No Peace, No Process in the Middle East

September-October 1997

By Donald A. Kruse

WASHINGTON, D.C.—"There is no peace and there is no process," said Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Lutheran pastor from Bethlehem. Raheb, author of I Am a Palestinian Christian, was speaking at the SABEEL conference in June at National Presbyterian Church. SABEEL (an Arabic word meaning "spring" or "well") is a Jerusalem-based Christian organization that believes Jerusalem should be shared by all who love it—Christians, Moslems, and Jews.

At this point in history, SABEEL is fighting an uphill battle. There is a total impasse in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Raheb and other speakers at the conference could see little prospect for a renewal of the peace process to which both parties had agreed in Oslo in 1993. Palestinian Christians continue to believe that the Oslo agreement, if acted upon, could lead to a peaceful sharing of the land of Palestine and of Jerusalem. They desire a two-state solution.

Unfortunately, the spirit, words, and actions of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government give Palestinians no reason to be optimistic about reaching a peaceful accommodation of competing national claims. Jonathan Kuttab, a brilliant Palestinian lawyer from Jerusalem, reminded the conference that the handshake on the White House lawn between former Prime Minister Rabin and Chairman Arafat in 1993 was not a "conversion experience," but stemmed, on the Palestinian side, from an act of desperation by PLO leaders who saw their time running out and yet were too weakened to negotiate an equitable deal from Israel.

The June conference, organized by the North American Friends of SABEEL, was titled, "Jerusalem—the Things that Make for Peace: an Agenda for American Christians." Two hundred delegates from the United States and Canada, representing most of the major Christian traditions, attended.

Some of the speakers admitted that their hopes had been inflated in 1993 by Israel's recognition of the PLO. Their dream that Israelis and Palestinians could begin to put the bloody and hateful past behind them was renewed. By the 1993 act of mutual recognition, Rabin and Arafat appeared to be preparing to write a new chapter in history. Palestinians and Israelis would learn to deal with one another with growing respect and common human dignity.

Now, however, hopes have been dashed. Netanyahu, who won the prime minister's office by a narrow electoral margin, campaigned openly against the Oslo agreements. Palestinian speakers cited the three most serious Israeli violations of the Oslo accords: 1) the continued taking of Palestinian land for the expansion of Jewish settlements, 2) the sealing off of Jerusalem for the past two years to entry by the two million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza, and 3) the concerted efforts of Israeli officials to reduce the number of Arabs residing in Jerusalem by lifting, or refusing to issue, Jerusalem residence permits on the basis of ethnic bias.

Marc Ellis, a noted Jewish theologian, played the role of Old Testament prophet at the conference by speaking truth to power. Noting Israel 's acts against peace, he declared that Israel, with United States support, has made a losing game out of the struggle for peace.

Palestinian Christians have come to expect little justice in their own lifetime. They hope less for justice than for a greater understanding on the part of Christians around the world that the Middle East contains Christians as well as Jews and Moslems. As for American policy, the conferees were unanimous in their continued disappointment with its shallowness and bias in favor of Israel's wishes—wishes that have always overwhelmed interest in justice for Palestinians.

Not long after the conference ended, the U.S. Congress gave dramatic evidence of the injustice felt by Palestinians. The House of Representatives voted lopsidedly 407-16 to declare Jerusalem to be Israel's undivided capital, ignoring the clear aspirations of others (who see Jerusalem as both an Arab and Israeli city) to have Jerusalem recognized as the capital of both Israel and the future state of Palestine.

Despite the dark political and territorial picture seen by Palestinian Christians, the SABEEL conference was suffused with faith, hope, and love. Jonathan Kuttab recalled that the Lord Jesus asks Christians to be faithful witnesses to justice even if justice is delayed. Father Elias Chacour, author of the seminal book Blood Brothers, also sounded a note of triumphal hope when he urged believers to remember that they are people of "the empty tomb and the risen Lord."

[Mr. Kruse is a retired senior U.S. foreign service officer and a trustee of the Center for Public Justice.]