Hebrew Scriptures Give Israel a Guide to Peace

Where are the religious leaders representing the Judeo-Christian tradition on Middle East injustices? Except for land rights, why the silence on core religious values?

Many in Israel today make the religious case for the state of Israel and often quote Old Testament references. Many Christians lend a sympathetic ear to the idea that the people of Israel are a special people. The greatest contribution of the Hebrew prophets, who laid the foundation for Israel, was their vision of the righteous nature of a common God and his demand on his people to be just with their poorer neighbors.

Many wonder, as the tragic violence unfolds in the Middle East, why this ongoing rage by Palestinians. Fair-minded people need to understand what drives this. The 1993 Oslo peace agreement offered hope to a people long oppressed and forgotten by the world community. Yet the Palestinians are actually worse off today than before Oslo. Since 1994, in violation of U.N. resolutions and Oslo agreements, about 50,000 new Jewish settlers were placed on occupied land. About 800 Palestinian homes were demolished. There has been a decline in their gross national product, unemployment has increased and about 13,000 people have been arrested.

In neighboring Lebanon, where more than 300,000 Palestinians live in abject poverty, there are an estimated 130,000 Israeli land mines left. Much of southern Lebanon is destroyed. The youth have little hope for a decent future. Palestinians are discriminated against, much like blacks in the U.S. were during segregation.

Many Israelis claim the West Bank because they see it as promised, in the Book of Genesis, to Abraham and his descendants as an “everlasting possession.” They turn a deaf ear to arguments about human rights of Palestinians who have been living there for centuries. If they are unwilling to listen to any appeals to human rights, are they willing to listen to the Hebrew Scriptures, which have a lot to say about how the people of God should behave?

The Ten Commandments say that you must not covet or steal anything that belongs to your neighbor. Do these commandments apply to settlers taking land that belongs to others? The Torah (Leviticus 19) speaks about “aliens” living alongside the children of Israel: “When an alien lives in your land, do not ill-treat him. The alien must be treated as one of your native-born.” This teaching is revolutionary: “You are to love these aliens as much as you love yourself.” And it is based on a simple argument: “because you were aliens in Egypt.”

The proverbial “eye for an eye” (Exodus 21:24) was included in the law as a way of limiting the spirit of revenge; it means one eye and not more than one eye. You have no right to unlimited revenge. It set limits. Doesn’t the disproportionality of Israeli attacks violate the Hebrew Scriptures? One can understand Israelis who feel they are surrounded by millions of hostile Arabs. But where do they get the idea that Israeli life is more valuable?

When the children of Israel were about to enter the land, Moses warned them that continued possession of the land was conditional on their obedience to moral law. The more Israelis appeal to Hebrew Scriptures to justify their claim to the land, the more they are asking the rest of the world to judge Israeli actions in the light of those Scriptures. Are those Israelis who are seeking to extend their hold on the West Bank living in accordance with moral teaching?

Justice in the Hebrew Scriptures is not about claiming our rights. “Zion shall be redeemed by justice,” says the prophet Isaiah. Our Judeo-Christian roots insist that those of us who are privileged must take care of our poorer neighbor.

With all this said, what’s the future? Religious people believing in an almighty God are by nature optimistic and hopeful and should be instruments of light and hope. Doesn’t the real religious case call for Israel today to go back to its roots of justice, admit mistakes and reach out to its poorer neighbor? This could mean honoring U.N. resolutions, restoring land rightfully belonging to the Palestinians, compensating the Palestinians and Lebanese for damages. Then we’d have a real prospect for peace.

Religious people believe that practicing just principles makes living together in peace possible. The children of Israel would then have the real prospect of going to bed at night secure.

Peace can dawn in the Middle East, if we all heed the words of Pope Paul VI: “If you want peace, work for justice.”