MIDEAST CONFLICT: A LETTER TO THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL PERSON

 

“From ashes you have come, to ashes you shall return. Repent and follow Christ. With these traditional words from the Ash Wednesday liturgy, the sign on the cross was placed on the foreheads… these special ashes came from a burned-out house on the West Bank, recently shelled by the Israeli army.”

The above paragraph touches on the chapter “Against Impossible Odds – Peace in the Middle East” from the 2005 New York Times Bestseller book “God’s Politics” by Christian author Jim Wallis. He wrote, “At this writing… the death toll among both Palestinians and Israelis since the start of the second intifada in September 2000 is 3,168 Palestinians killed, including 596 children under eighteen, and 639 Israeli civilians, including 112 children under eighteen, as well as 291 members of the Israel security forces.”

“There is no ‘symmetry’, Wallis noted, “in the violence of the Middle East today. Israeli violence is enormously disproportionate to Palestinian violence.” Washington Post reported in its article The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A chronology the following timeline:

December 2008: Israel attacks Gaza – “more than 1,110 Palestinians and at least 13 Israelis killed.”

November 2012: Israel kills Hamas military chief – “at least 150 Palestinians and six Israelis killed.”

Summer 2014: Hamas kills three Israeli teenagers – “more than 2,200 Palestinians dead in Gaza. In Israel, 67 soldiers and six civilians are killed.”

2018: Protests in Gaza – “Israeli troops kill more than 170 protesters… At least seven suspected Palestinian militants and a senior Israeli officer are killed.”

May 2021: Israeli police raid al-Aqsa Mosque – “more than 200 killed in Gaza and at least 10 killed in Israel.”

Spring 2022: String of terrorist attacks in Israel – “Israel forces killed 146 Palestinians… killed 29 Israelis that year.”

January 2023: Israeli raid on Jenin – “Israeli forces… killing nine people…Palestinian gunman killed seven people.”

May 2023: Airstrike attacks target top militants – “Israel… killed three top militants and 10 others… killed at least 33 people in Gaza and two people in Israel.”

June 2023: Retaliatory attacks flare – Israeli… killing at least five Palestinians… Hamas killing four Israelis.

July 2023: Israel storms Jenin with about 1,000 troops – “At least eight people were killed.”

Wallis in his book asserted, “Despite this lack of proportionality, there is no moral or strategic justification for the terrorist Palestinian violence targeted against civilians in response to Israel domination. No argument, even lack of symmetry, will suffice.”

The voices of peace and non-violence, though marginalized by both sides, continue to challenge their respective authorities:

“Why and when did we allow a few from our midst to interpret Israeli military attacks on innocent Palestinian lives as a license to do the same to their civilians? Where are those voices and forces that should have stood up for the sanctity of innocent lives (ours and theirs), instead of allowing the horror of our suffering to silence us?” (Hanan Ashwari, Palestinian Legislative Council)

“The Palestinian people have a genuine chance to achieve their national goals, in spite of the enormous gap between them and their foes, if they pursue a conscious, organized strategy of nonviolent resistance to the occupation on a massive scale.” (Jonathan Kuttab and Mubarak Awad, lawyer and human rights activists)

“Inside the pockmarked building surrounded by Israeli tanks and snipers, there is one question on everyone’s mind: how many international laws does Israel need to break before the U.N. demands a full and immediate withdrawal? The list of violations is reaching unprecedented levels.” (Neta Golan, from Israel’s Gush Shalom)

“These are the kinds of actions we must oppose, even when we are suffering from terror attacks which we condemn. The true test of our humanity and commitment to human rights is whether we can stand up at moments like this and say, ‘This crosses the line’.” (Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Rabbis for Human Rights)

Meantime, The U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) issued a press release that the United States has begun moving the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group closer to the Eastern Mediterranean. The carrier strike group includes roughly 5,000 troops and an array of military capabilities: the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy, Arleigh-Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt including U.S. Air Force F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons. USCENTCOM stated that it stands firmly with Israel and regional partners to address the risks of any party seeking to expand the conflict.

Amid such a conflict raging in the Middle East, let me wrap up this article with the following letter to the most powerful person in the world inspired by A Letter to President Bush from Over Forty Evangelical Christian Leaders which I adapted from Wallis’ book.

October 10, 2023

President Joe Biden

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We write as peace-loving citizens of the world concerned for the well-being of all the children of Abraham in the Middle East – Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. We urge you to employ an even-handed policy toward Israel and Palestinian leadership so that this bloody conflict will come to a speedy close and both peoples can live without fear and in a spirit of shalom/salaam.

An even-handed U.S. policy toward Israelis and Palestinians does not give a blank check to either side nor does it bless violence by either side. An even-handed policy affirms the valid interests of Israelis and Palestinians: both states are free, economically viable, and secure, with normal relations between Israel and all its Arab neighbors.

We commend your commitment to the elusive “two-state solution” – the long-sought vision in which an independent Palestinian state and Israel coexist.

We abhor and condemn the violence on both sides. We grieve over the deaths, particularly among children, and the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians. The longer the bloodletting continues, the more difficult it will be for both sides to reconcile with each other.

We urge you to provide the leadership necessary for peacemaking in the Middle East. The great Hebrew prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, declared in the Old Testament that God calls all nations and all people to do justice to one another and to protect the oppressed, the alien, the fatherless, and the widow.

Finally, Mr. President, be assured of our prayer for you and your cabinet as you lead the United States of America in this troubled time. May the strength and peace of God be with you.

Sincerely,

Peace-loving Citizens of the World

Head collage photos courtesy of The Times of Israel, Defence Connect, NPR, Al Jazeera, Pixabay, & The Boston Globe

Video clips courtesy of YouTube