Dec. 21, 2009 issue
Palestinian suffering
By Palestinian suffering Albany, Ore.Thank you for telling about some of the suffering of Palestinians under Israel’s occupation. There are many hundreds of tragic stories. To learn more, read about Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Rabbis for Human Rights, Gush Shalom and B’Tselem, all Israeli organizations. Their information is eye-opening. Or read the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, whose correspondent Gideon Levy recently wrote of Israel, “We don’t want peace.”
More information about denial of water and basic electricity in the Hebron area, and settler violence against Palestinians, is available from Christian Peacemaker Teams.
Christians who support Israel because of their biblical interpretation are obligated to read the facts of the situation and decide if Jesus would approve. Otherwise, they support Israel in ignorance.
This is not a conflict between equals (as our media portrays it). It is the world’s fourth-largest military against mostly unarmed farmers and shepherds. Palestinians are not “all terrorists,” but Israel claims they are fighting “terrorism” in order to hide the truth of their occupation and their denial of Palestinians’ basic human rights and self-determination.
The reality is worse in the concentration camp that is Gaza, where people lack all basic supplies needed to sustain life.
My husband Ben’s late wife, Kathleen, back in the 1980s, put photos in her scrapbook of a Palestinian mother sitting on her belongings as an Israeli bulldozer destroyed her home. The woman sobbed, “What can we do? They just take whatever they want.”
Palestinian pastors have written a letter of all the world’s churches asking fellow Christians to help them, because they have lost all hope. How can we harden our hearts to their cries?
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