What can we do to bring a just peace in Israel/Palestine?

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By Andrew Bolton, World Church Peace and Justice Team

We mourn what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank. We mourn the 1,200 Israelis killed on 7 October 2023. We are in grief over the 48,000 Gazan Palestinians killed since, and a further 1,000 West Bank Palestinians. The wounded now total around 130,000. The International Criminal Court and Amnesty International have spoken out. In February, President Trump’s offer for the USA to take over Gaza and move Palestinians to other countries seems like ethnic cleansing. The ceasefire brought some hope and respite—but that was devastatingly broken recently.

What can we do?
John Hamer and I were part of a peace delegation of Community of Christ members last November to Israel/Palestine. We were on a study tour with Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), based in Washington, DC. Community of Christ is a member. This was my second study tour with them. I have been involved with this organisation for nearly 20 years. I trust their spirit, analysis, and commitment to making a just peace.

The first thing you can do is go to their webpage (https://cmep.org) and become a member. Meet Destiny Magnett at a Lunch and Learn session at World Conference in June. Destiny is a dynamic young adult.
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This bewildering conflict is rapidly changing. It is becoming more violent. The suffering of Palestinians is increasing dramatically. How do I make sense of it? What can we do?

There are two kinds of Zionism at work. 
First, Jewish Zionism. This goes back to 1897 with the launch of Theodor Herzl’s political and secular Zionism. It resulted in Jewish settler colonisation of Palestine, victory in the war of independence in 1948, and the occupation of Palestinians since 1967. The Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, rules 12 million people, but 5 million cannot vote—the Palestinians. Some of us fear that the end game is the forcible removal of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank.

Second is Christian Zionism. This Zionism supports the return of Jews to the Holy Land; the whole land is theirs, given by God, they say. There are 50 million Christian Zionists in the USA. They are a big political lobby for Israel. President Trump has Christian Zionists in key positions. There is no concern for Palestinians, whether they are Christian or Muslim. Simply, the land they have lived in for centuries is no longer theirs. The resolution G2 at the coming World Conference opposes Christian Zionism.
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Both these Zionisms are nationalistic. Jews in. Palestinians out.

There is a third view of Zion. In Community of Christ, Zion is for the flourishing of all people. All humans are of equal worth and dignity. No one is excluded. It is this kind of Community of Christ vision of Zion that will bring a just peace in the Middle East. Others—Muslim, Jewish, and Christian—using different language, advocate this vision.

So, pray for this vision of “inclusive Zion” to grow.

Write to your senators, representatives, and members of Parliament to end military support for Israel and to support a just peace with democratic and human rights for all in Israel/Palestine.

To do nothing is for us to be complicit in ethnic cleansing and genocide.

I live in Leicester, England. There are as many Muslims as there are Christians, and Jews live here too. Leicester is a super diverse city, like Toronto, and in both cities, people live with dignity, without violence, and all of us can vote. This too can happen in Israel/Palestine.

Salaam, shalom, peace is possible—with your help.