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“Seek Peace and Pursue it”

Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it. Psalm 34:14.

This past week I received in the mail a letter and booklet from the Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). It was addressed to us as “those who wish to support genuine opportunities to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians” and “as a constructive alternative…to the unsettling goods campaign.”

The mailing from CIJA included a booklet entitled “seek peace and pursue it”. This phrase comes from Psalm 34:14. But it should be noted that the words “depart from evil, and do good” precede the words chosen for the title of this booklet.

It is also worth noting that this portion of the Psalm was quoted in 1 Peter 3 in the context of his comments about encouraging the readers to find blessing in suffering for doing what is right.

I think it is significant, first, that the psalmist preceded the instructions to seek peace and pursue it with the command to depart from evil and do good. It is also significant that CIJA did not include the first part of the verse in its title. It struck me that if they really wanted to seek peace and pursue it, they would start with correcting the injustices that the state of Israel is imposing on the Palestinians. But nowhere in the booklet is reference to these injustices or to the impact of Zionism on the conflict mentioned. Rather the focus is on Jewish agencies promoting dialogue and cultural integration.

In my brief scanning of the descriptions of the various agencies in the booklet there is no acknowledgement of the history behind the conflict where the current factors contributing to the divisions between Arabs and Jews. The efforts seem to be focusing on bringing Jews and Arabs together to build cooperation and understanding, and honourable concept and effort at reconciliation, but only valid after the injustices are corrected.

It is also disturbing to me that this information was distributed to United Church clergy calling on local communities to support these organizations while admitting that CIJA withdrew from the national consultation. This, to me, is a deliberate act designed to create division within the United Church. The focus of the booklet on the inter-cultural and inter-religious aspects of the projects seems designed to appeal to those who would see the resolution of the issue in terms of achieving understanding and cooperation between Arabs and Jews, and so driving a wedge between those who see justice as the path to peace and those who see dialogue as the path. The fact that they withdrew from the national consultation and yet there promoting dialogue at the local level seems contradictory.

In summary this document seems to be simply using the projects in the booklet as propaganda for CIJA and an appeal for support for its opposition to the United Church policy.

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Shining the Light of Non-violent Peace in God’s Kingdom

(Isa 60:1, 3 NRSV) Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

The word Light appears 236 times in the Bible, mostly in reference to the inner light – that which is the source of wisdom or vision and results in action. In the time after Epiphany, light is the metaphor for God’s presence and for our mission.

In the eastern traditions, light is a predominant theme. Eastern spirituality is experiential. In the west, we depend on rational thought more than experience and I wonder sometimes if we have lost a sense of the holy in our daily lives. The biblical references to light not only invite us to be aware of the holy in our lives but to act as light in the world.

The on-going struggle in Palestine to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, as well as the peaceful protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and now Syria are strong examples of failure of empires to maintain peace by force in the face of non-violent resistance. Are these events signs of the Light overcoming the darkness?

John Dominic Crossan, in his lecture in London before Christmas, spoke of the world’s vision of peace as victory with force. Jesus taught that God’s empire is a non-violent Kingdom of peace, in opposition to the Roman empire of peace by force. Perhaps we are witnessing the power of the non-violent peace in the global movements.

In answer to the question about what we as the church and individual Christians can do to change the world’s determination to use violence to achieve peace, Crossan said the church must understand its mission is to collaborate with God in his kingdom of non-violence. Epiphany reminds us the light still shines to overcome the powers of darkness – the Empires of this world – and that our mission is to bear that light.

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Stand for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

I have received many notices of events from Matthew Stephens, but this is one that I would not have missed. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, peace activist and former candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, spoke on Palestinian Political Dynamics and the Realities for Middle East Peace in London, at 1:30 pm on Saturday May 8, Middlesex College, University of Western Ontario.

I met several Canadians who are active and committed to solidarity with the Palestinians. One of the groups I am interested in connecting with is Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, sponsors of Dr. Barghouti’s visit. They are interested in a closer connection with the United Church in London and I have agreed to become a member of the group. The VP of CJPME, Ali Moussa, has offered to provide a video for our use. I also met Yasmine El-Sabawi, Media & Communications Officer of the Canadian Palestinian Association, who is also interested in a closer collaboration.

Dr. Barghouti reviewed the history of the changes in the geographical area of Palestine within the state of Israel over the past 60 years, graphically illustrating how the area established for the Palestinians has been reduced and fragmented and occupied by Israel. He described this fragmentation as apartheid, radically imposed by the 30 metre wall that invades and cuts up Palestinian communities. He also showed graphic videos of the effects of the use of phosphorus and incidiary bombs on civilians, many of whom were children, in the war Gaza.

Dr. Barghouti believes that negotiation will not work. What is needed, he argued, is global resistance, public education and political action, not only by the Palestinians, but by people of all nations. He calls for economic sanctions and divestment against Israel.

The videos of the human rights abuse, humiliation, restrictions, beatings and killings which Dr. Barghouti showed convinced me that it is time to stand up for justice and peace in the middle east. I do not believe the church should avoid criticism of Israel for fear of being accused of anti-Semitism. In fact many writers, including Jews in and outside Israel, argue that criticism of the state of Israel is not anti-Semitism.

Michael Keefer, in Antisemitism: Real and Imagined:responses to the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism, describes how a group of Canadian parliamentarians, led by Jason Kenney, circumvented the usual practice of appointing parliamentary committees and constituted the “Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism” (CPCCA) as an inquiry into the perceived increase in anti-Semitism. The group’s intention, according to Keefer, is to “brand criticism of the state of Israel …as anti-Semitic, and hence as incitement of hatred.” He notes that Kenney “made clear his readiness to label any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic” in a speech in Jerusalem in December 2009 when he boasted of his government’s “zero tolerance approach to anti-Semitism” and announced that the Canadian government was eliminating funding for organizations who promote hatred and anti-Semitism. He named several “defunded” organizations – Canadian Arab Federation, the Canadian Islamic Congress and KAIROS, announcing that “We have defunded organizations, most recently like KAIROS, who are taking a leadership role in the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign.”

When I and two other people met with Dave Vankesteren, Conservative MP for Chatham-Kent Essex in February to discuss the KAIROS cuts, he said that he did not believe that the government should be funding organizations that advocate against government policies, and named Israel in particular. While he did not directly accuse KAIROS of being anti-Semitic, it is obvious now that his opinion was in line with the views of the CPCCA as stated by Jason Kenney. The fact, which we pointed out to him, that CIDA funding of KAIROS was not being used for advocacy did not seem to bear any weight with him.

From my understanding of these recent events and preliminary reading of the analysis of Michael Keefer and others in the book “Antisemitism”, it is apparent that the present Canadian government, through the exaggerated ideological claims of CPCCA, is deliberately trying to “stir up moral panic, and in the resulting confusion to outlaw as ‘antisemitic’ legitimate criticism of the state of Israel’s flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.”

It is time for the church to take a clear stand against the injustice of Israel and resist the accusations of such a stand as anti-Semitic.

Curtis Marwood

See the following web sites:

Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism http://www.cpcca.ca/home.htm

(The official web site of CPCCA.  It includes the mandate and  transcripts – both written and oral – of the hearings at the inquiry in November 2009.)

Canadians for Justice & Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) http://www.cjpme.org/

Canadian Palestinian Association http://www.cpavancouver.org/

Palestine Monitor http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/

The Canadian Charge – http://www.thecanadiancharger.com/page.php?id=5&a=381

(See this site for a review of Michael Keefer’s book.)

Michael Keefer, Ed. Ántisemitism Real and Imagined: responses to the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism. (Waterloo, The Canadian Charger) p. 7

Keefer, p. 10

Quoted by Keefer from the text of Kenney’s speech, p. 10

Keefer, p. 18