Ideological Curios, Part III

The Spirit of Ahab still Lives

Israel is a divisive topic.  For many--particularly those on the Left, in the Commentariat, and amongst the chattering classes--it represents implacable evil, whilst Islamic Palestinians represent unimpeachable goodness.  For some Christians influenced by Dispensational biblical theology, Israel represents unimpeachable goodness, whilst those who oppose Israel--on any count--represent forces opposed to God.

Naturally, the world is neither that simple, nor binary. Christians run the risk of thinking in a binary fashion about the modern nation state of Israel when they read Biblical texts outside of the context of the "broad-brush" narrative of the Bible.

To cut to the chase, the modern nation state of Israel is not a fulfilment of biblical promises to the ancient Jewish people.  It is a creation of Britain, the United States, and the UN.  Is this a problem?  Not necessarily.  There have been plenty of such artificially created nations during the hey-day of imperialism, as well as before and after.

However, the artificiality of the origins of a nation should not be an argument to obliterate it.  In the end, nation states exist and should be reckoned with accordingly.
  If historical grievances and injustices in the artificial creation of a nation through carving out territories and imposing rule were to make present nation states illicit it is possible that no nation state would have a right to exist.  India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Cambodia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, North Korea, and South Korea provide just a short set of examples.  The long list is limited only by how far one wants to go back in human history.  How things would have been so different if Alexander had not imposed his empire upon vast swathes of territory from Macedon to India! Modern Iraq and Iran would not be suffering today in the way they are today.

There are many things commendable about the modern nation state of Israel.  There are many odious things, as well.  To us, as Christians, one of the most odious features of this modern state is its practice of Ahabism--a practice which exposes its secularity and its godlessness.  King Ahab was an idolater in ancient Israel who coveted the vineyard of a citizen, Naboth and acceded to the use of brutal lawless power to kill him and seize his land. 

The modern nation state of Israel is built upon the perpetuation of this same evil.  Ironically, this is because of  an asserted right of lebensraum (living room) for the thousands upon thousands of Jewish immigrants who have a state-of-Israel-declared automatic right of entry into, and citizenship of, Israel (Law of Return, 1950).  Israeli lebensraum policies have required repeated expropriation of land and property from Palestinians.  Here is the most recent example, from the New York Times:

JERUSALEM — Israel laid claim on Sunday to nearly 1,000 acres of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem — a step that could herald significant Israeli construction in the area — defying Palestinian demands for a halt in settlement expansion.  Peace Now, an Israeli group that opposes the construction of settlements in the West Bank, said that the action on Sunday might be the largest single appropriation of West Bank land in decades and that it could “dramatically change the reality” in the area.

Palestinians aspire to form a state in the lands that Israel conquered in 1967. . . .

(T)he mayor of the nearby Palestinian town of Surif, Ahmad Lafi, said the land belonged to Palestinian families. He told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that Israeli Army forces and personnel posted orders early Sunday announcing the seizure of land that was planted with olive and forest trees in Surif and the nearby villages of Al-Jaba’a and Wadi Fukin.

Until Israel renounces the pseudo-messianic policies of lebensraum and the Law of Return which animates the need for lebensraum, it will be tainted with the injustices of national Ahabism.  It will remain a nation propped up by repeated acts of theft and unlawful appropriation. The law to which we refer is the law of God.  Thou shalt not steal has never been abrogated, nor ever shall be.  For this egregious matter, we issue a bill of  indictment against Israel.