Barak and the Bulldozers of Bethlehem
Article published by Evangelicals Now August 1999

During the honeymoon period following Barak's victory in the Israeli elections, Stephen Sizer interviewed representatives and supporters of the indigenous Christian community in Israel and Palestine, to find out more about their hopes and fears for the future. With Barak's coalition including members of at least three religious parties, Shas, the National Religious Party and the United Torah Judaism, as well as Meretz the prospects for a more pragmatic and secular 'land for peace' settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seem to be receding fast.

Garth Hewitt: Amos Trust
Garth Hewitt travels to Palestine regularly and offers this critical assessment of the issues resulting from the recent elections. "Many of the settlements were built originally under Labour and the question is, will Barak's coalition stop the building of the settlements? Will they negotiate for peace with the Palestinians or will they spend all their time negotiating for peace amongst the Israelis? That is the key. Oslo has economically strangled the Palestinians and restricted their freedom of movement. Unless things improve there will be a lot of despair. Barak is different. He is probably a person of more integrity. If he says something he is more likely to stick to it. Netanyahu signed Wye but he didn't stick to it. With Barak there is more chance so we will have to see. The Israeli's gave up on Netanyahu because he was a complete pragmatist. He had no integrity at all. He only wanted power. He would make alliances with any extremist to stay in power. In the end people don't like that. One minute he was signing a peace agreement, the next he was agreeing to the building of more settlements. There was no integrity. Barak will be under pressure for there to be a Palestinian State within a year and if that doesn't happen the Palestinians should respond with strength. There has to be more land given than is even conceived of at the moment. You can't say to someone, "Here's 3% of your own land, make yourself a State."

Audeh Rantisi: The Baptist Church, Ramallah
Audeh Rantisi, the former Director of the Evangelical Boy's Home in Ramallah is still very active as a minister in and around the West Bank. His wife Patricia, a dear welsh lady, was recently arrested by the Israeli border police because, even though she carries a British Passport, she had not renewed her visa to remain in the Occupied Territories. Audeh has seen many previous Israeli elections and made this comparison between Netanyahu and Barak. "The leaders of Israel, there are two kinds. Its like a coin. It has two sides, but they act as one. Some of the leaders are foxes and some are wolves. The fox is sly about how he gets at you whereas the wolf attacks you right away, so there is no difference in the end result. I don't think a Palestinian State is more likely under Barak than Netanyahu, or even under Arafat. Arafat set a date declaring the State of Palestinians and that date has gone. If you want to build a house you have to dig the foundations first. The Zionists control Barak. The White House is controlled by Zionists. They try and justify this destruction and occupation. The Christians of the West should wake up in order to pray. But prayer needs action that the Lord will step in and help us so that this land will become holy and not wholly and entirely for the Jews."

Mahmoud Okshiyya : NECC Gaza
Perhaps inevitably, it is those who have suffered most, as in the refugee camps of Gaza that the most critical views were expressed. Mahmoud Okshiyya works for the Near East Council of Churches in Gaza, which provides invaluable educational opportunities for young Palestinian refugees, who otherwise would be without hope. Mahmoud is a patient man, always pleased to see us when we visit. He was the most pessimistic for the future and dwelt on Barak's ignominious past.


"It was the Labour party who started the settlements in Gaza. it was the Labour party who started the killing and expanded the settlements and murdered the refugees in Qana in Lebanon - about 100 persons. Barak is well known for his history of killing. He himself disguised as a woman shot and killed three Palestinians in Beirut. He is very famous for his killing and his hands are full of bloodshed. I don't believe anything will come out of these elections. Things will come from the Palestinian people themselves who will dictate as the children dictated the policy during the Intifada, if nothing happens..."

Tom Getman : World Vision, Jerusalem
Tom Getman, a tall distinguished American, directs the work of World Vision throughout Gaza and the West Bank. He was realistic about the change of government. "The policies are the same. There's not a credit cards difference between the policies. Barak has already declared himself on the Jordan river valley, on Jerusalem, on the settlements, these are nonnegotiable. The difference is Southern Lebanon and Syria. He's a different person in terms of his honesty. The thing about Netanyahu was that he was a man with no principal, and he was concerned with his own survival. So anything went to keep himself in power and people began to discover that. Barak could be like Rabin or Nixon going to China. That's our hope. A conservative well known militarist can have a stronger stance because he can lead the people. The reason Netanyahu was whipped was because the people were tired of the manipulation, tired of the fear, now Barak must get that back in the bottle. If he can undo that kind of insecurity which the people are feeling in this country, I think if he chooses to do it, he can make the hard choices. But right now he is just rearranging the furniture.

I don't place a whole lot of hope in the politics of this place since the pressure is so great from the extremes. On the issue of the settlements, there are twenty five settlements established since the Wye accords that we think he will quickly give back. And there are settlements around Nablus that even the people in the settlements know they are just a holding action for negotiation purposes. We think the same is true about the settlements in Gaza. They've been built primarily with Thai guest workers not by Israeli Jews. So that's a card they can lay on the table. Whether it will be enough particularly now that the Palestinian grass roots are so upset with the Palestinian Authority, we'll have to wait and see."

I asked Tom about the possibility of a link between a pull out of Lebanon and the Golan Heights with a deal on Palestine: "I think that's the word that's already been received in Washington. Barak will go on a dual track for a while, he will negotiate with Lebanon and Syria on one track and Palestine on the other track, the West Bank and Gaza. Then at a certain stage he's going to have to turn all his attention to Lebanon to meet his deadline for getting the troops out. Then when he is down the track on that, even if he doesn't get it fully accomplished, then he will move pretty quickly on the Palestinian issue. Because all the security people, including, thank God, the CIA are saying 'you've got to move or the pressure is going to build and build and build.' The question will be whether Palestine is viable when they do move. That is the big question."

Local Christians often describe the West Bank like a piece of Swiss cheese - its full of holes made by new exclusive settler roads and security zones. Increasingly, comparisons are being made between the isolated autonomous Palestinian areas and the South African apartheid experiment with Bantustans. Tom Getman is convinced this strategy of the Israeli's will continue. "Everybody is nervous about it. We heard yesterday from a senior lawyer that the Israelis are even thinking about putting border posts on all of the cantons. So if a Palestinian wants to go from one Area 'A' to another Area 'A' [such as Hebron to Bethlehem or Nablus to Jericho] he will have to go through a checkpoint. And if they do that and allow the Israeli settlers to continue to use the bi-pass roads, unobstructed, there will be hell to pay. I really do think there will be hell to pay. It is just this sort of constant bombardment and ethnic cleansing, and seizure of land that is going to accrue to the detriment of the Israeli civil society.

The bar has been set very high for the Arabs to jump over. Whether they will continue to try and do it, whether the population will support Arafat, with the appearance of giving up so much, that is the question. In Gaza, for example, they are cynical. Depending on how it goes in the early days for Barak, we could be in for another conflagration. Israel has always grabbed land during interregnums. This is when they brought the Ethiopian Jews in; the settlements; the Russian immigrants. They're doing it again. In Bethany, they are grabbing land, right across the road from the Alqud's University, where the new Palestinian Parliament was supposed to be, there's a new illegal settlement. Barak will have the mandate to turn these things around if he has the will to do it."

Zougbi Zougbi, Wi'am Conflict Resolution Centre

Many local Christians feel the central question has to do with the final status of Jerusalem. Originally envisaged by the United Nations as an open international city, it was divided between Israel and Jordan between 1948 and 1967 when Israel illegally annexed the Old City and East Jerusalem following the Six Day War. In 1980 the Israel government unilaterally declared Jerusalem to be their undivided eternal capital. Zougbi Zougbi is Director of Wi'am, a Palestinian conflict resolution centre based in Bethlehem which has won international recognition. Although reserving judgement on the new government, Zougbi said, " We are disappointed with Mr Barak over the issue of Jerusalem. We feel the issue of Jerusalem is crucial for the peace process and he should accept that in the Palestinian State, Jerusalem will be its capital. Jerusalem is a symbol and could serve as two capitals for two States with open borders. Jerusalem serves as the Cardo, the heart between the north and south of the West Bank. It is therefore very crucial. The right-wing have not lost the battle but they are more dangerous than before. The question will be whether Barak chooses land before peace." I asked Zougbi what advice he would give the new Prime Minister. He replied, "Good neighbours make good fences. Jerusalem should be open. Yes to the withdrawal of Israelis in Lebanon, yes to the freezing of settlements, yes to have the refugees back and yes to coexistence and an inclusive solution."

Jonathan Kuttab: Human Rights Lawyer, Jerusalem
Jonathan Kuttab is a well known and much respected Christian Palestinian Lawyer deeply committed to issues of human rights and a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He made this assessment of the difference between Barak and Netanyahu:"Netanyahu was such a difficult person so that almost any change is viewed as an improvement. I think we must remember Barak has always been one of the hawks of the Labour Party and his background as a military person together with the few pronouncements he has made already makes us very worried that this will be the same policy with a politer tone. We are willing to wait and see and give Barak a chance. Its the deeds that count. When we see some good deeds Barak will find that the Palestinians will respond very quickly to any positive actions."

I asked him to elaborate on the worries he has for the future. "He has already said he doesn't want Jerusalem to be shared but instead retain total and exclusive Israeli control. He wants the settlements to continue. He doesn't want to return to the 1967 borders but wants to keep some of that land under Israeli sovereignty. We don't know whether he is willing to make some progress on the ground. The Israeli coalition is always a reflection of Israeli society. We have watched Israeli society move to the right and become more racist, more fascist, more stubborn and less open to real compromise. It definitely going to be a factor. Barak is going to want to please his constituency and coalition rather than the Palestinians or the demands of the international community. Still again, lets be hopeful and wait and see."

Jonathan was very clear about the advice he would give Mr Barak in the early days of his new government: "I would tell him you don't need to fool anybody. You know that Israel is a very powerful, very strong country. So all this talk about security needs, you more than anyone else know is nonsense. Israel already has enough power to dominate the entire Middle East. It can afford to make some real genuine concessions on the ground. I would also tell him, in the long run, real peace will come from friendly gestures that produce justice and creates good friends and neighbours rather than holding on to every piece of land and settlements."

Bishara Awad : Bethlehem Bible College
I also visited an old friend, Bishara Awad, the Principal of Bethlehem Bible College. Bishara is a father figure, gracious, patient, yet this time, when we met, he was clearly distressed. The story he shared typifies the reasons why peace is so elusive and why many Palestinians are sceptical of ever seeing the Oslo agreement implemented. "Tony is a student of the College. He loves the Lord. He is a Christian. All his family are Christians. The family own a piece of land on the outskirts of Bethlehem which they bought in 1924. One day the family went to work on their land and found a bulldozer opening up a new road into their land near the edge of the Neve Daniel settlement. When they tried to stop the bulldozer, the Israeli settlers took Tony's brother to the police station. He was not released until he signed a document promising never to go back to his land again. This has naturally been very disturbing for the family. Its not strange for us because it is happening all the time. But this is something near to our hearts and to our students. It happened just two weeks ago. All we could do as a College is have a prayer right on the land. We prayed for peace, for justice. We prayed for the settlers, that the Lord would give them a soft heart, that they would not take someone else's land."

Speaking of the territory around Bethlehem, Bishara insisted, "There is an Israeli agenda, a Zionist dream to take all this land and they don't want any Palestinian's on the land. So they do this in many ways, they do this in subtle ways. They will not allow any new housing projects for the Palestinians, and if we do try and build houses on our land they come and demolish them. I am hoping for better days for the Palestinians. I am hoping Barak will not follow in the footsteps of Netanyahu. But I know at the same time Barak will be very busy with other issues like peace with Lebanon and Syria. I hope he will divert some of his attention to the sad things happening on the West Bank and the Palestinian land being taken every day."

It is also the systematic policy of the Israeli government to evict Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem, even though they may have lived there for many generations and this practice contravenes international law. They achieve this by denying or removing the residence permits of Palestinians forced to work in other parts of the West Bank or who leave temporarily to study, visit family members or marry abroad.

This 'ethnic cleansing' of Jerusalem has also recently affected the faculty of Bethlehem Bible College. Bishara explains: "Two of our teachers at the College are from Jerusalem. They were born in Jerusalem. Their parents and grand-parents are from Jerusalem for many, many, generations. They are Jerusalemites. They went to study abroad, one of them, Raheb, married a Spanish girl and he tried to get a family reunion for years and years. His wife is living in Spain. They have been separated for a year. He still does not have his papers. He cannot renew his ID for Jerusalem and return to live there. He cannot get permission for his wife to join him either. Another member of our faculty, Hanna, is just back from studying at a seminary in the United States. He is engaged to get married so when he came back to renew his Jerusalem ID card. they said they could not renew it. He asked why. They said, "Because you have relatives in Australia." He is engaged to be married but Hanna said, "If they don't give me my ID card I cannot get permission for my wife to join me. I cannot register my marriage. I can hardly do anything legally." There is no legitimate legal reason for the Israelis to do this. Raheb and Hanna still work for the College but I fear they will eventually give up and leave their land and go and live with their wives abroad. This is exactly what they Israelis want. We do need prayer that these teachers would be able to live in Jerusalem and continue to work in the College. We badly need leaders in the churches here."

I asked Bishara what he would say to Mr Barak if he had the opportunity. He replied, "Have fear, God is alive. You need to fear God. Don't repeat the stories of your previous leaders. The Palestinians are the natives. They have rights. Appease them. Give them some rights. If you need to have peace with the Arab countries, first get the key and make peace with the Palestinians."

Edmund Shehadeh : ABCD, Beit Jala
Edmund Shehadeh is the Director of the Arab Bethlehem Centre for Rehabilitation in nearby Beit Jala on the outskirts of Bethlehem. Known as ABCD in the UK they care for children and adults with physical and psychological disabilities from right across the West Bank and Gaza when patients are allowed access. From their beautiful hill top location they have watched with great sadness how Israeli settlements have encroached, like a rising tide, onto more and more Palestinian land around them. Edmund gave this assessment of the change of government: "The Labour and Likud have the same policy. The international community must put pressure on the Israeli government to comply with the Oslo Peace Accord and the Wye Settlement so that there is progress in the peace process.. Palestinians have the right to their identity and their State. I would say to Barak that he should have confidence in the Palestinians. They want to live in peace with want to live as brothers with the Israelis."

Edward Said : Palestinian Academic
Edward Said, a leading Palestinian academic, is critical of suggestions that the election of Barak will bring any serious resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Ehud Barak, everyone's new hero of the hour, has been passing himself off as the peace candidate, an almost meaningless phrase, but given his background and what he has so far said, I am certain that his ideas are hardly different from Netanyahu's when it comes to substance. For Barak, Jerusalem remains basically non-negotiable (except for giving Palestinians authority over a few sacred places in the old city and allowing Abu Dis to become their new Jerusalem); the settlements for the most part will stay, as will the by-pass roads that now criss-cross the territories; sovereignty, borders, over-all security, water and air rights will be Israel's; refugees will have to look elsewhere for help. Other than that there can be a Palestinian state and the Authority can continue its, at best, flawed rule."1 Speaking of Barak's initial choice of Ariel Sharon as defence minister, Edward Said insists, "Both are confirmed Arab-killers, both are clearly contemptuous of Arabs except as second- or perhaps even third-rate aliens tolerated in what both consider to be the land of Israel, and neither Barak nor Sharon is much given to visions of coexistence or equality between Palestinians and Israeli Jews." 2

Unusually, there is unanimity between both Palestinian and Israeli commentators that there is substantially no difference between Barak and Netanyahu. Yedidya Atlas, the senior correspondent and commentator for Arutz 7, an Israeli settler radio station, insists: "Both are publicly committed to an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, both consider the Jordan Valley to be Israel's strategic eastern border, both oppose withdrawing to the 1967 armistice line, and both have pledged to keep the settlements in Judea and Samaria under Israeli control. Barak may be willing to concede more of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians under certain conditions than Netanyahu, but this will still fall far short of Palestinian ambitions, expectations, and demands."3

Wisam and Ayman : Young Palestinian Tour Guides
This is a view also shared by many young Palestinian Christians living under Israeli military occupation on the West Bank. I spoke to two of the new Palestinian tour guides being trained at Bethlehem Bible College and Bethlehem University. Wisam expressed their frustration: "Netanyahu was very good for the Palestinians, he gave the real image of the Israelis in the world, even though we were the victims of their policies... The Israel government are not working for peace."

Another young Christian tour guide, Ayman was more cynical about the effect of the elections. "The new government is more clever than Netanyahu's government. There will be no change. From an Israeli point of view what makes a good prime minister is his background. If he had invaded, if he had killed Palestinians, tortured Palestinians, he would win. This has been the C.V. of most Israeli Prime Ministers. Israeli's are still electing this mentality, the mentality of war. Before the election, his political manifesto was full of details of his military background, his actions in Lebanon. It is very bad for Palestinians as if the one who is elected has to be strong in making others suffer. My best advice to Barak would be to accept us as Palestinians. To accept that we have always existed here and lets live together without military occupation and with equal rights. I simply want to live as a human being."

Sue Plater : Christian Aid, London
Sue Plater works for Christian Aid and helps organise Greenbelt. She made this observation during our recent visit to Palestine: "The situation is worse now for the Palestinians than before the Oslo agreement... the key will be what Barak does with the settlements. If they continue to build the settlements that is just so provocative. His attempt to nurture the right wing parties doesn't look that hopeful. I can't see there's much difference between the policies of the various parties. They all want to create their State and reduce Palestinian power as much as possible."

Michael Sellers, Dean, St George's Cathedral, Jerusalem
Michael Sellers is Dean of St George's Cathedral in Jerusalem. As an expatriate and outsider to the conflict, I asked him whether he ever felt powerless to do anything to change the situation for the better. "As Christians committed to prayer we are never powerless. We prayed for Netanyahu day by day because I believe only our prayers can have any possibility of wearing a person down to listen to what is God's will. Mr Barak already has our prayers. We pray God that he will be a man of honour and respect the integrity of each person in this land."

It must be very confusing to God with so many Christians praying contradictory prayers for the future of the people of the Holy Land. Zionist Christians, encouraged by organisations like Christian Friends of Israel and the International Christian Embassy, pray fervently that Israel will not give up the Golan Heights, withdraw the settlements or share Jerusalem with the Palestinians. The indigenous Christians and their friends are praying for the very opposite - for a truly democratic society within Israel and an independent Palestinian State. Whether the aspirations for peace, justice and reconciliation are yet another mirage on the horizon will rest, humanly speaking on the shoulders of one man, Ehud Barak. Let us pray for him.


1 Edward Said, Al-Ahram Weekly, 10 - 16 June 1999

2 Edward Said, Al-Ahram Weekly, 10 - 16 June 1999

3 Yedidya Atlas, Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio. June 1999