Saturday, May 5, 2018       Pilgrims of Ibillin/ Living Stones

This is my second pilgrimage in two years with Pilgrims of Ibillin.  Having “come and seen” previously with my wife, Ann, and two sons, it’s gratifying to be returning with a wonderful group of 25 people from my church and presbytery who are also having the opportunity to “Come and See” and then “Go (home) and Tell” what we have experienced and observed on this educational pilgrimage.

“This has been incredibly eye-opening,” is the most common response I’ve heard in asking group members their impressions.  Every person we have met so far – Israeli and Palestinian – have helped peel away some of the scales from our eyes, as Ananias did for Saul during his conversion, giving us much more clarity where our sight was limited.

Father Firas Khoury Diab with our guide, Usama Nicola

One of those people who has helped peel away the scales from our eyes is the gentle, kind, and humorous Melkite (Greek Catholic) priest, Father Firas Khoury Diab, from the Palestinian town of Zebabdeh where we stayed last night.  “When scripture calls us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 22),” Father Firas says, “many Israelis and Americans seem to think this prayer is only for Jews.  But God wants us to pray for Palestinians as well who are also under God’s caring eye.”  “And when we read the Bible,” Father Firas adds, “we do not read it through a political lens.   We are reading it with the eyes of Jesus.” Palestinian Christians, in other words, do not read the Bible to defend one people having a “God-given right” to the land while the other does not.   The land, after-all, belongs to God (Psalm 24:1) and not to any one group exclusively. No, when we read the Bible through the lens of Jesus’ life and teaching, Father Firas would say, we discover that our Lord came to preach good news to those who are poor, discriminated against, demeaned, and dehumanized.    It is this Jesus whose primary purpose was to free those held captive (Luke 4:16ff).  In concrete, incarnational terms today, it is to liberate those held under ongoing military occupation, numerous human rights violations, land confiscation, and illegal settlement expansions (with UN reports saying 39% of Palestinian lands in the West Bank are under the control of Israel prohibiting any Palestinian construction – also contrary to international law).   All of this is carried out with impunity.   When we read the Bible through the lens of Jesus and not the lens of politics or a distorted theology, we simply cannot be pro-Israel nor pro-Palestinian.   We must instead be pro-peace for all and pro-justice for all.   This is the only faithful reading of the Bible. This is the message of the prophets and of Jesus himself!

Having our eyes opened and seeing though the lens of Jesus, I don’t know of a single member of our group who has not been aware of the strong pro-Israel bias that has shaped American thinking.  But we have had the opportunity to balance this by hearing stories from our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters, observing the conditions under which they live.   They are oppressive conditions that our current Secretary of Defense, James Mattis has used the term “apartheid” to describe (at the Aspen Conference in 2014).  These are the unjust conditions that General David Petraeus cautioned must be addressed if our country is to be an honest broker and not act in unfair ways that have become a recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

“We need you to keep praying for your fellow Christians in Palestine,” Father Firas, urges us, “and for your prayers to turn to action.”   “We love this land and the people of this land (both Israeli and Palestinian) and your presence here helps us feel encouraged that we have brothers and sisters in Christ who care about our struggle.   We can survive because we have friends, friends who do not forget us.”

We, in turn, are not only honored to be called friends of the remarkable Christ-like Palestinian witnesses we’ve met, like Father Firas, but we are also bound by our faith to see life through their eyes and to make room in our hearts for both Israelis and Palestinian who are seeking a just, sustainable peace.