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Bending the Arc references a quote by Rev. Dr. King who said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” This digital newsletter from the CSA Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation office showcases the work of changemakers, opportunities to learn, and opportunities for you to help “bend the arc” toward justice. Full contents of the newsletter are published on this page. 
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Is Settler Colonialism The Root Of The Israel-Palestine Conflict?

October 22, 2024
By Tracy Abler, Justice Coordinator

The following op-ed is created, and shared with permission, from members of Interfaith Peace Working Group (IPWG) in Wisconsin, retired pastors Rev. Fred Trost and Dr. Jerry Folk. CSA’s Justice Promoter, Tracy Abler, has recently joined these gentlemen on the IPWG Steering Committee.

“Christian churches in the Middle East and elsewhere have been working together for a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for many years. They often stress the importance of understanding the roots of this conflict. According to Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Lutheran pastor and educator, who spoke recently in Madison, the primary root of this conflict is Israel’s policy of “settler colonialism”, the objective of which is to cleanse the land of its native Palestinian inhabitants and incorporate their land into the state of Israel. For example, Israel deprives Palestinian farmers of water, making farming impossible. After three years of non-use, the law allows Israel to confiscate the land, move settlers in, and provide them water, electricity and protection.

In a recent webinar, Dr. Peter Makari, Global Relations Minister for the Middle East for the United Church of Christ, explained the history of this policy which has caused so many Palestinian grievances.* Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from their ancestral homes in the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe) during the Arab-Israeli war and Israel will not allow them to return. Since then, armed conflicts in the region have displaced six million Palestinian refugees and their descendants. They are now scattered across Gaza, the West Bank and refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel has blockaded the flow of people and goods there, creating an outdoor prison. Palestinians in the West Bank are facing increasing Israeli restrictions on their movements and fierce attacks by Israeli settlers.

Although we support resistance to injustice and oppression wherever it occurs, we stand alongside those who reject the violent acts of Hamas on October 7, 2024. At the same time, we believe with millions of others around the world that this conflict did not begin on that day. The ongoing suffering of Palestinians and Israel's massive destruction of Gaza date back to 1948 when nearly 167,000 Palestinians were killed and 750,000 were expelled from their homes and the land on which they had lived for centuries. This terrible conflict screams for an end which allows both Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace and enjoy the freedom, self-determination, human rights and security that they deserve as fellow human beings. Israel's massive violence in Gaza, in which a staggering number of more than 41,000 civilians have been killed, 63% of them women and children, does not take us a single step closer to the goal of peace and reconciliation. It takes us in the opposite direction.

We urge our government to change its foreign policy on Israel and the Middle East by ending its financial and military support for Israel’s massive and brutal actions in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon and by insisting on an immediate ceasefire and the beginning of serious negotiations for peace and justice in Palestine/Israel. Let us do all we can to support groups and leaders who work for this end.”

*To receive the link to Dr. Makari’s recorded Sept 26, 2024 IPWG webinar, please email Tracy at tabler@csasisters.org.
 

Tags: learning