OUR HOPE FOR 2002

"God is our refuge and strength…Therefore we will not fear…. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth…(Psalm 46:1,2,9).

When the year 2000 brought the twentieth century to an end, many people were hoping that our world had closed forever the bloodiest and most atrocious of all centuries. More than a hundred million people were killed in wars and conflicts, over 50% of them civilians. In the following year 2001, as we stood on the threshold of the new century, we were hoping, as we always do at the start of a new year, that it would usher in for all humanity a new era of peace and prosperity. We hoped that humans would have learned from the lessons of history, and are willing to put down their weapons and desist war.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 on New York and Washington DC triggered the war on Afghanistan. Our hopes were shattered as we witnessed the killing of thousands of people. Tragically, our world leaders have not learned from history. Although they talk about peaceful negotiations, they continue to believe in war and pursue a military policy as the path for peace. Therefore, they persist, as savagely as before, in killing each other. This stark reality is expressed vividly in the Christmas carol, "It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old". Although I have sung it for many years, I was struck this last Christmas with the relevancy of the third verse that incidentally has been omitted from some hymnals.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the heavenly hymn have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And warring humankind, hears not
The tidings which they bring:
O hush the noise, and cease your strife,
And hear the angels sing!

This 19th century carol, still, sadly, captures the pain and agony of our world today. The song of the angels about peace on earth and goodwill among people is still far from reality. So the year 2001 was not much different from previous years. It brought untold misery to millions of people, not least to the people of the United States, and even more devastatingly to the inhabitants of Afghanistan.

I still believe that, as Christians, we need to lift up the banner of peace. We must proclaim loudly and clearly that wars are the worst method for conflict resolution and must be banned. We must point to the teachings of Jesus and follow his way of non-violence. The way of violence and war will only deepen hatred and resentment and will not bring solutions. It postpones rather than solves the conflict. It might satisfy our pride and propensity to revenge, but it does not bring healing. War says much about military power, but it never possesses the last word for peace. When it brings out some form of peace, that peace will never be permanent. Even if war has a thousand justifications, it will never rise to the authentically human standard of moral response.

As we reflect on conflict resolution, Palestine is a case in point. For the last 34 years, Israel has been occupying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in violation of international law. In order to maintain its illegal control and domination, Israel has been oppressing the Palestinians, confiscating their land, building illegal settlements, demolishing their homes, uprooting their trees, restricting their movements through military road blocks, humiliating them, and denying them their most basic human and political rights. This Israeli injustice led to the escalation of the struggle. Legitimate resistance to the occupation led to increasingly repressive measures by the Israeli occupying army including the use of violence and state terrorism. The situation worsened when, tragically, the cycle of violence and terrorism kept sharply mounting on both sides. Consequently, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been injured, many with permanent disabilities. In the West, however, most people were blaming the Palestinians for the "terrorism", not realizing that the original sin lies in the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land and the oppression of its people.

In the Palestine/Israel struggle, five wars have been fought and two intifadas (uprisings) erupted. The human loss, especially on the Palestinian side has been dreadful. The wars and killings will not, however, resolve the conflict. What is needed is a strategy of resistance through non-violent direct action involving Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Jews, and expatriates, against the illegal Israeli occupation. This is already taking place but it needs to spread and be strengthened. Moreover, the United States Administration needs to put pressure on Israel to withdraw, in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international law, from all the occupied territories so that the Palestinians could establish their own independent state on that area. The Palestinians are willing to live in peace alongside the state of Israel. Palestinians and Israelis can then live together in mutual harmony and respect. The Palestinians have, for years, been ready to do that. Unfortunately, it is Israel that under the guise of security, but actually because of greed for land, has not been willing to give up its illegal occupation and to implement United Nations resolutions. We do not need wars, violence, or terrorism to solve this conflict. We only need the United States to exert its moral will on Israel to end its occupation and domination of the people of Palestine.

There is a need for a paradigm shift. Our world has been living in the paradigm of domination for thousands of years. Its starkest expressions have been in the military and economic spheres. Through military power many lands and nations have been colonized, devastated, and ravaged and millions of people killed. Similarly, economic domination has raped and exploited the human and natural resources of many countries making a few richer and most of the people of the world poorer. As Christians, we cannot accept such a paradigm, no matter what the rationalizations are. It must be condemned as a matter of principle. We must abandon it and move to adopt the paradigm of partnership. From a Christian perspective, partnership is understood as placing people on equal footing. It is about complementing and respecting other cultures rather than creating friction and animosities. It is about accompaniment rather than estrangement. It is not a relationship between donor and recipient but one of respect for our common humanity. It must make way for communication where we listen to the hurts and wounds of the other, rather than imposing the will of the powerful on the weak. This paradigm has to do with a commitment to truth and justice for all those who are oppressed and needy.

The pre-requisite for such a commitment is a conversion of heart, mind, and will. It is not enough to convert the heart and mind through experience and education. The will must be converted and set free to act, to take risks, to stand for justice, and if need be, to suffer for the sake of peace and reconciliation.

Dare we take this challenge for this new year as we seek and work for the peace of Jerusalem!

Naim Ateek
Epiphany 2002
Jerusalem