On my autumn hoodie I wear a gold-coloured pin, a small lion. I can see it now, at the back of the chair opposite. Not the lion of England but the lion of Judah. I was presented with it by the office of the Mayor of Jerusalem way back in 2000.
I’d like to think it was awarded for bravery under fire but in reality it was just a way of the Israeli ministry of tourism saying thank you for visiting their country during the outbreak of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising.
Most tourists stayed away but our group from Christ Church decided to continue with our pilgrimage holiday. After all, it was considered safe by the FCO, although I do remember listening to the late-night BBC news bulletin as we boarded our plane at Gatwick, just in case.
I recall the Israeli Minister of Tourism at the time making the claim that he was on first-name terms with all the tourists visiting his country. But it was a tense time, dominating the news headlines. Mind you, there were no queues anywhere.
The reason we decided to go was simple – we trusted the Israeli government for our security. And for the record, it was impressive. I’m sure that our tour guide who was with us all the time was Mossad, which was reassuring.
One morning in Jerusalem, for example, we were told that we would not be visiting the Mount of Olives for security reasons. Disappointing, but then at 2.30 pm we were told it was safe. So we went and it seemed just as it was during our previous visit two years earlier.
So last Saturday’s outrage came as a huge shock. How could the renowned Israeli security apparatus be so blindsided? Terrible times indeed, as we witness day by day.
The Hamas incursion was a huge outrage, an act of extreme terrorism to be entirely condemned in its massacre and kidnapping of citizens of all ages.
As the BBC's Jeremy Bowen explained, this conflict, severe and deep-rooted, has been continuing for over a century. I assume he was referring to the Balfour Declaration in 1917 when the British foreign secretary promised his government’s support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population.
But for those of us who read the Bible, it all goes back to the rivalry between the sons of Abraham, half-brothers Isaac and Ishmael. And as such it is deeply embedded in history. I haven’t the time to locate the exact story but I can remember when the then Israeli foreign minister, the remarkable Abba Eban, had to explain to some earnest and well-meaning journalist that the two warning sides couldn’t be reconciled over a cup of coffee. It’s deep and intractable – and the problem is that however statesmen and women may try, a lasting peace seems unattainable.
So what is the future? Where is the pathway to peace?
Earlier this week I came across a fascinating article by geneticist Ruth Bancewicz, the Church Engagement Director at the Faraday Institute in Cambridge.
I’ve always gone along with Alfred Lord Tennyson's observation of nature, corrupted by the Fall, as “red in tooth and claw.” Witness Kibbutzim Be'eri and Nir Oz.
She continues: “Every major evolutionary transition – from molecules to cells, simple cells to complete cells, single cells to multicellular organisms, individual organisms to pairs of parents, and pairs to communities – has been accompanied by a step-change in co-operation.”
So Nichola Raihani, who is Professor of Evolution and Behaviour just down the road at UCL, argues that life on earth is a history of teamwork, collective action, and cooperation simply because typically solving a problem can often only ever be solved by a cooperative effort.
As evolutionary biologist Jeff Schloss observes: “It looks like we’re really built to flourish when we give and receive care for others.”
And so going back to the tragedy in the Middle East, we can only hope that such cooperation may prevail, despite our human predilection for violence
In fact, to my surprise we saw such cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians first-hand in tourism, even during the Intifada. The only way that this important industry can work is when both sides decide to work together; there is simply no alternative. Even bus drivers from opposite sides chatting together gave a glimpse, albeit a tiny one, of hope.
Cooperation in health care and water resources, for example, has to be mutually beneficial. But with the militants currently in charge that presently seems nigh but impossible, particularly with this morning's draconian evacuation order.
Hope seems as small and insignificant as my Lion of Judah but as we read in John’s remarkable vision. ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals.”” (Revelation 5:5)
So we pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, that the Lion of Judah may rip through centuries of conflict.