Pulse
4 November 2024
Last November, I published an article titled ‘Hamas-Israel War: A Clarion Call for Moral Clarity’, where I urged that our responses to the then-unfolding conflict between Israel and Hamas be grounded in a clear moral compass (https://ethosinstitute.sg/hamas-israel-war-a-clarion-call-for-moral-clarity/). A year later, I write again, this time calling for a just peace as we face the devastating reality of escalating violence in the Middle East.
This conflict, which continues to rage unabated, has indeed become a human tragedy of a truly immense proportion. Families are torn asunder, homes reduced to rubble, and thousands upon thousands of lives are tragically and prematurely extinguished.
A response to this conflict from the standpoint of the Christian Faith must be guided by principles that are found in Scripture, namely, peace, justice, reconciliation and compassion. But even as it is focused on the biblical mandate to seek peace and justice for all, a Christian response also requires an astute understanding and appreciation of the historical, political and religious complexities of the region and its peoples.
This means that Christians must reject an approach to interpreting the Bible based on naïve literalism or a dispensationalist framework, which mistakenly equates modern Israel with biblical Israel and insists that Christians must support Israel unconditionally, regardless of the circumstances or Israel’s actions.
The principles of peace, justice, reconciliation and compassion are established on the clear testimony of the Bible that all human beings – Jews and Palestinians alike – are created in the image and likeness of their Creator (Genesis 1:26-28). Therefore, all human beings are deserving of dignity and respect.
This war, like any and every war, has resulted in the repeated and brutish violation of the dignity of countless men, women, and children, all of whom are bearers of the divine image.
At the heart of the Christian Faith is the message of peace and reconciliation. Christians, who worship and serve a Saviour who is called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), are themselves given the awesome responsibility to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), that is, to be agents of reconciliation.
Amidst the violence, bloodshed and destruction, Christians must champion the solutions that give priority to a peaceful resolution, and that open up the possibility for the peaceful co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians. Christians must strenuously reject any narrative which suggests that peace and justice can only be achieved through violence, or that violence is an acceptable means to an end.
In the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whose beginnings can be traced at least to the early 20th century, both parties have endured much violence and suffering. The Israeli people have continually faced threats to their existence, and the Palestinians have experienced displacement, occupation and systemic injustice.
Both Israelis and Palestinians therefore have a deep yearning for peace and security. The only way this can be achieved is through peaceful negotiations, and not through further violence and suffering.
Christians must therefore support the call for the de-escalation of violence. They must support the call for an immediate ceasefire. They must support the call for the immediate release of all hostages. And they must support renewed efforts towards a long-lasting solution to this tragic and enduring conflict.
For the Christian Faith, peace on its own is not enough. Peace must always be accompanied by justice. The biblical concept of peace, encapsulated by that almost untranslatable Hebrew word, Shalom, has to do with wholeness, wellbeing, peace and justice.
Peace without justice – which some have described as a ‘negative peace’ – is anaemic and fragile. Negative peace not only sees peace as an absence of violence, but also papers over the web of injustices that led to the conflict and that continues to fuel it.
The biblical understanding of true peace is just peace. Scholars call it ‘positive peace’.
Just peace is not only about ending hostilities. It is also about seeking justice, and about restoring the dignity, rights and status of those who have been wronged. It is about the commitment to justice not only for the present but for the future also, so that past atrocities and injustices will never be repeated.
In the context of the Middle East conflict, we have to acknowledge the fact that both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered injustices. This means that justice must be pursued on both sides of the divide if a true and enduring peace is to be realised.
With reference to the current conflict, Christians must condemn the cowardly terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October 2023 which killed 1,200 men, women and children. Israel’s right to defend itself from such attacks is entirely warranted and defensible.
However, as the conflict wore on, Israel’s conduct of the war has justifiably come under criticism. In its use of disproportionate force against Hamas, Israel has targeted and destroyed civic institutions such as homes, hospitals, refugee camps, and universities, resulting in the death of over 40,000 Palestinians, many of whom are innocent civilians.
Israel’s military campaigns have also displaced 1.7 million people, and resulted in one of the worse humanitarian catastrophes in recent memory.
Many countries, including Singapore, have rightly asserted that Israel has simply gone too far. Israel’s actions in this conflict have clearly violated the principles of Just War, rendering any denial of this fact indefensible.
But the history of injustices suffered by both sides stretches decades before the current conflict. The Israelis throughout this period have suffered persecution, terrorism, and wars – threats aimed at their destruction. The Palestinians, particularly those living in Gaza and the West Bank, have suffered decades of displacement, military occupation and systemic abuse.
Both parties have profound aspirations for a justice that will bring true peace, and a peace that is truly just.
What would just peace look like for the region?
At minimum, a just peace requires an arrangement in which both Israelis and Palestinians are able to enjoy sovereignty, self-determination and security. In concrete terms, a just peace requires something like a two-state solution which is favoured by the United States, the European Union and most of the world’s democracies including Singapore.
In every war, the greatest suffering is borne by innocent civilians. In this current war, there are many – too many – who have suffered on both sides.
For Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank, their experience has been that of displacement, hunger, lack of medical resources and basic necessities such as clean water and electricity. They suffer the trauma of living in a conflict zone and the trauma of living under siege conditions. Many of them have lost family members and friends, while others are not sure if their loved ones are still alive.
Israeli civilians living near the conflict zones suffer the constant threat of rocket fire which creates a pervasive sense of fear and insecurity.
Together with people from the different faith communities, Christians must stand in solidarity with Israelis and Palestinians whose only wish is for this conflict to come to an end so that they can be reunited with their families, and properly mourn loved ones they have lost.
But can we hope that this war will end? Can we hope that the conflict which has been festering for decades will be finally resolved? Can we hope that just peace will prevail – for Israelis? For Palestinians? For the region?
At this point in time, the war continues unabated. We will hear of more rocket fires, more lives lost. And it seems that that for which we hope remains at a far distance.
But the flame of that hope continues to burn.
That flame is seen in the people who continue to labour sacrificially to demonstrate their solidarity with those caught in the conflict. It is seen in the world leaders and the international community who are working tirelessly to broker peace, and to bring an end to the war.
It reverberates in the prayers of Christians throughout the world for the violence and bloodshed to come to a peaceful end.
Dr Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor at Trinity Theological College (Singapore) and Theological and Research Advisor of the Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.