News Archives

Feb. 22, 2006

Three religious leaders — a Jewish rabbi, a Palestinian Christian pastor, and a Muslim professor of Islamic studies — told a group of United Methodists visiting Jerusalem that religion can sometimes hinder a search for a just peace.

“One of the sad realities,” Rabbi Levi Weiman Kelman told the group, “is that among peace workers, religion is seen as part of the problem and not part of the solution.”

Most peace workers in Israel are secular Israelis and “indifferent or agnostic to religion,” he said.

“Most believe that if this (Israeli-Palestinian conflict) were just a political problem without any religious issue, it would be a lot easier to solve,” he said. “There is some truth to that.”

Kelman is rabbi of a Reform Jewish congregation in Jerusalem called Kehilat Kol Haneshama and a leader of the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism and of Rabbis for Human Rights. He spoke to 51 United Methodists from across the United States who spent 10 days in Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of a study trip on the conflict there.

The study trip, “Seeking Peace and Pursuing Justice: Mission Education and Advocacy for Israel and Palestine,” was sponsored Jan. 17-27 by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, the denomination’s mission agency. The group met with the panel of religious leaders Jan. 25 at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem.

The Rev. Naim Ateek, director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, told the group the concept of God “can be one of the greatest hindrances to peacemaking,” especially if one group thinks God is special to them and not to others, uses religion to justify wars of the state, and misinterprets the Bible to justify prejudices.

Religion can be helpful, Ateek said, “when our concept of God rises above the narrow.

Our concept of the neighbor, depending on our definition of the neighbor, can help or hinder work toward a just peace.”

Mustafu Abu Sway, associate professor of philosophy and Islamic studies and director of the Islamic Research Center at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, said people of faith must make choices.

“Everything is there in the text,” Sway said. “It is up to you to choose the text.”

He said people of faith are invited to participate in the attributes of God, including forgiveness and peacemaking.

“There are ample verses about justice in all traditions,” Sway said. “There are ample verses about peace in all traditions. But, ultimately, we must decide what constitutes justice.”

All three speakers admonished members of their own faith groups who misinterpret scripture.

Ateek was particularly critical of Christian Zionism, calling it “a very serious problem within the Christian church.” And he urged Christians to “interpret our scriptures for the good of all people, without excluding others.”

“I want to emphasize,” Kelman said, “the level of ignorance people of faith have in all three traditions.” And he warned against extremists in all faiths.

“There is absolutely no possibility of dialogue with extremists who say they know God’s will and are doing God’s will,” he said.

“I think the biggest enemy,” Kelman said, “is any ideology that demonizes one side and deifies the other side.”

Kelman also noted that in the Israeli-Palestinian situation, both sides feel like victims, and “victims have no way to compromise.”

“Christians tend to look for and identify with the victim,” Kelman said. “In this situation, both sides have caused suffering. Both sides have suffered. Both sides need to recognize the suffering of the other.”

The speakers, however, did not agree on the specifics of what a just peace might be.

“I believe, ultimately, the best solution is one state,” Ateek said. “This is one country. We can live together in peace. It will have to be a democracy.”

But Ateek said he and the Sabeel Institute are working for a two-state solution, “to lessen the fears of my neighbors.”

“The Israeli government has a great fear of demographic change,” Ateek said. “They fear that there will be more Palestinians in this area than Jews. This is a problem the Zionists did not think of.

“We are working for a two-state solution,” he said, “so the Israelis will feel more secure.”

“The Palestinians always wanted their own state,” he added, “but, ultimately, I hope that in 50 years or so, both groups will say let’s have one state.”

Said Sway: “We are neck to neck in this situation because the land is holy. But the behavior is not so holy.

“Both sides, until they cool down, they need some space,” Sway said. He too expressed hope for a single state for both peoples. “Everyone agrees to an open city in Jerusalem. If you agree to that, you can agree to an open state. After all, it is a very small place.”

But Kelman, describing himself as a Zionist, said he believes “the Jews deserve a right to national self-determination just like everyone else.”

“I believe the Jewish people have the right to a state,” Kelman said. He reminded his listeners that the Jewish people suffered during the Holocaust and were not helped by European or U.S. Christians.

“You failed that test as Christians,” he said. “Our history at your hands, for 6 million of us, is an immoral position. To choose to be weak is an immoral position.

“Our biggest problem as Jews is that we have power,” he said. “You love us when we’re weak. But many Christians have a hard time dealing with Jews who have power.”

Kelman said he supports dismantling all the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories and returning to the 1967 borders. That idea “is becoming more and more accepted in Israeli society,” he said. “A consensus is building that we must dismantle the settlements.

“The proof that that’s the right solution is that nobody’s happy with it,” he said.

“I believe with all my heart that God chose the Jewish people and the Palestinian people to figure out a way to live together in peace,” Kelman said. “I believe that God’s will is that we live together in peace. And I believe that if God wants us to do it, it’s possible.”

*Rhodes is director of communications for the Northern Illinois Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org

Related Videos

Painting Israel's Wall: Protesting with art, not force

Related Articles

United Methodists learn Palestinians' side on Mideast trip

Two United Methodist gatherings urge selective divestment from Israel

U.S. Jewish, Christian leaders to work for

Resources

Board of Global Ministries

Opposition to Israeli Settlements in Palestinian Land

Precious Stones

Country profile: Palestine

Interviews from the Occupied Palestinian Territories