Middle East conflict strains ministries
JERUSALEM - Violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli armed forces have forced some Canadian ministries to pull their workers out of affected Middle East areas. Others who stay in areas such as the West Bank risk being injured or killed. About 350 people have been killed in fighting since September 28, most of them Palestinians.
"The part of the West Bank I was in was not safe," says 24-year-old Winnipegger Jacqueline Ward, an intern with World Vision Canada who was pulled from the area in late October. Ward says Israeli forces routinely respond to stone-throwing Palestinians with bullets. "I could hear machine gun fire and missiles hitting."
Ward was supposed to stay for a year living in East Jerusalem and working at a development project in Hebron. But she arrived October 4, days after opposition leader Ariel Sharon provoked Palestinian anger by visiting the Western Wall, the sole remaining segment of the ancient Temple. Both Jews and Palestinians consider the site sacred. The resulting "Days of Rage" feature ongoing confrontations between Palestinians and Israelis.
"I stayed inside every day," Ward says, adding that seven houses in the area have since been flattened by Israeli attacks. For her part, Ward sides solidly with the Palestinians. "Israel is not behaving in a way that honours the laws of God. It is not showing compassion or mercy." Until people start forgiving, she says, the violence may subside for a time, but the hatred will always remain.
While some agencies pulled workers, others, like Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), sent people into the heart of the violence. CPT is a relatively small group whose members attempt non-violent intervention to prevent conflict. In the municipality of Bethlehem, group member Anita Fast of Vancouver says CPT's goal was to persuade the Israelis to cease their military action in the area.
"We sleep in neighborhoods that are being bombed, and let the military know where we'll be…with the hope that Israel will be less likely to bomb a neighbourhood where North Americans are sleeping."
That hasn't always worked. In early December, a bomb blew out the window of CPT worker Pierre Shantz, of Waterloo, Ontario, who was staying in the village of Beit Jala in Bethlehem district.
"We're not on a suicide mission, and we're not there to be stupid," says Fast. "But we do believe that Christians who accept that the cross is an alternative to the sword must be willing to take similar risks to what soldiers take for war—but to take them non-violently, on behalf of a just peace."
Various views
Fast believes that many Canadian Christians have a misguided sympathy for Israel in the conflict. "It is important to distinguish between the Israel of scripture and the modern political state of Israel. Christians need to realize that when they uncritically support the state of Israel, they are supporting great injustice, violence and oppression against Christian and Muslim Palestinians."
Other Canadian ministry leaders believe that Christians ought to be mindful of the Bible's record of end days. "These are serious days," says Michael Pierce, director of Christ for Your City, a prayer and evangelism ministry. "Those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. That is the word of God," he says.
Pierce forwarded material from the U.S.-based For Your Glory ministry, which advises people to look beyond the battle over land and recognize that the conflict is all about religion. The website insists it is crucial for Christians to uphold Israel both in prayer and by lobbying governments to support Israel and "show solidarity with the prophetic purposes of God and his chosen people."
Chosen People Ministries Canada speaks of the violence as a precursor to the end days leading up to the second coming of Christ, and is stepping up its efforts to evangelize Jews in Israel.
"As we see the time drawing closer to the coming of the Lord, we are directing more and more of our worldwide missionary efforts towards Israel," writes Chosen People president Mitch Glaser. "As the Lord enables, we hope to increase our staff in Israel and do more and more to reach Jewish people in the land of promise while there is still time."
Meanwhile, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, which has a long history of peace and development projects in the Middle East, sent a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. MCC chair Ron Dueck wrote that Canada should push for a "full Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories over which it gained control in the 1967 war." MCC further called for a fair settlement for Palestinian refugees and a shared arrangement for Jerusalem that would allow access for both peoples.
Inter-Church Action, a coalition of six churches and church agencies sent two representatives to the occupied territories in early December: Robert Assaly, an Anglican priest from Ottawa and Tad Mitsui, a retired United Church minister from Alberta.
Assaly, a former director of the Jerusalem office of the Middle East Council of Churches in the mid-1990s, says he was surprised at the number of roadblocks and detours set up by the Israeli military. In contrast, he says Israeli settlers enjoy new protected highways with much freer access. "Appearances five years ago that the peace process was setting up permanent inequality have now yielded to full-blown apartheid," he says.
The continued violence made Christmas celebrations at Bethlehem, the site of a traditional pilgrimage to the birthplace of Jesus, a significantly scaled back affair. Bethlehem mayor Hanna Nasser usually welcomes about 20,000 foreign tourists and worshippers, but he expected only "a few hundred" this year due to fears of violence.
Still, while he was originally quoted as saying that all Christmas activities would be cancelled, he later insisted that Christmas activities such as caroling and midnight services will go ahead.
"I tell all pilgrims they can come here to pray. I hope those who are interested will not be scared." He said that Bethlehem is safe from the nearby violence. "Hanging over Bethlehem is a sad atmosphere, but we are going to celebrate Christmas."
Unions, not violence, were the cause of a major disruption for another big event in Israel. "Celebrate Messiah 2000," the closing AD2000 event which was to have started December 27, was cancelled in mid-December because of a month-long labour dispute in Israel which included visa workers. That meant that 667 delegates from around the world—about half of total conference attendees—who required visas to attend the conference, could not obtain them.
In a letter to delegates, organizer Luis Bush said that intensive lobby efforts to have the government intervene to grant the visas were unsuccessful.
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