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Jewish-Christian Ceasefire - Relations Never Better
A. James Rudin
In 1967 the American Christian community was criticized for its lack of support for Israel during those terrible weeks of dread when the publicly threatened Arab invasion of Israel drew closer with each passing day. But in 1973 it was different. This time there was no long period of escalating warlike actions coming from Israel's Arab neighbors. Instead, Egypt and Syria shattered the internationally sanctioned ceasefire by commencing full-scale armed hostilities on Judaism's holiest day, Yom Kippur. Almost immediately many American Christians reacted in shock and outrage. Dr. Robert Campbell, the general secretary of the American Baptist Churches, said: « The attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria as reported by our government and the United Nations observation group was a violation of international law and a threat to the right of Israel to exist as a state. » Some Christians condemned the Arab attack as a « travesty », a « profanation » and a « criminal act of war ».
Following the war's outbreak the American Jewish Committee received hundreds of statements from Christian representatives. The re-sponse was, as Newsday described it, a « groundswell of support for Israel ». This groundswell came from mainline Protestant churches, Roman Catholic leaders, Evangelicals and black churchmen. Thus, the first real difference from 1967 is a quantitative one; the sheer number of public Christian statements is much greater. But there is a significant qualitative difference as well.
In 1973 even those Christians who have long been critical of some aspects of Israeli policy publicly declared that Israel as a state must continue to exist, and that there can be no real Middle East peace settlement without this basic condition. A Toronto Christian statement whose signers included Father Edward A. Synan, President of the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, Father Gregory Baum, Professor at St. Michael's College of the University of Toronto, Alan T. Davies, professor at Victoria College of the University of Toronto, and the Reverend Herbert Richardson, also a professor at St. Michael's College, declared that « Israel can be criticized as any other nation can be criticized, but it is profoundly wrong to oppose Israel because of its Jewish foundations, and to seek to dismantle its Jewish character, as the anti-Zionists invariably desire ».
Dr. Arnold T. Olson, President of the Evangelical Free Church of America, voiced another concern: « . . . this attack lends further credence to Israel's need for defensible borders ». The United States Catholic bishops called for a « comprehensive political settlement » that would include « recognition of the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign state with secure boundaries ». The bishops also made reference to the Palestinians by calling for « recognition of the right of the Palestinian Arabs . . . inclusion of them as partners in any negotiations, acceptance of their right to a state and compensation for past losses . . . by Israel but also by other members of the international community ».
A distinguished Christian leadership group, including many American denominational officials, placed an advertisement in the New York Times that called upon Egypt and Syria to exchange prisoners of war with Israel immediately. It was clear that American churchmen had learned from the Vietnam war how POWs can be used as pawns in peace talks.
The memory of the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany, is indelibly etched into the Jewish psyche, and this fact helps account for the intense Jewish commitment to Israel. Yet the Holocaust has deeply touched some Christians as well. Franklin Sherman, professor at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, said: « . . . the tragedies which the nations of the world have visited upon the Jews throughout the centuries must not be repeated in our time ». And Father Andrew Greeley, Director of the Center for Studies of American Pluralism, declared: « . . . the war puts the Egyptian and Syrian governments in the same class as the Nazis . . . men without any sense of decency, justice or reverence, who will engage in bloody killings for vague political purposes ».
The American Christian response to the Yom Kippur war was especially strong among local and regional church bodies. Many councils of churches and their officers issued separate or joint statements supporting Israel's right to exist in peace, including groups in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington and southern California, as well as local bodies in Detroit, Portland (Oregon), Omaha, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Syracuse, Springfield (Massachusetts) and Long Island. Several Roman Catholic bishops publicly condemned the Arabs on Yom Kippur, and Episcopal and Methodist bishops also supported Israel. John Harris Burt, Episcopal Bishop of Cleveland, spoke at a mass rally in New York City at the height of the war.
While the local reaction was strong and unequivocal, some national and international Christian bodies failed to note any real moral difference between the Arab attackers and the Israeli defenders. These bodies avoided assessing blame for the Yom Kippur attack, and generally called for a « just and stable political settlement » in the Middle East.
The need for direct peace negotiations between the Arab states and Israel was another theme of the Christian response to the 1973 war. A statement endorsed by Catholic and Protestant leaders in Omaha, including Archbishop Daniel E. Sheehan, rejected the Arabs' « stubborn refusal to negotiate a peaceful settlement », and the Nebraska religious leaders urged « an immediate willingness of all parties to meet for an announcement of peace in the area ».
In summary, the American Christian response was extraordinary in its immediate recognition that the very existence of the people and the State of Israel was at stake. That clear perception was especially acute on the local and regional level, where Christian leadership is close to the proverbial man or woman in the church pew. Indeed, a recent Harris poll reports that Americans support Israel in its defense against the Arabs by 68 per cent to 10 per cent. One is hopeful that local Christian leadership will make its feelings and concerns about Israel felt on both the national and international level of church life.
In a time of great peril and anxiety the Jewish people throughout the world welcome Christian support for Israel. The Reverend Otis Moss, Jr., a black Baptist minister from the Cincinnati area, put it most succinctly: « If Israel cannot exist in peace, then no human being is safe anywhere. »
A. James Rudin, a rabbi, is Assistant Director of the Department of Interreligious Affairs, The American Jewish Committee.
Reprinted, with permission, from Worldview, 170 East 64th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021 (U.S.A.).
