The 50 years since Israel defeated three Arab armies in the 1967 war and seized control of Palestinian, Syrian and Egyptian lands can be characterized in two words: occupation and settlements. Both are illegal, and both have been denounced by the international community, but it seems nonetheless clear that they will be around for years to come.
Rev. Naim Ateek, founder of Sabeel, an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians, recently published “Naksa” (Setback), a scathing rebuke of Israel on the 50th anniversary of its occupation. The June 5 column was critical of both secular and religious Zionism, which Ateek blamed for perpetuating the occupation. Ateek linked Israel’s aggression and refusal to make peace to its lust for land.
