by Naim Ateek

One of the biblical texts that is often used by Christian Zionists is Genesis 12:3. I still recall the first time I heard it mentioned. It was Christmas 1989 when Archbishop Desmond Tutu came to visit us in Jerusalem. The first intifada was at its peak. Yet in spite of the worsening political situation, the restrictions on movement, and the oppressive Israeli army measures, we managed to have the festive Christmas services with overflow crowds at every event.

On the day after Christmas, we went on a courtesy visit to the Israeli minister of religious affairs. Archbishop Tutu spoke "truth to power" and combined courage with candor. He told the minister about the importance of giving the Palestinians justice and freedom. As we were leaving the government building, we were followed by a man who kept repeatedly shouting the words at us, "Genesis twelve three; Genesis 12:3." I could hardly wait to get home in order to look up the text in the Bible. It read, "I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The message that the man wanted to communicate to us was simple and clear. For him the text meant that God blesses all those who stand with and support Israel and curses those who stand against it. Furthermore, he presumed that if we were critical of Israel's policies we were incurring God's curse and he wanted to invoke that curse on us.