Oct 18, 2006 By Guest Commentary Tina Whitehead 4 min read

I’m sitting in my room, listening to the sounds of lively music outside my window. I’m in East Jerusalem and it’s the Jewish festival of Succot, a time of joy and celebration. But it’s not just a time for Jews; Christians are here from all over the world, proclaiming their support for Israel. Christians dressed in orange to represent joy, waving flags, wearing flowing robes and dancing in the streets. Zionist Christians representing the International Christian Zionist Convention, singing, laughing, and praising God for Israel, his chosen people.

But I’ve also just come from the Old City, where tonight I had tea and conversation with local Palestinians. I heard the despair in the voice of a man I had met last year who had been a cab driver and taken me and others out in the evenings. He is Arab, but an Israeli citizen. His car has just been confiscated by the Israeli government because he had no money to pay his taxes. His TV and his refrigerator were also taken.

He now has no way of making a living. His apartment costs $450 per month; he has a wife and seven children, five of whom are still at home. He spoke to me with such pain. He spoke of the injustice of it all. And he is just one of many who have the same story.

Such a contrast. So much joy and so much despair living side by side. And the question that I find myself asking is, “Where is God?” Last night, while sitting in the lobby of a nearby hotel which is hosting many of the Christians, I had a conversation with a young man. Initially I thought he was Arab, but then he began to speak and the accent was distinctively Australian.

He told me he was a Christian and had been “saved” when he was 17. His background was a mix of Australian and Egyptian. He was traveling around the world, feeling called by God to do mission work and looking for the place that God was calling him to. He had latched on to a Brazilian tour group which was coming to Jerusalem for the high holy days.

He was very pleasant to talk to and I shared with him what I had seen here. I spoke of the Separation Wall, just 15 minutes away from where we were talking. He knew nothing of its existence. I showed him my pictures, taken just a few days before.

He seemed incredulous as I described the living conditions of people in the West Bank, of the despair of the Palestinian people. He was here for Succot and totally oblivious to the reality that was around him. But he listened and wanted to know more.

How many of these Christians who are in Jerusalem this week know anything of what is happening here? If they do know, how do they reconcile this with a God who throughout scripture calls us to end oppression, to work for justice, to be peacemakers?

I find myself defending America in my conversations, saying that Americans really would care if they knew what was going on, but I’m growing tired of this argument.

It’s time to move from being na?ve to taking responsibility for our world. It’s time to look past politics and power and greed and to seek justice for all human beings, whether Arab, Palestinian, Jew or whoever.

Has God really chosen one people over another? Aren’t we all His beloved creation and don’t we all deserve to be treated with respect?

Then and only then can we respond with true joy and true celebration.

Tina Whitehead is a former resident of Uniontown.