Interviews with Dr. Ronald Boyd-MacMillan, Director of Global Strategy and Research for Global Christian Relief.
RBM is one of the world’s experts at reading the world through the lens of Christian persecution trends. His book, Faith that Endures: The Essential Guide to the Persecuted Church was the first comprehensive text on how to understand, support, and learn from the persecuted church in the world today. He is pioneering high level courses that strengthen believers under pressure and is creating through GCR new research instruments that uniquely capture the dynamics of religious persecution around the world today. This includes the recently launched Violent Incidents Database.
It seems a terrible question to ask for starters, but given that terrorist organizations reason differently, is Hamas winning?
I’ve heard it said that Hamas had three objectives from their atrocious attack on October 7th, 2023. One, kill Jews. Yes – that box was sadly ticked, with over 1200 losing their lives that day. Two, bring the world’s attention back to Gaza and its problems. Again, that box has been ticked too, or maybe half ticked, because they have shifted the possibility of a Palestinian state much farther into the future. Three, inspire multinational war to kill more Jews. No success there, although there has been an upsurge of anti-Jewish incidents particularly in Western setting.
Donald Rumsfeld once mused in the first Gulf War, “Are we creating more terrorists than we are killing by our actions?” Is there a sense that Israel might be doing the same with their campaign in Gaza?
Most people would say that you can defeat Hamas as an organization, but you cannot defeat it as an ideology though force alone. Or to put it more strongly, you can’t drop a bomb or fire a bullet at an ideology. Whether a new generation seeing the suffering will swell the ranks of Hamas remains to be seen though. Hamas is unpopular now in Gaza. Israel knows they must stop Hamas getting back into power, but you are going to need the co-operation of Palestinian leaders and other Arab leaders to make this happen. You do not want to made enemies of geo-political friends that hold the power to push a solution forward. Yet there are precedents for completely degrading a terrorist unit and their ideology. The Maoist Shining Path guerillas of Peru were completely eradicated through a military campaign. I think people must bear in mind that the Israeli population is still traumatized by the events of October 7th. That was the Holocaust “spirit” coming close to them for the first time since the Second World War. The church in the region can help in understanding this hurt.
One final question before turning to the church though, is there any hope geopolitically from here?
Someone said that the only stories of hope in the Middle East are spiritual ones, not political. Hope is hard to find. But it has been remarkable how restrained the Gulf States have been towards Israel through the conflict. And Iran has not upped the ante like it was initially thought. Gaza could work as an economic entity since a large natural gas field has been discovered in Gaza waters, which could make the region energy independent if the Israelis allow it. But observers do think that Israel will go after Hezbollah soon and that will create a new scenario, so we will see.
Some leaders of the churches in Jerusalem have said the best intercession to be offered now is for a ceasefire. Is that true?
Well, ask by all means, but what do we mean by a ceasefire? For someone like Prime Minister Netanyahu, a ceasefire means when Hamas are no longer capable of firing a rocket or a shot. So, it is hard to think of a ceasefire happening when one side is killing the people on the other side of the table. But yes, one should pray for this. The fact that it would be miraculous given the current political climate should not stop us. I also urge prayer though for a new generation of leaders from the Palestinian community to emerge and who are not wedded to ideologies of violence. That’s the long-term hope. Real peace cannot happen without a new, wiser, less corrupt, and less bloodthirsty generation emerging into positions of power.
What impact is the war after October 7th having on the church in Gaza?
The church is small, but its credibility is high, especially as it is sharing the sufferings of all the people. Maybe there are only 1000 believers now. Down from roughly 4500 ten years ago. Mostly they belong to ancient historic churches. They have suffered from the perpetual bombardment like everyone else. There are facilities run by the churches – including an Anglican run hospital, and the churches are shelters for all. All have been damaged. The generator of one church was deliberately blown up and tragically an IDF sniper allegedly shot dead an elderly Christian lady and her daughter who were sheltering in the Holy Family church compound in December. This was a shock, but it is unclear whether Christians were deliberately targeted.
What impact will this have on the church there?
Its likely to increase emigration of course, which has been the trend for the past decade. Who can blame younger families wanting to move away to gain safety for their children? It’s not easy to leave though. You need an exit permit from Gaza, a transit visa for Egypt and then a visa for your destination country. Egypt does not want to be seen to be assisting Palestinian flight. Elderly Christians will stay though – they have nowhere to go. The church in Gaza is on the verge of extinction now as a result of this war.
Are there any signs of hope for the Christians there?
Yes. It is pretty clear that, at least in Gaza, there is a groundswell of anger and disgust at Hamas and the October 7th massacre because in the words of one leader, “They deliberately calculated that the people would suffer because of the Israeli response, did not mind seeing the blood of ordinary people shed to gain a political advantage. It was callous. Many people are sick of them.” Christians can speak a language of peace and justice into this situation. Perhaps with Hamas so degraded, a new start might be possible. Also – and this is a general point relevant to the whole region – the more callous Muslim extremists become, the more ordinary Muslims become Christians as a form of protest. We cannot say more, but this will surely happen, especially among the young.
Is this true of the Christians in the wider Palestinian territory?
Sadly, in the region of the West Bank that is administered by the Palestinian Authority (about 40% of the West Bank) support for Hamas appears to have increased among the population. This is a complex situation because the leaders of the PA are despised for their corruption and complacency such that even Hamas hotheads appeal over them. It is hard to be a Christian anyway in the northern West Bank cities such as Jenin and Nablus and in the rural areas they face a pincer movement of violence from Islamic terrorist and Israeli settlers. This has worsened in the recent war. The main concentration of Christians is in cities like Bethlehem, Beit Jalal, and Ramallah. Training of Christians leaders conducted by, for example, Bethlehem Bible College, is mostly online in response to the breakdown of communications. Evangelical Christians tend to have the hardest time of it because many Muslims think they are all Zionists, or very pro-Israel – often because they might profess a more dispensational understanding of the Second Coming.
Do they have any hope?
They are used to this kind of situation, even with the sharp polarizations in the wake of the war. There is no doubt that Palestinian Christians have experienced great discouragement in their homeland. Ethnically and linguistically, they are as close to the original followers of Jesus as it is possible to get. Not for nothing do they claim to be the oldest continuous Christian community in the world. So, it is a daily heartbreak to live in a culture and a context that treats them as outsiders, or even traitors. But they have learned to adapt to any political situation and know how to speak the language of peace and justice. And never forget that with the international links churches have, they get the opportunity to be conduits of assistance. The church will continue to hemorrhage numerically, yet the Gospel will continue to grow unstoppably. That story is known to some but cannot be told widely yet.
Can Christians offer a form of hope that no other community can?
Christians offer a story of hope that takes in centuries. Even the stones speak in these lands. So, when you see the action of God over the centuries, the rise and fall and rise of the church, you get a sense that persecution, war, famine – terrible though they are – can be used by God to extend his kingdom. As a leader in Gaza once told me, “We come to church to lift our spirits because we rehearse the faithfulness of God to the church in our region over many many years.” When your view is that broad, and shaped by eternity, and faith in a God that can work everything together for good, praise remains on the tongue of Christians in this land. That’s really something to witness.