The litmus test of our time
by Rev. Dr. Dorcas Gordon
Between May 28 and 30, Palestinian and Canadian scholars gathered in Ottawa to consider the topic: “Palestine, Settler Colonialism and Western Churches.” CFOS was one of the sponsors, led a workshop on allyship, and participated in the closing panel through our chair, Rula Odeh.
In the opening presentation, Shadia Qubti reimagined the parable of the Sower and the Seeds, drawing our attention to the importance of both rocky and thorny ground for producing healthy olive trees and other vegetation in Palestine. Her interpretation called into question the binary classification of “poor/good soil”, and, in that move, she repositioned Palestinian natural knowledge from the margins to the centre, an important reframing given the erasure of the ecosystem that is the reality on the ground in Gaza. A recent report affirmed that the bombs the Israeli military dropped on Gaza in the past six hundred days is equal to the carbon emissions of one hundred countries.
Olive trees growing on rocky soil in the West Bank.
One presentation pointed to the Zionist claim that Palestine was a land without people, reminding us that the basis for genocide was established long before the formation of the State of Israel. As holocaust denied is an assault on Jewish suffering and identity, so genocide denied is an assault on Palestinian suffering and identity.
Munther Isaac, zooming in from Bethlehem, challenged us with his heartfelt witness and plea for solidarity. He said: “It’s hard for us to continue to talk about the same topic when you never listened to us. The real question is why the western governments and churches have denied the genocide. A genocide normalized is genocide denied. The hypocrisy in all of this continues to shock us.”
Rev. Munther Isaac speaks to a Sabeel Solidarity Pilgrimage in Bethelehem, November 2024.
Other presenters reminded us of the history of the Doctrine of Domination/Discovery, the different types of settler colonialism, Canada’s complicity in providing weapons to the Israeli military as well as the work of CFOS and FOSNA, whose solidarity with the Palestinian people brings Palestinian voices and cries into the consciousness of Christians and others in Canada and United States.
As we listened and responded, one phrase repeated a number of times that has continued to be a major takeaway from the conference: “Gaza/Palestine is the litmus test of our time.” In other words, how we respond to the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank forces us to reflect on what kind of world we want and are willing to work for.
Often referred to as “moral order,” this refers to a system of beliefs, values and norms that guide behaviour. It includes religious beliefs and structures, political systems, economic theory, as well as cultural and social patterns – in other words, all areas of our common life.
Gaza in particular has removed the scales from our eyes. As we, day by day, see and hear the cries of those dying in Gaza, we can no longer pretend that our so-called moral order supports the fullness of life for all. Our integrity as Christians, as human beings, demands that we cry out for the children of Gaza and all children, women, and men around the world whom we see in the suffering faces of our Gazan sisters and brothers.