The Forgotten Church

This past Saturday was exactly one month since the day we arrived here in Palestine but to celebrate our three week mark (the Saturday before) we had our first ‘day off’. Atallah, the Dean of Administration at BBC, asked us if we want to accompany him (as part of Tabitha Ministries) to visit some people in the northern West Bank area of Jenin (an area that has seen much violence and devestation). What was going to make this day even more interesting was that his car was plated with West Bank tags. Explanation: there are different color license plates for Israel and the West Bank. White license plates are for vehicles that are only allowed to travel within the West Bank areas and on the roads that connect these areas (that is if Israeli soldiers allow the vehicle to pass through the checkpoint at all). Yellow license plates are Israeli plates and are allowed to travel not only in Israel but also throughout the West Bank to areas where there are Jewish settlements.

At 8 am, we slipped out the door to meet Atallah. We did not have the Israeli plates and therefore couldn’t take the short way to Jerusalem (15 min or so), but had to take the long way around for about 45 minutes to get to Jerusalem (the eastern side of Jerusalem) and then back north toward Ramallah. During this part of the drive eastward we were admiring the scenery, even though it was a foggy day, and then Misty noticed that there is even a little river going through this desert like valley. Atallah, chuckled and said, “That is not a river. That is sewage from Jerusalem.” Yes, open and heavily flowing sewage was let from Jerusalem through the West Bank Palestinian territories without even being in a contained pipe.

Not much longer we noticed that acres of trees had been cut down at the base. These fields of trees were olive trees that the Palestinians owned, but Jewish settlers came and basically mowed them down. However, if the trees were still standing and producing olives, they would remain unharvested because the Israelis control the Palestinian movement even to their agricultural fields. Even more, if they are harvested, there is not a market to sell them in, especially when they cannot to be taken into Israel or even sometimes to other Palestinian areas since Israel retains overall power of the infrastructure in most of the West Bank and Gaza. Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise (i.e. roads, water, electricity, air and sea travel, etc). Roadblocks, checkpoints, and Israeli-only streets impede access and in some cases completely inhibit access, to basic social services, health care, food, water, and a stable economy (a free-market).

We also noticed that many Bedouins (desert-dwellers) had traded in their tents for 3-sided metal shacks since the Israeli occupation of Palestine greatly restricts their nomadic lifestyle. Another thing we saw was that the large grey wall which completely surrounds some Palestinian cities and is being built to encompass the entire Palestinian territory was constructed way up on a distant hill but yet Israel has erected another barbed wire fence closer to the road marking the site of the future wall and taking all of the land in between as well. The wall where it is now already violates many internationally recognized boundaries.

The entire time we travelled Atallah pointed out the illegal Jewish settlements (some virtually uninhabited) that are being built on all the high places in the West Bank. Why illegal? Building a civilian settlement in an un-annexed, occupied territory (e.g., the West Bank) is illegal according the international law. This, of course, is one of the major obstructions to peace between Israel and Palestine. Why the high places? Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister of Israel, encouraged Israelis to settle the high places because they are strategic military locations in the Palestinian territories and would remain in Israeli hands. This is another indication that the Israelis have no intention of ever leaving this territory. These settlements are also referred to as “facts on the ground.” Even today, if Israel decided to leave the West Bank, they couldn’t because there are these “facts on the ground” that impede such a pull out. Even the exits on this highway that connects Palestinian cities throughout the West Bank are now blocked by gates or concrete blocks to protect these Jewish settlements.

So our question is: will Palestine be occupied forever? Occupation is control of a territory by military force. It has already been under Israeli military occupied for nearly 42 years. Israel wants the land but they don't want to make it a part of Israel because that would mean that in a ‘civilized and democratic’ state, the Palestinians would have the freedom to exercise their right to vote. This would mean that with the large number of Palestinians, the popular vote of the people might not be a Jewish person. The Israeli occupation and the segregation wall, especially since 2000, has been particularly hard on Palestinians with aid & aid workers in some cases being denied entry (as this is often the case for very long periods of time in Gaza). Military occupation of Palestine affects their basic rights to food, life, property, safety, and freedom.

According to the Geneva convention (international law or set of principles instituted after WWII to ensure that civilians would "never again" suffer as they had under Nazi occupation), an occupying force is responsible for the protection and care of the civilian population living under its control. Israel, however, ignores this requirement, routinely committing violations of the Geneva Conventions. Israel is one of the leading violators of these conventions today with numerous UN resolutions targeting them.

It is easy though to see why someone with Jewish heritage would want to come to Israel – the benefits are great – immediate Israeli citizenship, free language classes, free transportation to Israel, little or no cost living in a settlement, guaranteed job or a check at the end of the month. Yet, some of these Israelis leave after only staying a small while because they realize they are living on someone else’s land where their crops or homes were before being taken (without compensation) and demolished. In some cases, they are actually living in someone else’s home if it was spared from demolition.

Palestinians cannot even drive easily around the West Bank from one Palestinian territory to another because there are so many settlements and checkpoints that have to be avoided by Palestinian drivers. For example, we were also turned around at a checkpoint just north of Nablus because it was closed for no apparent reason (soldiers were there and nothing was going on). Therefore, we had to travel another route to go back south to Ramallah, then to Bethlehem. At this point, Misty had been car sick since we first got in the vehicle so the last thing she wanted to find out was that it was going to take even longer to get to our next destination.

The drive to Jenin took about twice as long with the checkpoints (the major checkpoints divide the West Bank into three different sections) and the extra distance to drive only where the license plates would allow us. The people of the Jenin district are among the poorest in all of the West Bank because they are agriculturally based community which can produce goods, but at times they have no market to sell them in. The residents of Jenin cannot work inside Israel or in Jerusalem because they do not have the proper documents, passes, permissions, etc. Therefore, the unemployment rate in Jenin is extremely high.

The kingdom of God northern area of the West Bank is loosing ground, at least that is what the numbers indicate. Der Sherot village used to be a Christian village, but today there is not one single Christian. The village of Jabba is the same. The town of Jenin has 400 Christians and Zabadee, the largest Christian town in the northern West Bank has about 2,500 Christians. Berakim’s Catholic church, however, is only a 4 meter by 4 meter room and has no priest. Tabas has 55 Christians out of 12,000 Muslims. The small cross at the top of the Greek Orthodox church is the only Christian symbol in the town. Beit Imreen has 2 Christians among 5,000. Nes Jebel has five elderly ladies that are Christians (all widows). Sabastia has 2 Christians – an elderly and disabled brother and sister – whom we visited in their small one room shack which barely had room for the three of us to stand in there. When they die, Christianity’s common presence and witness dies as well. These numbers reflect the entire Christian population, that is, all those who claim the name of Christ (Roman Catholic, Syrian and Greek Orthodox, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, etc.).

Atallah visits these Christians to encourage them and let them know they are not alone. He calls them “the forgotten church.” They are not part of the Muslim community because they are Christian. They are not part of an Israeli community because they are Palestinian. The community they have is the community of Christ around the world that should not draw lines based on ethnicity (Palestinian) or location (land) but unfortunately it does. Galatians 3:26-27 says that “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Another smaller point: because of these conditions in the West Bank, the discipline of archeology suffers in two ways. First, many Palestinians raid the many unprotected or poorly protected archeological excavation sites in the area. The goods taken are sold for money in the black market and end up in the markets around the area. Second, Israelis are not willing to give permission for many Palestinian schools to dig in the West Bank. Therefore, many Roman ruins and archeological sites remain unexplored and unprotected.

One of the major things that we have learned since we have been here is the difference between something being informational and something being transformational. We can let everyone know about how the West Bank operates, how the Christians are caught between or forgotten, and the ongoing injustice that takes place here. All of this information is good to know and makes a great foundation. But the transformational part takes place when you come here and experience it with them and become involved in the lives of Palestinians. Wait with them at checkpoints. See the trees that have been cut down. Cry with the mother who has lost her baby or the families who are separated due to restrictions. Hear their stories of humiliation, grief, and injustice.

On this trip with Atallah we were reminded of our hope for good things among the evils of this world. We drove by the area where Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. In the end of the story Joseph was blessed by God in many ways though he had experienced hardship and the brunt of oppression. Joseph says to his brothers that what they intended for harm, God intended for good (Genesis 50:20). Though many of our brothers and sisters are experiencing oppression, there is this simple truth that survives: God will not forsake the ones that he loves.