"I don't support the Palestinians...

...but I do support good fashion!” 

A weekday lunch in the Wheaton College cafeteria, a few weeks after returning from my Spring Break trip to Palestine and Israel. I am wearing my kafia, a black-and-white checkered scarf that is emblematic of Palestinian identity. This style of scarf has become quite popular in recent years, though only the black-and-white checkered pattern maintains the ethnic connotation. As I walk to my table, a fellow student stops me and says, “Excuse me, where did you buy your kafia?” I smile and reply, “Hebron” -- not a store, but an ancient city in Palestine.  

“Oh, okay. Well, I don’t support the Palestinians, but I do support good fashion!”

“The Palestinians” are a people group. This student claimed not to “support” certain people. He didn’t say “I don’t support Palestinian statehood” (a cause) or “I don’t support radical Islam” (an ideology) or “I don’t support ending Israeli settlement expansions” (a policy). He wasn’t talking about causes, ideologies, or policies. He was talking about people.  

To support is to be for someone or something. The word signifies love, and love signifies support. 

Because God loves the world, because Jesus tells his followers to love even their enemies, Christians are called to support all people. Causes, policies, and ideologies are a different matter. Of course, Christians can have legitimate disagreements about being for or against one thing or another. But when it comes to human beings, there is no question: Christians support, Christians love. They are truly, fiercely pro-life.

...And the student who commented on my kafia would almost certainly agree! 

If he were to read what I just wrote, he would probably affirm his support/love for the Palestinians as people and then attempt to explain his comment: “That’s not really what I meant. I meant that I don’t support....” Who knows? Maybe Palestinian statehood, or radical Islam, or ending Israeli settlement expansions. Whatever he would say, it could probably be classified as a cause, a policy, an ideology, or any combination of the three. 

The problem here is not that this student supports one thing and I support another. 

The problem is that, through his choice of words, he equated people with a cause/policy/ideology. 

Recently, a friend posted a quote from the poet Daniel Ladinsky (who is rendering the words of 14th century Iranian poet Hafiz): “What we speak becomes the house we live in.” The words that we choose both illuminate our existing perceptions and influence our future perceptions. 

In the house that is this student’s mind, then, it seems that “the Palestinians” have ceased to be people and have effectively become a mere cause/policy/ideology. 

Such associations are not merely erroneous; they are also quite dangerous. Often, they give birth to sin. 

A man doesn’t support liberal immigration reforms, and he subconsciously equates certain people with this cause. The result? “I don’t support the Mexicans.” Even if he never says it, might he feel an inkling of disdain when he interacts with someone who looks like a Mexican? And might his mis-association encourage this disdain?

A woman doesn’t support governmental recognition of civil unions, and she subconsciously equates certain people with this policy. The result? “I don’t support gay people.” Even if she never says it (though she probably does), might she avoid confronting the issues of gay bullying and gay suicides? And might her mis-association perpetuate this avoidance?

Sisters and brothers, in an effort to support and love all people well, let us reject the identification of human beings with causes, policies, and ideologies.

And furthermore, let us be wary of any cause, policy, or ideology that would hinder or dissuade us from supporting and loving all people well.

For example, let us be wary of an ideology that would see (even more) Palestinians kicked out of their homes to make (even more) room for Jews; 

that would deliberately ignore Palestinian sisters and brothers in Christ; 

that would justify the injustices of imprisonments without trial, land seizures, home demolitions, economic strangulation, checkpoints, walls; 

that wouldn’t give a second thought to the statement, “I don’t support the Palestinians.”