We found Father Ibrahim at St. Philips Church, right next to the
mosque. Beside the Church is the school run by the church for both
Christian and Moslem children. Whilst we settle into our conversation
with him, a child is brought in, who sits on his knee and whispers in
his ear. He explains that she has just come from America this week and
speaks only English. He has to be enlisted to find out what she needs.
Father Ibrahim is the minister for the Anglican churches in Nablus,
the old church, here at St. Philips and the new church in Rafidiya,
the Church of the Good Shepherd.
St. Philips, the Anglican Church, was established in 1876. The
Christian presence in Nablus goes back centuries. The school is older
than the church, having been established in 1848 .Originally the
school had twenty-one pupils, three Jewish children, five Samaritans,
five Moslems and eight Christians. The last Jewish family left Nablus
in 1939.
Father Ibrahim explains that Arab Jews were victims of Zionism as well as Palestinians. He tells us about the poet Sasson Somekh from
Baghdad, who at 75 years old now lives in Tel Aviv. He is a foremost
scholar, teacher and writer on Arabic literature. Somekh wrote
“Baghdad, Yesterday: The making of an Arab Jew”, originally published
in Hebrew in 2003. In it he describes the tragedy of Iraqi Jews,
uprooted from the culture they were familiar with, and to a large
extent thrived in, to become, in many cases, second class citizens
within Israel.
Father Ibrahim speaks of the wisdom of Solomon and the two mothers who
claim the one son. Solomon suggests that the child be cut in half and
the true mother, preferring to give up her child than to see him
cruelly butchered, bows to the false mother. “Palestine is small like
that baby,” says Father Ibrahim. But who, I wonder, is the true mother
who will give up the child in order to save its life. “Just read the
bible,” he says. “Take out the limits put on our thinking by Zionism
and find a comprehensive solution”.
Father Ibrahim quotes liberally from the bible. As he warms to his
theme, he lays out his compelling vision with eloquence and charisma.
In fact, at one point, he moves me so much that tears begin to form in
my eyes and he gently and quietly pushes a box of tissues towards me.
For him there can only be the so-called “one state” solution. “We have
five major problems” he says, “Settlements, Borders, Water, Refugees
and Jerusalem – with one state, all these problems disappear. Settlers
become neighbours, borders are settled, water is for everyone,
refugees can live where they like and Jerusalem will be for all the
people.” But it is easy to say, more difficult to achieve this.
“It is a big challenge,” he says. Fundamentalists on both sides will
not join him, he knows, but with education, he believes they can take
the first steps in the journey of a thousand miles.
He thinks a two state solution will not work in the long term. All
through his exposition, he stresses the word “harmony”, harmony with
each other, harmony with nature, harmony with the way of God. “You can
move the course of a river by force” he says, “but sooner or later
your force will weaken and the river will return.” There are no
natural borders within the whole land of Palestine and Israel – he
likens it to the river – “If you go against nature and against God,
you cannot sustain it”.
“What people have to learn here,” he says, “is the beauty of
diversity. When you use more colours, the picture is more beautiful.”
He wants people here to learn to respect, understand and even enjoy
each other. He wants to build bridges, not walls and checkpoints. He
is convinced that two states will mean two enemy states.
The Christian community in Nablus consists of about 700 people divided
between four denominations, Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Episcopal and
Malakite. Most of the Christians live in the suburb of Rafidiya. He
stresses that it is not just Palestine that Christians are leaving,
but many Arab countries. Father Ibrahim talks of the stupid invasion
of Iraq by Bush and his allies and how this worsened the plight of
Christians in Arab countries.
But he is at pains to stress that the idea that Islam is driving
Christians away is completely false. “Christians in Arab countries are
Arabs; they have an Arab mentality, a mentality they share with Moslem
neighbours. We live in harmony with Islam.” He himself has studied
Islam and Islamic culture. No, he stresses again, it is first and
foremost the occupation which is driving people away. The occupation
has resulted in massive unemployment, lack of opportunity, lack of
safety and security.
He also points out that although pilgrims from all religions are free
to go to their holy places, the only people who are prevented from
doing so are Arab Christians. They cannot go to the Jordan River, to
Nazareth, to Jerusalem and even Bethlehem is difficult because the
journey takes so much longer now, due to the wall. Last Easter he
obtained permission to go for one week to Jerusalem, but because it
coincided with the Jewish festival of Pesach, all borders were closed
and he was unable to use his permit. The Israeli media trumpeted
Israel’s generosity in allowing Christians to visit Jerusalem, but
failed to mention the impossibility of fulfilling the mission.
Two elderly women from his community wanted to make pilgrimage to
Nazareth. He worked hard to get permission for them. First off, he
could only get permission for one day, which was insufficient. He
argued for two days, and eventually the Israelis relented. They gave
him two days. But when it came to it, these were two consecutive days,
but without the night in between. It became impossible to go. The
headlines in Israeli newspapers said that permission had been granted
for Christians to go to Nazareth, but the priest refused to take them.
Another thing Father Ibrahim is sad about is the extent to which his
people believe that the west is a paradise for Christians. He wants to
convince them that if they work hard here they can also thrive. “This
is our holy place” he says, “we need to be here.” He believes the
occupation will not last forever. “We can make the future with our own
hands, but we need to stay together, and in harmony with our
neighbours.” People will not find paradise anywhere else, he believes;
they need to make it here.
Meeting Father Ibrahim was an enriching experience. He manages to
maintain a critical and harsh analysis of Israel’s behaviour and role
in the conflict. Yet he combines this with a deep love and trust that
people can live in peace and harmony, and learn to appreciate each
other and the diversity contained within this region. He will have his
detractors, but his determination to keep his community together and
to spread the message of love to everyone around him is
indefatigable.
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