Unless you are living under a rock, you know about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. At this point, it’s not a conflict. It’s a war. It’s a humanitarian crisis. Some say it is a genocide. It’s hard to argue against it. I’ve been thinking a lot to myself about where my personal support should lie. And I want to use this time to take you through my thought process. My hope is that by laying out my thought process, this piece can provide some direction on how we can put Christ at the center of all we do. Maybe I’m right. Maybe I’m wrong (of course I wouldn’t write this if I thought I was.) Nevertheless, these are the thoughts of a Gen Z, Bible-believing Christian that is trying his best to learn and discern what way is right and true:

Some might say that there is no need for a think-piece. Everything is clear. Israel is bad, Palestine is good, or Palestine is bad and Israel is good. What I am most confident to say is that I’ve been fed misinformation and partial information on several occasions from both sides…and this ultimately made me hesitant to say anything at all for some time. I heard Hamas beheaded 40 babies…then those reports were redacted. Then on Tik Tok, I saw Palestinians supporters sympathizing with Hamas, insinuating the group isn’t as bad as it’s hyped up to be. Later, I found a video on Vox about Hamas’ attack at an EDM festival in Israel years prior that left 250 people dead. Here was my starting point…people on both sides are giving me propaganda, not facts…so I’ll just mind my business.

“Israel has the right to defend itself,” said every popular news outlet after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023. (And a bunch of churches on their social channels). Self defense? I can get behind that. At least I thought I could until I realized the death toll in Palestine compared to Israel throughout the history of this conflict hardly supports the idea of “self defense.” Were all the deaths in the name of self defense? Really? Every single one? Something’s off.

“Israel just blew up a building with civilians in it.” That’s evil. I can condemn that easily. At least I thought it was that simple until I was told Hamas strategically would set up missile launchers in public, civilian areas to use people as shields in hopes that Israel wouldn’t have the audacity to fire back. Sadly, Israel did. I wonder if there was any hesitation. Was there an alternative given the circumstance? I wrestled with this. I wrestled back and forth. Something’s off.

One thing I hear all the time as a Christian is that the Jews are “God’s chosen people” and it’s seemingly used in defense of everything the Israeli Defense Forces do. But my question is, does being God’s chosen mean one can do no wrong? And I have to ask someone who thinks that – have they ever read the Old Testament?

On the other side I hear, “that land is Palestine, from the river to the sea” followed by something along the lines of saying Israel should not or does not even exist. As a Christian, how can I affirm this? How can I say that the land God gave to the Israelites is not Israel? How can I say Israel does not exist? Let me be clear: I cannot and will not.

The place I find myself in is a space between sympathizing with the Palestinians being killed by the boatload, while still holding true to the idea that Israel indeed does exist. I ask myself, does this position allow me to be vocal? Does this disposition carry any value to either side? I still don’t know. Maybe I am in my head, but I feel like I’m not Pro-Palestinine enough to join a protest or Pro-Israel enough to act like innocent Palestinians aren’t being killed like animals. (Here we go).

One of my followers posted a picture of a little girl with her brains blown out. Another one posted another little girl with her guts blown out. I looked at them for .5 seconds before clicking away but I can still tell you the color of the girl’s shirt that had her skull split open. They were both Palestinian girls (if that even needed to be said). I don’t know everything about the conspiracies and prophecies some Christians hold concerning the end times. But I do know that they use these as reasons to either support everything the IDF does or turn a blind eye to things going on altogether. I’m a Bible-believing Christian. When I read Ezekiel 38 or Luke 21, I can acknowledge that a lot of bad things will happen leading up to Jesus’ second coming. I can also acknowledge that God’s plan for Israel as a people is not finished. He’s got more coming in this story for them. But my question is, does that mean that when I saw the little Palestinian girl with her skull split open I should have clapped my hands and thanked God for the IDF’s terror? I don’t think so.

Let’s say all this is God’s plan. Should we look at the death of thousands of people and clap our hands because it’s “God’s plan”? When God moved against Israel by using Babylon as a tool of judgment against them, did Prophet Jeremiah clap his hands, or did he write the book of Lamentations?

When Jesus tarried on purpose so Lazarus might die and be dead for days before he’d be raised again, Jesus appeared on the scene finally. He saw those impacted by the death of Lazarus and Jesus wept. Knowing it was all His plan, knowing it was all for His glory, knowing it would all be fixed in literally 2 minutes, Jesus wept. He empathized. Can I empathize? 

Can I be upset with the IDF?

Can I wish all this wasn’t happening?

Can I call for a ceasefire?

I don’t know everything, but I must make this next point clear: I believe the mass killing of innocent people in Gaza, alongside the mistreatment of Palestinians across the entire region, is wrong and I do not believe it is Christ-like. Something is off.

I do not believe any of this is something for us to clap our hands and praise God for. Don’t get me wrong I will rejoice in the Lord always, but I do not praise God because the IDF assassinated someone’s grandmother in Gaza. I do not praise God because a Palestinian man is looking for his son amongst a pile of rubble from a destroyed building. Is saying, “Thank God” the Christ-like reaction to the terror? Or is the proper reaction like that of the Good Samaritan who saw a man on the side of the road, had compassion on him, and took him to get taken care of? I think it’s the latter.

There is an instruction God has given me as a Christian – as His son. He told me to love my neighbor. He told me to love my enemy too. Is what I see happening in Gaza love? Under this covenant…the covenant of Christ…is this to be tolerated? Does this look like the actions of Christ whom we have been called to emulate? Or does it look like sin? 

So can we empathize? Can we lament? Can we weep on behalf of those suffering – those created in God’s image? Can we help? Can we donate to humanitarian aid? 

Today, I pray for Gaza and all the Palestinians. I don’t pray in spite of Israel. I don’t pray for Israel’s destruction. And I do not pray for disaster to strike Jewish people. In fact, I pray for those Israeli people who had no hat in the ring but have lost their own loved ones amidst all of us. Today, I’m going to pray for the safety of the Palestinians. I’m going to pray for their health. I’m going to pray for the children, women and men. If I said I knew what God was doing or why He was allowing this, I’d be lying. I don’t know the plan. Maybe it’s all just sin – that simple. But I know what I’m praying for. 

Lord forgive me if I’m blind and cannot see. Forgive them if they are blind and cannot see. Help us to be who you’ve called us to be.