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# Mark Braverman

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## Posts

- [Blog: The Politics of Hope](https://markbraverman.org/blog/) - Jewish American and author of Fatal Embrace: Christians Jews and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land discusses the religious and cultural aspects of the conflict
- [The Politics of Hope](https://markbraverman.org/2009/11/the-politics-of-despair-2/) - Roger Cohen gives us the politics of despair. On the one hand, his recent OpEd in the New York Times, "A Mideast Truce" shows us what a long way we've come in editorial coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict. He's clear about the horrendous reality of Israel's settlements, even though he stops short of naming it
- [Rededicating the Temple - A Hanukah Homily](https://markbraverman.org/2009/12/rededicating-the-temple-a-hanukah-homily/) - The Jewish festival of Hanukah is celebrated this year on December 11-19th. The Hebrew word refers to the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after driving out the Seleucid Greek occupiers in 165 BCE. It’s one of the most joyful holidays in the Jewish calendar, in which we celebrate our commitment to the values of
- [Jerusalem 2009: The Light in the Tent](https://markbraverman.org/2010/01/jerusalem-2009-the-light-in-the-tent/) - I sat in the tent and it was full of light. Fawzieh al-Kurd is the matriarch of one of the three families who were forcibly expelled from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem between November 2008 and October 2009. In all, close to 60 people, all 1948-era refugees from West Jerusalem and
- [Challenging the Law of Return, and an important new book](https://markbraverman.org/2010/02/challenging-the-law-of-return-and-an-important-new-book/) - In this week's posting I bring two items to your attention. 1. Challenging the Law of Return The first item is a powerful statement by American Jewish activists involving the State of Israel's "Law of Return." This law, one of the very first enacted by the state, is the cornerstone of political Zionism and
- [Signs of Hope from the American Jewish Community](https://markbraverman.org/2010/05/signs-of-hope/) - Dear friends and loyal subscribers, I have not dropped off the earth! In fact, I have been spending a lot of time traveling across it, and that, along with the press of several writing projects, has kept me from posting. I see that I need to find a way to stay current with the blog
- [Report from the Presbyterian General Assembly - Part 1](https://markbraverman.org/2010/07/report-from-the-presbyterian-general-assembly-part-1/) - I’ve just returned from Minneapolis, having attended the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. The PC(USA) is at the epicenter of the struggle of the Christian community in the U.S. to come to terms with the challenge of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Overtures from presbyteries from around the country urging action on justice for Palestinians would amount to over 40% of the actions considered by the Assembly... Predictably, the forces of opposition had gathered. As early as February of this year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center attacked the report, calling it a “poisonous document by the Presbyterian Church [that] will be nothing short of a declaration of war on Israel.” The charge of anti-Semitism and the prospect of a disruption in the “interfaith partnership” has been effective in stifling the discourse and in thwarting actions directed at Israel’s policies…I was betting that the tactics of the Wiesenthal Center would serve, as they always had, to muzzle the conversation and block actions that might offend Jewish sensibilities or be perceived as hostile to the Jewish state…. I was wrong...
- [Report from the Presbyterian General Assembly - Part 2, The Jewish Response](https://markbraverman.org/2010/07/report-from-the-presbyterian-general-assembly-part-2-the-jewish-response/) - There were two groups of Jewish attendees at the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Minneapolis early this month. One was comprised of several members of Jewish Voice for Peace and me. We were there at the invitation of the denomination’s Israel Palestine Mission Network to support passage of the Middle East Study Committee Report, “Breaking Down the Walls” and other Middle East-related overtures, including divestment from Caterpillar, recognition that Israel’s policies constitute Apartheid, and endorsement of the Palestine Kairos document. The other group was made up of people from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, and the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies. They were working closely with Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, a group of Presbyterian pastors and seminary professors that had formed for the purpose of opposing these overtures. The strategy they followed was to allow the Presbyterian group to lead the charge, with the Jewish organizations keeping a low profile. Blocking or gutting "Breaking Down the Walls" was the main objective of this ad hoc alliance. The alliance failed to accomplish either objective. I believe that they were surprised at this outcome – Jewish advocacy groups having the final say on Christian words and actions with respect to Israel and Zionism is a time-honored pursuit. It has been rewarded with success for generations...
- [Peace, peace, and there is no peace](https://markbraverman.org/2010/10/peace-peace-and-there-is-no-peace/) - On October 6 The Washington Post ran a story entitled “A key back channel for U.S., Israeli ties.” The story informs us that “Dennis Ross, a longtime Middle East expert, has emerged as a crucial, behind-the-scenes conduit between the White House and the Israeli government, working closely with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's private attorney - and also Defense Minister Ehud Barak - to discreetly smooth out differences and disputes between the two governments.” The article goes on to describe how Ross is currently working with “[chief Israeli negotiator Yitzhak] Molho and [Deputy Prime Minister Ehud] Barak on a package of incentives that the Obama administration is offering Netanyahu to extend a settlement moratorium by 60 days to keep nascent peace talks with the Palestinians on track.” This latest disclosure is another nail in the coffin of the “peace process.” It lays to rest the long-held fiction of the U.S. as an honest broker in these so-called negotiations...
- [Two Voices from Israel](https://markbraverman.org/2011/01/two-voices-from-israel/) - I am bringing you two Jewish voices from Israel. One is a cry of despair and pain. Amnon Dankner, a veteran Israeli journalist, a man of my generation, born in the heady years just before the birth of the state and part of the mainstream political and journalistic life of Israel, is now crushingly disillusioned, horrified, and in mourning. I am very moved by this piece. Here is an Israeli expressing the desperate feeling of being at the mercy of a government not only unable to protect its citizens, but leading them at breakneck speed toward the edge of the cliff…The second piece is by Eitan Bronstein, born almost a generation after Dankner, in my view one of the most courageous voices in Israel today. In founding Zochrot, he, along with Israeli historians such as Ilan Pappe, is calling on Jews to wake up to an essential facet of our history – the historical and ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people to make way for the Jewish state. In this piece, Ilan makes his farewell as Director of Zochrot and tells the story of its founding...
- [Bursting the Bubble of “Liberal Zionism”](https://markbraverman.org/2011/02/bursting-the-bubble-of-liberal-zionism/) - Peter Beinart and The Failure of American Jewish Progressivism: Bursting the Bubble of “Liberal Zionism” Aljazeera’s January 23rd release of the “Palestine Papers” may have laid to rest the dream of the “Two State Solution” for yet another group of believers. Besides the revelation of huge territorial concessions and the effective relinquishing of Jerusalem, perhaps the biggest blow, not only for the Palestinians themselves but for anyone who understands that peace depends on redress of the wrongs done to the Palestinians, was the virtual negation of the possibility of return for refugees. This has been a red line for Israelis because the introduction of so many non-Jews would spell “the end of Israel.” And so it would, as long as its future is tied to the Zionist idea of a Jewish state. Recognition is dawning that a just and equitable sharing of the territory will mean, not the end of Israel, but its only hope for a future. The release of these documents is a further sign that the path to peace requires a confrontation with Zionism itself as a political enterprise. But this has been long in coming, even within the progressive camp. When Peter Beinart’s “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment” appeared in the New York Review of Books in June 2010, it caused a considerable stir: here was a young Jewish intellectual boldly challenging the human rights record of the State of Israel. But Beinart’s subject was not Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians. Rather, he was addressing the failure of the American Jewish establishment to successfully promote Zionism as a viable political program. The piece opens with this declaration: “Saving liberal Zionism in the United States—so that American Jews can help save liberal Zionism in Israel—is the great American Jewish challenge of our age.” To this Jewish American, this is an astonishing statement, and it is tragically off the mark..
- [My visit to South Africa Part 1:  A confessing church,1985-2011](https://markbraverman.org/2011/06/my-visit-to-south-africa-a-confessing-church-1985-2011/) - Johannesburg, South Africa, April 2011: Why? I kept asking them. Why are you so wholeheartedly and passionately committed to this cause? Why little Palestine? You have massive problems here. The post-Apartheid era is proving more challenging in some ways than the struggle to end it, as you endeavor to find a way out of deep structural inequality and seemingly intractable economic divisions along racial lines. The answers came without hesitation. First: The world was here for us during our struggle. Second: We know what Apartheid is. We cannot stand idly by. This must be our struggle as well...
- [My visit to South Africa, part 2:  A Moment of Truth for the U.S. Church](https://markbraverman.org/2011/06/my-visit-to-south-africa-part-2-a-moment-of-truth-for-the-u-s-church/) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent appearance before a joint session of the U.S. Congress and the shameful behavior of the members of Congress in rising to their feet 29 times to applaud his radical, intransigent positions should shatter any remaining illusions that peace will come through negotiations under current conditions. Politics has failed to bring about a just peace in Israel-Palestine. In fact, the political/diplomatic process, based on false assumptions (Israel will accept a contiguous, sovereign Palestinian state on its borders; the U.S. is an honest broker to the negotiation process) is itself actively advancing the building of Israeli Apartheid... Our situation today is strikingly similar to that faced by a group of South African pastors and theologians confronting the intransigence of the South African government in ending Apartheid. In 1985, they sat down to compose a historic, prophetic document. It had been a long journey to reach that point -- the result of a struggle of the churches in South Africa to come to terms with their silence and their sometimes active complicity with the system that had poisoned and brutalized their society. By 1985 the church had finally arrived at a place from which there was no escape, no compromise, and no way back....
- [Will Israel’s tent protesters awaken to the tents that came before theirs?](https://markbraverman.org/2011/08/will-israels-tent-protesters-awaken-to-the-tents-that-came-before-theirs/) - The following appeared first in Zochrot, was then picked up by Mondoweiss, and I can only humbly follow in their footsteps. Take the time to read this piece by a young Jewish Israeli woman -- it is the only-just-begun-to-be-spoken unspoken heart of Israel: “It is the corner of Seinkin and Rothschild Boulevard, Friday afternoon. We and our Palestinian guests …pass a new and exciting tourist attraction: the huge tent camp which keeps mushrooming in the boulevard. Our guests, some in pious head gear, listen attentively to the story about middle class Jewish youngsters with no place to live, to study and to work from. The tents are so many, so small. They nod in amazement, expressing sympathy or perhaps even some pleasure over the new potential for solidarity. The sharp tongued one is quick to come up with a punch line none of us would have thought of: "Hada Muchayem Lajiyin Israeliyin!" – "A refugee camp for Israelis!" she exclaims. … Some of the women we have with us this evening –exuberant, full of curiosity and passion for fun – have been living in "real" refugee camps most of their lives. Some were born there, others got married and moved to share the fate of large families condensed into crumbling homes that were started as temporary tents at the outskirts of towns and villages in the West Bank many years ago…”
- [Talking about Israel at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK - a Yom Kippur Meditation](https://markbraverman.org/2013/09/talking-about-israel-at-the-greenbelt-festival-in-the-uk-a-yom-kippur-meditation/) - I’m back! It’s been a long time - there is a bit of catching up to do, and I’ll begin by posting something from my time last week in the UK at the Greenbelt Festival. How to describe Greenbelt? How about as a Woodstock for followers of Jesus? — a 4-day gathering of over 20,000 people of all ages that has been held annually for 40 years. I was honored to have been invited to give some talks and to participate in the launch of Kairos Britain…The Council of Christians and Jews, a UK advocacy group that bears some resemblance to our Anti-Defamation League, accused me, and by implication the Festival, of fostering anti-Semitic attitudes and speech, [charging] that in challenging Zionism …I am laying “collective guilt” upon the Jewish people and as such I am committing “the oldest form of Christian anti-Judaism." The reference to collective guilt is of course an allusion to the historic deicide charge, the assignment to the entire Jewish people, in perpetuity, responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus. The evocation of the deicide charge in this context is something that gets my blood boiling...(click on link above to read the entire post).
- [The Two State Illusion, Racism in Israel, and Jewish Hubris](https://markbraverman.org/2013/10/the-two-state-illusion-racism-in-israel-and-jewish-hubris/) - On October 16 The Christian Century published my review of Rashid Khalidi’s Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East. (Here is the text of the review). The fact that the Century reviewed Khalidi’s book is an indication of the media’s increasing willingness to present viewpoints that challenge the very basis of Israel as a Jewish ethnic nationalist entity. This shift reflects the reality that once you address present-day violations of Palestinian rights, you see that the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza was the continuation of the program of ethnic cleansing that began in 1948 and continues to this day with the annexation and carving up of the West Bank and the inhuman siege of Gaza. You begin to understand that the dispossession of the Palestinians was the inevitable outcome of the project to set up a state for the benefit of one people.
- [Passover Message](https://markbraverman.org/2014/04/passover-message/) - Dear Subscribers, My friend Robert Cohen in the UK has just sent out his Passover message. In it he writes: In our post-Holocaust, Israel-centred Jewish consciousness, the 'Every generation...' passage has continued to grow in significance, eating away at our moral sensibility. So much so, that we have difficulty understanding modern Jewish history and politics
- [Tent of Nations Orchard Destruction and Pentecost Reflections](https://markbraverman.org/2014/06/tent-of-nations-orchard-destruction-and-pentecost-reflections/) - Three weeks ago I boarded an Amtrak train in Portland bound for Seattle. I was on my way to meet up with my Palestinian brother and friend, Daoud Nassar, the farmer and peacemaker and owner of Tent of Nations, a 100-acre farm just south of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Most of you know about Daoud, have heard him speak or have even been among the close to 50,000 pilgrims who have visited Tent of Nations in the past decade -- 8,000 in 2013 alone. My trip to Seattle had been planned for some time, but now it had a particular urgency. The day before, in the early morning hours of Monday, May 19th, the Israeli army closed off the area around the farm to allow bulldozers to enter the fertile valley at the north end of the farm, with the mission of burying over 1500 productive fruit trees under piles of rubble.
- [BDS the End of Israel?  A Jewish and Presbyterian Response to Rabbi Marans](https://markbraverman.org/2014/06/bds-the-end-of-israel-a-jewish-and-presbyterian-response-to-rabbi-marans/) - Dear Subscribers, I'm off to the Presbyterian General Assembly today. This OpEd written by Rev Jeff Deyoe and me is the first in a number of pieces I'll be sending about the important vote the Presbyterians will be taking this week and the issues it raises. [intro note:] Things have been heating up in the
- [Gaza, 2014: Telling the Truth About Israel](https://markbraverman.org/2014/08/gaza-2014-telling-the-truth-about-israel/) - Telling the truth Five years ago I attended a conference in Boston entitled “One State for Palestine/Israel.” It was March 2009. Gaza was still smoldering from Operation Cast Lead, in which 1400 Palestinians were killed between December 27th and January 18th. Israeli historian and author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Ilan Pappe was one of
- [Footnotes in Gaza -- The Power of Memory](https://markbraverman.org/2014/08/footnotes-in-gaza-the-power-of-memory/) - My review of Joe Sacco's astonishing Footnotes in Gaza appeared in Commonweal Magazine in October, 2011. It was a powerful experience for me to turn to it again today. The brilliance of the book is how it takes us back to '48, then to the near unknown (outside of Gaza) events of '56, and how these
- [The Politics of Hope: One Jew’s Journey from Philadelphia, to Palestine, and Back](https://markbraverman.org/2015/06/the-politics-of-hope-one-jews-journey-from-philadelphia-to-palestine-and-back/) - When I was a boy in the 1950s attending Hebrew school in Philadelphia, once a year we received cardboard folders equipped with slots for dimes. The folders were distributed by the Jewish National Fund, a nonprofit corporation founded in 1901 by the World Zionist Organization to buy land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. On the
- [The German church and the Palestinian call:  A church challenged, Part 1](https://markbraverman.org/2015/06/germanys-shame-and-the-palestinians-call-for-justice/) - Four years ago I was in Stuttgart, Germany for my first speaking tour in that country. My book had been published in German with the title Fatal Shame: Israel’s Politics and the Silence of the Christians. Several church groups eager to bring a message supportive of the Palestinian cause to German audiences had organized my
- [The Uprooted and Unwanted: A Sermon for Yom Kippur](https://markbraverman.org/2015/09/the-uprooted-and-unwanted-a-sermon-for-yom-kippur/) - Rabbi Brant Rosen leads a newly-formed Jewish congregation, Tzedek Chicago, a congregation that pursues a "Judaism beyond nationalism...non-Zionist, openly acknowledging that the creation of an ethnic Jewish nation state in historic Palestine resulted in an injustice against its indigenous people – an injustice that continues to this day." Read Rosen's first Yom Kippur sermon, and
- [Peace for Israelis, Liberation for Palestinians:  Bringing the New Jerusalem](https://markbraverman.org/2016/05/peace-for-israelis-liberation-for-palestinians-bringing-the-new-jerusalem/) - I was in Santa Cruz, CA to speak at a conference organized by Friends of Sabeel North America, an ecumenical organization devoted to bringing the voice of Palestinian Christians to the United States, and to mobilizing the church to work for the liberation of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis both from the evil of apartheid in
- [No Blue Sky Between Republicans and Democrats on Israel](https://markbraverman.org/2016/07/no-blue-sky-between-republicans-and-democrats-on-israel/) - As we prepare watch the Democrats roll out their plan for America this week, it’s instructive to consider how the issue of Israel and the Palestinians plays out on the domestic policy stage. In a July 19th New York Daily News opinion piece “The GOP is playing a dangerous game with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” Rabbi

## Pages

- [About Mark](https://markbraverman.org/) - Jewish American Mark Braverman speaks about the need for Justice for the Palestinians as the only path to peace. History of Zionism and a call to activism.
- [Contact](https://markbraverman.org/contact/) - My email address is markbraverman48@gmail.com
- [Fatal Embrace](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/) - Jewish American Mark Braverman writes about the need for Justice for the Palestinians as the only path to peace. History of Zionism and a call to Christians.
- [Praise](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/praise/) - "This book is absolutely required reading for anyone concerned - as we all must be - in finding a way to peace in the Middle East. The book knowledgeably explores the religious elements which have created barriers to peace. It is richly informative and both even-handed and deeply committed." -- Harvey Cox, author of The
- [Book Details](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/book-details/) - Table of Contents Book Summary
- [Excerpts](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/excerpts/) - Introduction Chapter 3: Anti-Semitism, Jewish Identity, and the State of Israel Chapter 10: The Myth of Redemptive Violence
- [Study Guides](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/study-guide/) - Church Book Study Group Guide Click to download study guide. This is a Word document -- feel free to copy, edit, pull out whatever seems useful! This is -- we hope -- the first of many study guides that will be posted here. This one was created for a church book study group from Massachusetts.
- [Buy the Book](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/buy-the-book/) - Fatal Embrace is available through Barnes and Noble. com, Amazon.com, some Borders and Barnes and Noble stores, and several independent booksellers. Colleges and universities can order the book through their normal distributors. If your bookstore does not have it, ask for it and they will order it! You can also order the book at a
- [Reviews](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/reviews/)
- [Readers' Comments](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/readers-comments/) - This page is for readers to share their reactions to and thoughts about the book. Please Contact Us, and let me know if you have comments that we may publish in this space. Let me know if I can publish your name and location and please provide some information about you: title, current profession or
- [Table of Contents](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/book-details/table-of-contents/) - TABLE OF CONTENTS Part One: Breaking the Spell Chapter One: The Moment of Truth Chapter Two: My Journey Chapter Three: Anti-Semitism, Jewish Identity, and the State of Israel Chapter Four: A Movement of Hope and Desire Part Two: Beyond Atonement Chapter Five: Undoing the Damage: Post-Holocaust Christian Theology Chapter Six: Theological Urgency and the Promise
- [Book Summary](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/book-details/book-summary/) - BOOK SUMMARY Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land Mark Braverman Israel/Palestine is the longest-running problem on the world stage. The conflict pulls all who try to solve it into a quicksand of contradiction and enmity. A civil war has broken out between those Jews who staunchly defend the
- [Book Summary](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/book-details/168-2/) - BOOK SUMMARY Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land Mark Braverman Israel-Palestine is the longest-running problem on the world stage. The conflict pulls all who try to solve it into a quicksand of contradiction and enmity. A civil war has broken out between those American Jews who staunchly defend
- [Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Review by Hassan Fouda](https://markbraverman.org/fatal-embrace/reviews/washington-report-on-middle-east-peace-review-by-hassan-fouda/) - Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace In the Holy Land By Mark Braverman, Synergy Books, 2010, paperback, 416 pp. List: $16.95; AET: $14. Reviewed by Hassan Fouda THIS IS A BRILLIANT, thought-provoking and sorely needed book on the religious dimensions of Israel-Palestine. Braverman’s critique of other books on the topic is sharp,
- [Past Events](https://markbraverman.org/past-events/)
- [A Wall in Jerusalem](https://markbraverman.org/a-wall-in-jerusalem/) - While Israel was established as a safe haven for the Jewish people, the expansionist aims and the oppressive policies of Israel make the prospects for peace in the Holy Land recede further as the years go by. Why, then, have the majority of Americans unconditionally supported Israel’s policies, ignoring the human rights violations and thwarting
- [Buy the Book](https://markbraverman.org/a-wall-in-jerusalem/buy-the-book/) - You can order the book at a discount from the author directly. Just contact Mark Braverman at markbraverman48@gmail.com You may also order from Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon
- [Nassar Farm Orchard Destruction and Pentecost Reflections](https://markbraverman.org/blog/nassar-farm-orchard-destruction-and-pentecost-reflections/) - Dear Subscribers, Last week I boarded an Amtrak train in Portland for the scenic ride to Seattle. I went there for the purpose of meeting up with my brother and friend, Daoud Nassar, the Palestinian farmer, peacemaker and owner of Tent of Nations, a 100-acre farm just south of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Many,
- [Writing](https://markbraverman.org/writing/) - Jewish American Mark Braverman writes about the need for Justice for the Palestinians as the only path to peace. Essays on Zionism, anti-Semitism, and Christianity.
- [Selected sermons](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/) - Jewish American Mark Braverman on the need for Justice for the Palestinians as the path to peace. History of Zionism, anti-Semitism, and a call to Christians.
- [Bear Fruit Worthy of Repentance - 2nd Sunday of Advent, 2007](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/bear-fruit-worthy-of-repentance/) - Sermon offered on the Second Sunday of Advent December 9, 2007 Ravensworth Baptist Church, Annandale, Virginia Mark Braverman Advent. What does it mean? We celebrate an arrival, an event that changed the world. And in so doing, we willingly enter into a mystery. In believing, we suspend our disbelief. In marking a moment in time,
- [Is the Lord Not in Zion? Work to be Done in Our Days](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/is-the-lord-not-in-zion-work-to-be-done-in-our-days/) - Sermon Offered on November 4, 2007 First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, CT. Mark Braverman, Ph.D. It is so wonderful to be back at FCCOL. Again, I want to express my gratitude to David for inviting me to preach and to all of you for welcoming me back to Old Lyme. It is a great
- [The Elephant in the Room](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/the-elephant-in-the-room/) - Sermon for Second Sunday of Easter, March 30, 2008 St. Johns Episcopal Church of Georgetown Mark Braverman Acts 2:14a, 22-32 John 20:19-31 We’re all familiar with the metaphor of the elephant in the room. A group of people has gathered together – for a meeting, a social gathering, perhaps for worship. An elephant is standing
- [The Jewish People, Zionism, and the Question of Justice](https://markbraverman.org/writing/the-jewish-people-zionism-and-the-question-of-justice/) - When I was a boy in the 1950s attending Hebrew School in Philadelphia, we would receive little cardboard folders with slots for dimes distributed by the Jewish National Fund. On the cover was a picture of a tree being planted by handsome, tanned people in shorts. When the card was full, you sent it in
- [Zionism and Post-Holocaust Christian Theology: A Jewish Perspective](https://markbraverman.org/writing/zionism-and-post-holocaust-christian-theology-a-jewish-perspective/) - Analysis of the Israel–Palestine conflict tends to focus on politics and history. But other forces are at work, related to beliefs and feelings deeply embedded in Judeo-Christian tradition. The revisionist Christian theology that emerged following the Nazi Holocaust attempted to correct the legacy of Christian anti-Semitism. In the process it has fostered an unquestioning support
- [Making All Things New](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/making-all-things-new/) - Making All Things New Sermon Offered on Sunday, November 8, 2009 First Congregational Church of Old Lyme Mark Braverman Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 Psalm 127:1 Revelation 21:1-6a It’s wonderful to be back at FCCOL, which feels like home, and again I am so grateful for your welcome and your fellowship, and to David for again honoring
- [Essential Books](https://markbraverman.org/essential-books/) - I call these books "essential" because they have been important to me in my attempt understand what I have seen and in my search for connection with others who have confronted the situation and have felt compelled to investigate, to search within, and to write. Joel Kovel, Overcoming Zionism "Joel Kovel's uncompromising criticism of Zionism
- [God's Bounty -- First Sunday of Lent, 2/21/10](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/gods-bounty-first-sunday-of-lent-22110/) - God’s Bounty Sermon offered on First Sunday of Lent, February 21, 2010 St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle, Washington Mark Braverman Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Romans 10:8-11 Luke 19:37-40 It is so wonderful to be here with you this morning, at this beautiful service and in this beautiful place, which already feels like home after being part of
- [Watering the Tree: Sermon offered on Third Sunday in Lent, March 7, 2010](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/watering-the-tree-sermon-offered-on-third-sunday-in-lent-march-7-2010/) - Watering the Tree Sermon offered on Third Sunday in Lent, March 7, 2010 First Presbyterian Church of St. Anselmo Mark Braverman Exodus 3:1-15 Luke 13:1-9 It’s a joy to be in your midst and I want to thank Rev. Whitt for the honor of preaching from her pulpit. You know, as a Jew who grew
- [“A New Thing Springs Forth”- Fifth Sunday in Lent 3/21/10](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/a-new-thing-springs-forth-fifth-sunday-in-lent-32110/) - “A New Thing Springs Forth” Sermon for Fifth Sunday in Lent Wyoming Presbyterian Church Millburn, NJ March 21, 2010 Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4b-14 It’s a joy to be in your midst and I want to thank Lou for the honor of preaching from this pulpit. And as I stand here I want to
- [Links & Blogroll](https://markbraverman.org/links-blogroll/)
- [Sermon for Sunday October 17, 2010 Swarthmore Presbyterian Church Swarthmore, PA  “A New Covenant”](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/sermon-for-sunday-october-17-2010-swarthmore-presbyterian-church-swarthmore-pa-a-new-covenant/) - Sermon for Sunday October 17, 2010 Swarthmore Presbyterian Church Swarthmore, PA “A New Covenant” Mark Braverman Jeremiah 31:27-34 Genesis 32:22-31 Luke 18:1-8 It’s a joy to be in your midst and I want to thank Dick for the honor of preaching from his pulpit. You know, as a Jew who grew up in the synagogue,
- [Which Side are We On? The Persistent Widow.  Last Sunday of Pentecost, November 21, 2011](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/which-side-are-we-on/) - Sermon offered at St. John’s Episcopal Church Georgetown, Washington DC Last Sunday after Pentecost November 21, 2010 Mark Braverman Jeremiah 23:1-6 Luke 23:33-43 Good morning! It’s a joy and a privilege to be with you this morning, and I want to thank Father Albert for the honor of preaching from this pulpit. It’s an important Sunday,
- [Can These Bones Live? Day of Pentecost, Iona Abbey, Isle of Iona, Sunday, May 27, 2012](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/can-these-bones-live-day-of-pentecost-iona-abbey-isle-of-iona-sunday-may-27-2012/) - Can These Bones Live? Day of Pentecost Iona Abbey Sunday, May 27, 2012 Mark Braverman Acts 2:1-21 Ezekiel 37:1-14 It’s a joy to be in your midst and I want to thank the Iona community for the honor of preaching from this pulpit. You know, as a Jew who grew up in the synagogue, preaching
- [What is a Kairos Document?](https://markbraverman.org/writing/what-is-a-kairos-document/) - What is a Kairos Document? Presentation at Kairos for Global Justice Encounter Bethlehem, December 7, 2011 Mark Braverman I want to thank the conference organizers: Nora, Rifat and Yasmine, for the honor you have given me in inviting me to present on this topic. I come before you today as an American, fully aware of
- [The Moment of Grace and Opportunity: The Global Kairos Movement for Peace in the Holy Land](https://markbraverman.org/writing/the-moment-of-grace-and-opportunity-the-global-kairos-movement-for-peace-in-the-holy-land/) - By the mid-1980s the South African government was contemplating its own fall. The outlawed and exiled African National Congress was escalating the armed struggle. The townships seethed in the face of massive repression as the government desperately tried to hold on to power. World governments were joining the global movement to sanction the country economically
- [Review of Rashid Khalidi, Brokers of Deceit (The Christian Century, Oct 16 2013)](https://markbraverman.org/writing/review-of-rashid-khalidi-brokers-of-deceit-the-christian-century-oct-16-2013/) - Review of Rashid Khalidi, Brokers of Deceit
- [Sermon for Thursday in Easter Week  God is Breaking In - Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School April 24, 2014](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/sermon-for-thursday-in-easter-week-god-is-breaking-in-colgate-rochester-crozer-divinity-school-april-24-2014/) - Sermon for Thursday in Easter Week God is Breaking In Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School April 24, 2014 Luke 24:36b-48 It is an honor and joy to be here again in this place, with old friends and new. And in particular on this week, and in this season. Although I confess that I found the
- [Opening Graves -- Fifth Sunday of Advent 2008](https://markbraverman.org/sermons/opening-graves-fifth-sunday-of-advent-2008/) - Steve Hyde and Mark Braverman Ezekiel 37:1-14 Ravensworth Baptist Church John 11:1-45 March 9, 2008 Lent 5 OPENING GRAVES Steve: Mark, since the season of Lent is a time for penitence, I will begin with a confession. When we speak of the Judeo-Christian tradition, we are saying that as Christians, we are the offspring
- [Answer to Rosenfeld:  Jewish History, Anti-Semitism, and the Challenge of Zionism](https://markbraverman.org/writing/answer-to-rosenfeld-jewish-history-anti-semitism-and-the-challenge-of-zionism/) - Prologue: Memory and History When I was 8 years old my brother and I would occasionally stay at our grandparents’ house in South Philadelphia. South Philly in 1956 was an immigrant enclave – here lived primarily the Jews, the Irish, and the Italians. It was a bustling, colorful, tightly packed community. There were outdoor markets
- [Remarks at Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation: The Role of Faith in Bringing Peace to the Middle East](https://markbraverman.org/writing/remarks-for-panel-on-the-role-of-faith-in-bringing-peace-to-the-middle-east/) - 11th Annual meeting of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation October 24, 2009 Mark Braverman Thank you, Fr. McManus, and thanks to the organizers for inviting me to say some words on this important topic. I am pleased to be in the company of my friends Imam Hendi and Bishop Graham. Before I accepted the
- [Justice at the Gate: the Role of our Faith Traditions in Healing the Holy Land](https://markbraverman.org/writing/justice-at-the-gate-the-role-of-our-faith-traditions-in-healing-the-holy-land/) - Friends of Sabeel North America First Presbyterian Church of Cedar Falls Iowa October 8, 2009 Mark Braverman I am very pleased and blessed to be here with you tonight. The first thing I want to do is acknowledge that the reason I am standing here in this honored place is because our friend Pastor Fahed
- [Correspondence with Rabbi Isaac Yehuda](https://markbraverman.org/writing/correspondence-with-rabbi-isaac-yehuda/) - Telling stories through letters was once a popular form of literature. Although letter writing has become a lost art, email has come to take its place. Since my return from Israel/Palestine in 2006, I have had numerous email exchanges in response to my writing about my experiences. I find that they often provide the opportunity
- [Remarks at World Council of Churches launch of Kairos Statement](https://markbraverman.org/writing/remarks-at-world-council-of-churches-launch-of-kairos-statement/) - Remarks for the General meeting of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum in Bethlehem, December 11, 2009 Mark Braverman Note: this is an expanded version of brief remarks presented as part of an international and interfaith panel organized for the launch of the document entitled “A moment of truth: A word of faith and hope from
- [Video and More](https://markbraverman.org/media/) - Audio Listen to Mark Braverman's appearance on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview (5/17/2010): Listen to Mark Braverman's interview on the Palestine News Network, June 16, 2010: Video Watch Mark Braverman's book reading and lecture at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC on May 14 2010, broadcast on Cspan Booktv. Watch Keynote Address at Friends of Sabeel
- [Beyond interfaith reconciliation:  A New Paradigm for a Theology of Land.  Paper presented at theInternational Conference on “The People of God in Bible and Tradition”. Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology, The University of Balamand. May 26-29, 2010.](https://markbraverman.org/writing/beyond-interfaith-reconciliation-a-new-paradigm-for-a-theology-of-land-paper-presented-at-theinternational-conference-on-the-people-of-god-in-bible-and-tradition-saint-john-of-d/) - Mark Braverman -- Beyond interfaith reconciliation- A New Paradigm for a Theology of Land
- [Lectures and Appearances](https://markbraverman.org/events/) - Please join me for these upcoming events, or contact me to schedule an event in your area.
- [What's New Home Page Box](https://markbraverman.org/about-mark/whats-new-home-page-box/) - Read Reviews of A Wall in Jerusalem on Electronic Intifada and by British blogger Robert Cohen Read the Christian Century review of Rashid Khalidi's Brokers of Deceit. Watch Mark Braverman's book reading and lecture in Raleigh, NC on C-Span's Book TV from Friday, May 14 2010.
- [Ebook Download](https://markbraverman.org/about-mark/ebook-download/) - Congratulations! Your ebook purchase was a success. Click here to download. If you have any problems, please email technical support.
- [Links and Blogroll](https://markbraverman.org/links-and-blogroll/) - Kairos at Hand American follower of Jesus shares passionate and intelligent reflections on our present kairos time.
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- [Publications](https://markbraverman.org/publications/) - A Wall in Jerusalem: Hope, Healing, and the Struggle for Justice in Israel and Palestine Copyright: November 2013 Publisher: Jericho Books Summary: Violence in Israel and Palestine has become the norm. Do we even understand this conflict? Do we know where it comes from? Why can't the two sides reach agreement? Can Jews and Palestinians find

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