WCC FEATURE: Loving your neighbour in the Middle East

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World Council of Churches - Feature

LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOUR IN THE MIDDLE EAST

For immediate release: 31 August 2010

By Mark Beach (*)

Military checkpoints are a way of life for Palestinians in Palestine 
and
Israel. Each day tens of thousands of Palestinians move patiently 
through
turnstiles and narrow caged walkways to go to work, school or home. 
It is
a humiliating experience.

For the Israelis, it could be said that the checkpoints are also 
indirectly
a part of their daily life. It is their sons and daughters who watch 
as
the Palestinians move through the checkpoints to go home, to work, 
school
or worship.

Some of the checkpoints, like the barrier at Shuhada Street in 
Hebron, lead
to an empty, abandoned street with shuttered shops and empty 
apartments
above the street. Palestinians can go only a certain distance along 
the
street before they are turned back.

The checkpoints also carry a metaphorical notion tearing at any sense 
of
neighbourliness that might have been part of the familial and 
religious
upbringing of those entering the turnstiles and those watching them.

Deeply embedded in the religions of the Abrahamic tradition in this 
region,
Judaism, Islam and Christianity, is the sense of loving your 
neighbour as
being rooted in the adoration and love of God.

It is in this context that the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general 
secretary
of the World Council of Churches (WCC), delivered a sermon on the Good
Samaritan this past Sunday, 29 August, at the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church
of the Redeemer, located in the old city of Jerusalem. He spoke in the
course of a day in which his WCC delegation saw firsthand many of the
barriers that separate people.

The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 describes the qualities 
of
life as it comes forward in "the great commandment to love your
neighbour," Tveit said. The real question is who proved to be a good
neighbour in this parable.

In the context of Palestine and Israel with their ever-present 
barriers and
violence, all parties are deprived of fulfilling this purpose in 
life, to
love God and their neighbour, he said. "Religion should not prevent us
from doing that."

Despite the complexities of the politics and religious differences 
which
are steeped in the recent tragedies as much as historical events of
Palestine and Israel, the story of the Good Samaritan exudes a very 
simple
idea of "loving your neighbour".

The story of the Good Samaritan is a story about a man who for 
whatever
reason wanted to go to Jericho, Tveit said to the congregation at 
Church
of the Redeemer. Along the way, his trip was interrupted by violence.
"This story is perhaps more real than we want it to be," Tveit said.

When approaching a checkpoint in Palestine and Israel it is hard not 
to
think about neighbours, neighbourhoods and being a neighbour. For 
Tveit,
"in the end everything is about loving your neighbour."

It is a simple and perhaps naive message from the New Testament. How 
could
such a message of loving your neighbour work in a context as complex 
as
this?

Whom we should love is not so complicated, Tveit said. "Moral life is 
not
very sophisticated: it is loving God, loving your neighbour and loving
yourself," he said.

Empty streets, separated neighbours

The manifestation of years of violence within Palestine and Israel has
meant empty streets with abandoned and shuttered shops, towering 
walls and
razor wire fences meant to keep some people out and others in. In the 
end,
it has meant neighbours separated, suspicious and in fear of one 
another.

As Tveit and his colleagues walked the empty Shuhada Street which 
divides
the Palestinian Authority-controlled area of Hebron from the
Israeli-controlled area, the silence of the street spoke volumes.

They walked with members of the WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment 
Programme in
Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The ecumenical accompaniers are 
volunteers
from WCC member churches around the world who accompany Palestinians 
as
they encounter checkpoints, or Israelis as they confront the policies 
of
their government bent on splitting neighbourhoods rather than linking
them.

As the group moved along the street, two of the accompaniers were 
called
back to the checkpoint to observe a situation where a Palestinian was
having difficulty moving through the checkpoint. In the end the 
situation
was resolved.

The ecumenical accompaniers are always on call. Only Saturday night, 
in
East Jerusalem, members of the Jerusalem team were observing a
demonstration of Palestinians and Israelis who were voicing their
opposition to the illegal occupation of some Palestinian homes by 
Israeli
settlers.

At a T-junction in the road and under the illumination of street 
lights,
the protestors stood on one side, a group of settlers at one corner 
across
from them and the police on the other corner.

Toward the end of the protest a man from the protestors’ side jumped 
into
the street and yelled at the settlers, causing police to move quickly 
to
intervene. Younger men came running from other directions and for a 
moment
the potential for an escalation in violence was very real.

The ecumenical accompaniers observed and documented the unfolding 
events
with cameras. They had seen all of this before. The situation 
subsided,
and the groups went back to their respective corners until everyone 
went
home later.

But along Shuhada Street in Hebron, which on maps is now a "red line",
where were all of the people? Where was the neighbourhood? At one 
time the
street was a bustling market area with traders and buyers.

"Our neighbours need us to love," Tveit said. "Religion is about 
loving
God, loving your neighbour and loving yourself."

The sign of hope Tveit found in the story of the Good Samaritan was 
not any
reported repentance on the part of those who passed by the wounded
traveller yet refused to help him. "That would make a good story," he
said.

"Our lack of ability for repentance does not limit God's ability to 
bring
love and justice," Tveit.

The fact is, even in the face of checkpoints and the separation of
neighbours, indignity and violence, "you cannot take away the truth" 
of
God's love and justice, he said. The parable of the Good Samaritan
demonstrated that a long time ago.

[1'016 words]

(*) Mark Beach is WCC director of communications.


More information on the 28 August to 2 September visit (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=8a2117c156e8e2362e43
)

Photos of the visit (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=80d7ed44293cfd84aff0 )


WCC member churches in Palestine and Israel (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=5e31323f142c4ca495c1 )

Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=db2ec7160bf140d73889 )

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC 
policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to 
the
author.


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, 
witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 
of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 
Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 
million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the 
Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



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