At a peace vigil in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Palestinian Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac spoke about the approach of Christmas in his home in Bethlehem, in the West Bank.
“How can we celebrate when we feel that this war – this genocide – that is taking place could resume at any time? he said.
More than 150 people attended the vigil St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill part of a broader effort led by a delegation of Palestinian Christians to push U.S. lawmakers to call for a permanent ceasefire. Their visit comes in the context of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas. Leaders at the event said area churches had canceled Christmas celebrations this year due to the grief and devastation caused by the war between Israel and Hamas.
Vigil attendees also heard from DC pastors and delegation members, including Isaac, who offered a urgent message of lament: “My God, my God, why did you leave Gaza? He also developed the Christmas theme. “At Christmas we are reminded that Jesus was born on our side of the wall,” he said, referring to the barrier which runs through Bethlehem.
Reverend Jack Sara, evangelical pastor and president of Bethlehem Bible College, also preached at the event. Speaking of the devastation of war, Sarah echoed the words of Jesus: “I have come so that they may have…”. He prompted spectators on either side of the sanctuary to fill the void. “Life, life, life,” they repeated successively.
After speaking, Sara told Sojourners that the Christmas story – in which Jesus was born in an occupied land – reminds Palestinian Christians that Jesus is “Immanuel” or “God with us.”
“People in the Holy Land feel abandoned, abandoned by the Church around the world,” Sara said. “And Jesus contradicts that and says, ‘If everyone abandons you, I will be with you.’ »
Jesus was a refugee twice, Sarah said, once when his family fled to Egypt, and later when he left Nazareth for Capernaum.
Sara said he hopes those who attended the vigil “will take our prayers with them to their churches, write to their representatives and be better informed.”
Event organizer David Katibah stressed the “urgent and critical” need to hear Palestinian perspectives. Katibah, who works for the peacekeeping organization Telossaid the vigil was held in part because “communities here in the United States have not been given the language to know how to care, how to advocate, or how to respond.”
The Sanctuary of St. Mark was filled with participants. One attendee, Abena Amoakuh, was connected to the vigil through her congregation, The District Church. She better understood what action through faith looks like. She said she was disappointed by the silence of American Christians regarding the war and stressed the importance of reminding Christian communities of the call to action.
“The scriptures call us to the restoration of peace,” she said.
The event drew particular attention to the endangered Christian population in Gaza. Reverend Mae Elise Cannon, Executive Director of Churches for Peace in the Middle East, sponsor of the event, told Sojourners that Christians in Gaza are “disappearing.” According to Cannon, fewer than 1,000 Christians live in Gaza and Israel has killed dozens in its bombing campaign. During her speech, Sara said that many Christians in Gaza are now taking refuge in churches.
Cannon told Sojourners that urging President Joe Biden to work toward a ceasefire was the delegation’s “number one goal.” Palestinian Christian leaders, who held meetings at the White House and the Capitol, came with a letter addressed to Biden, signed by an ecumenical group of six pastors from Bethlehem.
“We write to you with deep sadness and pain,” the group wrote. “Enough death. Enough destruction. …This is our call and our prayer this Christmas.
When asked how their advocacy efforts were received, Cannon told Sojourners, “We are people of faith and so we always have hope, but I wish our elected officials understood the despair of this what the Christian community in Palestine feels. »
Sara said that in general, people listened and shared their sympathy with the delegation.
“Some said frankly that there was little they could do in light of the events, and others said they were trying to push for stronger efforts toward lasting peace,” said Sarah.
Cannon said she was worried about what would happen after the temporary truce.
“What will survival look like if or when bombings or ground incursions into Gaza or violence start again? They are barely surviving in the current state of things,” she said. She recently received a text message from a colleague in Gaza saying the increase in humanitarian aid is still just a drop in the ocean.
But she added that calls for a ceasefire have grown stronger during the break “because we feel like we are gaining ground.” She said she hoped American Christians would pray for all people in the Holy Land and urge their members of Congress to call for a ceasefire.
Toward the end of his remarks at the vigil, Isaac urged the crowd to action. “Prayer is not enough,” he said. “Now is the time for faithful prophetic courage. »
