‘We are not Arabs. We are Christians who speak Arabic’
"http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=12341&r=1"
The whole world seems concerned by the survival and/disappearance of
the Christians in the Middle-East. In many media, things are not clear:
the Western speak of the exodus of the Christians, fleeing from Syria,
somehow from Lebanon, indeed from Egypt. The situation is pathetic in
Iraq. Nobody would mention that the Monastery of the Patriarchate of
Mount Sinai (Greek Orthodox entity still depending in some ways on the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has been closed since September
4th. Just to mention that crowds of former Russian visitors, pilgrims
flow to the peninsula and are likely to enter the Holy Place that has
been shut down.
For various reasons that are not basically "rational", but rather
politically mishmashing, a lot of people and media would not speak of
the reality of the numerous Christians that are sheltered in the State
of Israel. It is easier to keep a kind of opaque look at a situaiton
that is real, not idyllic at all, but Israel does welcome the Arab
Christians.
The Liaison Committee in which I participate has invited Fr. Gabriel
Naddaf, known for having "problems" with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
of Jerusalem because he pretends to back the Christian Arabs to serve
in the Israeli Defence Forces, i.e. the Israeli army. A lot of Israeli
arabs are engaged in their Israeli military service for different
reasons, to begin with the fact that it allows to continue their studies
and get some choice for a true professional job, competences.
It is evident, definitely obvious that most of the Christian
institutions and the international media would not say a word about such
a situation that shows how a large part of Arab Israeli citizens do
partake in the development of Israeli society.
It is evident because there is a Palestinian political challenge as
if opposed to the existence of Israel. Then, the Arab Christians in
Israel depend on external hierarchies: the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
of Jerusalem is Greek and maintains the cultural roots, cultural
backgrounds of the local Church vivdly. It also secures the Christians
that they are not left alone or aside inside of an pan-Arab rather
Muslim or Jewish environment. It gives some "breath", just as Rome and
the Vatican allow to ask for some assitance from "abroad", if any.
While media and religious international institutions are rather
likely to speak of the problemic survival of Arab Christians in Arab
contexts and countries, some would not accept to speak of the
multi-cultural aspect of the religious situation in Israeli society.
The "Liaison Committee" is working on the Israeli side, together with
the B'nay Brith" local representative and the Ecumenical Fraternity (I
am a member of both organizations and a member of the Steering Committee
of the Ecumenical Fraternity). I dispatch the article because it makes
sense to show a reality. Furthermore, it may once allow to discuss the
situation of non-Arab Israeli Christians and this would be much
appreciated. it should be approached with insights, patience and wisdom.
'We are not Arabs. We are Christians who speak Arabic'
Many of Israel's Christians feel that their
history, culture and heritage have been hijacked by Muslim Arabs in the
region, while they feel a much stronger link to Israel's Jews • The
Jewish state is the only place where we are protected, they say.
Dror Eydar
A conference titled "Israeli Christians: Breaking Free? The advent of an independent Christian voice in Israel" in Jerusalem
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Photo credit: Dudi Vaaknin
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It was not just any conference. Even the word
"historic" would not do it justice. This was nothing short of the shift
of an ancient paradigm.
For a long time we had grown accustomed to
thinking about the Middle East as an Arab region. But this region, the
vast majority of which was actually originally not Arab, was conquered
in the seventh century by tribes hailing from the Arabian Peninsula.
They imposed their religion, their culture and their language on the
indigenous population, and to top it all off, claimed ownership of the
land in the region.
But the social and diplomatic firestorms
currently raging around us have begun to chip away at this monolithic
point of view among various ethnic groups, whose identities are actually
different than the ones we have lazily attached to them, and their
voices are beginning to be heard loud and clear: "We are not Arabs,"
they are saying. "We are Christians who speak Arabic."
At the "Israeli Christians: Breaking Free? The advent of an independent Christian voice in Israel" conference in Jerusalem, one
after another, Israeli Christian representatives took to the stage and
greeted the audience with a "moadim l'simcha" ("times of joy" – a common
Jewish holiday wish of good tidings). The first speaker was the Rev.
Gabriel Naddaf, a Greek Orthodox priest in Nazareth and spiritual leader
of the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum. Naddaf is an impressive
man, who speaks in a reserved tone, but is nonetheless articulate and
resolute. "I am here to open the public's eyes," he said. "If we want to
refrain from lying to our own souls and to the general public, we must
say clearly and unwaveringly: enough!"
"The Christian public wants to integrate into
Israeli society, against the wishes of its old leadership. There are
those who keep pushing us to the margins, keeping us the victims
nationalism that is not our own, and of a conflict that has nothing to
do with us," he said.
Naddaf spoke of the Christian roots, planted
deep in this land since the dawn of Christianity. This is where Jesus
Christ's doctrine first emerged. The Christian faith, he said, came out
of the Jewish faith and its biblical roots. As far as Naddaf is
concerned, what happened in the seventh century was an Arab invasion
from which the Christians also suffered. He added that he wasn't very
proud of the Christian crusades either, and distanced himself from them.
He surveyed the dire situation currently faced
by Christians in Arab states, and said that the realization that Israel
is the only country in the region that protects its Christian minority
has prompted many Arabic-speaking Israeli Christians to develop a desire
to contribute to the state of Israel. That is how the Israeli Christian
Recruitment Forum came to be.
Naddaf quoted the founder of the forum, Maj.
Ihab Shlayan, as saying: "The Christians will not be made into hostages,
or allow themselves to be controlled by those who wish to impose their
nationality, religion and way of life upon us. We will not agree to hide
behind the groups that control the streets. We want to live in Israel
-- brothers in arms and brothers in peace. We want to stand guard and
serve as the first line of defense in this Holy Land, the Land of
Israel."
"We have broken through the barrier of fear,"
Naddaf went on to say. "The time has come to prove our loyalty, pay our
dues and demand our rights." He spoke about the death threats that he
and his friends face, and added that despite the hardships they continue
forward "because the State of Israel is our heart. Israel is a holy
state, a strong state, and its people, Jews and Christians alike, are
united under one covenant."
Naddaf was followed at the podium by Lt.
(ret.) Shaadi Khalloul, the spokesman of the Israeli Christian
Recruitment Forum and an officer in the Israel Defense Forces
Paratroopers Brigade. Khalloul, a scholar who studies the history of the
Christian faith in the region, spoke about the eastern Christian
identity that had been stripped of his people. Over the last three
years, he has fought Israel's Interior Ministry over recognition of his
community as Aramaic Christians.
We are "B'nei Keyama," which means allies in
Aramaic, he said. He has nothing against the Arabs, but it is simply not
his identity. It is especially problematic for him because being
associated with the Arabs pulls him into a conflict that is not his own,
entirely against his will.
Khalloul said that the way to integrate into
Israeli society was through military service in the IDF, which he
described as a melting pot, but also through education. It turns out
that Israel's Christian population is not educated in their own history,
only the history of the Arabs and of Islam.
"The typical Christian student thinks that he
belongs to the Arab people and the Islamic nation, instead of speaking
to the people with whom he truly shares his roots -- the Jewish people,
whose origins are in the Land of Israel."
Adding to that point, Rev. Naddaf stepped in
and said, "It is unthinkable that our children will be raised on the
history of the Nakba and on the hatred of Jews, and not be taught their
history."
It was no coincidence that Khalloul chose the
Aramaic word for allies to describe his people. In his view, Israeli
Christians are not mercenaries, as they might be perceived, but in fact
allies. "We want to defend the holy land alongside the Jews," he
insisted. He mentioned the Christians' support for the establishment of a
national homeland for the Jews in the 1947 UNSCOP Committee. In a
letter to the committee at the time, the Maronites rejected any
reference to the land of Israel as Arab land.
Khalloul said further that global Christianity
supported them, but refrained from making the support public because of
the fact that Christians in the Middle East are hostages in the hands
of Islamic forces.
Remarking on the ongoing debate surrounding
the issue of a Jewish-democratic state vs. a so-called state of all its
citizens, Khalloul said that he preferred a Jewish state that takes care
of all its citizens over a state governed by all its citizens, without a
Jewish identity.
"Several decades ago, 80 percent of the
Lebanese population was Christian," he recalled, "but the 20% Muslim
minority imposed their Arab identity on them and many of them left.
Today, only 35% of the population is Christian."
Syria, too, he added, is comprised of
Christians and Kurds who are not Arab. "Where is the respect for these
groups? For their history and their culture?" Only in a Jewish state, he
concluded, will different groups be given the right to exist.
Naddaf then interjected and said, "That is not just [Khalloul's] opinion. The entire forum shares this view."
The last representative to take the stage was
Capt. Bishara Shlayan, whose initiative to establish the Christian
Israeli Party was first reported in Israel Hayom this past July.
Following the report, Shlayan was bombarded with responses from all over
the world.
"We were raised on Arab political parties," he
said, "the communists, and then the National Democratic Assembly. In
time, I realized where these Arab parties were taking us -- only against
Israel."
He said that Islam was imposing itself on the
Christians in the region. Thus, for example, the ancient "Miriam's
Spring" evolved into the "Nazareth Spring." In his youth, he had
received a red flag, he recounted. But today, he sighed, "our children
are being raised on the green flag, on anti-Israeli culture."
"We need to create a different culture," he
continued. "We need to hand out Israeli flags to every child. Education
begins here. You enter a school in Nazareth, and you will not see a
single Israeli flag. They don't recognize it. You will only see
Palestinian flags."
Shlayan is well aware of the claims that
Israeli Christians are not afforded all the rights to which they are
entitled. "That may be," he said, but "you have to begin by pledging
loyalty to your country and serving it. I believe that."
All the above is only part of what was said at
the recent conference of the Liaison Committee of B’nai B’rith World
Center in Jerusalem and the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity
in Israel.
The Christian communities' march toward the
heart of the Israeli consensus has an iconoclastic significance. It is
reminiscent of Abraham's smashing the idols and thereby smashing certain
thought conventions and patterns. It is important not only on the
inter-faith and theological level; it is also important to Israel's
efforts to prove our rights to the world. Parts of the Christian world
see us as the crucifiers of the Palestinians, even though this could not
be further from the truth. Therefore, when the Israeli Christians stand
by the State of Israel and declare that this is the Land of Israel and
not Palestine and that Jews did not steal this land but rather returned
home as the Bible prophesied, it has immeasurable significance.
We, as a society and as a state, must embrace
these courageous people, who spoke from the very deepest recesses of
their hearts. We must help them, provide for them and integrate them
into our society. And no less importantly, we must protect their lives.
Our lives and our future depend on it.
