Remember the Palestinians: Progressive Evangelicals’ Rejection of Christian Zionism and Criticism of American Foreign Policy, 1977–2013

As the United States invaded Iraq in 1991 in order to liberate Kuwait and to protect its interests in the Middle East, politically progressive evangelical leaders accused their country of hypocrisy for enabling another, more deeply-rooted injustice in the region: Israel's oppressive treatment of Palestinians. "The U.S.'s one-side support of Israel contributes significantly to the total Middle East dilemma," Evangelicals for Social Action President Ron Sider proclaimed. "If the United States is so concerned about international aggression, why did we not send in troops when Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza strip from Jordan? Why have we allowed a repressive military occupation of these territories for over twenty years?" he asked. In light of the 1991 Gulf War, progressive evangelical leaders reiterated one of their long-standing convictions: the United States must promote peace in the Middle East by pressing Israel to end its unjust treatment of Palestinians.

This paper analyzes how politically progressive evangelical leaders campaigned for justice on behalf of Palestinians from the 1970s into the second decade of the twenty-first century. The majority of evangelical Christians and leaders of the Religious Right accepted biblical interpretations that justified Israel's ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories seized during the Six-Day War in 1967. In contrast, leaders of the evangelical left rebutted the theology of premillennial dispensationalism that inspired conservative evangelicals' steadfast support of Israeli policies, and they condemned the pro-Israeli foreign policies of the United States. They insisted that "biblical injunctions to seek justice for all peoples" should be "the guiding principle for a Middle East settlement, including justice for the Palestinians whose discarded lives have been so lightly regarded by past U.S. policy and so grossly ignored by evangelicalism." Ultimately, progressive evangelicals' support for Palestinians and a two-state solution reflected their distinctive biblically-inspired expectations for American foreign policy.