Nazareth Center for Peace Studies

This is a remarkable organisation, working for peace and reconciliation, especially between Palestinians and Israelis. They are actually located in Nazareth so they are living in the eye of the storm.

According to their website, their Vision is 'Promoting a culture of peace rooted in Christian values and nurturing peacebuilders through whom society may be transformed towards peace and justice.'

Their founder is equally remarkable. Dr Rula Mansour is both a Palestinian Christian woman and an Israeli citizen. She is a lawyer and academic with a distinguished record in peace and reconciliation – see the biography on the website.

I was privileged to hear Dr Mansour when she came to England in 2025. I attended a seminar she led at Guildford Baptist Church in June. Her presentation was inspiring. How do you work for peace and justice in a situation so unpromising as the ongoing Israeli destruction of Palestine? What are the theological principles at work?

She highlighted three main themes: Truth, Forgiveness, and Restoration. At some point there will be a reckoning and an opportunity to apply these.

Truth means accepting the reality of what has happened and is still happening on the ground. All parties need to acknowledge the enormity and the horror. They need to face up to the past and not ignore it. In other words (although her talk predated this Trump initiative), not following the Board of Peace, which would draw a line under the past with no consequences for the perpetrators. There is no Christian element in a future which is influenced by the aggressors rather than the victims, and whose shape is a development opportunity for American real estate companies.

Forgiveness means just that – forgiving the aggressors for what they have done, and looking ahead to a time when Israelis and Palestinians will be able to live together in peace and harmony. That is no small undertaking. I cannot begin to understand how that will work.

Restoration is the essential counterpart to forgiveness. This is not forgive and forget, but forgive and remember. Those who have perpetrated the atrocity must be brought to justice and face the consequences of their actions. The list will be very long. It will start with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and will extend through the massed ranks of the Israeli Defence Force.

This is what would happen in an ideal future governed by the force of Christian love. No matter how unlikely it may seem, this is the only way forward if the world is to honour to command to love our neighbours as ourselves.

I don't have a copy of the presentation, but the video and transcript of the seminar are available here.