Merry Christmas
Just thought I'd post this picture I found on the CBC website. This is a scene from the evening mass service at the Church of the Nativity, located in Bethlehem. It's a Catholic church in the West Bank where Christian pilgrims gather every Christmas, believing that the church is built (I believe) in the same location where Jesus was born. Knowing the Catholic tradition, my guess is that it's been renovated since its manger days, but I wasn't posting this picture so I could rant about the extravagant purchases used for church decorations that could have instead been used for mission or charity purposes. Middle Eastern Catholic churches apparently aren't particularly intricate in comparison to other regional architecture anyway. No, there was something else I was going to talk about, something that's been on my mind a lot recently.
Back when I was in grade 11, I was notoriously pro-Palestinian. As the years progressed and I realized that most issues concerning international affairs were far more complicated than I originally thought, I gave up my stance...or rather, I stopped talking about it so much. I think over the years, I became latently pro-Israeli. I think I thought that if I was a Chrisitian, I would have to support the nationhood of Israel. Now that I've taken Middle Eastern History, I've taken what I believe to be a more informed position.
For me, the biggest factor rattling me out of my complacency came when I learned that 10% of Palestinians worldwide are Christians. It's strange: when I heard that Palestine has seen more refugees forced off their homeland than any other country in human history, it didn't phase me. When I found out that over 4,000 Palestinians have been killed, 3,000 have been injured, and another 4,000 have had their homes demolished since 2000, I didn't really mind. Even when I found out that one Israeli soldier commits suicide every 2 weeks, I never thought that the situation was worth considering. And when I found out that the US contributes $15,000,000 to the Israeli army every day, I never believed it was worth my time to look into what that money was going towards. But when I found out that I have 100,000 brothers and sisters living in this region as well, I started to change my mind. I wonder if there's anyone else out there who believes that because we're Christian, we have to support Israeli occupying forces. Something about restoring the homeland to its rightful owners, as if the Lord's Kingdom is something physical.
Sorry if this is "too controversial". I'm kinda new at the whole, standing up for what I believe in thing, and give me credit: I did try to only stick to commenting things I know are true, and also tried to relate things to myself rather than taking pot-shots at people who disagree with me.
But anyway, on a super-cliché note, here's to a new year: my resolution will be to become more informed about activities in Palestine that are claiming civilian lives daily. And although I'm not optimistic, I hope that I'll be alive to see the day when Christmas in Bethlehem is an event of celebration, unmarred by the fighting going on outside the sanctuary.
raisin!
woah i come here and find huge blog posts after a long time. Well, it is really intersting what you mentioned about the palestinians. Yea, I agree that God's kingdom is more than just physical and we can't just support Israel blindly or at all costs.
But what irks me is the fact that a lot of the Arab Muslim countries do not accept Palestinian refugees. But they have no problem funding armed groups who can become martyrs. No one save Jordan and Egypt has even recognised Israel as a state. I know it is more complicated than that but I feel that in the Muslim world, it's so easy to just blame Israel for everything.
Happy New Years! And great going on that resolution to know more about the Palestinian situation. CBC is a good site =D
Posted by
drich4 |
1:23 PM
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