Zoughbi Zoughbi on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Zoughbi Zoughbi is the of Director of Wi'am, the Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center in Bethlehem. He spoke to Christian Today about some of the challenges facing Palestinians on the rocky road to peace and shared his desire for more Christians in the UK to visit Palestine.
by Maria Mackay
Posted: Wednesday, August 1, 2007, 9:20 (BST)
Zoughbi Zoughbi is the Director of Wi'am, the Palestinian Conflict Resoluton Center in Bethlehem.
Wi'am is a grassroots organisation working within the wider Palestinian community to promote peace by training people on both sides of the Palestine-Israel conflict in peaceful relationship-building, non-violent responses to injustice and conflict, and the promotion of human rights.
Christian Today spoke to Zoughbi about impact that the conflict is having on the lives of ordinary Palestinians and what the chances are for a sustainable peace in the region.
CT: You work with people of all faiths. Can you give an indication of what daily life is like for civilians in Palestine?
ZZ: The things you take for granted here in the UK, we are deprived of there in Palestine. We measure our distances in terms of checkpoints, not miles. In the past, we used to go anywhere. Now it is easier for me to come to the UK than to go to Jerusalem.
The wall is surrounding us, separating each area from the other. The occupation is evil and needs to be ended. We are struggling non-violently to get rid of the occupation.
So, it is not an easy situation there. The unemployment is skyrocketing - up more than 50 per cent, there is malnutrition among children, almost 80 per cent of our kids are exposed to trauma, and more than 76 per cent of the people live on less than £1 a day. It is a very serious situation.
CT: There was some speculation that the Hamas takeover of Gaza would make life harder for Christians there. Has that proved to be the case?
ZZ: The challenge for Christians is the same as the challenge for Muslims; it is the Israeli occupation. We are under occupation and are not allowed to go to Jerusalem to practice freedom of worship. Where the basic holy sites in Jerusalem and in the north, we are not allowed to go. We need a permit each time but many times no one will get a permit. So there is a denial of freedom by the Israeli occupation.
Regarding Muslims and Christians, as Palestinians we value the relationship. We have no conflict between Muslims and Christians because we are all under occupation. Hamas is not the issue for Christians, because it is the conflict between Hamas and Fatah and the different parties and ideologies. We as Christians are not so much a part of this. We would like to see more unity than division among the people. We, as Christians, work in the Middle East for unity, cooperation, justice and reconciliation.
CT: The Israeli Government is mulling over the possibility of an independent state for Palestine.
ZZ: Yes, I would like to take it seriously and I will give the Israeli Government the benefit of the doubt. We want a state void of settlements, and with a connection between Gaza and West Bank, with Jerusalem as its capital, and to be in a friendly co-existing relationship with the Israeli Government and the Arab world.
Have your say on this article
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Monday, August 13, 2007, 11:06 (BST)
Of course this is a one sided article. He is presenting the Palestinian perspective, and I think that was the general point of the article! The fact of the matter is that significant numbers of Christian Palestinians were expelled by the Israeli government from their land and today the small minority (under 2%) that remains is leaving rapidly.
Christ has called us to justice, love, and forgiveness not to supporting one ethnic group's domination over another based on creative interpretations depicted in Hollywood-style "Left Behind" movies which also suggest that one day 1/3 of a specific ethnic group will be wiped out once again. This is absurd and perhaps even dangerous.
The bottom line is that Israelis live, for the most part, comfortable lives with access to world class hospitals, universities, spas, and air conditioned shopping malls. Palestinians--and specifically Christian Palestinians--living in the West Bank and Gaza strip often cannot feed their families, cannot move outside of their bantustans, and do not have control of their lives. Just ask them...
Instead of placing the blame back and forth, and bending our mind trying to predict the future using complicated prophesies, let us follow the advice of James who said that pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look out for the widow and orphan in their distress and to remain unspotted from the world. That sounds like a good place to start.
Jim, New York, USA
Added: Wednesday, August 8, 2007, 20:24 (BST)
I have been in Bethlehem and met members of the local church. I can tell you the article does reflect the reality of the church is living and suffering with.
The occupation and land expropriation affect both Muslims and Christians.
Perhaps, there is hope if we as Christians focus on reconciliation rather than beat the drums of war.
Lux, Florida
Added: Thursday, August 2, 2007, 15:41 (BST)
This is one the most one-sided articles I have read in a long time. It is filled with inaccuracies (e.g. the Israeli Government driving out 60% of the Arab Christians in 1948) and does not even begin to take into account the fact that the Arabs in Gaza are launching up to 14 rocket attacks every single day into Israel.
Yes, the Arab Christians are treated unfairly by the Israeli authorities. The vast majority of the terror attacks are perpetrated by muslims, not Christians. However, it is difficult to tell just by looking, which one is which.
We want to live in peace and security. That means the terror must stop.
Reconciliation is a hugely important ministry. There was not even a hint of that in this man's rhetoric.
MessianicJew, Manchester, England
