Last Week in Jerusalem

The journey to Jerusalem began with the footsteps in Galilee.

We are called by Jesus to transfigure the world we live in and to bring the glory of God to the places and situations that are most in need of glory, hope, and the presence of God.

                           Megan McKenna

The journey began and will end in Galilee, a place of economic hardships and political repression yet strong anti-imperialist  opposition.  Jesus, the Jew and resistance leader must go to the Holy City, to Zion, to worship and celebrate Passover. He must also go to the heart of imperial Roman power, Pax Romana.

He must continue his project of “adversarial politics”; his good news of another world possible, the coming of God’s kin-dom here on earth as it is in heaven.  He must continue building the Beloved Community even if it costs him his life. This is the path he has chosen, the Way.  It leads to a show down with the  Powers and Principalities--- the scribes and the Pharisees, the colonial rulers---Herod and Pilate. 

Theologian Ched Meyers says there are two rooms in the colonial condominum. They are imperial colonizers of Rome and the religio-academic elite.  Jesus’ acts of compassion and his adversarial politics ---healing on the Sabbath and forgiving of sins are threats to the temple-state and must be stopped.  He is too dangerous to the ruling authorities.  Jesus knew that coming to Jerusalem would be the end for he knew that God’s nonviolent mission of justice for all was in direct opposition to Empire’s dominant paradigm.  Jesus knew he would he would be prosecuted for resisting “occupying authority.”  He knew he would be executed by crucifixion like all other outlaws including dissidents.  Crucifixions were the preferred form of execution for the Empire because they provided a spectacle for others to witness. They were meant to scare you from speaking out.

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, for the sake of the gospel, will save it.      Mark 8:34b-35

To follow Jesus means to join him in being a troublemaker, a seeker of truth, and defender of justice.  We take up our cross when we act with compassion, when we practice “adversarial politics,” when we confront the injustices of the temple- state and their unjust social, economic or political policies in our country or in Jerusalem.

To celebrate Easter, we must follow Jesus through occupied Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of his day and the one today. We must join him and all the “crucified ones” in their suffering.  Our compassion necessarily leads to the Passion. We must walk the Via Dolorosa with those who are already on it; we must pray and weep, help carry the cross or pick up our own. Our faith should lead us into action.  Like Jesus we must confront and challenge the “ occupying authorities” and the ones supporting them. In our case, as Americans, we must confront our own complicity in Pax Americana.

 The question is not how do we celebrate Easter in the teeth of Empire?  But how do we, the ones who fund the occupation and the continued colonization of Palestine, stop supporting or paying for Empire’s dental work through our military support? How do we challenge our own US hegemony and complicity? 

Walking to with Jesus to Jerusalem is one thing but are we ready to walk with him through Jerusalem, the trials and persecution ahead? Are we ready for the scandal of the cross? Not only the torture of crucifixion but the being cast out and labeled an outlaw? Are we ready to be labeled anti-Semitic for our critique of Israel’s policies and actions? Are we ready to lose friends and maybe even our jobs?

 I invite you to read my blog during Holy Week, to travel with Jesus and I through Jerusalem into the heart of the conflict, then and now.  I have organized my writings around key events in Jesus’ last week mostly from the Gospel of Mark.

1.      Palm Sunday: Entry and Access to Jerusalem

2.     The Things That Make For Peace

3.     Cleansing and turning tables in the Temple-State

4.     Maundy Thursday: Put away that sword

5.     Sad Friday: Along the Via Dolorosa

6.     Holy Fire on Holy Saturday

7.     Easter: Waiting for us back in Galilee

My hope is that these writings will confirm, convert, or convince you; that they will call you to repentance and turn you to be the good news to the poor, the dispossessed and the disinherited, the enslaved and the discriminated in Palestine and Israel today.

History: The Changing Facts on the Group

Ten measures of beauty God gave the world,

Nine to Jerusalem, one to the rest---

Ten measures of sorrow God gave to the world,

Nine to Jerusalem, one to the rest---

So pray for the peace -----pray for the peace

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Garth Hewitt

Let’s begin with a brief summary of the history of the Holy City-- as it was, has been, and is today.  This is important not only for a better understanding of the Jerusalem in Jesus’ day but also for understanding the key role Jerusalem plays today in the Palestine-Israel conflict.

The City of David, as pictured by the Gospel writer Mark, was a city ruled by the few, the 1%. It was the seat of imperial power and the seat of the Temple and her high priests.  The two worked together to keep the people poor. They exploited them through an interlocking system of high taxes, indentured labor, land confiscation, and high tithing demands for the Temple.  Furthermore, the Temple was no longer a place for worship but a marketplace, a place for commerce and money changing, even a place where sacrifices could be made to the Roman pagan gods.

Rome directed its imperial power over its occupied territories through this temple-state marriage with great success.  Yet many Jews were resistant to both imperial authority and the leadership of the Temple. Those who believed in a violent overthrow were zealots while others prayed for the Messiah to come and deliver them.  Jesus seemed to possibility be both hence, calling him Hosanna----Save Now, and the Blessed One.

By the time of Mark’s writing, the city had been destroyed twice; once by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and once by the Romans in 70 CE. Over time The Holy City was occupied 37 times. Thus, Jerusalem has a long history of being the spoil gained by military power.

In addition to being the target of aggression or the prize, the prophets and the psalmists have always had a vision of the city as a city of peace, open and inclusive for all.

“I will include Egypt and Babylonia

when I list the nations that obey me:

The people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia

 I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

Of Zion it will be said that all nations belong there

 and that the almighty will make her strong.

The Lord will write a list of the peoples and

 include them all as citizens of Jerusalem…” ( Psalm 87  GNB)

           

The psalmist envisioned a city welcoming for all peoples and that “all nations belong there.” It is for this reason that Palestinian Christians and the World Council of Churches (WCC) have held that the status of Jerusalem should be negotiated first because for “…its message will be a source of inspiration toward finding a solution to the entire problem...” (the Kairos Palestine Document).

For many, Jerusalem is also the city to which God gave a particular religious or spiritual importance For Jews this is where the Temple was and has been rebuilt. For Christians this is where Jesus was crucified and resurrected and where the church was first born on Pentecost. For Muslims, Al Quds, is special because of the Al-Aqusa Mosque, the third holiest pilgrimage site for Muslims.

All three Abrahamic faiths have a claim and it is for this reason that The WCC has been prophetic in calling for a special judicial and political status for Jerusalem which would reflect the universal importance and significance of the city.  The WCC also holds that all the holy shrines of the three religions should not become mere monuments of visitation, “old stones”, but living places of worship. To make this true, each needs free access and to enter and worship. Sadly at the current moment, only Jews have complete freedom of movement.

Jewish theologian Marc Ellis calls Jerusalem “The Broken Middle” because this is the meeting place of two wounded peoples in a city that has been racked by violence through most of its history. He sees the possibility of Jerusalem becoming a place where joint efforts to heal the divisions can take place, a place that can begin to heal the divisions between Jews and Palestinians.  For Ellis too then, the city is the beginning place.

On the political level, Jerusalem is the most contentious issue in the Palestine-Israel conflict, which is why historically it has never been on the table for discussion during negotiations. Palestinians claim Al Quds as the capitol of a future Palestine state while Israel, argues that Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people and will remain “under Israeli sovereignty for eternity.” Christians, on the other hand, want to be able to live and stay in their city and have access to their places of worship.

Under the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan Jerusalem was supposed to become an international city. However, as the result of the 1948 war, Israel claimed sovereignty over West Jerusalem as an act of self-defense.  Israel expelled between 64,000-80,000 people from their homes in West Jerusalem and 40 neighboring villages.  The Jordanian army held onto only 11% of East Jerusalem. The property, homes, and possessions of the Palestinians were considered “abandoned” and thus transferred to the state of Israel.  The remaining 15% of Jerusalem including the Old City remained in Palestinian hands until 1967.

Then In 1967, after the six-day war, Israel annexed the areas belonging to East Jerusalem.  It annexed 71 square kilometers of land to the Jerusalem municipality. Six and half square kilometers were part of Arab East Jerusalem under Jordanian rule and 64.5 square miles belonged to 28 Palestinian towns and villages.

In 1968 The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 252 which stated that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, including the taking of land, was illegal--- a violation of international law.

Further, in 1980 the United Security Council Resolution 478 declared Israel’s Jerusalem Law, a law declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, to be a violation of international law. As the result of this ruling it called on all member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city. 

Finally in 2004, the International Court of Justice declared the route of the Separation Wall illegal as it further changes the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Jerusalem.

Despite the requirements of international law, UN resolutions, and Jerusalem’s importance in the peace process, Israel has refused to negotiate the status of Jerusalem with international bodies or with the Palestinian Authority.

In fact, it has done the contrary and has continued to build settlements in the annexed areas of East Jerusalem and began transferring civilians into these areas against the 4^th Geneva Convention, which forbids such transfers.

Settlement building has not only never stopped but has continued at a rapid rate including expanding the Jewish Quarter in the Old City by expropriating Palestinian and Muslim property. The building of settlements within the municipal borders of Jerusalem has been accomplished by a parallel creation of a Jewish Metropolitan area, further cutting off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Greater Jerusalem now includes a ring of settlements beyond the municipal boundaries while Metropolitan Jerusalem transforms Jerusalem into a region encompassing the entire central part of the West Bank. This region is made up of 75% Jewish settlers.  For many, this colonization process or de facto expansion has closed the window on a possible two state solution, as what is left of Palestine is noncontiguous fragments of land with the people completely cut off from East Jerusalem, their capital.

How this has happened and how it has impacted the Palestinian people will be explored in relation to the different events throughout holy week.

Finally, it is important to note that the “Judaization” of Jerusalem has changed the demographics completely.  At the present time, East Jerusalem is home to about 270,000 Palestinians while over 300,000 Israelis live in the ever-expanding East Jerusalem settlements.  If refugees were allowed to return, this would change the demographics again and force the issue of where they would live as most of the city and the surrounding areas are now part of the Metropolitan Jerusalem or under the Jerusalem municipality.

On top of all these changes, we have President Obama claiming that Jerusalem will be the capitol for a Jewish state at a recent APIAC gathering in Washington. It is hard to argue for adherence to international law when your own country doesn’t recognize or   abide by it either.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Let us pray for your peace:

Send us political leaders ready to dedicate their lives to a just peace for their peoples. Make them courageous enough to sign a treaty of peace that puts an end to the occupation imposed by one people on another, granting freedom to Palestinians, giving security to Israelis and freeing us all from fear. Give us leaders who understand the holiness of your city and will open it to all its inhabitants---Palestinian and Israeli---and to all the world.

Jerusalem Prayer from Heads of Churches in Jerusalem For the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel 2011