c. 2000 Religion News Service

MINNEAPOLIS _ The Rev. Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Lutheran from Bethlehem, said there are signs of hope in his land despite a month of riots and unprecedented shelling by Israeli military forces.

“The education of Palestinian children and youth is a hopeful sign of a nation in the making,” he said.

Raheb, who serves Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem in the West Bank, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan, was in Minneapolis recently to provide another perspective on the plight of Palestinians in the Holy Land.

In September his church opened the Dar Al Kalima Academy, meaning House of the Word. “The media should show not only the painful side, but also the hopeful side of Palestine,” Raheb said.

“What the media shows is bloodshed and rockets,” Raheb said. “But do Americans even see the helicopters?” he asked. “Their taxes have paid for Israel’s Apache helicopters. You know, Apaches are not designed for defense but for attack _ and they are attacking the `little town of Bethlehem.’ How can U.S. Christians see this and keep silent?” Raheb asked.

In an Oct. 12 letter to President Clinton, bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said, “We oppose Israel’s use of U.S. supplied Apache and Cobra helicopters against Palestinian civilians … and ask that the recently approved sales of Blackhawk and Apache helicopters by the United States to Israel be suspended.”

Speaking at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Raheb said his teen-age daughter reported by phone that a friend’s house in the Bethlehem area had been hit by a shell in late October.

The house was “not completely destroyed _ only the front was blown off,” he quoted her as saying. “Their home is only partly smashed, and ironically we take that as positive news because it tells us the family was not injured or killed,” Raheb said.

“The destruction of public facilities and private homes has reached unimaginable levels, especially since Palestine has been in the process of developing its economic infrastructure,” he said. “The new Israeli policy of bombing residential areas in Palestine has caused families to flee their homes in order to save their lives and that of their children.”

While many Christian Palestinians have emigrated, Raheb believes Christians have a special role in Middle East peacemaking.

“Christians are a very important component in the Middle East,” he said. “They are the guardians of pluralism; without them this society would become more exclusive. Christians are committed to education as a tool for peace. Christian values call for tolerance; Christianity in the Middle East is more tolerant that Judaism or Islam.”

Churches have played a role in integrating Christian refugees into the Bethlehem community, which is why Christians do not occupy the refugee camps of the West Bank, Raheb said. Twenty-eight Palestinian families fleeing the war in 1948 actually lived at Christmas Lutheran Church until 1956. Today two-thirds of the congregation is made up of refugees.

“We Christians cannot change the world, but we can put forth signs, set an example. Like the `salt of the earth,’ quantity doesn’t matter,” Raheb said.

(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

The Dar Al Kalima school has initiated trauma counseling for its students and their families. The academy also seeks to be “a place for worldwide encounter,” together with the church’s Wellness Center and International Center, Raheb said.

These projects are dedicated to creating a place for encounter between people from different faiths and backgrounds, strengthening pluralism for the future Palestinian state and realizing peace in the region, he said. They are encouraging communication among educators, theologians, journalists, musicians and artists from Palestine and the rest of the world.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Raheb is a leading Palestinian theologian and the author of “I Am a Palestinian Christian: God and Politics in the Holy Land” (Fortress Press). He is also the managing editor of a journal for religious and heritage studies in the Holy Land.

In his writing and teaching, Raheb describes the experience of the dwindling Christian population in the Palestinian community.

“We are in a transitional period. We have hope for a new generation to build the future,” Raheb said. “Palestine is a nation in the making. We need time and funds and peace to build it. For example, the Israeli communication infrastructure is in place _ we are still putting our systems together,” he said.

“The Palestinian authority is providing leadership for the Christian community. They have kept up good communication with Christians,” he said.

DEA END HAFFTEN