That is the season of renewal.
One yr ends. One other begins.
On the flip of the calendar, it’s customary for columnists like me to make predictions about what might or will not be within the offing or, alternatively, to supply dispirited readers causes for hope amid all of the damage and heartache.
I’ve to confess that, as a author, I’ve at all times been loath to have interaction in both chore. The primary strikes me as a meaningless endeavour since enjoying soothsayer is a silly act of hubris. The second is much more troublesome, notably when the ever-elusive “silver lining” seems to this point past attain that it has disappeared into irrelevance.
This yr, just like the final, will likely be remembered for having to look at – bereft and helpless – as Palestinians proceed to be casualties of a genocide engineered by an apartheid regime seized with an insatiable killing lust and enabled by hypocrites who insist they’re steadfast apostles of human rights and worldwide legislation.
Day after terrible day Palestinians have suffered the merciless penalties of this wretched ruse. The variety of lifeless and injured Palestinians defies perception. The style of their deaths defies perception, too.
Day after terrible day, imprisoned Palestinians on their very own fractured land confront two fates: They may die sudden and violent deaths – victims of Israeli drones, bombs, and snipers. Or they may die sluggish and agonising deaths – victims of hunger, illness, and the chilly and rain.
Hope, on this inhumane context, is a cockeyed fantasy. Or so I believed.
Then, I came across a Christmas sermon delivered by the Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian, Reverend Munther Isaac, to his congregation in Bethlehem.
Reverend Isaac’s 20-minute handle was, directly, a blunt indictment of the architects of genocide and an eloquent attraction to not abandon hope – nonetheless frayed it could be.
As I listened, my thoughts and coronary heart oscillated between perception and disbelief.
I’m not a praying man, so my inclination was to dismiss Reverend Isaac’s entreaties – regardless of their piercing power and his apparent conviction – as being unrealistic, bordering on fantastical.
I used to be sceptical.
As Reverend Isaac’s sermon reached its sanguine crescendo, I had an epiphany. If a bereaved Palestinian can trend a sliver of sunshine regardless of the prevailing darkness, then so can I.
I believe Reverend Isaac’s intent was to guarantee the remainder of us – believers or not – that hope exists and persists; it can’t be extinguished by the purveyors of dying and destruction.
Resistance can take many kinds. Nonetheless, for resistance to succeed it have to be propelled by the hope {that a} future freed from need and oppression isn’t solely attainable, however, as historical past confirms, is inevitable.
So, what did Reverend Isaac say that moved me from glum pessimist to cautious optimist?
He started with this poignant reminder. “Christ,” Reverend Isaac mentioned, “continues to be within the rubble.”
The pastor was alluding to a nativity scene he had erected in his church a yr earlier that includes a new child Christ swaddled in a keffiyeh and engulfed by the particles of Israel’s relentless genocide.
The symbolism is unmistakable. Christ and Palestinians are one. They share the identical circumstances and windfall. Simply as Christ suffered on the vindictive fingers of the potentates who condemned him to dying, so have Palestinians.
“[Donald] Trump mentioned that if the hostages aren’t launched in January, there will likely be ‘hell to pay’. It’s already hell. What’s he speaking about?” Reverend Isaac mentioned. “It’s certainly laborious to consider that one other Christmas has come across us and the genocide has not stopped.”
By all of the grief, loss, and hardship, the humanity of Palestinians remained, Reverend Isaac mentioned, unbroken.
“It has additionally been 440 days of resilience and even magnificence,” he mentioned. “Sure. I consider all of the heroes in Gaza. The medical doctors. The medics. The nurses. The primary responders. The volunteers. Those that sacrifice every part for his or her fellow human beings.”
Reverend Isaac additionally praised lecturers and musicians who train and play music to “convey a smile” to traumatised Palestinian kids within the shattered remnants of Gaza.
“Sure, the loss is big,” Reverend Isaac mentioned. “However we now have not misplaced our religion and our collective humanity. That is the wonder I’m speaking about.”
Reverend Isaac implored every of us to not succumb to resignation, apathy, or despair since “numbness is a betrayal to humanity.”
As an alternative, he mentioned: “We should not relaxation or develop weary. To take action is to not solely abandon the folks of Gaza, however our personal humanity. For this reason we should proceed speaking about Gaza … and the systematic oppression and killing till it stops.”
The complicit “conflict criminals” and their co-conspirators chargeable for the horrors being perpetrated in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Financial institution, “should”, Reverend Isaac mentioned, “be held accountable”.
“Somewhat than met with justice, they’re met with [applause] within the halls of Congress and defended by European parliaments,” he mentioned. “They usually nonetheless dare to lecture us on human rights and worldwide legislation.”
Reverend Isaac is, in fact, proper on each disgraceful counts.
“The genocide will finish sooner or later,” he added. “However historical past will bear in mind the place folks stood. Historical past will bear in mind what they mentioned. They can’t declare that they didn’t know.”
As soon as once more, Reverend Isaac is correct. We’ll bear in mind.
Within the meantime, Reverend Isaac is satisfied that: “From the midst of the rubble, a plant of life will come up, giving the promise of a brand new daybreak. The reassurance of a harvest the place justice and restoration will flourish. And the vine will bear fruit that nurses generations to return.”
It would take laborious work and persistence, however, I agree, the approaching harvest will certainly flourish and the vine of “justice and restoration” will, sooner or later, bear ripe and bountiful fruit.
“Now we have not and won’t lose hope,” Reverend Isaac mentioned. “Sure, it’s 76 years of an ongoing Nakba, however it’s also 76 years of Palestinian sumud [steadfastness], clinging to our rights and the justice of our trigger.”
Reverend Isaac ended his sermon with this admonition born of scripture and borne out in, amongst different locations, South Africa, the place one other racist, apartheid state was in the end vanquished.
“Each Herod will move, each Caesar will fade, for empires have an expiry date … and allow us to do not forget that in keeping with Jesus, it’s the meek, not the highly effective who inherit the land.”
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially replicate Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
