all too well but also knows that false narratives do not last forever.

Challenging the Israeli state narrative

At this moment there is a powerful narrative that seems to hold sway in the West and at least amongst Christians and Churches in the West. In simple and generalized terms the Israeli narrative goes something like this:

• We are the only democracy in the Middle East. We are willing to give the Palestinians their own homeland as long as it is dependent on us. In other words, not very different from the South African version of the Bantustan.
• We are the last bastion against terrorism in the Middle East. In one way or another you cannot really trust the nations surrounding us since they all follow the religion followed by most of the “terrorists” and therefore for your own security it is important that you keep on supporting us. Of course what is not said is also important, and that is namely that Israel has its own arsenal of nuclear arms and that this cannot be entrusted to the Palestinians.
• We have strong religious, family and cultural links with you in the West, and besides that, you are responsible for our security after the Holocaust, so you have no choice but to support us. In any case, if you don’t, Fatah and Hamas will probably kill each other or turn this into another Islamist state and this place will just become another breeding ground for terrorists.
• Our security is your security. The sheer arrogance of this position is well presented on a T-shirt sold in Jerusalem stating: America don’t worry: Israel is behind you.

One may add notions such as “Israelis are the original inhabitants of the Holy Land” and “This is where the Messiah will come again”. Adding other stories about suicide bombers and we can begin to see how many Christians across the world, particularly in the USA and in Europe and mainstream Christians and Churches elsewhere including in South Africa, will support the Israeli state narrative.

The interesting aspect about this powerful narrative and narrative of excessive use of power– besides its striking similarity with the old South African narrative – is that it is also based on and driven by fear and a sense of entitlement in the name of fairness and justice. Interestingly, the Palestinian document responds with calls to Israel to move out of their matrix of fear and fear-based policies. It also calls on the West to move out of their matrix of fear-based policies on the narrative of terrorism as far as Palestine is concerned and to resist all racism and stereotyping, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. It also calls on Arab countries get out of their own paralyses and comfort zones as well.

It is precisely at this point that we would like to highlight a striking qualitative difference between the PKD and the SAKD. This is the point that qualitatively sets the two documents apart.

Inasmuch as the document is a cry of pain and agony there is a repetitive declaration of love and solidarity not only to Palestinians as well but also to “the enemy” namely the occupying force and government whilst they perpetrate oppression and occupation. “…inspired by the love of God for all...” and abiding by the “new teaching” of Jesus to love the enemy as well, the drafters represent, at least in the wording of the text, an uncanny spiritual ability and spirituality to declare seeing the face of God in all and also in the occupying force. Notably they do say “this is a difficult commandment”. They express deep and basic concern that also the humanity of Israelis is also at stake in the continued occupation of Palestine. In addition the oneness as humans and thereby as brothers and sisters of Palestinians (Muslims and Christians) and Israelis and religious Jews is stated repeatedly.

Herein lays the towering power and strength of this statement of spirituality and faith under conditions of injustice. This profound expression of spirituality, this courage to love or at least the courage to express love is undoubtedly THE qualitative difference between the South African SAKD and the draft Palestinian PKD document

The velvet-sounding language of a declaration of love does not come as an offer of submission. The document regards the occupation of Palestine “a sin against God and humanity…” and as such calls for resistance…in love. As stated earlier, it regards the theological justification of the occupation or cover-up of the reality as “far from Christian teachings”. This expression is gratuitous way of saying the theological justification of the occupation is heresy.

Resistance exclude violence and death and also (albeit by implication) using suicide bombing as an act of resistance. Therefore, resistance as a Christian duty does not include violence, as it was also denounced in the South African SAKD. Resistance as the duty of love includes i.a. civil disobedience and a campaign for economic and commercial boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Resistance must be informed and driven by the logic of love and not by the logic of revenge, hatred and fear. Profoundly enough, resistance that perpetuates the situation or done in hatred and revenge needs to be resisted as well. The PKD document calls for repentance within Palestine form individual Christians and church leaders for silence and not being prophetic. From this position as based on the power of love, and not of force, the document is highly critical of Palestinian leaders and sections of the Palestinian political life.

With hindsight and being clear about the strategic considerations in South Africa in the 10980s, how qualitatively different would the South African SAKD have been if we would have mustered the courage to express this love to the oppressive regime and those who supported and legitimized apartheid. How different would it have been to be critical of what was done in the name of justice and the struggle against apartheid at the time? How much stronger would the prophetic voice have been after 1994 with the ability to be and to remain prophetic, albeit early warning prophetic voices on what is happening to the “New South Africa”.

The call for action from Palestinian Christians

The call towards the international community is not in the first place that of resistance such as to actively engage in and support for a boycott, divestment and sanction campaign.

The Palestinian PKD firstly calls for repentance from Christians and others around the world. Repentance from the dominant narrative also promoted and supported through what is called “rethinking Christian fundamentalist reading of the Bible”. A fundamentalist reading of the Bible through the lenses of the dominant narrative actively aggravates the suffering of Palestinians and actively legitimizes the occupation of Palestinian territories by the state of Israel. As such the integrity of the Gospel is compromised. Instead of being “good news” the gospel becomes a “harbinger of death”

The PKD calls for Christians to take governments to task for double standards by not taking international law and international decisions seriously and thereby being complicit in the suffering meted out to Palestinians by the Israeli state.

Conclusion:

Does the Palestinian PKD hold the key to the peace process and answers Said’s question? Yes, in more than one way.

• The strength of the message of faith, hope and love as elaborated above is undoubtedly the key. “Through our love, we will overcome injustices and establish foundations for a new society both for us and for our opponents. Our future and their future are one.” Reading this document from a purely political and academic (albeit a cold and analytical academic theological) position would be to misread the spirit and spirituality of the document. This document is an appeal to the core of spirituality and to reflect on this situation and the responses to the Palestinian plight from conscience and a spiritual consciousness.
• The success will be whether those signing or supporting the statement will live and/or learn to live the key strength of the PKD. Furthermore, the success will be determined whether the response to the document (either in support of or in opposition to) can match the strength of spirituality expressed here.
• Regardless of these potential provisos, the PKD is not only a moment of truth for Palestinian Christians. It is also a monument of truth for all humans. We are reminded that all of us as humans are capable of oppression, violence and destruction even of self-destruction. Ask for example the apartheid government and its security apparatus. However, what makes us human is our capacity to love, yes to love without conditions. The story of Jesus the man from Nazareth is the evidence. And wait there is more: Jesus said you will be able to do bigger things. If we cannot think we are capable of this love, we deny the essence of being human and being civilized. As such the Jesus story is a reminder of the heart of both Judaism and Islam as well.
• More people in the world will hopefully slowly begin the often painful process of realizing the folly of the dominant narrative and matrix of fear and hatred and at least start looking for alternatives. This includes growing numbers of Israelis as it was with whites and others under Apartheid. It should also include growing numbers of Christians rereading the Bible from a different narrative, painful as that process might be.
• Jesus was also a Jew who challenged the internal logic of the Jewish faith expression at the time. His message was not accepted and he was killed by a combination of political and religious forces. His radically different interpretation of the Torah was met with resistance. Christians in South Africa and in particular white Christians met with severe resistance, isolation, exclusion and “crucifixion” for their courage to allow them to see another narrative of love, justice and peace. This Jesus story challenges a particular Jewish and Christian understanding of the Torah or Old Testament scriptures in addition to re-understanding of the New Testament for Christians. As such this document is a significant challenge to those (Jews and Christians) who continue to hold onto a reading of the Torah or Old Testament and New Testament (Christians) that leads to oppression of others including the Palestinians. Like all oppressive states, the time of fall for the Israeli state will arrive. The challenge is: who will be there for them to help them through their inevitable pain when the narrative crumbles inside?
• Normally, we would say that blood is thicker than water. Families stick together even when they are wrong. Israeli’s seem to be banking on this logic just as the South Africans thought for a long time that their family bonds with parts of Europe would guarantee a high level of support for them. But what begins to happen when we re-define the notion of family, as Jesus did by emphasizing the oneness and family bonds between al humans? The PKD can help us in redefining our human family.
• Palestinian Christians know that even though they are numerically in a minority in the “Holy Land”, the presence of billions of brothers and sisters across the world makes their voice a significant voice, and their intervention in the conflict can therefore be extremely significant, even though more and more of their number have and continue to emigrate. The Palestinians do not call on solidarity in numbers or for solidarity through hatred and revenge, but solidarity in love.
• But, even beyond the solidarity of Christians, normal human solidarity and solidarity with those who suffer remains a Christian response. Christians know that even if there was not one Christian in the Holy Land, God is always on the side of those who suffer and therefore Christian solidarity with the Palestinians is assured.
• Just as Christians across the world rallied to the support of the suffering people in South Africa, so Christians across the world, exorcised of a particular narrative, will begin to stand more firmly with Palestinians. Not only are Christians across the West strong in numbers, but also in influence in various spheres of life. It is this influence that can bring the Humpty-dumpty of the Israeli state’s oppressive narrative tumbling down and instead of trying to put it together again, new relationships can be forged with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters, relationships more reflective of the New Jerusalem.
• Whilst there is candid clarity that the liberation of both Palestinians and Israelis may be far off in time this statement of love without conditions is a statement of power and victory over victimhood. A victory for the human spirit. In this case the statement is a powerful reminder that of the “new teaching” of the Jesus story which “…provoked a revolution in the life and faith of all humanity”...
• In direct response to Said’s question, the PKD challenges all persons and peoples under oppression as it challenges the oppressors and their supporters. The PKD has undoubtedly lifted the bar on prophetic statements of faith under oppression. In retrospect the PKD puts a serious challenge to the SAKD.

Rev Edwin Arrison and Dr Stiaan van der Merwe
Kairos Theologians Forum
South Africa

Related pages:

• A Palestinian Christian call to end the occupation
• The Kairos Palestine Document (Preface)
• Palestinian Christians draw a line in the Sand