Resources for Peacemakers

This blog post is actually the resource list I promised to those who attended a luncheon workshop called “Leading Toward Peace in Israel and Palestine,” presented by Wheaton College professor, Gary Burge. However, these resources would be helpful to anyone who wants to learn more about the current situation in Israel and Palestine, as well as a theology of the land that respects the dignity and rights of all the people of the Holy Land.

Leading Toward Peace in Israel and Palestine
Gary Burge and Lynne Hybels

Our goal as followers of Jesus is to affirm the dignity of all the people of Israel and Palestine, both Jews and Arabs, and to work toward a peaceful resolution of the current conflict that will assure security and equal rights for all—Christians, Muslims and Jews. Our desire is to create a conversation that is truly Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-Peace, Pro-Justice, and ultimately Pro-Jesus. We are convinced that what the Middle East needs most is to see Jesus incarnated in his followers as we engage compassionately and wisely with the people of Israel and Palestine.

Here’s how you can become part of this movement of peacemakers.

1. Expand Your Understanding

These resources represent a small sampling of resources produced by Americans, Israelis and Palestinians who are committed to justice, reconciliation and peace.

Articles—From theologians, lawyers, politicians, pastors, NGOs, Americans, Israelis, Palestinians

• We Refuse to be Enemies By Rich Stearns http://blog.worldvision.org/stories/we-refuse-to-be-enemies/
  

• The Place of Israel By John Stott (click on the link to the sermon to download PDF) www.stephensizer.com/2011/07/john-stott-the-place-of-israel/
  

• A Republican’s Case for Peace By Marshall Breger www.momentmag.com/moment/issues/2010/06/Opinion-Breger.html
  

• Where Politics Are Complex, Simple Joys at the Beach By Ethan Bronner www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/world/middleeast/27swim.html
  

• Culture as the Art to Breathe By Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb www.mitriraheb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=359:culture-as-the-art-to-breathe&catid=33:english&Itemid=20

• Why I'm Leaving Journalism for Politics By Daniel Ben-Simon http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/daniel-ben-simon-why-i-m-leaving-journalism-for-politics-1.247790
  

• Flirting With the Apocalypse By Daniel Seidemann and Lara Friedman www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/flirting-with-the-apocalypse-1.6397
  

• Following Jesus in the West Bank By Lynne Hybels www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj1007&article=following-jesus-in-the-west-bank&cookies_enabled=false
  

• Israel’s Palestinian Partner is Ready and Waiting By Libby Lenkinski Friedlander www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-s-palestinian-partner-is-ready-and-waiting-1.315403
  

• For Israel's Sake, Moderate American Jews Must Find Their Voice By Jeremy Ben-Ami www.forward.com/articles/13154/
  

• How Faith is Realpolitik in the Holy Land By Gregory Khalil www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15570274.2010.504035#preview
  

• Israel's Worrisome Path By Jafar Farah and Dr. Alla Shainskaya, 04/08/11 http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/154865-israels-worrisome-path
  

• Epilogue: The Holy Land Today By N.T. Wright www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Holy_Land_Today.htm
  

• The Missing Mahatma: Searching for a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King in the West Bank By Gershom Gorenberg www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/329fvswo.asp
  

• The Rat Race and the March of Folly By Shlomo Swirski www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/the_rat_race_and_the_march_of_folly_20110729/
  

Books: American and Middle Eastern Christian Voices

• Blood Brothers, Elias Chacour
• Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians, Gary Burge
• I Am A Palestinian Christian, Mitri Raheb
• Apocalypse Later: Why the Gospel of Peace Must Trump the Politics of Prophecy in the Middle East, Abdu H. Murray
• A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation, Naim Atifan Ateek
• Palestinian Memories: The Story of a Palestinian Mother and Her People, Alex Awad
• Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to “Holy Land” Theology, Gary Burge

Additional Evangelical Writing on Middle East

• Video and downloadable PDF available at www.emeu.net/burge_bibliography_video.html

Books: Historical and Political

• The Lemon Tree, Sandy Tolan
• Lords of the Land: The War Over Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007, Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar
• A New Voice for Israel: Fighting for the Survival of the Jewish Nation, Jeremy Ben-Ami
• The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace, Aaron David Miller
• In the Land of Israel, Amos Os, (Israeli)
• Once Upon A Country, Sari Nusseibeh (Palestinian)
• One Palestine Complete, Tom Segev (Israeli)
• The Yellow Wind, David Grossman (Israeli)
• The Arab Israeli Conflict, Kristen Schulze
• Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, Karen Armstrong

Websites

• http://peacenow.org American arm of Shalom Achshav, the Israeli Peace Now movement that was established in 1978.
• http://jstreet.org Political home of the American Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Movement.
• www.emeu.net Evangelicals for Middle East Peace is an organization committed to pray for and promote God’s justice, peace, reconciliation, and religious freedom by building friendships between the people and churches of the Middle East and the West.
• www.justvision.org Just Vision is an organization that promotes and highlights the efforts of Israeli and Palestinian non-violent peace builders.
• www.bethlehembiblecollege.edu Bethlehem Bible College prepares Christian servant-leaders for churches and society within an Arab context.
• www.holylandtrust.org Through a commitment to the principles of nonviolence, the Holy Land Trust seeks to strengthen and empower the Palestinian community.
• www.btselem.org The Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories.

DVDs

• Little Town of Bethlehem www.littletownofbethlehem.org
• With God On Our Side www.withgodonourside.com
• Bethlehem, Caught in the Crossfire Produced by WCA church—Kensington Church in Detroit. Available for free viewing. www.vimeo.com/10721576
• Encounter Point www.justvision.org/encounterpoint
• Budrus www.justvision.org/budrus

2. Encounter—See For Yourself!

• Christ at the Checkpoint: Hope in the Midst of Conflict, March 5-9, 2012 www.christatthecheckpoint.com
• Alternative Tour: Let us help you create a trip that will allow you to experience not just the ancient sights of the Holy Land, but the people and the current reality of Israel and Palestine. Email Brannon@lynnehybels.com if you are interested.
• Invest in the next generation: scholarship a trip.

3. Pray for peace and justice

• Grassroots peacemakers in Israel and Palestine
• Political leaders in America, Israel and Palestine
• Non-violence movement: www.holylandtrust.org
• Palestinian Christian, Sami Awad: “Nonviolence is the choice of the strong and confident. If I choose to resolve conflict or injustice through violence, it is out of my weakness.”

Watch This Video And Weep For Our Sisters

What do Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Pakistan, India and Somalia have in common?

They’re the five countries where women are at greatest risk for violent oppression. They’re the five countries where women face the highest rates of domestic servitude and sexual slavery, female infanticide and feticide, female genital mutilation, honor killings, acid attacks, stoning, child marriage and maternal mortality. That’s in addition to the normal horrors like starvation and disease, which disproportionately impact women throughout the world.

Did you know that in the DRC a woman is raped almost every minute? And that many of the prostitutes in India are housewives driven by poverty to sell their bodies so they can feed their kids?

This video is less than five minutes long. But it will help you understand why a wide range of leaders—from former US presidents to heads of Christian NGOS—consider the exploitation of women the most devastating injustice in the world. And why they insist that if our efforts to fight injustice don’t prioritize women we’re never going to see the changes we long for.

View Video

Now that you’ve seen the truth, please do more than weep.

• Read Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Everyone should read this book.

• Google any of the above-mentioned violations of women—sex trafficking, for example, or honor killings—and begin your own research. One of the most important things we can do is learn and then speak up about what we learn.

• Check out the work of the leading Christian NGOS—World Relief, World Vision, Compassion International, International Justice Mission, the Salvation Army—or your favorite organization, to see how they are empowering women. Use their websites to learn more and to financially support their interventions.

• Buy fair trade products that provide jobs for women who have been rescued from sex trafficking or domestic slavery. Trade As One is my favorite fair trade company.

• Or, do something else; get creative; be unique.

• But please, to quote my old friend, Jerry Butler . . .

DO SOMETHING . . . SOMEWHERE . . . NOW!