Israel-Palestine from the Perspective of a Gazan Theologian: Dr. Yousef Alkhouri

Dr. Yousef AlKhouri (Ph.D. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) is Christian Arab Palestinian theologian and activist. He was born in Gaza to a Christian family that has a long heritage of serving in the priesthood of the Greek Orthodox Church. He is married to Merna and they live in Bethlehem, Palestine. Yousef has written several poems in Arabic. In 2007, he published his first poetry collection under the title “You are Not My Beloved.” In addition to teaching at BethBC and lecturing to international groups on various topics pertaining to Palestine and Palestinian Christians. Dr. AlKhouri is also a board member of Kairos Palestine, Christ at the Checkpoint, and the Academic Alliance for Interfaith Dialogue in Palestine. He enjoys reading, writing, and teaching. He loves music, nature, and traveling. bethbc.edu/Faculty/yousef-alk...
The conversation covers various topics related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the role of Palestinians as cheap labor for the Israeli economy, the impact of Hamas on the economic situation in Gaza, the media's portrayal of the conflict, and the experience of Palestinians at checkpoints. The guest emphasizes the importance of nonviolent resistance and calls for the church to prioritize the message of Jesus over nationalism. He also encourages listeners to educate themselves about the history and theology of the conflict and to visit Palestine to see the reality on the ground.
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[@BethlehemBeacon]

God Bless the Christians of Gaza, Palestine, and the whole Middle East, insight of all the challenges, we continue to shine rays of love and faith, in Jesus' name. ☦🇵🇸

[@SaHayes-it2uw]

Thank you for sharing this information. Things need to change and Christians need to be better informed.

[@lizbethartemis4886]

Christian’s zionists are in on it.

[@blakewidmer]

Thank you, Preston, for continuing to platform voices we need to listen to but rarely get the chance to hear. 227 days and it is still ongoing. 75 years and it is still ongoing. Sadly the story of our human history. I was just reading the Joseph story this morning and thinking of how his brothers sold him into slavery....even siblings do horrible things to each other. I guess Cain was the same way. Sigh. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

[@lucyhidayat9063]

If the gazans were enjoying their lives there...why the constant threat to Israel and how does that make sense w the open prison concept we re hearing????..the paradox doesnt make sense

[@mattb7069]

To hear Yousef say that the Hamas tunnels were not intended to smuggle in weaponry pretty much sums up why this interview is a complete departure from an objective analysis, such that I now question everything Yousef has said. He tries to say that Gaza is a concentration camp imposed by Israel. He fails to tell you that Gaza has a huge border with Egypt. But Egypt doesn’t trust Hamas anymore than Israel does. So Egypt has built a wall that is just as heavily fortified as any wall Israel has built. But he doesn’t tell you any of that. I wonder why? He talks about the poor water quality the Gazans suffer under. But he doesn’t mention that millions of dollars have been given to the political hierarchy of Gaza for desalination and water and sewage treatment upgrades. Where did the money go? You can guess. He says it is very hard for people in Gaza to get to better hospitals in Israel. But he doesn’t mention that it is equally as hard for a Gazan to cross into Egypt for medical treatment. Why doesn’t he mentioned that? Gazans are suffering because the Arab/Muslim world needs them as political leverage against Israel. I was equally shocked to hear him deny that Palestinian children in Gaza are taught in schools antisemitism. This is so readily documented that it tells me Yousef is more of a politician than a priest on these matters. Listening to him also paper over what Hamas did after they won the election was equally astounding to me. He doesn’t tell you that they rounded up the opposition party of the PLO, Fatah, and tortured and slaughtered all of them by the hundreds. The Palestinians in Gaza are ruled by a death cult. None of this means that everything Israel or Netanyahu does is pure as the driven snow. Not all of Israel’s decisions and tactics are right and just. Granted. But for Yousef to use the word “genocide” tells me truth is not the custodian of his present thoughts.

[@Danie-qy7fy]

Very well said

[@lizbethartemis4886]

STOP the BS propaganda about tunnels. I am not an engineer, but know that the displaced soil has to go somewhere. 😂😂 Where are the mountains of Gaza? Also, any earthquake monitor would pick up drilling or underground b o m b to open a tunnel. Lies lies snd more lies and people repeat repeat and repeat.

[@lizbethartemis4886]

Propaganda and lies - Yisrahell controls all entrances. Who was getting kick backs at the gates? 💰💰💰🤑🤑

[@mattb7069]

@@lizbethartemis4886 You are a prime example of someone who can’t be convinced of any fact that runs contrary to your already established opinion. The video and documented evidence for 100’s of tunnels is overwhelming. No one denies them. Not even Hamas denies their existence! They just deny that they dig them under schools and hospitals. But the evidence is again against them. To suggest that Hamas has not dug such tunnels because it would produce literal mountains of dirt, or that it would set off seismic monitors for earthquakes is… well ridiculous if that is your evidence against such tunnels.

[@Danie-qy7fy]

@@lizbethartemis4886 so we should stop believing our lying eyes

[@oliverobwana287]

This has been so eye opening. Thank you.

[@janvermeer3931]

For decades we have heard that Gaza is an open-air prison where children starve and suffer, now this man from Gaza talks about his wonderful childhood in a wonderful place on the Mediterranean. Of course we believed all the lies for far too long! To describe this man's statements as lies would be a gross understatement.

[@chrisklaus9765]

Thank you for airing this valuable, moving viewpoint. I don't believe Israel is carrying out a genocide, nor that they are occupiers, but understand that the oppression of Palestinians that some have taken part in, can result in, unfortunately, violent reactions amongst Palestinians, and hatred. I presume that the Israelis treated the Palestinians like this out of fear, but it is alarming to hear to what extents they go. I was praying I would find a trustworthy account of the Palestinian's viewpoint, and am glad to have found this interview. May the Lord give the Palestinian Christians protection, wisdom, love in their hearts for those treating them like enemies, and peace in their hearts. May there be peacemakers, who are guided by the Lord, to help bring about reconciliation between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and may the violence end, and may any violence and hatred in the hearts of Gazans and Israelis be replaced by understanding and love, and a great spiritual awakening, when people recognise their God and Saviour and King, who let the checkpoint people humiliate Him and kill Him, so that He could save them from a fate worse than death. Amen.

[@NickChen-ok4bq]

I respect people’s interpretation, but the colonial perspective is biased and historically incorrect. Here are some questions: How would a bunch of refugees suddenly became colonizers? And if they are colonizers, which countries are their mother land? And what is the colonial project about? Also, if Christian, Muslims, Jews, and whatever could live together, what made it now a majority Muslims region with dysfunctional government? You may argue the context was Zionism, but Zionism started 1881…? Context context context matters.

[@nigelsloss6907]

I agree with your final paragraph, context is so important. Sounds like you would do well to read or hear from historian Ilan Pappe. The colonisation didn't begin with a bunch of holocaust refugees, it began decades earlier, with the British

[@nigelsloss6907]

I should say, under the British, and also to a lesser extent under the Ottomans. The people that came were mostly from Eastern Europe and Russia.

[@NickChen-ok4bq]

@@nigelsloss6907 I agreed half of it. I believe you are talking about 1936-1939 the arab revolt, which was not British helped Jews but British calmed down the riot in that region initiated by muslim arabs. They even made a mandate about where Jews could reside (white paper), which was a great win for arabs. 1881 was the first year of Zionism, which is a refugee plan for most of the jewish people at the time from all over the world (very disappointingly, mostly from Christian countries which became inhabitable for Jewish at the time). If we look deeper into it from 1882, 1909, 1917, 1921, 1934 and so on, you will notice that the history does not support the colonialism view. If British was the colonizer, why Jewish used weapon from Soviet Union in 1947-1948? And then they suddenly got support from France in the 50's. Then the U.S. from 1967? I would recommend Haviv Gur if you want to read more.

[@pkind3313]

Yes, this perspective is a critical theory lens that's trending unfortunately even in the church. It's a demonic distraction and has an appetite for sin chasing which is a bottomless pit.

[@lizbethartemis4886]

All religions shared the land until Zionists arrived - expansionists, supremacists. 98% of Palestinians are native to Palestine.

[@user-mm8ur9el9n]

Man. When Dr. Alkhouri said don’t be pro-Palestine or pro-Israel … amen, sir, and thank you for your work.

[@darrenplies9034]

Mosb Hassan Yousef seems to to have a different perspective, to say the lest. Might be a great guest a have on if exploring differnt Gaza perspectives. Thank you

[@AcousticUplift]

That may be true but whether or not it's a credible perspective in light of all that is and has been going on since at least 1947/8, is another issue.

[@darrenplies9034]

@@AcousticUplift You could also have a pre-2005 Jewish Gaza resident perspective. And in mention of the Christ at the checkpoint conference, you could always have Dr, Michael Brown on this channel to share his perspective. Food for thought

[@rodneygoldsbrough6720]

As a fellow Christian, I can identify with the theologian. However, please don't gloss over earlier happenings because it's convenient to do so. As he said, Jews in addition to all the other ethnic people have always lived peacefully in this land. However, between 1882 and 1903 there were 20,000 to 30,000 Russian Jews who fled Czarist Russia’s pogroms and settled in Palestine. One can imagine the local "Palestinians" seeing this as an invasion rather than refugees and understandably friction occurred. Jump forward to August 1929 (long before the State of Israel was founded) violent rioters brutally attacked and massacred the Hebron Jewish community after the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, a notorious antisemite, claimed that Jews were *endangering Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount. *Was there any proof of that? Following on after WW1 the British basically gave up on trying to find a solution to the situation in Palestine and handed the problem over to the UN (the organisation everybody runs to complaining about the Israelis!) The UN then proposed the two state solution. Both sides, I gather, would have liked to take over the whole of Palestine. However, the Jews thought that a share was better than nothing. The Arabs (as they were known at the time) for various reasons, were not happy with the idea. Subsequently in 1948, Israel declared the State of Israel, although how they proposed to have a Jewish state with a majority of especially Muslims is anybody's guess. Although, Jews were forcefully removed from Gaza 18 years ago to create a mini Palestinian State in Gaza.. Possibly this indicates what could have happened post 1948 if only the two sides had got together the trash out the situation. (There was some disagreement about the unfair partition of the land, forgetting that the Israelis were "awarded" the Negev desert as a large part of their share) . However, we will never know! Also after the Israeli state was founded, many more Jews living in Arab countries were threatened and had to flee to Israel. This is the reason for the larger number being Sephardic Jews in Israel. Anyway, the Arabs attacked the Israelis and unfortunately lost the battle. Possibly this solved the disproportionate populations problem for the Israelis. The Nakba was the outcome. Similar wars have occurred time and time again with the Israelis winning the war each time. This has not done much good in them becoming good neighbours. I can understand the seething animosity below the surface whereby both sides distrusts the other with leaders on both sides taking the High Ground with suspicion of the other. One question remains, after Hamas won the election in Gaza and massacred the opposition so they could retain power from then on, what has Hamas done for the local Gazans. Millions have been poured into Gaza with Israelis claiming it could have become the Singapore of the Middle East. (Even a popular seaside resort for Israelis) Why weren't the Gazan civilians allowed to shelter in the tunnels to take refuge from the Israeli bombs? The "settlements" are a problem but Israelis have accepted 2 million Muslims living in Israel with equal rights who can buy land in Israel, so the question is, why can't Jews buy land in Palestine? Especially in towns where their ancestors lived for eons. The last question is, why can't two Abrahamic nations who even share the same inherited Canaanite DNA live side by side in peace? Is it because of power hungry leaders who can't come to an agreement? I have tried to remain as unbiased as possible but history is history.

[@lizbethartemis4886]

I have a question: why is it that ancient civilizations and cities are being attacked? I am looking for a cue. :

[@annaan8232]

And all those moving of Gaza population started when? And why? How does Yousef call day 7.10?

[@joycebucholtz5070]

I believe historical facts can debunk just about every lie shared in this interview.

[@lukemorales4883]

Can we as the western church hear this? "It seems that the interests of racial colonial ideology is more important the ecclesia---the people of God, the body of Christ that brings us together. So, for me as a Palestinian Christian, I'll take advantage of being with you here, Preston---and I think to call the church in the west for repentance. Because I believe we should be followers of Jesus, committed to the message of the Gospel rather than our nationalism. Don't let the blood of our nationalism be thicker than the water of baptism that brings us and unties us as the body of Christ." kzbin.info/www/bejne/g33MaYifeLGGiaMfeature=shared&t=3792

[@CFCMahomet]

I don’t believe that either side is brainwashing their children, but that the present and past experience has trained them to have suspicion, antagonism and violence.

[@timisontube]

This is a key difference. The intentionality of “brainwashing” easily enables toxic conspiracy theories, eg QAnom. Most people are simply biased for a variety of reasons.

[@lizbethartemis4886]

all are being indoctrinated to hate the other - to use religion to justify war - all religions claim to be “”the one.”

[@judygaleinchapelhill]

❤

[@DanielBurnham-cd9by]

Thank you for this episode. It is good to hear much of what is not seen going on outside of our limited access. There were several things, however, that I felt Dr. Alkhouri was towing his own "partly line" on however. As always, the truth is in the middle. Israel, in my opinion is in the wrong in today's event and I don't support the settlements or Netanyahu. On the other side, to say that Hamas did not intend to use the tunnels for smuggling weapons, to me, is like saying that Al Capone couldn't be a criminal because he opened several soup kitchens and gave clothes out in Chicago during the depression. Also, Dr. Alkhouri seemed to suggest that in 1948 Israelites just moved to Israel and made a state. I don't have all the citations in the research that I've done but a few things; Jewish people had been coming in legally to "Palestine" since the late 1800s when the Ottoman Empire was selling the Zionists land. He also left out that in 1948 the Jewish state told the Arabs in Palestine to stay in their homes but it was the Arab leaders who instructed them all to leave because Israel would soon be defeated.

[@navit4369]

Jewish from Judea. This is Jewish land

[@pickledorf]

Is there a reason that you get perspective on this issue from only one side?

[@joemisek]

Are you new to Preston's material? Shortly after the atrocities on 10/7, he had at least two different guests from either "side" and has continued to have others since with a variety of viewpoints. And Preston's conference last month included a debate/discussion with two people on each side on the platform.

[@pickledorf]

@@joemisek I'm newish to his work. I did look back to right after 10/7 and did see some interviews with someone "from the other side". I guess the recommendations that appear on KZbin tend to be more one sided. I guess I'll say I am a bit surprised how at face value he takes some statements from the guest with little pushback. Maybe that is how he rolls. I don't know. Thanks for clarifying.

[@margreethakkerman4026]

He woke up to the truth, that's how I see it. 🎉Same with me, I grew up in an evangelical pro Israël church and did not question it for many years. Until I started to do my own research and discovered that I had been deceived and brainwashed and that there is not a biblical basis for the modern state of Israël. No prophecy fulfilment. All the land promises have been fulfilled! . I am happy to hear that more and more ( young) people start to see whats really going on in Gaza . I hope that you will be one of them. Greetings from the Netherlands.

[@blakewidmer]

@@pickledorf Preston's style is to ask questions and listen, he rarely "pushes back" against a guest even when he doesn't agree with them. It's very much built into the ethos of his show. He is not your typical podcaster and most of us who follow him appreciate that he is just "raw" and then let's us, the viewers, make our own informed opinions.

[@blakewidmer]

Also, Preston is a non-violent Jesus follower and so those that he talks about with this conflict, from both sides, share a conviction for non-violence. Do you know any other popular evangelical podcasts like this platforming Palestinian Christian peace-activist voices? There are dozens of them platforming zionist voices screaming for the destruction of gaza. Also, Preston platforms Jewish folks who work in partnership with Palestinians, which is also something most others won't talk about. Hate gets more clicks, sadly.

[@EmWarEl]

Anyone can find people who say things that sound good or sound bad, depending on what message we want to promote. But what actually happens? What is demonstrated in reality?

[@lizbethartemis4886]

1897 Zionist Congress, Switzerland. Zionists ID Palestine as the land they would occupy. That was 127 years ago and 44 years before the holocaust.

[@lizbethartemis4886]

that’s what dialogue and debate is all about

[@teresabock2532]

Caviar perspective ⚡❕❕

[@lizbethartemis4886]

Gaza Marine field,22miles from Gaza strip; discovered 2000 and not developed yet. Gaza oil. West Bank oil. Land for the Ben Gurion Canal. Oceanfront for Jared’s luxury condos.

[@Rt2665]

Yes the gas field off gaza is controlled by the palestinan authority.unfortunatley it hasnt been developed due disputes with hamas and the palestinian authority.. they dont want to invest themselves in being self sustainable. Rather live on aid from the u.n and keep the opressed narrative going so the leaders can rule and take the aid money for themselves.. very sad

[@MichaelZoltan]

Clearly Preston should have done a much deeper dive into the current history of Israel and the people who lived in those lands over the past 2000 years. Not enough push back against this guy... Preston just gave Alkhouri his own platform to spread the deceptive and misguided perspective that isn't biblical in the least.