Is Praying for Peace in the Middle East Enough?

Quick to Listen

Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2021

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For the past two weeks, the world has had its eyes on the violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Each day, new headlines emerge of Hamas launching rockets from Gaza and Israel bombing the strip in return. More than 200 Palestinians and a dozen Israelis have died in the attacks. But before the aggression escalated into direct action, tensions had been simmering for weeks. Thirteen Palestinian families from a neighborhood in a disputed area of East Jersualem were facing potential eviction. Many Israeli families have already moved into this neighborhood. Israeli settlements on land Palestinians believe to be theirs has consistently been a wider source of grievance between the two communities.Then, two weeks ago, police raided the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during Ramadan. The third-holiest site in Islam is also located on the same land as the Temple Mount, a location sacred to Jews. After 11 days of fighting, a cease-fire has been announced, which will likely halt the rockets and shelling for now. But it’s unlikely to heal the long term rifts between the communities. What’s more: hundreds of people now grieve loved ones, including more than 50 children, who were killed in the past two weeks. Salim Munayer is the executive director and founder of Musalaha Ministry of Reconciliation, which has been bringing Israelis and Palestinians together since 1990. Munayer is a Palestinian-Israeli who received his PhD from the Oxford Center of Mission Studies in the UK and has published several books on reconciliation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Christians in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He is also the peace and reconciliation network coordinator for Middle East and North Africa for the World Evangelical Alliance. Munayer joined global media manager Morgan Lee and executive editor Ted Olsen on Quick to Listen to discuss the roots of the violence, the role and responsibility of American Christians in this crisis, and what the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis can teach us about the racial division in the church. What is Quick to Listen? Read more Rate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen Learn more about our guest’s organization: Musalaha Music by Sweeps Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder The transcript is edited by Bunmi Ishola Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.1	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion. Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.
0:27.1	For the past two weeks, the world has had its eyes on the violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Each day, new headlines emerge of Hamas launching rockets from Gaza, Israel bombing
0:33.6	the strip in return. More than 200 Palestinians and a dozen Israelis have died in the
0:39.0	attacks. Before the aggression escalated into direct action, tensions had been simmering for weeks.
0:45.6	13 Palestinian families from a neighborhood in a disputed area of East Jerusalem were facing
0:50.5	potential eviction. Many Israeli families have already moved into this neighborhood.
0:56.4	Israeli settlements on land Palestinians believe to be theirs has consistently been a wider source
1:01.0	of grievance between the two communities. Then, two weeks ago, police raided the Alaksa
1:06.7	Mosque in Jerusalem during Ramadan. The third holiest site in Islam is also located on the same
1:12.1	land as the Temple Mount, location sacred to choose. After 11 days of fighting, a ceasefire has been
1:18.9	announced, which will likely help the rockets and shelling for now. But it's unlikely to heal the
1:24.1	long-term rifts between the communities. What's more, hundreds of people now
1:28.1	agree with loved ones, including more than 50 children, were killed in the past two weeks.
1:33.6	This week, I'm quick to listen. We're going to talk to someone very close to the ground,
1:37.5	whom we believe can help us better understand what's going on over there. And more importantly,
1:42.3	help us grasp how we should view and act on these
1:45.0	issues as Christians. You are listening to Quick to Listen, where we go beyond hashtags and
1:53.2	hot takes, discuss a major cultural event. I'm Morgan Lee, Global Media Manager at Christianity Today.
1:59.4	And I'm Ted Olson. I'm the executive editor of Christianity today.
2:15.6	All right, Ted, this is quite a topic to do a gut check on.
2:21.8	Never lost we all endeavor.
	...

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