I Didn’t Know

As a black Christian with roots in the south and the Baptist church, I always knew that the Jewish people were important. Their struggle in the book of Exodus was likened to the struggle of slaves in the south – “Go Down Moses”, that great Negro Spiritual.

Growing up in segregated Georgia, if our doctors were not black, they were Jewish.

Growing up in segregated Georgia, if our doctors were not black, they were Jewish. The Jewish owner of the Nearly New shop in Atlanta would put aside clothes for my mother to purchase for me and my sister. In later years, I came to see how many Jewish people walked alongside us during the 50s and 60s in the Civil Rights movement. As an adult, I learned about the Holocaust and the unbelievable atrocities against the Jews during World War II. And now as a full-grown adult, I can say, “Some of my best friends are Jewish.” None of this prepared me for what I saw and heard during my first trip to Israel in October 2017.

None of this prepared me for what I saw and heard during my first trip to Israel in October 2017.

I did not know about the expansive wall that separates Jews from Palestinians. I did not know about the barbed wire. I had no idea that Jewish “settlements” were new cities within broken-down cities – beautiful brick and stone homes in communities with paved roads and schools, built on hilltops, while the people below struggle to get water and electricity. I saw and heard about the night raids looking for the teenager who threw a stone at the soldiers. And the soldiers were everywhere – kids themselves, often.

I had no idea that Jewish “settlements” were new cities within broken-down cities.

But then I juxtapose these realities with the history of a people who have been so mistreated, slaughtered, and maligned. It sometimes felt like revenge, but then it felt like survival. It looked like apartheid, then it looked like protection and fear. Fear with a capital “F”.

There are two real sides to this story.

What would I like American Christians to know about Israel/Palestine? There are two real sides to this story, so we should educate ourselves. Yes, the Jews are still God’s chosen people, but what does that mean for those who live among them? What would it look like for justice to roll on like a river in Israel today? What would it be like if Palestinians and Jews were deliberately acting justly and loving mercy? How can we help the cause of justice without taking sides?

This is the fourth post in our 6-part series Israel-Palestine: The View From Here. Don't want to miss a post? Join in here (or at the button below) for weekly email updates. 

Editor's note: The Middle East Study Trip report concluded that the major contribution the CRC can make as agencies, institutions, and individuals is to raise awareness of the plight of Palestinians -- particularly our sisters and brothers in Christ -- among our members and friends. Its recommendations were accepted by the Board of Trustees (now the Council of Delegates) on behalf of Synod, and were subsequently implemented. To learn more about how the Christian Reformed Church thinks about injustice and the persecution of the Church, see the Belhar Confession and the Belgic Confession, respectively. 

[Image of Israeli settlements: Mariano Avila]