posted July 28, 2006 02:34 AM              

- Dr. Martin Accad, academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary of Lebanon.

quote:

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For Christians there are also deeper issues involved regarding faith and the body of Christ. It's time for American Christians to start listening to Christians and churches in the Middle East, and Lebanon would be a good place to start. How many American Christians even know that Lebanon has had, for much of its history, a sizable number of Christians? Current estimates are 1.5 million Christians, or 40% of the population - which means there are fellow Christians potentially affected as casualties and refugees by the U.S. backed Israeli military attacks.

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The body of Christ in Lebanon
by Jim Wallis

Like many of you, I have been glued to CNN and other cable news channels and feeling my heart broken by the vivid scenes of war's devastation and human suffering in the Middle East. We mourn this violence and, habitually, pray for peace. But what does that mean? What is the context and why is this happening?

Let me first say that I affirm Israel's existence and its right to live in peace and security. Let me also say that I believe Hezbollah has provoked this current crisis. Since the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah has built a stockpile of thousands of rockets, continued attacks on Israel, and then, recently, kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.

So we start by condemning kidnapping and Hezbollah's attacks on Israeli civilians. Hezbollah is a militant organization and movement that uses terrorism, i.e., it deliberately carries out lethal violence against innocent civilians. And no matter what the grievances or injustices, deliberate violence against civilians must be universally and unequivocally condemned as what a group of Palestinian intellectuals after 9/11 called a "short path to hell." Killing innocent civilians (often families and children) is evil and must be steadfastly opposed, and in response to such ugly violence we must draw a clear line in the sand. Further, Hezbollah is an organization that does not recognize Israel's right to exist and has vowed to destroy it. So let's be clear, by kidnapping Israeli soldiers and attacking Israeli cities with rocket attacks aimed directly at civilians, Hezbollah provoked this latest war.

Jan Egeland, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, who has been critical of Israel's "disproportionate" response, has also assailed Hezbollah's tactics: "Consistently, from the Hezbollah heartland, my message was that Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children."

Hezbollah's rocket attacks into northern Israel have killed 19 civilians and injured hundreds more. But the disproportionate Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, with their horrible death toll among civilians with nothing to do with Hezbollah must also be condemned. The latest estimate is more than 400 Lebanese civilians killed, with the needless destruction of the country's infrastructure, which took 15 years to rebuild after the devastating civil war. Israel has gone after Hezbollah, but is destroying Lebanon and, don't forget, its fledgling democracy. And let there be no double standards when it comes to how we label "terrorist" acts. When a nation state, such as Israel, carries out military policies which it knows will kill many civilians, including the use of cluster bombs, and deliberately targets civilian infrastructures and areas, does not the label also apply?

This week, Ze'ev Maoz, an Israeli professor, wrote in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: "This war is not a just war. Israel is using excessive force without distinguishing between civilian population and enemy ..." Another Haaretz columnist, Gideon Levy, wrote, "This war must be stopped now and immediately. From the start it was unnecessary, even if its excuse was justified, and now is the time to end it. Every day raises its price for no reason, taking a toll in blood that gives Israel nothing tangible in return."

The U.S. has provided no real leadership thus far, being unwilling to embrace the international call for a ceasefire. It has rather been Israel's major supporter and has expedited the shipment of additional weapons. I also believe that the U.S. invasion of Iraq has, inadvertently, contributed to the ascendancy of Iran and radical Islam in the region. Robert Kuttner, of The American Prospect magazine, who has been a constant critic of the U.S. war in Iraq, recently wrote: "Bush did not create radical Islamism, but he certainly gave it a boost. The point is not that the rulers of Iran, the Baghdad suicide bombers, and the fanatics of Hamas and Hezbollah are misunderstood good folks who need only a naïve olive branch from the west. On the contrary, these forces menace everything modern and democratic. They must be stopped, not appeased. The issue is the most practical and effective way of containing them." And that is indeed the issue.

Ultimately, the U.S. must take an active role in helping to negotiate a ceasefire and prisoner release, in the creation and deployment of an international force on the Israel-Lebanon border, and in aiding in the enormous humanitarian crisis that has resulted (the World Health Organization estimates 860,000 people have been displaced.) And, if the situation is not to spiral out of control in a wider regional war, the U.S. must also talk to Iran and Syria. The whole idea of diplomacy is trying to talk to your enemies and not just your friends.

For Christians there are also deeper issues involved regarding faith and the body of Christ. It's time for American Christians to start listening to Christians and churches in the Middle East, and Lebanon would be a good place to start. How many American Christians even know that Lebanon has had, for much of its history, a sizable number of Christians? Current estimates are 1.5 million Christians, or 40% of the population - which means there are fellow Christians potentially affected as casualties and refugees by the U.S. backed Israeli military attacks. It's time to challenge the theology of Christian Zionism advanced by many of the American Religious Right who are completely uncritical of Israel's behavior and totally oblivious to the sufferings (or even the existence) of Arab Christians in the Middle East. These Arab Christians may not be sympathetic to the tactics of Hezbollah, but they are certainly not supportive of the highly disproportionate military responses of Israel which now target their own families and fellow Arab Christians. Where is the American church's solidarity with them? In the Middle East battles between Islamic terrorism and Israeli military attacks, the perspective of Middle Eastern churches might indeed provide a much needed third perspective. I recommend an important dialogue in the online version of Christianity Today with Christian Arabs from the region. It's time to listen to some new voices.

The people of Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine have suffered enough. It's time for immediate action by the U.S. and the world community to achieve a situation in which Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine are secure and viable states living side-by-side in peace.

Meanwhile, back in Gaza
by Philip Rizk
SojoMail 7-26-2006

I sat in the courtyard of Jamal's parent's house. We had just finished a cup of Arabic coffee. Jamal was sharing his heart: "If someone digs a 400-meter tunnel to carry out an attack, we need to think about what would cause them to do that."

The attack Jamal was referring to was the capture of 19-year-old Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on June 25 at an army outpost at the Gaza-Israel border. He continues to be held by Palestinian militants. His captors demand the release of children and women from Israeli prisons.

I have never met Shalit, but I know others who serve in Israel's army. They have rarely entered the Occupied Palestinian Territories and if so, either at a young age when Palestine was more accessible to them, or while carrying out an army mission. They are fulfilling their mandatory military duties and believe they are defending their nation from the enemy that lies in wait to destroy it. Rarely have they had the chance to encounter this unseen enemy, to touch his wounds, to look into her eyes, to understand their suffering.

In a recent meeting I had with a White House confidant I was informed that the case of Shalit is of utmost priority in Washington. When I asked how the situation on the ground would change if the soldier were released, he asserted that Israel would be willing to negotiate. I didn't believe him; I will tell you why.

The statement Jamal made over Arabic coffee reflects the Palestinian psyche. What are the events that lead up to the abduction of an Israeli soldier four weeks ago? Since its democratic election - certified by The Carter Center - the new Hamas government has been severely boycotted. All Western aid to the Palestinian Authority has been cut off. Consequently, government employees have been unpaid for five months. In Gaza they make up more than 30% of the workforce. All imports and exports to and from Gaza are routed through a checkpoint controlled by Israel. Since the beginning of the year it has been closed to imports for nearly half the time and closed nearly 80% of the year to exports. The Gazan economy is in shambles; 73% of Gazans lack access to basic foodstuffs. Medicines have run out in hospitals and clinics and are only replenished temporarily when Israel allows aid through the border. For 1.4 million Palestinians electricity is limited to six to eight hours a day, while urban areas have water for only two to three hours daily. All this will not change with the release of one soldier.

With a U.S. policy in the Middle East that ostensibly pushes for "democratization," Palestine must be a thorn in its side. The West must continue to expect Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce violence, while having the same expectations of Israel - to recognize Palestine and to renounce violence. But the comments of my American conversation partner demonstrate that decision makers in Washington have not noticed the shedding of innocent blood in Gaza, neither before nor after the fateful abduction.

Since Shalit's capture, 110 Gazans have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to Agence France Presse, the majority of them innocent bystanders including children and women. On July 13 the U.S. vetoed a Security Council ruling that Israel's attacks on Gaza were too extreme. Why is the life of one Israeli soldier more valuable than that of the more than 100 Palestinian civilians who have been killed since his capture? Why wasn't the U.S. taking serious action to end the dire conditions of Gaza prior to the capture of Gilad Shalit?

Since June 25 one soldier has entered hell. The inhabitants of Gaza live there every day.

Philip Rizk is an Egyptian-German Christian working with the Foundation for Reconciliation in Gaza.