Pre-Work
This week we will be looking at Christian Zionism. In class, we will watch the second part of the series of AJ+ series on Palestinian Christians and Christian Zionists. It will be helpful if you watch the first part linked below. If you want to learn more, feel free to check out the extension articles.
Required: Video (12 Min)
Why Are Palestinian Christians Leaving Jesus’ Birthplace? | AJ+
Palestinian Christians have been disappearing from the Holy Land for decades, even though this region is where Christianity began. So what’s going on? Dena Takruri goes to Bethlehem to ask the Palestinian Christians who remain.
- 1:35 Why have so many Christians left Bethlehem?
- 2:21 How Israel’s occupation affects Christians
- 5:53 What the West gets wrong about the Holy Land
- 7:17 This Christian family is fighting Israel to keep their land
- 11:18 A pastor’s prayer to end the occupation
Extension: Book Chapter
The Christian Lobby Supporting Settler Colonization in Palestine (2023)
Chapter 2 of Decolonizing Palestine by Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb
I argue that Christian Zionism should be defined as a Christian lobby that supports the Jewish settler colonialism of Palestinian land by using biblical/theological constructs within a metanarrative while taking glocal considerations into account. (Raheb, 2023.)
Chapter 2 of Rev. Dr. Raheb’s book explores the Christian lobby that supports the setter colonization of Palestine. The chapter is split into 3 parts, Christian Zionists and the Brittish Empire, Liberal Christian Zionism and the Holocaust, and Christian Zionism among the American Right.
Extended Exerpt
Christian Zionism: Redefined
The phenomenon of Christian Zionism comes in many shapes and manifestations. It is deeply rooted in evangelical circles, and it is present in mainline churches as well as in liberal theology. It had its roots in Europe, branched out to North America, and is today widespread in the Global South. For this reason, there is a dire need today for a new approach to and definition of Christian Zionism that encompasses the wide range of its manifestations. Therefore, I argue that Christian Zionism should be defined as a Christian lobby that supports the Jewish settler colonialism of Palestinian land by using biblical/theological constructs within a metanarrative while taking glocal considerations into account. This definition is less focused on the biblical discourse of Christian Zionists, which can vary considerably from literalists to post-Holocaust theologians, from very conservative to liberal. In fact, the biblical/theological rationale espoused by the majority of Christian Zionists is vague and based on a few varied verses from the Bible. The emphasis of my proposed definition is on the lobbying aspect of Christian Zionism: not on what people believe but what they do based on that belief. It is naïve to think that a few biblical passages power Christian Zionism.
The Christian Zionist narrative is always embedded within a metanarrative so that those who espouse it do not see themselves as engaged in pure political lobbying, but rather as agents of a grand plan from which they read and interpret both scripture and history. Alongside the metanarrative, Christian Zionists are always connected to “glocal” issues and considerations, thereby combining their ideas with struggles and fears in specific contexts. This combination is what makes Christian Zionism so dangerous. While they lobby for “Israel,” they are actually lobbying for other issues that are important to their specific context.
Finally, Christian Zionist support for the Jewish colonial settler has less to do with “head knowledge” than with “heart knowledge.” [1] As such, it cannot be fought by a biblical or theological counterargument from rational reasoning. The metanarrative changes, depending on time and place, and glocal considerations vary depending on the context. Christian Zionists have in common an emotional attachment to the Zionist settler colonial project in Palestine. In this approach, the hermeneutical key to understanding Christian Zionism is not so much the biblical or theological interpretive moves, but rather the lobbying action in support of a settler colonialist movement. In this chapter, I will apply this new definition of Christian Zionism to three different manifestations of Christian Zionism within three different contexts that have had major implications on the situation in Palestine.
[1] As an example, see Aron Engberg, “‘A Fool for Christ:’ Sense-Making and Negotiation of Identity in the Life Story of a Christian Soldier,” in Comprehending Christian Zionism: Perspectives in Comparison, ed. Goran Gunner and Robert O. Smith (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014), 33–59.
(Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Decolonizing Palestine: Chapter 2. 2023)