SABEEL'S ALTERNATIVE ASSEMBLY SERMON
CONCLUDING WORSHIP SERVICE
Saturday, February 24, 2001
Notre Dame Chapel, Jerusalem
By
Naim Ateek
"WHO WILL ROLE AWAY THE STONE" (Mark 16:3)
In the Name of the One God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
We have had a rich four days, full of various experiences. We witnessed the sad and tragic situation as well as some signs of hope and encouragement. Tonight we bring all those experiences, the good and the bad, and lay them on the altar of God. We lift them up in prayer and we ask God for renewed strength and energy as we return home to continue in our struggle, so that through all the nonviolent means available to us, we will work together to shatter the structures of domination and contribute to the building of a just society in Palestine.
In our opening worship last Wednesday, we started with Jesus' words, "if these people are silent, the stones will cry out". In our travels we saw how the stones have cried out against the occupation and oppression. The small stones have been the Palestinians' sign of protest. The cry of the stones is for people of conscience to wake up and respond. They are meant to open people's eyes to see the extent and depth of the injustice. Through the stones the Palestinians have been sending a simple and clear message, "we are choking, we are dying; lift the Israeli oppression from us. We are tired, we are exhausted; lift the occupation. People of the world hear our cry for freedom. Remove Israel's apartheid, take away its oppressive domination."
Indeed, the stones have cried out in Palestine. The injustice has been so stark and severe that many of our people have been suppressed into silence, but then the stones started shouting out. Consequently, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured. The siege of Palestinian towns intensified, checkpoints and closures multiplied, the economic situation worsened. Three million Palestinians are practically living in a big prison and literally choking. Yet the occupation seems to be more entrenched. We know that the cry of the stones will not achieve the desired results. We realize that these small stones, the young Palestinians throw, are not able to remove the big stone that obstruct the way to freedom and liberty. Israel has placed a large boulder, a big stone that has metaphorically shut off the Palestinians in a tomb. It is similar to the stone placed on the entrance of Jesus' tomb, which Mark the evangelist describes as being "very large". This boulder has shut in the Palestinians within and built structures of domination over them to keep them in. We have a name for this boulder. It is the OCCUPATION. Unless this boulder of OCCUPATION is removed, there will be no justice and no freedom.
People of power around us might think that this assembly will not amount to anything more than the assembly of those three women who bought some ointment and went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. "Their work will not threaten anyone", certainly not the principalities and powers. And so the powers that have been watching us these last few days may say, "These are a bunch of Christians who have come to pay their condolences to the Palestinians and offer them words of comfort and sympathy. They are no threat." I say they are in for a surprise. These are the Living Stones that are crying out. We, the Living Stones have come to Jerusalem, this city of the resurrection to witness the dawn of the resurrection morning for the Palestinians. We have come to witness the power of God that raises the dead. We have come to witness the end of the reign of death. We have come to witness the end of the night of darkness and the beginning of the light of day. We have come to witness that the same God who caused the ending of apartheid in South Africa will cause the ending of the Israeli occupation here in Palestine. We have come to proclaim that Christ is risen and so will justice be for the Palestinians. Christ is risen and so will freedom be for the Palestinians. Christ is risen and so will peace and reconciliation be for all the people of the Holy Land, Palestinians and Israelis, Muslims, Jews, and Christians.
Israel thinks that through its military power, it can pronounce the final word for Palestinian destiny. So did the Romans and the religious leaders of Jesus' day. They thought that they could kill, bury, and place the big stone and no one could remove it. They thought that their invincible army could guard the tomb and no one could come near. We Christians have a different experience in this city. We know that the final word does not belong to the powers, it belongs to God. We know that when the powers thought that apartheid in South Africa was there to stay, it crumbled and fell. The three women went at dawn to pay their last respects and wondered who would roll away the stone; but when they looked again, the stone was moved. God had rolled it away.
Today, we know without any shadow of a doubt that the name of the stone that is the impediment for peace is OCCUPATION. To lift the occupation does not mean the destruction of Israel. On the contrary, it means a new life and security for Israel. To lift the occupation is to end the injustice, the violence, the humiliation, and everything that oppresses and dehumanizes. Indeed, to end the occupation is the beginning of the humanization of Israel. We must work with God to end the occupation. We must free Palestine. We must take Palestine out of the tomb. We must pronounce the death of occupation and oppression. We must throw them in the tomb and place the large stone to shut them in and seal the tomb forever. The boulder is to shut the occupation in and not the Palestinians. It is for the structures of domination and not for the structures of peace, freedom, and development.
I would like to end with a story that happened at the end of the First World War. In the 1919 Paris Peace Conference sat the heads of the victorious states, President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister Lloyd George of Great Britain, Prime Minister Orlando of Italy, and Premier Clemenceau of France. Clemenceau confronted the other leaders by saying, "Gentlemen, I hear you talking about your wish to have a permanent peace in the world. You want a peace that will end all wars". He looked at the heads of state and asked them whether they really meant it, whether they really wanted a genuine and permanent peace. All of them nodded their heads that of course they did. Clemenceau began to list the cost of peace. He said, "If we want peace, we must give up our empires. You, Mr. Lloyd George, you have to give up India. We French will have to come out of North Africa. You Americans, Mr. President will have to relinquish your dollar rights in the Philippines, Mexico and Cuba. We the dominant powers will have to give up our empires, tear down our tariff walls, free our colonies and open up the world". The heads of state looked at each other and quickly informed him that this was not exactly what they had in mind. Then Clemenceau of France sat up straight, banged his fist on the table, and said, "Then you don't mean peace, you want war." Within twenty years, there was a more devastating world war.
The Israeli occupation must end for peace and security to prevail. The stone must be rolled away. Indeed, it has been rolled away before in Jerusalem and it will be rolled away again. We are God's witnesses to this. Tonight, at the end of this conference, we affirm in hope the end of the occupation and the beginning of the resurrection. Because Christ is risen, we are people of hope and we work with God for the resurrection of all oppressed people including the Palestinians. With this hope, we can return to our homes with greater determination to continue in our work for justice, peace, and reconciliation.
Sisters and Brothers, let us affirm the resurrection: ALLELUIA, CHRIST IS RISEN.