Israel : The Mystery of
Peace
Julia Fisher
Authentic
Media
ISBN
1-86024-297-9
“…there’s no argument for a Palestinian State because this is not a biblical option.”
Invariably
the wording on the back cover, if not the title itself, will give you clues as
to the author’s presuppositions and their purpose in writing. Julia’s book is
no exception. We are told she is the editor of the international newspaper, Israel and Christians Today, which is sent
unsolicited to pastors and clergy in the UK, and provides a regular pro-Israeli
diet of news and stories for the undiscerning Christian. The quote on the very
first page from Clifford Hill, about the final chapter detailing R.T.
Kendall’s unsuccessful attempt to convert Yasser Arafat
and his refutation of ‘Replacement Theology” gives us further clues as to Julia’s
Zionist assumptions. (R.T. seems more excited to have
got Arafat to sign his Bible (p.196)).
Julia
fulfils the indispensable criteria for writing yet another book about Israel/Palestine
when she concedes that the invitation to visit the country came from the Israeli
Government Tourist Office, and that with a book in mind, she “didn’t know anyone in Israel well enough to
ask for their help.” (p.13).
Ray
Lockhart, the former vicar of
Christ Church in Jerusalem, came to the rescue
and provided Julia with introductions to a handful of Messianic Christians who
provided the moving stories which reinforce her theological presuppositions. Ray
has also written the foreword in which he makes it clear that “a
politically drawn map runs the danger of leaving out the contour lines of God’s
purposes and will, therefore, almost inevitably, fail to achieve a positive outcome.”
(p.10). Ray is now happily retired in the UK
but was until recently living in the illegal Jewish settlement of Gilo. This perhaps
explains why he opposes its return to the Palestinian authority under the Road
Map.
Julia’s
own presuppositions are clear. She claims in the opening paragraph that “there is peace in the Holy Land between Jews
and Arabs today,” (p. 11), that is, among those who accept that God is restoring
the Jewish people to Palestine
which is their inalienable inheritance. The Palestinians sadly, have no right
to political equality or territorial existence but must learn to submit to Israeli
rule or leave. Nevertheless Julia is confident that, in her own words, this “collection
of rather bizarre stories” demonstrates that a peace movement is emerging
that “will soon take the world by storm.” (p.11).
Sadly,
references to Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are almost entirely negative while
Jews are seen in a positive light. For example she laments not finding Muslim
families in Gaza
willing to denounce terrorism (p.33). At an Israeli military checkpoint in Gaza she wonders whether
the walls, barbed wire and road blocks are necessary “to prevent the crazy few from blighting the situation for both communities,
depriving ordinary peace loving people the opportunity to go to work, provide
for their children and live a peaceful existence?” Without any compassion
for the humiliating, dehumanising effects of 37 years of brutal military occupation,
Julia laments the “visual cacophony of discordant,
disjointed life. So many men on the streets; unable to go to work, they have nothing
to do – yet there is so much to do. So much rubbish to clear. So many road
to mend. So many broken cars. Unfinished
houses. Broken telephone wires. Fruit falling off the trees.” (p. 38-39). The implication
is obvious. If the Palestinians would only get off their lazy backsides they could
create a society just like the Israeli’s have. She looks back to when “times
were good” and Palestinians could get up at 4:00am
in the morning, spend hours at checkpoints and travel to work in the sweat shops
and construction sites of Israel before returning late at night with the satisfaction
that they were doing the jobs ordinary Israelis were unwilling to do. “But”,
Julia regrets, ”the intifada put an end to that” (p.39).
Intifada is a word she uses pejoratively without defining other than as a “bloody war” (p. 56). Intifada actually
means “shaking off” and among Palestinians, at least, is seen as a liberation
movement, shaking off Israeli occupation.
While
offering a theological rationalisation for the occupation of Palestine,
Julia is unable to comprehend why Jewish settlers would wish to colonise Gaza, “under guard, under siege, amongst a people who preferred them not to
be there” (p. 45). It is after all part of Israel’s inheritance? She blames the
occasional Palestinian she spoke with of being “one-sided” believing Israeli’s want peace and an end to violence
(p. 51).
Julia’s
brief visit leads her, not surprisingly, to make many superficial and inaccurate
observations. Revd Andrew White is not,
I understand, the Archbishop’s special envoy to the Middle East.
She
also insists “this is not a conflict between
two ethnic groups, Israel
and the Palestinians… It’s not even a political conflict. It’s a religious conflict.”
(p.156). By this she means between Judaism and Islam.
Ironically, some of strongest criticisms of Israel’s
illegal occupation of Palestinian come from Christians and secular Jews. Julia
sees Islam as a violent religion bent on driving the Jews into the sea. That Israel is literally
driving the Palestinians into the desert doesn’t seem equivalent.
Julia
sees the occupation of Palestine
in spiritual terms and refuses to acknowledge that a peaceful political compromise
is possible. She insists “Its not because Israel has taken this land but because
this land is God’s…” (p.160) and he has given it as an inheritance to the
Jews. “Compromise over the land will not
solve the problem because this is not a fight between people: it’s a fight between
the spirits” (p. 166). For this reason she insists “Don’t waste time praying for a human compromise.”
(p.166). I seem to remember that was the logic behind the demonisation of Communism
in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Now sadly it’s Islam’s turn. The tragedy is that this
kind of inflammatory writing undermines Christian witness in the Middle
East and places the lives of Christian missionaries at risk right
across the Arab world.
The
sub-title of the book is “True stories demonstrating
God’s Road Map for Peace in Israel Today”.
I do not doubt these are indeed true stories (and they are inspiring) although
I question whether they provide a guide to God’s ‘Road Map for Peace in Israel’ today.
The Hebrew prophets like Amos and Ezekiel provide a much more accurate indication
of God’s Road Map. Instead of providing a biblical justification for the ethnic
cleansing of Palestine, my reading suggests Israel
is about to experience another exile: "Thus
says the Lord God of Israel:
You shed blood, yet you would keep possession on the land? You rely on your sword,
you do abominable things...yet you would keep possession of the land?... (Ezekiel 33:25-28)
If
you want an insight into how Zionist Christians justify from the Old Testament
their attempt to pacify Palestinians into submitting to the Israeli expansionist
agenda, this is a good book. If you want to understand the theological reasons
for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the genuine path to peace, then
I would recommend Colin Chapman’s “Whose Promised Land?”(Lion)
or Gary Burge’s “Whose
Land, Whose Promise?” (Paternoster) reviewed in Evangelicals Now in May 2004 – or wait for my own book “Christian Zionism: Road Map to Armageddon?”
to be published by IVP in September 2004.
Stephen
Sizer
1,200
words