Sharing Signs of Hope
by Jonathan Kuttab
In the midst of the horrific situation in Gaza and throughout Palestine/Israel, it is foolish to be optimistic. Even asking for the minimal requirement of a ceasefire and of free access to basic humanitarian needs such as food, water, medical supplies, and respite from the harrowing onslaught, seems to meet with resistance and a stubborn insistence on continuing the onslaught ‘til “final victory,” whatever that means, with no thought or plans to pursue a good future for either Palestinians or Israeli Jews. Powerful forces, even church leaders, seem to be reluctant to challenge the prevailing narrative or risk their relations with those in power. For many of us, it takes great effort and courage to even listen to the news and witness the ongoing horrors that appear to have no end.
Yet we at FOSNA have always maintained that there is a difference between optimism and hope. While we cannot predict any happy outcomes in the near future and are full of a lament over the suffering of Palestinians as well as the Israeli captives and of the general population of the region, we are full of hope that military power shall not have the last word, that a just God and his righteous people will in the end prevail, and that a better future of coexistence with peace, justice, and prosperity is not only possible but is the ultimate goal and inevitable outcome once we pass through this valley of death, destruction, and tears.
This hope is grounded both in our faith in a just God who is ultimately in control of human affairs and also in a deep understanding of the nature of things and of history that is not blinded by the current balance of power. Our vision is informed by an understanding of the unsustainability of the current situation, the movement of the arch of history that bends towards justice, and the example of other apparently hopeless struggles which eventually triumphed: from the end of slavery, the successful civil rights movement, the defeat of the apartheid regime in South Africa, advances in human rights and freedom struggles all over the globe, the struggles for equality for women and minorities, and so on.
Yet, as people endeavor to maintain their sanity and persevere against what looks to be insurmountable obstacles and impossible odds, it is sometimes helpful to observe the hints and signs we see that affirm our faith, justify our hope, and sustain us in our struggle.
As such, I have decided to list here some signs of hope (some of them quite paradoxical) both large and small that keep me going:
The resilience of the Palestinian people, despite everything. The Zionist hope that “the old will die away and the young will forget” has proven wrong yet again. Palestinian youth today, in the face of great adversity are clearer than ever about their identity.
The Nakba is more known and recognized now than ever before. Israeli myths surrounding what happened in 1948 are being challenged and debunked.
The failure of vastly superior Israeli weaponry and armed technology to crush Palestinian resistance. While the Israeli army has wreaked untold destruction on Palestinian civilians, their homes, economy, universities, hospitals, culture and institutions, there is an increasing awareness that violence alone is not and cannot be the answer (for either party). Neither military power nor armed resistance will ever be able to end the problem or achieve security for Israelis or liberation for Palestinians.
The political awakening of the Arab American and Palestinian American population, who are beginning to find their voice, and who for the first time in their history are becoming a factor in American politics. The “uncommitted “ vote, first in Michigan and followed by other states, shows that together with their progressive allies this group is finally becoming a force in US electoral politics that cannot be ignored.
Massive protests in Europe, the majority of the world, and the United States are calling for a ceasefire and for justice for Palestinians and this is beginning to impact politicians who are still hell bent on supporting Israeli apartheid policies.
Protests at US Colleges and Universities, including many Jewish students and faculty are increasing, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. They are being met with police repression. There are even threats to call in the national guard. Reminiscent of anti-Vietnam War protests.
The increase in numbers and vocal presence of Jewish Americans protesting and distancing themselves from Israeli policies and the clarity they have on the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, and Not in our Name are reporting massive increases in their numbers and activities.
The reports that younger evangelicals are increasingly disenchanted with the state of Israel and no longer approve of Christian Zionist positions in the same proportions as their elders.
The accelerating openly racist legislation and actions of the Israeli government and its settlers. This is paradoxically a sign of hope as it strips the façade of liberality and exposes blatant Jewish supremacy inherent in the Zionist ideology as implemented in Israel. It is also a sign of hope that Israel openly espouses these views which are incompatible with its claim to democratic liberalism.
The openly fascist and genocidal language prevalent in Israel regarding the genocide in Gaza which shows absolute lack of empathy with Palestinians and their suffering also paradoxically is a sign of hope as Israeli society sinks further into policies and positions that lack any justification outside the narrow confines of Jewish supremacy and arrogance. The cries for more destruction and vengeance seem to be matched by further weakening of democratic institutions, and freedoms for Israelis as well.
Increased recognition that “normalization" even with undemocratic regimes in the Arab world cannot proceed without a Palestinian component of justice and recognition of Palestinians national rights.
Increased support for a one state solution where Jews and Arabs can live in equality, security and prosperity.
These broad principles are reinforced by small events we hear daily that show them to be true and increasingly powerful challenges to the status quo as new groups appear in unexpected quarters calling for justice and challenging the power dynamics:
A Jewish Israeli from Kibbutz Be’eri whose father was killed on October 7 in Gaza stated that he did not want his father’s death to be used politically, that he looked forward to an end to the fighting and for a new reality where his father’s dreams of peace with just could be realized
A local Lancaster Pennsylvania newspaper (LNP) reported that a new group urging Democrats to vote “uncommitted” on their primary ballots to protest Biden’s policy in Gaza held a rally where they claimed that they had contacted 250,000 Pennsylvania voters with their message calling for a ceasefire, and threatening not to vote for Biden in the upcoming elections.
A 94-year-old lady in Pennsylvania wrote a letter to her pastor that calling his flock to “pray for the safety of people in Jerusalem” made little sense, since they were relatively safe compared to the people of Gaza who really needed prayers for their safety these days.
I am inviting you to note (at the link below) those of signs of hope that you have encountered, that we can share together those things that give us sustenance:
Red Heifers From Texas & Misguided Attempts to Build The Temple
Monday April 29th @ 9:30am PT / 12:30pm ET / 7:30pm Quds
In anticipation of the forthcoming launch of the newly established Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism (ISCZ), you are invited to an important conversation, “‘Red Heifers’ from Texas’ & Misguided Attempts to Build the Temple: Countering the Destructive Consequences of Christian Zionism and Third-Temple Extremism”--a conversation taking on a new urgency in light of recent events.
As such, it is imperative that we inaugurate a global intra-Christian dialogue focused on the repudiation of Christian Zionism among other forms of political extremism. Featuring: Alex Awad, Shadia Qubti, Stephen Sizer, Addie Domske.
Cosponsored by Disciples PIN, UCC PIN, and UUJME.
In Memoriam
Our 2008 Fact-Finding Trip to Palestine: In Memory of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, by Rev. Dick Toll
One of my most memorable experiences as chair of Friends of Sabeel North America (2001 – 2011) was hosting the world-renowned Catholic peacemaker, Rt. Rev Thomas Gumbleton, a retired bishop from Detroit Michigan and founder of Pax Christi USA who died on April 4th. The trip was sponsored by Sabeel Jerusalem over ten days, including Holy Week, in the spring of 2008, and included visits to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nablus, Gaza, and the Galilee.
Bishop Gumbleton and I were accompanied by Meta Floor, a Sabeel volunteer, and Bishop Gumbleton’s photo journalist, Linda Panetta, as well as other members of the Sabeel group. For Bishop Gumbleton and me, this was not our first pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but an important one due to its focus on fact-finding. As the “soul of the Catholic peace movement, as he has been called, and his access to media outlets mainly through his Peace Pulpit homilies, Bishop Gumbleton’s voice had a wide reach well beyond the Catholic community.
I remember attending a number of Roman Catholic services throughout the week in Jerusalem and Bishop Gumbleton’s participation in Holy Communion service at the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center where he spoke. Other activities stand out in my memory. We stayed in Bethlehem (West Bank) before going to Nablus where a Melkite priest invited me and Bishop Gumbleton to concelebrate Holy Communion on Easter morning. I told the priest that I was an Episcopal priest from the United States. His response was “Welcome brother. I invite you to concelebrate”. Three traditions—Catholic, Melkite, Episcopal—in one holy celebration of the resurrection of Christ in the midst of the same injustice of occupation and oppression that Jesus experienced. I will always remember moments like this that have made such a difference in my understanding of what the Roman military occupation of Palestine meant for Jesus and the Jews of his time and continues to mean in our time for the Palestinians.
After that service, we traveled to Nazareth and spent two hours with Bishop Elias Chacour, Archbishop of the Melkite Church in the Galilee and a special friend of Bishop Gumbleton. Bishop Chacour was also a co-founder of Sabeel in Jerusalem and the author of Blood Brothers, the story of his life as a child during the Nakba. We met in his home on Easter night listening to his explanations of what was taking place with the military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. He shared with us what was taking place with the Palestine citizens in Israel who make up 20% of the State of Israel’s population but have second class citizenship because they are not Jewish.
We then went to Gaza, a very painful experience hearing from Gazans who are subjected to the worst forms of Israeli subjugation. Extreme poverty, crowded refugee camps, sewage in the streets, no electricity or water sometimes, no access to fishing in the sea beyond Israel’s stated limits. This is Mother Teresa territory, the poorest of the poor and, indeed, the Sisters of Charity continue today to serve near Gaza’s embattled Al-Shifa hospital. There’s one Catholic church in Gaza, whose priest is from the West Bank. He told us he was not given the necessary permission to attend his father’s funeral in the West Bank because of Israel’s lock down of the border. The student body of the Catholic school nearby is 95% Muslim, 5% Christian. On this day, the day after Easter, he gave them candy and listened to them singing, as a way of honoring him.
Bishop Gumbleton told me that he had not been in the Holy Land since 1964 and how important this visit meant to him. In an article written by Nick Meyer for the Arab American News in 2008, he writes “Fast forward to the present and Gumbleton has completed his fact-finding mission. He traveled both up and down in Israel and Palestine, interviewing people from downtrodden Palestine villagers to Israeli soldiers patrolling the border walls, and he came back with a promise to do more to help restore peace in the region.” He is also quoted at a talk given to the Ramallah Club in Dearborn, Michigan upon his return. “We give more financial assistance to Israel than any other country and almost all of it is military aid.” Back in the U.S. later that month Bishop Gumbleton was a featured speaker at the Friends of Sabeel conference held at Villanova University in Philadelphia. The title of his presentation was “The Radical Challenge of Non-Violence.”
It was a rare privilege for me to spend Holy Week in 2008 with Bishop Gumbleton in the Holy Land, worshipping in Roman Catholic churches and having intimate conversations with Palestinians and Israelis throughout the West Bank, Israel, and Gaza. I will remember the man, his legacy of justice and peace, and give thanks to God for his vision and commitment.
Friends of Sabeel North America mourns the passing of Rt. Rev Thomas Gumbleton, a remarkable man, a beloved friend, founder of Pax Christi USA, and long-time member of the FOSNA Advisory Board.