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Palestinian Christian minister dreams of a 'just peace' By TERRY HOUSHOLDER
He is working to make his dream a reality through outreach programs to solve social and political problems. Born in Bethlehem five years before the Israeli occupation of the West Bank began, Raheb, 36, is a third-generation Palestinian Lutheran. (His ancestors, like most Palestinian Christians, were Greek Orthodox for centuries, but his grandfather, raised in a Protestant orphanage, converted to Lutheranism.) Raheb is pastor of the Evangelical Christmas Lutheran Church of Bethlehem, and holds a doctorate from Marburg University in Germany. A soft-spoken, but strong-willed man, Raheb has witnessed the suffering, humiliation and injustice done to the Palestinian people. The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 ended in disaster for the Palestinians. Nearly 712,000 of them were driven out of their homes and forced to live as refugees. Among them were more than 50,000 Christians. Many fled to the West Bank, then Jordanian territory. But the Six Day War of 1967 resulted in Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and another 30 years of servitude for the Palestinians. By 1986, occupation of the West Bank by the Israelis, in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, forced more than 269,000 Palestinians (a sizable number of them Christian) to emigrate abroad. Today, there are only about 145,000 Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank. About 175,000 Palestinian Christians live abroad. Since the occupation by Israel three decades ago, the Palestinians have endured much, Raheb says. While never annexed by the Israeli government, the West Bank has brought economic advantage to the Israelis, but has brought what Raheb calls ''oppression, exploitation and dependency'' to the Palestinians. For instance, 80 percent of the water resources - the lifeblood of this arid region - is placed at the disposal of the Israelis and their settlements. Palestinians are allowed the use of only 20 percent of their own water. The Palestinians also pay four times as much for their water supply as do the Israelis. The Israeli occupation brought catastrophic consequences to Palestine's economy, Raheb said. The Occupied Territories were made dependent on the economy of Israel. There was virtually no investment made in the agriculture, industry or infrastructures on the West Bank. Health care and education are deplorable to this day, Raheb said. ''The Israeli military authoritiesconsider the lives of Palestinians to have no particular value and treat them accordingly,'' he says. The situation worsened for Palestinians in the years that followed the Intifada - the insurrection of the Palestinians - which began in December 1987 and lasted a few years. It led to much unrest in Gaza and the West Bank and a much stricter crackdown by the Israelis. But the Intifada awoke the world to the Palestinians' plight and aroused sympathy for their cause, Raheb says. Raheb encourages more Palestinian outreach through the work of his International Center of Bethlehem, which operates out of his church. The center encourages dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis, and has formed a new academy aimed at promoting relations between Christians and Muslims. Known as Da Al-Kalima (House of the Word), the academy serves Christians and churches in the mainly Muslim countries of Asia and Africa. The academy provides information about the Palestinian people in an attempt to break their relative isolation. As its programs grow, it will bring more Palestinians into contact with educators, musicians and artists from all over the world. Palestine National Authority leader Yasser Arafat has taken a personal interest in the development of the academy. He said it will ''play a great role in the cultural, scientific and intellectual life not only of Bethlehem, but also of all of Palestine.'' Raheb is actively working to bring Palestinian Christians living abroad back home to help rebuild the Palestinian society. He's also overseeing the training of Palestinian tour guides which will have a positive impact on tourism in the West Bank. In addition, he's begun programs focusing on ways to improve the lives of Palestinian women and to reach more children through his church's day school and Sunday school programs. The pastor also is working to improve the dialogue between Palestinians and Israeli young people. Raheb preaches the gospel message of Christ - ''Love your enemy.'' He says Palestinians must forgive the enemy and regard them as ''a creation of God,'' despite the injustice done to them. ''Yet this must not happen at the cost of the Palestinians' own right to a life lived in peace and independence,'' he says. In his book, ''I Am A Palestinian Christian,'' Raheb discusses his hope for peace in his homeland, and ultimately, an independent state of Palestine. ''The Israel of which I dream is an Israel no longer seduced by the voices of false prophets, meaning that it no longer clings to dreams of a Greater Israel and no longer acts like an expansionist colonial power in the Middle East,'' he says. ''The Palestine I see before me is a Palestine that does not allow any Arab or Western state to determine its future. A Palestine that has learned that history cannot be reversed, and that Israel is a part of both present and future history. ''The real security of both peoples can only be guaranteed by a just peace,'' he says. ''Without peace there is no security and no survival.'' |
Dr. Mitri Raheb longs for peace
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