On the Arab "Spring", Nakba, Hamas, Dhimmitude... and Sleeping Christians
In the last few months, it seems like the temperature has been
steadily rising in the Middle East - and not only because of the nearing
summer. The so-called "Arab Spring," initially carrying the hope that the fall
of dictators in the Middle East would bring a blossoming of democracy and
freedom in the Arab world, has already turned sour with bloodbaths in Egypt,
Libya, Syria and Yemen. The death toll at this point of some
13,000
and counting - with no sign of true democracy on the horizon - raises
serious questions as to whether we are witnessing a "spring" at all. As Israeli
Prime Minister Netanyahu noted in his recent
speech
to the U.S. Congress, other revolutions that had raised similar hopes in the
not too distant past ended up disastrously:
This historic moment holds the promise of a new dawn of
freedom and opportunity. Millions of young people are determined to change their
future. We all look at them. They muster courage. They risk their lives. They
demand dignity. They desire liberty... Yet as we share their hopes, we also must
also remember that those hopes could be snuffed out as they were in Tehran in
1979. You remember what happened then. The brief democratic spring in Iran was
cut short by a ferocious and unforgiving tyranny. This same tyranny smothered
Lebanon’s democratic Cedar Revolution, and inflicted on that long-suffering
country, the [dark] rule of Hezbollah.
In Israel, so far largely untouched by the nearby revolutions and
uprisings, the developments are nevertheless worrisome. On May 4, the Fatah-led
Palestinian Authority signed a reconciliation agreement with the Islamist
terrorist organization Hamas, which has been ruling the Gaza strip since the
bloody
conflict between them in 2007. Just a few days later, on May 9, Israelis
tried to put their worries to rest for 24 hours as they celebrated the 63rd
anniversary of their independence.
But what is a cause of celebration for some
is a disaster for others: On May 15, Palestinians remembered "Nakba day" - the
"day of the catastrophe" commemorating the displacement of Palestinian people
that followed Israeli independence and the subsequent war launched by the Arab
nations in 1948 (the discrepancy in the date is due to the fact that
Independence Day is celebrated according to the Hebrew calendar, and "Nakba Day"
according to the Gregorian calendar). In addition to clashes and riots in the
West Bank and East Jerusalem, in an unprecedented development, thousands of
Palestinians and other Arabs marched towards the Israeli borders, and over one
hundred protestors from Syria managed to breach the fence and entered Israeli
territory - at the cost of more human life.
While the massive calls for a third intifada fortunately did not
materialize and the violence quickly subsided, many challenges lie ahead in the
coming months, with the interim Egyptian government flirting with the idea of
cancelling the peace agreement with Israel, and with Palestinians expected to
unilaterally declare statehood in September, causing Israeli police to
prepare for
wide-scale rioting.
With the ever-growing threats and attempts at delegitimizing the
existence of Israel, what is perhaps most worrisome is the attitude of many
Christians towards the conflict, ranging from misguided activism to naive
passivity. I have recently been watching videos and visiting websites and
Facebook pages of some Christian pro-Palestinian and "peace activist" groups,
even engaging in conversation with some of them to try to better understand
their point of view. These discussions, to be frank, were troubling. I have
found that the essential kernel of truth that they are supposed to stand for - which all Christians can agree with in principle - namely, the desire
for peace, justice and dignity for the Palestinian people, becomes largely or
even completely eclipsed by a number of nonsensical aberrations. Some of these
myths and lies are repeated ad nauseum until even sensible people start believing in them. Here are some of the most prominent ones that come to mind:
-
The disproportionate amount of time, resources and energy spent
in delegitimizing and attacking Israel rather than in proposing concrete
solutions for the Palestinians (such as, for example, the anti-Israel campaign
of
Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions).
-
The disproportionate focus on Palestinian victimization and on
Israeli injustices (some of which are true and certainly deserving of criticism, while others are greatly exaggerated),
matched with a nearly total inability to see the "other side", namely the
existential threat and fear of terror faced by Israelis almost on a daily
basis.
-
The Palestinian inability to take responsibility for or even
acknowledge the horrific
acts of
terrorism committed year after year against Israeli civilians.
-
-
-
-
The systematic demonization of Christian Zionists and supporters
of Israel, who are commonly falsely portrayed as Arab-haters, avid supporters of
injustice, or apocalyptic doomsayers.
-
The
dhimmi mentality
whereby out of fear for their safety, Christians oppressed under Islamic regimes
prefer to remain silent or even claim that all is well with their Muslim
neighbors to avoid further aggression, and instead blame Israel for
everything.
While one can appreciate the need to speak prudently in a
situation of conflict with Islam, the absurd and disastrous result of dhimmitude
is at least twofold: first, the one country that is most often singled out for
criticism in the Middle East is ironically the one where Christians are entirely safe and enjoy full
religious freedom, namely Israel. Second, and carrying much graver
consequences, the stories and reports that are told by many local Christians,
increasingly tainted by fear, political correctness and dhimmitude, are
forming a world opinion about the Middle East conflict that has more to do
with caricature, fantasy and myth than with reality: this is the caricature of Israel
the evil occupier, ruthlessly oppressing and dispossessing the poor Palestinians,
and the fantasy that if only Israel would dismantle all settlements and grant the
Palestinians their state, it would be the end of the Middle East conflict. Of course, as
past Israeli withdrawals and concessions have demonstrated, nothing could be further
from the truth.
Let's illustrate the problem with one small example. A few weeks
ago, the Franciscan Media Center in Jerusalem interviewed Auxiliary Bishop of
Jerusalem
William
Shomali on the Fatah-Hamas agreement. The news report claimed that the
agreement between the two Palestinian factions could "mark a [positive] turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict,"
and would somehow increase the Palestinian Authority's credentials to ask the
UN for the recognition of a Palestinian state. Msgr. Shomali claimed that the
agreement would be an opportunity to "revive the [peace] negotiations," and that the
freedom of local Christians (under a potential Hamas regime) would be guaranteed because "Hamas respects the
freedom to build churches [and] to worship freely."
Over-zealous optimism, wishful thinking, or disconnect from
reality? It is hard to comprehend how Abu Mazen's agreement with the unrepentant
terrorist organization, responsible for dozens of suicide bombings and the
deaths of hundreds of civilians, could "mark a turning point" in the conflict or
increase the PA's credentials. This is the same Hamas that has called for the
killing of Christians and Jews
"to the last one" and condemned the death of Bin Laden as the the murder of a heroic "
Arab and Muslim holy warrior." Ironically, just
two days before
the bishop's interview was published, a Hamas MP and cleric said on Al-Aqsa
TV in Gaza that the
Jews
were brought to Palestine for "the great massacre" whereby the Arabs will
"have the honor of annihilating the evil of this gang," more dangerous than
reptiles and lethal bacteria, so that "the land of Palestine will become the
capital of the Islamic Caliphate."
An interesting basis for "reviving peace
negotiations."
If this is not convincing enough, you can also read for yourself
the
Hamas
Charter which openly proclaims that "Israel will rise and will remain erect until
Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors." The charter also rejects all peace
initiatives and praises Jihad and death for the cause of Allah as the Muslim's
highest duty. As for Hamas guaranteeing the Christians' freedom of worship, this
is the same Hamas that has relentlessly
persecuted
Christians in Gaza and is looking forward to the day when
Rome and the rest of Europe
will be conquered by Islam just like Constantinople was.
In this light, the "religious freedom" guaranteed by Hamas might
of a rather peculiar type.
How the good bishop's rosy optimism can be reconciled with these
basic facts on Hamas is a mystery. But this dichotomy between mythical opinion and
sober reality demonstrates one thing: Christians around the world should be wary of passively swallowing any narrative or story coming from the Holy Land and Middle East - even when told by well-meaning Christians - without
throwing in a good dose of critical thinking and fact finding. Things are not always as they seem.
How many more bombings of churches will it take for the world to finally wake
up and realize that Israel is not the problem?
