Today is May 15th, the day when Palestinians mark the forced removal of Palestinians from their homes in 1948 to make room for the Jews coming from Europe to settle in Palestine. The name Nakba means catastropheor disaster. Nakba Day is generally commemorated on 15 May, the day after the date in the Gregorian calendar of Israel’s Independence in 1948.
This poem is part of a collection of poems ‘Things you may find hidden in my ear,’ by Mosab Abu Toha, a poet from Gaza.
The poem looks back at the Nakba, which is a daily reality for the Palestinian people. It is being reenacted now in the West Bank as Israeli settlers take over Palestinian land, and in the horrendous war in Gaza, as many people are fleeing to a place of safety, probably never to return to Gaza. Once more a catastrophe is occurring, as history is repeated. May God have mercy on us.
My Grandfather Was A Terrorist
My grandfather was a terrorist— He tended to his field, watered the roses in the courtyard, smoked cigarettes with grandmother on the yellow beach, lying there like a prayer rug.
My grandfather was a terrorist— He picked oranges and lemons, went fishing with brothers until noon, sang a comforting song en route to the farrier’s with his piebald horse.
My grandfather was a terrorist— He made a cup of tea with milk, sat on his verdant land, as soft as silk.
My grandfather was a terrorist— He departed his house, leaving it for the coming guests, left some water on the table, his best, lest the guests die of thirst after their conquest.
My grandfather was a terrorist— He walked to the closest safe town, empty as the sullen sky. vacant as a deserted tent, dark as a starless night.
My grandfather was a terrorist— My grandfather was a man, a breadwinner for ten, whose luxury was to have a tent, with a blue UN flag set on the rusting pole, on the beach next to a cemetery.
R: Response The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts. Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock’ R
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord. R
Then the young girls will rejoice and will dance, the men, young and old, will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will console them, give gladness for grief. R
The prophet Jeremiah is writing about ‘The overpowering hand’ … that had subjected Israel to captivity, humiliation, exile and death for many. Removed them from their ancestral home.
It happened in Jeremiah’s time. It happened again in persecution and pogroms, and holocaust.
Jeremiah tells of a time when that humiliation will pass. When life will return to normal. There will once again be laughing, dancing, joy.
One would hope that a people who had experienced such devastation would recognise that they themselves have become the overpowering hand. The foot on the throat.
O to be able to speak the words of the psalm to Gaza and the people of the West Bank ? To say that the Lord will save them, that they will rejoice again ? How long ? How long ?
Today the British Parliament will be debating whether to support a ceasefire in Gaza. The various political parties have differing stances with their subtext and starting point being on balance either – Outrage at the 7th October Hamas attacks and support for Israel’s right to defend itself, or devastation at the loss of life in Gaza, and an outright call for a ceasefire.
It’s a mess, and not one that will yield a solution, barring a miracle, in the near future.
It feels like it’s one of those proxy battles – in this case being fought between the more extreme powers in USA/Europe and the more militant of the Arab nations.
The state of Israel, founded in 1948, has its birth and much of its energy coming out of the persecution of the Jewish people over centuries, and has its roots in a modern European way of operating.
The Palestinian people are still essentially a Middle Eastern culture, and identify with nations around with a similar history.
For the USA or European government to call unequivocally for a ceasefire would be seen to side more with the Palestinian people in Gaza and the Occupied Territories, and somehow betray western values, and the state of Israel that has its beginnings in Europe.
And in the end it’s all about money and power and who is going to have your back at the end of the day.
Both sides in this conflict are ‘hurt people.’ And you know the saying – ‘hurt people hurt people.’
I read this verse this morning. Luke’s Gospel Chapter 11 verse 32.
“The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.”
The Old Testament story of Jonah is about his calling as a prophet. He was sent by God to preach to the people of Nineveh to change from their sinful ways. They did repent, and Jonah was surprised and angry. He never imagined that they would repent, and thought they had got off too lightly.
But they did listen and they did change. So they have the right to challenge others who need to change. They saw that they were living on a destructive path and turned around.
Where are today’s Ninevites ? Where are the ones who have seen their failings and made a decision to be different ? We need them to witness to their unholy past, and challenge this generation and condemn it.
And by this generation, I do not simply mean Hamas and The State of Israel, although at this time maybe they are first in line. I mean all those who measure life in their ability to control dollars and bombs, and oil and water, and propaganda and terror.
What we are seeing in Israel Palestine is a playing out of history, and we need someone or something that is greater even than Jonah.
Some friends and I have some Iranian folk we have been getting to know over the last 8 months or so. They are here in the UK because they are Christians, and it’s not safe for them in Iran. Their stories are difficult to hear, as they have weighed up the cost of leaving and the cost of staying, and in the end, made the decision to come to this country.
So we had all been invited round to H and S’s for an early Christmas dinner to give our Iranian friends a taste of Roast Chicken and all the trimmings, yes, including sprouts, and with Christmas pudding to follow.
When we meet up each week we always spend some time looking at the Bible, and today we read parts of the accounts of Jesus’ birth from Luke and Matthew’s Gospel.
Luke 2 verse 7: 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
We were asked to consider why it was that there was nowhere for them to stay ? After all, we are told earlier in verses 3 & 4 that Joseph was returning to Bethlehem for the census, because that was where his family were from. He would almost certainly have had cousins, or uncles and aunts living in Bethlehem, or at least visiting for the purpose of the census.
So why were they having trouble finding somewhere to stay ? The popular idea, arising from a mistranslation, is that they went to try and stay at an inn, but had to sleep in the stable because there were no rooms available. Remember all those nativity plays where there’s an innkeeper who send them to the stable ?
The mistranslated word is the word ‘inn.’ There is another word that would have been used if the writer had actually meant ‘inn or hostelry.’ The correct translation would be more like ‘guest room.’
This makes much more sense than Joseph and Mary traipsing around Bethlehem looking for a pub with spare rooms. It’s more likely that they have gone to the house of a relative, and been told that although the guest room is already taken, they can sleep in that part of the house where the animals are kept.
But another question arises. Why would someone from your extended family make you sleep with animals when you are clearly heavily pregnant ?
To understand that, we need to look at Matthew’s account of the birth.
Matthew 1 verses 18 and 19
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[i] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
In Matthew’s Gospel, we read that there’s a problem with this pregnancy. Joseph and Mary are betrothed – promised to one another – but not yet married, and not yet intimate.
In a dream, Joseph is reassured that it will all be OK. He should take Mary as his wife, and bring the child up.
But even so, there was bound to be a stigma attached to the couple. here’s an unmarried couple, about to have a baby, and even worse, (if they are aware of the back story), Joseph is not the father !
So when they turn up on the cousin’s doorstep to be in Bethlehem for the census, there’s a dilemma for the cousin.
There’s the shame of giving house room to an unwed couple about to have a bastard child, but the cousin also has the strong family responsibility that will not allow him to just throw them out on to the street.
You can imagine the conversation: 1 Who is it ? 2 It’s cousin Joseph … come for the census 1 Well, invite him in then! 2 Ahh … I’m not sure we should. 1 Why’s that ? 2 He’s got someone with him – a young girl. 1 Oh. Did we know about that ? 2 I’m not sure … and there’s more … 1 Yes ? 2 She looks like she’s expecting a child. 1 So Joseph got married and didn’t tell us, or invite us to the wedding ?! 2 No, he’s not married, and he says the child is not his. 1 Hmm. 2 What shall we do ? (Long pause and muttering that last a few minutes) 1 I suppose we’d better find a place for them to stay. 2 Yes, we should. After all, he’s family. 1 But where can they stay. The guest room wouldn’t be right. 2 No, I agree. What about with the animals ? 1 That sounds like a good idea. 2 But what about the neighbours and cousin Malachi ? 1 It’s a no win situation I’m afraid. 2 No. We can’t be seen to condone their situation … 1 But we can’t just turn them away ….
I know this is reading between the lines, but I’m guessing this is close to what was going on. Added to that – we don’t hear about family coming to visit. The first visitors were shepherds. They ranked very low on the social scale.
And the other visitors – magi (wise men) who came to visit the child probably came some time later, as it describes them coming to see a child, not a baby.
So two unlikely groups to visit the ‘new born king’ – a king who is born not in a palace, but in a humble home among animals.
So here’s the point of this blog post … better late then never. We’re sitting there in H and S’s house, about to have our roast dinner, and we’re reading this story and thinking about it together ….
And there in front of us, in H and S’s living room, is a carved nativity set. Y, One of our Iranian friends had commented earlier, when he saw the Nativity set – Ahh, there are the Iranians …
I did a double take. Iranians ?
In Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 2, we read: 2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men (astrologers) from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?
I know this verse well. Wise men from the East.
But what I hadn’t grasped is that these were most likely Zoroastrian priests from Iran, who had been reading the stars and seeing in them a prophecy about the birth of a new king.
It felt like a precious moment, as we remembered together that Jesus came for all in society, even to those disregarded and ignored by many. And that Jesus came for all nations, shown to us by wise men from Iran, bringing gifts for the infant Jesus.
To be there in that room felt like an enormous privilege. As we met with 21st century Iranian Christians.
What is sobering to realise is that our Iranian friends have come to find refuge in our country, and are, like Joseph and Mary in the Gospel, often not treated with dignity, and find themselves in accommodation that is not suitable, and sometimes waiting years before their case is heard.
We pray for all our friends, and the many thousands in situation like theirs. And we pray for the nation of Iran. For peace, for an end to discrimination, imprisonments and killings. And for religious freedom.
Five Short Words 