[…] Most of Musalaha’s reconciliation work is between Israeli Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians. Both Israeli Messianics and Palestinian Christians are minorities within their respective societies. While we focus on these two minority groups, we know that change does not happen in a vacuum. To change our present conflict and move toward reconciliation as two distinct ethnic groups, we need to successfully influence our own communities, and learn to live peacefully with the other side. As it says in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
As believers, we are called to be involved in change: change within ourselves, and affecting change in society. We know that personal transformation is possible due to the work of the Holy Spirit who changes us on a personal level. This change has a direct impact on our circle of influence as well. When God changes us through our relationship with him, he works through us to provoke change in our community.
[…]For the past five years, Musalaha has been involved in community bridge-building initiatives, primarily between Muslims and Christians. Part of the message of reconciliation is the declaration of what Jesus did on the cross, as he came to reconcile us to God and to each other. Our work as believers should mirror the early community of Jesus followers in caring for the widows, the orphans, in involvement with people from our social communities, building bridges, and “dirtying our hands” with the issues that plague society.
The growing tension between Christians and Muslims needs to be addressed in our context as well as in international contexts. Learning how to engage with others from different faith groups and breaking down our stereotypes toward other faith groups, and vice versa, is an essential part of communal change. In the past Musalaha has led desert trips for Muslim and Christian groups from Bethlehem. Due to the success of these encounters, we were recently approached by past participants requesting that we organize a desert encounter for young Muslim and Christian lawyers in Bethlehem.
There are many divisive issues between Muslims and Christians in Bethlehem. One prominent source of tension surrounds the issue of land ownership. Many Christians refuse to sell land to Muslims, and vice versa. When disputes arise between two individuals from different religious backgrounds, it often escalates into an issue between two communities. As a result, these past participants thought that it would be good to offer a desert encounter for these young professionals who have a growing sphere of influence in their respective communities.
We have taken 24 people to the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan: 10 Muslim male and female lawyers, and 10 Christian male and female lawyers, along with four leaders.[…]
On the day we arrived at Wadi Rum, we spent time getting to know one another through ice-breaking games. As young professionals who took time away from their busy lives and schedules, they were eager to make the most of this opportunity, and participants quickly began to develop relationships.[…]
When we asked the group about the importance of establishing and maintaining a good relationship, we were in effect asking what vision Palestinian Muslims and Christians have for their shared future. When we ask this sort of question, usually people start by listing obstacles, pain and challenges. However, this group of young Palestinians responded that they want to have strong social relationships, integration in education to decrease racism (and thus influence a whole new generation of children), and economic development. They hope that these increased ties would help them deal with disputes and problems when they arise in the community. It was very important to the Muslim participants to change the negative view and religious intolerance toward Muslims in the West. The group continued by expressing a vision of a positive relationship between Muslims and Christians, not only for their own sakes, but to be a model for others.
One issue that emerged during this discussion was the source of the Palestinian constitution, whether it would be based on sharia (Islamic) law alone, whether sharia law would be one factor among many, or something else. It was very clear that Palestinians need to develop a Middle Eastern contextualized constitution where religion plays a role as the Western example of separating religion and politics was entirely unacceptable for the Muslim participants. Some Christian participants discussed the problematic nature of this by giving the example of how Ramadan is enforced in some Muslim majority towns.
They shared how Christians are not allowed to eat or drink in public for this month of Muslim fasting and prayer. Both the Muslims and the Christians recognized the need for pluralism, as well as the need to respect the rights of minorities. While there was no consensus as to what should be done, it was inspiring to hear what these young Palestinians think on this issue. It was evident that they are trying to maintain a place for religion in society while making room for the other. […]
One of the results of these encounters is that we see our Christian participants wanting to learn more about Christianity. Our Muslim participants generally have a better understanding than Christians of their religion’s role in society and politics. Most of the Christians that attended are nominal Christians, and they were challenged concerning their Christian identity. Muslim participants discussed how, after Friday prayers, Muslim preachers reflect on a Quranic passage, and then give a social and political message. They wanted to learn more about Jesus’ social and political message in his time, and the message Christianity has to offer society today.
It was fascinating to see and hear what we were able to accomplish on this trip. Since we were with lawyers, we spent quite a bit of time discussing specific legal issues, a topic that we usually do not discuss in other desert encounters. It was clear that these young leaders have a strong vision for the future that they are committed to implementing, both for the sake of their respective communities, and also in order to be an example to others.
We learned the benefit of a pluralistic society and the importance of tolerance. It is a common phenomenon that individuals who are part of a majority group tend to overlook the needs and concerns of those in minority groups. Accordingly, we were able to address how a Palestinian constitution would affect minority groups such as Palestinian Christians, an issue that Palestinian Muslims are often unaware of in their daily lives. We were moved by each side’s honesty and openness, and we look forward to sharing more about this promising group of young leaders in the future.
