News & stories Israel and Lebanon workers reflect on Middle East issues Workers in Israel and Lebanon, associated with Eastern Mennonite Missions and Mennonite Mission Network, are both spending time in the Lancaster area this summer, sorrowfully following reports of the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and Hezbollah rocket strikes on Israel. Both families, who asked to remain anonymous due to ongoing security concerns, face the possibility that their ministries could be compromised or even terminated. The Lebanon worker commented, “Many innocent people are struggling because of Hezbollah and because of Israel.” He had been looking forward to an unusually smooth time in the U.S. this summer, but said, “In just one week, our lives here have been radically shifted.” While the workers in both countries condemned the violence on both sides of the conflict, and expressed visible concern for friends, family members, and strangers at risk from the hostilities, workers in Israel said they have seen this before. One Jerusalem worker said residents in and around the Gaza Strip are separated from the range of the rockets currently being used by Hezbollah. However, tensions between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Hamas group continue to escalate. If suicide bombings begin again, the worker said no one in the region is safe. Despite the danger, the workers in Israel plan to return and those assigned to Lebanon hope they too may be allowed to resume their work, if any of it remains after the bombing stops. Some workers also expressed concern that tourism to Nazareth Village, in northern Israel, which witnesses by showing visitors a slice of Jesus’ first-century life, would disappear. A Lebanon worker said hope had begun to return to the land after the end of a 15-year civil war, which ceased in 1990. The Lebanese had begun to be introspective about that war, reflecting on its causes and beginning to heal. There had been hope that adversaries could work together in peace. That hope has now crumbled. A worker from Israel commented that the voices of Christians in the region, especially pacifist Christians, are not being heard locally or globally. Most outsiders see the conflict as simply Muslims versus Jews. But Christians in this region are often ignored by the United States; at the practical level, U.S. Christians don’t even seem to realize they exist, though Christians constitute about one-third of the population. Christians, he continued, must move past the common response of only supporting Israel or only hating Israel. A Lebanon worker said, “If we take Christ as our bottom line ethically, violence is never justified. It doesn’t lead anywhere. It just spirals downward.” Many Lebanese Christians do seek to follow Jesus in their lives and reflect critically on the use of violence. Lebanese Christians, as well as many Muslims, have no desire to return to civil war. Yet, the Lebanese have been unable to resolve the question of Hezbollah, and Christianity has been hijacked as a political cultural identity, not a religious one. The message of pacifism is not seen as a solution in Middle Eastern conflicts, by Christians or Muslims. This is also true in Israel, where only a small percentage of the population is Christian. There is no unified Christian voice for peace due to disagreements over the Zionist movement. The workers asked for prayer for the region and for the lives and ministries at risk due to the continuing attacks. -adapted from an article by Ryan Miller, Mennonite Mission Network Back to news and stories