Sabeel

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The Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center is a grassroots Christian liberation theology movement. It is based in Jerusalem, and was founded by Palestinian Christians. Sabeel was founded by Palestinian Anglican priest, Rev. Naim Ateek, the former Canon of St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem, and the leading Palestinian voice of liberation theology.

Sabeel has an international, ecumenical base of support with chapters in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, and Australia. It is an official partner of the Presbyterian Church USA ^[1]. In Arabic, Sabeel means 'the way' and also 'a channel' or 'spring'.

Sabeel has been charged with infusing its rhetoric with antisemitism.^[2]The Coe College (Iowa) Department of Philosophy and Religion, which had co-sponsored a Sabeel Conference on its campus, acknowldged that anti-Semitic remarks were made at the conference.^[3] Supporters of the organization have rejected this charge.^[4]

[edit] Political agenda

In 2004, Sabeel issued a document titled Principles for Just Peace in Palestine-Israel. ^[5] This document states the organization supports existence of two sovereign and fully democratic states.

The Israeli organization NGO Monitor has argued that Sabeel "is active in promoting an extreme anti-Israel agenda in Protestant churches in both North America and Europe".

Sabeel's founder, Anglican priest Naim Ateek, disagrees with Zionist interpretations of the Old Testament. "Before the creation of the State [of Israel], the Old Testament was considered to be an essential part of Christian Scripture, pointing and witnessing to Jesus. Since the creation of the State, some Jewish and Christian interpreters have read the Old Testament largely as a Zionist text to such an extent that it has become almost repugnant to Palestinian Christians [...] The fundamental question of many Christians, whether uttered or not, is: How can the Old Testament be the Word of God in light of the Palestinian Christians' experience with its use to support Zionism?" ^[6]. This does not suggest that the Old Testament is not the Word of God, but how can it be understood as that if a Zionist theology of the Old Testament is accepted by Christian groups?"

In 1989, Ateek wrote: "As a boy, remembering my family's harsh exile from Beisan, and later, as a person of faith and a clergyman, my own struggles with hate, anger, and humiliation were not easy. But these feelings had to be challenged continuously by the demands of love and forgiveness. At the same time, I knew without a doubt that injustice is sinful and evil; that it is an outrage against God; and that it is my duty to cry out against it. It has taken me years to accept the establishment of the State of Israel and its need- although not its right- to exist. I now feel that I want it to stay, because I believe that the elimination of Israel would mean greater injustice to millions of innocent people who know no home except Israel." (Ateek, Naim, Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation (New York, Orbis, 1989), p. 164)

Sabeel has sent representatives to several denominational gatherings in the United States and has advocated for divestment resolutions. The United Church of Christ, the PC(USA) and others have passed resolutions based on information provided by Sabeel. These two denominations and the Episcopal Church have, as a result of Sabeel's activism, passed anti-"wall" resolutions which asked Israel to take down the security barrier it is building to stop terror attacks emanating from the West Bank.