Recently I Met Some Palestinian Christians........
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Dear Pastors
Recently I met some Palestinian Christians……….
………and I was deeply moved by their stories and impacted by their lives. Within minutes of meeting them I knew I had some new brothers and sisters in Christ. Honestly - beautiful and remarkable people. Evangelical Christians from Arab descent…..wow theses people do exist. It has also motivated me to read some more about the Israeli and Palestinian conflict especially from Palestinian writers and statements made about the conflict from highly reputable Christian Organisations. See links below. It maybe helpful for you to know that I have ‘more or less’ held a Christian Zionist understanding for much of my Christian life.
Can a Christian Affirm Both Israel and Palestine?
The war in Gaza and the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict has created a situation where strong views have been expressed by Christian and non-Christians alike. Most Christian views I have read are from a Christian Zionist position where many Christians have come to believe that Israel can do no wrong regardless whether it commits war crimes or not. Some Christians feel compelled to stand unequivocally with Israel; others believe the church must stand unequivocally with the Palestinians.
But I have come to believe there is another way.
Can a Christian affirm Israel's right to exist while also affirming Palestinian rights? Can we acknowledge Israel's security concerns while confronting injustice experienced by Palestinians? Can we condemn Hamas's attacks on civilians while refusing to regard all Palestinians as responsible for Hamas?
I believe the answer is YES.
A Christian can affirm simultaneously that:
Israelis have a legitimate historical and national identity.
Palestinians have a legitimate historical and national identity.
Israelis have a right to security.
Palestinians have a right to freedom and dignity.
Jewish history must not be erased.
Palestinian history must not be erased.
Hamas's deliberate attacks on civilians are wrong.
Injustice toward Palestinian civilians is wrong.
Antisemitism is wrong.
Anti-Arab racism is wrong.
I now believe that holding these convictions together does not require a Christian to abandon the Bible or to pick one side.
Israel matters in the biblical story
Christians cannot simply dismiss the Jewish people's profound historical and biblical connection with the land. The Old Testament contains repeated promises concerning Abraham and his descendants, and the story of Israel runs throughout Scripture.
Paul's discussion of Israel in Romans 9–11 also makes it difficult to argue that God has simply abandoned the Jewish people.
Nor should Christians forget the devastating history of Jewish persecution, culminating in the Holocaust. The desire of Jewish people for a homeland in which they could live securely did not emerge from nowhere. It arose within a long history of antisemitism, persecution and displacement.
For Christians, therefore, antisemitism should be unequivocally rejected.
But affirming Israel's right to exist does not require Christians to approve every action of every Israel’s government.
A government is not identical to a people.
Palestinians matter too
The biblical concern for justice and human dignity does not stop at the boundaries of Israel.
Palestinians have their own history of displacement, dispossession, occupation, refugeehood and suffering. Their desire for freedom, dignity and national self-determination cannot simply be dismissed either.
The Bible repeatedly commands God's people to pursue justice and defend the vulnerable. Jesus' command to love our neighbour does not contain an ethnic exemption.
Christians should therefore be able to acknowledge Palestinian suffering without being accused of being anti-Israel.
Equally, acknowledging Palestinian suffering does not require Christians to deny Israel's history or legitimate security concerns.
A genuinely Christian response should therefore ask a more difficult question: How can both peoples live with security, dignity and freedom?
Condemning Hamas does not mean condemning Palestinians
Christians should be able to say plainly that deliberately attacking civilians and taking hostages is wrong.
It is very important to note that Hamas does not represent every Palestinian – far from it, just as the Israeli government does not represent every Israeli.
This distinction really matters in my mind.
A Palestinian child is not responsible for Hamas.
An Israeli child is not responsible for the decisions of the Israeli government.
Christian ethics begins with the recognition that every human being bears the image of God.
What about New Zealand Christians?
This matters for us here in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We live thousands of kilometres from the Middle East, yet our churches are not immune from the polarisation surrounding this conflict. Christians can find themselves pressured to adopt a particular position simply because it is associated with their theological tradition, political convictions or social media community.
That should make us pause.
The church should be a place where difficult questions can be discussed without caricaturing those who disagree.
A Christian who supports Israel should not automatically be labelled uncaring toward Palestinians.
A Christian who advocates for Palestinian rights should not automatically be labelled anti-Israel or antisemitic.
And Christians should be particularly careful about importing the political divisions of America or the Middle East into the life of the New Zealand church.
Our first allegiance is not to a political party, government or national movement.
It is to Christ.
We need a different Christian conversation
Perhaps the greatest danger is allowing our theology to become merely a religious justification for our pre-existing political loyalties.
We should be able to say:
I care about the Jewish people without hating Palestinians.
I care about Palestinian suffering without becoming anti-Israel.
I oppose Hamas without abandoning Palestinian rights.
I support Israel's security without endorsing every Israeli policy.
I reject antisemitism and anti-Arab racism equally.
That is not theological weakness or wokeness. It may actually be theological maturity.
Jesus calls his followers to love their enemies, pray for those who persecute them, pursue justice, show mercy and become peacemakers.
That is an extraordinarily demanding standard.
Perhaps the church in New Zealand needs to rediscover the courage to say "both" when the world demands that we choose "either/or."
We can stand against antisemitism and stand against injustice toward Palestinians.
We can acknowledge Israel's historical and biblical significance and affirm Palestinian dignity and national aspirations.
We can condemn Hamas's terrorism and challenge actions that cause unjustifiable suffering to Palestinian civilians.
We can pray for Israel and pray for Palestinians.
And we can refuse to turn either people into caricatures.
The Christian hope is not ultimately for Israeli victory over Palestinians, nor Palestinian victory over Israelis. It is for reconciliation — for peoples who have experienced generations of fear, grief and injustice to find a way to live together in peace.
That may seem impossibly idealistic.
But Christians are not called simply to repeat the fears, grievances and divisions of the age.
We are called to be people of truth, justice, mercy and reconciliation.
Perhaps the most Christian response to Israel and Palestine is therefore not to ask, "Whose side am I on?"
It is to ask:
"How can I faithfully seek the good of both peoples while remaining faithful to Christ?"
That is a harder question.
But perhaps it is also the more biblical one.
Blessings
Alan
Sources
Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice - https://www.bipj.org/about
https://baptist.nz/statement-concerning-gaza-israel-the-west-bank-and-east-jerusalem/
OFF THE HIP: Family First published it’s ‘Value Your Vote’ booklet this week. It covers the usual social and moral questions from a socially conservative position. In that respect it is a useful guide. However, I think that the guide would be considerably more useful if it were complemented by a second set of questions covering economics, taxation, health, education, Treaty relationships, government spending, foreign affairs and environmental stewardship. Good Government is about addressing all these issues in a consistent and effective way so that ALL New Zealanders can flourish.
