Munther Isaac

A cry from the heart and a call to action from a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian In this impassioned and incisive book, Munther Isaac challenges mainstream Christians' uncritical embrace of the modern State of Israel. Speaking from his unique vantage point as a prominent Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian, he proclaims a truth that is rarely acknowledged in Christian circles: Israel's campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people did not begin after October 7, 2023. Rather, the campaign is a continuation of a colonial project with nineteenth-century roots that has, since 1948, established systems of entrenched discrimination and segregation worse than South Africa's apartheid regime. Writing from Bethlehem with close-up knowledge of conditions on the ground, and rooted in a commitment to nonviolence and just peace, Isaac urges readers to recognize that support for Zionism's genocidal project entails a failure to bring a properly Christian theological criticism to bear upon colonialism, racism, and empire. He calls on Christians to repent of their complicity in the destruction of the Palestinian people. And he challenges them to realign their beliefs and actions with Christ--who can be found not among perpetrators of violence, but with victims buried under the rubble of war.

Hvordan ser livet ut for en kristen palestiner som bor i konfliktområdene på Vestbredden? Pastor og teolog Munther Isaac forteller om kampen han står i. Den handler også om å bli hørt og sett av andre kristne. Han tolker situasjonen i lys av Bibelen og spørsmålet: Hvem er din neste? Beretningen er en klagesang, men også en fortelling fylt av håp om rettferdighet og fredelig sameksistens mellom jøder, kristne og muslimer.

Christians have lived in Palestine since the earliest days of the Jesus movement. The Palestinian church predates Islam. Yet Palestinian Christians find themselves marginalized and ostracized. In the heated tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the voices of Palestinian Christians are often unheard and ignored. This book provides an opportunity to hear the realities of life on the ground from a leading Palestinian pastor and theologian. Munther Isaac gives the perspective of Palestinian Christians on the other side of the separation wall surrounding most Palestinian West Bank cities today. Isaac laments the injustices suffered by the Palestinian people but holds out hope for a just peace and ways to befriend and love his Jewish and Muslim neighbors. In contrast to the dominant religious and nationalistic ideologies and agendas for the region, he offers a theology of the land and a vision for a shared land that belongs to God, where there are no second-class citizens of any kind. "This book is my invitation to you," Isaac writes, "to step into the other side of the wall and listen to our stories and perspective. It is my humble request to you to allow me to share how Palestinians experience God, read the Bible, and have been touched and liberated by Jesus—a fellow Bethlehemite who has challenged us to see others as neighbors and love them as ourselves. . . . This book paints a picture of our story of faith, lament, and hope. And I invite you to join and listen, on our side of the wall."

This book contains the most important papers from the second, third, and fourth Christ at the Checkpoint conferences that took place in Bethlehem. The themes of these conferences were: "Hope in the Midst of Conflict" (2012), "Your Kingdom Come" (2014), and "The Gospel in the Face of Religious Extremism" (2016).