by Rev Dr Joseph Komar
In the conflict in Gaza today many in the global community have been trapped into ‘taking sides’. What is taking sides? It means supporting one against the other. Taking sides is a common phenomenon where we take sides taking into many considerations like nation, race, ethnicity even which supporter you are Liverpool or Manchester United. The list may be many but the greater concern is when people suffer and die and we are caught up in this phenomenon of taking sides. In the Gaza conflict, one matter that is surfacing with far-reaching implications is when Christians support Israel and Muslims support Palestine. At times our nation’s political leanings force us to take sides. That which needs to grip all people especially, Christians is to be clear on the rhetoric or narrative when people die women and children, and families are displaced and the suffering of communities is immeasurable.
All humanity is God’s handiwork, created in His image and hence every person is accorded dignity and the value of life is of utmost importance. “Thou shall not kill” is not an Old Testament narrative but an idea that runs through the very veins of the whole bible. For God so loved the world should run in our very veins that no person be slighted because he/she is different. God loves the Palestinian people no less than he loves the Israelites. The Israelites are God’s chosen many say and hence God’s people need to stand in solidarity with them. To be chosen is not a privilege but a call to service. To be chosen does not mean that God’s people cannot err. These are presuppositions that drive those taking sides.
The conflict that we see today has a long history. Many say it goes back about a hundred years just before the first world war. In 1917 the Belfour Declaration began the motion to re-establish the nation Israel for the scattered Jews. To carve out this geographical region had tremendous implications. Was this an empty land? Surely not but countries aligning to the Belfour Declaration pushed on with this agenda. Colonization that began in the 7 century BC changed the demographic landscape of Israel. “Over the next 1000-plus years various empires would take control of the land. These included the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Empires. In the 7th century, the land was taken over by the Muslims. Later, the land would change hands a few times until the Ottoman Empire took control in 1517.” Who resided in this land at the turn of the 20th Century, once the home of the Hebrew people? Many say that Jews who became a minority along with Christians and mainly Muslims inhabited this land. So the Belfour Declaration pushed the Christians and Muslims to the margins when the nation Israel came into being in 1947. They became refugees in their own homeland when the Jews began to relocate from all over Europe to this geographical region.
The people who resided in Palestine want justice. For hundreds of years, this is their home and now they are displaced and what is foremost in their agenda is to remain in this land. This is their only land and look up to the global community who came forward to rescue the scattered Hebrew people will today turn their attention to them who are oppressed and marginalized by the Israelites. Can there be peace without justice? What is to come of these two warring communities? The justification of one claim as they inherited this land during the time of Joshua – the Hebrew people and therefore many feel justified today in taking their side. Archbishop Desmond Tuttu had this share “Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.” Nelson Mandela at the dawn of a new Africa ” No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”.
There is more to know about what is happening in the Middle East. The biblical rhetoric challenges us to see all things through God’s perspective. Galatians 3:28-29 reminds us that our differences are not the reason for conflict but rather see our identities through Christ who calls on us to be transcendent. To rise above human categorization. Jesus said to love your enemies not once but many times. In hope let us pray for both communities as the suffering inflicted is beyond measure.