Christians cannot turn a blind eye to Holy Land violence

Feb 23, 2024

By Maryse Quashie
Faced with tragedies like the surge of violence in the Holy Land, a number of contemporary onlookers seem to be stricken with blindness. Thus, there are those who take sides subjectively, whether for one side or the other, and they only see what they want to see, which confirms their view of a world where one is entirely good, the other entirely bad. Their blindness is reinforced by the political manoeuvring of those who also manipulate information in certain media outlets.

Then there are those, paralysed by dread of the consequences of speaking out, politicians unwilling to displease anyone, who contribute to the “muddling” of information through the vagueness of their words.

There are also those who fear what others will say, afraid of being labelled as anti-semitics, left-wing Islamists, fascists, Zionists, radicals... In this logic, their perception of the situation is selective, distorted by avoiding anything that could compel them to take a stand.

Finally, there are all those who are indifferent, all those who are at a certain “geographical” distance from the drama, and for whom this distance quickly becomes “psychological”, leading to blindness towards anything that could disturb their tranquillity.

Christians must react differently
But how can Christians, who constitute one of every three inhabitants on Planet Earth, turn a blind eye to this violence when they claim to follow Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace? Why do we not raise our voices when the land God chose to be incarnated suffers so much violence, such a surge of hatred, such a great lack of respect for life, such an explosion of the desire for vengeance and calls for vengeance... Why is the voice of Christians, our voice, not raised more urgently?

Christians should recall the biblical words marking the Covenant that the Lord made with His people: “In those days, they shall no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But each will die for his own guilt; everyone who eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge” (Jeremiah 31:29-30).

Can we not see that there is no justification for collective punishment, which blurs the lines between military and civilians, combatants, women, and children? Moreover, we Christians should repeat the words of the Psalmist: “I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for God’s people and friends, and those who turn to God in their hearts” (Psalm 85:9).

And what greater folly than war, which has already disfigured the last century? We Christians should take to heart the words of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, the Jewish woman (Edith Stein) who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. Before she died at Auschwitz in 1942 at the age of 50, she said she desired to “offer” herself “to the heart of Jesus as a sacrifice of expiation for true peace, that the reign of the Antichrist may perish, if possible, without a new world war”. --LCI (https:// international.la-croix.com/)