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~ What if this pious proclamation was \u2013 in fact \u2013 a bloody crusade against oppressed people? ~<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You are the pastor of a small church in Appalachia. It\u2019s a pretty little white, clapboard chapel in a Smoky Mountain holler with green fields and forested hillsides.<\/p>\n One weekday, you pull into the church parking lot, admiring the church marquee.<\/p>\n \u201cWe Stand with Israel,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n Anxious to prepare Sunday\u2019s sermon on that topic, you step into your office. Opening the Bible, you read the words God spoke to Abraham before the founding of the nation of Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cI will bless those who bless you,\u00a0and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOh Lord,\u201d you say, dropping to your knees, \u201cyou said that Israel is the apple of your eye. As I share your Holy Word this Sunday, give me clarity and conviction. I desire to walk with your son, Jesus, from Bethlehem to the ends of the earth. In your precious name I pray, Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n As you rise from the floor, the office door opens and in rushes a Middle Eastern man with sweaty brow and disheveled hair. It\u2019s not uncommon for folk to step into your office during work hours, but you have never seen this man before.<\/p>\n \u201cWell hello,\u201d you say. \u201cYou must be new to the area.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cActually, I live here,\u201d he says with a sense of urgency. \u201cI just need to warn you that \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n At that instant, a tremendous \u201cBOOOOOOM\u201d rattles the building.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the \u2026 !\u201d you yell, bracing yourself against the tremors.<\/p>\n The man takes off running.<\/em><\/p>\n You follow him outside where you receive the shock of your life.<\/p>\n The Appalachian Mountains are nowhere to be seen!<\/em><\/p>\n You are surrounded by pale, dusty streets, ancient stone walls, squat concrete hovels, gray-blue sky and an oppressive heat that jars your senses. Your church stands in a dirt lot beside a tall, graffitied concrete wall topped with razor wire. In front of your church burns the splintered remains of the marquee that once read, \u201cWe Stand with Israel.\u201d A number of agitated olive-skinned men babble in a language you cannot understand.<\/em><\/p>\n Seeing the panic on your face, your new friend tries to console you.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d he says. \u201cNobody got hurt. The fire will burn itself out. That\u2019s why I came. I tried to warn you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWarn me?\u201d you mutter, slow to understand.<\/p>\n \u201cWarn you. About your sign,\u201d he explains. \u201cPeople here don\u2019t take kindly to Israel. They bombed your sign. But I was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut \u2026 b-but,\u201d you stutter, gaping at the scene around you. \u201cThis place \u2026 Where am I?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you know?\u201d the man says, a querulous expression on his face. \u201cYour prayer was answered. You\u2019re in the West Bank. This is Bethlehem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ~~~~~~<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Later that same day, you are seated on a wooden crate in the shadow of your church. Beside you, your new friend Elias stands with his back against the clapboard wall. You finally understand that \u2014 whether by an act of God or a wrinkle in the cosmos \u2014 your church has been transported into the Palestinian sector of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re prisoners here,\u201d explains a nine-year-old girl named Aisha who has befriended you. \u201cNobody gets past the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot without the right papers,\u201d says Elias, your Palestinian companion.<\/p>\n The sobering concrete and steel barrier towers grim and gray, high above your little chapel.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s worse in Gaza,\u201d says Elias, \u201cwith 2,000,000 Palestinians crammed into a tiny strip of land with no way out. Here, at least they let some people pass through to work in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not work right here in the West Bank?\u201d you ask.<\/p>\n He shakes his head. \u201cThere\u2019s barely room to live here and the Israelis have strict rules about that. So nearly 50 percent of Palestinians are unemployed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad got a job in Jerusalem,\u201d Aisha says, \u201cbut we\u2019re prisoners here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPrisoners of war,\u201d says Elias. \u201cThe Israelis keep breaking treaties and taking more of our land. Palestine is not recognized as an autonomous country by the United States, even though most of the world says it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s you Americans who keep us here,\u201d says the young girl.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a people without a home,\u201d says Elias.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody will give us a place to live,\u201d says Aisha.<\/p>\n You gaze at a hillside of ugly concrete buildings, wondering if that was where shepherds watched over their sheep on that first Christmas night. You loosen your collar, feeling a growing discomfort.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom everything I\u2019ve read,\u201d you state, \u201cthe Palestinians are terrorists who can\u2019t be trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n Aisha gives a tsk-tsk<\/em> while the man Elias shakes his head.<\/p>\n \u201cYou and your country are financing this war,\u201d says Elias, \u201cby giving billions and billions of dollars to the Israeli army.\u201d<\/p>\n You feel the tension rise in your neck and shoulders. With a shake of your head, you say, \u201cGod said he would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n The man delivers a heavy sigh. \u201cUnfortunately, we\u2019ve been hearing that pious trope since the Crusades. And like the Crusades, it plays out in politics and money, not in godly virtues. Do you even know where that refrain came from? It\u2019s a lie from wicked men who want to get your money to support their war. You do know, of course, that that verse you quoted is conditional<\/em>, contingent upon Israel\u2019s obedience in that narrow context of time and place? I don\u2019t hear you folk quoting the scores of verses about God cursing and abandoning Israel for their disobedience and idolatry.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n You retrieve a handkerchief from your back pocket and wipe the perspiration off your face and neck.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not what I was taught,\u201d you say.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so you stand with Israel,\u201d Elias says, staring you down over his wire-rimmed glasses, \u201ceven though your blood money is slaughtering innocent Palestinian families, year after year and decade after decade. Do you realize that Israelis are killing seven Palestinians for every one Israeli that dies? And you\u2019re saying who<\/em> are the terrorists?\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not one Baptist in the county who would stick with me,\u201d you say, struggling for credibility, \u201cif I stopped standing on the side of Israel and \u2026 and \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHave you and your pious brethren considered taking no side at all?\u201d interjected Elias. \u201cHave you considered telling your religious brethren to get out of the business of buying weapons? Try embracing the hundreds of scriptures about God\u2019s love and justice and mercy and truth, instead of taking one or two verses out of context.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re only saying that because you\u2019re Palestinian,\u201d you blurt.<\/p>\n \u201cElias lives here,\u201d says Aisha, \u201cbut he\u2019s not Palestinian. He\u2019s Israeli.\u201d<\/p>\n With an expression of disbelief, you gape at the fellow you thought to be an enemy of Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m Jewish,\u201d Elias says with a solemn nod, \u201cand thank you for not broadcasting that too loudly. A lot of folk here in the West Bank hate Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t told anyone else,\u201d brags little Aisha.<\/p>\n You wipe your forehead, feeling dizzy from the heat. Your ears still ring from the explosion.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you live here,\u201d you ask, \u201cin Bethlehem?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSince the day I was born,\u201d he says with a proud smile.<\/p>\n You take a deep breath, gazing at the dusty sky.<\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s some drinking water,\u201d your Jewish friend says, offering you a bottle. \u201cI don\u2019t know if you have any plumbing in that church of yours, but don\u2019t drink the water. It\u2019s not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot safe?\u201d you ask.<\/p>\n \u201cPolluted,\u201d says Aisha. \u201cDon\u2019t forget, you\u2019re in a prison camp.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything\u2019s rationed,\u201d says Elias. \u201cWe\u2019re lucky to get three hours of electricity each day.\u201d<\/p>\n You twist the cap off the water bottle and take a long draught.<\/p>\n \u201cWith no jobs and nothing to do,\u201d says Elias, \u201ccaged-up people can stir up trouble. So if you see anything brewing, get as far away as possible. I\u2019m only trying to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHoly cow,\u201d you say, setting down the water bottle. \u201cBethlehem is not at all like I imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWelcome to life in the Palestinian ghetto,\u201d the Elias. \u201cThese refugees have been forcibly removed from their homes and stripped of all dignity. Just be careful , okay? This is a prison camp.\u201d<\/p>\n For several seconds, you and your Jewish friend lock eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you live in Israel?\u201d you ask with a tone of skepticism. \u201cDid you get black-listed or something?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s one of my best friends,\u201d says Aisha, \u201cand he likes doing stuff with me and my mom. This is his home.\u201d<\/p>\n Elias smiles and gives Aisha a hug. \u201cI like it here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ~~~~~~<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A week has passed since your church landed like Dorothy\u2019s house <\/em>not in Oz, but in Bethlehem. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI brought you some figs,\u201d says Aisha. \u201cThey\u2019re super sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, child,\u201d you exclaim, \u201cyou shouldn\u2019t. You and your mom can barely get by as it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHere,\u201d she says, pushing them at you.<\/p>\n Strange how she cares for me<\/em>, you think, when to most Americans, she\u2019s a Palestinian pariah.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHow do you speak such good English?\u201d you ask.<\/p>\n Aisha gives you a shy smile, her bright eyes twinkling. \u201cMiss Maysaa\u2019 taught me for as long as I can remember. She\u2019s my favorite teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n For a week now, you have survived by sleeping on a pew at night and living off bottled water and tidbits of food brought to you by Aisha and Elias. Explosions and street fights have become a normal part of the routine. You never stray far from your church. You have no money and getting a job is out of the question.<\/p>\n The truth of your situation is inescapable: You are imprisoned in the West Bank.<\/em><\/p>\n One afternoon, you take a seat on a wooden crate. Seeing Aisha\u2019 mother, you wave to her across the dirt lot. You watch as a cluster of children return from school. A smile comes to your face as little Aisha bounces up the stairs to her front door.<\/p>\n She has chores to do before she can come to visit<\/em>, you remind yourself.<\/p>\n Your afternoon is wasted watching teens spray-paint anti-American slogans on the monolithic wall. The evening air gets choked by smoke from burning tires. Tensions increase as boys throw rocks at an Israeli military vehicle.<\/p>\n As dusk falls, a blanket of peace settles over Bethlehem, bringing to mind pastoral images of Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.<\/p>\n Silent night<\/em>, you muse.<\/p>\n Then suddenly \u2026<\/p>\n KAAAABOOOOOM!!! BAAAAAAAM!!! BAAAAM!!!!<\/em><\/p>\n The square explodes in fire and smoke. A fusillade of shrapnel and heat slams your body against the wall of the church. As you crumple to the ground, you hear shouts and screams, but you only understand one word.<\/p>\n \u201cMissiles!\u201d<\/p>\n A warning siren sounds.<\/em><\/p>\n People are running everywhere. <\/em><\/p>\n Smoke pours from a building across the square.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOh my God!\u201d you exclaim, rising to your feet. \u201cAisha!\u201d<\/p>\n Within moments, a fire truck arrives to pump water into the fire. You stagger to Aisha\u2019s house where desperate people carry bodies from the smoldering wreckage. You feel so helpless! Suddenly you see \u2014 there on the pavement, bloodied and broken \u2014 the bodies of Aisha and her mother.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u201d you cry. \u201cNo! Oh God, please no! No! No!\u201d<\/p>\n You turn to the darkening sky, tears flooding your eyes and rolling down your cheeks.<\/p>\n \u201cNo! No! No!\u201d<\/p>\n You reach out, as if to embrace the child who is lying there all alone, but she is too broken. Too bloodied.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u201d you moan.<\/p>\n A grief deeper than you have ever known claws into you, gripping your chest with a pain too intense to bear.<\/p>\n \u201cGod, no!!!\u201d you shout. \u201cNo! No! No!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n Your shouts are eclipsed by bitter cries that need no translation. The enormous gulf between you and the Palestinian people is erased as disparate voices rise as one \u2014 a baleful groan that grows with every breath.<\/p>\n \u201cAaaaaahhh! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!\u201d<\/p>\n Your eyes return to the bloodied montage on the pavement. A suffocating grip of death squeezes the air from your chest. You turn your eyes away as the cries of the living stab the flame-torn sky.<\/p>\n \u201cAaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!<\/p>\n The grief is killing you. With all your strength, you force your eyelids shut. It\u2019s no good.<\/em> You can\u2019t erase the grotesque picture of blood and flesh and bone from your vision.<\/p>\n This was the precious child I never held.<\/em><\/p>\n The child I never hugged.<\/em><\/p>\n The child I never told, \u201cI love you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The child I will never hold.<\/em><\/p>\n Your body heaves with sobs too deep to contain. As your strength ebbs, you fall to your knees and \u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 strong arms embrace you. <\/em><\/p>\n Someone is kneeling behind you, holding you, squeezing you, sharing the pain.<\/em><\/p>\n Still sobbing, you crumble into his embrace. You cannot see him, but instinctively you know who it is.<\/p>\n My Jewish friend. Elias.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAisha!\u201d you sob. \u201cAnd her mother. They \u2026 they\u2019re \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know,\u201d says Elias, strengthening his grip around your chest. \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n By the sound of his voice, you can tell that he, too, is weeping.<\/p>\n With a guarded glance to your chest, you see his olive brown skin, his strong arms, his hands, and \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God,\u201d you gasp in sudden recognition. \u201cYour hands \u2026 The nail scars \u2026 You are \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Shaking your head, you think of the bodies, the smoldering carnage, the missiles and the wall.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s you,\u201d you whisper. \u201cHere, of all places. It\u2019s you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s me,\u201d he says. \u201cBut don\u2019t worry. I won\u2019t leave you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you? Here in the West Bank. With \u2026 with \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey are not the enemy,\u201d he says, still sobbing at your back. \u201cThey are my people. They are my friends. And Aisha \u2026 and her mother \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAisha,\u201d you groan. Unable to contain your grief, your chest heaves with uncontrollable sobs.<\/p>\n \u201cPrecious Aisha,\u201d Elias says. \u201cPrecious, precious Aisha.\u201d<\/p>\n Your eyes are riveted to the nail-scarred hands that hold you tight.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Image by Neufal54 \/ Pixabay.com.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Genesis 12:3 (NIV).<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Conditional (adjective; k\u0259n-\u02c8dish-n\u0259l) : <\/strong>subject to, implying, or dependent upon a condition. Note that nearly the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 28 speaks of the terrible curses that will befall Israel if they are unfaithful to God.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> \u201cThis Chart Shows Every Person Killed in the Israel-Palestine Conflict since 2000,\u201d by Max Fisher, Vox Media, 14 June 2014, www.vox.com\/2014\/7\/14\/5898581\/chart-israel-palestine-conflict-deaths<\/a> .<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> \u201cIsrael\u2019s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity,\u201d Amnesty International, 1 February 2022, www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2022\/02\/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity\/<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cInjustice against Palestine: Are Americans culpable?,\u201d by Ella Bruno, Georgetown Voice, 22 September 2022, https:\/\/georgetownvoice.com\/2022\/09\/22\/injustice-aginst-palestine\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n