Musings on the Middle East

 

I have been thinking a lot about the Middle East, and Israel in particular, the protests here in America. I decided to do a bit of research for my own benefit, to see if what I believed to be true was true and where I was misinformed. This sudden re-interest came about because I had just finished going through the book of Genesis again. Genesis sets up the beginnings – of the earth, of people, of nations, and particularly the beginnings of the Jewish people. Genesis tells the story of Abraham and his descendants.  According to Genesis, God called Abraham out of his native land, and brought him to the land of Canaan, thus the beginning of the nation Israel through Abraham’s son Isaac. But Genesis isn’t just the beginning of Israel. Abraham actually had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. 

God had promised Abraham a son, and through that son would come a tribe, with descendants as many as the stars in the sky. But the promise never seemed to be fulfilled. Years passed. Abraham and his wife were growing old, even for a time when “old” would be beyond ancient today. So Sarah decided to help God out and gave Abraham her Egyptian maid, Hagar. Hagar conceived and gave birth to Ishmael. Of course, Sarah became jealous of Hagar and made her life miserable, but God told Hagar He was with her and her son. When Sarah finally did conceive, she made Abraham banish Hagar and Ishmael. Even though Isaac was the son of the promise, God came to Hagar and promised that she and her son would survive, and that Ishmael would also be the father of many people, establishing a tribe of his own. (see Genesis 12,15,16, 21:1-21, 25:12-18)

Ishmael is credited as being the father of the Arab peoples, and eventually the Muslim religion. Islam holds Abraham as their father as well as the Jews. The history of the Arab people, particularly those living in Palestine, is intricately tied back to the beginning, to Genesis. It is interesting to me that the term “Semitic” refers to “a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic, including the people who speak these languages.” 

Isaac had two sons, twins. God’s covenant promise of a nation came through the youngest of the sons, a rascal named Jacob.(see Genesis 25:19-34, 27, 28) Later in his life, God renamed Jacob “Israel”. Jacob had 12 sons, and out of those twelve families came twelve tribes, forming the original tribal groupings of the nation Israel. Isaac's brother Esau’s descendants once made up the ancient nation of Edom, and eventually were dispersed into other Arab nations in the Middle East. 

Jacob and his sons went to Egypt to survive a severe famine and remained there for 400 years. Up to that point Abraham and his descendants had lived in Canaan, buying land from local tribal leaders on which to live. According to Genesis, God had led Abraham there to live, and for those 12 tribes and their descendants, at least a portion of Canaan was theirs. They returned there, led by Moses, as outlined in the book of Exodus, and took their land back, and more. Out of that came the country of Israel.

The term “Palestine” came later in history.  There is a long history of fighting and enmity between the inhabitants of the area prior to the return of the Israelites. Those people groups became known as Palestinians. They either lived as neighbors or as enemies throughout their history, the original Canaanites and the Ishmaelite's, as well as the Edomites. Ishmael’s and Isaac’s descendants lived together in this little spot on earth. King David is noted as being the Israeli King who established a time of peace in the land, peace following a lot of bloody battles with the others living in the land. This peace was continued with his son, Solomon. The most land attributed to the people of Israel was held during this time. But following Solomon, everything fell apart.

 Because of disobedience and unbelief, God disciplined Israel by, first, dividing the nation in two, and second, taking those two nations into captivity. The Northern nation was assimilated into the cultures of the lands that took them captive, primarily Assyria, and eventually dispersed throughout the known world. The Southern nation (made up of the tribes Judah and Benjamin) were later taken into captivity by Babylonia.  Babylon, followed by the Medes and the Persians, held the land (and the people, now referred to as Jews from the tribal name of Judah) in governorship. Then came the Greeks and the Romans and eventually the Ottoman Empire (reclaiming the land really for the people of Ishmael).

Up until after World War II, the area was referred to as Palestine (that name going back to the Roman Empire and perhaps earlier) and at the time of the war was a part of the British Empire, the last in a long line of imperialists who held the land. Many Jewish people had returned to the land, escaping persecution around the world.  It was only after the war, and the discovery of the Holocaust camps, that the world’s sympathy (and guilt) turned to the Jews and they were given the support to reclaim their land and become a nation. The Jewish leaders said they had no wish to displace the Palestinian people living in the area, but the Jewish leaders were also set on naming their country Israel and claiming their biblical rights to the land. Palestinians, understandably, did not want the new nation called Israel, nor did they wish to live in “Israel”. So, the ancient animosities began again.

What we see today in Gaza is just a continuation of these long held hatreds that began with two brothers and their father Abraham.

America has had a complicated connection to Israel. Before America entered the war, it famously refused refuge to Jews escaping from Germany. After the war, America was the first nation to recognize the new nation, Israel, and has supported and supplied them since. Christians have a more “romantic” relationship with Israel. Obviously Christians share Scripture with the Jews, accepting the Old Testament as part of their canon. Since Jesus was born in Palestine, there came to be multiple “holy” sites throughout the country where Christians could/can pilgrimage. The land was referred to as The Holy Land. The history of the Crusades goes back to trying to free those sites from the Ottomans, declaring “holy wars” against the people living there. American Christians have symbolically taken up that crusade, also believing it is a holy cause.

There are several passages in the Old Testament referring to treatment of the people of Israel. With the first promise to Abraham, God said He would bless those who blessed His people, and curse those who cursed them (Genesis 12:5). Other passages echo this, including Numbers 24:9 blessing those who bless Israel and cursing those who curse. Historically, all of the countries/governments who persecuted and trampled on the Jews have been destroyed or diminished – Assyria, Babylon, Medes and Persians, Greeks and Romans. So it would seem the curse promise is true.

It is from this that American Christians, particularly in the post-World War 2 20^th Century, claimed these verses as to why America should support Israel. After all, we don’t want America to be cursed for disobeying these words from God. The question in my mind is – what does it mean to bless and curse? The biblical examples show that nations who invaded Israel usually disdained Israel’s God, challenging that God to prove Himself real. The “curse” was one of disbelief that God was God and would do as He promised. And though these nations prospered for a while, and some even used by God to discipline His people for their own disbelief, they have all fallen out of power (or existence all together). But by choosing to not support Israel today, or a stance Israel is taking, would we be "cursing" Israel?

The term “anti-Semitic” is used most often in speaking of Jewish persecution. Any behavior against Jewish people is “anti-Semitic”. But shouldn’t also any behavior against Palestinian people (or any Arab) also be considered “anti-Semitic”? Based on the definition, I think so. Certainly the Jewish people have a tragic history of persecution, with the Holocaust being but one horrific example. However, persecution of the Palestinians by Israel in the West Bank and especially today in Gaza is also anti-Semitic.  And the refusal to take in Palestinian refugees by many “brother” Arab countries in the area could also fall under the term.

For anyone saying protest against Israel is anti-Semitic, they should note that protest against Palestinians' right to protest is also being anti-Semitic. Both can be equally hateful, especially when they expand into violence. But in America, don't both have a right to express their views? Both groups have a historical right to the land now called Israel. Here in America, taking one side over the other doesn’t really help either. We are certainly allowed to voice our opinions and protest what we see as wrong, but we also need to stop being naïve in thinking the solution is as simple as giving one or the other group the land.

Both people groups come from Abraham. Both, according to Genesis, have received God's blessings and have prospered. God may have selected Israel for a specific purpose, but that never made them perfect or better than their neighboring cousins. The issue has always been believe God or not. And for those of us who believe, I think the God-honoring thing to do is respect both groups as people, fellow humans. That said, it doesn't mean we have to accept the political or moral choices of either group if we believe those choices are dishonoring to God. Just as our government leadership doesn't speak or act for all of us, we need to remember that when thinking about the people of Israel and Palestine. 

 

I will continue this topic next blog. J