Where is the Good Samaritan?

Imagine you are reading this blog and there’s a knock at the door. Voices are raised and the knocking grows more insistent. Before you know it the door has been kicked down and you are dragged away in handcuffs. It’s the beginning of the rest of your life. You will never return to your home, never be consulted, never be given representation, never a fair hearing.

That is what Palestinians have been experiencing since the formation of Israel in the 1940’s. Great Britain provided the muscle and power behind the decision to create a Jewish homeland and to expropriate Palestinians by force. The violence, abuse, apartheid vision, and the brutality have formed the foundations and cornerstones of the state of Israel since it’s inception. Before 1948 Arabs and Jews presented a number of initiatives advocating for Jews and Palestinians to co-exist in the same area. Such suggestions were dismissed in favor of a single state for Jews alone. Palestinians would never be granted citizenship and would be subject to rules and laws designed to disenfranchise and subjugate them forever.

Since the Babylonian (587/6 BC) and Assyrian (722 BC) conquests the Jews were scattered in the Diaspora that impacted subsequent generations around the world. What was distinctive and bound them together in the most remarkable way was their identity and faith rooted in the Torah, their religion or faith in God.

Zionism emerged in the early 20th century as a political movement with the goal of creating a Jewish state in Palestine. It was bolstered by the Balfour Declaration of 1917 stating that Britain was actively supporting the formation of a ‘National home for Jewish people’ in Palestine. Not every Jew is a Zionist; not every Palestinian supports Hamas.

The state of Israel was the dream of political Zionists with no interest in faith, God, or biblical references. As far as they were concerned God had not delivered on his promise to give them land (In their reading of the Old Testament). They would take matters into their own hands. The first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, quite candidly said that he had no belief in God and neither did most of the founding settlers. The Jewish state of Israel was for Jews, and Jews alone (Netanyahu declares that quite unashamedly). The very same vision as Hitler had for Germans, and a similar mindset for the advocates of apartheid; what a terrible irony. Instead of faith and the Torah unifying Jews, Zionists turned to the land and ethnicity as their primary identification and reason for being.

The United States took over from Great Britain as the supplier of finances and military power to build the new Israel. Myths and propaganda have been so successful that multiple Christian organizations exist around the world to support Israel – no matter what. The Bible is quoted out of context, history is rewritten or ignored, the Jews heralded as God’s chosen who can do no wrong, and the Palestinians are vilified and treated as less than human. Virtually the entire Western world is now watching, or walking by on the other side while Israel savagely bombs Gaza ad nauseum with apparent impunity. The very people who suffered unbelievably during the Holocaust are perpetrating the same Nazi atrocities to another race.

Some maintain that Israel is a democracy because Palestinians serve in the Knesset. What is overlooked are the restrictions and limitations placed upon them. One example: Amendment 434 was added to Basic Law for the Knesset in 2016 allowing the majority to expel a member if they have criticized or objected to Israel’s right to exist as an exclusively Jewish state. In other words no one can run for membership of the Knesset if they believe that Israel should be a genuinely democratic state providing freedom for all of its citizens. Israel is an ethnocracy (only for Jews) and the laws for citizenship reinforce that position.

The road on the other side is packed with passers by while the bleeding victim in the ditch suffers. Except this ditch is overflowing with the corpses of men, women, and children. As a Christian I’m appalled, ashamed, but sadly, not surprised. There can be no way on earth to condone the brutal massacre meted out by Hamas. However, if the actions of Hamas cannot be sanctioned, then neither can the behavior of Israel be condoned as they have brutalized Palestinians for decades.

The only way to biblically support the actions of Israel is to tear up the New Testament. Particularly the writings of Paul, as he teaches on God’s Kingdom and God’s people drawn from every race and tribe, brought together in the person of Jesus. Jesus’ revelation and teaching must be dismissed because the actions we are witnessing today would never be sanctioned by the Son of God – who came to bring peace, and to lay down his life, even for his enemies. He told Peter to put away his sword when Peter cut off a Roman soldier’s ear. Jesus response to the violence was to heal that ear immediately.

God’s love for his creation, and all of humanity, has never implied that he would grant anyone a mandate to do anything they choose in his name. Moses was disciplined for disobedience and could not enter the Promised Land. King David was forbidden to build the Temple because he had too much blood on his hands. The new Israel in the scriptures is not one tribe tied to a specific land mass. It is God’s people joined together by faith and spread throughout the world, manifest among every tribe and nation, none superior to the other.

Holding Israel to account is not anti-Semitic, it is responsible and called for. As is the principle of accountability expected for Palestinians, and every other nation and tribe. The bible speaks about God having no favorites…. as Paul writes in Romans 2:

There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek. For God does not show favoritism….. A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

These times demand digging deeper in our understanding and our learning. Band wagons are easy to jump onto but quickly veer out of control with catastrophic consequences. May God cause us to stop and look, to hear and see, and to take the time to cross the road and heed the cries of those pleading for recognition, understanding, and help. And to put an end to the barbaric slaughter of the innocents whether they be Jews or Palestinians.

The hope for the future is in the young – this video was made before the most recent events unfolded. I hope and pray that some will not dismiss it because the news source is Al Jezeera. We have to listen broadly and deeply….. if I’m misguided or wrong, I want to know – and change.

Only God can heal this land and unite such fractured people.