Paradise Now

The following essay was written in 2008. Given the recent tragedies of the horrific Hamas attack on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent War on Gaza, yielding wide declarations of famine, the reflections on the movie, “Paradise Now,” maybe, worth considering again.

I was born in 1967, the same year the West Bank was occupied by the Israeli army following the Six-Day War. Since then, I have grown up watching the horrific scenes of grief-stricken children, buses torn apart like Christmas wrapping, flags and funerals, hopelessness and hate, all from the safety of my Canadian home. I'm a little surprised how easy it is for me to forget it all each night and fall asleep.

A couple of months ago, 35 souls and I braved some frigid weather to watch Paradise Now, a cinematic vision of the current Palestinian conflict. The director Hany Abu-Assad's picture relates the story of how two young men from Nablus-Sahid and Khaled, prepare to attack Israel as suicide bombers. Their desire to become martyrs is inspired by both religious zeal and the immense frustration caused by the occupation. Sahid is driven by the haunting reality that his father was complicit with the Israelis and was executed by the Palestinians.

Perspective, they say, is everything. If I lived in Tel Aviv and witnessed the terror of a city bus blowing up and killing innocent commuters, I am fairly certain the bomber would not be viewed with much sympathy. If, however, I knew the attacker's family and shared the frustration of the occupation, that same person might very well be viewed as a martyr. Not surprisingly, Assad's characters are a little too human for some critics in Israel and many evangelicals in North America.

I am part of a Christian tradition in which many view modern Israel's existence as nothing less than divinely instituted and a key sign of Christ's return. This has led to certain churches mounting Israeli flags in their sanctuaries, reinstituting ancient Hebrew feasts, and directing popular campaigns to support the Jewish state.

At times, I have been uncomfortable with the seemingly carte blanche support evangelical leadership has given to Israel's military activities and the corresponding demonizing of all Palestinians, whether civilian or militant. Such commitment seems to smack less of piety and more of prophetic self-service. Such folk would do well to listen to the plea of the Hebrew prophets to offer mercy, never mind the words of Jesus to love one's enemies-real or otherwise. Evangelical eschatology does not provide immunity to being blind to truth and failing to call for justice.

We are a long way from Paradise Now.