Memories

The Dead Sea from Masada

Miroslav Volf commented that “The past is always present with us”, when speaking at the BMS Catalyst Live (Event Website) event.  He went on to outline how we need to remember rightly if we are to find a pathway to reconciliation.  The event ended with Martin Accad form the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon focusing upon the current turbulent situation in the Middle East that is a product of the failure to cope with memories of the past. 

During the day a post from the Elders.  This group of global leaders was first brought together by Nelson Mandela and is currently chaired by Kofi Annan with the expressed aim of working together for peace and human rights.  Last week their website shared a post ( The 'Elders' Website article ) that highlighted the problems of a ‘conflict of narratives’ and a ‘clash of victim-hoods’ in understanding the Israel/Palestine situation today.  These two conflicting memories lead to a harmful polarising of opinion across the world, and give rise to conflict that spills over into the rest of the Middle East. 

Returning to Marin Accad, I was encouraged to find that he held onto hope for the future in terms of some fundamental values shared across the religious divides of the Middle East today.  He pointed to the silent majority for whom violence and hatred were not a religious inevitability, but rather they share a desire to live at peace with their neighbour.  This reminded me of my own childhood growing up in the period of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland.  It seems that the voices for peace of the majority in both Loyalist and Republican communities were ultimately heard, and the conflicting memories in some way have moved towards reconciliation. 



The Wall of Jerusalem

Some years ago I travelled to Israel/Palestine leading a group from our church in Glasgow.  One of my most vivid memories is visiting Yad Vashem, the museum commemorating the Holocaust, and speaking afterwards to our Palestinian guide.  When asked how he felt about the place and the message it gave, he said that something terrible indeed had happened to the Jewish people but that the Palestinians had not been the perpetrators of the crime, yet had suffered for it.

My prayer is that there may be an abandonment of the memories of victim-hood that leads to polarisation of opinion and violence, and that a way of peace may be found that enables the memories to be shared and different communities to live side by side.