Cracks in the Wall

By Erin Hancock, former WSCF-US National Organizer

Our third day in the West Bank felt like an entire week packed into 12 hours. The day began with a 45-minute bus ride from where we were staying in East Jerusalem to Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, where we would be meeting with Palestinian Christian theologian and pastor, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb. We were fortunate on this day to be joined by Omar, the director of the grassroots Palestinian liberation theology movement, Sabeel, that was hosting us and had organized our trip. Omar never missed the opportunity for a teaching moment or a clever joke (and we learned that there was often a lesson contained within his humor), so as soon as we were all seated on the bus to Bethlehem, Omar hopped on the bus’s intercom and asked our group to raise our hands if we identified as Christian Zionists. We all laughed as Omar continued the bit, reassuring us it was a safe space for any of us who wanted to raise our hands. Eventually Omar went on to talk about settler colonialism, Christian Zionism, Jewish Zionism, and the ways in which each of these ideologies are intertwined in the logics and machinations of the Israeli state. Always steps ahead of us, Omar was laying the foundation for our upcoming conversation with Dr. Raheb as well as what we would be witnessing later during our visit to the South Hebron Hills and the Old City of Hebron.

When we arrived at Dar Al-Kalima University, Dr. Raheb greeted us with a warm smile and tiny cups of Arabic coffee. We all gathered around a conference table as Dr. Raheb invited us to go around the room and introduce ourselves. Many of us were already familiar with Dr. Raheb either from reading his books or hearing him speak at our own seminaries or universities in the states. Almost as if it had been coordinated, Dr. Raheb picked up right where Omar had left off in our conversation on the bus, speaking about the four major challenges facing Palestine:
1) settler colonialism, 2) the Israelization of the world, 3) the Zionization of theology, and 4) the militarization of the region and the world. It would have been impossible to speak about these challenges without talking about the role the U.S. has played in each of them. Notably, just days before we left the states to travel to Palestine, Renee Good was murdered by ICE agents in Minneapolis. In response, Vice President JD Vance claimed that ICE was “protected by absolute immunity,” a phrase, Dr. Raheb informed us, that was borrowed from Israel. Not only is ICE being trained to use the Israeli military’s tactics of terrorism, they are also following their example of how to evade consequences for their own violations of the law.

Dr. Raheb ended our time together by offering a few signs of hope as well as a call to action. The first sign of hope is that settler colonialism is failing. That is why Israel opted for a genocide in Gaza, as a desperate and strategic attempt to continue toward the goal of ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their land. Second, global Palestine is on the rise, particularly throughout countries that have suffered under settler colonialism, but also more broadly. For example, the watermelon has become an international symbol of solidarity with Palestine. More and more films centering the voices of Palestinians are being produced and viewed across the world. In my own circles, it’s rare to attend a social gathering where there isn’t at least one person wearing a keffiyeh. And yet, with this hope, there is a responsibility, particularly for those of us from the U.S. Again, harkening back to our conversation with Omar on the bus, Dr. Raheb remarked that as U.S. citizens, we are each, by default, cultural Zionists. I couldn’t help feeling some shame and discomfort when he said this. Should I have raised my hand on the bus after all? What began as a joke - which, in hindsight, was likely intended to stir up some feelings of discomfort - had become one of the main takeaways of our time together that morning. The reality is that Zionism - similar to racism, sexism, ableism, etc. - is built into the fabric of our everyday lives in the U.S. It is our responsibility to recognize and disrupt it, whether it is in our politics, our theologies, or where we spend our money. Palestine will be free. In the words of Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, “There are cracks in the wall, and it is our job to keep chiseling away to let the light in.

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The WSCF-US group at Dar al-Kalima University.