by Ali Elhajj

Where are the peacemakers? Where are those who

will care for the alien, the orphan, and the widow? Why is the body of Christ silent as the violence escalates in the Middle East?

It has been over

a week now. Over 600 Palestinians and ten Israelis have been killed (seven of them soldiers), and 3085 Palestinians have been injured. 25% of the dead are

non-combatants: women, children and the old. In the fog of war, the only certainty is these numbers will rise.

By now every major organization has issued

a position statement on the recent outbreak of violence, and the pundits have been practicing their craft on the news channels for some time.

At the

Christian run Ahli-Arab hospital in Gaza, the wailing of the sirens is continuous, all the windows have been destroyed, the patients shiver in the winter air and the

hospital’s director is desperate for blankets. Fuel supplies are low, medicines and food are scarce, the equipment is antiquated, the patients are many, and the

bombing never stops. It is cold and Gaza is in the dark.

In Sderot, an Israeli town not too far from Gaza, the lights are on but they do not extinguish

the darkness. A 51 year-old resident of the city recently wrote these words:

“People who don't live in Sderot don't understand the situation here,

thing…”

In Sderot, like in other cities in the Israeli South, the rockets fall as they have for some time now. The sirens wail at random, and

residents are urged to run to their shelters in hopes they will make it in time. Sderot is 1.8 kilometers from Gaza. A rocket can reach Sderot in nine

seconds.

Meanwhile, young Israeli men and women are on the way to Gaza. They are actors on a stage not of their making, victims of the past. The basest

of them take vengeance in their anger and the compassionate are caught between sympathy and duty.

In Gaza, hatred grows; the bombs cannot extinguish it.

They old bury the young, the young watch the old whither, dignity is a memory and peace but a forgotten shadow. The scale of the destruction and death is beyond

imagination.

Hamas blames Israel for breaking the cease fire by sending troops into Gaza on November 4th and for not complying with the conditions of the

cease fire and allowing significant levels of goods and humanitarian aide to flow into Gaza. How long, Hamas asks, can they show restraint while Gazans starve in the

dark? Cease-fire or no cease-fire, the conditions are the same; what is the difference between a swift death or a slow one?

Israel cannot be asked to

live with an organization whose history includes dispatching suicide bombers to kill its citizens. Israel blames Hamas for the blockade and points out that Hamas

that has been firing rockets at civilians.

Around the world, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups echo these arguments louder and louder every day.

No one ever wins the rhetoric battles because no one can for it is wrong for an occupying power to starve a population and force it to live in poverty and it is wrong

to fire rockets at civilians forcing them to live in fear. Deep down each side acknowledges its culpability, but cannot show mercy. Both are blind in one eye and

the other eye only looks in the mirror to see its own pain. Each side claims it must act because it, after-all, is the victim.
Fear, hatred, death, uncertainty

and fanaticism rule the day.

For all these reasons, and more, I beg my brothers and sisters in Christ to undertake a revolution in thought which extends

beyond entrenched racial and political dogmas, one that is grounded in the gospel of peace in Christ and one which propels the body of Christ to care for the sick and

dying, for the fearful, and for those whom we call friend or enemy.

We must act in compassion to heal the sick and have mercy on those who are suffering-

be they Israeli or Palestinian, Muslim, Christian, or Jew. The very believability of the gospel of Christ is at stake.

The battle for Gaza is ongoing and

it will continue after the last round is fired. When Gaza emerges from the rubble, Gazans will remember those who came to them in time of need. Will it be the

representatives of radicalization and hatred that will rebuild Gaza or will it be the voices of reason and compassion? Simply stated: we cannot afford to abandon

Gaza

We must also not forget Sderot and the cities in the Israeli South. For in them, as in Gaza, hatred grows as the rockets fall. We must do

everything we can to engender compassion and build bridges of understanding. We must also be there to mourn with those who mourn and care for those in

need.

We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of assigning blame, washing our hands of the world, or placing ourselves above it. Nor can we allow ourselves

to be held hostage by eschatological positions which offer no respite for those who bury the dead or care for the injured.

Now is the time to plead for

peace and reconciliation, a time to end the madness and call for understanding. We may or may not be successful, but we cannot be silent. Our God was not silent in

the face of our inequities and while He could have judged us, He, instead, sent His Son to bridge the divide between God and man. If then, we are created in His

image and for His purpose, can we not then stand in the gap between Arab and Jew and beg for peace?

May God help us make this stand and forgive us if we do

not.

The trailer for the project is done and it's up on

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEKV7QP3-Rg">YouTube! We're very excited about it and are looking forward to getting the word out. We want others to catch

the vision as we get closer to Christmas. Now is the time! Help us make it a reality.

Our favorite line of the

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEKV7QP3-Rg">trailer is the closing sentence. It sums up the entire project. You'll just have to watch it to see what we

mean.

Help us by telling us what you think and getting the word out there by forwarding the trailer on. Also, comment on this entry and tell us what you

think of the final cut.

The world often speaks of the Israelis an Palestinians. Today, I received

an email in which they speak for themselves. I've included the email I received below. Pray for the church in Israel and the Occupied Territories and consider

fasting with them as they work for unity and understanding.

Here's the text of the email:

To the youth, young people, students, and soldiers and

anybody else who is feeling the call to join with us. On Sunday, July 1st, 2007, there went out a call to the youth and young people around the country from the

youth in Jerusalem to take time to fast together during the summer months (until school starts) and seek God's face, call for revival, spiritual revival, and call

for change in the Schools, Universities, and in the Army.

The fast will be from food/meat/sweets and sugar/media as God leads you. The purposes of the

fast are:

1. To call for a revival in our society, an outpouring of the spirit and repentance (Joel 2)
2. For the young generation in the country: that

we would love them, that they would be saved, and that God would pour out his spirit on them.
3. Unity in the youth and young people and believers in the body in

Israel. There is power in the unity between us when we have one heart and one vision (Acts 2)

We strive to have more than 500 young people participating

in this fast. if you have any questions or you want to participate, please send an email to Joel.

“Then if my

people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and will forgive

their sins and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14