Sabeel

We started off the morning today with a visit to the Sabeel Palestinian Liberation Theology Centre. Liberation Theology is an idea that was started by Christians in Central American countries who were facing grave economic injustice and horrific repression from despots who were at that time backed by the United States governments. Liberation Theology teaches that people who are oppressed have the right to stand up for their rights and that God values justice. I think that it is a Biblical doctrine with a lot of Scriptural support to back it up.

Sabeel means "the way" in Arabic. The organization encourages Palestinian Christians to a) keep true to their faith in Jesus and b) to confront the injustices being carried out against them with Christ's love.

Sabeel was founded by Reverend Naim Ateek, a Palestinian Christian Anglican priest. In 1948, he and his family were driven out of their homes by the Israeli army during a conflict that the Israelis refer to as the War of Independence and Palestinian refer to as The Catastrophe.

Before I go any further, some quick history of the roots of the conflict. This is only my interpretation. I strongly encourage you to do your own research and read both Israeli and Palestinian accounts.
European Jews began coming to Israel/Palestine in the 1800s, many of them fleeing persecution in Europe and hoping to establish a Jewish state.

Thousands of years ago it was the land of Israel. Over the centuries, many Jews were driven out by the Romans and dispersed around the world. In many countries they faced inhuman persecution. Throughout the centuries, the land was ruled by several countries and empires. By the 19th century, the land was populated predominantly by Palestinians- some of them were Arabs who came in the 7th century AD, others claim they are descendants of the Canaanites and Philistines. Almost all Palestinians speak Arabic. Most are Muslim.

The movement to establish a Jewish state once again was called zionism. It claimed that Israel was "a land without a people for a people without a land". The second part was true, but by the time the immigrants began coming there were already many thousands of non-Jews living there. There was fighting between Jews and Arabs in Israel/Palestine and in 1948. After the state of Israel was founded, it exploded into open war. Jewish military groups began driving Palestinians out of villages and towns in Israel. Palestinian fighters and later Arab armies that came to assist them initially wanted to destroy the new state. Atrocities occurred on all sides, although most of the victims were Palestinian.

The Israeli army won the fighting and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee their homes in Israel. Many fled to the West Bank and Gaza which were ruled by Jordan and Egypt and at that time had a predominantly Arab population. Jerusalem was divided with the Israeli army controlling the West and the Jordanian army controlling the East. In 1967, after a lot of hostility and crossborder fighting with these countries, Israel invaded and occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Millions of Palestinians suddenly found themselves under Israeli army rule. Jordan and Egypt refused to accept Palestinian refugees and most of those who fled were not treated humanely, and still in fact live in squalid refugee camps.

In Israeli occupied West Bank, the army is using policies that make the lives of Palestinians living there unbearable. I will be describing these in more detail later. I will be soon seeing them. In response, some Palestinian armed groups launch attacks on Israelis, soldiers and civilians alike. The military responds by launching attacks that kill mostly Palestinian civilians. For every dead Israeli there are usually several dead Palestinians.

Sabeel is a Palestinian Christian group that seeks to give Palestinians a voice. It believes that there must be a 2 state solution- so that both both Palestinians and Israelis have their own state. The idea on both sides is that the Palestinian state should encompass the West Bank and Gaza with some kind of shared control over East Jerusalem. Israel would keep the rest (a majority of the country).

Sabeel sends Palestinian Christians to work with Muslims and Jews who are opposed to Israeli government actions that cause Palestinian suffering. It also works to keep the Palestinian Christians strong in their faith in Jesus.

Sabeel believes that the suffering of Palestinians is not ordained by God and that Palestinian Christians have a very special relationship with Jesus. As Nura, one of the speakers, said to us, "Jesus was a Palestinian Jew living in the Holy Land under occupation. As Palestinian Christians, through our suffering we understand the suffering of Jesus". Their challenge is to stand up for the marginalized and oppressed, and do it with love.

What struck me was the concern that Nura expressed for the Israeli people. The occupation of the Palestinians does not make Israelis more safer. She talked sadly about Israeli youth forced to join the army. She discussed how Israeli settler children in the West Bank travel always under heavy guard and cannot play because of the possibility of violence from Palestinians, whose land their parents are occupying.

Sabeel strongly opposes the violence used by Palestinian militant groups and disagrees with any talk of destroying Israel. As she said, most Palestinians realize they can't go back to pre-1948. They accept Israel's existence but they also want a state of their own.

After Nura spoke, there was an ecumenical worship service. We sang hymns and prayed and shared communion. It was an extremely powerful experience, worshipping in the Holy Land with my brothers and sisters in Christ who decided to stay true to Him and were determined to change the situation by being faithful to Him.

I have been to several beautiful churches in Jerusalem, and it was a joy to be able to see the beautiful paintings and to pray and walk where He walked. However, for me it was so much more significant being able to worship with fellow Palestinian believers. They are living out their faith in the most trying of circumstances and remaining true to Jesus.