Reflecting on Palestine and the
PC(USA)
by the Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel
Moderator, 214th General Assembly
(2002)
ATLANTA - December 10, 2002 - I recently had the
opportunity to lead a delegation of Presbyterians to Palestine and
Israel. I saw firsthand the conditions of the Palestinians and the
Israelis. Three million Palestinian Arabs -- Christians and Muslims --
in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem have been under an illegal
military occupation for thirty-five years.
For the last two years, the Palestinians have waged an
uprising against this military occupation. The uprising has resulted in
the deaths of 600 Israelis and 1,600 Palestinians. The Israeli defense
forces and illegal Israeli settlers have injured more than 40,000
Palestinian Arab Christians and Muslims.
Palestinian suicide bombers have also injured scores
of Israelis.
My trip to Palestine and Israel gave me a sense of why
I was elected moderator. It is "for such a time as this"
(Esther 4:14) that I am called to plead the case of the Palestinian
people - my people -- before the church, that we might hear the agony of
their pain, suffering, and fear of being transferred from their homeland
for the fourth time in the last 53 years.
The church is the only hope for justice. I am called
to plead the case of the Palestinians before our American government and
citizens, that we might work for peace and healing between the Israelis
and the Palestinians.
I join all of the heads of churches in Palestine in
asking us to pray for justice and peace for both the Israeli Jews and
the Palestinian Arabs. They also ask us to pray for the Palestinian Arab
Christians, for strength and courage to continue their struggle for
freedom and liberty and the right to remain on their historic land.
I also ask all of you to join me in praying for the
Presbyterian Church (USA). Our struggles with each other seem at times
to be filled with hatred and animosity. Can we really share the good
news of the coming of the Messiah into the world when we appear to have
such ill feelings toward one another?
It was into a troubled world that Jesus came. It is
still a troubled world -- here at home and all around the globe. May the
child of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, help us to "do justice, love
mercy, and walk humbly before our God" (Micah 6:8).
