Palestinian Evangelicals in Confrontation with Christian Zionism

Christian volunteers harvest grapes for the Israeli family-run Tura Winery, in vineyards located in the Har Bracha settlement in the occupied West Bank, on Sept. 23, 2020. The Evangelist Christian non-profit organization HaYovel has provided 1,800 volunteers in the past 12 years to help Jewish settlers, with the aim of fulfilling the prophetic restoration of the Land of Israel, believing that the road to redemption passes through the vineyards of Samaria. (PHOTO BY MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

A FEW MILESTONES in my personal life have led to my confrontation with Zionist Christianity. I was born in Jerusalem and grew up in the embrace of conservative evangelical missionary churches. I’ve always been active in my evangelical church, where I learned about God's love and salvation for me and the whole world, and the principles of love for neighbor and enemy as well as the command to seek peace, justice and goodness for all.

When I graduated from high school, I decided to attend a Bible College in Switzerland to prepare for service in the church in Palestine. During my theological studies in Europe, I noticed that my fellow students and teachers believed that the land of Palestine was promised by God to the Jewish people. I also learned that my colleagues and their teachers were convinced that believers in Christ should contribute to the realization of these biblical prophecies, which relate to the second coming of Christ, by supporting the State of Israel.

During my second year of college, the 1967 war between Israel and the Arabs, called the Six-Day War, broke out. I was shocked to learn that the students in my college received news of Israel’s victory over Egypt, Jordan and Syria with joy and cheers while another student from Syria and I were afraid for our families, loved ones, churches, institutions and our countries. Now our homelands, in full or in part, were under the control of the Israeli army. This incident, and the reactions I observed, were the beginning of my confrontation with what is today called Christian Zionism.

When I finished school in Europe and tried to return to my occupied homeland, the Israeli authorities denied my right to return to Bethlehem, where my family lived at the time. I felt like a "man without a country." The Swiss authorities asked me to leave their territory and the Israeli authorities prevented me from entering my homeland. But when those doors shut, a door for me to travel to the United States opened, and I enrolled at Lee University in Cleveland, TN.

I soon realized that the teachings of Zionism had spread to most evangelical churches and a good number of non-evangelical churches in the U.S. Over time, these teachings spread from houses of worship and lecture halls of colleges to become a formidable political force. Christian Zionists even played a role in the election of Donald Trump as president and the transfer of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Arabs and the Palestinians have not only lost the balance of power militarily, but they have lost the hearts of evangelical Christians—most of whom adhere to the following Zionist beliefs:

1. The contemporary State of Israel is an extension of biblical Israel.

2. The promises of God in the Old Testament concerning the land—Palestine—are now being fulfilled in the State of Israel.

3. God interfered in the 1948 war and the 1967 war in favor of the State of Israel in miraculous ways.

4. The nation that provides support to Israel will be blessed by God, and punishment will fall on the states and nations that oppose Israel.

5. The Christian Zionist support for the State of Israel must not be conditioned on the Jewish people’s faith in Christ or by the moral conduct of the Israeli people or by the way they treat Palestinians.

6. Many Jews will believe in Christ at the time of the second coming of Christ, but many of them will be killed during the Great Tribulation.

7. Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are fundamental obstacles to the way of the fulfillment of prophecies because of their adherence to the right of Palestinians to remain on the land of the promise (Palestine).

When a Palestinian evangelical rejects these teachings, he or she soon realizes that they are at odds with leadership. Palestinian Christians understand that the mother church is suffering from a serious theological disease and he or she must expose this epidemic and provide the appropriate vaccine, which is a serious study of the word of God. This is indeed what happened to me and to several of my colleagues at Bethlehem Bible College and its branch in Galilee, Nazareth Evangelical College.

Our confrontations with Christian Zionism were triggered by daily events in the West Bank and Gaza, such as the confiscation of Palestinian land, the construction of segregated Jewish settlements, the demolition of Palestinian homes, the construction of the separation wall, the humiliation of young men and women and the imprisonment of two million people in the Gaza Strip. As Palestinians, we could not but reflect on the injustices, the killing and looting that was going on around us, and mourn the fact that our Zionist Christian brothers and sisters were at the forefront of the people who supported the oppressors.

The number of evangelical Christians around the world who embrace the Zionist ideology has mushroomed in the United States, Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea. When some Christian Zionists visit Palestine, they have shown open hostility to Palestinian brothers and sisters. For example, at a ceremony in Bethlehem, an American Christian Zionist woman relayed that the Lord had given the promised land to the Jews and that Palestinian Christians should leave for Jordan or other Arab countries, but if they refused, the Lord would pour on them the same curses that would be poured on the Muslims living in Palestine. Christian Zionists work overtime to prevent Palestinian Christians from sharing their stories and perspectives with those who want to hear them.

Fortunately, a growing number of Palestinian evangelical leaders in the West Bank and Israel, as well as other denominational leaders and organizations, have invested time and effort in defending the church against the teachings of Christian Zionism. These include Anglican Canon Naim Ateek and the Sabeel Center in Jerusalem, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Catholic Patriarch Emeritus Michael Sabah, Lutheran Bishop Munib Yunan and Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb. Bethlehem Bible College fully supported the Kairos Palestine Document.

In addition, international experts on Christian Zionism such as Dr. Colin Chapman, Dr. Gary Burge, Rev. Dr. Donald Wagner, Rev. Dr. Stephen Sizer, Dr. Mark Braverman and other intellectuals have come to stand in solidarity with Palestinians. These scholars helped us, through their valuable writings, to understand the history of the Christian Zionist movement.

In 2010, Bethlehem Bible College and the Nazareth Evangelical College held an international conference entitled “Christ at the Checkpoint.” Hundreds of evangelical, non-evangelical and Christian Zionists came to Bethlehem to attend the conference. The main goal of the conference was to give Christians the opportunity to witness the current occupation, the walls, confiscation of land, the settlements, all other injustices, and then open the Bible and ask the question, “What does the Word of God say about these things?”

The Christ at the Checkpoint conference angered some high-ranking Israeli officials and newspapers, which accused the conference and its leaders of anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, the conference continues every two years and between the conferences, the leaders and faculty in Bethlehem and Nazareth continue to challenge Christian Zionism in Palestine, Israel and around the world.

We have found that we can agree on so much, including our belief that God does not favor one people or race over another and that God’s kingdom is not in a geographic locality. True peace between Palestinians and Israelis is possible and depends on both sides seeking justice and co-existence rather than the use of violence to deprive the legitimate rights of the other.

Confronting the goliath of Christian Zionism is not easy, but Palestinian evangelicals will meet the challenge as we call on all evangelicals to reexamine the claims of Christian Zionism. Left unchallenged, Christian Zionism will continue to do harm not only to Palestinians and the church in Palestine but also to the church and the mission of Christ all over the world.

Rev. Dr. Alex Awad is a retired United Methodist Missionary. He and his wife, Brenda, served in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem for more than 25 years. Rev. Awad served as pastor of East Jerusalem Baptist Church, dean of students at Bethlehem Bible College, and director of the Shepherd Society. Awad has written two books, Through the Eyes of the Victims and Palestinian Memories. Rev. Awad is a member of the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP).