Where Do Peace and Justice Meet? Reflections on Peacemaking in Israel-Palestine
Where Do Peace and Justice Meet? Not just where, but when, how, why...these are all questions that peacebuilders have been asking for some time now. You can't have peace without justice, yet working for justice can sometimes seem to hinder efforts at making peace. Where and how do they come together in a beautiful way? How can peacemaking be the thing that leads to justice, and vice versa? From a Jesus-following perspective, we can see how the methods of creativity and nonviolence that Jesus used not only disarmed the oppressors of His time and perhaps convicted them of their wrongdoing, but also gave a sense of freedom and dignity to the person being mistreated. Perhaps it's the disarming itself that brings about justice for the oppressed (If you haven't yet, I'd recommend taking a look through Walter Wink's book called Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way which takes a deeper dive into this topic).
So how can we live this out today? There's one example we witnessed during our recent peacemaking pilgrimage with our friends at The Telos Group to Israel and Palestine, and it starts with a man named Daoud Nassar, a Palestinian Christian and farmer whose land sits atop a massive hill just outside of Bethlehem.
Daoud on the farm.
Though Daoud's family maintains the original land deed to their farm from the Ottoman empire, multiple attempts have been made by the Israeli government to confiscate the land. He and his family have taken their case to court multiple times, yet each time their case gets delayed, paperwork gets "lost," and ultimately they're forced to continue a decades-long process of legally seeking to keep their land, without any conclusions. The farm has also suffered from attacks from neighboring settlers, who have seemingly sought to discourage Daoud and his family from staying on their land through destroying crops, blocking road access to and from the farm, and verbally harassing the family. This is not the only element to this story though. While the family has been forced to live in renovated caves on the farm because of Israeli government policies, the farm has also faced violence from neighboring Palestinians who say they have a claim to the land. It seems that the Nassar family is truly caught in the middle of attacks from all around. Yet, that's not something that causes Daoud to despair; rather, he chooses to show love, kindness, and humanization to everyone, even and especially their enemies. The Nassar family has named their farm Tent of Nations, and two of the phrases you'll hear when you visit are "we refuse to hate" and "we refuse to be enemies." Through nonviolent creative resistance, they're choosing a path forward that could lead to real change. And it's their faith in Jesus that encourages and inspires them to walk out this path.
In the words of Daoud, "At Tent of Nations, we seek to embody a positive approach to conflict and occupation. Faced with great injustice, we know that we should not hate, despair, or flee. We can refuse to be enemies and channel our pain and frustration into positive actions which will build a better future."
The entrance to Tent of Nations farm. The rock says, "people building bridges" at the bottom. Photos by Savannah Montgomery, The District Church
A group photo with Daoud.
Can these practices of creative, nonviolent resistance be replicated to such a degree that the overall structures and systems that sustain oppression can be transformed? There's something different about creative nonviolence in the ways of Jesus - it's not just about freeing the oppressed; it's also about freeing the oppressor. I don't think I could faithfully pursue a creative, nonviolent way of resistance in the face of my oppressors without the transcendent love of Jesus.
Thankfully, Palestinians like Daoud who are choosing to walk that path are not alone. There are those on the 'other side' who are laying down their privileges and safety, and choosing to walk alongside them, advocating and working towards a just peace in the land with them. One person who is an example of this is Roni Keidar, a Jewish Israeli woman living on the border with Gaza in a cooperative agricultural community called Netiv Ha'Asara. Roni volunteers with an organization called Road to Recovery, where she drives Palestinians from Gaza to and from medical appointments in Jerusalem. Through these interactions, she’s able to build genuine relationships with people living "on the other side" and helps to foster mutual humanization between Palestinians living in Gaza and Israelis. Motivated by compassion, Roni and her fellow volunteers are choosing to put humanity before politics, ultimately seeking a vision of holistic peace in the land.
Roni standing at the overlook of the border with Gaza.
Roni walking and talking with our group. Photos by Savannah Montgomery, The District Church
These are not the only examples of those who are pursuing a holistic, just peace in the land. There are so many more in the Jewish Israeli and Palestinian communities who are pursuing peace through nonviolent creative means, but I hope this gives you a snapshot of the possibilities that exist and the hope that can still be gleaned even when everything seems hopeless. Lord, give us eyes to see what you see. Give us hearts that break for what breaks yours, and ultimately give us the wisdom and tools to engage faithfully as peacemakers in the ways of Jesus.
Here are some more groups you may find encouraging (some of whom we also met with during this trip), who are bringing Israelis and Palestinians together for nonviolence and holistic peace:
