Israel is disdained by black churches in the US, laments pastor

2023-10-24 04:24:29

Since the terrible terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, several evangelical leaders from around the world have spoken out condemning the actions of the Muslim extremist group, but a black pastor from the United States published an article lamenting that the majority of churches in his community have remained silent in the face of atrocities.

Pastor Michael A. Stevens, founder of the Church of God in Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina, published an article expressing his sadness at the anti-Semitic stance of many evangelical leaders in black communities in his country:

“If any organization or group of people should condemn the atrocities of these brutal murders committed by Hamas, it should be the African-American church. If any organization or group of people should unwaveringly support Israel during these difficult days, it should be the African-American church. We are obliged to do so”, he protested.

Stevens found that, “unfortunately, many African-American pastors and leaders have a mixed level of apathy and resistance toward Israel, as well as empathy for the Palestinian struggle,” behavior that he says is the result of an unreasonable comparison between the situation experienced by Palestinians currently face the “civil rights era” in the USA, which catapulted pastor Martin Luther King Jr to historic prominence.

“There is a contemptuous hatred and lack of trust for a people that God himself commanded the church to love. And bless. As important as they are, these individuals who express anti-Israel or anti-Semitic attitudes they do not speak on behalf of the entire African-American community”, criticized the pastor.

“In his 1968 speech to the Rabbinical Assembly, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., said that ‘peace for Israel means security, and we must defend with all our strength its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world and a wonderful example of what can be done, of how the desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy.’ Less than two weeks after giving that speech, Dr. King was assassinated,” Stevens recalled.

With dozens of visits to Israel in recent years, the pastor has become very knowledgeable about the country’s current context, in addition to nurturing important relationships with the Jewish community. From this point of view, Stevens states that “there is a remarkable parallel between the African-American and Jewish communities”, remembering that “both communities” faced enslavement in the past.

“Both communities suffered horrendous persecution as a people and as a nation. Nearly 12 million lives were lost through the horrific slave trade from Africa to the Americas between the early 1500s and 1800s. There was the murder of Jews during the Holocaust in the 1940s, where 6 million were systematically murdered. Both, as a culture of people, we can identify with the pain and situation of a displaced, disenfranchised and discouraged people”, he summarized.

The pastor highlighted that “it is not Israel that aggressively oppresses the Palestinian people, it is the leaders of the Palestinian people who aggressively oppress the Palestinian people”, in reference to the manipulation of Hamas leaders over the residents of the Gaza strip.

“Sixty years ago, the Jewish people stood with us during our hour of need, not because they wanted anything in return, but because God and human reason forced them to do so. Now is the Jewish State’s hour of need. Israel is at war. Israel is under attack by terrorists who seek to kill its people and by propagandists who seek to undermine its legitimacy. As African-American religious leaders, may we take a bold and courageous stand in favor of the Jewish State, not because we want anything in return, but because God and human reason compel us to do so”, he concluded, in the article published by The Christian Post.