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The photo exhibit in the lobby of the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill marks the annual observance of the “Nakba,” the 1948 mass deportation of Palestinians, massacres of civilians and the razing of hundreds of Palestinian villages following the creation of Israel. The exhibit, which is on display through Feb. 24, commemorates 60 years of the Nakba, or catastrophe, that has befallen the Palestinian people.

The very notion of a Nakba is disputed by some and, ironically, others continue to deny the reality of the Holocaust. These denials, however, do not change the facts: There was a Holocaust, and there was and is a Nakba.

There was a Holocaust, and there was and is a Nakba.

This exhibit, “Our Story: A Photo Exhibit Commemorating 60 Years of Dispossession,” reminds us of the reality of the Nakba. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were completely, deliberately destroyed by Israel. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have lived in refugee camps these many decades.

The exhibit does not negate the terrible suffering of the Jewish people over the ages. I would remind you that each and every exhibit need not be comprehensive and all encompassing. For example, to be authentic or complete an exhibit portraying the tragedy visited upon Native Americans by my people need not include a depiction of the centuries of autocratic rule in Europe experienced by my ancestors.

The exhibit opened in the wake of a horrible invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Defense Force in which hundreds of Palestinians died and thousands were wounded. And, despite a ceasefire, the violence continues.

The Feb. 3 New York Times reported that Palestinian militants fired two mortar shells at Israel from southern Gaza the day before. Israel responded with an air strike. An Israeli military spokesperson said the air strike was at members of the launching squad as they tried to flee in a vehicle.

At least one militant was killed and three others were wounded in the strike, according to news reports from Gaza. Their mortars fell in an open area of Israeli territory, causing no casualties.

Earlier in the week, though, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had signaled the air strike. He promised a “sharp” and “disproportionate” response to the continuing sporadic rocket and mortar fire.

The United Methodist Church desires a safe and secure Israel.

The United Methodist Church desires a safe and secure Israel. The only way to accomplish that is for a safe, secure, viable and contiguous Palestine to exist next to it. The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory must end, Israeli settlements on Palestinian land must be dismantled, the right of return must be addressed, and Jerusalem must be a shared city by all of the faiths that revere it.

Occupation never works anywhere, anytime. It never promotes peace, harmony and understanding, only bitterness and hatred.

We are friends of Israel and of Palestine, but we are not uncritical friends. Uncritical friends are not true friends.

I was invited to pray a “Christian prayer” at the opening reception of the “Our Story” photo exhibit, which is sponsored by the Washington Interfaith Allilance for Middle East Peace. I prayed as follows:

O God, grant us peace. Strengthen us as we stand for peace and justice. We come today, O God, amid the clamor of our nation’s capital, a noise to which we have grown accustomed, to see a new vision: one that moves beyond killing fields and tanks, one that recalls feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked and liberating the prisoners; a vision that embraces the least and last; a vision of generosity and open hearts.

In these moments of silence and dedication, O God, help us not only to catch the vision, but to forsake the ways of argument and anger, the ways of divisiveness and backbiting, of slander and arbitrariness. Bring us back to the vision of Jesus of Nazareth. Make us peacemakers and cheek-turners who possess enough humility and enough courage to stand for truth.

We pray in the name of all that is Holy. Amen.