Pat Taub
This Christmas season prominent religious leaders like Pope Francis and Rev. Munther Isaac, Palestinian pastor in Bethlehem, call on us to put into practice the parable of the Good Samaritan, as it applies to Gaza.
In a show of compassion for Gaza, the Pope’s nativity scene shows Baby Jesus with a Palestinian keffiyeh.
Rev. Isaac’s church, for the second year in a row, displays “Christ in the rubble.”
Rev. Isaac upholds the Bible’s story of the Good Samaritan told in the Gospel of Luke where a traveler (implicitly understood to be Jewish) is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. A Jewish priest and then a Levite come by, both avoiding the man. A Samaritan happens upon him and, though Samaritans and Jews were generally antagonistic toward each other, helps him.
The Biblical lesson, according to Isaac is: “Everybody is a neighbor. You don’t draw a circle and determine who’s in and who’s out. It’s clear, the Palestinians are outside of the circle. We’ve been saying it—human rights don’t apply to us, not even compassion.”
Isaac criticizes our religious institutions for instructing their followers to “pray for peace,” while failing to take sides. He insists that peace-making means taking sides to support the oppressed, preaching that God stood for injustice and compassion for all, not for a select few.
Munther Isaac preaching his sermon, “Christ in the Rubble”
Isaac blames our inherent racism for our moral failure to stand up for Gaza compared to our tendency to show compassion to those who look like us. I’m reminded of the widespread empathy Americans displayed towards Ukraine in the early days of the war when blue and yellow flags were hung throughout city neighborhoods, while elected officials delivered speeches invoking the suffering of the Ukraine people.
Not everyone this Christmas season is ignoring Palestine. Good Samaritans can be found among those who faithfully stand on city street corners week after week with signs calling for an end to the genocide, citing the mounting horrendous statistics from Israel’s onslaught: 17,000 children killed, (These figures don’t include over 3,000 children who lost limbs), 141 journalists, 1000+ health care workers, along with the almost total destruction of residences, hospitals, mosques, schools and universities.
Protester in Freeport, Maine, 12/21/24 (Lisa Savage blog, Went2the Bridge)
Notable Good Samaritans in the public arena include Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who has consistently taken the international community to task for failing to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and defend the rights of its people.
Albanese echoes the inclusiveness of the Good Samaritan preached by Isaac when she says: “No one is more important than others. My children aren’t more important than the Gaza children to their mothers.”
Francesca Albanese
Good Samaritans include the 100+ American doctors and nurses who volunteered in Gaza’s hospitals, like pediatric surgeon, Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan. In her testimony at the UN, she cited her encounter with a mother whose 7-day old baby and toddler were trapped under the rubble. Through tears, Dr. Haj-Hassan spoke, “There are no words that can convey the pain and depravity of this aggression. No words.”
Good Samaritans include citizen journalists like Sarah Wilkinson of the UK, whose home was raided by the British police simply because of her social media posts showing photos of the devastation and loss of life in Gaza.
Sarah Wilkinson
National organizations who deserve Good Samaritan recognition include, “Not in Our Name,” Jewish peace activists who stand for a ceasefire in Gaza and Codepink, the women’s peace group that shows up daily in Congress confronting pro-Israel representatives.
Codepink founder Medea Benjamin surrounded by other Codepinkers in the halls of Congress
Good Samaritans can be found among journalists on TV, in print and on podcasts who report regularly on Gaza and bring more than you will find in the mainstream press: Chris Hedges, the Electronic Intifada, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, Useful Idiots, The Grayzone.
The Good Samaritan’s central challenge is to lead the moral life where we move from passivity into compassionate actions directed at injustices in our communities and the world at large. We are called to act on behalf of all experiencing injustice, and not just a chosen few.
In an era when the world is rapidly losing its humanity, we are called to resurrect humanity from under the rubble.
