Gaza conflict: let’s go back to Scripture

What is a Christian response to the recent Israel and Gaza conflict?

The 7 October marks one year since the terrible attack by Hamas on Israel. According to the Israeli government, over 1,195 people were killed, including the later deaths of hostages in Gaza. At least 815 were civilians and 282 women and 36 children were among the dead. It was a cruel, brutal and wicked attack that has left 100 hostages still unaccounted for.

In the 12 months since that attack many thousands of civilians have been killed in Gaza. The statistics are contested, but the United Nations estimate around 40,000 have been killed, with potentially more bodies buried under the rubble. Earlier this year, Save the Children estimated that up to 21,000 children are missing in the chaos of the war in Gaza, trapped beneath rubble, detained, buried in unmarked graves, or lost from their families.

My understanding from Scripture is that we are called to mourn with all those who mourn, but when I have expressed sympathy for both Israelis and Palestinians who have lost homes and loved ones in this conflict, or when I have worked on humanitarian efforts to help the children caught up in a war they didn’t ask for, I have been challenged and criticised – most often, sadly, by my fellow Christians.

Some say I should only back Israel, claiming this is the only true Christian response. Others have suggested that even the youngest children in Gaza are terrorists and Jew-haters and therefore undeserving of humanitarian assistance. Many of my critics cite right-wing media sources to back their claims, and now, more and more, I am hearing their ideologies being echoed within our churches. I have also spent time with some of the pro-Palestinian campaigners who tell me Israel should not exist at all. The war may be happening in the Middle East, but the tensions are here too – in our towns, on our university campuses and in our congregations.

I believe we must look first to Scripture especially when faced with those who seek to influence our political and ideological commitments. While the Old Testament reveals God’s faithful, unwavering love for Israel, it also shows that God was not afraid to challenge, sanction and discipline Israel, – at that time, the exclusive people of God. The prophets are continually calling them to account for failing to show compassion to the poor and for mistreating their neighbours and the nations around them.

The shocking and contentious news in the New Testament was that God loved not only the Jews but also the Gentiles equally. It shouldn’t have been shocking as it is clear in the very call of Abraham that God’s chosen people were to be a blessing to ‘all nations’. The Samaritans, with whom Israel had had ethnic conflict and tension for generations, were not dismissed by Jesus but rather used as exemplars of how the mercy of God was not restricted. In the book of Acts, where the church was told to go to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth, the conversion of Cornelius, the Gentile Roman Centurion, is retold three times, illustrating just how radical this shift was for Jewish Christians. Indeed, much of the epistles are written to those who struggled to understand that the whole world had equal rights to the love of God.

Every time those of us who are not of Jewish ancestry pray, praise or take communion we must surely rejoice that race and ethnicity are no boundaries to the grace of God. And yet somehow the conflict between Israel and Gaza is making too many of us forget that God loves both Jews and Palestinians – and we should too.

In a time of increased racial and ethnic tension both here in the UK and in the Middle East, Christians cannot afford to be conscripted to the conflict. Irreparable harm can be done when we get our theology wrong. Children and civilians don’t get the help they need. Peace is not sought. Opportunities to show compassion are lost. Our gospel witness is undermined. Tensions mount. Wars escalate. Most importantly, we risk being on the wrong side of God Himself.

If someone from an Arab or Israeli background were to visit our churches or follow us on social media, what would they find? Would they see a commitment to the value and dignity of all people that drew them to the God in whose image they are made? Would they find people willing to do what Jesus did and love both their neighbours and their enemies? Or would they find politically-driven ideology that clashes with some of the core teaching of the Scriptures?

As we approach the anniversary of the terrible attack on Israel, let us continue to show love, support and comfort to the families who mourn or who are waiting for their loved ones to be released from Hamas captivity. Let us also think carefully about how we can respond to the Palestinians in line with gospel priorities of love, grace, and truth.