Bethlehem pastor sees too much hate in Middle East
By Martha Sawyer Allen
In the midst of the ever-growing cacophony of violence in the Middle East a
Lutheran minister works to forge peace among Jews, Muslims and Christians. He
also speaks out -- directly -- about what he sees every day in Bethlehem where
he's a pastor. This has earned him friends and detractors in the Twin Cities.
It seems that everyone has an opinion about how to end the violence in the
Middle East. And the Rev. Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem Christmas Lutheran Church has
his as well. It comes with the authority of having lived and worked his entire
life in the land of the first Christians. He is a Palestinian, ordained by the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan.
Raheb, 40, is pessimistic about the road map for peace, announced this spring by
President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
"Many people back home are afraid that this road map might turn to a road trap,"
he said on a recent Twin Cities visit. "It sets high expectations and doesn't
address the real issues. It doesn't talk about the [Jewish] settlements [in the
West Bank]."
After Raheb visited the Twin Cities last year, the local Jewish community
reacted strongly to a Middle East statement released by two local ELCA bishops
based on information from Raheb.
But Raheb saves some of his strongest language for the U.S. government and
Christian Zionists, those Christians who want the entirety of the lands, at
least to the Jordan River, in Jewish control because they say it's a gift from
God in a covenant to the Jewish people.
He wants Bush to take a much more direct approach with the Israelis, forcing
them into a solution. "If the president of this country is as anxious about
peace as he has been about war, then there would be peace," he said. "He could
bring the parties together. The solution is not far from at hand."
He continued, "I'm not sure Sharon is ready for that, and I'm not sure if the
U.S. is ready to pressure him."
Raheb and others argue that part of the reason the Bush administration is
unwilling to pressure Sharon is the administration's hearty support from the
Christian right. Many supporters are Christian Zionists, and some of those pray
daily for the final battle -- Armageddon -- because then Jesus will return as
lord of all, most Jews will be killed and believers will inhabit the golden city
on the hill.
Raheb said, "The dangerous thing is that the Christian Zionists and the Jewish
lobby in this country are entering into an unholy marriage -- so to say. The
issue is they hate each other but they want to spend time together in the same
bed for selfish reasons. Both groups, for their own motives, are not interested
in stability and peace in the region."
JoAnn Magnuson, national communications director for Bridges for Peace, an
evangelical Christian group that supports Israel, calls herself a Christian
Zionist. The Twin Cities woman grew up listening to her grandmother prophesy
that the Jews would regain control of the Holy Land. Then, in 1948, as a
schoolgirl, she was delighted to see her grandmother had been right. Israel was
born.
She argues that many Christian Zionists are not interested in putting an actual
date on the end times. "Bridges for Peace is kind of in the middle of it," she
said. "Some have a high expectation of the end days, but that's not what drives
most of us."
She believes that Lutherans who work with Raheb are being "unrealistic. There's
an idea out there that there is a great body of Arab Palestinians, both
Christians and Muslims, who are willing to acknowledge Israel's right to exist
and make peace. But in the educational system -- in the public schools, not the
Christian schools -- books and children's television are filled with activities
that demonize the Jews and promote maps that don't show Israel at all. The
children think their land was taken away from them and they cannot be happy
until all that land has the flag of Palestine over it."
The Rev. Said Ailabouni, the ELCA's Middle East expert, counters, "The
Palestinian Authority has been working on a new curriculum. It has been examined
by outsiders, and they see it as a positive improvement." Ailabouni was part of
an ELCA delegation that met with leaders of all sides in May in the Holy Land.
"We can't keep using old ways of labeling each other" in the debates, he added.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg of Temple of Aaron in St. Paul has worked for years with
the evangelical Christian community. He said Raheb "comes here and stirs up the
ELCA to issue statements that are very one-sided, whereas the more evangelical
Christian community has been more steadfast and understanding of Israel's
predicament."
In April 2002, after a Raheb visit, the Rev. Craig E. Johnson, of the
Minneapolis Synod, and the Rev. Paul M. Werger, then-interim St. Paul bishop,
said, in part, in a prepared statement, "We do not condone the killing and
injury of innocent civilians, by suicide bombings or any other means. Likewise,
we condemn the brutal tactics that use massive power to systematically
dehumanize a people under occupation since 1967."
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) asked for a meeting. Julie Swiler,
spokeswoman for the JCRC said, "The fact that people could get together and have
reasonable and open conversation was important. We think that if you look at the
ELCA's Web site, there is information about the conflict with a definite bias,
but they've shown openness to talk about it." She said that local Lutheran
congregations have always been welcoming to JCRC representatives.
Raheb said many American Christians, particularly Christian Zionists, don't
visit with Palestinian Christians when they come to Israel. "They regard us as
not the true Christians," he said.
The Rev. Charles Kimball, an expert on religion and violence and chair of the
religion department at Wake Forest University, said, "Part of the tragedy of
Christian Zionism is that they don't recognize the existence of indigenous
Christians in the Middle East. There's a kind of cultural arrogance in the
fabric as well that Mitri Raheb sees all the time."
Magnuson, who has been to Israel 52 times, said that she often meets with
Palestinian Christians. "We have an ongoing relationship with Arab Christians,
and they have a different take on things than" Raheb, she said.
The Rev. Don Wagner, co-founder of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding,
said his group "has been there, listened to their voices, tried to understand
their reality. Many of the fundamentalists and particularly the zionists don't
have the time of day to address the injustices the Middle Eastern Christians are
facing."
Magnuson said her group spent a lot of time helping some Palestinian Christians,
but they eventually backed off from one group because the rhetoric they were
dealing with was so anti-Israeli.
"I agree with Mitri," she said, "that there are people there who just want a
decent life. I don't know anyone who doesn't want peace. I think the Christian
Arabs would do better to adjust their expectations. I think they're not facing
the fact that there is fault on their side."
Wagner, director of the center of Middle East studies and professor of religion
at North Park University in Chicago, said, "The present climate is a recipe for
disaster for the future of Christianity in Palestine. Some are saying in a
generation there will be no one left except a few old men to take care of the
churches like museums."
He said the percentage of Arab Christians in the population has dropped from 13
percent in 1967 to about 2 percent now. "I think there's a core that will stay,
like Mitri," he said. "He is intimately and passionately committed to his
community. He's got such powerful and important projects going on with Muslims
and Christians working together that are community based."
The ELCA's Ailabouni said, "When you sense Mitri being not positive, it's
because he has lived through it before. He sees the facts on the ground. He will
not believe it until he sees it."
Raheb said, "Our role as Christians is to be a bridge over troubled waters. The
waters between the United States and the Middle East are very troubled. There
are so many people who preach hate."
What can Minnesotans do? "Embark on tours. Come and see first hand. Don't think
that second-hand information is enough. We are inviting everyone. Come and see."