Between Friday and Sunday
By Jonathan Kuttab
While the Western world celebrates a joyous Easter season, most Christian Arabs in Palestine and the wider Middle East follow the Eastern calendar and are currently in the midst of commemorating Passion Week. They are contemplating the suffering of Christ, culminating in his death on the cross on Good Friday (known among Arab Christians as “Sad Friday.”) Echoing throughout the Old City of Jerusalem, you will hear the plaintive singing of Fairuz marveling at how Christ, the creator of the universe, hung upon the cross like a common criminal (Fairuz: Alyawm Ulliqa ‘Ala Khashabah). In many respects, we now find ourselves caught between the dark, sad, suffering of Christ, after being deserted by his followers, publicly tortured and humiliated, hung upon a cross to die, and buried—the apparent end of his brief, earthly ministry—and the vanishing promise of his Kingdom, heralded on Palm Sunday.
Rev. Tony Campolo once won a Baptist preaching contest with a sermon titled, “Today is Friday, but Sunday's Coming.” In it, Tony outlined the dismal situation facing the world today, but he asserted his hope in the coming resurrection.
This is precisely the situation in which Palestinians find themselves and indeed all those who hope, pray, and work for justice, reconciliation, and an end to violence and oppression for the people of Palestine/Israel. Never has the situation looked so bleak as it does today. The apartheid regime seems firmly entrenched; the settlements are expanding and firmly established in the landscape; the Palestinian people have been crushed, their community fragmented; their physical presence shrinking; their leadership disgraced and ineffective; their supposed friends normalizing relations with their oppressors, openly engaging in billion-dollar trade deals and security cooperation. International solidarity groups are hounded and attacked, needing to defend themselves against bogus claims of antisemitism, claims that are being enshrined into law in many countries under the cynical IHRA definition of anti-Semitism; no peace talks are taking place, nor any elections for new leadership. It is indeed Friday, and our cause appears hopeless.
Yet, the message of Easter is this: though we are living on Friday, Sunday’s coming! A glorious resurrection, wherein death itself has been conquered and a glorious new future heralded—the Kingdom of God is at hand! We live in light of the promise not only of peace but also of justice, of a new world order based not upon the violence of power but of a new reality defined by equality, reconciliation, and even love for all concerned.
Yes, it sounds fantastic, utopian, unrealistic, far off; yet, this is exactly the message of Easter! It is a message of hope, of faith in the ultimate sovereignty of God, and of the final triumph of good over evil. This is not the victory of one group over another, merely perpetuating a different form of injustice. This is a new reality wherein the lion lies down with the lamb, and they are led by a little child. Everyone can sit under their own vine and fig tree to enjoy the bounty of God’s new creation.
In fact, this is the essence of Palestinian sumud, a resolute steadfastness in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds secure in the knowledge that truth and justice will somehow ultimately prevail. This is likewise the faith that sustained leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and many brave activists during American Civil Rights movement, as well as Archbishop Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and compatriots in the struggle against South African Apartheid, languishing in prison and even giving up their lives for the cause of justice and peace all in light of the hoped for resurrection.
The radical, absurd claim of the Christian faith is that the battle of good over evil has already been won by Christ and that we are all called to start living now according to the values of God’s Kingdom. With the assurance of God’s sovereignty, we live in light of that amazing reality today. THIS is why we oppose racism, apartheid, slavery, and tyranny of all forms and why we will not be intimidated by the might of tyrants and oppressors. We know and believe precisely because of the resurrection.
Though it is Friday, we live as if it were Sunday. In the midst of Friday, of suffering and devastation, we hold fast to the hope that God is sovereign and that He is risen. Christ is risen, indeed!
Action Alert!
Urgent Request: Religious freedom is under attack in the Holy Land. We are reaching out to you today on behalf of Sabeel Jerusalem, urging you to sign and share the Freedom of Worship petition linked to below:
Israel is continually trying to restrict and violently disrupt worship for Muslims and Christians in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Omar Haramy, Director of Sabeel Jerusalem, spent all day yesterday at the Israeli Supreme Court to challenge such restrictions. This petition, started by Sabeel Jerusalem, is in support the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and other local Christian and Community leaders as they stand up and refuse to abide by such ungodly restrictions.
Join us as we stand with them in Spirit by signing and sharing this petition far and wide!!
A Message from Rev. Naim Stifan Ateek
“The Easter season is the time in which we remember that God in Christ conquered the powers of evil and death. As followers of the living Christ, we continue to challenge the powers of domination and oppression that humiliate and suppress our people and replace them with justice, peace, and reconciliation.
Through this Easter Appeal, I would like to appeal to you, our friends, to give to FOSNA’s ministry so that its voice for advocacy and its action for justice and liberation would be strengthened and multiplied.”
Video: Join Sabeel founder Rev. Canon Naim Ateek, alongside Samia Khoury, Cedar Duaybis, Sandra Khoury, and Nahida Halaby Gordon, as well as global representatives from the international Sabeel movement for the Sabeel/FOSNA annual Easter in Jerusalem virtual service.
Welcome Aboard!
It is with great excitement that the FOSNA community welcomes Rev. Chad Collins to the team as National Organizer. In this work, Chad will work to build and lead transformative advocacy campaigns and direct action in support of Palestinian liberation.
Chad Collins was born and raised on the lands originally belonging to the Monongahela, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Shawnee peoples, now called Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Africana Studies (formally Black Studies), he worked as a Youth Pastor for three years. Following this, he enrolled at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, graduating in 2005 with a Master of Divinity.
After serving as a Youth Street Outreach Worker at Valley View Presbyterian Church for two years, he became the pastor in November 2005 and serves the church to this day. In 1999, Chad married Johanna and from that union they have five wonderful children. After traveling to Palestine in 2014 and then in 2016, Chad spent three years on the steering committee of the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) of the PC(USA) and currently serves as Co-Chair of Pittsburgh Friends of Sabeel North America. In the fall and winter of 2019-2020, Chad served as the Co-Coordinator of the 22nd Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit.
FOSNA invites you to join us in the following events and activities:
Kumi Now! Connecting activists around the world every Tuesday with the organizations working on the ground in Palestine and Israel to bring a just and lasting peace based on international law and nonviolence.
Week 16: Administrative Detention. Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely, on secret information, without charging them with a crime or allowing them to stand trial. Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967, Israeli forces have arrested more than 800,000 Palestinians, almost 20% of the Palestinian population, with a majority being men. Therefore, about 40% of all male Palestinians have been arrested. Here’s what you need to know about administrative detention and what you can do so that together we can rise up.
Palestinian Innovators Series: Omar Haramy. Meet Omar Haramy, Director of Sabeel Jerusalem.
Sabeel Prayer Service. Join Sabeel every Thursday (6pm Jerusalem) for online Bible Study, discussion, and prayer. Examine scripture in light of the ongoing realities confronting the Palestinian Church and the pursuit of Palestinian liberation.
Wave of Prayer. Subscribe to receive Sabeel's Wave of Prayer, enabling friends of Sabeel around the world to pray over issues of critical concern to the Holy Land on a weekly basis.