March 10, 2008   •   VOL. 46, NO. 5   •   Oakland, CA

Young Palestinian Christians
struggle with identity in Holy Land
 

By Barbara Erickson
Special to The Voice

In the conflicted region called the Holy Land, many young Christians are rediscovering their roots. With weekly discussions and Bible study they are starting to speak of themselves in new ways, no longer simply as “Arabs,” but as Palestinians and also as committed Christians.

“They are beginning to really wrestle with the fact that they are Palestinians,” said the Rev. Naim Ateek, an Anglican clergyman and director of Sabeel, an ecumenical organization in Jerusalem. And at the same time, he said, these young adults are starting to talk “more comfortably” about their faith.

The Rev. Naim Ateek (left) and Bishop Allen Vigneron discussed the plight of Palestinian Christians during the Pales-tinian churchman’s visit to Oakland. TOM SAMWAY PHOTO

Rev. Ateek was in the Bay Area recently to speak about the continuing crisis in Israel and Palestine and to meet with local Sabeel supporters. He also spoke with Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron about the problems facing Christians in the Holy Land and invited him to visit Sabeel on his next trip to the region.

Sabeel’s local programs, Rev. Ateek said, operate like the base Christian communities of Latin America, where groups come together to read the Bible and apply its teachings to the major issues in their lives. For those who live within the boundaries of Israel, he said, the question of identity is acute: they are Israelis, but they are not Jews.

“There’s quite a bit of confusion about that, about who we are,” he said.

Rev. Ateek himself experienced this dislocation after Zionist troops occupied his home town in 1948 and expelled all the residents. His family settled in Nazareth, and when the state of Israel was formed, they found themselves with a new identity. From then on they were called “Israeli Arabs” or “the Israeli minority.”

Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem do not face the same problem because they are not citizens of Israel, but for Rev. Ateek and others, the loss of Palestinian identity has been significant. “You just never see it mentioned, you never hear it mentioned, you never see it in writing, in books or anything, you only see reference to Arabs.”

But in the Sabeel groups, young adult Palestinians are sharing their experiences and realizing what they have lost. “They are rediscovering their Palestinian identity,” Rev. Ateek said. “It’s very important.”

At the same time, they are finding a deeper Christian faith. Although some Palestinian Christian leaders do speak out — such as Archbishop Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the Melkite Archbishop of Galilee, Elias Chacour — Rev. Ateek said other church leaders have been silent about the oppression of Palestinians.

The young people “were disenchanted with the church because the church is mainly silent,” he said. “Then all of a sudden they find themselves at Sabeel, where they are encouraged to reflect on the situation from their position of faith.”

Now, he said, they are reading the New Testament and concluding that as Christians they “must be committed to non-violence because they are followers of Jesus Christ.” They may be critical of church leaders who do not speak out, but, he said, “they’re talking about their faith.”

Sabeel has also reached out beyond the Christian community to work with Jews and Muslims, and it has found acceptance and mutual cooperation with Israeli human rights groups and others committed to a just resolution of the occupation.

But it was the Franciscans in charge of a section of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, who gave Sabeel a treasured sign of approval, Rev. Ateek said. “For the first time ever they allowed us to go into the Franciscan chapel and hold an ecumenical service.”

This winter the young adults of Sabeel decided to hold a march and candlelight vigil to pray for the people of Gaza. It was during the breach in the Egyptian border, when thousands of Gazans were able to break out of the Israeli-imposed blockade of gas, food and medicine to buy essential goods.

“It was also during quite a few targeted assassinations by the Israelis of people in Gaza and the terrible situation there,” Rev. Ateek said.

When they approached an American Franciscan at the church to request the service, the priest encouraged Sabeel to come. “I tell you, it was so wonderful,” Rev. Ateek said. In the past, only Catholic services have been allowed, and although many young Catholics took part in the occasion, the prayer service for Gaza was ecumenical.

The young Sabeel members managed to plan and carry out the event in only two days, he said, and although Jerusalem had been buried under a snow storm shortly before, a good crowd turned out.

The same youthful Sabeel leaders are also planning the organization’s Third International Young Adult Conference to be held in the Holy Land July 24 through Aug. 3. It is open to anyone from 18 to 35 years of age and will feature visits to Biblical sites as well as to Palestinian and Israeli towns and villages, volunteer opportunities, advocacy workshops, worship and Biblical reflections.

For more information on the Young Adult Conference or the seventh International Sabeel Conference, to be held in Jerusalem Nov. 12-19, visit the Friends of Sabeel North America website at www.fosna.org.

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