I’m sitting in an airport, traveling to Canada for work, and trying to figure out what to say today. I could do my normal type of posts with all-things-epidemiology-and-data. But, if I’m being honest, that just doesn’t seem to capture what I want to say or what many of you probably want to say too. You can read endless takes on the attack in Israel from all sorts of sides and there’s a terrible amount of disinformation on the interwebs right now. And the stories, the videos, the loss of life and fear - it’s so much, isn’t it? 200,000 people displaced, hundreds killed or taken hostage, medical facilities decimated, electricity and food halted, water shortages. It’s beyond words. Does it feel loud and messy? It’s because it is. I was talking to a friend yesterday and she said it all felt heavy. I think that’s a good way to describe it too.
I can’t find the words to enter the conversation in a contextual way.
So, I’m going to try to do it in a neighbor-way.
If you’ve grown up in the Church, especially the charismatic church like I did, you’ve probably grown up hearing a lot about Israel.
But you probably didn’t hear about Palestine correctly. Or Gaza.
Or the people that live in any of those places - Israel, Palestine, Gaza. It wasn’t until I had a Palestinian friend until I learned her and her family’s history.
I want to encourage the Christian church to remember that the awful attacks are from Hamas, a terrorist organization. And, families, children, grandmothers, uncles, neighbors are caught in the crossfire on all sides. When we support the Israeli people, let’s also remember all people caught up in the horrific conflict. People just like you and I who are trying to raise our families well, love our neighbors, go to work, worship freely in whatever way is true for them.
And, in countries and cities full of histories we likely don’t fully know.
There are multiple sides to this conflict and long histories and complexities throughout. And, most of us do not understand the full complexities of the past 60+ years in the region. I wonder if this is especially true if you’re an American Christian. (If you want to follow a great historian/resource on the topic, I love learning from Sharon McMahon.) This is a screen shot of just one IG reel Sharon has about the attacks.
If you look at social media from the Christian side, it is full of support for Israel - rightly so! Me too, friends.
And, also.
We can hold solidarity for both our Israeli and Palestinian neighbors at the same time.
So, for you Christians out there, just remember that we can love Israel and Palestine and fight the real fight against terrorism, not an entire people group. If you’re in Christian faith spaces, especially in the charismatic church, consider how you pray and what you read and hear right now. Consider what history we need to learn. When you or your church prays for the peace of Israel, also pray for Palestine. For Gaza and Jerusalem. For Jews and Muslims. For moms and dad. For children and grandmother. God loves them all.
This is an opportunity to weep with those who weep and not have to “pick a side”. There will be time for debates, sure. Now, though, I wonder if the better response, the more neighborly-way, is to sit in the tension of the situation and just recognize it’s simply awful. If we were there on the ground, in Jerusalem or Gaza, with Israeli friends or Palestinians friends, we would be doing that with them anyways, wouldn’t we? We would be sitting with them. And, then weep with them without opinions or debates. But with compassion and solidarity with our neighbors who are going through an unimaginable situation of no fault of their own. I think we would simply listen, cry, hold their children when they needed a break, make some tea and bread. I think we can do that here too in how we talk about the situation, how we pray, what news we read or listen to. Maybe this can be a reminder to us to not try to wrap up the moment in a Hallmark-card-sentiment or with scripture. But, just to be with people, as neighbors.
They are simply families and neighbors just like us. Living in an area full of history and oppression and power conflicts and systems not of their doing.
If we look at the good Samaritan story, this is choosing to stop and not walk by those in need. When we see people and the histories before them and the structures (or lack thereof) around them, I think we have an opportunity to notice those who are on the side of the road, just like the sick man in the story, and then choose to not walk by. This week, our neighbors in Israel and Gaza and Palestine and Jerusalem are in need. Let’s not walk by with our prayers.
-Emily
Thank you for a thoughtful response. We have friends on both sides. There is a very complex history that most in U.S. are not aware of. Unfortunately, the mainstream media tends to only report one side. “An eye for an eye” leaves both people blind.
Superb, Emily. Excellent. I have learned a lot by visiting there and listening. Of course, I know enough to know that I do not know very much. Basically, the whole situation makes me sad.