Why Peacemaking Matters
One day, I was imagining what it might be like for people who have lived in Gaza their whole lives. I was imagining what it might have been like to have the Israeli government and military constantly oppressing them every day, without an end in sight. I was imagining how it was only becoming worse - a wall being built which forces 25 million people to live within a 25 mile stretch of land. The water, electricity, and food supply is greatly limited and the drinking water is salty. I was imagining bombs being dropped, not knowing where they would be dropped, who would be killed, who would be injured.
I was imagining the people of Gaza being arrested for crimes they did not commit and being subjected to horrendous torture. I was imagining children (which make up most of the population of Gaza) experiencing several wars in their short lifetimes and becoming orphans overnight. I was imagining how horrific and hopeless their realities have become when families are saying, “Let’s stay together so we can die together. It would be worse if one of us survived and had to live this hell alone.” This is the world that they know. This is their reality. I cannot comprehend it.
What about my role in this situation? I am coming from the country that is supplying the power to their bully. I have never been in a situation where I would have to live with injustice done not only to myself and my family but to my whole country - having our homes, culture, land, customs, and basic rights stripped away by another foreign power and then moving to a foreign country and attempting to start a completely new life. I cannot comprehend what this feels like but I can imagine it would feel incredibly unjust and a violation on so many levels. Most importantly, this would feel like a violation of my humanity, dignity, and equality as a being created in the image of God.
I cannot be a peacebuilder unless I attempt to imagine what it might be like to be in someone else’s story and to enter into their suffering as if it were my own.
How does healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation happen? It is easy for us to look at a situation of injustice as an unaffected bystander and say, “Look, just forgive your oppressor, the way Jesus did on the cross - choose the way of nonviolence and reconciliation. That’s what God wants us to do.” Imagine, then, if I told my Palestinian Christian friends who have been living in the West Bank their whole lives and have endured oppression that I have not experienced, “You just need to forgive Israel and not resist.” My friends are going to look at me and ask, “Have you experienced and done what you are asking us to do, Savannah?” My statement reveals the privilege I have to forgive so easily and expect others to do the same because of the relatively safe, comfortable world I have lived in. Would I so easily forgive a foreign power that has entirely restricted me from travel, killed my friends and family, come into my community, kicked me out of my house and told me to go live somewhere else because my land is now theirs?
Imagine a foreign country invading America and saying: “Leave your homes and give up your lands to us because God commanded that this is our land now. If you do not surrender your homes and land, you are going against God.” Imagine nightly raids by their soldiers coming into our homes to interrogate us, search our things, taunt us, imprison and hurt our family members, and even put our children in jail for crimes they have not committed. Imagine our family and friends being horrifically tortured in prisons and having no access to or means of communicating with them. Imagine that flying the American flag is now illegal and practicing any American custom is now prohibited. Imagine them justifying frequent beatings and killings as “acts of defence,” when our people and children are throwing stones in desperate attempts to defend ourselves. Imagine them setting up checkpoints that we have to cross through (if they let us), imagine scanning a card every day so that they can keep track of our whereabouts. Imagine daily harassment by soldiers at these checkpoints and people traveling from foreign lands to occupy and take over our country.
Watch the documentaries:
Israelism - https://www.israelismfilm.com/
Where the Olive Trees Weep - https://whereolivetreesweep.com/
With God on Our Side - https://youtu.be/NahTjAsDThs?si=dj-Uk_lZMwJ1OaHX
What would we as Americans, and especially us Christian Americans, do? Would we do what we are asking our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters to do? I am not a better, stronger Christian than they are. They are unwilling to give up their land and homes because of a decision made for them by outside powers, and I most likely would do the same.
A local friend of mine who has experienced horrific abuse recently told me, “Healing from trauma, especially any form of violent (verbal, physical, sexual and psychological), on-going oppression that has become systemic and normalized requires a lot of time and special people to come alongside of them to grieve, listen, validate, and stand with them in solidarity. This will allow them to move forward towards healing and forgiveness.” Jesus has shown us the way and makes it possible - a life of forgiveness, healing and restoration. He has provided his Temple, the Church, to be those people who come alongside those who are suffering, to grieve, listen, validate, and stand with them in solidarity.
Jesus does the transformation work in both the oppressed and oppressor that we as humans cannot do. It is our job to come alongside the oppressed. I have been studying the Sermon on the Mount in more depth, especially Jesus’ words to turn the other cheek, to love and not resist our enemies. What did Jesus mean when he said this? What did he not mean? What about people who are in abusive relationships? Does this mean we are to tell them to continue in these relationships? What about people groups who are being systemically oppressed to the point of it being normalized? What is my role in those situations, as a bystander, and as one who has power to help stop the abuse and/or oppression? Should I sit passively and wait for something to happen? If my friend is telling me her husband is abusing her, do I tell her, “Love and do not resist him” and hope that this will make him stop? I believe in Jesus’ words and they are true. But I do not think we always have the right interpretation. The following commentary on this Scripture passage is from the Bible Project, which I found incredibly insightful and redeeming:
“Here, Jesus is specifying a strike on the right cheek, which implies a back-handed slap. Striking someone with the back of the hand could demand a doubled fine because it was ‘the severest public affront to a person’s dignity.’ But Jesus is not suggesting that his followers should stand around and take abuse.
“First, turning the left cheek was a bold rejection of the insult itself. Second, it challenged the aggressor to repeat the offense, while requiring that they now strike with the palm of their hand, something done not to a lesser but to an equal. In other words, turning the other cheek strongly declares that the opposer holds no power for condescending shame because the victim’s honor is not dependent on human approval—it comes from somewhere else. This kind of action reshapes the relationship, pushing the adversary to either back down or to treat them as an equal.
“Jesus himself demonstrates for his followers how to turn the other cheek. He wisely discerns when waiting is better than immediately addressing a threat. At certain times when his opponents seek to destroy him, he chooses to withdraw, slipping from their grasp. At other times, he meets his opponents face-to-face with creative generosity. In the ultimate declaration of turning the other cheek, Jesus allows his enemies to falsely accuse, arrest, and convict him before putting him through intense public humiliation and brutal murder on a Roman cross. As it’s all happening, Jesus turns his other cheek to those who strike him, offers up his clothing, and carries his cross the extra mile. He is not passive or unwilling; he’s not a powerless victim. With tremendous power, he willfully accepts his opponents’ malicious treatment because he knows they have no ability to ultimately take either his honor or his life.
“Jesus actively gives his life; he does not retaliate or return any kind of harm for the harm being done to him. He loves his enemies to the end, praying for their forgiveness with his dying breath.”
The work of peacemaking and fighting for justice is an act of worship and connects us to Jesus. It is the transformative work of the “good news” that Jesus proclaimed and taught. As a peacebuilder who has been living among Palestinians and invited into their lives, I have listened, wept, and sought to understand the incomprehensible. I have been given the sacred role of entering into their suffering, coming alongside them in solidarity, and fighting for a restorative justice through non-violent resistance of “turning of the other cheek” - confronting and stopping oppression head on while not becoming an oppressor (that which we hate to become and are fighting against). This is the role of a peacemaker. This is why peacemaking matters.
The post was originally posted at: https://crossingchasms.substack.com/p/a-scream-for-help-part-ii?utm_source=publication-search
