wfn.org | Commentary: Why is Middle East violence happening now?

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Oct. 13, 2000 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.     10-21-71B{472}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photo of the Rev. Joe Hale is available for use
with this commentary.

A UMNS Commentary 
By the Rev. Joe Hale*

We are witnessing the state of Israel moving from its original ideals to a
nation in which some people -- particularly Arab-Palestinians -- are treated
as "second class."  Why is the escalation of such extreme violence happening
now?

One: We are seeing in the West Bank (occupied by Israel since 1967) the
practice of apartheid in the year 2000. Outlawed in South Africa some years
ago, it has become a way of life in Israel.  Huge settlements are being
built on Arab land for Jewish immigrants. New roads that bypass Palestinian
communities are being constructed with freedom of movement for all Jewish
people.  Arab Palestinians are forced to carry pass cards, have license
plates on their cars that identify them, and face Israeli checkpoints that
restrict their movements. In America, we would call the lesser of these
practices "racial profiling."

Two: The uncritical support of Israel by the United States makes an already
bad situation worse.  This support is moderated by very occasional and mild
rebukes, one being the fact that we "abstained" from a recent UN vote
condemning Israel, rather than casting a veto. To Palestinians, America
wants to help "keep the lid on" in the occupied West Bank and is not
genuinely concerned to see any change. They have witnessed too many "signing
ceremonies" that have raised their hopes and then seen them swiftly dashed
by inaction. They have lived under occupation for a third of a century, and
things have gotten worse, rather than better. These people have no voice, no
hope, no future.

The illegal Jewish settlements have been built on virtually every high hill
in the West Bank for the Palestinians to see every day. They know we have
permitted the state of Israel to construct them. In the state of Israel,
Arab-Palestinians living there from the time Israel was born in 1948 remain
second-class citizens. The pot is now boiling over in both places - in
Israel and the West Bank. This is something new for the state of Israel. 

Israeli helicopters attacking from the air are destroying what little
infrastructure and new public buildings have been built in places like
Jericho and Gaza -- towns the Israelis, with great media coverage, returned
to Palestinian control. Yes, there is rage!  It is occurring because of a
forced peace without righteousness! As I spoke with a colleague in Jerusalem
Oct. 12, a major Palestinian building was being destroyed in Gaza by Israeli
fire. "It is a massacre!" my friend said. The news that evening reported 36
deaths. Acts like these ignore the wisdom of our common scripture:
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
(Proverbs 14:34)

What can we do? As Americans, we can call upon our leaders, and especially
those running our highest office, to be true to our highest American ideals
in our dealings with both Israelis and Palestinians. In these days, our eyes
have been opened to see that blind, uncritical support for either side is
not the answer. If being a "friend of Israel" and Israel's being "our friend
in the Middle East" requires us to deny what is most precious in our
American dream - liberty and justice for all people - the price is too high
for any American to pay and too high for the United States of America to
pay, for it diminishes us both at home and in the eyes of the peoples of the
world.

It is time for us to earnestly pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for all the
people - Jews, Muslims and especially the Palestinian Christians.

  #  #  #

Hale, general secretary of the World Methodist Council, has visited Israel
more than 35 times.  His first trip was in 1955.

Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily
represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.

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