Dear Christians, the Palestinians are God's children too / A.J. Hendry

We have become apathetic to their suffering, and in refusing to see the Divine Image in our Palestinian brothers and sisters, we have dulled that very image within ourselves!

Since October 7^th at least 4,137 Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli attacks on the besieged people of Gaza. It is believed that at least 1,524 of these Palestinians are children, and at nearly a 1000 are women. At least 13,000 have been injured.

And the attacks continue.

And the death toll continues to rise.

Since the attacks on Gaza, I have been dismayed – horrified – at the apathy shown by so many of my Christian brothers and sisters.

I write this piece with a heavy heart.

Because the God I know could not be apathetic to the suffering of His Palestinian children.

I struggle because I am dismayed that you cannot see their humanity.

Instead, I hear you protecting their killers! Justifying the war crimes of a Government who have shown utter disregard for human life. And in some cases, even claiming that our god would sanction these genocidal attacks!

I want to be extremally clear.

There is no faithful Christian interpretation of our sacred texts that would justify the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.

4,137 Palestinian people have been murdered.

1,524 Palestinian children, babies, sons, daughters.

Their lives matter.

They matter.

Regardless of what you might think of Hamas, you must see that these civilian deaths are not justifiable!

You’ve told me, many of you, that Israel is just defending themselves, that they are gods chosen people, that this is their land.

Yet, regardless of whether there is any truth to those claims or not, none of that justifies the horrific treatment of the Palestinian people.

For those of us who endeavor to follow The Way of Love which Jesus laid before us, we are called, not to stand with the Powerful, but with the weak, with the oppressed, with the forgotten.

And who has been more forgotten than the Palestinian people?

For 16 years over 2million Palestinians have been trapped in the Gaza strip, refused freedom of movement by Israel, kept in deplorable conditions; many refugees whose land and homes were stolen by the Israeli Government.

When they march peacefully demanding their right to return, they are killed.

When they speak up, demanding justice, they are ignored.

When some Palestinians organize and use brutal violence to be heard, the world condemns them.

I want to be clear here, I believe all life is sacred. I do not rejoice in the death of Israeli civilians; I mourn for the heartache and pain their family’s experience. I hope for the safe return of the hostages.

And I also understand how a group like Hamas might come to be.

And why they might feel the need, after decades of oppression, after 16 years of being locked up, killed and imprisoned indiscriminately, why they may feel that violence is the only voice they have.

The world ignores their suffering…

Until Israeli’s die.

This is a horrific reality.

We are only thinking right now about Palestinians because Israeli lives have been lost.

This does not mean that the murder of those Israeli men, woman and children is ok. What is ok about any of this!

And yet, we cannot close our eyes to the uncomfortable truth. That we in the West have ignored the suffering of Palestinians, been apathetic to their plight, and in some cases defended their oppression.

And for those of us who claim the name of Jesus, what makes this even worse, is that many of us have used our faith to shield Israel from any criticism earned by these atrocities. We have swallowed Israeli propaganda, taught it to our kids, trained them to believe that Palestinian = terrorist. Blinded our eyes to the humanity of the Palestinian people.

And in refusing to see the Divine Image in our Palestinian brothers and sisters, we have dulled that very image within ourselves.

How we respond to what is happening in Gaza right now reflects far more on us, than it does on Hamas, or Israel, or anyone else you want to blame for the horrific reality which is unfolding.

I tell you what.

This image of us, it is ugly.

And it is not new.

We’ve looked like this before. When German Christians stood by in support of the Nazi regime, while Jewish people were shoved into concentration camps and murdered indiscriminately. When American Christians prayed blessings upon the atomic bombs that would decimate the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing 80,000 people. When Western Christian men travelled the world, with a bible and a gun, colonizing the globe, converting those who would kneel, killing those who would not.

This image we wear has a whakapapa.

And it is ugly to behold.

And yet the truth within our faith is this.

Our God is on the side of the oppressed. She calls us to stand with the Palestinian people. She bids us kneel to tend the wounds of those the Powerful have trampled.

She places her feet squarely in Gaza.

Because all life is sacred.

Because the lives of those in Gaza right now, matter.

Because the Palestinian people are God’s children too.

Allah Akbar

A.J. Hendry is a Laidlaw College graduate, and a Youth Development Worker and rangatahi advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads Kick Back, a service supporting rangatahi experiencing homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.