The Story goes like this:

The Creator began to author an epic Story in which He was the Main Character.  Because it pleased Him, He began to speak existence into being: light, dark, land, water, fruits, vegetables, dogs, the rest of the animal kingdom, then cats…

Then, the Creator did something He had never done before: He entered into the created order.  Genesis 2 offers a picture of Him on His hands and knees, playing in the dirt.  As He played, He lovingly fashioned the form of a human being and then breathed His breath into him.

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Last year (2010), 3.45 million people traveled to Israel from all over the world.

69% of global tourists were Christian.
19% (645,000) of global tourists were from The United States. 

The most popular tour in Israel is called “The Gospel Trail” and includes the streets of Nazareth, the ruins of Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee (by foot, bike, car, or sailboat), the Church of Transfiguration, the antiquities of Migdal, and the Church on the Mount of Beatitudes.  For those who make their way south to Jerusalem, their pilgrimage would include the amphitheater on the Mount of Olives, the chapel at the Garden of Gethsemane, one or all of the four churches where various traditions say Jesus ascended from, and the Church of the Holy Seplechure where various traditions say Jesus was crucified.  For those who dare make their way into the West Bank, their only stop will be the Church of Nativity where various traditions say Jesus was born.

For an American Christian to “walk where Jesus walked” is a remarkable experience through an expertly designed and well manicured route guided by Israeli or, sparingly, Palestinian guides who are on the payroll of Israel’s Department of Tourism.

Tourism is a BIG deal to Israel.  As of 2010, Israel ranked only 49th of 222 in global exporting.  They export $54.31 billion (USD).  3.45 million tourists per year translates into billions of dollars.

I didn’t see this as problematic until I met a woman from Oklahoma.

Three friends and I were taking our lunch in a Druze restaurant in the Galilee.  We ate in a large restaurant that was already quite full with a coach bus of American tourists from Oklahoma.  I observed them interact with each other and with the staff of the the restaurant.  They did nothing out of the ordinary for American tourists, but yet, from a distance, I willed them to be gracious and generous with those who served them.  I know that American Christians have a reputation as being rude and horribly stingy and imagined that this carried over to American Christian tourists as well.

After a delicious meal of falafel and kabobs, I washed up and began to make my way through the crowded room.  Simultaneously, an Oklahoman woman stood and began her own journey to the door.  We arrived at the door at the same moment.

“Delicious Druze falafel wouldn’t you agree?” I asked, followed by “How are you?”

“What is Druze falafel?” she asked, obviously confused.

“The Druze are the people that live here.” I answered.  “I think they have the best falafel!  I’m Jeremy.”  I stuck out my hand to shake hers.

“Deborah.” she responding taking my hand.

“A pleasure to meet you.  So, where have you guys been?” I inquired.

Her answer mirrored the path of “The Gospel Trail” that they had toured for the past 12 days and continued with how beautiful this place was and how grateful she was to have gotten the opportunity to “walk where Jesus walked.”

“Where have ya’ll been?” she reciprocated.

“Jerusalem, the West Bank, Ramallah, and Hebron.  We just arrived to the Galilee this afternoon.”

Eyes wide, she asked, “What were you doing in the West Bank?”

“Building friendships and listening to stories.” I responded.  “We’re not so much a tourist group as a learning community.  We’re focusing our work on conflict resolution and peace-building.”

What she said next will fuel my work with the American Church in regards to our ignorance and apathy toward what is actually happening on the ground in Israel & Palestine for years to come.

“Oh my!” she began.  “Isn’t it something how these two people groups live in such peace with one another?”

How is it possible that a group of American tourists could spend twelve days in Israel and describe the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians as “peaceful”?

It is quite easy, actually.  By focusing the tours on where Jesus “walked” the tourists are conveniently routed around and away from where Jesus would most certainly “walk” today.  By leveraging the tourists’ intoxication with the the ancient narrative, the tour guides hardly have to give mention to the contemporary narrative.  Tourism caters to the American Christian Zionist paradigm which blindly celebrates and supports Israel as an ethnic state by showing the tourists that their dollars are being well spent: Israel is thriving as a Jewish state!  Tourism in Israel accomplishes two objectives: it generates cash and it disseminates propaganda.

What do I mean by propaganda?  645,000 Americans returning home and narrating their experience of Israel with: “Isn’t it something how these two people groups live in such peace with one another?”

Dheishe left me wondering where the church was.  Here we were, in the very city where God put on flesh to make Himself tangibly known to humanity.  As we made our way from Dheishe to the Church of the Nativity, I wondered if, like 2000 years ago, there was no room for Jesus here.  Where was God today?

The ancient monstrosity that is the Church of the Nativity accompanied by the long train of tour buses carrying Christians to the site added significant weight to my struggle.  Here was the church: we were tourists intoxicated by a desire to see where God incarnated once upon a time.  The church was so fixated on the ancient narrative that we were blind to the contemporary one.

“God, incarnate again through people!” I prayed as I called my friend who lives in Bethlehem.  Deciding not to enter Nativity, I chose, instead, to sip coffee with her and to meet some of her friends.

“How’s your head?” was her opening question.

Silence was my response as I watched tour guides compete for the attention of tour group after tour group.

Slowly, I began to articulate the messy, complicated couple of days that I had just lived.  As I began to speak of the injustices of Dheishe, my friend’s phone rang.  She answered, looked directly behind me and started laughing.  I turned to see a young Palestinian man on his phone speaking emphatically to Christy.  His name was Sa’id.  He had been eavesdropping on our conversation and wanted to know if he could sit in our circle.

“Please!” I said, longing to develop friendships and to sort through both my internal mess and the mess of this place.

As Sa’id pulled his chair next to mine, I asked him to tell me his story.  He began by pulling a green ID card from his pocket.  It was the Israeli issued, Palestinian ID card.

“This,” he began, “gives me permission to feel free to stay right where I am.”

He pretended to tear it and then pretended to throw it.

“I hate this thing!” he said through gritted teeth.  “I would destroy it if I could, but I cannot.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because if ever I am found without it by Israeli defenders, they will send me to prison.”

“Where was your family from?” I asked.

“Tekoa.” he said.  “Once it was my family’s land.  Now it is a Settlement.”

“How did that happen?”

“What do you mean, ‘How did that happen?'” he spat.  “They came in with government papers and took it.”

“Was there a fight?”

Two tongue clicks communicated much: there had been no fight.  What could they have done against the guns, tanks, and bulldozers of the Israelis?

Changing the subject, I asked, “Did you know that one of the prophets from my Scriptures came from Tekoa?”

“Amos!” he replied with pride.

“Do you know what God said to Israel through Amos?” I asked.

“Tell me.” He leaned in, obviously interested.

“Amos was a shepherd whom God invited to share God’s heart with Israel’s leaders.” I began.  “He started by speaking of all of Israel’s enemies, identifying all that Israel’s enemies had done to them, and explaining what God would do to the enemies of Israel…Israel celebrated the words of Amos.”

Sa’id interrupted: “I do not like this man, Amos.”

“There’s more to the story.” I said, taking a sip of my Arabic coffee.  “As Israel’s leaders celebrated, Amos had one more thing to say: ‘Israel, you are guilty of the same kinds of injustice against your enemies…you will reap what you sow.'”

Silence.

Sa’id broke the silence: “I like this man Amos.  He encourages Israel to be pro-people.”

“I like Amos too.” I said, “but I like his pro-people God even more.”

In that moment, some of my internal mess dissipated.  If the church is God’s ongoing presence in the unique soil of the here and now, then our role is to be pro-people activists.  Our work is to be the practitioners who make the compassion and justice of God real and who encourage others to do the same.  Our work is to make the thoughts, words, and actions of Jesus real in the everyday.

In that moment, I also recognized that to be pro-Israel means that we encourage them to be pro-people.  That is, we must push Israel into just practices with the Palestinian.

Within five minutes of conversation with an Israeli Jew, you will discover how many family members she lost in the Holocaust.  I did not hear a number lower than 70%.  Unimaginable stories of horrific loss and/or miraculous escape or survival are ingrained in the national psyche of the Israeli people.  Informed by the stories of their grandparents and great grandparents, they live with societal PTSD.

Within five minutes of conversation with a Palestinian, you will learn how many of her family members have been or are currently political prisoners in Israeli detention camps.  Today, there are 12,000 Palestinians in such camps.  Further, you will hear stories of the village that was once hers, past livelihoods that are no more, life in occupied territory, and how many times she, personally, has been held at gun point by Israeli troopers.  Informed by their own stories, the Palestinian people live with societal PTSD.

For the Israeli Jew, the story of their people begins not in Genesis, but in the death camps of WWII. 

For the Palestinian, the story begins not in ancient times, but in 1948.

The Israeli national slogan is “Never Again!”

The Palestinian national slogan is “Your Holocaust created our Catastrophe!”

The Palestinian cannot touch the pain of the Israeli Jew because, if she does, she fears her validation will cause the Jews to justify their acts of injustice against her people.

The Israeli Jew cannot touch the pain of the Palestinian because, if she does, she fears that the Palestinian will either hold her to just practices or take advantage of her lowered defenses.

The Jew and the Palestinian are locked in a Vicious Dance which keeps them focused on the past.