Against All Atrocities: Never Again for Anyone
To remember what happened to six million Jews serves
no purpose unless it arouses indignation, anger, action,
against all atrocities, anywhere in the world
Howard Zinn
On February 4, I attended the lecture series Never Again For Anyone (www.neveragainforanyone.com ). The series is connected to the commemoration of international Holocaust Remembrance Day. As stated on their website, “The purpose of the tour is to honor those who perished in the Holocaust by advocating for human rights inherent to all people---and particularly for Palestinians living under Israel’s occupation.”
The event was co-sponsored by many national groups including US Palestinian Community Network, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and Friends of Sabeel-North America. The Sabeel Institute in Jerusalem is one of the organizations that the United Church of Christ supports and partners with to do its work in Israel and Palestine. It is an ecumenical center based on liberation theology and thus the liberation of all God’s people.
They have a strong following here in this country through the Friends of Sabeel Network.
This night’s panel included Dr. Hajo Meyer, a Holocaust survivor and Dr. Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley professor and chairman of the American Muslims for Palestine and a local organizer named Jorge Ortiz.
For the purposes of this blog, I wish to focus on the comments made by Dr. Meyer who was the third and last speaker. Just as the tragedy of the Holocaust surrounded every word spoken that evening, my own thoughts and experiences were illuminated by my recent experiences working with undocumented immigrants---vigiling in front of detention centers, praying with families and friends who had lost someone to one of the Department of Homeland Security’s strategies to round up more than 14 million people (see Endgame Strategy for the blueprint to strategically remove all “criminal aliens” http://www.scribd.com/doc/8575889/Endgame-DHS-Strategic-Plan. I was also aware as my departure draws closer and the cries for freedom from the Middle East grow more urgent, that our own government, the FBI, was subpoenaing people for their anti-war or political activism. I was aware that many of those subpoenaed were people who support Palestinian causes or people. I was aware, in other words, that our government’s hands were not clean when it came to issues of political repression and abuse of human rights. Finally, as a postmodern liberation theologian who belongs to a non-creedal church (United Church of Christ), I was aware that my theology is not shaped by the idea that there are chosen people who belong to a chosen land. My Christian beliefs do not include end-time prophecies that require that Israel stay undivided or belong exclusively to the Jewish people.
Dr. Bazian spoke to my intellect and helped me make sense of Israel and Palestine’s checkered history of peacemaking attempts and how as a consequence of anti-Semitism and Zionism Israel has become what it is today but Dr. Meyer spoke to my heart as he railed against the way his religion, Judaism, has been used to justify behaviors, practices, and policies antithetical to its core beliefs. I was moved by his assertion that the greatest lesson he learned from Auschwitz was that whoever wants to dehumanize others must first be dehumanized themselves. “The oppressors are no longer really human no matter what uniform they wear.” He said he has seen the same look in the eyes of the Nazi soldiers as he has seen in the eyes of the Israeli soldiers; both have been desensitized so they can do what they have been ordered to do. His statement also made me think about the role of nonviolent resistance as practiced by Gandhi and King and how you must not give up hope in the oppressor’s conversion, their ability to regain their conscience or act humanely. He spoke passionately about the core values of Judaism with its insistence on treating others, as you yourself would want to be treated. He quoted Leviticus 19:34 as the main source for his understanding of how we are to treat each other:
"The Alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."
He spoke with great emotion over what he sees as the travesty of the exploitation of the Holocaust to serve the racist attitudes of the Zionists. Over and over he wanted us to know that the values of Judaism are at odds with the values of Zionism (see the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network for more information about the movement of Jews to challenge the theological, social and political assumptions and practices of Zionism at www.isjn.net ). Listen also to this interview with Jewish psychologist and writer Mark Braverman about his new book, Fatal Embrace, about Judaism’s embrace of Zionism.
I was aware as Hajo spoke that I knew very little about Zionism, Jewish or Christian, and that for me to understand the dynamics at play in the Israel/Palestinian Conflict or to be an effective peacemaker, it would be useful to have a better grounding in these sister belief systems that are not just theological but political, that have exerted and influenced policies in Israel and the United States. Before I could challenge the legitimacy of Christian Zionism I realized I needed to know more about it and who its proponents were. Just as I have taken seriously the call to “come and see” what is happening in the Holy Land, I have taken seriously the call to challenge Christian Zionism. Christian Zionists support their Jewish Zionist brothers and sisters. Together they form the foundation for much of US policy with regards to Middle East and the peace process.
I have great appreciation for those theologians who have committed themselves to this task. I call your attention to Rev. Robert O. Smith’s Toward a Lutheran Response to Christian Zionism and the work of Naim Stifan Ateek.
Smith says that Christian Zionism is a “politically mobilized strand of Christian fundamentalism committed to preserving Jewish control over all of the historic Palestine to ensure the realization of the movement’s own end-times hope. He points to Joel 3:2 as a key verse for Christian Zionists, “I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations. They have divided my lands” (see Rev. Smith’s article under Christianity, for more details at http://www.chicagofaithcoalition.org).
Do not divide the lands. No two state solution. One state under the rule of Israel. Naim Stifan Ateek, President and Director of Sabeel, says in his book, A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation, “Jewish religious extremists and Christian Zionists both advocate the expulsion and transfer of Palestinians from Palestine into Jordan. They also believe that every act of Israel is orchestrated by God and thus condoned by God and that the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of God’s covenant that was made with Biblical Israel.” Ateek, along with other Christian theologians, believes that Christian Zionists pose a primary challenge to an inclusive theology of love and justice because they place Israel and not Jesus at the center.
It was a powerful evening but there was something missing for me from the conversation and that was the role of this thing called Christian Zionism and also the suffering of Christian Palestinians. We Christians were missing from the dialogue. Braverman says that Christians don’t speak up because they still feel guilty over their silence or complicity in the Holocaust. They don’t want to be seen as going against the Jews again. Hajo’s words inspired me to think differently about the lessons learned from the Holocaust and to not let my guilt or religion, like his Judaism, get hijacked into supporting something that supports the oppression of others. Never again must include everyone.
And so I wonder, how will I keep Jesus at the center in not only my theology but also my peacemaking? Never again is happening now in Israel and Palestine. All are suffering even those we call oppressors. How will I join with others in the struggle for justice and freedom and keep my own theology inclusive when it would be much easier to choose a side? Ecumenical accompaniers are told not to take sides but to stand for human rights and the adherence to international law. Easier said than acted upon I suspect. I am not exactly sure what this will look like on the ground but I think it has something to do with saying no to all atrocities anywhere and everywhere, to joining with others in saying Never Again for Anyone.
Like our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters, we Christians too believe that the One, who called all people on earth into being, calls upon us to make the welcome of strangers central to our faith. Jesus, who had nowhere to lay his head, also calls upon us to make the welcome of strangers central to our faith. May it be so and may it be so with me as I begin this journey.
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40 NRSV)
When are you actually leaving the country? Will you call aforehand?
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