The Painful Paradox of Being a Palestinian Christian
By Daoud Kuttab
A recent flood of contradictory messages has left me deeply unsettled. It began with a video from the White House of prominent American evangelical leaders — most of them unapologetic Christian Zionists — lavishing praise on a U.S. president convicted of moral crimes. I was stunned, especially given their frequent talk about rooting out anti-Christian bias in America and around the world.
That same day, I came across a news report about a Palestinian Christian from Ramallah, Rami Fadayal, who has spent more than a year in Israeli detention, without charge or trial. He has pleaded in vain with his Israeli jailers to be allowed a copy of the Holy Bible.
However, what disturbed me the most was a social media post by a well-known evangelical figure, Ray Strack. His message read:
“Lord, please guide Israel’s defense the way you guided David’s smooth stone into the adversary of the Israelites. We pray for safety and protection, and for the enemy to be humbled.”
He ended with the hashtag #PrayForIsrael.
I wondered: Who exactly is the “enemy”? Are we — Palestinians — the modern-day Goliath, destined to have our heads cut off?
Why do American pastors like Strack continue to conflate ancient Israelites with the modern Israeli military, and Palestinian civilians with biblical enemies? And what about Palestinian Christians — those of us who share the same faith — are we the adversaries that must be “humbled”?
These thoughts weighed heavily on me as we marked a somber Palm Sunday. On that day, Israeli forces bombed the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza — a Christian medical institution founded by Baptists. Is this the kind of “stone” some evangelicals are praying for?
Also on that day, The New York Times published an investigative report confirming that Palestinian medics killed in Gaza had died from gunshots to the head and chest. A video had already shown them clearly marked as medics, attempting to rescue the wounded, unarmed, non-combatants. Was this brutal act the answer to Rev. Strack’s prayer?
Frustrated, I called a relative in Ramallah. After some small talk, I asked if he had participated in the Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem.
“No,” he said. “I couldn’t.”
Surprised, I asked why, pointing out that historically, Israel grants holiday permits to most Palestinian Christians.
“They changed the system,” he explained. “Now you have to apply online, and you’re at the mercy of some unseen Israeli security official who gets to decide your right to worship and visit relatives and friends. Even if approved, you can only request a seven-day window.”
He couldn’t attend the Palm Sunday procession and visit his family on Easter Monday, so he chose the week ending with Easter Monday, sacrificing the chance to celebrate Palm Sunday in Jerusalem.
These are the small, painful choices Palestinian Christians must make under occupation.
I was raised in Bethlehem in an evangelical home and have been a member of the Baptist Church in Amman for decades. I’ve always been uneasy with the way some preachers try to link biblical prophecy to modern-day politics. That discomfort only grew after the Israeli occupation of 1967, when so many interpretations of prophecy were applied to real-time events in the Middle East — and then proved false.
But even those earlier moments of disillusionment pale in comparison to the warmongering rhetoric we hear today from American evangelicals blindly supporting Israel.
In recent years, we’ve seen Vice President Mike Pence sign bombs that would go on to kill Palestinians. We’ve seen evangelical cheerleaders in Washington openly support Benjamin Netanyahu — a man wanted for war crimes — in his campaign to “finish us off,” as one Republican Christian leader wrote on American-made bombs destined to kill civilians. And Franklin Graham met with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and told him that we pray God gives you victory over your enemies.
Now, we’re seeing American evangelicals outpace even many American Jews in their zealous support for war against our people. And pastors like Ray Strack shamelessly use scripture as fodder to support violence and starvation against Palestinian civilians.
Are we reading the same Bible?
I often wonder if some of these so-called preachers are reading the same scripture I read in my own church. Do they not read the Beatitudes? Do they not hear the Sermon on the Mount, calling on all believers to be peacemakers?
Even those who cling to the Old Testament seem to ignore the voice of the prophet Amos, who rebukes empty religious rituals:
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.” (Amos 5:21)
I wonder if the prophet was speaking of those who worship today without any sense of morality. He continues:
“Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.”
Instead, Amos offers a radically different vision:
“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.”
Is it too much to expect that our fellow Christian believers — and especially evangelical leaders — consider justice and righteousness before calling people like us “adversaries” and enemies who must be humbled?
Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestinian journalist, is the author of State of Palestine NOW and is the publisher of Milhilard.org, a website focusing on Palestinian and Jordanian Christians.
