Mitri Raheb, Palestinian Arab and Christian pastor, is an accomplished theologian. Born in Bethlehem to a family whose roots in Palestine go back centuries, his life has been shaped by Israel’s harsh occupation. But his family’s faith—and that of his community—has had the greater effect.
As senior pastor, Raheb served Bethlehem’s Christmas Lutheran Church for thirty years. He is founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, and a founding member of Kairos Palestine—the broadest Christian movement in Palestine—and co-author of its 2009 document, A Moment of Truth.
Along the way, Raheb has authored over 40 books.
His most recent, Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, the People, the Bible (Orbis Books), is a provocative examination of how the Bible has been used to support Israel’s apartheid settler colonial regime. One doesn’t have to be a theologian to benefit from a reading of Decolonizing Palestine. It’s written for any who seek to understand the religious roots of settler colonialism and how Zionists—Jewish and Christian—use a presumed claim to the land of Palestine to further their own
— source mondoweiss.net | Jeff Wright | Aug 16, 2023