Wishing you a blessed Easter / Passover / Ramadan

Unfortunately these days are anything but peaceful.

It’s rare that the key holidays - in the literal sense of the word - of the three monotheistic religions should all fall at the same time. It tends to happen every 30 years or so that Christianity’s holiest day (yes, that’s Easter, not Christmas) overlaps with both Passover (Jesus’s Last Supper with his disciples is believed to have been a Passover Seder dinner) and the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan.

It should be a time of coming together over the common themes of faith, sacrifice and renewal. Often it is exactly that. I’m lucky to have close friends of Jewish and Muslim faith and I’ve had great exchanges over both our shared and our differing beliefs. As is usually the case, there is more in common between us than there is that divides us.

I have mixed feelings about this sign. I love its simplicity and core message, but fear it’s misleading regarding the complex reasons behind today’s conflicts in the Holy Land and beyond.

But this year, the rare overlapping of the holidays also coincides with a time of particular instability in what we call the Holy Land. There have been increasing raids and violence by Israeli Forces in the occupied Palestinian territories with scores of Palestinians killed. A deadly attack in Tel Aviv by an Israeli Arab that killed an Italian tourist. Rocket barrages into Israel and Israeli air attacks on Gaza and southern Lebanon. Historic demonstrations against the Israeli Government’s attempts to make key judicial changes. A peaceful time it isn’t.

Today’s newsletter is not an analysis of the latest developments. It’s not the day for it, though anyone who’s read my work knows I think the continuing illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories is the context needed to understand this conflict. There’s no point talking of the latest ‘clashes’ without explaining the root causes. And yes, I know it’s complicated.

Religious identity plays a part in tensions well beyond the Middle East. Passover commemorates the escape from Egypt where Jews were enslaved. The recent death of the last Nuremberg prosecutor reminds us that the horrors of the Holocaust are still within living memory. And there are warnings that anti-semitism is on the rise in Europe.

Meanwhile across the West, ever-growing Nationalist movements often twist Christianity to push a narrative and policies that are anything but Christian in nature. Not really what Jesus died on the cross for.

That’s why I’ve always had mixed feelings about the picture you see above, the one with CoeXisT written with Islam’s Crescent Moon, Judaism’s Star of David and Christianity’s Cross.

Of course the sentiment is a noble one. We should all try to be more tolerant of those who worship God in different ways. But so-called religious conflicts are rarely just about religion or not wanting to ‘co-exist’. They are about politics, identity, resources, fear and power.

It brings to mind a conversation I had years ago when I was reporting from the Middle East. I won’t go into details but it was with someone from a group which is defined as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government. He and I were talking about the different narratives around various conflicts and the role of religion, and he said something which stuck in my mind:

“The reasons for the conflict are political. But nothing radicalises quite like religion.”

Today billions of people of different faiths will be celebrating. I wish those of you among them a peaceful Easter, Passover or Ramadan. I have known religion be a great source of strength, solace, tolerance and empathy in those who believe, myself included. The fact it’s often twisted for political reasons should never detract from that.