Dear Friends,
I want to concentrate this month on the crisis that is currently going on in the Middle East. It will be in the form of a more personal view on the matter, as I was privileged to live in Jerusalem for six months from 1986-7, as part of a year off between school and university.
I was working as an auxiliary nurse, at a hospital for Jewish and Palestinian children with muscular dystrophy in Ein Kerem, a suburb of Jerusalem and reputedly the birthplace of John the Baptist. This was just before the first recent “intifada” or uprising of 1987. Ironically, Cathy and I returned for a holiday in July 2000, just before this second and far more deadly intifada, and on that occasion I noticed a far more sinister atmosphere, especially in the Arab parts of East Jerusalem.
To go to Israel as a tourist can be a disappointment. I have heard of many people who have gone to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Garden Tomb, to Bethlehem and to Nazareth, only to feel let down that the vast swathes of tourists, (no longer present now of course), made it difficult to recapture the authenticity of the Judea of Jesus’ time. Many have only found a sense of authenticity in Galilee, still quite similar to the time when Jesus and Peter met on the shores of the lake two thousand years ago. However, to live in Israel is something quite different. Both the Arabic and Jewish cultures are wonderfully alive, with beautiful art, music and delicious food. Family life is extremely strong compared to our European culture. Most of all, politics and religion run deep into the soul of many who live there, making Israel and the Palestinian territories a fascinating arena in which to explore and find out more about those two great world faiths, Judaism and Islam.
In 1986 one could walk through the old walled city of Jerusalem without
any fear of attack. We used to travel off into the West Bank to explore the
towns of Jericho, Hebron, Ramallah and Bethlehem, and a friend of mine even
went as far as the Gaza Strip. We were amazed the warm hospitality of the
Palestinians, who would invite us in and put on a great meal for us.
However, things have turned so much to the worse since then. Basically the two
extremes have grown more and more politically dominant.
On one side, the
extreme wing of the Likud party, epitomised by Ariel Sharon, has taken centre
stage in Israeli politics. With its emphasis on continuing settlement in the
West Bank, Likud has stirred up deeper and deeper hatred within the young men
of the impoverished Palestinian areas. This settlement of Jews in Arab areas is
based on a growing religious fundamentalism within certain parts of Israeli
society that sees settlement as a God-inspired return of the exiles of the
Diaspora to the land of Joshua and Solomon. To the Arab villagers, it is the
arrival of alien modern housing estates on hills overlooking their refugee
camps and modest hamlets, resting in the valleys beneath.
On the
other side we have the growing strength of a fundamentalism that should not be
called Islamic fundamentalism because it discredits Islam. It is anti-American,
anti-European, and especially anti-Israel. It promotes a mentality that leads
young men, laden with explosives, to walk into cafes and blow themselves up. It
reveals a theology that teaches that this is the best way to gain the bliss of
eternal joy in heaven.
Space forbids me to go into further detail on this upsetting subject, but clearly both these extremes have the ascendancy at the moment. Please then join with me in praying for the peace of Jerusalem and Israel and the Palestinian territories. With over 1400 dead in nineteen months, let us pray that the leaders will turn from extremism to find a more moderate middle way.
Finally, pray for the small and beleaguered church in that land, as she tries to witness to Christ’s love and message of forgiveness and tolerance.
Simon Tillotson
This letter appears in the parish magazine. To subscribe to the magazine please email Brian Eddy or contact the church office.
Old (and by now possibly a bit dusty???) Thoughts
November 2000
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2001
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February 2002
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