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2010-09-01 issue:

Holy or unholy land?

Opinions: Perspectives from readers

by Myron Schrag

Print Article

One can travel to Israel/Palestine and view the holy sites where biblical events took place. We saw many of these holy sites on a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Learning Tour. The "holiness" of these sites is negated by hordes of tourists jostling to get the best camera angle and less-than-reverent behavior. Then there are the ubiquitous gift shops at nearly every site selling T-shirts, postcards and trinkets of all kinds. Viewing such sites certainly gives one some background as you read the Bible, but the sites alone do not give one a picture of what is really going on in the so-called "Holy Land."

 Here in the United States the media are biased in reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian side is rarely reported. Most people agree that Israel has a right to exist. However, Israel does not have the right to oppress the Palestinian people, many of whom are Christian but most of whom are Muslim. Very few are terrorists. The formerly oppressed do not have the right to oppress others. The treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis is anything but holy. It is nothing less than apartheid.

There is nothing holy about a wall that separates Israeli from Palestinian. The wall is an ugly monstrosity that snakes through the rocky, hilly landscape, keeping Palestinians from their families and their land as well as access to hospitals. In order to build the wall, land was confiscated from the Palestinians without compensation. The wall is less for security than as a land-grab by Israelis to wrest ever more land that Palestinians have lived on for generations. The wall effectively imprisons thousands of innocent Palestinians.

 There is nothing holy about Palestinian homes being demolished by Israeli authorities under the pretext that the builders of the homes had no permits to build when permits are rarely given. Not only are the homes demolished but the families must pay for the expenses of the demolishment. There is nothing holy about Israeli soldiers in watchtowers on the wall shooting at children playing in a refugee camp. There is nothing holy about numerous checkpoints making Palestinians wait in line for long periods, severely limiting travel. There is nothing holy about illegal Jewish settlements being built on land confiscated from Palestinians.

There is nothing holy about Palestinians in refugee camps having access to water two hours per week while the Jewish settlement on the other side of the wall has water 24-7 and even has swimming pools. There is nothing holy about West Jerusalem having nice, broad, clean streets while East Jerusalem, the Palestinian area, has potholed streets and uncollected garbage. When one learns that 80 percent of tax revenues go to West Jerusalem while only 20 percent goes to East Jerusalem, this is understandable.

There is nothing holy about a land where Palestinian Christians are leaving due to the harsh policies of Israeli authorities. There is nothing holy when Palestinian Christians say they feel abandoned by U.S. Christians, who seem unaware or uncaring about their plight. It is unholy to hear them say that the greatest threat to peace are the Christian Zionists.

There is nothing holy about Israelis not being allowed to visit Bethlehem because the Israeli government says it cannot guarantee their safety. There is nothing holy about a system of roads on which only Israelis are allowed to travel. There is nothing holy about a land where the Israeli government carries out such injustices against Palestinian Christians and Muslims with the support of the U.S. government.

Jesus must be weeping over the land where he was born. Yet we witnessed holy things as well. It is holy when Jewish and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones in the conflict share their mutual grief and vow to work together for peace. It is holy when some Jewish young people refuse to join the Israeli military, even if it means a jail term, rather than take part in the oppression of Palestinians. It is holy when a Jewish organization works to stop home demolitions. It is holy when the Palestinian people react nonviolently to the oppression inflicted upon them. It is holy when Palestinians say they don't hate the Jewish people but hate the occupation.

It is holy when MCC, World Vision and other organizations work to improve life for Palestinian villagers by installing water-purification systems and making funds available for farmers to purchase sheep, goats or bees.

There is the holy amid the unholy. Jesus came into an unholy world. Through his faithful people he is present today in our still unholy world. He is present when Jewish and Palestinian people work together for peace and justice. When there is justice in the Holy Land there will be peace.

Myron Schrag is a retired pastor in Goshen, Ind.

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