Dear Journal, I would like to respond to Rabia's letter as a member of the Christian faith. She challenges us to ask the hard questions in this season of celebrating the birth of Jesus, in Palestine, more than 2,000 years ago. She wonders how can we side with Israel, a rogue state, formed against International […]
Dear Journal,
I would like to respond to Rabia's letter as a member of the Christian faith. She challenges us to ask the hard questions in this season of celebrating the birth of Jesus, in Palestine, more than 2,000 years ago. She wonders how can we side with Israel, a rogue state, formed against International law, as they have taken over the land which was once the country of Palestine, inhabited by Jews, Christians and Muslims. In fact it is the home of the oldest continuous Chrisitan community, dating back to the time of Jesus.
Rabia asks how Christians can support the regime that has been on a killing spree for the last two years, murdering or starving to death more than 60,000 people, denying the most basic of human rights?
But we know this "killing spree" didn't start 2 years ago but officially as early as 1949 when 750,000 Palestinians were "evicted" from their homeland, sending them as refugees into neighbouring countries, and then calling them terrorists when they dared to organize and fight back. And we can go even further back in history to the rise of Zionism when Palestinian land was given to Jewish settlers, starting in the early 1900's, and Zionist leaders openly discussed their plan to eventually rid the land of all Palestinians.
As a Christian I grew up believing the myth (it's not biblical!) that this land belonged to the Jews, promised thousands of years ago. Zionism was not talked about but I have learned that billions of dollars of christian money has funded the secular state of Israel in the mistaken belief that it would hasten the return of Christ and the end of the present age. And nowhere did I hear, growing up, of the harm and hardship suffered by the Palestinians under the harsh control of Israeli occupation.
Now we know that ignorance does not absolve one of guilt. In this age of easy communication across the globe no one can claim they don't know what is going on anywhere in the world. The media has tried to hide the real truth of what is happening in Palestine but there are good sources of information, many of them Jewish historians who are horrified about what is being done in the name of Judaism.
So yes, Radia, as Christians we need to ask the hard questions. But we also need to ask forgiveness, and true repentance means an acknowledgement of wrong doing, along with reparations to restore justice. This season reminds us that peace, hope, and joy are attributes we celebrate, but they must include everyone. The angels sang, "We bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL people!"
– Ruth Johnson
