Accountability: A Prophetic Message
by Jonathan Kuttab
“One shot. One kill. No remorse. I decide.”— velcro patch on uniform of an Israeli soldier in Hebron
“We will not allow our soldiers to be put on trial by anybody,” & “The Israeli Army is the only party which determines our policy on open-fire regulations.”—outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz
“The Department of Justice should drop any investigation of the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh”—Letter by Mark Rubio and 7 other US Senators to the US Department of Justice.
“We will boycott the boycotters and delegitimize the delegitimizers. No one has the right to tell Israel what to do,” & “If International law is a problem, we will change international law.”—Benjamin Netanyahu
“We insist on new legislation granting IDF soldiers and Israeli Police immunity from investigation or trial for their actions. This is our condition for joining the new government.”—Itamar Ben Gvir of the Jewish Power Party.
These and similar statements reflect the arrogance of the powerful: Those confident in their ability to act with impunity, who seek to avoid any accountability, any sanctions or restrictions, or any interference with how they relate to the population under their control. In fact, these leaders arrogantly threaten to punish international bodies, including judges and prosecutors who attempt to investigate their behavior or who call for accountability. The US has already supported such arrogance by issuing similar threats against prosecutors and judges at the International Criminal Court, denying them visas to enter the US. Many are also using their power in this country to criminalize and penalize Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) and to promulgate and institute IHRA-based procedures to accuse anyone calling for such accountability of being antisemitic.
One of the main functions of the prophet is to speak truth to power. In the Old Testament, prophets were reviled and persecuted precisely because they dared to remind the all-powerful kings of the requirements of a just God. The prophets did not accept the notion that a King could act as he pleases, with full impunity, just because he had the power to do so.
It is clearly the function of the church today to play a prophetic role. “Prophecy” is not, as many evangelicals think, about predicting the future or discerning signs of the “End Times.” It is the active pronouncement of God’s requirement of justice, and it is the act of standing up against the powerful and for the weak and oppressed. It also faces opposition as it flies in the face of powerful vested interests.
Israel today is in desperate need of prophetic witness. Its leaders feel that they have full power and control. Militarily, they are beyond challenge. They are in charge of the entire territory of historic Palestine and can project their power throughout the region. Palestinians are at their mercy. The international community is either totally impotent or in many cases complicit in Israel’s behavior. Palestinian leaders are either corrupt, collaborating through “security coordination” or else dependent on Israel for the most basic elements of running the Palestinian Authority. The current US administration seems no better than the last one in continuing to shelter Israeli leadership from any international rebuke or sanctions.
Those who care about justice or a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians have an important prophetic role to play. In the context of Israel/Palestine, Christians cannot be cowered by the power of the political forces marshaled against the requirements of a just peace. We cannot be held hostage to “political realism” and the international balance (read: imbalance) of power dictating possible outcomes. Extremist Zionists may think that they have already won and that Israel can use the power and influence of the United States to gain normalization and acceptance in the Arab world, without addressing in any way the question of Palestinians. The raising of Palestinian flags at the recent World Cup was a reminder that despite Arab regime “normalization” with Israel, the Palestinian cause is still very much in the hearts and minds of people everywhere.
Israel has been blessed, however, with a number of brave prophetic voices who have not minced their words in telling fellow Israelis of the danger of relying on their current power and ignoring the need to establish a just peace with Palestinians. From Yesheyahu Liebovitch, who soon after 1967 warned Israelis that they must immediately give up the occupied territories or they would become ‘Judeo-Nazis,” to the current voices arising from Jewish Voice for Peace, Rabbis for Human Rights, journalists like Gideon Levy and Amira Hass, as well as numerous others who tirelessly carry forth the prophetic message. Even though they may be a tiny minority, their prophetic voices are clearly heard. We in FOSNA stand in solidarity with them as well as with Palestinian and international voices calling for real accountability for Israeli actions, which not only fail the test of justice and fairness but often blatantly fly in the face of the recognized principles of international law and violate Palestinian human rights.
Accountability is not just something that occurs in the afterlife, when many believe we will all face judgment for our actions, but it is also something to be sought in this world. All of us have a duty to demand and eventually ensure that justice is being done and that war criminals, human rights violators, oppressors, and individuals and regimes that practice apartheid, torture, and unjustified killings of civilians must face justice. They cannot forever escape accountability for their actions. Even as we work for peace and reconciliation (until that day finally arrives) we must work to prevent further suffering, and we must demand accountability, especially for those who feel they can arrogantly act with impunity and fear no consequence. Most importantly, we must raise our voices and proclaim our firm belief, in the face of arrogant power, that justice will prevail in the end and that , in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., the arc of history, however long, bends towards justice.
Update
Respecting the Bodies of the Deceased
Israel just made the announcement that it is refusing to return the body of political prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid, who died last week in prison, but will instead "keep it for future use as a bargaining chip to trade for any bodies of Israeli soldiers who might be held by enemy groups."
Furthermore, he is one of about 5,000 Palestinians currently in jail and was actually serving a long sentence, and his family blamed his death on failure to provide him medical care he desperately needed.
We repeat our call to release his body and the bodies of other Palestinian martyrs, and for all parties to refrain from using show respect for the fallen, and to refrain from using their bodies as bargaining chips.
FOSNA News
Now is the Time: 2022 Christmas Appeal
This week, we launched our annual Christmas Appeal. To read Sabeel Director Omar Haramy's message and give today, click the link below.
We are seeking an intern for the Spring Semester! If you would like a fully remote internship experience focusing on social media management and grassroots campus organizing for Palestine, please send your resume to friends@fosna.org.
Click the link below for more information!
Buy Challenging Religious Extremism Today
For just $1, you can purchase Rev. Naim Ateek's new booklet, "Challenging Religious Extremism" on FOSNA's online bookstore!
Take Action!
Keep the Momentum: Write to FIFA
During the World Cup 2022, players and fans in Qatar and all over the world have taken a strong stand for Palestine, exposing serious breaches by FIFA to its own stated regulations and principles. It has been said that even though Palestine was not playing, it was the undisputed winner of the World Cup. Take one minute to write to FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura and President Gianni Infantino. The World Cup may be over, but the call for FIFA to hold apartheid Israel accountable is not. Keep the momentum going post World Cup!
Preach Palestine 2022
Now Is the Time!
Friends of Sabeel North America is calling on Christian leaders across the U.S. to commit their congregations to Preach Palestine this Advent season.
Be it an entire service or a single prayer, we are asking you to once again Preach Palestine and lift up the Palestinian people such that they would come to experience the joy, justice, and peace of Christ's liberating reign, as a very real light in the present darkness.
Can you commit your congregation to Preach Palestine during these final days of Advent and beyond?
Get Involved!
We invite you to join us in the following events and activities:
January 13: Online
Confronting Apartheid
A webinar on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 7:00 pm CT
(5 pm PT, 6 pm MT, 8 pm ET)
This webinar is sponsored by the Peace & Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and Episcopal Peace Fellowship-Palestine Israel Network. It follows the resolution Confronting Apartheid approved at Diocesan Convention in November 2021 that recognized that Israeli treatment of Palestinians constitutes apartheid as defined in international law. How do people of faith and conscience take a moral stand on this issue?
Participants:
Richard Falk – professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 – will explain how Israeli apartheid corresponds to the definition in international conventions.
Rabbi Brant Rosen – founder Rabbi of the synagogue Tzedek Chicago and co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council – will discuss how Judaism inspires Jews to oppose apartheid.
Mai Kakish Khader –Director of TEE Arabic Language & Culture for Children of the Arab Diaspora, board member of the Seraj Library Project, founder and writer with Almondandfig.com – will describe how apartheid affects the daily life of her family in Palestine.
Harry Gunkel – member of the steering committee of Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network – will facilitate.
January 15: Online
Is Israel an Apartheid State?
Join Voices For the Holy Land's January Film Salon on January 15 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET.
Does Israel’s treatment of Palestinians constitute a form of apartheid–the systematic segregation and discrimination of a population on the basis of race, first put into place in South Africa? Such is the claim of the UN, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and journalists from a range of media. The International Criminal Court has labeled apartheid “a crime against humanity.” Two short documentary films explore the separate and distinct laws, physical infrastructure, civil systems and military enforcement applied to Palestinians in Israel and in the occupied territories. If this is apartheid, what is the authority of the UN and the ICC to adjudicate Israel’s violation of international law? Israel’s newly elected right-wing government promises more extreme forms of discrimination, exclusion, and violence directed at Palestinian citizens of Israel and in the occupied territories.
Watch the film for free at your convenience | Join the Q&A Discussion with an expert panel.
Saleh Hijazi: Former Deputy Regional Direct - MENA at Amnesty International
Michael Lynk: Author, Associate Professor of Law at Western University, former UNHCR Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Territories
Edwin Arrison: Anglican Priest, Development Officer - Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation
Jonathan Kuttab (moderator): Attorney, author, Exec. Dir. Friends of Sabeel North America
Watch the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnoNjmg9qps
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem:
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Kumi Now! (Week 51) The Syrian Golan. This week, we mark the occupation and annexation of the Syrian Golan. Israel occupied the Syrian Golan in 1967, then passed the Golan Heights Law in December of 1981, a move condemned by the United Nations at the time but backed by the United States in 2019. Here’s what you need to know and what you can do so that together we can rise up.