Secular and religious: ELCJHL contributions to Palestinian nationalism.

Palestinian nationalism is linked intimately to Jewish nationalism. Whereas Jewish nationalism's underlying ideology, Zionism, has been highly successful at organizing Western political powers to establish and maintain the state of Israel, Palestinians--the descendants of persons living in the land prior to organized Jewish immigration--have not been nearly as successful at marshalling support for their nationalist cause. Arab sources of support have themselves experienced political disarray. The project of establishing a secure and independent state of Palestine existing by Israel's side--a goal envisioned by the United Nations partition plan of 1947 (1)--remains unfinished. Palestinian Christians, though relatively unknown to their North American coreligionists, have long been involved in efforts to realize the goal of a pluralist Palestinian state.

The ELCJHL--Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (2)--has discerned that an integral part of its mission is to develop and nurture this still-flourishing sense of Palestinian nationalism. Through regional and local involvement in the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), partnerships with the Lutheran World Federation, participation in interfaith dialogue with both Muslims and Israeli Jews, and the nurturing of strong ties with Lutherans and other Protestants in Europe and North America, the ELCJHL, though small, has emerged as an insistent voice pleading for a renewal of Christian witness regarding Israel/Palestine and crying out for a just peace enjoyed by all its inhabitants. (3)

With a membership of roughly 2,400, the ELCJHL has five congregations in the occupied West Bank and one congregation in Amman, Jordan. The ELCJHL traces its beginnings to 1841 and the establishment of "an Anglo-Prussian joint bishopric ... founded in Jerusalem with the intention of alternating bishops between the Anglicans and Lutherans." Before collapsing in 1886, the partnership produced several schools, an orphanage, and a hospital that was the forerunner to the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives (East Jerusalem). The process of indigenizing the Palestinian Lutheran church, begun when the first Arab congregation was established in 1929, reached fruition with the consecration of the first Palestinian bishop, the Rt. Rev. Daoud Haddad, in 1979. (4)

Now led by Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, whose offices are in Redeemer Lutheran Church in Jerusalem's Old City, the denomination's principal ministries revolve around educational and cultural institutions that strive to serve all Palestinians: "Five schools and two boarding homes have an enrollment of more than three thousand pupils, nearly half of whom are Muslim." Under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, the ELCJHL has developed "the Dar al-Kalima (House of the Word) Academy for interreligious and intercultural studies ... and the International Center of Bethlehem, including a media center." (5) These efforts, directly supported by Western Lutheran partners, help foster an independent sense of Palestinian cultural and political expression, necessary components for resisting the material and psychic strictures of military occupation. The ELCJHL benefits from institutional relationships with European Lutheran bodies, including those in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. (6)

Palestinian leadership includes many highly visible Christian individuals. (7) In the United States, the ELCJHL is becoming an increasingly familiar representative of Palestinian concerns. Through their books, speaking tours, and guest appearances at ecumenical gatherings, Younan and Raheb are beginning to impact North American Christian approaches to the conflict in Israel/Palestine. All the while, however, they emphasize the important work they have undertaken in Palestine, pursuing the joint tasks of theological reflection, constructive political engagement, and interreligious dialogue.

Christians in the Palestinian context

Totaling about 400,000, Palestinian Christians make up roughly 4.2 percent of the worldwide Palestinian population. (8) Their geographic distribution closely follows important locations in Christian history: "About 30,000 live in and around Bethlehem, the city of the Incarnation; about 20,000 live in and around Jerusalem, the city of the cross and Resurrection; and approximately 100,000 Christian Palestinians live in and around Nazareth, the city of the Annunciation." (9) Additionally, "At least 250,000 Palestinian Christians live in the diaspora, more than 60 percent of all Palestinian Christians worldwide." (10) These Christians--whether in the diaspora or still in the land--are fiercely proud of their homeland and its importance for worldwide Christianity.

Christians throughout the Middle East are in demographic decline. The primary cause for this "demographic hemorrhage" is emigration. During the British Mandate period (between the two world wars), when the total population was far smaller, there were more Christians in the Holy Land than there are today. Given this declining population, "even modest emigration can result in a serious loss in percentages." Those who emigrate are generally from the middle classes, leaving in search of educational and economic opportunities. It has been observed that, ironically, "the historical Christian commitment to quality education therefore actually encourages emigration." (11)

Palestinian Christian emigration is linked directly to the founding and present policies of the state of Israel. Hence, they share with Muslim Palestinians a long history of displacement. (12) With Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 and the ensuing Arab war, nearly 712,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes and possessions to become refugees. Most relocated to the West Bank, across the River Jordan into Transjordan, or north into Lebanon. Among these refugees were 50,000 Christians. In 1948, Christians comprised "50 percent of Jerusalem's residents; today, they are not more than 10 percent and a significant number of these are expatriates." (13) The Christians of Palestine are in danger of dwindling to insignificant levels, a matter of great significance for many Christians around the world.

Living Muslim-Christian relations

Many Westerners assume that the relationship between Muslims and Christians in Palestine must be fundamentally antagonistic. Nonetheless, they understand themselves to be bound not only by the land but by their shared history. This history includes al-Nakba ("the Catastrophe") of 1948 and Israel's expansion in 1967. They live under the same threat posed by an overwhelmingly powerful neighbor that is also an occupying military force. But they also live with the same hope of national self-determination. As their numbers wane, however, Palestinian Christians exercise less and less political authority in Israel/Palestine. Their "demographic hemorrhage" must be mitigated if the dream of a pluralist Palestinian state--with full participation by Christians, Muslims, and Jews--is to become a reality.

Raheb writes of the symbiotic relationship between the religious communities in Palestine: "Arab Christians and Muslims share the Arabic culture, history, and language; their fate is intertwined and inseparable. Likewise, Arab Christians are an inseparable part of the world of Islam." (14) Among both Christians and Muslims in Palestine, one will likely hear this refrain: "We are all brothers here." (15)

For Raheb, the complexities and hopefulness of relationships between Muslims and Christians in Palestine became clearer during and after the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in 2002. A few days after the five-week siege ended on May 10, the heads of almost all the churches in Israel/Palestine came to inspect the damage done to the church, both by the IDF from the outside and the 200-plus militants and priests who had been held inside. After the patriarchs and bishops prayed with Raheb on the street outside Christmas Lutheran, heavily damaged in the siege, a Muslim shopkeeper approached him, asking about Father Amjad, a Franciscan friar who lives in the Church of the Nativity compound.

The shopkeeper's son, Muhammad, a Hamas member, had been deported to Gaza for resisting the Israeli incursion into Bethlehem and seeking sanctuary in the Church of the Nativity. The shopkeeper made an unusual request: "Promise to look for Father Amjad at the church and to thank him for me." The man explained that Father Amjad had cared for his son when he had fallen ill during the siege, bringing scarce medicine and returning often to check his progress. The friendship this young Muslim developed with this Christian had cost him some Muslim friends during the siege. Even so, when Muhammad called from Gaza, he said, "You see, Dad, this is why I want you to go look for Father Amjad and thank him for all he did. He saved my life, and I will remain indebted to him." (16)

The relationship between Palestinian Christians and their Muslim and Jewish neighbors is not without its difficulties. When Pope John Paul II made pilgrimage to Jerusalem in March 2000, Bishop Younan was the only Christian leader invited to join Jerusalem's Muslim dignitaries as they formed a receiving line at the Dome of the Rock. Younan was positioned toward the center of the group, and the pontiff must have been puzzled when he came upon this oddity, wearing a black frock and pectoral cross.

"Lutheran?" he asked. His eyes moved up and down the receiving line, and
he spoke softly to me. "The rest, are they all Muslims? And you, a
Christian?"
  I nodded. "I am Munib Younan, the Lutheran bishop. We have a good
relationship in this country between Christians and Muslims."
  "Good," Pope John Paul responded. He patted me on the back. "Do
everything you can to continue this relationship."

As a Muslim businessman escorted Bishop Younan back to Redeemer Church, their elation was mitigated. "Take off that cross!" An elderly man, presumably seeking to protect the sanctity of this holy site, was shouting after them.

Younan's escort confronted the man: "Be quiet! He is our bishop."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Younan was deep in reflection regarding these incongruent experiences as they walked on, passing into the souk (marketplace) connecting the Old City with the plaza of the Western Wall. He did not notice the Jewish settler woman with her four children. "She called out to me and then spat on me several times. 'The cross. The cross. The cross,' she continued to shout as my escort stepped between us." (17)

In Israel/Palestine, theological and religious perspectives have political consequences. As Christian emigration continues apace, the community's moderating influence in Palestinian politics will also depart, leaving any future Palestinian state susceptible to the unchecked influences of religious nationalism (in this case, that of Islam). This political concern provides a backdrop for Charles Sennott's report on the status of the Palestinian Christian community:

Important international efforts by Christian churches have been
gathering strength to counter the trend of emigration. All of
us--Christians, Muslims, and Jews--have a stake in their success. The
Christian presence in the Holy Land is a potentially important, possibly
essential, voice in the dialogue for peace, but it is a voice that has
been reduced to a hoarse whisper. Historically, Christianity has
provided a kind of leavening in the Middle East, a small but necessary
ingredient acting as a buffer between the Arab world's broad Islamic
resurgence and the strands within Israel of a rising ultranationalist
brand of Judaism. These two fundamentalist movements, which have fused
religion with nationalism, increasingly cast the territorial
Israeli-Palestinian conflict in religious terms. If the Christians
disappear, the Middle East will become that much more vulnerable to this
embittered dichotomy. (18)

Riad Jarjour, general secretary of the MECC, notes the importance of the Christian voice in developing the political trajectory of the entire region: "As Christians seek internal renewal and dialogue with Muslims, they raise the spiritual pillars for the integration of Christians into the Arab world, an environment dominated by Muslims. The basic item on their agenda is to discuss how to build a civil society within which all citizens may find opportunity and freedom to engage creatively in building a common future." (19)

Nationalisms, secular and religious

Theological claims made on the land of Israel/Palestine have political consequences, complicating the ability of secular political solutions to comprehensively address the situation. Conceptions of Palestinian nationalism, however, have recognized the importance of Christian claims. In contrast to Israel's Declaration of Independence (1948), which calls for "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel [the Land of Israel]," the draft constitution of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) contains no reference to religion. (20) The Palestinian Declaration of Independence (15 November 1988) states that its principles "allow no departure from Palestine's age-old spiritual and civilizational heritage of tolerance and religious coexistence." (21) It of course remains to be seen whether these joint values of institutional establishment and religious diversity will result in good governance for all persons in a future state of Palestine.

While Zionism has grown into a consensus position among world Jewry, the Palestinian situation is far more fragmented, oscillating between poles of secular and religious commitment. Fateh--founded in 1958 and now closely associated with the late Yasser Arafat--has sought a secular, political solution to the conflict by engaging Israel as a dialogue partner. Hamas--founded in 1987 by, among others, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and 'Abd al-'Aziz Rantisi (both assassinated by Israel in early 2004)--presents an explicitly Islamist alternative for Palestinian nationalism. (22) These interrelated forms of Palestinian nationalism exist dialectically with the success of Jewish nationalism.

While Western discourse has often dismissed religiously justified Palestinian violence as terroristic and irrational, (23) such actions are not limited to Palestinians. "Here in Israel, we don't like to say this very loudly, but the radical right Jewish groups have a lot in common with Hamas," says Carmi Gillon, head of the Shin Bet department that uncovered the Jewish Underground plot to destroy the Dome of the Rock and chief of that agency when Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by a young Jew in 1995. (24) An ever-present option when secular political solutions are found wanting, religious nationalism is a factor in both Israeli and Palestinian political considerations. (25)

Recent years have seen a further erosion of political hope. With the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, it was clear that the Oslo process had failed. The fate of Oslo was further sealed with the fitful introduction of the "Roadmap" for peace by the Bush administration in April 2003, (26) though this also soon met its demise. Palestinian despondency was heightened yet again by Israel's targeted killings of Hamas leaders Yassin and Rantisi in early 2004 (along with the U.S. non-response). (27) Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral action to "disengage" from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, though widely touted in international media as a breakthrough step toward a negotiated settlement, was (a) actively resisted by Sharon's base, including extremist settlers, (28) and (b) understood by Palestinians and confirmed by Sharon senior adviser Dov Weisglass to supply "the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians." (29) It is still too early to tell whether the November 2004 death of Yasser Arafat will mitigate or contribute further to this political despondency.

Given this political climate, it is unsurprising that the voices of religious nationalism have again made their presence felt within the Jewish and Muslim communities of Israel/Palestine. These developments worry the Palestinian Christian minority, both within Israel and in the occupied Palestinian Territories. When religious nationalism influences Israeli discourse, Palestinian Christians suffer with all Palestinians the increased intractability of the political situation and the hardening of the occupation. When the trend grows within Palestinian discourse, Palestinian Christians experience the potentially negative effects of what has been called the Islamization of Palestinian identity. (30) Nationalisms built along sectarian commitments naturally exclude or, at best, marginalize religious minorities living within their midst, stated commitments to historically informed religious plurality notwithstanding.

Christian involvement in nationalist projects

Christians in the Middle East have eagerly embraced Arab movements toward secular nationalism. Even before the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Christians especially had been drawn to the ideals and apparent successes of Western intellectual values and governmental structures, systems in which their faith would not designate them as second-class citizens. Raheb explains the pull of these ideas for Palestinian Christians: "By calling for nationalism, secularism, and socialism, Christians were not just demanding equal rights. They were also calling for a new community in which they could take an active political part. The historical background makes it obvious why Arab Christians could not see any contribution that religion could make to benefit the future of the Middle East." (31)

As Muslim thinkers proposed ways for Islam to accommodate the benefits of modernity without assenting to modernity's concomitant privatization of religious commitment, Christians began taking active political roles: "Michel Aflaq, Antun Sa'Adeh, and others became the founding fathers of many secular Arab political parties, such as the Ba'ath party, the Syrian National Party, and others." Later, Christians would play integral parts in forming the PLO, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. "The PLO's persistent and continuous struggle for a Greater Palestine was activated by its conviction that one should strive only for a secular state in which Jews, Christians, and Muslims enjoyed equal rights and coexisted in peace." (32)

All theopolitical extremism, Muslim and Jewish, must be carefully counteracted. Palestinian Christians and their sympathetic Muslim neighbors are painfully aware of the deleterious effects of religious nationalism in their own context. The question for Palestinian Christians such as Raheb and Younan--publicly visible representatives of a religious community, the ELCJHL--is whether or not religion can contribute at all to peacemaking in this troubled region.

A theology of martyria

Palestinian Christians are no strangers to political involvement in Israel/Palestine. As ELCJHL Bishop Younan is fond of saying, the pulpit has moved into the street. But the street can be a difficult place for a Palestinian Christian, as the bishop experienced on the day of Pope John Paul's visit to Jerusalem. That afternoon, when Jerusalem's church leaders gathered with the Pope at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, having heard of the incidents, comforted Younan with an allusion to the Acts of the Apostles: "We Christians need to take seriously the theology of martyria." (33) In Acts 1:8, Jesus commissions his disciples to be witnesses--martyrs.

Thus, Palestinian Christians have in Younan's view a crucial calling in their context, their dwindling number notwithstanding. "God calls us to martyria, but not to accept the evil that causes suffering. Martyria still carries with it a kind of dignity, the same way Jesus' dignity remained intact on the cross." Still, he admits, "Being a minority means being exposed. That is why it is witness in word and deed together; it is witness that exposes one to possible suffering. There is no cheap martyr." (34)

Perhaps the most important witness of ELCJHL members to their Palestinian brothers and sisters lies in their effort to provide excellent educational opportunities for Palestinian students. Though the denomination claims only six congregations, it boasts five schools. More students--about half Muslim and half Christian--attend its schools than its churches. (35) The blend of Muslim and Christian students increases familiarity and eases tensions between the two oppressed communities: "All Palestinian Christians certainly do not have the same attitudes toward relationships with Muslims.... This trend of Muslim-Christian tension is recent. The younger generation is more susceptible to it than the older people who grew up together." The ELCJHL sees its excellent ministry of education as a crucial investment for creating the cohesion necessary for Palestinian nationalism. "Our challenge is how we can pursue cooperation in future generations in the right way. We do it in Christian schools. With the weakening of ideologies and of pan-Arabism, we are anxious about how this will work out. Those who have lived together know there is another identity, a common identity." (36)

Palestinian Christians have made unique contributions to developing Palestinian capacities for nonviolent resistance, and the ELCJHL supports virtually all forms of these efforts. The denomination's leaders have spoken favorably of organizations committed to nonviolent direct action, including the International Solidarity Movement and the Christian Peacemaker Teams, whose group in the Middle East attends weekly worship at the English-language service of Redeemer Lutheran. Additionally, the ELCJHL encourages its visitors to take advantage of "alternative tourism" resources. (37) The nonviolent resistance embodied in two Bethlehem institutions sponsored by Christmas Lutheran Church--the International Center of Bethlehem (38) and the Bethlehem Media Center (39)--provide resources for cultural resistance crucial for those living under occupation.

Beyond resistance, Palestinian Christians have a long history of engaging their neighbors in interreligious dialogue. Taking seriously Jesus' call to be ministers of reconciliation, Christians like Younan seek to organize and constructively participate in "trialogue"--intensive conversations between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The trialogue Younan envisions has eminently practical results: "peace education, based on tolerance, equality, and forgiveness." Younan seeks, for instance, to influence both Palestinian and Israeli school curricula and how they conceive of each other. The final two chapters of Younan's latest English-language book detail the intricate matters present for Christians who engage in dialogue with Muslims and Jews separately and in trialogue situations. (40)

Theologizing the political conflict in Israel/Palestine can augment its intractability. Still, the call to faithfully minister to their people will necessarily involve Palestinian Christian leaders in some level of political activity. Thus, Younan understands that his work at structured interreligious engagement has political import. Likewise, the theological reflections of Palestinian parish pastors must be intimately linked to the political realities of their people.

In Raheb's words, "a contextual Palestinian theology is nothing else than an attempt to develop a local theology that is positive, relevant, and important for the future of the Holy Land. It is an alternative both to escaping into religious fundamentalism and to discarding religion for secularism." (41) The revivification of Palestinian identity has become a part of Palestinian Christian consciousness: "The Arabization of the Christian churches, which began with their leaders, has spread to include theology and education. This Arabization will eventually bind the faithful to their church, their society, and their country. At that point they will truly possess the power to be what the Master promised, 'You are the salt of the earth and a light on a mountain.'" (42)

Beyond the excellent domestic work being done by the ELCJHL and other Palestinian Christian organizations--in particular the work of building bridges between Christians, Muslims, and Jews--the embattled Christian communities of Israel/Palestine have reached out to their Western coreligionists, seeking to garner support for their political aspirations. This is especially important work since Zionism and the state of Israel are supported steadfastly by Western (Christian) nations and, more specifically, their governments. (43) Publishing books, traveling widely in Europe and in the United States, and taking part in ecumenical assemblies all become an important ministry for Palestinian Christians as they speak out on behalf of a just peace for all persons and communities living in Israel/Palestine. In North America, along with Naim Ateek and Elias Chacour, Younan and Raheb are counted among the most highly visible Palestinian Christian leaders. (44)

Bobert O. Smith

Baylor University, Waco, Texas

St. John Lutheran Church, Coryell City, Texas

[e-mail]

1. See UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (29 November 1947) and its accompanying map.

2. The ELCJHL has undergone many name changes. When it was first recognized in 1959 by Jordan's King Hussein, all of the denomination's six congregations were in Jordanian territory. Thus, until recently, its official name was Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ). With the 1967 war and Israel's subsequent occupation of the West Bank, five of those congregations found themselves in what the UN then recognized as Occupied Palestinian Territory, thus necessitating an informal reconfiguration of the denomination's name. Until early 2005, ELCJ was configured to indicate the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem (serving in Palestine, Jordan and Israel).

3. Information on the ELCJHL can be found on the denomination's extensive Web site, http://www.holyland-lutherans.org/.

4. Betty Jane Bailey and J. Martin Bailey, Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003), 106-7. The Baileys have produced perhaps the most helpful single-volume resource on Middle Eastern Christianity.

5. Ibid., 107.

6. In addition to material support, these groups often offer mutually encouraging symbols of political and institutional support. See, for instance, Lars Grip, "Lutheran Bishop from Jerusalem Receives Norwegian Award," Ecumenical News International (29 October 2004).

7. Among these leaders are human rights lawyer Jonathan Khuttab, theologians Naim S. Ateek and Abuna Elias Chacour, and Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi. An extensive section profiling prominent Palestinian Christian leaders is included in Gary Burge, Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told about Israel (Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim, 2003).

8. Demographic information regarding Palestinian Christians is difficult to come by. In 2003, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimated that the number of Palestinians worldwide was 9.6 million. Of this figure, 3.7 million live in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, 1.1 million in the state of Israel, and 4.8 million in the diaspora. See Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, "Statistical Abstract of Palestine 5: 9.6 Million the Number of Palestinians at the End of the Year 2003," available at http://www.pcbs.org/press_r/abstract_e.pdf.

9. Mitri Raheb, I Am a Palestinian Christian (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995), 4.

10. Bailey and Bailey, 156.

11. Bailey and Bailey, 44.

12. Raheb, I Am a Palestinian Christian, 15-24, offers an insightful analysis of the special factors impacting Christian displacement and emigration from Israel/Palestine.

13. Riad Jarjour, "The Future of Christians in the Arab World," in Bailey and Bailey, 14.

14. Raheb, I Am a Palestinian Christian, 9.

15. Charles M. Sennott, The Body and the Blood: The Holy Land's Christians at the Turn of a New Millennium, A Reporter's Journey (New York: Public Affairs, 2001), 87.

16. Mitri Raheb, Bethlehem Besieged: Stories of Hope in Times of Trouble (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004), 27-33.

17. Munib Younan, Witnessing for Peace: In Jerusalem and the World (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003), xii.

18. Sennott, The Body and the Blood, xix.

19. Jarjour, "The Future of Christians in the Arab World," 21.

20. Available at http://www.pna.gov.ps/Government/gov/The_Draft_Constitution_of_the_PLO.asp, accessed 5 December 2004. The original draft was prepared by Ahmed Shukairy following an agreement at the Arab Summit Conference in 1963.

21. Declaration of Independence (15 November 1988), available at http://www.pna.gov.ps/Government/gov/Declaration_of_Independence.asp, accessed 5 December 2004. See also the draft Constitution for the State of Palestine (third draft, 14 May 2003), available at http://www.mopic.gov.ps/constitution/english%20constitution.asp, accessed 5 December 2004. Though establishing Islam as "the official religion in Palestine," the draft constitution states that "Christianity, and all other monotheistic religions, shall be equally revered and respected" (Article 5).

22. Fateh, literally meaning "victory" or "conquest," is also a reverse acronym of Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini, Palestinian National Liberation Movement. Hamas, Arabic for "zeal," is an acronym for Harakat al muqawama al-Islamiyya, Islamic Resistance Movement. An "Islamist" is someone who understands Islam as a system that should influence all spheres of life. Care should be taken to not confuse Islamism with mere militancy or extremism.

23. See Ehud Sprinzak, "How Israel Misjudges Hamas and Its Terrorism," Washington Post, 19 October 1997.

24. Jessica Stern, Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill (New York: Ecco, 2003), 105-6. For a history of religious violence surrounding the Dome, see Gershom Gorenberg, End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount (New York: Free Press, 2000).

25. For a political analysis of this world-wide phenomenon, see Mark Jeurgensmeyer, "The Global Rise of Religious Nationalism," in Religions/Globalizations: Theories and Cases, ed. Dwight N. Hopkins et al. (Durham: Duke University Press, 2001).

26. The full name of the peace plan was "A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict."

27. Both assassinations resulted from missile strikes launched by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) helicopter gunships. Yassin, a quadriplegic, was in his wheelchair being escorted out of a neighborhood mosque following his routine morning prayers; Rantisi was riding in a car with bodyguards. For the U.S. responses to the first assassination, see Steven R. Weisman, "A Day When the White House Reversed Stand on the Killing," New York Times, 23 March 2004.

28. Fears of what happened to Rabin and the peace process in which he engaged inspired a spirited editorial from Jeffrey Goldberg, "Protect Sharon from the Right," New York Times, 5 August 2004.

29. Ari Shavit, "The Big Freeze," Ha' aretz Magazine, 8 October 2004. The import of Weisglass's comments was recognized internationally. See Terence Neilan, "Israeli Causes Uproar over Status of Road Map," New York Times, 6 October 2004.

30. Meir Litvak, "The Islamization of Palestinian Identity: The Case of Hamas," distributed by the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University, available at http://www.dayan.org/d&a-hamas-litvak.htm, accessed 5 December 2004.

31. Raheb, I am a Palestinian Christian, 39.

32. Ibid., 40.

33. Younan, Witnessing for Peace, xiii.

34. Ibid., 48, 47. Younan's language is reminiscent of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

35. According to Charlie Haddad, director of schools, Jews also are welcome if they choose to attend.

36. Younan, Witnessing for Peace, 131.

37. These "alternatives" include visits to Palestinian territories, meetings with Palestinian leaders, and Palestinian service providers (drivers, guides, hotels, restaurants). One U.S. travel agency that has become well respected for the quality and sensitivity of its work--both with church groups in North America and with Palestinian service providers--is Group Travel Directors (www.gtd.org), based in suburban Minneapolis.

38. See www.annadwa.org.

39. See www.bethlehemmedia.net.

40. Younan, Witnessing for Peace, 125, 128-58.

41. Raheb, I Am a Palestinian Christian, 43.

42. Ibid., 25.

43. For a discussion of these concerns see Robert O. Smith, "Between Restoration and Liberation: Theopolitical Contributions and Responses to U.S. Foreign Policy in Israel/Palestine," Journal of Church & State 46/4 (Autumn 2004): 833-60.

44. Raheb was an ecumenical participant during the 2004 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which authorized "exploration of a selective divestment of church funds from those companies whose business in Israel is found to be directly or indirectly causing harm or suffering to innocent people, Palestinian or Israeli." See Clifton Kirkpatrick, "Statement from the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)," 20 July 2004, available at http://www.pcusa.org/oga/news.htm, accessed 5 December 2004.