Speech to the New England Synod, ELCA
June 8, 2007
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Munib Younan
Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land 

Let me introduce myself. I am an Arab Palestinian Christian Evangelical Lutheran, and I am a refugee. I am bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and I bring you greetings from your Palestinian Christian sisters and brothers. Thank you for inviting me here today to tell you more about our church, our situation, our mission and our partnership. Our joint mission of bringing grace and reconciliation in a very troubled, violent and broken world is vital.

Our Churches and Schools 

The ELCJHL is the local expression of the Lutheran communion in the Holy Land, and we are a small but vital part of the dwindling Palestinian Christian population struggling to maintain a Christian witness in a land that badly needs it. We have 6 churches, one in Amman, Jordan, one in the Old City of Jerusalem, one in Ramallah and three in the Bethlehem area. We also have four schools and four additional educational programs. 

But to understand our church, you must understand the context. We are the fifth or sixth largest church in the Holy Land out of 13 mainline churches and we have lived for centuries peacefully with Muslims and Jews. It is only when political problems over the land grew that we have had problems. And for 40 years now, the overriding reality and context that controls so much of our daily lives has been military occupation.

It is almost 40 years ago to the day when the 6 Day War began. I can still remember when the shooting started in the Old City of Jerusalem. That June morning, I was 17 and huddled in the basement of St. John's Convent with the other 15 families who lived there. We had no idea how our lives were about to be changed. For the 40 years since then, my fellow Palestinians and Israelis have wandered in the wilderness of military occupation. My message to you today is this:

It is time for both peoples and both states to come home and live together in freedom, with justice, security and prosperity for all. For the sake of Palestinians, Israelis and the whole Middle East, the occupation must end.

What Does Occupation Mean?

People today don't really understand what it means to be under military occupation, probably because it is rare and usually very temporary. I believe that our occupation is the longest in the modern world, and has been characterized by extensive land confiscation and Israeli settlement of the Palestinian West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem. Under international law and the Geneva Convention, it is illegal for the occupier to move its population into the occupied territory, yet despite this and the 65 UN resolutions requiring Israel to remove these settlements, the world has done nothing to achieve this. 

Over these past 40 years of occupation:

14,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished making tens of thousands homeless, while more than 450,000 Israeli settlers have been encouraged and subsidized to build 161 illegal settlements (not counting the outposts that spring up daily) in the West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem. The Israeli peace organization Peace Now released a study this year that shows that more than 40 percfent of these settlements are built on private Palestinian land, which doesn't even measure the land that was confiscated by the Israeli government and made state land.

On the remaining land that we live in, we are locked into small enclaves by a huge matrix of control that uses checkpoints, Israeli-only roads, closures and a cumbersome permit system to prohibit movement. Now, the Separation Wall confiscates even more land and completely isolates East Jerusalem from the West Bank. 

Let me show you this so you can really see what we are talking about. (Here Bishop Younan showed a PowerPoint presentation from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Administration, whose mandate is to monitor the humanitarian situation within the Occupied Territories and assist in bringing aid and development.)

The maps you will see are of the West Bank, which is about 70 miles from North to South and 20-30 miles from East to West. In other words, probably close to the size of the greater Boston metropolitan area. So all of these roadblocks, closures, settlements are within the Green Line, which is the 1948 armistice line and what people who refer to "67 boundaries" mean. Of the 500 or so checkpoints, for example, less than 20 are between what is usually considered Palestine and Israel.

What it means for our church and its ministries:

Four of our churches and all of our schools are now "behind the wall" and our Jerusalem congregation has great trouble reaching their church. About 20 of the 80 families remaining there are or will be soon on the West Bank side of the Wall, despite the fact that East Jerusalem is a part of the West Bank by international law. Another 20 families can't live together legally in Jerusalem because one has a West Bank ID and the other a Jerusalem ID.

A teacher in the Beit Sahour school wakes up to the 25-foot-high wall everyday now 50 feet from her house because most of her land was confiscated by the Israeli army to build the mega-checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. 

The deacon in the Beit Sahour church lives with the threat that any day the bulldozers will come to demolish the home he built on his own Palestinian land because he only has a Palestinian building permit, not an Israeli permit. 

Our pastors and people can't meet together because it is hard to get permits and even with permits Palestinians are prohibited from the good, direct roads and must take windy, secondary routes. 

The Mission of our Churches and Schools 

So in the midst of this, our mission is live out the Christian values of love, service, reconciliation, hope and upholding the worth and dignity of every human life, regardless of religion, gender, political affiliation or ethnicity. It is quite a challenge. We have not only a political or economic crisis, but a spiritual one as well. People are hungry to deepen their spiritual lives.

Churches:

Our churches offer a vital support system for people through their ministries of word and sacrament, through programs for children, youth and women. Other ministries have also developed through these churches. 

There is a program in the Jerusalem congregation where Palestinian Christian families from Redeemer Church and Israeli Jewish families meet for events and trips to learn about one another and foster mutual understanding. The Elderly Centers in Jerusalem and Ramallah serve mostly elderly Muslims whose families have left the area.

Lutheran Christmas Church and its International Center in Bethlehem creates "facts on the ground of hope" through its many programs cultivating arts, music and education for the whole community. International conferences gather at their conference center and guesthouse to delve into deep questions about spirituality, identity and the Holy Land. They have recently broken ground for a new college offering degrees in media, tourism and the arts.

The Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Beit Jala has developed Abrahams's Herberge, a guesthouse for interfaith dialogue aimed especially at young people. They have regular encounters with youth and other groups to experience the Palestinian culture and build bridges between Muslims and Christians.

Scout programs at all the churches help to build faith, character and integrity in our young people, both Christian and Muslim.

Schools:

We have four schools and four additional educational programs whose goals are to build the Palestinian Christian identity as rooted in tolerance, peace-making, equal rights and democratic principles. When the government schools could not open last fall due to the West's boycott of the Hamas government, we were able to open our doors and continue the vital task of educating our future leaders. The schools offer excellent, holistic education that includes programs of music, art, dancing and media. The Environmental Education Center teaches environmental awareness to the young people and initiates projects to help clean it up. A Boy's home houses 40-50 boys' whose families have left or cannot care for them. The Martin Luther Community Development Center in the Old City of Jerusalem offers educational, health and youth programs for the people of the Old City.

Effect on Palestinian Christians

Of course these harsh realities of the occupation have had a dramatic effect on all Palestinian Christians because they were a relatively small population to begin with. According to Bethlehem University Dr. Bernard Sabella, in 1966, they were still about 13% of the population of historic Palestine (from 18-20% in 1947), but by 1993 the percentage had dropped to about 2.1% because Christians left at twice the national rate, probably because of their closer connections with internationals and educational institutions. Now the number seems to have drifted down to about 1.5%.

If we want to keep a local Christian witness in the land of the resurrection, we must act to change the situation. We believe God has called us – all of us - to an urgent mission to promote justice, non-violence, tolerance and mutual respect for all people.

Historical Co-Existence

One of the gifts of our history here has been a long history of good relations between Christians and Muslims. There are those who believe that it is Muslim persecution that is driving Christians out of the Holy Land, but I live there and tell you that there is no systematic persecution. There are isolated incidents that usually have more to do with social or family problems or criminal gang-like activity.

Growing up in the Old City together, most of us thought of one another as human beings and neighbors, not as Muslims and Christians. We were enriched by and enjoyed celebrating one another's feasts together. 

As Arab Palestinian Christians who have lived together with Judaism and Islam for centuries, we feel disturbed by the stigmatization of Islam. The dominant world culture stereotypes Muslims as violent extremists with no regard for human life. Like Christianity, Islam has many faces and interpretations. In the holy writings of all three religions, one can find verses that promote violence, but the main message affirms life and love. Most of the Muslims I know uphold the sacredness of human life, tolerance for one another and deep hospitality for all. Our long history has taught us not only to accept the other but also to appreciate our differences and be enriched by them. As an Arab Palestinian Christian, I feel that I am an integral part of the Arab Palestinian people who will one day share the same independent, democratic State, living equally side by side with the State of Israel. 

Because of this heritage, we are uniquely qualified to help build bridges between the West and Islam. Shortly after the horrendous attack on Madrid several years ago, the Archbishop of Madrid wrote:

From Arab Christianity we can learn to live with Islam.

When there have been tensions such as the Cartoon Crisis, with the cartoons of Mohammed, or the recent provocative excavations of the Haram al Sharif, Muslim and Christian leaders have been able to work quietly behind the scenes to help each side understand the other and to calm the situation. 

Mission for Tolerance and against Extremism

So we see one of our main missions here as helping to build the moderate voices of faith. One of the great challenges of this next century will be to reclaim the power of faith to be the driving force for justice, peace and love that it should be and not a part of the problem. The world is focusing on the growing threat of Muslim extremists since the 9/11 tragedy. But no one religion has a monopoly on hate or extremism, and all of us - Christians, Muslims and Jews - are equally responsible and equally called to work together to seek the common, positive values of love, compassion, justice and peace, and together to uphold the sacred value of all, regardless of color, race, creed or religion. 

It is so interesting to me that often the people who call themselves fundamentalists – in any religion – have often abandoned the most basic fundamental of all: "love God and your neighbor as yourself."

Why is this? What can we do about it? The world is crying out for a better vision and leadership for today's increasingly violent, extremist and militarized world. It is high time we moderate people faith stand up and take back our religions! We who are grounded in the real fundamentals of love, compassion, justice and peace must affirm together that God has created every human life, indeed all of creation, to be cherished, protected and nurtured. We must stop demonizing one another in the name of God and instead try to see God in the other. We then learn and grow from one another about what will give life, love, shalom/salaam/peace to this earth. 

It is easy to focus on the extremism of the "other" whoever they are. But I always say all of us – yes, even we Christians – should clean our own kitchens before we criticize someone else's.

Christian Zionism
During the summer of 2006, four heads of local Churches in Jerusalem issued the Jerusalem Declaration against Christian Zionism because we see the damage Christian Zionism is doing to our Muslim sisters and brothers, to our own Palestinian Christians, and, I believe, to the climate for peace in the world. 

Some of these Christian Zionists preach that the God of the Muslims is different than the God of the Christians, which contradicts the Bible. We all remember what happens when we promote beliefs like this, as in the Nazi era when they proclaimed that the God of the Jews was different than the God of the Christians. Only Holy Wars and hatreds are encouraged by these beliefs. The teachings also promote militarization and violence in the Middle East because they believe it is pre-ordained by God and a sign that the Second Coming will then arrive. 

Here is part of the statement:

We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation. 

We further reject the contemporary alliance of Christian Zionist leaders and organizations with elements in the governments of Israel and the United States that are presently imposing their unilateral pre-emptive borders and domination over Palestine. This inevitably leads to unending cycles of violence that undermine the security of all peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world. 

We reject the teachings of Christian Zionism that facilitate and support these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ. Rather than condemn the world to the doom of Armageddon we call upon everyone to liberate themselves from the ideologies of militarism and occupation. Instead, let them pursue the healing of the nations!

Inter-Religious Leadership Council for the Holy Land

In Jerusalem, the heads of local churches, the chief rabbinate and the chief judge of the Islamic court are in the process of forming an Inter-Religious Leadership Council for the Holy Land to dialogue about important issues of faith and life. One of the issues we have been exploring is whether the root cause of our conflict here is terrorism – the Jewish position – or occupation – the Muslim and Christian perspective. We have been examining what our holy writings say about both issues. The goals of this council are to:

Speak out jointly on any desecration of holy places, scriptures or symbols of any religion;
Combat ignorance and stereotypes of religions and increase awareness of religions as they want themselves to be known;
Seek to explore possible solutions to the main core problems between Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli Jews think the main problem is violence and Palestinians think the main problem is occupation. We have agreed to study what our teachings tell us about these matters.
Work jointly on social, ethical issues;
Serve as a reference group for negotiators about religious issues;

Fostering Mutual Understanding

A big part of this mission is dialogue and working toward mutual understanding. It is essential that we learn to understand one another's narratives and one another's suffering. Palestinians simply must learn to understand the deep trauma of the Holocaust and the long history of systematic persecution against the Jewish people. This will help to break down the barriers and begin to build stronger relations. At the same time, Israelis need to learn and understand the Palestinian narrative and suffering of the refugees, land confiscation and ongoing occupation. Only then will be begin to see God in the other and accept the humanity of the other and mutually recognize one another's human, civil and religious right. Only then will the Holy Land become the Promised Land of milk and honey for both Palestinian and Israeli.

One night my family had a Sabbath meal with Jewish neighbors who live five minutes from us. I sat next to a delightful young Jewish woman who asked me if I recognized the legitimacy of the Jewish state. I told her that I believed that how the Jewish people wanted to rule their state was up to them and not to me. I also said that for my Palestinian state, I wanted a secular, modern democracy built on neither the Koran nor the Bible, because I believed that theocracies have inherent problems. For example, I said, what happens in the Jewish state with the other 20% who are not Jewish? Are they fully equal citizens? 

We had a very deep conversation, and we both said how sad it was that though we only lived 5 minutes away, we are like worlds apart. 

It is our job to bring these worlds together with mutual understanding so that we can live together as God's children in peace/shalom/salaam as God intended.

Occupation: A Sin against God and Humanity

But this cannot happen under occupation. Occupation is a sin against God and humanity. It robs the other of their human dignity and equal rights. It demoralizes and dehumanizes first the occupier and then the occupied. 

The security of Israel is dependent on freedom and justice for the Palestinian, and freedom and justice for the Palestinian are dependent on security for Israel. This is a symbiotic relationship and God has called all of us to share this Holy Land side by side in peace with justice. 

The suffering and death of individual people in the occupation is bad enough, but I am more worried about the deep corruption of our collective soul: both Palestinian and Israeli, for, like it or not, these 40 years of occupation have inextricably bound our destinies together.

Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wondered in his last years of office how long Israel could continue the occupation. Extremists talk openly about "transfer" of the rest of the Palestinians, giving them each $1,000,000 and sending them to Bulgaria. The young generation is being corrupted and disillusioned by militarization and power. The high cost of maintaining the occupation, the military and the settlement infrastructure is diverting much-needed resources from Israel's social and development needs within Israel itself.

Palestine has a government that barely functions and is in humanitarian, economic and political crisis. We are torn apart by internal infighting. Gaza, which is now like the world's largest open air prison with 1.5 million people crowded into a 5-10 mile by 40 mile patch of land, is on the brink of civil war and rampant lawlessness. Extremism and criminal behavior are raging as Israel continues to kill more and more Palestinians with impunity.

We still envision a two-state solution based on the 67 Green line with two equal, viable states living side by side with a shared Jerusalem, just solutions to the refugee problem, land confiscation and settlements and shared resources. 

For the sake of BOTH Palestine and Israel, we must end the occupation now – together, non-violently – and bring justice and equal human rights for all into this land!

It is time to liberate the Palestinian and Israeli children from this heavy burden of occupation that breeds such violence, militarization and fear of the other. Instead of throwing stones, launching rockets and building walls, let us forge our weapons into ploughshares and our walls into bridges of reconciliation, justice and peace.

The Role of the United States

When I come here people tell me, "You've been fighting for thousands of years. We should just stay out of it." But the hard truth is that America has never been "out of it." It has been an uncritical and financially generous supporter of one side of this conflict since the beginning, siding with Israel despite its flagrant disregard for international law. Despite the 65 UN resolutions, despite the doubling of the illegal setters during the Oslo Peace Process, despite harsh collective punishment, disproportionate shelling and bombing of civilians, the US has continued to give Israel more than $3 billion per year. My friends, this is immoral and it is wrong. Enough is enough. It's time for justice.

If the U.Ss is really serious about fighting terrorism and extremism, it must reevaluate its role in this conflict, because this is the conflict that is at the heart of anti-American sentiment in the Arab and Muslim world. The true test of the West will not depend on its military might but on its willingness and ability to implement one standard of justice for all. The Arab world sees this conflict as the litmus test for how the West is treating the Arab world, and until this situation is resolved, it will continue to fuel the flames of extremism and terrorism.

PARTNERS – WHAT CAN YOU DO?

The ELCA Peace not Walls strategy urges people to do three things: Learn … pray … act.

LEARN – More about this situation. Explore the theology that endorses an uncritical support of one side even when it has caused such injustice to others. Learn about Palestinian Christians and their history. Find out what is really happening here on the ground. The ELCA Peace Not Walls website has links with suggestions of books and videos you can use for education classes. 

PRAY – Pray for the ELCJHL and all Palestinian Christians as we struggle to maintain a vital witness in an increasingly difficult situation; Pray for all Palestinians and Israelis…all who love peace and work for justice…

ACT

Support:
The schools, through scholarships. Thank you for those you have done, it has meant the world to the students. The spiritual work of the whole church to help us develop our spiritual lives. The new Mt. of Olives Housing Project is planned to build housing units for 84 young Christian couples help keep a Christian witness in Jerusalem. 

Advocate:
We are not asking you to be pro-Palestinian, nor pro-Israeli. We are asking you to be pro-justice, pro-truth, pro-reconciliation. We are saying that – for both Palestinians and Israelis – 40 years of brutal occupation is enough! It must end. We are asking people to look honestly at the issues here and to advocate against all violence on all sides, which includes suicide bombing, extrajudicial assassinations, indiscriminate shelling, bombing and shooting, home demolitions, military incursions. 

So we ask you to write your senators and congressional representatives, the State Department and talk to other influential people about what is really happening here and the urgent need to bring justice and peace here.

Brothers and sisters, it is time that religious leaders from every faith and ethnicity have the courage to stand up and denounce any violence or hate done in the name of religion is a blasphemy. How many more deaths, shattered cities, walls of concrete will it take before we refuse to further destroy one another? If ever there was a time to transform our swords into ploughshares, our hatred into love, our oppression into freedom, occupation into liberation, it is now!

May God continue to use us all as peacemakers, instruments of this healing, ministers of reconciliation and brokers of justice. Thank you.

(Bishop Younan received a standing ovation and a hug from Bishop Payne.)