A Christian Look at the War Against Gaza: Episode Eight with Greg Khalil

Greg Khalil is a Palestinian American who is also a graduate of Yale Law School. In the early 2000s he was a negotiator with the Palestinian team talking with Israeli negotiators about peace in Israeli-Palestine.

Drawing from his family background and his own first-hand experience, Greg discusses the history of Gaza, Hamas, the American church, and possible pathways forward towards an end to the current bloodshed.

Chris Hedges: Israel’s Final Solution

In his latest article for Consortium News, veteran journalist Chris Hedges gets the story exactly right when describing Israel’s genocidal plans for

Chris Hedges

both Gaza and the West Bank.

When a sociopath like Bibi Netanyahu (and members of his coalition government) repeatedly tell you that he/they plan to murder you and steal your home, it’s best to take them at their word.

Below is an excerpt of the article titled “Israel’s Final Solution.”

I covered the birth of Jewish fascism in Israel. I reported on the extremist Meir Kahane, who was barred from running for office and whose Kach Party was outlawed in 1994 and declared a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.

I attended political rallies held by Benjamin Netanyahu, who received lavish funding from rightwing Americans, when he ran against Yitzhak Rabin, who was negotiating a peace settlement with the Palestinians. Netanyahu’s supporters chanted “Death to Rabin.” They burned an effigy of Rabin dressed in a Nazi uniform. Netanyahu marched in front of a mock funeral for Rabin. 

Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated on Nov. 4, 1995, by a Jewish fanatic. Rabin’s widow, Lehea, blamed Netanyahu and his supporters for her husband’s murder.

Netanyahu, who first became prime minister in 1996, has spent his political career nurturing Jewish extremists, including Avigdor LiebermanGideon Sa’arNaftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked

His father, Benzion — who worked as an assistant to the Zionist pioneer Vladimir Jabotinsky, whom Benito Mussolini referred to as “a good fascist” — was a leader in the Herut Party that called on the Jewish state to seize all the land of historic Palestine. 

Many of those who formed the Herut Party carried out terrorist attacks during the 1948 war that established the state of Israel. Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook and other Jewish intellectuals, described the Herut Party in a statement published in The New York Times as a “political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to Nazi and Fascist parties.”

There has always been a strain of Jewish fascism within the Zionist project. Now it has taken control of the Israeli state.

“The left is no longer capable of overcoming the toxic ultra-nationalism that has evolved here,” Zeev Sternhell, a Holocaust survivor and Israel’s foremost authority on fascism, warned in 2018, “the kind whose European strain almost wiped out a majority of the Jewish people.” Sternhell added, “[W]e see not just a growing Israeli fascism but racism akin to Nazism in its early stages.” 

The decision to obliterate Gaza has long been the dream of Israel’s crypto-fascists, heirs of Kahane’s movement. These Jewish extremists, which make up the ruling coaltion government, are orchestrating the genocide in Gaza, where hundreds of Palestinians are dying daily. They champion the iconography and language of their homegrown fascism. Jewish identity and Jewish nationalism are the Zionist versions of blood and soil.

Jewish supremacy is sanctified by God, as is the slaughter of the Palestinians, who Netanyahu compared to the Biblical Amalekites, massacred by the Israelites. Enemies — usually Muslims — slated for extinction are subhuman who embody evil. Violence and the threat of violence are the only forms of communication those outside the magical circle of Jewish nationalism understand. Millions of Muslims and Christians, including those with Israeli citizenship, are to be purged. 

leaked 10-page document from the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence dated Oct. 13 recommends the forcible and permanent transfer of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. 

It is a grave mistake not to take the blood curdling calls for the wholesale eradication and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians seriously. This rhetoric is not hyperbolic. It is a literal prescription. Netanyahu in a tweet, later removed, described the battle with Hamas as a “struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle.” 

These Jewish fanatics have begun their version of the final solution to the Palestinian problem. They dropped 12,000 tons of explosives on Gaza in the first two weeks of the assault to obliterate at least 45 percent of Gaza’s housing units, according to the U.N. ‘s humanitarian office. They have no intention of being detoured, even by Washington.

“It became evident to U.S. officials that Israeli leaders believed mass civilian casualties were an acceptable price in the military campaign,” The New York Times reported.

“In private conversations with American counterparts, Israeli officials referred to how the United States and other allied powers resorted to devastating bombings in Germany and Japan during World War II — including the dropping of the two atomic warheads in Hiroshima and Nagasaki — to try to defeat those countries,” the paper continued. 

The goal is a “pure” Israel, cleansed of Palestinian contaminants. Gaza is to become a wasteland. The Palestinians in Gaza will be killed or forced into refugee camps over the border in Egypt.

Messianic redemption will take place once the Palestinians are expelled. Jewish extremists call for the Al-Aqsa mosque — the third holiest shrine for Muslims, built on the ruins of the Jewish Second Temple, which was destroyed in 70 CE by the Roman army — to be demolished.

The mosque is to be replaced by a “Third” Jewish temple, a move that would set the Muslim world alight. The West Bank, which the zealots call “Judea and Samaria,” will be formally annexed by Israel. Israel, governed by the religious laws imposed by the ultra-orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, will be a Jewish version of Iran.

You can read the entire article here.

A Christian Look at the War Against Gaza: Episode Seven with Lisa Loden and Richard Harvey

My friends Lisa Loden and Richard Harvey are both Jewish Christians. Lisa lives in Israel. Richard resides in England.

Today Rob talks with them about their Jewish, Christian perspectives on the current war. Their commitment to following Jesus as the Prince of Peace during a time of war provides a powerful testimony to the presence of God’s kingdom in this world.

I will make only a few brief comments of my own to follow up on some of the issues raised in the interview:

First, I believe it is long past time to stop using the history of Jewish suffering, as horrific as it is, to excuse Israel’s current oppression of the Palestinian people.

Second, by Richard’s own definition of terrorism, Israel is now committing acts of terrorism against the people of Gaza.

Finally, I completely agree with Lisa when she says that this war is not about Israel’s self-defense.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

A Christian Look at the War Against Gaza: Episode Six with Jonathan Kuttab

Jonathan Kuttab is a Palestinian Christian from East Jerusalem. He is a human rights lawyer who has practiced law in the USA, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Jonathan is also the author of several books, including Beyond the Two State Solution, which I highly recommend.

Today Rob talks with Jonathan about the war against Gaza, the death of the two-state solution, as well as his Christian commitment to non-violent living in the kingdom of God.

Do Christians Have a Theological Obligation to Support Israel’s Right to the Land?

Dr. Gary Burge was recently interviewed on the podcast Theology in the Raw.

My friend Gary provides an extensive argument for answering NO to this question. No, Christians do not have a theological obligation to support Israel’s right to the land.

If you have any questions about these matters, then please give Gary an hour of you time. You will be glad you did:

Do Christians Have a Theological Obligation to Support the Modern State of Israel? Dr. Gary Burge

Bruce Fisk and His Wife Alessandra Explain the Background to Israel’s War Against Gaza

Bruce and Alessandra are both friends of mine. Bruce is a retired New Testament professor. His wife, Alessandra is a Palestinian. Together they make a formidable team explaining the ins and outs of the dire situation in Gaza and Israel.

They recently gave a seminar to an East coast church. It’s 90 minutes long but well worth every minute:

 

Israeli Violence Against Palestinians Increases Throughout the West Bank

Journalist Nida Ibrahim describes and illustrates the escalating violence against Palestinians that is spreading throughout the West Bank, one of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

A Christian Look at the War on Gaza: Episode Five with Dr. Gary Burge

Dr. Gary Burge is another good friend of mine. He is a well-known New Testament scholar and author of numerous books and commentaries. Gary has worked and traveled widely throughout the Middle East, including Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In this interview, Gary discusses the circumstances leading up the Hamas’ October 7 attack.

He also answers various biblical and theological questions about “Israel’s right to control the land.”

On the Power of Incipient Nationalism to Compromise Christian Faith and a Critique of Christian Zionism

My previous post discussing Israel’s war against Gaza mentions the ways in which personal political commitments to nationalism and/or patriotism may deform or undercut a person’s faithfulness to the kingdom of God.

I discuss a variety of ways in which modern politics can distort or even destroy Christian witness as modern political commitments choke out our willingness to adhere to the ethics of Jesus in my book, I Pledge Allegiance.

It just so happens that today I was also reading a good book by Rob Hewell titled Worship Beyond Nationalism: Practicing the Reign of God.

Hewell’s analysis of the subtle but deadly threats posed by nationalism, particularly Christian nationalism, to faithful witness are highly relevant to a proper understanding of Christian Zionism.

My Zionist brothers and sisters insist that their loyalty to Israel is rooted entirely in scripture.

As I mention briefly in my previous post, I am convinced that it also reflects a prior more fundamental commitment to a nationalistic ideology. Zionists are Israeli nationalists, even though they may be citizens of another country.

Israeli nationalism rides the train of American nationalism very easily.

Below I have reproduced a brief excerpt from Mr. Hewell’s book that I believe makes my point:

Nationalism ought to be seen as a sectarian heresy in conflict with tthe universality of the Christian gospel and God’s construction of a new people from all peoples and nations, and whose allegiance is to the kingdom of God. . . 

Because the ultimate commitments of worldly nation-states are not the gospel itself, a nation-state’s agenda will never clearly be consonant with the agenda to which the church is called, namely missio Dei. . . A failure of the church to allow its radical nature to shine on this one count will likely lead to additional compromises.

The church in America lives in the shadow of tthe legacy of empire, triumphalism, and nationalism. . . The inclusion of this nation’s story [whether the Unites States or Israelin the worship gatherings of Christ’s followers allows what can be interpreted as an alien narrative to influence the life of the church. The demands of nationalism will always ultimately conflict with the gospel of God in Christ, creating an identity crisis for the church. . . Such a crisis will arise because of an understanding or interpretation of Christianity determined by . . . membership in a population or community, other than the church, that becomes critical for the church’s self-understanding. . . 

When the church allows nationalistic influences within its worship [or its theology!]. . . it allows the nation-state a hand in shaping the church’s identity. Once nationalism has become an element of the church’s identity, the church also becomes vulnerable to that nation’s partisan politics. . . . Under the influence of nationalism, the church’s ability to prophetically critique the state is limited if not completely abandoned. (emphasis mine)

Such nationalistic compromise is exactly what I believe has happened to my Christian Zionist friends who now refuse to criticize, much less condemn, Israel’s egregious proliferation of war crimes in its bombings of the Palestinian people in Gaza — and its ‘crack-down’ against the people of the West Bank.

The Christian’s commitment to the kingdom of God is always first and foremost for obedient disciples of Jesus Christ.

 

My Views on the Current War Against Gaza

For some time now I have particiated in an informal discussion group consisting of a mix of Christian Zionists and non-Zionists, such as myself.

The group is largely composed of academics from around the world. We meet by Zoom calls one per month to talk across the theological chasm that separates us on the question of modern Israel and Palestine.

Christian Zionists believe that Israel remains God’s chosen nation; that occupation of the land is an essential precondition to the return of Christ; and that political loyalty to Israel is a necessary value for faithful Christians to uphold.

I, and my fellow non-Zionists, do not believe these things. Jesus is free to return at any time, and Israel has nothing to do with when or how that can happen.

As you can imagine, we have strong disagreements. But the group’s reason for being is to exercise and to model civil, loving discourse among brothers and sisters in Christ who have strong theological disagreements with each other.

As you can imagine, the outbreak of Israel’s war against Gaza has turned up the heat considerably within the group. We recently had a lengthy email exchange debating the horrific events that have erupted, beginning with the dastardly Hamas attack on October 7.

To briefly explain my own position on this war, I have reproduced below my final contribution to that debate. (For a fuller picture of why I think the way I do, please read my book, Like Birds in a Cage.)

I share this email with you, my subscribers, in order to illustrate and to explain what I believe is the proper Christian response to the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza today:

In the course of our conversation, several folks have asked the (rhetorical?) question, “What else is Israel supposed to do to root out Hamas?” The implication being that Israel’s current actions in Gaza are necessary and unavoidable – what else could Israel do?

Allow me to suggest that the question reveals a lack of imagination. At the risk of offending some, I will go further and suggest that the question reveals a deficiency of Christian discipleship. The calculations of Realpolitik are tangential, if not irrelevant, to the moral requirements of citizenship in God’s kingdom. The basic problem, I believe, is that the pro-Zionist conscience is truncated and distorted by its loyalty to a secular nation-state. Thus, the demands of loyalty to Zionist, nationalistic ideology is allowed to stifle both imagination and discipleship. This is a failure to fully inhabit our intended citizenship in God’s peaceable kingdom.

The two factions of our group are separated by seemingly irreconcilable differences, differences that we cannot, or at least, do not, talk about. These differences lead us to vastly different opinions and commitments concerning the current bloodshed, among both Israeli Jews and Palestinians.

My theological commitments lead me to believe that the history of American imperialism makes us very comfortable taking the colonizer’s side in anti-colonial conflicts. I believe that implied belief in Israeli exceptionalism and Palestinian/Hamas barbarism subtly runs throughout our conversation.

As many others have said, there is no military solution to this so-called conflict. Zionist dreams of “replacing Hamas” with something or someone else continue to ignore the root causes of this violence. The only lasting solution will be political, that is a just, humane ending of Israel’s military occupation and all that goes with it. Currently, Israel is an apartheid state. Those who are discriminated against will always resist their oppressors. It’s human nature. No amount of carpet bombing will beat the impulse for freedom and equality out of Palestinian hearts and minds.

I hope that sharing this statement with you may be of some interest and/or help to those wrestling with the moral questions raised by both Israel’s carpet-bombing of Gaza and the Hamas attack against Israel.

If you have questions or comments, please send them to me. I will respond to everything.