Tag Archives: Yet in the Dark Streets Shining
Book Review: Yet in the Dark Streets Shining: A Palestinian Story of Hope and Resilience in Bethlehem
Bishara writes that three issues make it difficult for Western Christians to listen to Palestinians: guilt over Christian antisemitism; belief in Israel as an ally of the West; and, most potently, Christian Zionism, the belief that the State of Israel is the fulfilment of prophecy and a harbinger of the eschaton. Of the three, it is probably the first that keeps members of the Uniting Church silent on the question of Palestine. Bishara’s story makes it clear that Western Christians must not assuage our own guilt at the expense of Palestinians. Continue reading
Sermon: Epiphany 2024
The magi, as Gentile foreigners, would be able to get through the checkpoint into Bethlehem in the same way that I did when I visited. It would now be illegal under Israeli law for Herod and his court to enter, though. Jewish Israelis are forbidden from visiting and seeing Palestinians as ordinary people, living in their own homes, which makes it easier to convince them that all Palestinians are terrorists who want to kill them. Herod’s soldiers would still be able to raid Bethlehem, as the IDF did this Christmas. Mary and Joseph would need to go through multiple checkpoints on their flight to Egypt, and arguing that they needed to do so to save the life of their baby might not work. Continue reading
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