“Christ Is Still in the Rubble”: Bethlehem Rev. Isaac Calls on U.S. to Stop Funding Gaza Genocide

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

We turn now to Palestine, where Christians are preparing for a second Christmas under ongoing Israeli attacks as the number killed in Gaza has risen to 45,317, though the toll is likely so much higher. In the past 24 hours alone, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza.

On Friday, the Palestinian theologian and pastor Reverend Munther Isaac delivered a Christmas sermon at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, in occupied West Bank, the birthplace of Jesus, called “Christ Is Still in the Rubble.” He’ll join us in a minute. First, this excerpt of his address.

REV. MUNTHER ISAAC: “Never again” should mean never again to all peoples. “Never again” has become “yet again” — yet again to supremacy, yet again to racism and yet again to genocide. And sadly, “never again” has become yet again for the weaponization of the Bible and the silence and complicity of the Western church, yet again for the church siding with power, the church siding with the empire.

And so, today, after all this, of total destruction, annihilation — and Gaza is erased, unfortunately — millions have become refugees and homeless, tens of thousands killed. And why is anyone still debating whether this is a genocide or not? I can’t believe it. Yet, even when church leaders simply call for investigating whether this is a genocide, he is called out, and it becomes breaking news. Friends, the evidence is clear. Truth stands plain for all to see. The question is not whether this is a genocide. This is not the debate. The real question is: Why isn’t the world and the church calling it a genocide?

It says a lot when you deny and ignore and refrain from using the language of genocide. This says a lot. It actually reveals hypocrisy, for you lectured us for years on international laws and human rights. It reveals your hypocrisy. It says a lot on how you look at us Palestinians. It says a lot about your moral and ethical standards. It says everything about who you are when you turn away from the truth, when you refuse to name oppression for what it is. Or could it be that they’re not calling it a genocide? Could it be that if reality was acknowledged for what it is, that it is a genocide, then that it would be an acknowledgment of your guilt? For this war was a war that so many defended as “just” and “self-defense.” And now you can’t even bring yourself to apologize. …

We said last year Christ is in the rubble. And this year we say Christ is still in the rubble. The rubble is his manger. Jesus finds his place with the marginalized, the tormented, the oppressed and the displaced. We look at the holy family and see them in every displaced and homeless family living in despair. In the Christmas story, even God walks with them and calls them his own.

So, today, let us reflect on the child Jesus, the child of Bethlehem. At the heart of the incarnation, there is a child. And this child, in his weakness, he is our hope. He is our consolation. He is our strength. This child — let us remember, this child shook Herod’s throne when he was born. And while there are some who talk about the “Roman Empire” or glorify Herod as “great,” we are the ones who think of a child born to refugees escaping a massacre. …

Yes, it has been 440 days. It is 440 days of Palestinians’ resilience, sumud. Indeed, it is 76 years of sumud. But we have not and will not lose hope. Yes, it is 76 years of an ongoing Nakba, but it is also 76 years of Palestinian sumud, clinging to our rights and justice of our cause, 76 years of praying and singing for peace. I was thinking about it. We are stubborn people. We continue to pray for peace year after year after year, and sing about peace, and we will continue to do so. And we will continue to echo the words of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, peace on Earth.”

AMY GOODMAN: Excerpts of this year’s Christmas sermon from pastor Reverend Isaac Munther at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, in Palestine. Reverend Isaac’s forthcoming book is titled Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza.

The pope has just repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. He also unveiled this year’s nativity scene at the Vatican, portraying a baby Jesus in a crib lined with a Palestinian keffiyeh. The Israeli government has now denounced the pope for calling for an international inquiry into Israel’s assault on Gaza to see if it constitutes a genocide.

The pastor Munther Isaac is joining us now from occupied Bethlehem.

Your thoughts on what’s happening, on the pope being condemned by Israel, on what’s happening in Bethlehem, the second year that Christmas activities have been canceled because of the more than 45,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza? Reverend Isaac, thank you for joining us.

REV. MUNTHER ISAAC: Thank you for having me.

Well, if Israel was true that they are engaging within the rules of war, then why should they be concerned if anyone, not just the pope, calls for investigation into whether war crimes are taking place or not? Israel is clearly committing a genocide. I mean, the evidence is very clear. And of course they should be concerned, because if an investigation takes place, it’s going to reveal truly what is taking place.

And even here Bethlehem, it’s not easy. It’s another Christmas with isolation, with Bethlehem being completely isolated from Bethlehem, more blockades, more gates, checkpoints outside of Bethlehem. And my fear and our fear here in Bethlehem is that there is no one who’s going to hold Israel accountable. And that’s why statements like this from his holiness the pope make a difference, because Israel needs to know that we live within a community that respects the rule of law; otherwise, chaos will prevail if everyone just does what they can. And if the rule of “might is right” rules, then is this the kind of future we want to leave for our children?

AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Isaac, we spoke to you in our studio in New York. You came here to New York. You went to Washington, D.C. As the Biden administration wraps up and President Trump is about to become president again, what are you demanding of the United States?

REV. MUNTHER ISAAC: That it respects the international law. I mean, it cannot be the United States and Israel versus the rest of the world, as every United Nations vote reveals. Again, if the United States is honest about its call for freedom, ideas, human rights, then they should respect that and that they should abide by the international law. My message is that they are enabling Israel into politics that’s leading the whole region into chaos and destruction. There can be other ways. There are other ways. And we’re tired and sick of these wars, which are enabled by American tax money and American politics.

AMY GOODMAN: Tell us more about “Christ in the Rubble” and that image that you created in the manger last year, that you continue this year. We said well over 45,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza. Close to 800 have died in the West Bank under Israeli assault. Talk about the situation where you are.

REV. MUNTHER ISAAC: Yeah, I mean, we’re still seeing images of children pulled from under the rubble. It’s unthinkable to me that it’s been more than 14 months now into this genocide, and we’re still seeing the same images. It seems like we’re powerless, and it seems that the world is content with letting this go on. And here in the West Bank, as we watch from Bethlehem what’s happening in Ramallah or Hebron, we wonder, “Are we next?” Israel has made it clear they plan to annex the West Bank next year. What would this mean on the ground? Again, we live in this moment of anticipation, of anxiety. And at the same time, we’re broken by the fact that the world seems content with letting this go, without serious efforts to make it stop or put accountability and restraint on those who commit war crimes.

AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Munther Isaac, we thank you so much for being with us, Palestinian Christian theologian, pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in occupied Bethlehem, where his Christmas sermon this year was titled “Christ Is Still in the Rubble.” He was speaking to us from Palestine.

That does it for our show. A happy birthday to Yusra Razouki! Democracy Now! is produced with Renée Feltz, Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Messiah Rhodes, Nermeen Shaikh, María Taracena, Tami Woronoff, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud, Hana Elias. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.