As I write this, the spiral of violence in the Middle East is escalating and threatening to spread: Israel attacks the Iranian embassy compound in Syria, Iran fires drones and missiles into Israel, and Israel threatens a “significant response.” While recently President Biden had been criticizing Israel’s execution of its war on Gaza, he has again reasserted that United States support for Israel is “ironclad.” In the moment of this immediate crisis, President Biden is calling for diplomacy, but U.S. support for Israel continues to come in the form of weapons, instruments of death and destruction.

As citizens of the United States, we live in the belly of the beast, “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world,” as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said almost 60 years ago. That weighs heavily especially now, as we confront, confess, and grieve the heart wrenching reality of our government’s complicity in supplying massive quantities of arms to Israel for its genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza. 

Some have expressed concern that the word ‘genocide’ is provocative. The International Court of Justice, however, has already decreed there is ‘plausible evidence’ of Israel’s genocide. Two U.S. surgeons, just returned from two weeks working at the European Hospital in Gaza, have not hesitated to use the word. It's right there in the title of their recent Common Dreams article (see Breaking the Stories) “As surgeons, we have never seen cruelty like Israel’s genocide in Gaza.” They are equally as forthright in naming U.S culpability in this genocide. And Palestinian Christian partners, for two examples, the Rev. Munther Isaac and the Rev. Mitri Raheb, have no qualms about using the word genocide; they are insisting that Western Christian churches acknowledge and contend with this reality.

What is our response and, more to the point, what is our responsibility as Christians, given our own government’s culpability? The prophet Nathan offers guidance. He goes right to the seat of power and confronts David directly, holding him to account for the violence he engineered and perpetrated. Nathan minces no words: “You are the man.” Provocative? Yes, for sure. That’s the point. Prophets are called to provoke with their truth-telling, called, as John Lewis would say, to cause “good trouble.”

Christians for a Free Palestine, “an ecumenical, grassroots, nonviolent, and volunteer-led movement,” got into some “good trouble” this past week, engaging in confrontation. In the spirit of Jesus overturning tables in Jerusalem’s seat of power, dozens of Christian leaders came to Washington, D.C. and entered the Dirksen Senate Building cafeteria. Amidst the tables there, they called out U.S. complicity in Israel’s genocide and demanded food not bombs. See Crystal McCormack-Silva’s story below for a first-hand account.

The urgency of this moment requires that we confront our own government and say, “You are the one funding Israel’s genocide. No more of this. You are the one who must act to end this violence. You must choose life.” Now is the time for us to deliver this message, using every strategy we can muster: direct action, public witness, advocacy, civil disobedience. This is our responsibility as citizens but especially as Christians. It is incumbent on us to demand our government be faithful to its espoused values of life and liberty for all. This responsibility can seem daunting, perhaps even intimidating.

But as the Rev. Mitri Raheb reminded those gathered for the Christians for a Free Palestine witness, “The forces of death cannot keep Jesus in the tomb.” Mitri’s words were powerful for their content and poignant for the context. Days before, during Holy Week, Israeli air strikes destroyed the Gaza campus of the Dar al-Kalima University he founded and leads, the last of Gaza’s eleven universities to be turned into rubble. (See link to UCC News article in Breaking the Stories.)

“The forces of death cannot keep Jesus in the tomb.” That’s the promise and the truth of the resurrection, isn’t it? The forces of death will not win. Love is irrepressible. It can’t and won’t be contained. As we confront our own government, may the Easter acclamation propel us in our witness and sustain us in our work: Christ is risen. Love wins.