Recently a physician in our congregation was asked by a Jewish colleague why the United Church is against Israeli, a provocative question. Actually, the United Church has always supported the existence of the state of Israel. But over time our denomination has expressed growing concern over the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, including Christians.
Of course the obvious and legitimate rejoinder is that there are Palestinians who are openly antagonistic to Israel and have been involved in aggression that can only be termed terrorism. Israelis have the right to protect themselves against attacks, not only from that small minority of Palestinians but from surrounding states which have waged war on them in the past and in the case of Iran, still threaten to do so.
Despite these grim realities the UCC still maintains that there have been violations of human rights which must be acknowledged. It's not as though the United Church is alone in expressing these concerns about justice in this region. Twice in the past couple of years the United Nations has concluded that the state of Israel has used unjustifiable force, first when it entered Gaza in search of those responsible for rocket attacks in the south and then to stop ships bringing medical and food aid to the area.
This is a complex issue which generates plenty of emotion. And the folk who wrote our UCC report used two trigger words "apartheid" and "holocaust" which were ill-advised, to say the least. It doesn't mean that the report as a whole should be abandoned, nor should we shie away from the issue.
Is this all "clear as mud" to you? Do you think the United Church should avoid this controversial topic? I hope you will read it and come to your own conclusions.
I've always found this issue to be a contentious one, in particular because people like to think its an absolute issue when its not. Both sides have committed atrocities, disregarding human rights, international law, and killing civilians in the process. The only solution that I see is the same as it is for third world finance. Forgivness of the past to make way for a better future.
ReplyDeleteThanks for venturing into this Jonathan. Worthwhile observations.
ReplyDeleteSo difficult to resolve a conflict in which the mistrust is so deep and countless attacks by both sides that have killed innocent civilians over many years.
ReplyDeleteI can really see both sides on this one. Israel is surrounded by countries that hate it, and yes, they do have a right to protect themselves.
The Palestinians have also suffered greatly. Add to the mix all the other middle east countries that have their own opinions(and agendas), and....what a mess.
I have mentioned previously about a lengthy conversation I had earlier this year with an iranian. He had many interesting things to say about middle east politics, but one thing that struck me was his statement that most iranians want to be friends with Israel. It's the governments that are screwing things up.
Actually, another surprising statement he made was that many iranians do NOT sympathize with the palestinians(even though the iranian government is openly hostile with Israel). The palestinians openly supported the Iraqis in the Iran-Iraq war in the 80's, and the iranians have never forgotten that.
Ahhh....middle east politics.