A plea from a Palestinian Christian to other evangelicals to heed the words of the prophet Micah.
By Rev. Alex Awad | Come and See | June 24, 2020
…evangelicals should end our affair with the State of Israel because Israel is behaving illegally, immorally and recklessly and these are not evangelical values.
For Years, I, a Palestinian and evangelical, have watched with pain the unholy alliance of evangelicals and the State of Israel. Evangelical infatuation with Israel began before there was a Jewish state in the Holy Land. British evangelicals, some of whom were Christian Zionists, helped bring the Jewish state into existence. This fixation kept deepening in the last seven decades. We used the Bible, our pulpits, publications, politics, finances, and our radio and TV stations to expand the territory and power of a Zionist state in Palestine. The average evangelical in the U.S. does not realize the volume of hurt and harm that the political might of evangelical leaders has wrought on the people of the Middle East and especially on Palestinians.
Students of church history are aware that Christians made appalling mistakes in the last two millennia. Now, we reflect back on the crusades, the pogroms, the inquisition, colonialism, slavery and apartheid in South Africa and we ask ourselves, “How could Christians have supported such inhumane and bloody injustices in the name of Christ?” Yet, evangelical collaboration in the establishment of Israel and our continued uncritical support of Israel will be added to the list of bloody injustices. Future students of church history will be asking the question, “How could evangelicals who never stop preaching sermons on God’s love for all people, have been so callous toward the dispossession, death and suffering of millions of Palestinians and Arabs throughout the Middle East?”
HolyLandJustice.org 