What Christians don't know about Israel but should

When I was a teenager, I became a born-again Christian and an avid reader of the "Late Great Planet Earth" the endtimes book that preceded the "Left Behind" series popular today among those who think the end is near. One of the signs of the second coming of Christ, according to interpreters of the Revelations (like the authors of books above) is the creation of the State of Israel.

When the Yom Kippur War hit, I was on the phone with my born again girlfriends, all of us excited that this was it.... the Rapture was surely going to happen soon.

When it didn't, I wasn't worried, no problem, I'll just go live in Israel and volunteer on a kibbutz and help my Jewish brothers and sisters make the desert bloom.

As I grew up, reality kicked in and the fervor of adolescence faded. What remained was a fondness for Israel - and the belief that it was besieged on all sides. The Palestinians? Nothing but irrational terrorists who raised their children to hate and kill Jews.

Then, my husband was offered a short term assignment through his groundwater engineering job in Gaza, and we, my four-year old daughter and I went along too.

And thus began my permanent detour off my own Road Map.

The detour involved for awhile a profound internal struggle as I tried to reconcile my previous bias with the reality of occupation and oppression I was witnessing. Everyday I saw the result of the fear when the once fearful become the powerful. Someday, if Israel doesn't change its policies in time (and many Israelis I know are concerned that it is too late now) the backlash will be devastating.

Now we are back in the US and I work hard at my second job - to raise awareness among Americans in general, my Presbyterians co-congregants in particular that the key to Israel's survival is the United States, but not in the way most commonly thought. Rather, we must hold Israel accountable (as we do the Palestinians) to the international code of conduct accepted by all nation-states. That attacks on civilians is illegal, that an occupying state may not establish civilian settlements on occupied land, that separation barrier ("security fence") must be on the Green Line, not within the Palestinian Territories..... all these violations (and more), must stop.

But when the US restricts its admonitions to a mere slap on the wrist, the Israelis know they can keep on keeping on.

My church, the Presbyterians will be considering a resolution this summer calling the US government to enforce our nation's own Arms Export and Foreign Assistance laws that prohibit US aid be used in violations of international human rights law. It's a beginning. And our church is not the only one. Across the country, individuals and groups small and large are joining voices in opposition to continued, uninterrupted flow of our tax dollars to Israel. Even a temporary suspension can have an impact.

At the very least, we should consider that nothing our country has done to date has ended the conflict. Time for something new.