A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation

This book considers the events leading to today’s present situation in Israel from the perspective of a Palestinian Christian. It reviews the history of substantial Palestinian actions directed toward a peaceful solution to the polity of Israel. The author proposes a theological groundwork for thinking toward peace, justice, and reconciliation between Palestinians and Jews.The author makes a fervent case from Scripture for a liberation theology for Palestinians and proposes interesting insights to both Old Testament and New Testament passages that bring a distinctive lens to a theology of land. He argues that viewing ownership of land as the primary gift of God to the people of Israel is contradicted in much of Scripture and that a theology that focuses on land rather than God becomes divisive and non-inclusive and supports violent actions.

This book is a comprehensive overview that demythologizes the history of the conflict, develops a carefully constructed and Biblically based theological analysis, provides a hopeful vision of what a future might look like and ends, like the books title, with a passionate cry for reconciliation.. Mr. Ateek is uncompromising on his insistence on non- violent strategies and equally insistent that a functional justice must precede reconciliation. One can only hope the kind of two state solution he envisions is still possible.

This book and his earlier work about a Palestinian theology of liberation is a detailed and well-thought out explication of a specifically Christian support for Palestinian resistance to the theft of Palestinian land from even before 1948 on down to today. This resistance must be non-violent. He stands in the tradition of Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and others who insisted on justice not just for the benefit of victims but for the healing of the oppressor. I have met Naim Ateek and found him to be gently resolute and patient, looking for the long-haul peace will take.

This book opened my eyes to a perspective on the long-lingering conflict. Ateek offered concrete suggestions for peaceful actions that will lead to justice and reconciliation.

Excellent book by esteemed scholar.

Naim Attek, a Palestinian Anglican priest and an Arab citizen of Israel, is the founder, president and director of Sabeel, an ecumenical theological center in Jerusalem dedicated to work for the liberation of Palestinians. In this book he presents a vision for nonviolent Christian engagement in what is perhaps the most central conflict bottlenecking the cause of peace in the Middle East.The Israeli occupation of Palestine has created a culture of violence that has dehumanized and oppressed both Israelis and Palestinians. The violent resistance to occupation on the part of some Palestinians has only made the situation more tragic and hopeless. Is there any legitimate hope that the twenty-first century will be any less violent than the blood soaked twentieth? Will public opinion at some point in the future put greater pressure on governments to limit their lust for war and to pursue peaceful means for the resolution of conflicts? Ateek's book is a plea for a nonviolent Palestinian intifada. Christians contribute to this peacemaking by returning to the revolutionary politics of Jesus, who taught that evil can be resisted without violence.After a brief review of the history of the conflict, Ateek addresses the central section of his book (pages 51-152) to the exposition of a nonviolent Palestinian theology of liberation. He asserts that the conflict in the Middle East is rooted in disputes about land and exclusive theologies of land. Forms of Christian Zionism (e.g. politically engaged dispensationalism) reinforce this exclusivity. Ateek lifts up Jonah as the first Palestinian liberation theologian who condemns restrictive, nationalistic theologies. It is crucial to oppose expressions of Christian Zionism as an oppressive heresy exacerbating this conflict. Attek writes that "The God whom we have come to know in Jesus Christ is not the God of Armageddon but the God of Golgotha" (page 91).Getting to the roots of the conflict and its development is foundational. Justice is the key component. The illegal Israeli occupation must come to an end and Palestinian violence must cease. International law must be implemented and Israel must recognize Palestinian rights and make restitution for its offenses. Ateek proposes a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a necessary step in creating accountability and reconciling the conflicting narratives.Ateek's critique of Israeli policy is stringent and unrelenting, yet he does not spare his Palestinian kindred and the futility of resistance based upon anger, hatred, and violent resistance. Ateek is not content to concede political engagement to the "realists" nor to proclaim a passive gospel that remains disengaged from the conflict. He proposes that the only hope for the world (and for the renewal of the church) is to proclaim the nonviolent gospel of Jesus in the public square, and to live it out in the market place, the traffic intersections, the courtrooms, and the legislatures. It is morally and spiritually incumbent upon Christians and others around the world to join him in this mission.

Not a book to love (Amazon's interpretation of 5 stars) but a book that should be read. Naim Ateek writes lucidly, honestly and without rancour about what is really happening in his homeland. It should be compulsory reading for clergy, politicians and anybody who seeks for justice in world affairs.

The complexities of the problems of Israelis and Palestinians, sometimes has me burying my head in the sand - this is helping me get a clearer understanding

Ateek writes beautifully. His prose is considered yet also emotional dragging the reader into the complexities of the Palestine/Israel situation