By Jonathan Kuttab

As we have now passed 100 days of ongoing genocide and the number of named victims exceeds 25,000 (not counting those still buried under the rubble), the scale human suffering has long reached unbearable dimensions. Over ten thousand children have been killed and continue to be killed at the rate of about 100 per day; over 1,000 children suffered  amputations, many without anesthesia. 50,000 pregnant women struggle to survive and give birth, sometimes by cesarean section, without enough milk, food, or water, much less sanitary conditions. An entire population is being starved, 90% of them are homeless, within just a few miles of a full convoy of trucks filled with supplies not being allowed in to provide food and water. Entire neighborhoods are razed to the ground. The continuous bombardment has exceeded within three months the entire tonnage of bombs used by the US in Iraq over six years. Meanwhile, the people of Gaza have no air defenses, bomb shelters, or escape. For people of faith, this agonizing reality forces  us to confront serious theological challenges. 

The Holocaust in Germany generated a crisis of faith for many Jewish individuals and theologians. Recurring questions include:

• Where was God during the holocaust?
• Why did God allow these atrocities to occur? 
• How could a just God allow such evil to persist? 
• How can God abandon innocents facing genocide? 

Many individuals lost their faith in God altogether. Similar questions are being raised by people of faith these days in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

I must be honest, Muslim Palestinians have shocked me with their response to the atrocities. Even ordinary people recount their losses and suffering yet always end up with the same phrase: “I have lost my father and two children. My home is destroyed. I have no food or water and nowhere to go: Alhamdulillah, May God be praised.” Despite destruction, untold suffering, and pain, there is a resignation to God’s will and acceptance of his ultimate sovereignty, echoing the position of Job in the Old Testament. Perhaps this, as much as anything, explains Palestinian resilience in the face of insurmountable odds. We thank God, anyway, and in all situations. 

The expression, “Allahu Akbar,” repeated often by Muslims, should not be translated as “God is Great,” but more accurately, “God is Greater than . . . ” Indeed God is greater than the awesome might of the Israeli army, its massive destructive weaponry, and the full force of the United States and Western countries marshaled against the hapless people of Gaza. God is greater, indeed, than Tel Aviv and Washington, than the Sixth Fleet and its aircraft carriers, than Israel’s technology of destruction, or its high tech wall and surveillance equipment. God is greater than the silence and complicity of international institutions in the face of well-documented massacres and is greater than the failure of Palestinian leadership or their supposed Arab allies. The deep and genuine faith in God’s ultimate sovereignty over the affairs of this world puts to shame all the rest of us monotheists, who believe the same things but seem to forget when catastrophes and genuine losses occur.

As I reflect on the current situation, my own question as a Christian is not, “Where is God during the Gaza Genocide,” but rather, “Where are God’s People?” With a few notable exceptions, the response of the American church has been utterly disappointing. A few tepid statements from church leaders, expressing some humanitarian concern, but reluctant to even call for an end to the fighting, for fear of upsetting Israelis, who have made annihilation and the utter destruction of Gaza their legitimate and openly stated goal. The reasons for this failure are many: 

• Guilt over past anti-Jewish antisemitism, which has morphed into giving Israel a pass no matter what it does today; 
• Confused end-times theology among many evangelicals, which also transfers into uncritical support of Israel; but mostly,
• A comfortable acceptance of a dominant narrative, which isolates, punishes, ridicules and sanctions those who dare to deviate from it.

Hamas, this narrative tells us, is an evil that needs to be eradicated. All civilian suffering involved, therefore, is a collateral by-product that in all cases should be blamed on Hamas. There is a near-total absence or willingness to take a prophetic stance or even an independent outlook that may run against the prevailing views promulgated in the mainstream corporate media. 

To be sure, there have been strong Christian voices calling for an end to the genocide, for an end to occupation and Israeli apartheid, and for the implementation of a just solution. I am encouraged by such groups as the newly formed Mennonite Action that has been very active in taking a prophetic position on this issue. In addition, the Catholic Pax Christi has been vocal in their opposition since the very beginning, as well as the multiple denomination-based grassroots Palestine-Israel Networks (PINs), which have been amazing in their principled witness. Local and regional FOSNA, Kairos, as well as independent groups have been active in their communities demanding action and accountability from local leadership. On social media, numerous new Christian pages advocating for a ceasefire and an end to genocide have been established. And, activist-influencers like Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Walton, and of course Dr. Cornel West, as well as many leaders in the black church have been phenomenal. But, the shameful silence and timidity of most of Christian leaders at this time of crisis is something the Church will have to come to terms with for many years to come.