‘We Refuse to Be Enemies’

by

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (UM News), July 22, 2024

Key points:

  • The Nassar family farm, the Tent of Nations, has long been involved in efforts to bring peace to the Holy Land.
  • The Nassars are recipients of the World Methodist Peace Award, but their work has come at a high price.
  • As harassment worsens, the family is asking for Methodists around the world to appeal to their governments for help.

I had already visited the Nassar family farm near Bethlehem several times, but this visit was different.

The Tent of Nations is an active farm on the Palestinian West Bank with olive groves and livestock while at the same time serving as a project for peace work in the Palestinian territories. The Nassars bring together people of different cultures as a way to build peace in the region. United Methodist Global Ministries has been a longtime partner.

The World Methodist Council recognized the Nassars for their commitment to peace and justice with the World Methodist Peace Award in 2018. Their commitment has carried a price, with the family subjected to violent attacks for their efforts.

The family bought this piece of land in 1916. The property was registered with the Ottomans, who ruled at the time. Even then, it was a testimony to the Christian presence in this part of the world and a commitment to peace among peoples and peace among religions.

"We refuse to be enemies" is the principle inscribed on a stone at the entrance. After the death of their father in 1976, the brothers Daoud and Daher took over the farm.

In 1991, the farm was declared state land — that is, land under the administration of the Israeli occupation. Since then, the family has been fighting to keep it. In 2006, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Nassars could re-register their land. But to this day, after more than 30 years in the courts, they have not succeeded. There have been repeated delays on the part of the authorities and courts. The Civil Administration has canceled the last two hearings, one scheduled for last December and the other for this month.

And in all these years, the illegal settlements have advanced further and further toward the farm. The settlements are highly developed cities with complete urban infrastructure.

On this visit, I only met the two brothers. None of the many international volunteers who usually live and work there, no other family members, no farm workers. It was quiet and almost a little lonely — and then suddenly we heard the noise of construction machinery.

The machinery was right by the fence, just a few steps away from a tree that General Secretary Bishop Ivan Abrahams and President J.C. Park had planted a few years ago on behalf of the World Methodist Council.

The bulldozers were on their way to build a new road for people in local Israeli settlements that are internationally regarded as illegal. The settlements have been growing on the hills around the farm for decades. The road will probably cut through the family's land in the future.

And what was different was that we heard the bombs exploding in the Gaza Strip, just 40 kilometers away.

For the first time during a visit, Daoud explicitly asked that the international community, especially the Methodist community, publicly advocate for the farm to be preserved.

The family is subjected to many forms of intimidation and harassment. Access to their own land is repeatedly made difficult. Large blocks of stone have been dumped on the access road so that the farm can only be reached via difficult detours. There has been destruction of farmland, theft of animals, even physical violence against the brothers. The settlers under the protection of the army are acting more and more unrestrained.

"We need your support now. Turn to your governments," Daoud said. "Registration must finally take place. The harassment by settlers and soldiers must stop."

It would be a great tragedy and loss if this sign of reconciliation and peace in the Holy Land were to be destroyed now, of all times.

The terrible Oct. 7 massacre by the Hamas militant group has dramatically changed the Holy Land. Violence and division characterize life in Israel and the Palestinian territories even more than before.

This makes places like the Tent of Nations, a tent where people refuse to be enemies, all the more important.

A United Methodist layman, Thomas Kemper is former top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.