The West Bank
By guest contributor Cole Yeoman.
As the Israeli military conducts their largest attack on the West Bank in over 20 years, Cole Yeoman reflects on two months spent in Palestine.
I recently returned from two months in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the widespread settler violence, house demolitions, land grabs, mass-attacks, arbitrary incarceration and systematic abuse that I saw firsthand has accelerated hugely since I was last there; and particularly since October.
I have a friend in Jenin whose family have been sheltering inside for days as Israeli forces roam the city, closing hospitals and destroying over 70% of the roads and 20km of water and sewage pipes. I was in Masafer Yatta when my friends had half their village demolished as 'illegal' by Israel, and their makeshift tents demolished again a month later (alongside constant raids and abuse from the neighbouring illegal settlements).
Near Bethlehem, families have been evicted from the Christian village of Al-Makhrour to make way for the newest Israeli settlement. In Birzeit, the Nasir family fear constantly for their 23 year-old daughter Layan who was detained in April, with no charge, trial, or legal pathway to freedom - one of 3600+ other Palestinians in ‘Administrative Detention’. She remains captive today, held within Israel against the Fourth Geneva convention, as reports of widespread and well-documented abuse in Israeli prisons grow more and more severe.
This is apartheid. The world's top court (ICJ) has said it; Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Al-Haq, and Israel's own Yesh Din and B'Tselem have all said it; and Palestinians have been saying it for years.
"Well-balanced" statements about "conflict" are easy to make. But the Palestinian church and people continue to face the same violence, occupation, and persecution that they have struggled against for the last 76 years. We must move beyond easy words and into action.
We cannot continue to providing warped theological justifications for Israel’s crimes. In our passivity and despair, have we silenced Palestinian voices and normalised the horror?
It is the plausibility of our gospel at stake in how we respond to these crimes. Will we be good news to the oppressed, liberation to the prisoner, and comfort to the widow and orphan?
Or will we turn away?
Lord have mercy.
Prayer points:
We pray for our elected leaders to uphold international law by enforcing political measures and taking meaningful action beyond just words.
We pray for the safety of communities facing this violence daily, in their homes and towns. May justice and peace reign.
We pray for our faith leaders and communities to have courage, to make bold calls and take powerful steps to ensure the gospel is truly good news for all.
May we be challenged to embody the answer to those prayers. Amen.
