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    Jan 11, 2015

    Part 1: Israel and Palestine

    Passage: 1 Chronicles 22:2-10

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Series: Modern Problems

    Category: Current Events

    Keywords: conflict, israel, palestine, modern problems

    The first of our "modern problems" series. Join us as we explore the history behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    Today we begin a 4-week series on Modern Problems. As we discussed doing this series back in the fall, one of the members of the Worship Design Team said, “you know, these are all topics that make people hate each other.” Sometimes the conflict is because of fear. Sometimes it’s because of history. Sometimes it’s because of closely held opinions. Sometimes it’s because we feel threatened. Sometimes it’s – well, it could be a lot of things.

    I was excited and terrified – probably in equal measure – when many of you expressed a hope when I first came that I would preach on “current events.” After “spiritual gifts,” current events was the most-requested topic. One person even asked specifically for a sermon on same-sex marriage. I thought I should wait awhile. After all, we are trying to rebuild – to grow our attendance and financial stability. Honestly, I worried a bit that it might not be wise to rock the boat.

    Then, one of the Design Team members asked me if I would have thought the same in the 1960’s when civil rights was the issue and the church needed to address it. It was a God-moment! I knew that it was time and that God was speaking through those I have asked to work with me on worship planning. So, here we go!

    The Old Testament is filled with stories of how the Israelites moved to the Promised Land – and how they struggled with Egyptians and other “peoples” to find the place where God led them.

    Review Timeline

    As I researched this topic in news stories and historical articles, I found that my perception of the region was skewed, so I think that a brief review of the history of the region may be helpful to set a kind of foundation for our conversation today.

    From 1517 until 1917, the region was part of the Ottoman Empire – with a number of tribes or “peoples” under their rule. I had no idea that the Ottoman Empire was around for that long or that recently. Egypt had broken away from the Empire in the mid-1800’s.

    One thing that stands out for me is that I had no perspective whatsoever about Israeli settlement patterns in Palestine. I found the following paragraph from the Middle East Research and Information Project (or MERIP) to set this in a helpful context. MERIP’s stated purpose is to publish unbiased information on the region.

    (Supplemental slides can be found here.)

    Slides 1&2

    In the nineteenth century, following a trend that emerged earlier in Europe, people around the world began to identify themselves as nations and to demand national rights, foremost the right to self-rule in a state of their own (self-determination and sovereignty). Jews and Palestinians both started to develop a national consciousness and mobilized to achieve national goals. Because Jews were spread across the world (in diaspora), the Jewish national movement, or Zionist trend, sought to identify a place where Jews could come together through the process of immigration and settlement. Palestine seemed the logical and optimal place because it was the site of Jewish origin. The Zionist movement began in 1882 with the first wave of European Jewish immigration to Palestine.

    So, let’s look at a very brief timeline for just a moment. It can be found in your bulletin on the first page of the study guide and on the slide:

    Slide 3
    • Region was part of the Ottoman Empire until early 1918
    • First Jewish Settlers arrived 1914
    • 1922 – Britain created 2 political entities in region
      • Eastern Palestine – Jordan
      • Western Palestine – Arabs and Jews
    Slide 4
    • 1947 – UN Partition assigned territory to Israel
      • Split Western Palestine: Jews and Palestinians w/Palestinians assigned West Bank
      • Note: Israel accepted the partitioning but Palestinians did not.
    Slide 5
    • 1948 – State of Israel declared independence
    • 1988 – Palestinian National Council proclaimed the establishment of independent Palestinian state

    I found a great animated map developed by staff of Columbia University and published on the site of Vox Media that shows the changing borders and emerging states in the region.

    From 1988 until the present, there have been numerous efforts at establishing peace in the region and forging agreements to settle boundaries between Israel and Palestine as a nation rather than a region. I ‘m sure there are whole university courses on this topic, and we can’t possibly get into the nitty-gritty today, but I found it helpful myself to review the history. I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, especially since neither history nor geography were never my strong suits nor areas of great interest to me! In order for us to see this issue through the eyes of faith, it is important for us to look at the issues from both sides and with some clearly factual data – not just opinion from one side or the other.

    Biblical and UM Resources

    There are no scriptures that will tell us what to think or what to do about this issue today. However, there are many scriptures that shape us overall as people of faith. We need to ask ourselves: what does God seek for God’s people – all of God’s people?

    In a recent issue of FaithLink, a UM weekly curriculum on current events, the writer called on Sermon on the Mount, Isaiah 2, Psalm 122 and Genesis 14 as Core Bible Passages for study. The Isaiah passage is a vision of God’s preferred future – God’s intentions for all creation: (slide 6) They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, (slide 7) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. The story in Genesis is the first episode of violence in the OT, describing the human realities of struggle between neighbors. The Psalm contains the famous quote: (slide 8) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

    There are many more passages similar to these. God’s intention for all creation is repeated again and again. People struggle to get what they want again and again.

    UM Resources

    The Book of Discipline, in the Social Principles, offers more of this kind of shaping for us, based on scripture as well as scholarship. The paragraph entitled The World Community begins this way:

    (Slide 9) God’s world is one world. The unity now being thrust upon us by technological revolution has far outrun our moral and spiritual capacity to achieve a stable world. The enforced unity of humanity, increasingly evident on all levels of life, presents the Church as well as all people with problems that will not wait for answer: injustice, war, exploitation, privilege, population, international ecological crisis, proliferation of arsenals of nuclear weapons, development of transnational business organizations that operate beyond the effective control of any governmental structure, and the increase of tyranny in all its forms. (Slide 10) This generation must find viable answers to these and related questions if humanity is to continue on this earth. We commit ourselves as a Church to the achievement of a world community that is a fellowship of persons who honestly love one another. We pledge ourselves to seek the meaning of the gospel in all issues that divide people and threaten the growth of world community.

    Our Book of Resolutions has 2 resolutions that were approved by the 2012 General Conference and 1 that was approved by the 2008 GC. The first resolution speaks about opposition to Israeli settlements in Palestinian land. There is not time this morning to delve into too much of the “why.” In the simplest terms possible, the why has to do with the timeline we looked at today: Israeli settlements displace Palestinian people. At the same time, there have been numerous times in the last 60 years when the Palestinians have not agreed to what other leaders have seen as agreements. While I know there have been many, many bends in the road since 1949, this excerpt from the ProCon.org site offers an insight into this element of the struggle:

    The armistice agreements [following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War] were not peace treaties and did not provide for many of the features that normally govern the relations between neighboring states at peace with each other, such as diplomatic and trade ties. During the following years Arab leaders made abundantly clear their uniform view that the armistice accords were merely elaborate cease-fire agreements, implicitly temporary and qualitatively different from and well short of full peace treaties.

    So, what does this mean for us as people of faith? Sadly, many of us – me included – form our opinions and take actions (such as voting, for instance) that are formed by what we hear on the news. We listen to the news that gets our attention – and that may or may not be unbiased. Too often, we don’t consult the resources of our faith to balance what we hear in the public sector. Here are a few faith-based actions that I hope you will consider using:

    1. Read and reflect. The study guide includes more in-depth information about this topic than we could even begin to cover today. It will be posted on the website by tomorrow, along with the text of the sermon and a booklet of resources. There will also be a bibliography of material that I have consulted, all websites, where you can read more. The full FaithLink issue that I used is part of the packet.
    2. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Note that there is a section in the FaithLink on how Pope Francis has called people together for prayer.)
    3. Consider how you, as a person of faith, may act to bring about peace. The UM resolutions have some actions defined for your considerations.

    Let us pray:

    Lord of justice and mercy, we are overwhelmed when we think of the violence that faces your children in the Middle East. We pray that you would change the hearts of those who seek to change the world through the use of guns and bombs. We pray your blessing on all who seek and work for peace. May we be people of peace as well. Help us – and our brothers and sisters around the world – to be more like you. Amen.

    (More UM Reading materials available here.)