Nigel Mohammed
Abstract:
The historical context in relation to the overlap and the promises of empires provides some of the fundamental reasons why Palestinian Christians who are caught in between those who choose violence, need to be resilient. God himself is just and loves justice, the implication being that true justice will conform to God’s character in Christ albeit imperfectly.
Resilience that is formed in a context of perpetual injustice becomes transformative individually and communally only when injustice like Christ accepts and suffers it, for it is then directed toward comprehensive healing for all concerned in this conflict. Worldviews and the silence of the West about the human rights abuses are inseparable from injustice and why being silent as Christians is not optional.
Context and Promises of Empire
In discussing historical events, context can help us understand what motivates people to behave as they do both in the past and the present. In terms of a historical context, a degree of understanding of the social, religious, economic, and political conditions that exist during a certain time and place helps to bring a bigger picture into a clearer focus. This in turn helps us to appreciate why any people group experiences a need to be resilient. For example, if a particular people lives within a politically violent context then a collective resilience to preserve even a modicum of well-being becomes essential for preservation, how much more for a capacity to flourish?
The First Zionist Congress was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization held in Basel, Switzerland, from August 29 to August 31, 1897, and Theodor Herzl was the pioneer. Ilan Pappe a Jewish historian who holds the Chair in History at the University of Exeter points out “From the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl, to the main leaders of the Zionist enterprise in Palestine, cleansing the land was a valid option”.
He then quotes another leader of the Zionist movement, Leo Motzkin. The quote is from 1917, “The transfer of so many Arabs may seem at first unacceptable economically, but is nonetheless practical. It does not require too much money to resettle a Palestinian village on another land” 1
Britain, the United States, and the United Nations were all involved in facilitating the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. These powers unwittingly entrusted the fate of the indigenous population of Palestine before 1948 to a movement that clearly included the transfer of a whole people. History must surely be the history of the human race not solely the parochial history of our own nations. National history can easily become propaganda rather than well-balanced investigations.
A significant dynamic during and between World War One and World War Two was the overlap of empires and this resonates with the history of the Middle East. For with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War 1, the Western Allied powers took control of the region. Thomas Suarez points out “World War 1 replaced Ottoman colonial rule in Palestine with British colonial rule, leaving Palestinians feeling betrayed: Britain had promised them independence in exchange for fighting against the Ottomans” 2
In the midst of the profound crisis of World War 1, Britain made certain promises to both the Arabs and the Jews. First, the promises to the Arabs were contained in letters written by Sir Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner in Egypt to Sharif Hussein of Mecca; it was known by some as the Hussein-McMahon Agreement of 1915. Colin Chapman states
During the First World War, the British government made several promises to Arab leaders in order to enlist their support in the war against the Turks […] Great Britain is prepared to recognize and uphold the independence of the Arabs in all the regions lying within the frontiers proposed by the Sharif of Mecca (i.e. the area now corresponding to the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine) 3
Then Britain made a promise to the Jews In the form of a letter consisting of no more than three sentences known as ‘The Balfour Declaration’ on the 2nd November 1917. Colin Chapman noted that contained in this short letter was Britain’s promise to the Jews which was a “national home for the Jewish people” and “it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine” 4
Whether this letter was debated in the Houses of Parliament and went through the due process of legislation, history does not appear to testify. There are two crucial factors following these promises. Another letter from Lord Balfour as he was known and something called The King-Crane Commission. These two factors show explicitly the real intentions of both the British Government and the Zionists. Colin Chapman explains
In a secret memorandum submitted to the British cabinet in 1919, Lord Balfour made it very clear that the British Government had no intention of applying the principle of self-determination and allowing the Arabs in Palestine to decide their own future.
[…] For in Palestine, we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country […] The four great powers are committed to Zionism. 5
Lord Balfour and the Zionists faced opposition in the form of a Commission to determine what the people of Palestine actually wanted for themselves. The United States President, Woodrow Wilson, sent two men to Palestine to investigate the situation in person, Henry Churchill King and Charles R. Crane, hence the name The King-Crane Commission. Alison Weir says of this Commission
The report stated that meetings with Jewish representatives make it clear that “the Zionists looked forward to a practically complete dispossession of the present inhabitants of Palestine”, […] The commission recommended that “the project for making Palestine distinctly, a Jewish commonwealth should be given up” […] As a pro-Israel historian noted, “With the burial of the King-Crane Report, a major obstacle in the Zionist path disappeared”. 6
In other words, the King-Crane Report conveniently disappeared into the archives.
Justice
According to Romans 1v25 in the context of universal human sin, human beings either define reality from within creation or from the eternal God. Land is something within creation and like anything it defines human identity however essential land is for human flourishing, it has the potential to move in a direction away from the character of God as revealed in Christ and thereby do violence to the image of God in human beings (Genesis 1v26).
What is Justice? Psalm 33v5 says that ‘He loves righteousness and justice, the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD and Psalm 89v14 says that ‘righteousness and justice are the foundation of your Throne’. Michael Schluter and John Ashcroft succinctly state “If justice is a characteristic of God himself, it follows that justice is something about which God is passionate. God delights in justice because it reflects his character” 7
This implies that true justice is partial in the sense that it becomes imperative to uphold what God defines as ‘good’ and must therefore be opposed to what God defines as ‘evil’. However, although justice that reflects God’s character is partial it is nevertheless impartial in terms of the national identity of the parties concerned. Moreover, we can observe from Deuteronomy 1v16-17 that justice in Israelite society was to take no account of the status of the parties involved, whether small or great, native or outsider. In these verses, God says that he loves the alien or the foreigner.
Regarding the conditions for Israel to reside in the land, God says in Deuteronomy 16v20 ‘You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you’. This implies that to both live and inherit the land. Therefore residence in the land was and has always been conditional on obedience to the Word of God.
The motives of the Zionist movement did not seek to do justice and love the foreigner. According to Ilan Pappe the vision of the early Zionist movement was to create a purely Jewish nation state, by transferring the Palestinian population as noted above. In the context of finalizing the master plan known as Plan Dalet for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, Pappe explains
Thus, the main objective was clear from the beginning of the de-Arabisation of Palestine-whereas the means to achieve this most effectively evolved in tandem with the actual military occupation of the Palestinian territories that were to become the new Jewish state of Israel 8
The ‘de-Arabisation’ of Palestine can be seen clearly in the occupation by Israel after the Six-Day War in June 1967. It is contrary to both the Word of God because it is conditional on obedience, and to International Law, for the most striking symbol of the occupation, particularly the West Bank, known as the Separation Wall was ruled illegal under international law by the International Court of Justice in 2004. In addition as the Kairos Palestine Document ‘Time For Action’ states
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in times of war states: “The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into territories it occupies.” 9
There is one group in particular that feels very much in the middle of radicalized Muslims and the Zionist regime that both resort to violence. Understandably, they feel so profoundly ignored by Western Governments and parts of the Western Church, the Palestinian Christians.
The Resilience of Palestinian Christians living under military occupation and apartheid.
Although God himself is the source of justice, to do justice is not exclusively God’s activity. The Apostle Paul described himself and others as ‘fellow workers’ with God (1 Corinthians 3v9; 2 Corinthians 6v1, so we are to do justice working with God. The occupation of land by ethnic cleansing is so antithetical to the character of God in Christ that God has to oppose it because it is contrary to who he is. Although resilience can be formed in isolation, ultimately it is best formed in healthy relationships for we are relational beings to our core because of the image of God within all humans (Genesis 1v26) .
Mohammad Marie, Ben Hannigan, and Aled Jones in their research article on resilience, unpack the meaning of an Arabic concept known as ‘Sumud’ which is based on ideas of personal and collective resilience and steadfastness. The article is about the resilience of Palestinians. Moreover, it relates to a socio-political concept of ways of surviving in the context of occupation, chronic adversity, and lack of resources and infrastructure. They state
Cultural values have been argued to play a crucial role in the collective resilience of the individual and community within a politically violent context [...] It is dependent upon context or environment, including our relationships [...] It can be seen therefore that the individual brain is a responsive organ, interacting and operating within a social context, especially during adversities.10
This idea of ‘Sumud’ relates very much to the fact that God uses the analogy of a ‘body’ in referring to His Church on earth. It means further that interdependent relationships are intrinsic and essential in order for the Body to function as God has designed it (1 Corinthians 12v12-27. For example, there are over a hundred ‘one another’s in the New Testament. One of which is to ‘bear each other’s burdens’ and so fulfil the law of Christ’ which is love (Galatians 6v2). Palestinian Christians amongst others live with heavy burdens as part of their everyday lives.
Example of Resilience from Palestinian Christians
Holy Land Trust is a Christian Palestinian Non-Profit Organization (NGO), located in the heart of Bethlehem. It was founded in 1998 by Executive Director Sami Awad just two years before the second Intifada (“uprising” or “shaking off” in Arabic) began. Sami Awad is both a passionate believer in nonviolence and the Lord Jesus Christ. He was convinced that there was an alternative to violent uprising and so he began to train his local community on the principles of nonviolence as the way forward.
Holy Land Trust is a great example of doing justice to all. They run various projects and programs that are fundamentally about non-violent resistance to military occupation and the injustice of being denied basic human rights. Three pillars underpin their ethos; non-violent activism, trauma healing, and leadership development. They work with anyone and everyone who has been adversely affected by the occupation.
Trauma healing and leadership development are closely connected and is facilitated by non-linear thinking, which is like brainstorming which allows thought to flow freely, to arrive at something transformative. Healthy relationships in the community facilitate the healing journey. God’s love transforms and can create ‘wounded healers’ like Jesus. At their Research Centre, they have a wide range of resources to support the local and international community.
Sami Awad explains
The Peace Research and Learning Center (PRLC) aims to create a Bethlehem-based gathering place [HUB] for global research, publications, and learning on issues of nonviolence, peace, conflict resolution, non-linear thinking, healing traumas, and transformation. Scholars, experts, and students from within the community and from around the world will bridge theory with practice in one of the world’s most volatile and complex conflicts. 11
Holy Land Trust aims to create a space to facilitate healing in order to transform communities and their aim is to be a global model for understanding, respect, justice, equality, and peace. One tragic reality is that both Jews and Arabs have profoundly ignored each other’s suffering. However, does the Bible have anything to say to people about how to cope with injustice by developing resilience?
On one hand, God says that he will one day punish evildoers. He says through Isaiah 59v14-18 that he looked and saw that there was no justice in Israel and that it displeased him. Verse 14 says “Justice is turned back and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter” and then 15b says poignantly “Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him, that there was no justice”. The word displeased means that it was evil in his eyes. Also in Isaiah 42v1-4 in describing the future reign of God, the Servant of the LORD plays a particular role in bringing justice to the nations. “A bruised reed he will not break and smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth”.
How does the Servant of the LORD establish justice on earth? Instead of dealing with injustice by force or punishing evildoers, the Servant himself suffers injustice. In short, he submits to all the injustice that is done to him (Isaiah 53v7-9). By accepting injustice and bearing totally undeserved suffering, he is in some mysterious way bearing the suffering and guilt of the whole people. Christians are called to follow in Christ’s footsteps.
However, they will not take up the same weapons as their enemies nor yield to despair or bitterness. They will also speak to other’s consciences. The reason is that they have the supreme example of the One who endured unimaginable suffering and injustice that he did not deserve but who rather committed his cause to God the Father and prayed for them even while he was dying on the Cross on which they crucified him (Luke 23v34). There is no greater example in human history.
Holy Land Trust practice non-violence and minister healing to anyone for they know that military occupation that is not accountable to the International community damages and dehumanizes all people, including the perpetrators of injustice. Colin Chapman explains
Evil cannot always be overcome by the punishment of evildoers. Sometimes the way to overcome injustice is to suffer it. The divine answer to evil sometimes involves suffering. The Suffering Servant actually overcomes evil by the way he responds to it. 12
Resilience is cultivated in individuals and communities when people are empowered by grace to submit to their suffering and absorb their pain into a larger sense of meaning and vision. This in turn can be transformative not only for themselves and for others but potentially even for the perpetrators of injustice.
In fact, the Cross of Christ is the ultimate act of God’s justice in the Bible because it defeats the ultimate oppressor and bestows the ultimate freedom from tyranny on those who have faith in Jesus (Hebrews 2v14-15; Romans 8v14-17). It is the way of the Cross that alone gives us eyes to see the goodness of God even in the experience of unjust suffering. In their work, Holy Land Trust enables people to still see the goodness of God through the cracks of their own brokenness and pain and therefore exhibit transforming resilience.
Worldviews and the Silence of the West.
The effect of interpreting reality from within creation apart from God as revealed in Christ means that this interpretation of reality exchanges the truth of God for the lie (Romans 1v25). Therefore the serpent’s question in Eden ‘Has God indeed said’ continues to resonate very loudly in the form of worldviews. It is what people presuppose about reality that determines how they treat other human beings. Darrow L Miller in Discipling Nations states
What does our worldview or story have to do with development? Everything [...] The development of people, communities, and nations doesn’t just happen, nor does it occur in a vacuum. Just as the soil in which a tree is planted will play a decisive role in the growth of the tree, likewise the values, attitudes, culture, and ethos of a people will determine whether its development is healthy, stunted, or non-existent. 13
Worldviews are not just abstract ideas, they are incarnated. The soil of the 18th and 19TH century Enlightenment which cultivated atheistic presuppositions about reality contributed to the ‘planting of the tree’ of secular humanism. There appear to be three major ‘fruits’ that have contributed to the rise of the modern world; secularisation, pluralization, and privatization.
Secularism interprets reality from within a closed system with no transcendent realm and no personal infinite Creator God. The process of secularisation means that religious ideas, institutions, and interpretations have lost social significance. This means that there is no fixed point of reference for objective moral values anymore, so relativism is the foundation upon which reality is built. Individualism is a ‘fruit’ of secularism that the Church can inadvertently assimilate, for faith is reduced to merely a private matter. This in turn severely undermines the mission.
Genesis 1v1 sets Biblical Christianity apart from all forms of Atheism, all forms of Naturalism, Secularism, Humanism, Nationalism, and all other isms that compete for the allegiance of people in our day. It is therefore relevant to our calling to holistic mission. Moreover, to have a biblical worldview mindset is to have a perspective for interpreting every subject matter. Christ died to reconcile ‘all things’ in heaven and earth (Colossians 1v16-20) therefore redemption is as comprehensive as both creation and the fall of man.
A secular worldview that underpins pluralism, individualism, and privatization means that morality and truth are relative and this will inevitably influence how a nation will be governed. These ideological factors are inseparable then from whether a nation’s comprehensive development is healthy, static, or non-existent. This of course includes its view of humanity and justice.
As we saw above, God delights in justice because it reflects his character; the biblical vision of justice therefore is that true justice is God’s justice. In discussing justice and the good gifts of God before the fall of man in Eden, David McIlroy quotes Gary Haugen the Founder and former President of International Justice Mission
Justice occurs when power and authority is exercised in conformity with God’s standards. Injustice occurs when power is misused to take from others what God has given them, namely, their life, dignity, liberty or the fruits of their love and labour […] David McIIroy continues
While this list is not exhaustive, because God gave each of these good gifts to human beings before the Fall, they have a claim to be regarded as primary […] Apart from the use of the sword by governing authorities, for defined purposes and as proportionate to evil, no one has authority to take life away. 14
These good gifts of life, dignity, liberty, and the ability to enjoy the ‘fruits’ of love and labour, of course, apply to humankind after the fall, despite God’s judgment in Genesis 3v16-19 and the fourfold alienation that resulted in our relationship to God, to ourselves, to each other and to creation. Dominion after the fall becomes marked by exploitation, suffering, and injustice in the realm of all human relationships. However, the Creator’s gifts of life, dignity, liberty, love, and labour, have a claim to still be regarded as primary, particularly in how the human government is to function.
The history of empires testifies to fallen dominion despite some of the good it brings. Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War 1, the West has been dominant in world affairs. In Europe and America today, Islam is still arguably viewed through colonial attitudes that are often combined with near-total amnesia about the history of colonialism. This climate of public opinion provides the unsuspecting with a persuasive portrait of the West as the zenith of civilization. These issues of ideology relate also to how propaganda plays a role in silencing people about injustice. Tim O’Sullivan et al explain that
In broad terms, propaganda is the conscious manipulation of information to gain political advantage. Historically, it has been most evident during times of war or national crisis, when the need for national unity has led governments to seek control over the media. In such situations, dissenting or alternative views are usually suppressed or marginalized 15
Mainstream media tends to serve the agenda of the ever-increasing powerful corporate elite. Those who fall outside the West are viewed either as opponents of progress or as part of an undeveloped culture whose ultimate destiny is to become like the West, hence US and Western foreign policy based on military invasion. Worldviews are incarnated and so will determine whether a nation’s development is healthy, stunted, or non-existent.
The discussion began with the dynamic and overlap of empires in a historical context. The Western empire today with no objective reference point for moral values or what it means to be human, in a deeply secular, pluralistic, individualistic, and privatized culture, underpinned by corporatism, explicitly assume that Western Governments lack any objective standard for justice that resembles the character of the God whose Word helped to form the West.
In his discussion on the submission to authorities, David McIIroy explains
Reading Romans 13v1-7 in its context it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that it is intimately linked to the preceding passage, Romans 12v9-21 in which Paul is discussing the Christian’s responsibility to love others, both one’s Christian brothers (vv. 9-13, 15-16) and one’s enemies (vv. 14,17-21). In verse 19, Paul writes, ‘Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 16
Christians are to submit to God ordained human governments, however, at the point where human governments rebel against the Word of God, Christians must obey a higher authority, (Daniel 3v16-18). Where has the Western empire arrived though in its continued acts of warfare? It has reached another level, namely military drone technology. It is here in particular where the Western empire intersects and conflates with the state of Israel. Jeff Halper is the director of ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions).
He asserts that governments today are waging a “war against the people”. Whether it is security against asylum seekers in Europe, US policy in Afghanistan, or the subliminal war of policing and surveillance arising everywhere he postulates that Israel’s contribution to this is a key factor, not least the exporting of high-tech weaponry and methods of what he calls ‘pacification’ in forcibly suppressing the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Halper says
The need to pursue aggressive security politics is what thrusts Israel into wide-ranging global involvement unusual for such a small country. Without an Occupation, Israel would have neither the drive nor the conditions by which to develop, deploy, test, and export world-class weaponry and models of control. 17
The implication is how would Israel sustain its strong international standing without Occupation. Furthermore, the Occupation becomes like a testing ground for the development of weapons, security systems, and population control. Fundamental to the Western empire’s view of the Middle East is to view Israel as a valuable ally in a hostile region. This region is dominated by Islam that the West continues to see through colonial eyes while being arguably selective in its amnesia of its colonial past in actually shaping the Middle East, in particular its recent foreign policy toward Iraq, Libya, and the ongoing civil war in Syria.
The overlap and promises of empire combined with the motivation of the Zionist movement resulted in the need for Palestinians to develop substantial individual and communal resilience. The Holy Land Trust is just one of these examples of Palestinian Christians who live out Micah’s imperative to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with their God (Micah 6v8). To accept injustice by accepting it through non-violent resistance is to resemble imperfectly the Lamb of God, who was led to the slaughter but did not open his mouth because of the joy set before him to bring many sons to glory (Isaiah 53v7; Hebrews 12v2). Doing justice is not optional because God is just but justice is not an abstract notion, it is fundamentally relational.
When the first crime occurred after the fall of man God himself acted directly. Abel’s blood cried out for justice and God’s punishment for Cain was exile (Genesis 4v9-15). It was God himself who did the judging with the first crime, but with Noah and his descendants which includes us, it is human beings who are called by God to execute justice upon the earth.
God appointed human beings as stewards of the earth to exercise responsibility over all creation as his image bearers (Genesis 1v26-28). This means that God chose to transfer responsibility to human beings to deal with injustice in their midst. As Christians in a deeply secular, pluralistic, individualistic, pagan Western culture based on moral relativism, we are basically in exile. However, as exiles, we should be dissatisfied with our host empire as we find it. Western governments are currently wracked by corporate greed, selfishness, injustice, and violence toward other nations, in particular military aid support to the hilt, for Israel. As Michael Frost explains
We can no longer remain ignorant of the fact that Western governments are giving away power to large corporations for their own gain, leaving human rights, the environment, public health, the economy and even democracy at risk 18
‘Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say “Surely we did not know this,” does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds? (Proverbs 24v11-12).
Endnotes
1 Ilan, Pappe. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (London: Oneworld Publications, 2007). [7-8]
2 Thomas, Suarez. State of Terror, How terrorism created modern Israel (Oxon, UK: Skyscraper Publications, 2016). [8]
3 Colin, Chapman. Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Crisis Over Israel and Palestine (Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2002). [67-68]
4 Colin, Chapman. Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Crisis Over Israel and Palestine (Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2002). [67]
5 Colin, Chapman. Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Crisis Over Israel and Palestine (Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2002). [70]
6 Alison, Weir. Against Our Better Judgment, The hidden history of how the U.S. was used to create Israel (*: CreateSpace, 2014) [25] * Author confirmed by email no place of publication listed. Printed in the USA.
7 Michael, Schulter and John, Ashcroft. Jubilee Manifesto (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2005). [235-236]
8 Ilan, Pappe. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (London: Oneworld Publications, 2007). [49]
9 Time for Action, A British Christian Response to A Moment of Truth, the Kairos Palestine document www.kairosbritain.org.uk [15-17]
10 Marie, Mohammad, Ben, Hannigan, Aled, Jones (2018) ‘Social ecology of resilience and Sumud of Palestinians’ Volume 22 (1) 20-[35 23]
11 Awad, Sami. “Peace Research & Learning Centre: An Incubator for Peace & Justice.” Holy Land Trust https://holylandtrust.org/peace-research-learning-center-
12 Colin, Chapman. Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Crisis Over Israel and Palestine (Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2002). [p225]
13 Darrow L, Miller. Discipling Nations, the power of truth to transform cultures. (Seattle, WA, USA: YWAM Publishing, 2001). [p24-25]
14 David, MIIroy. Christian Perspectives on Law, A Biblical View of Law and Justice (Milton Keynes: Paternoster Press, 2004). [21]
15 TIm, O’Sullivan, Brian, Dutton, Phillip, Rayner Studying the Media (London: Arnold Hodder Headline Group, 1998). [78]
16 David, MIIroy. Christian Perspectives on Law, A Biblical View of Law and Justice (Milton Keynes: Paternoster Press, 2004). [21]
17 Jeff, Halper. War against the people, Israel, Palestinians and Global Pacification (London: Pluto Press, 2015). [36]
18 Michael, Frost. Exiles, Living Missionally in Post Christian culture (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010). [210]
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