In the heart of all realities in the Palestine / Israel context… and internationally even, Jerusalem is present. I would say …Jerusalem reflects all realities. Within the Christian Palestinian initiative of Kairos Palestine, Jerusalem is in the heart of the “Moment of Truth”.
You might hear slogans such as …Jerusalem is not just any city… It is not just a piece of land and some people… some poets may say: Jerusalem is a piece of sky… it is heavenly. And some faithful believe it is the chosen… it is the Holy city…but!! A question remains: How much God is present in Jerusalem today?
The reality today as seen by any ordinary Christian Palestinian; Jerusalem is a challenge after challenge after challenge. From losing residency right in Jerusalem when one is born in it… From discriminatory policies of the different ministries and the municipality … to restrictions on accessing its places of worship… From property demolition and confiscation… to high cost of living that drives you out to settle elsewhere…etc.
In Jerusalem, Demographic syndrome is the name of the game. Throughout history who ever controlled Jerusalem wanted to be the majority there. They used all kinds of policies to achieve this goal. All claimed ownership and many of them claims exclusivity. Today the Israeli government is speeding up on its policies where house demolition orders, residency cards confiscation, closures, and other discriminatory polices have risen dramatically. Some scenarios alerts that local Christians in the city will drop to 50 % in 6-7 years.
While Jerusalem should be the Peace, it is the central conflict… When it should be universal it is exclusive. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are holy days of the city. On Fridays Moslems pray in the streets!!!… if they are under 45 years of age. Christians and Moslems from the West Bank and Gaza are barred from the city. A whole generation of Palestinians did not visit the City. Half of the world population are not allowed visas to visit. On the other hand when Jews celebrate the “unification” of it!!! , Pesach, and all their other many feasts, all Palestinians should stay home!!!. This is the heart of the reality. Israel is in defiance of International law by first; it’s illegal annexation after 1967 and throughout the years via its racist driven policies and restrictions. Why a Russian or Ethiopian or American Jew can come to Jerusalem for the first time of his life and be a citizen within one week while my brother who is born in Jerusalem together with his wife and 3 children are not allowed back. Why my neighbor who had to live in Ramallah for the past 7 years cannot live back in Jerusalem. Why my other brother’s wife who comes from a well know Christian Jerusalemite family is being ordered out every 3 months? Why a Jew can claim property in occupied East Jerusalem and Palestinians can’t go back to their homes in West Jerusalem??? I pause these questions not because I have special cases. No… Every family in Jerusalem has similar cases.
To go back and take Jerusalem accordingly as we move through the Kairos document in the words of faith, hope and love… I say:
Through our faith as Christians we believe that Jerusalem is when Jesus made almost everything in it. For us Jerusalem is Jesus…agony, miracles, death and resurrection. His destiny and mandate was fulfilled there and by Him everything was fulfilled in Jerusalem at the end. He wept over Jerusalem and still does. Jerusalem did not accommodate Him and now his followers and his peace too.
With three religions and two people living in it .. The reasonable solution would be sharing it. The Heads of Churches in Jerusalem stand with this… Other religious leaders might also agree … as a matter of fact we only hear the voice of exclusivity from the politicians. Within the Kairos Palestine initiative I met about a dozen Jewish rabbis and scholars to discuss the “Moment of Truth” document and in all discussions, Jerusalem was never mentioned as a point of disagreement although what we encouraged and asserted there, is that Jerusalem should be Universal and that No religion should have exclusivity on it, thus it should be open to all. In this same context it is very surprising and annoying for Christians of Palestine to hear other Christian voices and interpretations going the opposite direction. Jerusalem is now illegally occupied and people are treated unjustly and this is a sin and all Christians should resist this sin not compliment it.
In our hope we remain strong. The small Christian community of 2000 years is still a small community today. Moslems are here too from hundreds of years and Jews from more than 3000 years. We remained all this time and we will stay. We will have a future and we believe that God is with us. So we are steadfast, firm and working to change the reality. This is our witness and in this we will not give in to evil. Signs of hope are there in Jerusalem too; Our survival is, our institutions serving the other are, our ecumenical relations locally and internationally are, our interfaith relations… and most importantly is our witness within the society. We witness with love against revenge, we witness for life and not death. This is obvious in our daily life dealings and even in our resistance… in advocacy … in non violent demonstrations, public relations and calls for BDS (Boycott , Divestment , and Sanctions).
Love is one of the most precious and difficult commandments. It makes us special as Christians. At least one of the Jewish Rabbis once said that to us” I envy the Christians because they have this very precious and special commandment”. Our teachings ask us to love everybody and resist the evil in them because of our love and because we want them to be free from sin and evil. There is no justice in Jerusalem today. The injustice and all the other policies of the illegal occupation are sins against God and humanity and we are asked to resist with love, with creativity in order that our enemy is free and our people become free too. Many means can be undertaken in this respect and we saw that from past experiences of the peoples on this earth BDS was one successful mean as an alternative to violent reactions and wars. And this is not done in revenge … but to speed up a solution and end the evil.
Our Jerusalem message…
To our brothers and sisters in our “Moment of truth” in our word of faith, hope and love we said .. If you are suffering I am suffering too. And we now speak out on your and my behalf… We witness this time for the truth … for the few of us here in Jerusalem we say: we will stay few as the salt of the earth but we have a role to play and it is not bridging between parties …it is resisting evil with love …
To our brothers and Sisters in the other Churches of this world we carry words of gratitude for your continuous support and the sharing in our suffering. Yes, many of you are sharing in our suffering , EAPPI , CPT , ISM, etc.. The Swedes who shared the Turks, and Arabs.. the Irish and others who were carrying humanitarian aid and carrying their lives on their hands as we saw what happened in front of the shores of Gaza lately … Thank you for supporting an ending to the evil in Jerusalem and Gaza. Thank you for not helping the prolonging of the agony and struggle. Here we say; don’t give aid when the aim is just to manage the crises… don’t give aid when the result is keeping the Palestinians fragmented. Don’t support biblical interpretations that show us a biased God because God is not.
To the international Community we say stop treating the peoples of the world in two categories… stop treating Israel above the law. A full range of sanctions should have been implemented long time ago. Israel is still in defiance and East Jerusalem is still illegally occupied and its People have daily sufferings. Use all non violent means to end this evil… end this occupation.
To the other, to the Muslim and Jew we say: Evil is in fanaticism, in racism in exclusivity, in ignorance… So teach our and your children to know the other and stop the talk about one religious state.. This suffocates democracy, justice and diversity with its beautiful values; It makes Jerusalem Un–Holy...
At the end… for me: Jerusalem is a piece of sky… it is the key to peace… You all belong in it…and it is not negotiable. Not negotiable.
By: Yusef Daher
(Within Kairos Palestine context in Sweden 5 June 2010)
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