Who will save the churches?

Last week I visited Hagia Sophia, the 6th century Byzantine church in Istanbul, converted to a mosque in the 15th century and now a museum. A member of our group commented that it was sad that so many churches in Turkey were now museums. Our leader, who has lived and taught in Jerusalem for many years, said that he thought that the same thing would happen in Israel/Palestine. In his opinion, within 10 to 20 years the Church of the Resurrection/Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem would be a museum. His viewpoint was that all of the Christians will have been driven out of Israel/Palestine and there will be no one to maintain the churches. After last year’s trip to Israel/Palestine, I had concluded the same thing. This year, however, I had dinner in Amman, Jordan with an intelligent, articulate, attractive Palestinian woman who gave me hope. Let’s call her Nora. (Not her real name)
Nora was born in Bethlehem on the West Bank, educated in the US and has a US passport so she lives in Bethlehem by choice. She can leave at anytime and move to the US. Despite the hardship, she chooses to stay because “I feel like I am helping my people”.
The American and Israeli Jews who feel that there is no such thing as a Palestinian have not met Nora. Those in the US and Israeli government who are trying to make life so difficult for Palestinians that they leave Israel/Palestine, have not met Nora.
Her determination to stay despite the hardships of daily life and work for a Palestinian state is amazing. She and many others like her are the epitome of the Palestinian motto, “to exist is to resist”.
On the other hand it might be just as well if the Church of the Resurrection/Holy Sepulcher became a museum. In that event the various Christian factions might quit fighting over it. (For the latest episode in this multi-century conflict, click here)

The head scarf problem

When it comes to issues related to the status of women in Muslim and particularly Middle Eastern countries, westerners tend to focus on the “hijab” or head scarf.
In western eyes the head scarf is seen as a symbol of oppression and second class citizenship. In some countries where it is mandatory, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, it is that. In others, like Jordan, Syria and Indonesia, it is a personnel choice of observant Muslim women. It has even become an issue in Western European countries. Countries such as France, Great Britain and the Netherlands have banned it in various forms in public institutions.
Turkey’s avowedly secular government has banned the wearing of “hijab” in public spaces such as government offices and universities. This long standing policy has not liberated women, but has resulted in Turkey ranking close to the bottom in measures of the status of women. Since Turkey is 99% Muslim and over 65% of women wear “hijab”, the ban has had the odd effect of discriminating against the majority.
Since the crackdown on wearing of head scarves following the last military coup, thousands of observant women have been unable to obtain jobs, practice their professions or study at the school of their choice. Lawyers cannot go to court with their clients, professors cannot teach and students must go abroad to attend college. This includes the daughters of the President and Prime Minister.
Ardent secularists, who see a fundamentalist behind every tree, defend the policy as necessary to prevent the formation of an Islamic government governed under Islamic Sharia law. The current AK led government has attempted to relax the head scarf ban. The secularists have responded by filing a court case seeking to overthrow and ban the democratically elected AK party. If this happens, Turkey, a US ally in the Middle East, will be in for some rough times, perhaps even civil war or a military coup. How can a little piece of cloth cause so much trouble? As an Iranian girl said to me, “We have much bigger issues to deal with than the head scarf”.