Articles |

Sep 29

Letter from Wadi Fukin

History is a tangible presence in Wadi Fukin, from the Aramaic origins of its name to the still-standing Byzantine church column, and the archaeological remains just outside the village. Also just beyond the village nestle some caves where the villagers sheltered during repeated Israeli attacks in the years following the Nakba.

The course of the conflict here has meant that the villagers find themselves right on the Green Line. It is a boundary whose path could yet mean that history has a further twist of the knife for Wadi Fukin, as Israel’s separation barrier continues on its winding way, dipping into the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities unfortunate enough to sit next to settlements. Read more

Jul 23

From martyrs to elections

Returning to Bethlehem after an absence of around nine months, one of the first things I noticed were the new posters. Even by the summer of 2004, the pictures of the shahid were fading, and recent additions were few and far between. A year on, and the faces of martyrs have been replaced by aspiring politicians, a reminder of the local elections that took place in the Bethlehem district not so long ago. Perhaps this is an example of the kind of ‘reform’ urged on the Palestinians by the U.S. and her allies. Read more

Jul 7

Church protest

Despite the continued strength and vitality of the Christian Zionist lobby in America, in the last few months there have been signs that it is also amongst the church that significant steps are being taken to pressurise Israel into compliance with international standards, including symbolically-loaded methods such as divestment, boycotts and sanctions. Read more

Mar 18

Understanding the Middle East ‘Democratic Wave’

In the aftermath of a second bitterly contested US presidential election, many political commentators surmised that a second-term Bush administration would be forced to depart from the radical neoconservative agenda that had characterized the previous four years. However, the last couple of weeks have served as a wake-up call that the neocon-inspired campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq might just have been a warm up.

The proof for all of this could be found in your local newsvendor. Read more

Feb 14

Fashion claims another symbol

As a supporter of the Palestinians ever since I went up to Cambridge in 2002 – I am now president of the university’s Palestine Society – I wonder how I should respond. Do I quietly celebrate this adoption of the emblem of Palestinian nationalism, or do I bitterly resent these Johnny-come-latelies and the ignorantly casual way they swing the black and white scarf over their shoulders? As it is safe to assume that those sporting keffiyehs are not new card-carrying members of Fatah, is this phenomenon a “good thing”?

You might say that this anxiety is typical of the miserable left, moaning about the gradual acceptance by the trendsetters and taste-makers of a cherished symbol of resistance. To combine cliches, we never miss an opportunity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But it is not as simple, or uplifting, as that. Read more

Nov 1

Naboth’s vineyard

‘Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’’ 1 Kings 21:19a, New International Version

For decades, many Christians in the West have been eagerly turning to their Bibles hoping to make sense of events in the Middle East. But overlooked in favour of the prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel are many scriptures which challenge a theology of unconditional support for modern day Israel. Read more

Oct 29

The debate over Israel’s separation wall part 1

This summer I have been able to see for myself the effects of the illegal Separation Wall being built around Bethlehem. I spent two months in Palestine, teaching English in Jerusalem and volunteering at Bethlehem Bible College. My daily walks to the College offered me an opportunity to see the relentless expansion of the prison walls.

For every metre of the Wall there is a story of dispossession and loss. The librarian at the Bible College, Hala, and her husband Daoud, have experienced the consequences of the ‘security fence’ at first hand. Shortly before the start of the intifada they used their life savings to purchase some land in Beit Jala as an inheritance for their children. Read more

Aug 26

Letter from Beit Jala

From Nabil Saba’s terrace there is a clear view of the Wall snaking its way around Beit Jala. Sitting underneath his family’s vineyard, enjoying the protection it offers from the afternoon sun, the peace is sometimes interrupted by the sound of construction work.

For Nabil, history has a habit of repeating itself. At the beginning of the 1970s, he was still living with his family in their ancestral home on Ras Beit Jala, the highest point in the town. But in 1972 the Israelis came to the house and offered to buy the land from Nabil’s father.

“We refused. So almost every day and night they would come to the house, to threaten us, to intimidate us. They would take me and my brothers to jail. They falsely accused us of supporting the guerrillas with 300 dinars, which was a lot of money in those days. They beat my brother in jail.” Read more

May 1

Jerry and Sis Levin at UK’s Cambridge University

Internationally renowned advocates of non-violence Jerry and Sis Levin, spoke at Cambridge University’s Churchill College March 11 on “Peacemaking in Palestine and Iraq.” Their talk, organized by the college’s Phoenix Society, drew a large audience of students and fellows, and was the first of a string of engagements across the UK.

The Levins have a unique perspective on the conflict in Israel and Palestine. The couple moved to Beirut in 1983, when Jerry was appointed CNN Middle East bureau chief. A mere three months later, however—on Ash Wednesday 1984—Jerry was kidnapped by Hezbollah while driving to work. This ended Jerry’s career climbing the ladder of media success, and launched Sis’s peacemaking work, as she negotiated her husband’s release and battled against the hypocritical rhetoric of her own government. Read more

May 1

Before Moses: the midwives’ resistance

Heavy emphasis on personal spirituality can often mean missing out on the powerful way the Bible speaks about the nature of political power in human society. The Israelite exodus from slavery in Egypt has inspired oppressed people throughout history, and numerous tropes of the story have been adopted by liberation theologies. But although the Sunday school story starts with Moses in the bulrushes, the first chapter of Exodus is a fantastic resource for understanding the nature of power, evil, and divinely-ordained resistance.

Exodus starts where Genesis left off, with the death of Joseph. An old era has passed away, and there is now a “new king” (v8) on the throne. Like all new rulers, elected or otherwise, this one is keen to assert his power and consolidate his position. What is more, the new king is ignorant of the nation’s history, and its debt to one particular Israelite. Read more