Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2000, pages 67-68

Christianity and the Middle East

Friends of Sabeel Conference 2000 Concentrates on Sharing Jerusalem, Refugees and Ethnic Cleansing

 

By Fred Strickert

The Friends of Sabeel–North America met June 1-2 at Lincoln Park Methodist Church in Washington, DC, with the theme of the conference: “Jubilee Time: Working for a Just and Lasting Peace between Palestinians and Israelis.”

With co-sponsorship by the American Committee on Jerusalem and Christians for Middle East Peace, participants focused on three issues central to the peace process:

• Refugees: Rights and Negotiation Positions
• Ethnic Cleansing: Dispossession and Dislocation
• The Importance of a Shared Jerusalem

 

Sabeel

Sabeel, Arabic for “the way” and also “a channel” or “spring” of life-giving water, describes itself as an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians which encourages women, men, and youth to discern what God is saying to them as their faith connects with the hard realities of their daily life: occupation, violence, discrimination and human rights violations.

Formed in 1989 by an ecumenical group of 10 Palestinian clergy and lay theologians, the Sabeel Center in Jerusalem under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek provides programs to assist Palestinians in their struggle while also promoting a more acute international awareness. The Friends of Sabeel-NA meets annually so that North American Christians can intersect with the work of the Jerusalem organization.

 

A Vision of a Shared Jerusalem

Conference keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, Anglican priest and director of the Sabeel Center, set forth his vision of a shared Jerusalem. “We are approaching the moment of truth. Will the peace process deliver a just or unjust peace?” he asked. “Even were Israel to return the entire West Bank and Gaza, but not Jerusalem, it would not produce a permanent peace.”

As a prelude to his vision, Ateek laid out six basic guidelines which must undergird any solution that will be considered just and thus lasting.

1. It must begin with a theology of God concerned for all people equally so that all consider themselves chosen and entrusted together with the common task as servants in the world today.
2. There are no perfect solutions because what may seem just to one side will likely appear unjust to the other. Since both sides equally need peace and security, compromise is necessary.
3. Any military means to determine the future of Jerusalem must be rejected. History has recorded a long series of one armed group after another controlling Jerusalem. Yet power and injustice have unfailingly gone hand in hand.
4. Jerusalem is the key to the solution of Middle East peace. Only the sharing of Jerusalem will lead to a durable peace.
5. Each party must be given the mutual satisfaction that Jerusalem belongs to one side as much as another. No exclusive dominant edge can be given to any one side.
6. Change must begin in the heart. While most solutions are intellectual endeavors, one must consider also the emotive character of Jerusalem.

In applying these principles, Ateek notes that people have two basic approaches to the issue of Jerusalem: the political need and the religious need. To meet these needs, the city must be divided into three basic sections: the old city, East Jerusalem, and West Jerusalem.

It is the old city which can satisfy religious needs since it is home to most of the important holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Because of its special character, Ateek proposes that the old city become a distinctive zone created by a special charter of the United Nations and governed equally by representatives of the three religions. The status of old city Jerusalem would be above the political level.

East Jerusalem would be placed under Palestinian political rule with the restoration of lands confiscated illegally through war and force since 1967. West Jerusalem would be designated under Israeli political control. Rather than the old terminology of East and West Jerusalem, Ateek suggests a break with the past by calling one Yerushalayim-Jerusalem and the other al-Quds -Jerusalem.

Ateek acknowledges that many of the details of this vision of a shared Jerusalem would need to be worked out, but an agreement in principle would be a first step.

This proposal, he suggests, makes a significant break with other solutions. Some may see a similarity to the 1947 U.N. proposal which designated all of Jerusalem (including also Bethlehem) as an international city. The interval of half a century has changed the picture to include current political as well as religious dimensions so that the separation of the old city as a shared religious entity is something quite different.

Current suggestions—by which the Israeli government has been testing the waters—that limited sections of greater Jerusalem be returned and that Abu Dis be designated as the Palestinian capital fail to take into account the emotional ties to the old city and its religious dimension.

Common rhetoric which speaks of a united Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel simply dooms the peace process to failure. “What is an ‘eternal’ capital?” asks Ateek. Historically, it is naïve, considering the changes Jerusalem has undergone. Theologically, it confuses what is political with what is religious.

Even his shared vision of Jerusalem is not eternal, stresses Ateek. “Hopefully, it will be merely a transition while we learn to work together until the day when all of Jerusalem will be equally shared.

“What it means is a major paradigm shift with the dawning of the 21st century, a shift to partnership rather than domination.”

 

Refugees

While the status of Jerusalem takes center stage in the peace process, the FOS–NA conference was designed to emphasize that it is one of three major issues which must be addressed to produce a durable peace.

The internationally known journalist Lamis Andoni, originally from Bethlehem, placed the refugee issue on center stage and proposed that this in fact is the core issue of the peace process. The simple fact that half of the world’s Palestinians are registered with UNRWA as refugees (3.6 million out of 7 million Palestinians world-wide) means that a peace proposal which produces a solution for residents of the West Bank, Gaza, and even Jerusalem, will still be far from complete.

Andoni decried the fact that the Oslo accords, unlike previous U.N. resolutions, totally ignored the refugees and placed all the emphasis on land for peace and the eventual Palestinian state, suggesting this was a deliberate distraction from the greater issues.

“For the first time, people are realizing that a return is in fact feasible,” she stated, noting the findings of Salman Abu Sitta that 78 percent of the Israelis live on 15 percent of pre-1967 Israeli land. He found that the original villages of a vast majority of refugees were located on the 85 percent of Israel land populated today by only 22 percent of Israelis, most of it in the Galilee.

Andoni poignantly highlighted recent photos following Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon—of three generations of refugee families looking across the border fence to their pre-1948 homeland. “This symbolizes the collective identity of Palestinians,” she noted, “and a new hope for refugees.”

 

Ethnic Cleansing

The third issue critical to a just and lasting peace is the continued dispossession and dislocation of Palestinians from West Bank land.

Geoffrey Aronson, director of the Foundation for Middle East Peace and editor of the foundation’s bi-monthly Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories, described the role of settlements in perpetuating Israeli control over the Palestinians. Contrasting the unpopular situation in Lebanon, where the Israeli army defended primarily itself, he noted how the settlements have become an excuse for the IDF to continue its domination of the Palestinians.

While media focus on percentages of land handed over to the PA, even looking to the ultimate projections of 90 percent return of West Bank land, this distracts from the fact that the settlement strategy is designed to control borders with Jordan and Egypt, to provide a network of access roads, and to stake a claim to strategic positions for control of water. The continued confiscation of lands for settlements and the eviction of residents who are in the way completes the pattern of dispossession.

Jamey Bouwmeester of the Christian Peacemaker Teams attempted to personalize the issue, describing his two-and-a-half-year experience with home demolitions in Hebron. Relating the story of the Ata Jaber family, he told how the basic human right of housing is denied Palestinian families simply because of their ethnicity.

 

Resources and Activities by American Friends

The Friday session of the conference was devoted to a sharing of information concerning the resources available to American Christian groups and strategies and activities for advocacy on behalf of a just and lasting peace, especially the three focus issues addressed on Thursday.

Representatives of co-sponsoring organizations summarized their programs designed to assist American Christians in the advocacy process. Corinne Whitlatch of Churches for Middle East Peace described the current campaign to bring the “Shared Jerusalem” concept to individual congregations and members. The campaign began with a full-page advertisement in The New York Times in 1996, with signatures of religious leaders, and spread to regional publications. “Now it is time to take the campaign to another level,” Whitlatch said, “informing congregations and getting individuals engaged in policy.

“Many individual members are unaware that their denominations have position statements supporting a shared Jerusalem,” she noted. Large color posters are thus currently being mailed to congregations to increase awareness and to call attention to resources for education.

At the same time, CMEP continues to provide Action Alerts on priority issues and is increasing its e-mail information network (contact < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >) and availability of resources on its Web page: <www.cmep.org>.

Lara Saade of the American Committee on Jerusalem described its role in facilitating hearings on Capitol Hill, including one by Rev. Naim Ateek prior to this conference. Currently much of the work of this committee is focusing on the U.S. Embassy issue, pointing out to government officials not only how a move to Jerusalem opposes international law and is counter to the peace process, but also how the proposed embassy site is on land confiscated from Palestinians.

Betsy Barlow, the coordinator of FOS–NA, summarized its role in educating church people. This includes assistance in overseas tours as well as regional programs with Palestinian speakers. In addition, several slide and photo displays are available for congregational use. Sabeel seeks to promote partnerships with Palestinian people. In this regard, she announced the fourth annual International Sabeel conference to be held at Solomon’s Pools near Bethlehem in February 2001. For more information contact the FOS–NA office at P.O. Box 4214, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4214, or by e-mail at < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

 

Advocacy

Unlike many conferences which focus only on a sharing of information, the Sabeel conference was designed to get participants involved in advocacy work. The Thursday morning session was set aside for participants to lobby their own congressional representatives and senators.

As a follow-up, Khalil Jahshan of the ADC provided a session on how to influence Congress, and Rev. Mark Brown of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs led participants to share ideas on a common agenda for the year 2000 and beyond.

As a key resource participants were provided with The Jerusalem Sabeel Document: Principles for a Just Peace in Palestine-Israel, which summarizes the position of Sabeel leadership on the peace process issues. The document is available on the Web at <www.sabeel.org>.

Dr. Fred Strickert is professor of religion at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa and co-author with Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present, available through the AET Book Club.

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