thoughts about the peace train - part six

NOTE:  For the next week, I am going to post my thoughts, reflections, concerns as well as an alternative action to the current BDS strategy of boycotting, divesting and sanctioning all of Israel in pursuit of Palestinian justice Not only does the BDS shotgun approach denigrate the whole of Israeli society rather than focus upon the ugly actions within the Occupied Territories, I believe the movement's ambiguous goals can all too easily be manipulated to advance genuinely antisemitic objectives.  Further, as a Christian contemplative, I have been persuaded that a bold people-to-people strategy - along with prayer, creative economic incentives and real political pressure directed towards US legislators - introduces effective, albeit costly nonviolent strategies geared towards long-term change rather than symbolic actions that create the illusion of righteousness without significant results. Let me state at the outset, however, that I don't pretend to have a monopoly upon wisdom. I also recognize that people of good will are likely to disagree with my conclusions. I welcome your insights but ask that you share them in the spirit and tone of peace and respect.(This is part six of a six part series.)

For the close of this six-part series re: my reservations about the BDS movement, let me change directions and offer some qualified support for Palestine as well as some alternatives to BDS. As should be clear to all, as a 21st century Christian, I accept our unique responsibility to oppose and even heal aspects of the historic antisemitism that has polluted the Christian tradition since early in the first century of the Common Era. That is why I am ever cautious and deliberate in my endorsement of ways to engage the quest for justice when it comes to Palestinian statehood. 

Like many I condemn the continuation of Israel's presence in the Occupied Territories. I recognize that for a variety of reasons - some honest and others deceptive - Israel has not moved expeditiously towards supporting Palestinian autonomy. Since the collapse of the Oslo Accords the willingness to move towards peace has become nearly non-existent - and sometimes overly violent, too. This is not to say that Palestine has been blameless or victims during this agonizing stale-mate. Provocation, frustration, the inability to embrace Israeli security as an existential issue to say nothing of the internal mistrust that defines their own political leadership has relegated most Palestinian efforts towards peace and stability to the dung heap of history. With rogue elements of Hamas in Gaza sending periodic missiles into Israel to destabilize the current joint conversations about a truce; with  IDF acts of violence towards unarmed Palestinian civilians taking place with some frequency;  with right wing religious elements in the US and Israel funding the agenda and propaganda of Israeli settlers; and with an increasingly demoralized population of radicalized Palestinian youth on the rise, the prospects for change and peace seem nonexistent.

A deeper truth exists under the obvious, however, for people of The Book: God never quits what God has started. The overwhelming message of the Abrahamic faiths is that even when God's people are sinful, the Lord remains faithful, just and loving. Further, the more God's heart is trusted, the more the possibilities for peace and compassion grow stronger. So let me first offer two small examples of how people-to-people efforts embody the way of redemption and hope. And then outline a comparable strategy - with Palestinian allies - to advance the cause of peace. 

One path on the road of redemption that is currently being paved is taking place in Music in

Common. Their work strikes me as a creative alternative to BDS in the spirit of Yusuf Islam ‘s “peace train” that unites hope with personal acts of creativity. A recent article described their mission like this:

A Berkshire-based nonprofit, that works to promote tolerance and teamwork through music, plans to bring three Jewish Israeli, four Arab Israeli and two Palestinian students from the Middle East, to engage in song making on the Great Barrington campus of Bard Rock at Simon's College, in August. "Working together on a creative activity is such a powerful force for people," said Lynnette Najimy, spokesperson for Music in Common, of the determination that MIC's Summer Youth Summit not be derailed by the escalating war between Hamas militants in Gaza, and Israel."This is the first year we are doing the summit. We have made four trips to the Middle East over the last four years, and have done similar programs in United States' schools, but we wanted to bring all those students together in one place." Founder Todd Mack, a Sheffield-based musician, added the "increased conflict fuels us even more to do it. It is the reason why we do it. There is another way to figuring out the problems that exist between cultures and faiths because of differences, and figuring out the things we share in common is a good starting point,"

Last summer I had the chance to speak with these young people who, together with a similar number of US youth, were learning the hard work of peace.  It starts small. It is a slow process. And not a lot changes in any discernible way. But as the seminar was drawing to a close, one young woman said:  “Next year I will be drafted into the IDF when I come of age. I know the fear and anger alive between Jews and Muslims. I know the danger of being on patrol and the hatred born of that whole experience. But after my time here, working and creating with my new friends, I can no longer see just “the enemy” – and I don’t know what I am going to do.”   

Another project, Artsbridge, Inc. in Williamstown, MA, uses the visual arts to help Israeli Jews, Arabs and Palestinian youth to find their voice in pursuit of peace. By bringing young people to the United States, these youth are given a chance to be creative with peers they are often segregated from in contemporary Israel. They, too, suggest a path beyond BDS that makes connections rather than furthers isolation. I do not want to see such long-term commitments to solidarity diminished by current frustrations and short-sighted strategies.

Rather I would like to build upon a suggestion - and amplify it with political action in the US - that was first articulated by Rabbi Arthur Waskow. He has asked activists to fashion a positive grassroots movement with specific goals that could include boycotting selected products from the Occupied Territories and definitely would include bringing Jews, Christians and Muslims - Israelis, Palestinians and Americans - together for a series of conversations about history, daily life, religion and our shared call to shalom/salaam. I would add to Rabbi Waskow's suggestion:

1) a commitment to a vigorous lobbying of US elected officials to hold Israel 

accountable for the current stale-mate – especially as it applies to the occupied territories;

2) an honest discussion/study of anti-Semitism in the Christian and Muslim traditions;

3) periodic travel/study events to Israel and Palestine;

4) and the purchasing Palestinian goods as part of a campaign of solidarity.

Rather than pass resolutions at national church gatherings that have almost no impact upon local congregations, why not use our time and resources to develop measured study resources and focused lobbying actions? Why not outline a three year commitment for local churches that would embrace study/discussion; travel and conversations in Israel and Palestine; and bold and consistent lobbying of US legislators? 

+ One group working along just these lines i Churches for Middle East Peace. (go to: http://www.cmep.org/) One need not re-invent the wheel with this group as they offer study material, study trips and advocacy.

+ Another is Americans for Peace Now (http://peacenow.org/).

+ A third is Interfaith Peace Builders (http://www.ifpb.org/)

+ And I would be remiss in omitting Tent of Nations (http://www.tentofnations.org/) a fascinating and important Palestinian resource.

I also believe using the financial resources of a congregation to purchase Fair Trade products

from Palestine is a creative and informative way to engage in this struggle for peace, too. Here are a few trusted markets:

+ Zaytoun (http://www.zaytoun.org/home/the-zaytoun-story/) a collective offering a variety of excellent Palestinian products.

+ Canaan Fair Trade (http://www.canaanfairtrade.com/) another trusted resource.

+ Palestinian Fair Trade Association (http://www.palestinefairtrade.org/)

+ And in the US the people at Koinonia Farms in Americus, GA are offering Fair Trade items from Palestine, too. (http://www.koinoniapartners.org/catalog/)

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Earlier this summer I was introduced to another fascinating, creative and important resource: The Gaza Kitchen. Telling the stories of ordinary Palestinians as they try to live into their culture and tradition in the midst of the Occupation, this book is quietly subversive in all the best ways. It nourishes compassion and solidarity. It does not demonize. And it is something the opens the feasting tables of our various traditions to the way of the peace train. Learn more here at:

http://www.gazakitchen.com/

When I first began to explore the way of peace-making after seminary, I discovered two things:  1) my heart was changed when I actually knew the people my country/ideology/fears labeled as enemy. Being in their loving presence impelled me to become active on their behalf.  And 2) the more my heart and eyes were opened, the greater the common ground. I remember in what was once Soviet Russia seeing a small girl about the age of my own daughters at a Christmas Eve rehearsal outside of what was then Leningrad. I was stunned - she looked just like the little girls I would hold in my laps and read stories to each night - just like the children I cherished and prayed for daily. It was unconscionable to not work for peace as I meditated on this connection.

The more I trust “the peace train,” the more I have to opt for more creativity and community-building at this moment in time. And that is why I am unable to support the BDS movement.

thoughts about the peace train - part five...

NOTE:  For the next week, I am going to post my thoughts, reflections, concerns as well as an alternative action to the current BDS strategy of boycotting, divesting and sanctioning all of Israel in pursuit of Palestinian justice Not only does the BDS shotgun approach denigrate the whole of Israeli society rather than focus upon the ugly actions within the Occupied Territories, I believe the movement's ambiguous goals can all too easily be manipulated to advance genuinely antisemitic objectives.  Further, as a Christian contemplative, I have been persuaded that a bold people-to-people strategy - along with prayer, creative economic incentives and real political pressure directed towards US legislators - introduces effective, albeit costly nonviolent strategies geared towards long-term change rather than symbolic actions that create the illusion of righteousness without significant results. Let me state at the outset, however, that I don't pretend to have a monopoly upon wisdom. I also recognize that people of good will are likely to disagree with my conclusions. I welcome your insights but ask that you share them in the spirit and tone of peace and respect.(This is part five of a six part series.)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Vatican II's landmark papal proclamation: Nostra Aetate (In Our Time.) Acknowledging the historical linkage between Christian anti-Semitism and the Shoah (Holocaust), this document removed from the liturgy prayers that blamed Jews for the death of Christ and initiated a relationship with Judaism built upon repentance and reconciliation. It is important to note that the first draft of In Our Time was entitled, Decretum de Iudaeis" ("Decree on the Jews.") Vatican II's final draft spoke to other religions, too - but the impetus was the Church's age old sin of  anti-Semitism.: "What happened in His (Christ's) passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today."

The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ. Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.

Anti-Semitism - Christian or otherwise - is yet another concern that inhibits my support of the BDS. Dr. Amy-Jill Levine makes this important observation in her new book, Short Stories by Jesus, about the pernicious and all-pervasive nature of anti-Semitism.  "I am not suggesting that preachers who deliver anti-Jewish messages from the pulpit or academics who wind up inculcating them in the classrooms are bigots. Lack of education is not the same thing as hatred; misinformation is not the same thing as slander."(p. 22) My hunch is that she hits the nails squarely on the head with this noting that much of our (and I include myself in this) applied anti-Semitism is born of both ignorance and training within the Church. And it is up to us both as individuals and as an institution to address it head on.

+ I did not know that after the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed in 70 CE, "for the centuries that Christians controlled Jerusalem, especially during the stretch between Constantine's revalorizing of the city in 335 and the Muslim conquest in 638, the Temple Mount served as a trumpeted sacrament of Jewish defeat: that is, the Temple Mount served as the city's garbage dump." (Carroll, Christ Actually, p. 299)

+ I did not know the extent of the intra-Jewish theological debates during the first 50 years of Christianity that, in time, became anti-Semitic ammunition rather than points in a spiritual argument among Judaism. I did not grasp the depth of terror and violence unleashed against the Jews of the Roman Empire. "It is hard for the Christian imagination to accommodate (that) in Palestine (between 69-81 CE) blood had run in the gutters of Jerusalem and the carrion stench of thousands of Jewish corpses had fouled the air for years." (Carroll, p. 204)

Across the vast stretch of the Roman Empire, citizens and colonized alike carried tokens - literally - of this expressly Jewish ground of imperial grandeur. Begginning in 71, by order of Vespasian, coins were struck with the engraving JUDEA CAPTA, above the female personification of the Jewish people, a beaten woman in mourning under a palm tree, the symbol of Jerusalem. The ancient phrases Judea Capta has resonance with the paradigmatically modern word juderien - clean of Jews in the Nazi argot. And for the next twenty-five years, Judea Capta coins were minted in every denomination, in dozens of separate casts (for) the wealth of Rome was literally the vanquished Jew.
(Carroll, p. 205)

And on and on it goes. Dr. Levine goes on to note that in the contemporary liberal seminaries the historical context of our Scriptures has become de-emphasized in favor of "newer approaches - including pretty much anything beginning with "post," as in post-modern, post-colonial, post-critical and so on." (Levine, p. 22)

These various approaches arose in part as a response to earlier forms of historical work, in which the historian claimed to be doing objective work, when instead he (it usually was a "he") was projecting his own cultural values and theological views on the ancient materials... some of today's generation, however, have tossed out all historical work: they prefer to find meanings from their own perspective. What the text might have meant to Jesus or to his first followers becomes either an impossible or irrelevant question. The more the parables (and other texts) become detached from their own setting, the more the demons of anti-Jewish readings easily enter.

At this moment in time, therefore, with a stalemate in existence between Israel and Palestine concerning peace and justice, I find it extremely valuable to be careful about reading our ancient biases and ignorance into the contemporary context. Without such care, nothing creative will break the impasse and transform the moment. Again, my analysis of the BDS movement suggests strategies and actions born from profound and righteous frustration. But such anguish is all the more reason to be careful to counter the real, imagined, perceived or hidden anti-Semitism that lurks around the edges of this movement. Not all of it, and perhaps not most, but it is a reality to be considered.

I recently watched a short YouTube presentation on “the Palestinian problem” aired by the Friends of Sabeel – an ecumenical liberation theology center in Jerusalem - in which the presenter made the case that Jesus was a Palestinian. “He was from Galilee – that’s in Palestine – that makes Jesus a Palestinian!”  Such sophistry is manipulative and dishonest: Jesus was a Jew. A first century Jew who practiced a spirituality deeply rooted in the Law and the Prophets.  As James Carroll has written in his Christ Actually: The Son of God for the Secular Age:

Jesus must not be imagined… as a pretend Jew, any more than he can be regarded as having been a pretend human being. If he preached the good news of love; of the trustworthiness of God, who is like a father, of the Kingdom of God present here and now, he did so from within Judaism, not against. He preached not a New Testament God (of love) in opposition to an Old Testament God (of judgment), but one God: the God of Israel, pure and simple.

For 2,000 years there has been a vicious and premeditated effort to deny and obscure this truth. And while there are varying theological and historical reasons for our  continued anti-Semitism, to deny that it still infects Christianity from Roman Catholicism and Protestant Reformed faith to those practicing the Eastern Orthodox tradition is naive and ill-informed at best – and more often than not a manipulative lie. I see strains of this lie in some of Sabeel’s efforts to question contemporary Israel as they work in solidarity with Palestine. Given this brutal legacy, it is irresponsible and dangerous to confuse the first century Judaism of Jesus with modern day Palestine.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, an historic peace activist and critic of Israel who has worked closely with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others in clarifying and refining any apartheid/crucifixion parallels, put it like this: “Whether Sabeel understands it or not, this attacks the sense of Israelis and Jews elsewhere in the world of what it means to have a two-state solution altogether. As people have said, “What’s the point of having two Palestinian states alongside each other?

So, if there is to be a state which in fact has a special relationship to Jewish history and to the Jewish people and to an attempt to generate out of Jewish values what statehood means then it isn’t going to be a state flooded with and whose majority ends up being people who don’t share those values.” He continued:

Then there's another aspect of Sabeel's view of the world which I think is even more scary to many, many, many Jews and that is something I understand very well coming out of a Christian view of liberation theology. I have both taught and met with and so on leaders of Christian liberation theology in Latin America and when Latin American Christian liberation theologians and folks appeal to the history of what became Christianity under the thumb of the Roman empire and talk about the crucifixion of Jesus by the roman empire ... and from their viewpoint of course the resurrection of  the Christ as teaching of what it means to transcend imperial power, in the Latin American context it's clear that the empire you're talking about is America and it makes sense. 

I understand that to Sabeel to talk about the crucifixion of Jesus seems on the surface like that’s the same thing, but when you are doing it in the context of a Jewish state, when you're doing it in the context of 2000 years of Jewish suffering from the Christian dogma of deicide that the Jews killed God and the violence that has been visited on the Jewish community by people upholding that theology, to hear that strikes a nerve that has 2000 years of pain behind it and that has to be heard.

The pain has to be heard. And if Jews can't explain it to Sabeel because it will look like and maybe it is self-defensive for me even to say it, then I think that Christians have to try to say it that there needs to be in that situation there needs to be a different metaphor a different language a different way of drawing on Christian liberation theology.

I connect with Rabbi Waskow in my heart, in my mind and in my flesh.  As a Christian, we must search for and articulate new metaphors for oppression. This is vital for any healthy and honest discussion of what takes place in contemporary Israel. It is also a requirement "of our time." I know that over the course of my ministry I, too, have spoken in ignorance and bias - not intentionally, of course - but because of the deep rooted anti-Semitism embedded in my tradition, my education and the culture of my Church. I have also been challenged, encouraged and corrected by compassionate and wise colleagues from other faith traditions. In this I think once again of Dr. Levine who has written that 21^st century people of faith are not responsible for what took place in the past, but we must deal with it. We need not ask for forgiveness for things done in the name of Christianity (or Islam or Judaism) in the past – that is not our calling - but we must work through the consequences of that past that still infects the present.

thoughts about the peace train - part four...

NOTE:  For the next week, I am going to post my thoughts, reflections, concerns as well as an alternative action to the current BDS strategy of boycotting, divesting and sanctioning all of Israel in pursuit of Palestinian justice Not only does the BDS shotgun approach denigrate the whole of Israeli society rather than focus upon the ugly actions within the Occupied Territories, I believe the movement's ambiguous goals can all too easily be manipulated to advance genuinely antisemitic objectives.  Further, as a Christian contemplative, I have been persuaded that a bold people-to-people strategy - along with prayer, creative economic incentives and real political pressure directed towards US legislators - introduces effective, albeit costly nonviolent strategies geared towards long-term change rather than symbolic actions that create the illusion of righteousness without significant results. Let me state at the outset, however, that I don't pretend to have a monopoly upon wisdom. I also recognize that people of good will are likely to disagree with my conclusions. I welcome your insights but ask that you share them in the spirit and tone of peace and respect.(This is part four of a six part series.)

At the thirty three years and counting mark of ordination, it has eventually become clear to me

that my call has been to the middle. My attitude and aesthetic may be out of the mainstream, but my ministry has been grounded in being present, compassionate and challenging to the middle class. I remember the Rev. Paul Sherry - not yet President of the United Church of Christ - suggesting to me that I NOT consider serving a local church. "Your whole trajectory has been towards social justice," he smiled, "and that is a hard road to hoe in the parish." My reply: but if the love and discipleship of Jesus can't happen there, why bother? That is, if ordinary, hard-working, goodhearted albeit mostly conservative Americans can't be energized to celebrate the way of God's love made flesh in Jesus, then what is the point of the church?

I still hold this conviction and love the challenge, tension and promise of the local church. As I feared, however, more and more national denominations have come to act like social service agencies of elitists, certain they know better what the Spirit of Christ requires than the living, wounded Body of Christ. I see this often times in the pronouncements and resolutions passed by our regional and national gatherings. Many of the statements are so out of touch with life on the ground in our local churches as to remain irrelevant in their ideological purity. I think Pete Seeger was right: think globally, act locally. Put into action the practical works of justice and mercy that ordinary people can embrace rather than hold-out for purity or perfection.

When it comes to people in the local church, they want honesty, tenderness and actions that matter. If nothing, the local church is incarnational and practical. They can and will embrace the challenge of the Cross, but it first must make some sense. That is why when it comes to supporting the BDS movement (this is part four of a six part series)  I am unable to get on-board. From my perspective - and that of many in our local congregations - too many BDS advocates articulate a narrow and/or incomplete analysis of the root causes of the hatred, fear, violence, religious and political turmoil between Palestine and Israel. Some give the impression that they understand only part of an extensive and nuanced historical narrative. Others are clearly advocates for Palestine alone without serious consideration of Israel’s needs. And there are still those who consciously or otherwise interpret reality from within the dangerous and distorted lens of anti-Semitism. None of these perspectives honor the intricacies of this conflict nor do they advance a long-term solution. 

To be clear, the current suffering of the Palestinian people is neither a natural disaster nor a matter of victimization. This perspective tends to dominate the popular narrative, but popularity does not guarantee veracity. Rather, I would argue that the core reason why 5,493,115 Palestinians are without a homeland and consigned to squalor and despair is more the result of the political miscalculations and hatred put into play by Arab/Palestinian leaders in the past than the early policies of Israel.  Yes, some of the policies and practices of the current Israeli government are destructive and morally bankrupt. Clearly there have been war crimes taking place in this land for 100 plus years (or 4000 years if you like.) Some of the violent acts, like Deir Yassin, have been acknowledged as an Israeli massacre of Palestinians; other allegations against Israeli forces continue to be disputed. And Arab irregulars are known to have murdered Jewish citizens too as the slaughter at Kfar Etzion documents. These facts are rarely disputed by BDS even if they are omitted from public discussions.

What is more distressing, however, is the fact that since the early days of the 20^th century, the leadership of the Arab/Palestinian forces has been committed to the annihilation of Jews from the land – and this is missing from most BDS analysis.To obscure the reality of the riots of 1929, the Arab uprising of 1936, the Grand Mufti’s collaboration with the Nazis as allies during WW II, the Farhud of 1941 in Iran as well as the Arab leadership’s rejection of the United Nation’s partition of 1948 that would have implemented a two-state solution strikes me as both mean- spirited and disingenuous. The masses of innocent Palestinian civilians who have paid the price for their political leaders’ decisions – especially their declaration of war on Israel in May 1948 – deserve better than the suffering that continues to this day.

This is why the suffering of Palestine must never be defined as a disaster. It is tragic, sad, ugly and brutal, but it was and is the direct result of political, religious and military decisions born of calculations set in motion by the Arab/Palestinian leaders.  The historic record is clear:  after WW II, Israel accepted the mandate established by the UN while the united Arab nations chose war.

This is not to say that the Israelis are without fault. Nor is it to deny the dreadful reality of the Nakba – the “disaster” in Palestinian history – wherein 750,000 Palestinians were violently displaced from their homes by the Israeli army during the war of 1948. Two-thirds of the Arab population lost their homes, jobs and histories. In some instances there is evidence that Israel engaged in what we now call ethnic cleansing: civilians were massacred, villages were decimated and cultures were destroyed.  But there was an equally terrifying forced relocation of nearly 700,000 Sephardic Jews from Arab lands at this time that is either universally forgotten or else conveniently omitted when the narrative of modern Israel is discussed. Further, there is conflicting evidence about the widespread intentionality of Israel’s policies at this time. Plan Dalet of June 1948 is often cited as proof that the Israeli military was committed to the destruction and depopulation of Palestinian centers; but there is equally compelling evidence that documents that the ethnic cleansing goal of this plan was not the driving focus of the Israeli military. Indeed, there is growing confirmation of acts of heroic and sustained Israeli resistance to the destruction of Palestinian communities, too.

I came of age during America’s war in Vietnam. I know from history – and from my work as a pastor – that horrible things happened during that war. I recall vividly the My Lai massacre when young American soldiers went berserk and killed 500 Vietnamese civilians. I know from confidential conversations with other vets that countless rapes, murders and atrocities became commonplace in the hell of that war. I am not so naive as to think that this didn’t happen among Israeli soldiers, too. I have no doubt that it was also a reality within the ranks of both Palestinian and Arab soldiers as well. Remember: from the Arab position, the Israelis were urban, socialist invaders from Europe who had successfully usurped their historic lands.  For Israel, their opponents were ignorant, rural, tribal people who had fomented acts of violent anti-Semitism for millennia. One writer put it like this in the Israeli paper Haaretz:

One can certainly understand, but not justify, the general Palestinian and Arab opposition to the Zionist enterprise. That is the nature of national conflicts, although this opposition had more aspects of murder and terrorism than other national movements did. Palestinian terrorism against Jewish civilians is not the result of the post-1967 years of occupation. It was part of the 1929 riots and the Arab uprising of 1936. It is true that on the one hand, we cannot conclude from the grand mufti’s presence in Berlin during World War II that Arab opposition to Zionism was identical to Nazism. But on the other hand, to ignore this fact and leave it to historians is a distortion of history. It is part of the concrete historical consciousness of both Jews and Arabs.

Many advocates of BDS seem to be unaware that in 1936-37 the Peel Commission of Britain offered a two-state solution for the region that was rejected by the Arab and Palestinian political leadership.  In 1947, a more equitable partition was articulated by the United Nations – accepted by Israel but rejected by the Arab realm – the result being a united Arab war against the new nation state of Israel.  By 1948 the Arab forces were defeated and lost face. Much of the ensuing violence over the past 60 years is rooted in this shame.

In time, Israel worked out a cease fire with Jordan and Egypt but a peace treaty with other Arab nations remained elusive. In 1967, another united Arab front declared war on Israel. This restored Arab face although in the end Israel’s superior armed forces and equipment conquered the Sinai Peninsula and other strategic areas including East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Golan Heights.  In exchange for a peace treaty with Egypt, the Sinai was restored with the assurance of safe passage for Israeli commerce through the Suez Canal.

Further review of the history of this conflict is beyond the scope of my reflection. It would, of necessity, include:  the rise of the PLO and its terrorist violence, their expulsion from Jordan in 1970, Israel’s aggressive role against the PLO in Lebanon, the war with Hezbollah in the 1980s as well as the continued armed struggles in the next two decades, the promise of the Oslo Accords, the calculated acts to derail the promise of peace, the Intifadas, the political shift towards peace within the Palestinian Authority, the political dysfunction between the West Bank and Gaza, the construction of the security wall in Jerusalem, the recent violent invasion of Gaza in 2014 and a new wave of Palestinian terrorism against Israeli citizens. The Israeli elections of 2015, the activity of ISIS, the civil war in Lebanon, the possibility of a US/Iranian nuclear treaty and Saudi Arabia’s invasion of Yemen are also part of the quickly changing reality.

This conflict is complex and requires time and patience for local churches to comprehend. I support taking the time necessary to study, discuss, debate and pray before passing resolutions. I value the importance of a true educational process that does not already suppose the desired conclusions. And I trust the still small voice of God more than the shrill ideology of those who would divide the world into obvious good guys and bad guys. Duality has its place, to be sure, but when it comes to reality, St. Paul was right:  all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 

Thoughts about the peace train - part three...

NOTE:  For the next week, I am going to post my thoughts, reflections, concerns as well as an alternative action to the current BDS strategy of boycotting, divesting and sanctioning all of Israel in pursuit of Palestinian justice Not only does the BDS shotgun approach denigrate the whole of Israeli society rather than focus upon the ugly actions within the Occupied Territories, I believe the movement's ambiguous goals can all too easily be manipulated to advance genuinely antisemitic objectives.  Further, as a Christian contemplative, I have been persuaded that a bold people-to-people strategy - along with prayer, creative economic incentives and real political pressure directed towards US legislators - introduces effective, albeit costly nonviolent strategies geared towards long-term change rather than symbolic actions that create the illusion of righteousness without significant results. Let me state at the outset, however, that I don't pretend to have a monopoly upon wisdom. I also recognize that people of good will are likely to disagree with my conclusions. I welcome your insights but ask that you share them in the spirit and tone of peace and respect.(This is part three of a six part series.)

Given the increasingly anti-Arab ideology of some within the new government of Israel, the

judicial system is at times used as a tool of discrimination and subterfuge rather than justice. The unwillingness of the Jewish majority to curtail the ever-expanding settlements poses another massive problem.  And the mounting militarization of the Occupied Territories has become insufferable. Secretary of State, John Kerry, was blunt: it is fair to say that Israel is moving in a direction that could become an apartheid state – especially if the current political trajectory intensifies – so all efforts to thwart this dangerous direction are a moral imperative.

Consequently, I do not see how increased isolation and economic privation will cast out the historic fears between these two peoples nor cause these well-cultivated hatreds to wither away. Rather, I sense that more people-to-people interaction alongside economic incentives, prayer and savvy political engagement holds a greater promise for meaningful change. These tools have a more satisfying track record of accomplishments than either boycotts or divestment strategies, too.

In his analysis of spirituality and the 12 step process, Breathing Under Water, Fr. Richard Rohr describes what he calls the “meritocracy” – the standard operating systems that guide most politics, economics and religions – a dualistic system of “reward and punishment.” The bad are punished, the good are rewarded and the way of retributive justice is fortified. Business as usual, he writes, goes like this:

sin – punishment – repentance—transformation

But the way of God as made clear in the Hebrew and Christian texts offers an alternative that is a game-changer:

sin – unconditional love – transformation – repentance

Politically, ethically, socially, spiritually and personally the choice is between revenge or reconciliation. Rohr puts it like this:  “Studies now show that threat and punishment are the least effective forms of social change or long-lasting improvement. They are efficient yes, but not effective at all… (So the question becomes) do we want to grow or do we just want to be in control of the moment? Only mutual apology, healing and forgiveness offer a sustainable future for humanity. Otherwise we are controlled by the past, individually and corporately.” (pp. 47-48)

I still resonate with the politics of nonviolence incarnated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I know there are times and places where boycotts and economic coercion can help stubborn hearts bend towards justice. I also know that there must be clear goals, compassionate strategies and intellectually honest assessments at the heart of these campaigns. To date, I am unconvinced this is happening in the BDS movement. 

Too often what I read and hear from advocates of BDS is a romanticization of the Palestinian plight mixed with a visceral hatred of Israel. There are exceptions to be sure - and both parties are prone to exaggeration and hyperbole. Still, the anger and disdain that drives so much of the public persona of the BDS cause is troubling and dangerous. Let me explain: strategically and ethically I am grounded in the commitments of MLK and his way of compassionate justice. He knew that there were times for polarization and critique - think of his speech at Riverside Church about the Vietnam War or the plans he put into place before his assassination for a Poor Peoples Campaign to encamp in Washington, DC - and times to nourish a broad, middle road consensus. I believe he lived in the tension of two portions of Scripture:  1) To everything there is a season... (Ecclesiastes 3); and 2) Let justice roll down like a river and compassion like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24.)

 In a book length interview Bono (of U2) did with journalist, Michka Assayas,  Bono in Conversation, a story Harry Belafonte shared  with him about Dr. King is illustrative. Robert Kennedy had just been appointed to serve as Attorney General and the civil rights movement had hit a wall in the early 60s. Belafonte made it clear that there was despair in Dr. King's leadership cadre with RFK's new job."You see," Belafonte continued, "Bobby Kennedy was Irish. Those Irish were real racists; they didn't like the black man."

They were just one step above the black man on the social ladder and they made us feel it.  They were the police and the people who broke our balls on a daily basis. And Bobby at the time was famously not interested in civil rights... so we were in trouble. We were crestfallen... in talking with Martin we began moaning and groaning about this turn of events... Dr. King slammed his hand down and ordered us to stop the bitching. "Enough of this! Is there nobody here who's got something good to say about Bobby Kennedy?" "Well that's what we ARE trying to tell you... there IS nothing good to say. The guy's an Irish Catholic conservative badass, he's bad news." To which Martin replied, "Well then let's call his meeting  to a close. We'll return when somebody has found something redeeming to say about Bobby Kennedy. Because, my friends, that is the door through which our movement shall pass." (p. 96)

In time  it was discovered that Kennedy was very close with his bishop. Belafonte says, "So they befriended the one person who could get through to Bobby and turned him into their Trojan horse." Through patience and a commitment to radical compassion and redemption, MLK found a way to create an alliance with his former foe.  Belafonte concludes: "When Bobby Kennedy lay dying on a Los Angeles pavement, there was no greater friend to the civil rights movement. There was no one we owed more of our progress to than that one man.... Dr. King was right: don't respond to caricature - the Left, the Right, the Progressives, the Reactionary - don't take people on rumor. Find the light in them."

This is yet another reason why I cannot support the BDS movement as it currently exists Please do not misunderstand: I do not believe that the vitriol and mistrust comes just from one side. there is more than enough Israeli venom being injected into the conversation, too. I think especially of the hyperbole and arrogance of Tzipi Hotovely et al. Hatred and prejudice on one side of the battle does not require hatred and prejudice on the other. And so, my mistrust remains.

credits: Dianne De Mott

Thoughts about the peace train - part two...

NOTE:  For the next week, I am going to post my thoughts, reflections, concerns as well as an alternative action to the current BDS strategy of boycotting, divesting and sanctioning all of Israel in pursuit of Palestinian justice Not only does the BDS shotgun approach denigrate the whole of Israeli society rather than focus upon the ugly actions within the Occupied Territories, I believe the movement's ambiguous goals can all too easily be manipulated to advance genuinely antisemitic objectives.  Further, as a Christian contemplative, I have been persuaded that a bold people-to-people strategy - along with prayer, creative economic incentives and real political pressure directed towards US legislators - introduces effective, albeit costly nonviolent strategies geared towards long-term change rather than symbolic actions that create the illusion of righteousness without significant results. Let me state at the outset, however, that I don't pretend to have a monopoly upon wisdom. I also recognize that people of good will are likely to disagree with my conclusions. I welcome your insights but ask that you share them in the spirit and tone of peace and respect.(This is part two of a six part series.)

Concerns about BDS

In 2009 a broad coalition of Palestinian Churches issued Kairos Palestine (http://www.

kairospalestine.ps/content/kairos-document. This document invites people of faith to boycott, divest and work towards sanctions against Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian lands. It is a bold and faith-filled attempt to give shape and form to some of the political despair within the faith communities on the ground in Palestine. Concurrently it is a vibrant testimony to the deep hope that God’s will shall be done on earth as it is already being done in heaven – even in the occupied territories – and a lament. Since its release, Kairos Palestine has garnered support from the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church USA. My own colleagues in the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ will consider sponsoring a BDS resolution in the spirit of Kairos Palestine in June 2015.

As a matter of conscience, I support and respect those who are led by study, prayer, analysis and experience to participate in the Kairos Palestine BDS action. The anguish and suffering of the Palestinian people is agonizing and must be addressed justly. Further, the safety and security of ordinary Israelis must become normative, too; acts of terrorism – whether bombs, rockets or knives - must never be accepted as part of the price of doing business. The reality on the ground for everyone is excruciating and morally untenable.

Nevertheless, I do not believe that healing or wholeness for either Palestine or Israel will be advanced through BDS. Rather, my faith and politics suggest that a strategic and sustained engagement with both peoples – in concert with careful political agitation in the United States, creative experiments with a variety of NGOs and fervent prayer – is a more resourceful response to the current stalemate. My emerging “Yusuf Islam/Peace Train sensibilities” suggest that BDS is more a desperate act of anguish and frustration without clearly stated goals than a creative course of compassion. As Bradley Burston recently wrote in Haaretz (May 27, 2015): “What does BDS want from Israel?”

I'm not asking for much. And I am certainly not asking out of antagonism. I'm just asking for clear goals. And straight talk. I want to know if BDS wants to encourage two states - for example, by concentrating on supporting labeling of products from the West Bank and East Jerusalem – or if the goal is a one-state Palestine.

For me, the BDS  movement’s ambiguous and slippery strategy that blames all of Israeli society for the horrors and degradation of the Occupied Territories not only inhibits the work of cultural cooperation between these two peoples and their external partners, but also reinforces the political and social isolation in Israel and Palestine that is part of the current problem. Without a doubt, the continuing colonization of Palestine must be challenged. The expansion of Israeli settlements and the ever growing appropriation of Palestinian homes and land must be challenged. Full social, economic and political equality for Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel must become an essential part of the social contract in a democratic Israel. And the safety and dignity of every Palestinian person must become codified and honored by all wielding power throughout the region.

Simultaneously, Palestine and its allies must affirm Israel’s right to exist in safety and peace. This is a requisite not just for the emasculated Fatah contingent in the West Bank, but also for the belligerent partisans of Hamas in Gaza. Israeli security is an indispensable ingredient in this equation – and is too often dismissed or denigrated in the quest for authentic Palestinian sovereignty.

As a musician – and person of faith – I resonate with Paul Simon’s conviction that artists must never be treated as if they work for governments. When taken to task in the 1980s by the African National Congress for violating their cultural and economic embargo of the apartheid regime of South Africa, Simon replied: “I was invited by South African artists to join them. Do I need to ask the ANC for their permission? That’s the kind of government you want to be? People who check our lyrics and fuck the artists like all other types of governments have done in the past? No way!” Simon refused to be co-opted – and in time “Graceland” became the artistic and human face of the fight against apartheid for the world. (NOTE: at the time, the ANC responded to Simon’s artistic freedom by temporarily placing him on an assassination hit list!) I consider Simon to be right: creative people of conscience and compassion need constructive ways to collaborate with their artistic allies, not well-intentioned but ideological rigidity mediated by political segregationists of any brand.

Another reason I do not support BDS involves the complex context and history of this conflict. Despite surface level parallels, the state of affairs between Palestine and Israel is not equivalent to that of apartheid in South Africa.  Not that there aren’t forces already at work in both camps eager to foment increased racial hatred and oppression. But Jimmy Carter’s analysis notwithstanding, I do not see these conflicts as analogous. In Israel, the Palestinian Arab population – 1,658,000 or 20% – has political rights secured by citizenship. No racial laws exist that prohibit Palestinians from Israel’s beaches, places of employment or the political process. Increasingly, a vibrant Arab presence in the Knesset articulates the needs of a neglected minority. During the March 2015 elections, there was a 10% increase in Palestinian voter turnout and 13 delegates united as the Joint Arab List took office.

Further, there is the growing awareness within parts of the Israeli government that the whole nation has changed. President Reuven Rivilin's recent speech to the Herzliya Conference is a case in point: "The nation of Israel that we used to know no longer exists."

Israel is fast becoming a tribal state composed of four groups — secular Jews, religious Zionist Jews (also called national religious), ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews and Arabs, all of them fearful, hostile to one another and even to members of their own group. “Today, the first grade classes are composed of about 38 percent secular Jews, about 15 percent national religious, about one quarter Arabs, and close to a quarter Haredim,” Rivlin noted. He said the demographic processes that these numbers represent have “created a ‘new Israeli order"... in which there is no longer a clear majority, nor clear minority groups” and consisting of “four principal ‘tribes,’ essentially different from each other, and growing closer in size. Whether we like it or not, the make-up of the ‘stakeholders’ of Israeli society, and of the State of Israel, is changing before our eyes.” (Haaretz, June 11, 2015.)

He then cut deeper into the reality of this moment in time:  a new social contract for a vastly divided Israel must be created. It must guarantee equality and equity for Jew and Arab, secular and religious and everyone in-between. There used to be a time, Rivilin, observed when "the Israeli Defense Forces served as a central tool for fashioning the Israeli character.

In the military, Israeli society would confront itself, would consolidate and shape itself morally, socially and in many ways economically... now that  over half the population — most Arabs, most Haredi Jews and a growing number of secular Jews — does not serve in the military, this is no longer the case. Israelis will meet for the first time, if at all, only in the workplace…” The time has come for Israelis to abandon the accepted view of a majority and minorities, and move to a new concept of partnership between the various population sectors” resting on what he called “four pillars:

1. A sense of security for each sector, so that it is confident that joining the partnership “does not require giving up basic elements of their identity”

2. Shared responsibility for Israeli society and the state

3. Equity and equality

4. The creation of a shared Israeli character.

(for more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/1.660417?utm_ campaign= Echobox &utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook)

Additionally, despite an almost schizophrenic public persona when it comes to equality, peace-making with Palestine and advancing human rights throughout Israeli society, the new right-wing education ministry in the Netenyahu coalition, Naftali Bennett, reaffirmed a five year commitment to give Arab preschools priority funding. The Haaretz journalist,  Meirav Arlosoroff , wrote: 

 Bennett’s choice to help Arab-Israeli children, even at the expense of Jewish children in the state-religious system, is truly praiseworthy. The support of the Union of Local Authorities for the plan – even though its implementation will come at the expense of governments in well-to-do locales – is also welcome. If we continue down this path, with the national interest trumping political and personal interests, we may be able to start fixing some of the country’s serious problems. (http://www.haaretz.com/business/ .premium-1.660399?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook)

My point is simple: not all of Israeli society is to blame for the ugly and destructive impasse that

has squelched peace and a Palestinian homeland. Yes, there is a legacy of discrimination and tension within Israel when it comes to Arab Palestinian citizens. Sadly, there are unfair and degrading restrictions on some forms of travel for Palestinians within the state of Israel. The various check-points between Palestine and Israel are onerous and degrading. Regrettably there are places within the Occupied Territories that remain physically unsafe for Jews to travel into, too. In this young and emerging democracy, very real problems remain unresolved.

The broad condemnation of Israel by the  BDS movement, however, not only refuses to celebrate the very real democracy within Israel (the only authentic democracy in that region), but also seeks a one size fits all solution for Palestinian suffering. This univocal analysis both diminishes what is healthy and hopeful while forsaking incremental possibilities for peace.  A focused and strategic way of articulating the goals of supporting Palestinian civil and national rights might be stated like this:

The international boycott weapon should be aimed in a careful and focused way against the occupation and the settlements. Of course, some people will find it hard to clearly differentiate between the “territories” and “Israel,” when the institutional, economic and cultural connections between the occupying State of Israel and its colonialist enterprise in the post-1967 territories are unequivocal. But whether it’s a naïve question, or one that winks at annexation, the answer is that is certainly possible. The Israeli organizations and institutions and companies that operate in sovereign Israeli territory that is recognized under international law should not be subjected to a boycott, even if they have branches in the occupied territories, just as there should be no thought of boycotting foreign countries and institutions that have cooperation and economic or cultural ties with the settlements.

Like the institutions and businesses inside Israel, they should be continually called upon to join a boycott of the occupation and settlement project. An effort should be made to persuade them to cut off all ties with the international criminal enterprise that is enslaving the Palestinian people contrary to “the law of nations” and gnawing away at the existential infrastructure of the State of Israel, which arose and continues to exist thanks to that same “law of nations.” As for organizations, institutions and companies that operate from within the military-messianic colonialist enterprise – these should be subject to a comprehensive and uncompromising economic and cultural boycott. This must continue until the settlement enterprise disappears off the face of the earth – either by evacuation of all the settlements, or by territorial exchange and agreed-upon borders between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine, or whether – and this is the most desirable solution – by having the settlers who wish to do so remain in and become citizens of the Palestinian state with the approval of the sovereign Palestinian entity. For after all, this small piece of land between the Jordan River and the sea is cherished by both peoples, by Palestinians and Jews both. 

(Dimitry Shumky, http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.660574)

Anything less is a case when the perfect has become the enemy of the good.

(part three of this essay will deepen my critique of the selective historical narrative the BDS movement uses to advance sympathy - and why such dishonesty cannot be endorsed.)