In preparation for Advent 2022, UCC PIN offers two resources, described in articles that follow, both of which invite us to enter this Advent season through Palestinian eyes: Advent Readings compiled by former Global Ministries mission personnel, the Rev. Loren McGrail, and a Book Club discussion of First Advent in Palestine. Advent this year follows elections in Israel and the United States, in a time when the land all call holy continues to suffer under Israel’s brutal military occupation, with apartheid effectively enshrined in law.  In these hard times and with these Advent resources, UCC PIN invites all to join in faithful wrestling toward "hard-born hope in the God of peace."

In regard to the recent Israeli election, the result was certainly no surprise for Palestinians, nor should it have been to anyone paying attention. It was “a natural consequence of the Zionist enterprise,” observed Jeff Halper in his election report “indeed, the very culmination to which Israelis have aspired since 1948 (and well before).” The unholy alliance between Netanyahu and extremist Ben-Gvir with his fascistic Religious Zionism party represents a continuation of the entrenched practice of Israel’s on-going Nakba. If there is a change, it is “simply a matter of changing the prison guards,” asserts Yara Hawari (see lead article in Breaking the Stories). 

But this just means more of the same: the same oppression of Palestinians and their human rights, the same occupation and annexation of Palestinian land; the same demolition of Palestinian homes. 

But it also means, and what we can now expect, according to Dr. Raef Zreik, a Palestinian political philosopher based at Jerusalem’s Van Leer Institute, is an “accelerating process,’ taking Israel’s apartheid to “new levels,” of state violence attacking and murdering Palestinians in the West Bank and inside Israel with impunity. We can expect increasing attacks on Israeli Palestinians’ political rights, and more. “The ugliness of Israel is inescapable. The guns everywhere. The hatred of Palestinians. The complete acceptance of apartheid,” writes Philip Weiss in “The American Jewish War Over Zionism Can Begin,” (See Breaking the Stories). 

These are grim times. Already in 2022, close to 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces (141 in the West Bank and Jerusalem, 52 in Gaza, and 4 Palestinians with Israeli citizenship). Imagine what these numbers will likely become with an accelerating process. 

“In a dark time, the eye begins to see,” wrote poet Theodore Roethke. One thing that this time illuminates, in regard to Israel, is the choice, now writ larger than ever, between human rights and the discriminatory ideology of Zionism – Jewish supremacy in a Jewish land (brazenly codified in the 2018 Nation State Law). Supporters of Israel will have to confront this choice. Which side are they on? 

Thomas Friedman acknowledged as much when he wrote in a recent NYT op-ed (See Breaking the Stories), “. . . a fundamental question will roil synagogues in America and across the globe: ‘Do I support this Israel or not support it?’” That question needs to “roil” our elected officials as well: those who continue to approve billions of dollars in military aid to Israel; those who support anti-BDS legislation, jettisoning free speech rights for Israel exceptionalism. 

Human rights and democracy or an apartheid, increasingly nationalistic/fascistic state? The choice is clear. Which side?

While disturbing, this time also offers openings for the on-going work of UCC PIN, other denominational PIN’s, and all Palestinian solidarity organizations. As our Jewish colleagues and friends wrestle with the contradictions between their ethical commitment to human rights and equality and the reality of Israel’s apartheid state, how might we engage in conversation with them? How will we challenge and debunk the IHRA definition that conflates criticism of the state of Israel with antisemitism, while we assure Jewish colleagues of our support for Judaism? 

In regard to our elected officials, now is the time for us to push hard, insisting they support Betty McCollum’s bill HR2590 (See Breaking the Stories article) which will hold Israel accountable for its egregious, criminal abuse of Palestinian children. Now is the time to challenge those who support sending billions of dollars of military aid to, what Tom Friedman calls, “such a religious-extremist-inspired government.” 

“In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” May we see and seize in this time the opportunities and imperatives for further justice-seeking and advocacy.