 Sister Ruth Lautt argued that both Israelis and Palestinians have a legitimate claim to Jerusalem.
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The subject of Zionism is bound to conjure up strong emotions from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian debate. This Wednesday night, the second part of a two-part lecture series on the Christian view of the conflict was hosted by the center of Christian-Jewish Learning and the Boston College Human Rights and International Justice group to examine the issues from both sides.
Sister Ruth Lautt, of Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East, and Ruth Langer, a professor of theology at BC, spoke at great length about the state of the Israeli-Palestinian issue and examined the Christian responses.
Lautt opened her lecture by pointing to the increased number of attacks on Zionist legitimacy from certain Protestant sects. She said that these claims are alarming and serve as an indication of a greater rift to come, if they are not remedied now.
She went on to briefly recount the history of Israel, starting at 1200 B.C. and continuing to the 20th century with the modern Israeli state.
Lautt spent the majority of the time recounting Israel's history from 1948 on. She said that the Israeli people have been victims for most of Israel's existence and that the relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians is "[an] encounter between two victims rubbing each other's raw wounds." This metaphor expresses each side's reluctance to fully cooperate with the other, according to the lecture, and the feeling of each, that they have a legitimate stake in the territory currently occupied by Israel.
The main point of Lautt's lecture was to explore Christian views on the subject. She pointed out that until the mid-to-late 20th century, the Catholic Church was decidedly anti-Zionist.
The guiding factor of the church's involvement was its vested interest in the city of Jerusalem as a Christian holy site.
Lautt also said that, excluding some right wing Protestant sects that are fervently pro-Zionist, most Protestant organizations are quick to lay the entire blame on Israel's occupation of Palestine, and absolve the Palestinians of any responsibility.
A major turning point in Catholic-Jewish relations came with the Nostra Aetate in 1965, which theologically linked Catholicism to Judaism.
Along with the spiritual linkage, it also established anti-Semitism as a sin in the Catholic Church and affirmed that it is "God's will for the Jewish people to continue existing," Lautt said.
2008 Woodie Awards
