Israel and Gaza
by Rev Dr Ian Stackhouse, Senior Minister, Millmead, Guildford Baptist Church, Surrey.
It is a truism to say that the horrific slaughter of Israelis by Hamas on the morning of Saturday October 7th took everyone by surprise. Yes, there was tension. I was in Jerusalem at the beginning of the year and wondered then if something was about to happen. The fear was palpable. But not even the most pessimistic forecaster could have predicted the scale and barbarity of what transpired: the attacks on Jewish communities, the taking of hostages, and then the ensuing reprisals by the Netanyahu regime. By any reckoning in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is a watershed. And in so far as it plays into the existential fears on both sides, it has set the peace process back decades.
In reality, there was no peace process. One of the reasons the region has been so vulnerable to extremism over the last decade or so is because those who were engaged in peace talks left the table long ago. Where there had been hope, in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords, soon there was only cynicism. I was in Petah Tikva in 2012 with an old Israeli friend, and whereas once upon a time he had been something of a peace activist, now he felt nothing but disillusionment. I suspect there were many like him at that time, and even more so now. What chance peace?
At the risk of sounding naive, or hopelessly optimistic, it is here, however, precisely in the place of despair, in a conflict that appears intractable, that I do believe the Christian church has a role to play in the cause of peace. And I see it working at a number of levels. The first is theological, by which I don’t mean fine sounding statements but a thorough going dismantling of an ideology that, in my opinion, has done a great deal to destabilise the region. I am referring of course to that peculiarly Protestant evangelical hermeneutic known as Christian Zionism, which is not so popular in the UK anymore, but which is mainstream in the States and underpins just about every aspect of American foreign policy towards Israel.
To dismantle Christian Zionism, or to at least challenge it as an unhelpful, literalistic rendering of the biblical narrative, is not an easy task, nor without its risks. My own attempts over the years have won me a great many opponents, as well as the charge of supersessionism, otherwise known as ‘replacement theology’ (meaning that the church has replaced the nation of Israel as God’s covenanted people). But it seems to me that if we can demonstrate how contrary the territorialism of Christian Zionism is to the New Testament imperative of the one people of God, Jew and Gentile together in a worldwide family of faith, then we will at least weaken some of the legitimacy the Israeli right-wing claim for their occupation of the West Bank. It certainly won’t stop the encroachment of Jewish settlements. That lies in the hands of governments. But it would certainly remove the longstanding feeling of oppression so many Palestinians feel - Arab Christians in particular - about religiously motivated Zionism. And in so far as the removal of grievance is a small step towards peace, it seems obvious to me that it ought to be attempted.
The second level of engagement I would encourage is more overtly political: that is, the unequivocal denunciation of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist movement - including calling for its surrender - but also (and this is where great courage needs to be exercised) the denunciation of ‘collective punishment’ which is effectively what is happening right now in Gaza. Whether this means we take to the streets in protest is debatable. Personally, I am praying for something more akin to a speech from one of our bishops in the House of Lords, much like Bishop George Bell gave in February 1944, denouncing the bombing of vast numbers of innocent civilians. Otherwise, what’s a state bishop for? We may feel uncomfortable about their historic privileges, but as long as these privileges exist, the Christian church ought to deploy them in the name of humanity. Without in any way denying Israel’s right to self-defence, even more so Israel’s right to exist, which concurrently needs restating, such an intervention from a senior religious figure would go a long way, I believe, in brokering peace in the future.
A third level of engagement, alongside the theological and the political, is the local: in other words, grass root initiatives, however small, that work for peace in the region. As someone who has travelled a great deal to conflict areas, be it Colombia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Iraq, as well as Israel of course, it occurs to me now that the most powerful contribution the Christian community can make to the cause of peace lies in the area of forgiveness and reconciliation. For those who have been involved over the years with the Jubilee Centre this is nothing new. But for myself, a relative newcomer to the vocation of peacebuilding, this has been a reawakening. As a result of travelling, but also shepherding (Guildford Baptist Church, where I am the Senior Pastor, has become a Christian community of over forty different nationalities), it is clear to me now that the distinctively Jesus thing to do in the context of ethnic strife is to reach out in grace. As it says at the entrance to the Tent of Nations, a Palestinian Christian community near Bethlehem which is under severe pressure from Jewish settlers to relinquish their land, ‘We have no enemies.’
As with all peace initiatives, the scale of the project is shockingly small. Compared to the posturing of governments, the scheming of terror organisations, not to mention the power of the media, these attempts at peace seem irrelevant. But isn’t that the genius of the kingdom? Seemingly irrelevant initiatives - one thinks of the multi-racial community of Koinonia, founded by Clarence Jordan in the Civil Rights era - that have influence way beyond their numerical weight. The word that comes to mind here is witness: the church bearing witness to a new society, where the dividing walls of hostility are replaced by one people of God.
I hope to be in Israel sometime this year. I am keen to not simply write about these matters but be there in person. And one of the groups I am most anxious to find out more about is Musalaha, a faith-based organisation that teaches, trains, and facilitates reconciliation between Israeli’s and Palestinians. This surely has to be a sign of hope, however desperate things are at present. And then of course, let us not underestimate the impact of heartfelt and unceasing prayer to the Lord of all the nations.
January 2024
[1] See Peter Walker, ‘Centre Stage: Jerusalem or Jesus?’ in Cambridge Papers, 5.1, 1996, .
The Jubilee Centre, in partnership with Sallux, is planning to host a webinar with Rev Dr Ian Stackhouse on the topic of ‘Anatomy of Forgiveness’ on Wednesday, March 27th 2024 at 7:30pm, UK time. If you would like to participate, please email r.alarcon@jubilee-centre.org for log-in details.
The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Jubilee Centre or its trustees.
