The Tragedy of Israel-Palestine

The Israeli occupation of the West Bank is a two-fold tragedy. It is tragic for the Palestinians – humiliated at checkpoints, their leaders imprisoned, their land stolen, their orchards and olive groves attacked, their children terrified especially during raids on their homes. It is tragic too for the Israelis – their work, education and welfare are distorted by military imperatives, their international reputation is in tatters, their children are conscripted, brainwashed, brutalised and sent into danger in the West Bank; all this for a military occupation which benefits at most a handful of extremists.

As Quakers we are called to respond unconditionally to the pain and anguish on both sides – to be, in an important sense, simultaneously pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian.
But that is only one aspect of our calling. This is a situation of oppression: Quakers cannot take refuge in neutrality. Jesus was and is always on the side of the oppressed; and that is where Quakers have to stand. In particular, this is why Meeting for Sufferings has asked Friends to boycott Israeli settlement products.
Different Friends will resist oppression in different ways, some as "prophets", and some as "reconcilers".