Non-violent dialogue to resolve Israeli-Palestinian Violence

In the wake of the heightened tensions in the Middle East, it is important to take constructive actions to sow the seeds of peace. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King thought that those who would work for peace must purify themselves of violence. At the current moment, very few Christians can claim that they have totally purified themselves of anti-Judaism to such an extent that they can, in complete freedom, criticize the nation of Israel. The reason for this is the violence that exists in our Scriptures. The Christian Scriptures are laden with an anti-Judaism that gave birth to two millennia of pogroms and that culminated in the Nazi Holocaust. Most churches still have not re-translated their Bibles to remove the texts that refer to Jews as Christ killers, those from whom the Jewish disciples hid in fear, and those who were too obtuse to accept the Gospel. Although these texts are not forms of physical violence, they have promoted physical violence in the past. They are also forms of spiritual and psychic violence. On November 11, 2009, I wrote about this issue, focusing on the Fourth Gospel. There are also plenty of passages in the Gospel of Matthew and in many other texts of the Christian Scriptures.

We should not postpone efforts to remove anti-Judaism from our Scriptures. The need is even more pressing now. I whole-heartedly believe that the people of Israel would be more willing to hear criticism of their foreign policy if we took the very simple steps to correct this problem. Shall we wait for another war in Israel/Palestine to break out?

In addition, I firmly believe that inter-faith prayer will help us resolve this issue. There are many who have advocated it. I hope that we might begin this process in Northeast Ohio, bringing together Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and others in retreats and other formats that not only foster dialogue, but which allow us to show reverence for each other’s most sacred prayer and which facilitate prayer for and with each other. In particular, I and many others think that it is possible to adapt the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to facilitate such encounters. There are other approaches.

Open dialogue, free of intimidation and insensitivity, in which we actively listen to each other, in which we pray with each other, and in which we forgive each other is the only manner to sow the seeds of lasting peace.