Lessons on reconciliation from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

An excerpt from “Journey Through the Storm: Lessons from Musalaha Ministry of Reconciliation” by Salim J. Munayer, on reflections from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The cross has a unique role and function in the land where Jesus walked two thousand years ago. Followers of Christ in Palestine and Israel today are essentially a minority within the Jewish and Muslim majorities, and, with so much of the region defined by conflict, believers in Jesus look to Him as a basis for reconciliation. While Muslims and Jews reject the cross, believers who pursue reconciliation seek to fulfill Christ’s prayer for unity in John 17:21, so that their testimony of unity will reflect His work of reconciliation. 

The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is multi-faceted and (seemingly) intractable. The reality is that Israelis and Palestinians have no choice but to live in close proximity in one land. Cooperation, reconciliation, and relationships are essential. While peace accords have been attempted, political solutions have failed to mend intergroup relations or to alter attitudes of hatred and prejudice which continue to undermine political agreements and fuel the cycle of violence. Both sides are characterized by pain and enmity. 

The gospel’s call to peace and reconciliation

There are believers in the Messiah on both sides of the conflict – whether Palestinian Arab Christians or Israeli Messianic Jews – and neither group is immune to its impact or untouched by the tide of prejudice and hostility. The gaps – including those which separate believers – continue to widen. As violence, political ideologies and theological disparities create rifts, followers of Jesus are compelled to address these issues in the context of the cross. 

Christ’s act on the cross, God extending reconciliation to us, obliges us to reconcile with others. The gospel provides a resource and a framework through which to approach the other and the enemy. Through the cross, leaders and lay people from the Israeli Messianic and Palestinian Christian communities have been coming together to live the mandate for reconciliation and face the challenge of practicing these biblical principles in the midst of conflict. Obstacles to reconciliation regularly emerge, particularly regarding conflicts of identity, the imbalance of power, the search for justice and the presence of prejudice, hatred and the desire for revenge. 

Read more: Navigating persecution in the Middle East

In the midst of these realities, the cross is a central theme in reconciliation. 1 John 4:7 describes the nature of God as love, a love made apparent through Christ’s act on the cross. God is love not only in His identity, but also in His act of sending His son as atonement for our sin (1 John 4:10). This basic principle is the foundation of biblical reconciliation. God loves and embraces a world that rebels against Him. All of humanity is sinful and in enmity with God, yet He declares through the cross that He wants a relationship with us that is intimate and eternal. God’s embrace of sinners enables us to have a relationship with Him, which in turn provides a mandate for us to embrace others. 

This act on the cross not only impacts us personally and individually, but also informs our relationships and attitudes toward others. Each of us belongs to various ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds and is influenced by the attitudes of our groups toward other groups. Tragically, the intertwining of Israeli and Palestinian histories is colored by hatred, prejudice, and division, yet the cross can affect these perceptions. 

Loving your enemies

Attitudes toward the other reflect deep-seated dehumanization and demonization, which disregard its humanity. Palestinians and Israelis often view one another as the enemy and not as individuals with lives and families. Each group demonizes the other, often employing religious verses to portray the other as the instrument of the devil and beyond redemption. 

The act of Christ on the cross rejects these attitudes. God’s grace, just as it extends to us in our sinful state, extends to our enemies as well, for we were all once sinners and enemies of God. He could reject the human race, yet He looks upon us with love and redeems us. His act of atonement and embrace is our model and point of reference for reconciliation. 

The cross which frees us to be ourselves also bestows the security and freedom to engage with others; and as we engage with others, just as when we encounter God, the encounter is transformative. 

There is the tendency to distinguish between “us” and “them,” and to relate only to one’s own group favorably and with sensitivity. We understand our own group, recognize its qualities and become attached to it. We overlook our shortcomings because it is important to distinguish between us (who are right and good and merciful) and them (who are evil and wrong). 

We often fail to see plurality on the other side. We generalize and stereotype the others. We are unable to see the others as individuals with unique feelings and thoughts, as God created them, and too easily dehumanize them. While we understand and perhaps accept the range of sentiment and opinion within our own group, we do not recognize the debates and disagreements within the other group. Rather, we see them as one front united against us. 

A new identify in Christ

Palestinians feel that all Israelis are alike and cannot be trusted, while Israelis believe the same about Palestinians. We tend to assume that the other side firmly opposes us and will never accept peace, regardless of what they may say, and find it hard to believe anything positive about them. 

The cross challenges these attitudes and provides a firm alternative to these divisions: our identity is transformed as we are atoned for, redeemed and receive new eyes through which to understand the other. The other is offered the same grace and the same transformation of identity. 

Ephesians 2 is a key passage which touches on identity, intergroup attitudes and ethnic conflict. As stated in verses 14–16, the cross created one new humanity from the two. God is not demanding that Israelis and Palestinians surrender their identity. In fact, the two groups must create a third identity, a new humanity–the new community of the people of God. Too often, group relationships contain denial and rejection of the other’s identity, as one group demands that the other submit or conform to its wishes. Aspects of culture, heritage, and history are suppressed because they clash or make one side uncomfortable.  

In Ephesians, Paul says to bring your identity with you to the cross because it is transformed in Jesus to create a new community of the people of God, where each person contributes from the richness of his or her identity. As a result, both groups will experience peace because both are reconciled to God in one body through the cross. 

In this act of reconciliation, Christ brought an end to hostility and enmity by bringing people together. There is interdependency in our reconciliation to God. We are dependent on each other to end the hostility between our groups and within ourselves. There is solidarity in sinfulness and solidarity in redemption. Our identities are transformed in relationship, not in separation. When coming to the foot of the cross, we need each other so we can deal with the hostility within our hearts and establish peace. 

Seeking peace in Israel-Palestine

Peace comes not as a new ideology or political solution but as the result of the identity and actions of Jesus. One aspect of peace in Ephesians 2 is humanity’s peace with God as a result of His forgiveness. Another aspect of peace is the end of separation or strife among groups. This peace results from people uniting through the spirit of God which cleanses us of sin and brings us to the Father. Peace in humanity is fundamentally related to humanity’s peace with God. 

For Israeli and Palestinian believers, this means an end to mutual hostility. We are no longer strangers and cannot desire to destroy the other group. We are now equals and belong to the same family; we are together under the judgment and grace of God. This unity diffuses the tension by adding a new aspect to our identities. God brings us together as His people in a community which embraces rather than rejects the other. We are fellow citizens (Eph 2:19). 

The purpose of our unity is to build a dwelling place for the Spirit of God, and we all receive different roles to achieve it. In essence, by removing the dividing wall of hostility, the cross enables groups to move forward toward cooperation. 

Our transformed identity, and belonging to a new kingdom, is liberating. Our identity is secure because we are the beloved and forgiven of God, and now we can engage. The freedom and security received in the cross through self-giving is an imitation of Christ. It removes us from the cycle of revenge because we now view oppressed and oppressors from a new perspective. There will always be different views–historical narratives will clash and theological understandings will not concur. What will change is our understanding of and attitudes toward the other. We surrender the selfish, victimized identity. Liberated, we are secure enough to interact. This interaction is necessary for transformation–an end to the hostility within us. Relationships with the crucified Lord and with each other provide the foundation for abandoning hatred and embracing healing and unity. 

This excerpt is taken from Journey Through the Storm: Lessons from Musalaha Ministry of Reconciliation by Salim J. Munayer (Langham Global Library, 2020). Used with permission and edited for clarity and length.