COLLATERAL DAMAGE, COLLECTIVE REDEMPTION – Christmas hope for Gaza
Matthew 2:16 -18
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The one narrative that is always excluded from the Christmas nativity scene is the grieving families standing next to the empty graves of their sons. Those who suffered as collateral damage because of the birth of Jesus are as much part of the Christmas Story as were the wise men, the shepherds, and the angels.
Silent night has never been so unsilent. The cost of a Redeemer to be born was high even before the price was paid on the cross. The forces of darkness would not let humanity be untouched as thousands of innocent children became the unintended victims of a campaign against Christ. No child was spared, except the one that was the target. For thousands, the birth of Christ was a time of grieving, mourning and weeping – not because of Christ, but because of Herod. They were simply the unfortunate victims of being regarded by an evil leader as collateral damage.
Today, in Gaza, the weeping continues as nearly 5,000 children are no more. Not because they were evil or planned wicked attacks against one of the strongest military forces in the world, but simply because they were born Palestinian, like the sons of Bethlehem.
On October 31 UNICEF submitted the following press release:
“Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realized in just a fortnight. The numbers are appalling; reportedly more than 3,450 (now over 5,000) children killed; staggeringly this rises significantly every day. Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.”
Little has changed in the region of modern-day Bethlehem – today, West Bank Palestine – from the days of Herod. All boys had to be killed as collateral damage because of one man’s anger. In a genocidal pursuit to kill Jesus, Herod spared no boy, regardless of innocence, purity or status. In search of Hamas terrorists, thousands in Gaza today face the same fate.
The Israeli Defense Force justifies their relentless attacks on civilians with the logic that Hamas is using civilians as human shields and should therefore take full blame for every death of every Palestinian. And this is most probably true. But if this argument holds truth, then Jesus was also ultimately to blame for the death of every boy 2,000 years ago.
Benson writes in his commentary as follows[1]:
Though the scribes told him the child was to be born in Bethlehem, Herod is not content to slay the infants there, but added thereto the slaughter of those in all the coasts. Who can avoid reflecting here on the horrible wickedness manifested in slaying these infants, who could neither hurt others nor defend themselves, and whom the king, as the guardian of the laws, was bound to have defended against the injuries of all lawless persons? But the wrath of wicked princes is usually extravagant and destructive. Thus Saul, when David had escaped, not only commanded Abimelech, with eighty-five priests, to be slaughtered, but also all the people of the city, not excepting even the women and children. This action of Herod was no less impious than unjust and cruel; for, to endeavour to make void the counsel of the Almighty God, declared by prophecies, by the appearance of a star, and by the consent of scribes and priests; what was it else but directly and designedly to oppose and fight against God?
There is however always the danger in every conflict for aggressors to cross the line from collateral damage into collective punishment. This is ultimately the moment when justice turns into genocide.
Collateral damage is a term used to describe the harm caused to people or things that are not the intended targets of a military attack or other action. The term originated in the 1960s during the Vietnam War, when the US military tried to justify the high civilian casualties and environmental destruction caused by its bombing campaigns. Collateral damage is often considered a euphemism or a way of avoiding the moral responsibility for killing innocent people or damaging their property and livelihoods.
Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member of that group (for example Hamas being Palestinian), which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends, and neighbors of the perpetrator. Because individuals who are not responsible for the acts are targeted, collective punishment is not compatible with the basic principle of individual responsibility. The punished group may often have no direct association with the perpetrator other than living in the same area and can not be assumed to exercise control over the perpetrator’s actions. Collective punishment is a war crime prohibited by treaty in both international and non-international armed conflicts, more specifically Common Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 4 of the Additional Protocol II
Back to modern-day Palestine.
Gazans are facing the wrath of Israel which has continued its relentless bombing of civilian communities, hospitals, schools, and refugee camps with the justification that they are targeting Hamas terrorists and that the deaths are unavoidable collateral damage.
But the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr, Benjamin Netanyahu went one step further than just the unavoidable deaths of thousands. In an interview on 28 October[2] Mr Netanyahu said that Israelis were united in their fight against Hamas, whom he described as an enemy of incomparable cruelty. “We are committed to completely eliminating this evil from the world,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew. He then added: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.”
There are more than 23,000 verses in the Old Testament. The ones Netanyahu turned to, as Israeli forces launched their ground invasion in Gaza, are among its most violent—and have a long history of being used by Jews on the far right to justify killing Palestinians.
As others quickly pointed out, God commands King Saul in the first Book of Samuel[3] to kill every person in Amalek, a rival nation to ancient Israel. “This is what the Lord Almighty says,” the prophet Samuel tells Saul. “‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
The war in Gaza has now moved into the dangerous realm of collective punishment where even the innocent becomes a target.
These were the dark days for the people of Palestine during the first Christmas. But at least the daughters and mothers were spared. These are the darker days for the people of Palestine today, 2,000 years later, where sadly nobody will be safe – not in a church, not in a hospital, not in a mosque and not in a refugee camp.
A depressing thought for Christmas?
Not for the people of Palestine! Not then and not today. Because in their midst, while mothers were mourning and fathers were grieving, God was at work with a plan of redemption. The Saviour was born. The savage slaughter of innocent babies by a possessed leader gave birth to a Redeemer. Yes, there was collateral damage, but there was also collective redemption that stretched beyond the borders of Bethlehem to the ends of the earth. Maybe today the collective punishment taking place in Gaza will result in collateral healing for those who come to meet a God of love in a season of hatred.
The fact that the birth of Christ, not only the redemption through Christ, came at an inconceivable cost, once again illuminates the fact that God is light when – and where – life seems to be the darkest. Darkness cannot bear light and light shines at its brightest where it is darkest.
For those who suffered in Israel in the early hours of October 7, there is hope. For those who have suffered in Palestine since then, there is hope. How God will use this present darkness to shine forth the light of His redemption we don’t know. But what we do know is that God favours no one and His hands are never too far away for anyone who reaches out. May the goodness and the grace of a loving God be present to those who call out to Him. May this Christmas once again remind us that in the midst of death, we WILL find a Saviour – hidden from the Herods, but available to all.
Let us therefore pray for the light bearers in Israel and Gaza, His Church, this Christmas.
Ways to pray… (From Tear Fund)[4]
- Use scriptures on peace to centre your thoughts on God and his promises in the Bible.
- Pray with a map of Gaza and Israel to guide your prayers.
- Light candles to help you meditate on Jesus as the light of the world.
- Set up prayer stations in your church.
- Thank you for joining us in prayer for the conflict in Gaza and Israel. Let’s continue to pray and act together on behalf of people suffering the effects of violence everywhere.
[1] Matthew 2 Benson Commentary (biblehub.com)
[2] https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/
[3] 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'”
[4] https://www.tearfund.org/stories/2023/10/how-to-pray-for-gaza-and-israel