PEACE
AND FAITH: Christian Churches and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, composed
of new essays, is the first collection to bring together writers from different
faith communities to discuss the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement’s
impact on one of the more fractious topics addressed by Christian
denominations: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In so doing, it builds on interfaith projects under way for decades. Theology and politics intermingle in debates taking place in local churches, Christian NGOs, and national church meetings
that define official policy. The debates revive and reframe the most basic
values of Christianity and the questions church members seek to resolve: How do Christians today hew to the principles Jesus articulated? How can justice be pursued in the context of competing national narratives and historical
understandings? What bearing do or should centuries of Christian violence
against Jews and Muslims have on contemporary theology and ethics? Is it
ethical, or even possible, to set aside millennia of Christian anti-Semitism in judging Israel’s conduct? What Christian values should be honored in pursuing
Jesus’s mission of reconciliation today? How may the pursuit of truth be corrupted by passionate social witness? Can advocacy cross the line into hatred?
These are among the critical questions this collection poses and attempts to address.
