U.S. Christian Leader’s Delegation to Gaza Border and West Bank

There are moments in our lives when the wisdom of the body tells us what our mind has missed, undervalued, or even denied….and how strategy or policy must change. One such moment arose in August 2024 when 12 U.S. Christian leaders led by a Christian Palestinian guide embarked on a just peace delegation rooted in the traditional Christian practice of accompaniment. This delegation visited families and organizations in Israel working to release the hostages, as well as families and organizations in the West Bank facing harassment and attacks.

The small Bedouin community in Uum Jamal (south of Bet Shean) has faced increased attacks by teenage and young adult Israeli settlers this past week as well as the very morning of the day we visited them later in the afternoon, Aug. 16th. The people were beaten physically and women sexually harassed. The settlers were bearing clubs, sticks, and other weapons who acted with impunity, given recent policy shifts in Israel granting settlers more control in the occupied territory. The anxiety, fear, injustice, and sick inhumanity of the situation crystallized in the bodies of the children…to the point of vomiting.

Heartbreakingly, the community had decided to evacuate from the valley. Even while trying to evacuate, the village still faced the settler attacks. The Christian delegation stayed with the community for a period of time, hearing their stories and struggle. The delegation also experienced intimidation by Israeli soldiers who told us to leave “so the settlers don’t get upset.” We then engaged in rapid advocacy with the U.S. State Department and U.S. Embassy to exert pressure on the Israeli government to stop the settler violence. The latest update was the settler violence at Uum Jamal subsided, though only enough that it has allowed the Bedouins to be forced from their homes.

On August 18th, the delegation joined an Interfaith Prayer Service with Rabbis for Human Rights and a Muslim sheikh at the Ancient Maon Synagogue near Gaza, about 1 km from Khan Younis. As we prayed and sang with passion and tears, piercing bombs were heard pounding the ground, and an air siren went off. The participants laid flat on the ground with hands over their heads before finishing their prayer.

The delegation then engaged in a powerful, disruptive, and prayerful nonviolent action near a military zone at the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. The action disrupted the normalization of violence and dehumanization. The 12 U.S. and 3 Palestinian leaders appealing for a just peace through song, prayer, scripture, kneeling, and signs were confronted by Israeli authority at the crossing with the wall to Gaza in the background as trucks carrying tanks came in and out of the lot. Soldiers in jeeps drove in and around us as a show of intimidation.

Members of Christians for Ceasefire in the U.S. and Palestinian Christian partners, such as Sabeel, were participating in a just peace delegation in Palestine from August 13-19, 2024. Sabeel is an Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center focused on justice, inclusivity, and nonviolence. There was a direct invitation from Christian leaders in Palestine to be with those under attack.

Committed to the dignity of all people, the Christian delegation seeks a just and lasting peace for everyone. This includes, at minimum, a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all political prisoners and hostages, and an end to the Israeli occupation.

This just peace delegation (itinerary) of solidarity and accompaniment met with key religious leaders, families of Palestinian prisoners, and Palestinians under threat, as well as visiting the organization supporting families of Israeli hostages and meeting with Israeli peace organizers. We also packed food for truck shipments into Gaza. We sought to offer some forms of nonviolent protective presence in the West Bank. The delegation also aimed to help expose human rights violations, while strengthening and encouraging U.S. Christian advocacy for a just peace.

In addition to tens of thousands of people killed since the horrific attack of Oct. 7th and the near daily attacks in the West Bank; Palestinian prisoners face ongoing abuse, torture, trauma, and even death. The U.S. policy and influence on the situation is inadequate at best and enabling at worst, even as President Biden and Vice President Harris have finally shifted to call for a permanent ceasefire.

We must shift our strategy and policy to have more leverage on the key actors, such as the Israeli government. It is clear that U.S. provision of ongoing military weapons is one of the most critical points of leverage in this dynamic. Even when President Biden tried to ‘pause’ shipments of a few bombs, there was major public pushback from the Israeli government. To exert the necessary leverage, as a first step the U.S., particularly my representative Glenn Ivy and Senator Chris Van Hollen, should clearly condition military aid on securing a permanent ceasefire. This is not a rebuke of the principle of defense for Israel, Palestinians, or others. Rather, this is centering how we defend, how we engage conflict, and more importantly how we are more likely to generate lasting security, justice, and peace for all the people of the region.

The children are vomiting because of the sickness of our inhumanity.

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Eli S. McCarthy, Ph.D. is a professor at Georgetown University in theology as well as justice and peace studies. He is also a Just Peace Fellow at the Franciscan Action Network.