Mary Adamski: Oh, woeful holy land

VIEW FROM THE PEW

Now is not the first time we Americans struggle to grasp what is happening on the other side of our planet.

We’re watching the latest deadly chapter in a long-simmering religious, ethnic, territorial conflict fueled by the depth of human evil. Pride, envy, wrath, greed — traits which Catholic theology counts as deadly sins — are in play in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic terrorist thugs who overthrew the elected leaders of Palestine and consider themselves on a religious crusade as well as avenging decades of inhumane treatment of Palestinians.

But lest we decide it’s clear-cut, the blame is shared according to peace-seeking groups, whose voices tend to be drowned out by bombs and bombastic rhetoric.

A coalition of Jewish, Muslim and Christian peace advocates has collected thousands of signatures calling for a ceasefire, saying “The continuation of Israel’s policies of displacement, apartheid and occupation” are at the root of the violence. “The Palestinian people face violent expulsions, house demolitions, mass killings, sieges and daily indignities” at the hands of Israeli authorities, according to a statement from the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Palestinian Liberation Theology Centre. They and other peace seekers want Americans to rein in the U.S. government support of Israel. They want us to tell the president and Congress: humanitarian aid, yes; weapons, absolutely no.

Anyone who thinks “it’s happening on the other side of the world, not my problem, none of my business” must be living in a cave. There is no safe bunker because violence and conflict stimulate the slimiest breed of cave-dwellers who might decide to spread the hatred.

That’s why the doors were not thrown open to the public to join a prayer vigil at Temple Emanu-El in Honolulu four days after the first deadly rocket attack by Hamas Oct. 7. Six local Jewish organizations sponsored the vigil. In the announcement on the synagogue website was the warning: “You must show an ID” and “Security will be present.”

And that’s also why the chairman of the Muslim Association of Hawaii said that, at the Honolulu mosque, “We don’t take calls from anybody when there is an injustice anywhere.” There’s no electronic message app open to accept hatred spewed by anonymous trolls. The local mosque does not trumpet the fact that it also has security measures in place.

Hakim Ouansafi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “What we have seen is devastating. It should be condemned. Whether it is a Muslim or non-Muslim, we have to speak up collectively, as human beings. We do our best to protect the children, civilians, the elderly and the disabled. Any government that will target or kill innocent civilians, children … that should be condemned.” He spoke for an Oct. 14 news story about local law enforcement being alert to possible local fallout. Unfortunately, it ran on a Saturday when no print edition is published. It can still be found on staradvertiser.com.

It’s also unfortunate that the daily newspaper won’t put a cork in the flow of bile from snarky anonymous sources aroused by such a subject. The paper’s theory is that allowing comments at the end of stories and letters to the editor is a good thing, showing how many readers it has.

So besides the viewpoint columns and back-and-forth debate from letter writers who are not afraid to identify themselves, the paper offers an online open mic for a whole slew of cowardly commenters.

Looking back at 9/11

This latest violence took me back to Sept. 11, 2001, when the United States was the target of hatred we didn’t fully understand. But open-minded people tried to challenge fear with understanding.

For days after the 9/11 attack on America by another gang of Islamic killers, dozens of people headed for the Honolulu mosque. Buddhist, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Hindu religious leaders, professors and politicians, or just common folks, all wanted to assure the small local Muslim congregation that we did not see all Muslims as the enemy.

It was a rare interfaith experience for the next few months with numerous public programs to allay fears, support the country, join in prayers, find common bonds. It brought together some religious denominations and organizations who usually decline to be in a joint venture with others with differing beliefs. Not mentioning any names, but I learned a lot in those days about the “us versus them” mentality that exists among Christian groups, never mind misunderstanding about non-Christians.

The next year, many local people got a clearer perspective on the Palestine and Israel situation from an Arab Christian clergyman who was brought here to speak at the University of Hawaii, the Church of the Crossroads and St. Andrew’s Cathedral. The Rev. Naim Ateek, from the Anglican diocese of Jerusalem and former pastor in Nazareth, is a Palestinian and a citizen of the Jewish state of Israel.

He told of his childhood memory from 1948, when the state of Israel was created with the backing of the United Nations. His family was given a few hours’ notice to vacate their Nazareth home and the property was given to Jewish immigrants.

He told audiences that when Jews celebrate May 15 as Israel’s independence day, Palestinians call it Nakba, “the catastrophe” when more than 750,000 Palestinian Arabs were expelled from their homes by creators of Israel. Half of the entire Arab population was displaced into refugee settlements outside the borders of Israel.

Ateek is a co-founder of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. Its mission of education and non-violent resolution and peace has spread with Friends of Sabeel organizations worldwide.

At that time Ateek said “most Muslim and Christian Palestinians are willing to live alongside Israel.” But already at that time, settlements of Jewish immigrants were being built beyond the borders set for the Jewish state in 1948 and in a subsequent peace agreement.

Ateek has continued to travel worldwide lecturing about justice in the conflict.

He has returned to Hawaii to speak since then and in 2021, was named an honorary canon of St. Andrew’s Cathedral by Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick.

A continuous Christian presence

But if you are a Christian wanting to tune out the fray because it’s not about us, it’s those other combative religions, think again.

“Historical Palestine — including modern-day Israel, the West Bank and Gaza — has had a continuous Christian presence since the time of Jesus,” according to a paper published on the website of the Institute for Middle East Understanding, a non-profit organization. Like the Friends of Sabeel, the institute has a website worth looking up if you’re thinking of creating your own Middle East 101 study program.

At the onset of the Jewish faith-based nation, 21% of Israel’s population was Christian. In a 2022 count, it was down to 7.9%, 75% of whom are Palestinians.

There has been a continuing stream of emigration by Christians to safer countries. According to the institute, of the 200,000 Christians still remaining in Israel and Palestine, about 25% live in the West Bank and Gaza. About half of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox while Catholics are the second largest denomination.

Talking about viewing the Middle East from afar “We don’t see much passionate involvement in Hawaii,” said Chaminade University professor Willis Moore, who has decades of involvement in interfaith issues, not just in Hawaii, but the Middle East and elsewhere.

Moore, who is regional coordinator with Churches for Middle East Peace, advises that the coalition of 30 faith organizations, including some Catholic groups, is another source of information for people who want to understand the unfolding story. Check out the CMEP.org website. It has frequent updates and responses from concerned countries, religious groups and other organizations. Some of these don’t make it into the media. It’s dismaying to see discouraging reports from international aid organizations thwarted in efforts to help injured and displaced people by blockades from both sides.

Speaking of the Christian presence, Moore pointed out that the Al Alhi hospital in Gaza, scene of an explosion said to be caused by an errant Hamas rocket that killed and injured hundreds of civilians, was founded by a Baptist Church group and is now funded by the Episcopal/Anglican church. That denomination, with its roots in England, has a historic presence in the area because England ruled Palestine until it relinquished the land after World War II.

Arab was not an ethnic identity used back when Jesus walked in Palestine; in both Old and New Testament accounts, residents of the region were identified by tribal names.

Wouldn’t you think that people today who are devoted to the concept of the sacredness of “indigenous” identity might learn from the global reality revealed in this conflict. The Middle East has for thousands of years experienced waves of ethnic changes, migration after migration, conquests, captivities, banishments. The book of Exodus, in telling how Moses led the Hebrew people to the land God promised them, doesn’t ignore the fact that other people already lived there. And other Old Testament books describe battles, so the us-versus-them mentality is deeply rooted. Just this one small slice of the world holds the lesson that occupancy is not ownership and not forever.

Oh, woeful holy land with its history of conquerors and conflict. It was the Roman Empire when Jesus lived there. The area was part of the Byzantine empire when a follower of the prophet Muhammad conquered it just a few years after the founding of Islam in the seventh century. Then, 400 years later, waves of Catholic warriors from Europe rode off to liberate the holy land from the Muslims. That didn’t last either.

I believe that the Creator of humanity gave us the ability to overcome our worst sins and faults. He doesn’t toy with us. We’re not moved around on a cosmic board or video game. Sometimes when humans accomplish amazing things, perform with awesome goodness, I think God has touched someone. In times like now, when the land held as holy by all three faiths who believe in a one true God is bringing out the worst in humankind, I wish for God’s touch. Not raining down rockets and bombs, but remorse, forgiveness, a thirst for peace. I wish for a flood.