CONVERSATIONS: Another Man from Galilee

Elias Chacour is a man of peace. In 1947, Zionist soldiers duped him and his family out of their Galilean homes in the newly formed Israeli state; nevertheless, Chacour has demonstrated a Christlike attitude toward his "enemies" by making his life work the reconciliation of hostile parties. It is no wonder that he has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Chacour is also a man of action. Committed to restoring justice for the oppressed, he founded Prophet Elias Technological High School and College for students of all religious and ethnic backgrounds. When plans for the high school were frozen in Israeli bureaucracy, Chacour took a detour to get the job done: on a visit to the U.S., he knocked on the door of then Secretary of State Jim Baker. Susan Baker, the secretary's wife, warmly welcomed him into the house but said she couldn't visit for long. She was making preparations for a women's Bible study she was about to host.

When he discovered they were going to study the Sermon on the Mount, Chacour asked Mrs. Baker, "How can you understand that? It wasn't written for the American mentality, but in our language."

She invited Chacour to speak about the passage with her study group, turning a short visit into a two-hour Bible exposition, and a friendship was born. Ultimately, the Bakers personally intervened with the Israeli government, which issued the building permit for Chacour's school.

His life story has been told in "Blood Brothers" (Chosen Books, 1984), which has been translated into 22 languages. CHRISTIANITY TODAY had the chance to speak with Chacour about peace in the Middle East, the future of Palestinian Christians in the region, and how he works for the welfare of both Arabs and Jews.

WHERE DOES THE MIDEAST PEACE PROCESS STAND IN LIGHT OF THE ASSASSINATION OF YITZHAK RABIN?

What is tragic about the assassination of Rabin is that the climate in Israel was so hostile beforehand that the prime minister was "killed" far before he was shot down. Jewish extremists were not just saying "Death to the Arabs" in response to the peace treaty with Arafat; they were saying "Death to Rabin," calling him a traitor and a murderer. The climate was ready for some crazy, very hot-headed Jew to massacre this man.

We Palestinian Christians were shocked more than anybody else. But what shocks us even more than the death of Rabin is the prevailing climate now in Israel of hostility, accusations, and verbal assault. It's very, very dangerous. If there were to be a fair international trial for the Rabin assassination, many would be judged as guilty because they prepared the assassin to kill this prime minister.

WAS IT HARD FOR YOU TO ACCEPT RABIN AS A MAN OF PEACE GIVEN HIS PAST AS A WARRIOR WHO FOUGHT AGAINST ARABS?
No matter what he once was, what matters for me is this: for what did he die? He did not die while giving orders to kill and massacre and break the bones of the Arabs. He died because he dared to change attitudes and actions, and he wanted to bring peace with the Palestinians. And that's extremely courageous. History, I think, will forgive him for everything that he has done and will remember that Rabin died for peace.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YASSAR ARAFAT? HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR HIS TRANSFORMATION?
Arafat understood that unless big concessions were made by the Palestinians--geographic concessions--and unless there were an acceptance of Israel by the Palestinians, there would only be despair. After having tried all kinds of terror on both sides, all kinds of violence, both Arafat and Rabin realized that either they live together or they will have to die together. So with Rabin, Arafat will also be known in history as one who had the courage to initiate peace.

DO YOU THINK THAT PALESTINIAN SELF-RULE IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA WILL BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THE PEACE IN THAT AREA?
The current situation is not at all what the Western world expected. Westerners said, "Wait till Arafat comes, and you will see Palestinians massacring each other. They will kill each other; none of them will be safe." But the Palestinians did not kill each other. On the contrary, the Palestinians seem to be more and more united. It is the Jews, unfortunately, not the Palestinians, who killed each other over peace. Rabin is not the first victim of the peace process.

YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED ALL KINDS OF INDIGNITIES IN YOUR LIFE AS A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN LIVING IN ISRAEL. HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR ANGER FROM ESCALATING INTO HATRED AND HOSTILITY?
Simply because I'm a Christian. And I'm a Christian who believes in Jesus Christ in a certain way. There are so many Christians who believe in violence and are even encouraging the Israelis to act violently. The initial funding that was given to Israel to invade Lebanon in 1982 is said to have been given by Christians from the West, from America. I'm not that kind of Christian.

WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN ARE YOU?
I believe that being a follower of Jesus Christ means you cannot kill. I have been the victim of violence by Israeli Jews, and I've told them that, time after time, but I don't want them to blame me for being equally as violent. My upbringing in a simple Christian family of Galilee has taught me something that's so simple: Never meet violence with violence; corruption will corrupt. Palestinians must do everything possible to change the situation without ever reversing the roles. We do not want to become the persecutors of our persecutors.

YOU HAVE A STRONG EMPHASIS IN YOUR FAITH AND PRACTICE ON THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS, ESPECIALLY THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT AND THE BEATITUDES.
In my family we were always told that Christ did not teach us to sit and wait until justice happens. Look at the original texts of the Beatitudes: "Blessed" is Tovahoun in Hebrew, Ashrei in Aramaic. And neither of these words means only blessed or happy. The meaning of these words is to straighten yourself up so that you can reach the goal.

So, first of all, you need to define your goal. Is it righteousness and justice? Then ask how eager you are to work for the goal. For what do you hunger and thirst? Is it the same hunger and thirst of a Rwandan who would do everything to have a piece of bread to survive? Or the same hunger and thirst of a Palestinian in Gaza who would do everything to have a job to buy bread for his wife and his children? Or is it a kind of spiritual hunger that does not stir you to do anything? If you are really hungry and thirsty, you would do everything to bring justice where there is no justice.

IS A PEACEMAKER SOMEBODY WHO STANDS BETWEEN TWO HOSTILE GROUPS, OR WHO TAKES SIDES ON BEHALF OF ONE SIDE?
No, a peacemaker doesn't stand between. It's clear-cut: it means taking the side of the oppressed, underprivileged, and persecuted without becoming one-sided against the persecutor and the oppressor. If you really want to help the oppressed, since he is always at the mercy of his oppressor, you have to care for both--convert the oppressor and uplift the oppressed. And that's the difficult task; to stand in between might bring a cease-fire but not peace.

HOW EXTENSIVELY IS THE PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY COMMITTED TO PEACE?
We've witnessed very, very little violence from the Christian community. Sometimes it seems there is too much passivity. But we are trying to find more ways to understand, to dialogue, to bridge the gap that exists. We are almost labeled a people who forgive and forget.

This is what we can contribute to this conflict between Muslims and Israelis--forgiveness rather than turning the page until I can settle accounts. Forgive and forget: this is the condition for reconciliation.

I think the term "two states for the two nations" started with Christian Palestinians: that two states should exist--one for Palestinians, one for Israelis--side by side but independent politically and geographically. To become viable, they need also to be interdependent. But the common element between them needs to cease being military power and start being a pursuit of common interests.

HOW HAS THE RISE OF ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM PUT STRESS ON RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS?
It has created more stress for Muslims who are not fundamentalist than for Christians. For example, the third-largest Arab city in Israel was run by secular Muslims. Then the Islamic fundamentalist movement caught on, with an emphasis on Islamic Jihad, and the Hamas extremist group slowly became very strong there. They won the election in that town.

And the first thing they did was to separate the schools, separate boys from girls, and to go back to the way things were 30, 40 years before. And the crisis in that city became so strong they don't know what to do with it. So they are hurting themselves with fanaticism. It's exactly the same thing when it's Christian fanaticism. Christians in Galilee are not afraid of Islamic fanaticism alone but afraid of fanaticism no matter from where it comes.

IS THERE CHRISTIAN FANATICISM WITHIN THE PALESTINIAN COMMUNITY?
No. But the Christian fanaticism from the West is affecting us so much. Take Christians here in the United States who are more Zionist than many Jews. These Christians in the West who come to Israel to encourage Zionism refuse even to have any contact with the local Christians in the area.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO CHRISTIANS WHO, FOR THEOLOGICAL REASONS, ARE STRONGLY SUPPORTIVE OF A JEWISH ISRAELI STATE BUT SEEM TO HAVE LITTLE REGARD FOR PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS?
I would divide them into two groups: those who are willing to consider the other side of the story--we can dialogue with them--and those who dismiss the other side. There's nothing to do but to pray for them.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WHO ASK, "WHAT CAN WE DO TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF OUR PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS?"
I always tell them: So far you have been the friends of the Jews. God bless you. Continue to give your friendship to the Jews, but stop interpreting that friendship as automatic enmity with the Palestinians you never knew. And if you freely love the Jews, it's time to care for the Palestinians so that the Jews, Muslims, and Christians can live at peace with each other.

If one of your sons has an enemy and you know that he is in danger, what should you do? Should you just support your son's hate toward his enemy? No. If you are intelligent and have the power, you should try to bridge the gap between them--so that he becomes the friend of his enemy, and his enemy comes to appreciate him.

We prefer not to exist in your media than to exist in the way you have portrayed us. Portray us as we are--a people who have lost their country, their freedom, who are paying the bill for what others have done against the Jews, and who are not happy because of that. When our children are born, I assure you none are born with swords in their hands, none of them. And that's very important for Westerners to understand.

INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE IS A HOT TOPIC TODAY. I KNOW THAT YOU'VE BEEN ACTIVE IN PROMOTING BETTER UNDERSTANDING AMONG CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS, AND JEWS. WHAT'S YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
I consider the best way to make rapprochement is to give all sides a chance to live together. We don't dialogue enough about how to live together or how to share things together. For example, in my school, 54 percent of the students are Muslims. I teach Christianity to Christians, and I hire a Muslim to teach Islam to the Muslims. But whenever we have Christian celebrations, Muslims also participate.

IS YOUR OBJECTIVE MERELY TO BRING ABOUT BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE BETWEEN THESE DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS BODIES?
No, much more. My objective is to help our Christians to become more authentically Christian. We have to show our Muslim neighbors that we are not the descendants of the Crusaders but the descendants of Jesus Christ, eager to help them know who Jesus Christ is.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF CALL OR CONVICTION ABOUT INVITING MUSLIMS OR JEWS TO FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST?
We don't invite them to faith. We invite them to share what we do. And we invite them to understand. It's illegal to proselytize in Israel. But even if it weren't illegal, we wouldn't proselytize. But if a Muslim would come to me and say, "Could you teach me about Christ?" I would never say no.

For example, two young people wanted to get married. The man was Muslim and the woman was Christian. He came to me and said, "I want to marry this woman but I can't because I'm a Muslim. Can you baptize me so I can marry her?" I said, "No, I can't impose baptism on you just so you can get married. I can bless your marriage without you becoming Christian. You stay Muslim as you are; I respect you as you are."

I celebrated their wedding. After their honeymoon, they came back, and the man told me, "You respected me so deeply. I know that would never happen in any Muslim society. I want you to tell me about Christ." And for over six months, once a week, he and his wife came to my place for teaching about the Christian faith. After this period he asked to be baptized, and I did baptize him.

YOU EMPHASIZE JESUS AS THE ONE WHO BREAKS DOWN THE DIVIDING WALL OF HOSTILITY BETWEEN PEOPLES. CAN THERE BE GENUINE PEACE BETWEEN ALIENATED PEOPLES UNLESS THEY BOTH ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS AS LORD?
Absolutely. We cannot wait until Israel and the Arab countries become Christians to make peace. They are making peace as Muslims and Jews without our Christian contribution. Are nations which are not Christian able to make peace between themselves? Surely they are. And as proof to that, they are living together in a peaceful coexistence. But if we speak about communion in Christ and the peace that that generates, that's something else, something much deeper.

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