CPTnet
20 April 2006

At-TUWANI REFLECTION: "Though the fig tree does not bud--"

The verses of Habakkuk 3:17-19 are familiar to many who look to the Bible in
times of stress. "Though the fig tree does not bud . . . yet I will rejoice
in the Lord."

These thoughts reflect the hardships resulting from natural disasters.
Rarely do we interpret these verses in the light of international conflict.
However, the preceding verse reads, "I wait patiently for the day of
calamity to come to the nation invading us."

Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a team for the last year and a half in
At-Tuwani, a Palestinian village south of Hebron, because the nation that
has invaded this land, the West Bank and Gaza, is wrecking the livelihood
and the lives of these people. This invading nation has destroyed many of
their olive trees, burned their crops, decimated their herds and flocks,
poisoned their water and land. On top of this destruction, these villages
have now experienced drought. The rains that have come are too little and
too late. Water supplies will dry up in the next month or so, and
community members are deeply troubled about how they will find a source of
water for themselves and their animals. The nation that has invaded them
controls the distribution of water, impedes the shipment of relief supplies,
and restricts the travel of the residents within the region.

Community members fear not only the loss of their way of life, but loss of
life itself. Their chances of survival depend upon the intervention of the
international community to hold the nation of Israel accountable for the
treatment of the people within the land that Israel has occupied.

When Habakkuk wrote the words quoted above, the nation of Israel was the
victim of other invading powers. Today, paradoxically, it is Israel who is
the invading power. The question for the people suffering from this
invasion and occupation is whether they can draw on their faith to sustain
their spirit, or whether their struggle to survive will turn violent. The
question for the nations in power is whether they have the resolve to seek
justice and peace from a position of domination and prosperity, or whether
they turn to their faith only in times of need.