Running Out of Words

There hasn’t been a blog here from me for some time. That’s partly because words seem to have had little or no effect on the horror unfolding in Gaza, and in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and I’ve been reluctant to add to the noise. And partly because I ran out of words.

I am currently in Scotland, having left Israel during the exchange of missiles between Israel and Iran which left much destruction and yet more dead.

I’m reflecting on my posting as Mission Partner with the Church of Scotland, thinking over my time and wondering what I’ve achieved.

I took up my post in September 2021, but because of visa restrictions in the wake of the Covid pandemic, I wasn’t able to travel to Israel Palestine til April 2022. The pattern of reading and observing from afar, joining online seminars and leading worship on Zoom has turned out to be more central to my role than anyone would have imagined or wanted.

Nevertheless, despite heightened security concerns which restricted travel in the West Bank and the relative isolation of being away from the hub of Jerusalem, I was able to settle in and make connections and get alongside staff, and get to know the congregation. Looking back, that all seems a long time ago. I was able to connect with groups of pilgrims and guests and the congregation in Tiberias, different Sunday by Sunday, because tourists would be present in greater or lesser numbers, and I began to try to make sense of what I was seeing and hearing.

In October 2023 I was due to visit Gaza with my Church of Scotland colleague and an experienced ecumenical partner who’d been there many times. Four days before our visit, Hamas attacked. In many ways it feels as if Israelis have been caught up in reliving the shock, outrage and fear of Hamas’ actions ever since. The appalling stories are told and retold. There are still hostages held in Gaza. IDF soldiers and reserves have been called up repeatedly and war has been waged on Gaza, in Lebanon, and in less conventional ways in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The death toll in Gaza, the famine, the cynical use of aid as a weapon, the arrest of thousands who are being held without charge and in horrific conditions, have all taken place in plain sight. Many Israelis, however, feel that what they perceive as an existential threat justifies any means. All Palestinians are potential terrorists. The right to self defence is claimed by Israel but not recognised for Palestinians. ‘These are difficult times,’ they say.

There are, of course, Jewish Israelis and Palestinians and Arab Israelis who recognise the humanity of the other, all made in the image of God. But it is difficult to have true dialogue or make progress towards a just and peaceful outcome while illegal settlements are expanding and the occupation continues and as Israel’s vision of a Greater Israel becomes more mainstream. There are Israeli troops in Lebanon and Syria and the latest ‘plan’ for Gaza involves indefinite occupation and forced removal of Palestinians, in what is being seen as a third Nakba. (The first happened in 1948, the second has been ongoing since, and the third is this determined push to remove, by any means, Palestinians from the land.)

Musalaha, an organisation which for 20 years has brought Israelis and Palestinians together, now holds the position that only Israelis who renounce the Occupation can be dialogue partners. In a recent blog, Tamar Haddad, Project Manager, wrote:

‘Reconciliation is unattainable when Zionists refuse to recognize my humanity as a Palestinian. I remain open to reconciling with Israeli-Jews who are willing to co-resist with me against the realities of genocide and famine. However, I cannot reconcile with Zionist Jews or Christians who justify this suffering. The only point at which I can envision reconciling with a Zionist is when they start the process of acknowledging the harm their ideology and version of religion has inflicted on Gaza—when they name it, grieve it, and work to dismantle it.’

Palestinian Christians have long asked why in the worldwide church the peace and security of Israelis is privileged over Palestinian rights to statehood, to existence, even to life.[1] It seems there is movement among the mainstream churches to be bolder in support of justice for Palestinians. Kairos Palestine recently welcomed a new statement by the World Council of Churches which names apartheid and calls for an end to occupation.[2] The Iona Community has recently updated its statement on Israel Palestine to reflect the increasingly grave situation and the injustice.

The update includes the following prayer:

God of Mercy, Salam, and Generosity

Stretch Your kind hand over Gaza, whereman-made fear, terror, and starvationhave become heavy burdens – day and night.

Protect the children, the innocent,the elderly and all those who cry out for shelter, food, peace, justice, and hope.

Quench the fires of hatred and racismand sow the seeds of lasting peace for all.

Make the painful cries of mothers, new mothers, babies,and pregnant women in Gazamove the deaf and blind world to do concrete actions –not pity, but solidarity and real good deeds.

Let surviving olive trees remind us: peaceful life returns

In Gaza’s hardest and darkest times,light candles of hope in every soul –mothers, fathers, children and all in deserted and oppressed Gaza

Lord of lordsLord of the worlds

Bring justice and peace for heavily bleeding Gazafor so long so long so long.

Pour patience and courage in our weak and broken hearts

Heal our deep painsgrant us Your mercy,justice and peace.

Accept our prayers,Amen.

The Iona Community says, ‘This prayer was written in Gaza by an Arabic speaker who has so far survived the genocide. They also provided the English version for us, and we are profoundly humbled to share this prayer and to hear this cry from the heart of suffering which is beyond our comprehension.’

My time as Mission Partner for the Church of Scotland in Israel Palestine is coming to an end. I will write again soon as I look back on what I’ve learned and the wonderful people I’ve met, and how this has changed me.

In his wonderful book, ‘One day, everyone will always have been against this,’ Omar El Akkad reflects on resistance. ‘Active resistance – showing up to protests and speaking out and working to make change even at the smallest levels…matters. Negative resistance –refusing to participate when the act of participation falls below one’s moral threshold- matters.’

Why it matters, he says, is because, outwardly, ‘every derailment of normalcy matters when what’s becoming normal is a genocide.’ And inwardly ‘every small act of resistance trains the muscle used to do it, in much the same way that turning one’s eyes from the horror strengthens that particular muscle.’ It is this, he says, that is terrifying to political and economic power- the simple fact that having made the small sacrifice a person might decide to sacrifice more and demand more.[3]

One day, Israelis and Palestinians may find a just peace. One day, inshalla.

[1] Kairos Palestine https://www.kairospalestine.ps/index.php

[2]World Council of Churches  https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/statement-on-palestine-and-israel-a-call-to-end-apartheid-occupation-and-impunity-in-palestine-and-israel

[3] El Akkad, Omer One day, everyone will always have been against this Canongate 2025 p166-7