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Thinking of Israel

I’ve never been a person who wanted to go to Israel. I’ve known lots of people who wanted to go, and a good number of people – pastors and professors and such – who have been, but nothing I’d heard in the past has been at all compelling. Plus, I find most of the talk of Israel, both within the church and within American politics on both sides, to be disgusting, and that doesn’t help. Israel is an occupying force, and no one wants to talk about it.

But recently, I’ve seen a different side, that of nonviolent activism for peace, on the part of Israelis and Palestinians, starting with this interview on The Daily Show a couple of months ago, but really becoming something else entirely with the trip that Brian McLaren, Mike Todd, and other folks have been on a trip “to see the places where the Spirit of God is working now – for reconciliation, justice, and peace in the midst of turmoil.”

I want to draw attention to the things that have been said about and during, and the issues that are being examined. I’m sure both of them will continue reflecting now that they are home, and I encourage you to read all of their thoughts on this.

Brian, at one point, writes several things that have stuck out to me:

If you get a chance to go to Israel and Palestine, I encourage you to take it – but only if you can go on an alternative tour that will have you spending time in the West Bank, meeting both Palestinians and Israelis so you can see for yourself how different the reality is from the impressions gained from our well-managed media and highly-lobbied government.

January 29

We have spoken with many Palestinians in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem so far in our pilgrimage, both Christian and Muslim. Their voices are seldom heard in our corporate media, so it has made sense to meet, listen to, and understand them. But of course we’ve met with Israeli folks too. Yesterday we had some particularly important conversations with Israeli Jewish voices. They agreed that there will be no change in Israeli policy until the US decides to stop giving Israel a blank check.

January 27

If you’ve never been in both Israel and Palestine, I hope you will start questioning what you think you know about the situation here. I’ve been an avid reader on the subject for quite a while, but being here now, I see how many of my most basic assumptions were skewed from a lifetime of half-truths, unfair and imbalanced news, well-planned propaganda, and misinformation.

January 25

It was a reminder that the struggle here is not about people. It’s not about Jews versus Palestinians or vice versa. It’s not about choosing who the good guys and bad guys are, as our media so often portrays it (and sadly, as our religious leaders so often do as well).

January 23

But what is especially powerful – and what keeps us from being overwhelmed with cynicism or anger – is the lack of hatred among the Palestinians we are meeting with – both Christians and Muslims. Again and again we hear the word “non-violent” and we see a desire not for revenge or even isolation … but for reconciliation. To my surprise (based on expectations from the US media), I haven’t met a single Palestinian who wants a two-state solution. They want to live in peace with Israelis.

January 22

Mike writes equally poignant things, though he does not blog as much when he travels and will write more in the coming days and weeks:

The church has for too long swallowed the prevailing narrative about Israel’s policies in the occupied territories without question.

January 29

This is not about choosing sides. However, I’ll repeat an earlier assertion I’ve made, and that is that we have been fed a narrative that is simply wrong. It’s fiction, if you will. More about that to come I’m sure, but this is a big one: The church in the west must start thinking again, and not simply buy what we are told. From where I’m sitting this morning we are looking very foolish.

January 25

Again, I can’t encourage you enough to read the full posts, and the other things that Mike and Brian will be writing as they continue to process.

But I have to say: this honestly makes me willing to go to Israel on this kind of trip, should the opportunity ever arise. There is a beauty that is present there that, certainly we could assume was there, but I at least hadn’t heard anything about – people who have voices that we need to hear, stories that would inspire and change us, and a real desire for peace and nonviolent reconciliation.

I would like to see Barack Obama sit in this realm with his discussions of and with Israel. He is often accused of standing against Israel, but this is a completely unrealistic accusation as there is never any criticism or attempt to talk about the issues of segregation and oppression by Israel. This is consistently bolstered by the unwavering support of Israel in whatever it does by the mainstream media, to the point that it really is politically impossible for anyone on any side of American politics to criticize Israel for any of the oppressive things it does, or to suggest that there really is a necessity for reconciliation.

The American church today should be in this part of the story, seeking ways to encourage peace and reconciliation, but instead it is contributing to this kind of political climate, using various theological concepts to suggest that Israel is blessed by God regardless of what it does. Do you see the opportunity we could have?

I’d love to see more people go on trips like this, and come back to tell us what they see and learn. I’d love to see our role in this change.

5 Comments

  1. Thanks for the links Jonathan. You’re right in that I think our little group is going to try and make this a hot topic in the weeks and months ahead.

    I’d also encourage people to go, but I’d add… plead, really, that you go on an “alternative” tour. The status quo is reading from a false narrative, and it will not show you reality. That might sound crazy–I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t experienced it firsthand–but it’s true.

  2. Thanks for responding, Mike. I’m very much looking forward to seeing further thoughts. I think we have a desperate need to hear what you folks will have to say.

    Also thanks for reiterating the “alternative” tour. That is certainly what I meant by “this kind of tour,” and I’m happy to see it restated.

  3. So, as being one of those who has long wanted to go to Israel, where do I fit? If I understand what you are saying and the gist of the comment on your post, very few “religious” folks who lead trips to Israel are doing it the right way or for the right reason. And, I know that I am really quite unqualified to say anything close to what I shall say next but here goes with no malice whatsoever intended.I realize that Israel is a secular country at best, but still, it is where the events of scripture largely took place. That has always been, for this, very much layperson enough reason to go. Thoughts?

  4. BTW, polls taken in Israel show that a majority of Israelis think he is not in their corner? Wonder why?

  5. I think it would be great for you to go to Israel. I don’t want to judge the trips that most religious folks take there, but I’m not personally interested in them. I wouldn’t say that there is only one right kind of trip that one can take.

    That being said, I do think that most American religious folks have very specific views of the things that Israel does today, and these are often reinforced when they go there.

    I’d love for more people to go on the “alternative” tour that Mike mentions, and see things that are happening now. They spent time in Bethlehem and Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives, certainly, but it seems that those places were even more meaningful in light of the people they met and things they saw that most folks who visit Israel don’t see.

    As for Obama, I’ll give you that he seems as though he’d like for them to act responsibly in the world, and certainly they won’t like that when compared with past presidents, but it seems as though he’s not able to do much in light of the deeply entrenched support for everything Israel does that exists here.

About the Designer

Jonathan Stegall is a web designer and emergent / emerging follower of Jesus currently living in Atlanta, seeking to abide in the creative tension between theology, spirituality, design, and justice.

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