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Priest fights stereotype The prevalent image of Palestinians that most Americans are used to seeing on television news is of rioters and protesters struggling with Israeli soldiers.
of Palestinians
He is an Israeli citizen and Arab
Christian who firmly advocates
interfaith cooperationBy Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.comBut if the cameras caught Palestinian Naim Stifan Ateek's face recently, it was amid a crowd of bishops, patriarchs and others massed at the Bethlehem military checkpoint on a Dec. 31 march for peace and justice.
Ateek is in Hawaii this week with the intention of shedding light -- spiritual as well as informational -- on the sovereignty struggle in his homeland.
He shreds the stereotypes of Palestinians just by introducing himself: Yes, he's Arab, plus ethnically Palestinian, plus a citizen of Israel and a Christian. An Episcopal priest and former pastor in Nazareth and Jerusalem, he is the founder of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem.
The center has planted seeds of ecumenical cooperation among dozens of Christian sects, which spoke in a unified voice urging Israel to relinquish the West Bank and Gaza Strip to allow establishment of a separate Palestinian state. "The first political statement from the heads of churches ... I'm thankful I drafted it," Ateek said.
Since then the church leaders have supported justice for Palestinians, Muslims as well as Christians, peace and reconciliation.
"We affirm the state of Israel," Ateek said yesterday. "Most Muslim Palestinians and Christian Palestinians are willing to live alongside Israel."
Ateek's 1989 book "Justice and Only Justice, a Palestinian Theology of Liberation" is widely used in American university courses about the Middle East and is in its 13th printing.
He said he is well aware that "liberation theology" is a buzz-word linked to Marxist-flavored teaching in South America. "For me the theology has to do with our own context of life ... trying to help my people make the Gospel relevant in their life. If God is the god of justice, and if he is concerned about the poor people of the world as we read in the Bible, then God is not going to stand with people in power who oppress others," said Ateek.
The Sabeel organization offers tourists educational opportunities to balance what is often an emotion-charged visit to biblical sites. To parallel the Via Dolorosa, a path through Jerusalem commemorating Jesus' walk to crucifixion, "we have a contemporary Way of the Cross ... to a demolished home where a Palestinian family tells their story, a destroyed village, a refugee camp, a military checkpoint. There's a liturgy that goes with it, so they pray for the people along the way."
Ateek's Hawaii lecture schedule
Canon Naim Stifan Ateek will lecture at several locations on Oahu, all open to the public:>> Tomorrow: 10:30 a.m. Service at Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave.; 7:30 p.m. Evensong service, St. Andrew's Cathedral, 229 Emma Square.
>> Monday: 7 p.m. Church of the Crossroads, on "The Bible and Zionism" in the annual Umematsu and Yasu Watada Lectures.
>> Wednesday: 6:30 p.m., University of Hawaii Art Auditorium, on "Re-establishing a Sure and Secure Peace in Palestine-Israel."
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calendars and events.
