By Rick DelVecchio
Catholic San Francisco

Arab Christians are uniquely placed to moderate tensions in Israeli society and advance peace and justice despite the lack of progress toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Nadia Hilou, Israel’s first female Arab Christian national legislator, told a conference Oct. 4.

Nadia Hilou cns photo/debbie hill

”We wish to become an ever-more courageous voice of moderation” amid the complexities and turbulence of Israeli society, Hilou said in a speech to the annual meeting of the Holy Land Education Committee of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Northwest Lieutenancy.

Hilou was on a panel with Msgr. Robert L. Stern, secretary general of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a papal humanitarian and pastoral support organization. The event was held at the Claremont Hotel and Resort in Oakland.

”We all know the final solution is two states or two nations but neither side knows the formula how to achieve it,” said Hilou, who comes from a Palestinian Catholic family that remained in Jaffa when Israel was established 60 years ago. “The tension affects our daily lives and influences the relationship between Arabs and Jews in Israel. Equal rights will be the most important issue, and the desire to achieve this in a conflict situation is getting harder.”

The leadership needed for a political solution is not in place, Hilou said, citing the weakness of the Israeli government, the uncertainty and weakness of the Palestinian Authority government on the West Bank and the fact that Hamas controls the Gaza Strip.

Amid these conditions Arab Christians in Israel are focusing on easing the harm done by both sides and working toward the full integration of Arab citizens, she said.

”Our goal is building the bridge of peace and understanding in the Middle East,” said Hilou, who was sworn in as a Labor Party member of the Israeli Knesset in 2006. “We can be a force at the crossroads between war and peace.”

Arab Christians are a tiny minority in Israel, numbering only 146,000. Three-fourths live in Galilee in Northern Israel. Christian numbers in Israel are dwindling because of emigration and a declining birthrate.

Hilou, 55, a social worker whose legislative work has focused on women and families, said Arab Christians have contributed to positive change in Israel despite their small numbers in relation to the Jewish and Muslim populations and despite a history of unequal opportunity.

Without the work of Christian communities, she said, “Perhaps the situation would be worse.”

Hilou outlined an ambitious agenda for Arab Christians, focusing on economic and social justice. Arab Christians are developing schools and cultural institutions, a TV network and a research park in Galilee to provide skilled jobs and counter flight from the country. There is much promise in Arab Christians’ involvement in Christian tourism to the Holy Land, she said.

In closing, Hilou said Arab Christians in Israel are in need of international support.
”I am personally convinced our community will not be able to fulfill its mission without the support of Western Christianity,” she said. “The Arab Christian light needs to shine forth and accomplish its mission. Broader recognition of it is important. We humbly admit to feeling so isolated, so neglected and forgotten, so unimportant to the Christian world generally.”

Msgr. Stern urged Christians looking in from outside on the Israeli-Palestinian struggle not to be distracted by the drama but to understand what motivates each side.

”I think the first step in peacemaking is understanding people,” he said.

“Besides standing in another person’s shoes, you’ve got to communicate, get in touch. Don’t be charmed to death by the extravagant Arab politeness and cordiality because it might not be, deep down inside, as cordial as it seems. Don’t be put off by the bluntness of Israelis and take that for arrogance, because it isn’t that, either.”
After communication, the next step in peacemaking is pardoning, Msgr. Stern said.

”One of the things we seem to forget sometimes is mercy,” he said. “Mercy means abstaining from demanding what’s your just right. You have to moderate revenge, justice, retaliation.

”Pardoning,” he said, “is an act of generosity. If we have a conflict and we don’t forgive we are holding the other person under a constant cloud of accusation and retaliation. Ultimately this whole idea of peacemaking involves love.”
Msgr. Stern said the responsibility of the wider Christian community is to raise consciousness about the reality of the Middle East.

”What do you do? I don’t know, you have to figure it out,” he said. “It may be something small like getting to know people you don’t normally talk to. Don’t be bashful to act. The Holy Father is asking you to be involved. I think it’s horrendous that we so shy away from articulating principles related to justice and peace.”

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