He was born in Egypt, schooled in the Lebanon and raised in Iran Today, he says the region he knew is gone—and the truth behind its collapse is being ignored. This is a priest’s firsthand account and a powerful critique of Israel, Palestine, and the unresolved injustices fueling global conflict.
Sixty-one years ago, this Easter, my Texan Baptist Dad, a consummate adventurer, bought a Ford Cortina in London and drove it all the way to the south of Iran where we lived (as he was employed there as an oil company employee). As a boy of 12, I accompanied him from Switzerland and was dropped off at my Salesian school in Beirut.
After leaving Europe, crossing over in Istanbul, we drove across Turkey, then Syria and Lebanon. Then, dropping me off, he went through Jordan and Iraq as well before reaching the Iranian border. Can you imagine a lone American driving through those areas today?
This is the heart of the Middle East’s malaise: injustice unanswered.
Sadly my beloved Middle East where I was born, raised and formed towards priesthood has been reduced to a pitiful quagmire of failed states, financially desperate economies and/or victims of violence and Islamism. At the heart of this is the unresolved situation of the Arabs who were and are in the way of the foundation and expansion of Israel.
The 1917 Balfour declaration setting up a proposed Jewish homeland, warned that this dream could in no way prejudice the rights of both Christian and Muslim indigenous Arabs and this was further ensured by British, US and UN authorities up and beyond the foundation of Israel in 1948. One hundred years on and there is still no real political agreement for Palestinian Arabs as envisaged for decades as a “Two state solution” I would seriously argue that this is the at the very heart of the malaise of the Middle East. What Arab of either religion would not be outraged by such continual injustice and cruelty? This is at the core of Islamic terrorism as Arab nationalism (largely spearheaded by Arab Christians) failed to work and Muslims desperate for justice felt naturally that “Allah” was the only answer.
Recently it has been painful to hear Mr. Netanyahu boldly asserting before his American audience that Israel is the protector of minorities in the Region, especially Christians. What a lie! How many of us as pilgrims in the Holy Land have endured the ritual spit as we pass by Israelis? Armenian and Greek Orthodox Christians complain they are being squeezed out of their ancient places in Jerusalem. The continual Mass exodus of Arab Christians from all these countries (especially in Iraq most recently) never stops. Palestinian Christians emigrate to the very ends of the Earth (e.g. Australia, El Salvador, Chile) It was they who often were the political and educational elite and their eclipse have permitted the Israeli Regime and others to demonise Islam all over as terrorists, never allowing the question to be asked: From where did this hatred and fanaticism emanate!!
Without justice for Arabs, there will be no peace for anyone.
This has changed the entire world. In 1979, I was ordained a priest by the Archbishop of Isfahan of the Latins. In that very same year a ferocious revolution had broken out in Iran, forever altering the complexion of the Middle East and indeed the whole world. Could it have happened if there had been justice in Palestine? A big question! How tragic that we now see another war erupting over supposed Nuclear weapons in Iran. Has their existence ever been adequately demonstrated? Are we seeing a repeat performance of the invasion of Iraq (which Mr. Netanyahu promoted) on the basis of ‘weapons of mass destruction?’
In the last two years we have seen on our screens one of the most horrendous and barbaric suffering of our new Millenium. 70,000 dead and still counting, enforced starvation, imprisoned Gazans unable to leave(even for emergency medical reasons) have been described by the UN as a Genocide. As Trump said before his victory last year,
“Israel is winning the War but losing the World!”
As Professor John Mearsheimer states, the Israeli Lobby, which has largely controlled US and U.K. foreign policy since the time of Lyndon Johnson, is being gradually exposed -There is no justice for Arabs in Gaza or the occupied (UNs description) West Bank and the US has allowed the state of Israel to do anything and everything to crush the Arab movement for freedom with total impunity. Torture in Israel is not forbidden. When the truth comes out it will surely be as grisly as the German Nazi atrocities of two generations earlier.
The land of the Bible has become a battlefield of despair.
October 7th, 2023 (what an irony liturgically!). Why did Mr. Netanyahu ignore security warnings from British and Egyptian sources that something was cooking near the frontier? Why the delay of several hours before any response at all? The hypocrisy involved here knows no bounds! Hamas was bankrolled for years by US and Israel to divide and conquer. To separate Gazan Arabs from their counterparts in the West Bank was to erode any move towards the two state solution.
One hope in this sad equation is that in the protests around the World there are large numbers of Jews who feel betrayed and outraged by the action of Israel in their name. Prophetic voices like Dr Gabor Mate, a Holocaust survivor, who despite being a long time Zionist has said now he realises the terrible injustice against Palestinian Arabs. This sadly only has promoted the hateful spectre of anti semitism and Islamophobia manifested all over the world in the most violent of crimes.
As Catholic Christians we can never fall victim to the hateful response of Anti semitism! As Pope Pius XI said We are “spiritual semites!” Our Faith, our Tradition is built upon the foundations of the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms and the Temple Worship. Our Jewish brothers and sisters are vulnerable, like we are to the snare of secularism. The pitiful and shallow substitutes for authentic Catholic Christianity have proved disastrous! Similarly, many Jews feel that their religious faith is now often being subverted by the largely secular nationalism of Zionism whose founder Theodore Herzel was an Atheist.
We can but pray that ‘Right will prevail’ and justice can be achieved for Arabs so that Jews, Christians and Muslims can again share this land in peace!
Confounded with all this is the hysterical heresy of Christian Zionism so utilised by Mr Netanyahu as Christian fundamentalists excitedly see the State of Israel as fulfilling the prophecies of old concerning the Israel of God. Recently this has been condemned by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa with his Orthodox counterparts as harmful to Christians in the Holy Land.
As members of the “New Israel of God,” as St Paul calls the Church, we can feel so utterly helpless in the face of such awful violence which has destroyed the peace of the land of the Bible and blighted the entire world! We can but pray that ‘Right will prevail’ and justice can be achieved for Arabs so that Jews, Christians and Muslims can again share this land in peace!
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Fr. Christopher Basden, born in Egypt, schooled in the Lebanon and raised in Iran, was ordained for the Archdiocese of Southwark in 1979. For 24 years 1994-2018 he was Parish Priest of St Bede’s Clapham Park. Recently overcoming cancer, he is now retired from parish admin.
