I take my blog's name, "2GC@PDX", from an expression coined by my friend Stephanie Mathis. In this blog, I write about how I should live out the "2GC" (her expression for both the two Greatest Commandments and the Great Commission) in my own back yard, Portland, Oregon, or PDX. As always, whether in Waco Texas, Xi'an China, or PDX, my desire is to think globally while acting locally. And sometimes that also means acting globally as in aiding the ongoing work in China, helping a friend in Africa, or supporting my sister in Crimea or my nephew in Panama.
So what should I do with this request from my friend, Paul Alexander, a founder of the Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice? I have great affinity for PCPJ and its passion for peace and justice. PCPJ has returned the favor by carrying my blog on their website. Paul and I have both extensively researched the rich and now mostly forgotten heritage of Pentecostal pacifism.
Two weeks ago Paul forwarded me an appeal from Reverend Alex Awad, a pastor living and serving in Israel's West Bank. Tony Nassar, a Palestinian Christian and a former student of Bethlehem Bible College, had just called to say that the Israeli Military Authorities were challenging Tony's family over their right to use their land as a camping and retreat center for international peacemakers. The Military Authorities were threatening to raze the buildings in a matter of days.
Pastor Awad says the Military Authorities are "doing this to support the Jewish settlers in their bid to ethnically cleanse the land from its Palestinian inhabitants," including these Palestinian Christians. Such Palestinians are not allowed, apparently, "the most basic developments on his or her land if the land happens to be in a zone that is coveted by Jewish settlers." According to Pastor Awad, Tony's family land, which has belonged to the Nassar family from before 1924, has been coveted by Israeli settlers for many years.
Pastor Awad is asking me through my friend Paul to "stand against this injustice" by sending emails, faxes and phone calls to the appropriate Israeli diplomatic personnel in my country, to show that Tony and his family are not alone. So, my question is, how do you think I should respond to this appeal? And on what basis should I choose to respond or not respond?
First, I believe that to take no action is to take action of some sort, as the Scriptures do not excuse me for negligence or omission when it comes to acts of righteousness and justice. So the next question, if this is a matter of justice, is whether I personally am obligated to help.
I do not know Tony Nassar and have never met him. But I have agreed to stand with Paul Alexander and, though I don't respond to every request, I am obligated through that agreement to seriously consider his appeals. Aside from the fact that through such extended relationships I am linked with Tony Nassar, he is also a brother, a fellow Believer and in much danger.
My obligations aside, what of Tony's plight? Is Pastor Awad correct in saying that a serious injustice is being perpetrated on the Nassar family? Maybe we should tell the Nassars to act out their peacemaking by just lying down and letting the Israeli soldiers take their land. But the Nassars stand for other Palestinians – and their own plight, while paling in comparison, is linked. If their land is taken, where do they go?
Even if I choose to do nothing, and I do not feel guilty if I don't respond to every appeal, what am I to think of this situation? How am I to react to the plight of Palestinians, Christian or otherwise, who are being removed from lands they have owned for generations? What is my "final solution" for the Palestinian problem as reflected in the story of the Nassars?
The Palestinian "problem" is complex, but complexity does not excuse me from thinking thoughts of peace and justice about this situation any more than distance does. For if I have the means to act and I see a brother in need, I must consider two things: 1) What should be done in this situation? and 2) What is God calling me to do, if anything? [I do not have the right to say "it is inconvenient" or out of hand to say "it is not my concern", so "therefore I will ignore it."]
People who base what they do on the Bible or the Holy Spirit or the Community of Faith (the Church) are often called naïve in the "real" world. Be that as it may, if I do not base my daily actions on this trinity of guides, what do I base them on and of what value are these guides to me otherwise? So what does the Word, or the Spirit, or the Church have to say on such matters?
What do you think I should do about Tony Nassar's plight? And why?
As you describe the situation, it seems to me that your moral commitment is directly to your friend Alexander and only indirectly to Nassar. As you say, the Palestinian problem is complex. I have lived within the situation you describe and believe that foreigners,however well meaning, rarely help by acting directly.Your friend Alexander wants you to take a specific action or two -- do that, and trust the Holy Spirit to move the situation forward. I would not kill for a friend, but I would do something uncomfortable if he asked me to. My basis? "Love your neighbor as yourself."
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