One of My Biggest Mistakes as a Justice Advocate

I can't go back, but I can learn from it.

In college I spent a semester studying abroad.

I could have gone to the most popular destinations—London for the business majors, Australia for a nonstop party, and Ireland for the Notre Dame students who bled Gold and Blue.

These trips frequently had dozens of students, and sometimes more than a hundred, attend each semester. Instead I chose a one of the smaller programs with a total of just 15 students.

I chose the Holy Land.

We spent five months living at an ecumenical retreat center nestled between Jerusalem (Israel) and Bethlehem (Palestine/West Bank).

You can read more about that experience in my previous article.

When I returned from the Holy Land, the potential policy solutions were muddled, but the power dynamics were much clearer.

The Palestinians were an occupied people whose movements and safety were controlled by Israeli politicians and military.

Life for Palestinians

Palestinian life was, and still is, circumscribed by heavily-armed forces and governmental policies that segregated the people and kept them in line through dehumanizing tactics.

Imagine commuting to work each day and having to stop at a checkpoint with soldiers with automatic weapons bouncing lazily against their hips as they checked your ID each morning and evening.

This is what happened right outside the grounds of the center where we resided. And that was before Israel built a literal wall at the border.

Ponder what it would be like to have your basic utilities such as garbage collection completely shut off for days, weeks, or months at a time due to political machinations far beyond your control?

Contemplate your children playing with rubber bullets like toys because the implements of violent control are so ubiquitous in the environment.

All of this was clear to me having witnessed life for Palestinians firsthand for an extended period of time.

It was also clear to me that many Jewish Israeli people feared terror attacks and had to constantly consider their safety.

But the power imbalance was stark.

The nation of Israel held the power and the Palestinian people were nearly defenseless by comparison.

Yet when I returned to the United States, I re-entered a world of white evangelicalism, white Reformed theology, and white Catholicism at the university.

Many of the people I encountered were almost completely ignorant of the situation in Israel-Palestine. What little they knew was filtered through a pro-Israel lens that reflexively painted all Palestinians as terrorists intent on killing as many Jewish people as possible.

One of My Biggest Mistakes

One of my biggest mistakes as a justice advocate was letting the ill-informed and misguided theology of U.S. Christians intimidate me into silence about the cruelty and injustice the Palestinian people faced on a daily basis.

In my evangelical and Reformed Christian world, many people tied the fate of the modern nation-state of Israel to the prophesied return of Jesus Christ at the final judgment.

These Christians used a selective and literalist reading of the book of Revelation to insist that Israel had to be restored to its Old Testament power and might before the Messiah would come again.

In a 2017 poll, shortly before then-president Donal J. Trump made the controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city of Jerusalem, a poll revealed that more than 50 percent of evangelicals supported the nation of Israel because of its connection to end-times prophecy.

In an interview one pastor, Nate Pyle, said, “What kick-starts the end times into motion is Israel’s political boundaries being reestablished to what God promised the Israelites according to the Bible.”

Robert Jeffress, the ardent Trump-supporting white Christian nationalist pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, said,

“Jerusalem has been the object of the affection of both Jews and Christians down through history and the touchstone of prophecy,” Jeffress told CNN last year. “But, most importantly, God gave Jerusalem — and the rest of the Holy Land — to the Jewish people.”

The seminary I attended did not have many professors or students who believed in this premillennial view of eschatology that necessitated the literal restoration of the nation of Israel before Christ’s return.

Yet most people were theologically and politically conservative which often translated into explicit or tacit support for Israel and an anti-Palestinian stance.

Although I had more knowledge and experience concerning Israel-Palestine than most people I encountered, I still did not feel confident enough to vocally disagree with others when they expressed an uncritically and simplistic pro-Israel stance.

I knew from my racial justice advocacy, that I would be vigorously challenged by my Christian peers. I did not want to face the assumptions, the accusations, and the arguments. Instead of speaking up, I quieted down.

I chose silence over solidarity.

Solidarity with the Oppressed

Except for sporadic instances, the reticence to speak of that which I saw and witnessed has persisted from my time studying abroad up to the present violence against the Palestinians.

But the ongoing murder of Palestinians, with children comprising many of the victims, compels us to join our voices along with the blood that cries out from the ground.

Expressing solidarity with Palestinians almost always leads to acute pushback from pro-Israel voices.

Undoubtedly, any pro-Palestinian statements will be construed as anti-semitic. But support for a disempowered group does not necessarily translate into hatred for the ones holding power.

One can show support for millions of Palestinians and advocate for their safety in this conflagration without automatically condoning violence against Jewish people.

Nevertheless, the internet is not a place for nuance. So any solidarity with Palestinians runs the risk of misinterpretation by online commentators.

Another reason many of us hesitate to speak up about the plight of the Palestinians is because so many people fail to recognize the difference between the present-day nation-state of Israel, the biblical nation of Israel, and the Jewish people both past and present.

Opposition to the actions of a nation’s politicians and its military does not mean hatred for the people of that nation. The modern political entity of Israel is not synonymous with the people of Israel in the Old Testament. And one can support the right of Jewish people to live in safety while criticizing the Israeli government for harming so many civilians in their retaliation.

It is not my place or anyone else’s to speak for the Palestinians. They have their own voices and should be heard.

But I can testify to what I have seen.

I share my story, first, because I believe that speaking up in this moment is the right thing to do.

I also share in the hope that others will be emboldened to declare their support for the suffering.

So let me be clear…

I no way do I condone the deadly attack by Hamas on Israelis on October 7, 2023 or any other date.

Where can Jewish people go to be safe?

The answer should be anywhere. But tragically that is not the case.

Jewish people deserve safety and protection. Hostages should be released.

At the same time, the retributive violence and indiscriminate killing of Palestinians has no place among people of conscience.

The violence against them must end now.

I support the right of the Palestinian people to safety and self-determination. They should not live in a constant state of apartheid, physical and political repression, and genocidal killing.

I stand against the negative prejudices and stereotypes that hound Black and brown people worldwide, and especially in this moment, the people of Palestine.

As a follower of Jesus, the Prince of Peace and the one who said “put away your sword,” I believe that bloodshed begets bloodshed. Harm is not healed by causing more harm.

Our zeal for safety should not eclipse our love for neighbor. We must be peacemakers.

Speaking out comes with risks. Taking a side comes with risks.

History might show that we were wrong. Or perhaps we held our opinions too rigidly.

But we stand on firm moral grounds when we side with the disempowered, the oppressed, and the people with their “backs against the wall.”

The horror of October 7th cannot be undone, but the ongoing horror against the Palestinians can and must stop immediately.

Justice takes sides.