The conclusion of an Easter proclamation from Palestinian Pastor Rev. Mitri Raheb (read or listen to the whole article here)

As Indigenous residents in the birthplace of Jesus, we know that there can be no true peace for anyone here without peace for all. The current onslaught will not destroy hateful and extremist ideologies. It’s a historic injustice that is only fueling further injustice and destroying our ancient community in the process.

We cannot presume to know what comes after a cease-fire and the release of all captives, including both Palestinians and Israelis. But we know that without a cease-fire today, Palestinians (Muslim and Christian alike), Israelis, the region and the world will be pulled into a dark spiral of misery, reprisal and instability. We will continue to cry out: Stop. And we will continue to practice hope. 

In the West Bank, with major streets closed by the Israeli occupation, we are locked in our cities behind concrete walls that transformed our cities into “Bantustans.” We are entombed by a heavy stone. We keep asking: Who will roll away the stone? We have been living for more than seven decades, keeping a long Easter vigil. We keep asking if and when Sunday will come, when this oppression will end, when will we obtain our freedom to live in dignity and to reach our full potential.

We are waiting not for angels to roll away the stone, but rather people who hear the call for justice, for liberation, for peace. Imagine the impact we could make if from every corner of the world, our collective call for action — for a cease-fire, for the liberation of all captives — became impossible to ignore.

Today, we need our Christian brothers and sisters, and all of humanity, to amplify our calls, to pressure their supposed faith leaders and their political leaders. We hold out hope that those who profess to follow the ways of Jesus will truly embody his teachings of radical love, hope and compassion. 

May we receive during this Easter time the power to leave behind our fears and complicity to become agents of transformation. Let this Easter mark both a day of celebration and a day of mobilization — a day when we choose to be catalysts for hope in action and for a long-lasting and just peace.

The Rev. Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, is the founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University.