Abstract
“For Palestinian Christians, liberation theology is anchored in Jesus Christ as liberator. Indeed, Palestinian liberation theology is a Christ-centered theology that focuses directly on the Palestine–Israel conflict” (44). Naim Ateek, a Palestinian Anglican priest, knows from long experience the reality of Israeli occupation and the attempts at ethnic cleansing. In the introduction, he recalls the forced relocation of his family and others from his home village, Beisan, close to the Jordan with Muslims who were moved to Jordan and Christians to Nazareth as homeless refugees. Palestinians call this the Nakba (catastrophe), the 1947 UN partition of Palestine with 55 percent going to Israel (although a clear minority) and 45 percent to Palestinians with the corresponding attempt by Israel to eliminate homes, ethnic identity, and even faith. It should give us pause to recognize that the Palestinian people include all the ancient tribes that inhabited Canaan from time immemorial, a “multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural society” (16). Israel’s invasion of Canaan was a relatively late phenomenon and raises the question of who owns the land. “The land is mine,” says God, and “with me you are but aliens and tenants” (Lev 25:23).
How does Israel justify its claims biblically? A. offers two key chapters, one on the development of religious thought in the Old Testament (chap. 6) and the other on Christ as the hermeneutical key (chap. 7). The Hebrew Scriptures contain an irreconcilable tension between “texts of terror” (Phyllis Trible), as in the utter annihilation of the Amalekites (1 Sam 15) which reflects a primitive view of a tribal god that shouldn’t be taken literally, and the more inclusive view of Ezekiel in which the land is meant to be shared equitably by all regardless of ethnic background (60–62; cf. Ezek 47:21–23). A. offers many more texts, but the above illustrates that the hermeneutical key to Scripture is a God of love and life. Or, as Vatican II affirms, the word of God in Scripture intends to communicate all those truths, and only those truths, that are necessary for human salvation. That is, the Bible is primarily a religious document that expresses a developing religious consciousness. A. concludes this chapter with the message of Jonah as a theological climax that images God as inclusive as opposed to exclusive.
Turning to Christ as the hermeneutical key, in my view a distinction should be made between Jesus in his historical mission to renew and revitalize Israel’s covenant relation with God and Christ as risen who transcends all religions, including Christianity. Jesus’ interpretation of Torah to include both love of God and neighbor is of course central. In this Jesus touches on the deepest core of the Jewish tradition. However, the question arises as to whether A. thinks Jesus reinterprets or replaces the tradition of Israel. He cites a few texts from the Synoptics to show Jesus’ inclusivity, but it is Paul and John that receive the emphasis and in each case he veers toward supersessionism. A. thinks that Paul, through the lens of Christ, has taken a “diametrically opposite view” (98) of God’s intention for the Jews at the consummation of history. Many commentators today, however, see Paul as affirming that Jews should remain Jews and Gentiles remain Gentiles so that both together will worship God on his holy mountain at the end (Isa. 66). In the treatment of John, indicative is A’s. objection to liturgical texts that continue to refer to Israel as called to be God’s people or that God led the children of Israel out of bondage and to the land of promise (100–1, n. 7). On the other hand, many affirm today that the covenant with Israel has never been revoked (Rom. 9–11).
This criticism notwithstanding, A’s. emphasis on dialogue that is ecumenical and interreligious, based on the type of nonviolent resistance characteristic of Martin Luther King, Jr., is valid and necessary for Palestine today. “The intention of this book is to provide an understanding of Palestinian liberation theology that will challenge readers to active participation in the work of justice, peace, and reconciliation” (7). A. ends with resources for active participation, especially Sabeel (“the way” or “a spring of living water”) which has developed organizations throughout the world in solidarity with Palestine. I recommend this book as a witness counter to the dominant propaganda filtered to us by the US government.