When War Comes Again

A Webinar featuring Munther Isaac, Daoud Kuttab, and Salim Munayer on Iran, Palestine, Christian witness, and why violence never brings peace

Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice Webinar

Host: Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac | Speakers: Daoud Kuttab and Dr. Salim Munayer

Prepared from an automated transcript and edited for readability, names, and obvious transcription errors.

Editorial note. This document preserves the substance and flow of the webinar while correcting obvious transcription errors, standardizing names and punctuation, and marking a few uncertain phrases with “[unclear]” where the source transcript could not be confidently reconstructed.

Why this conversation is personal for us

Editorial note. For Andyew and Cari, this conversation is personal. Munther Isaac and Salim Munayer are not distant commentators, but Palestinian Christian voices they have come to know and deeply respect. Their witness, leadership, and lived experience have helped shape the wider work of peacemaking, theological reflection, and solidarity that Andrew and Cari care about deeply. That personal connection is part of why this conversation matters so much.

Standing with Munther Isaac and Salim Munayer

Brief Bios

Dr. Salim Munayer. A Palestinian Christian theologian and one of the most respected voices in the field of reconciliation and peacebuilding. Born and raised in Lydda, he is the founder of Musalaha and has devoted much of his life to exploring the relationship between theology, justice, reconciliation, and nonviolence.

Daoud Kuttab. An award-winning Palestinian journalist and leading media voice in the Middle East. He previously served as the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and has spent decades reporting on the political and human realities of the region.

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac. A Palestinian pastor, theologian, and public witness currently based in Ramallah. He serves as Director of the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice, a ministry of Bethlehem Bible College, and is widely known for helping the global church engage questions of justice, peacemaking, and theology in Palestine.

Transcript

Opening

Munther Isaac: So, friends, good afternoon or good evening, wherever you are watching us from.

Munther Isaac: My name is Munther Isaac. I’m a Palestinian pastor and theologian currently based in Ramallah, and I serve as Director of the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice, a ministry of Bethlehem Bible College.

Munther Isaac: We are hosting this webinar because, at the Institute, we desire to engage the global church on issues of justice and peacemaking, and to walk alongside our siblings in rejecting theologies of violence. This is something that has been central to us at Bethlehem Bible College for years, and now, through the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice, we want to continue embracing a Christ-centered, kingdom-oriented, and biblically rooted theology and practice.

Munther Isaac: This work is particularly important at this moment, as we witness politicians and state leaders weaponizing theology and invoking the name of Christ to win support for war and violence.

In war, there are no real winners. ~ Munther Isaac

Munther Isaac: We invite you to join our ministry and support our work. If you value what we do and the impact it can have, please consider partnering with us.

Munther Isaac: Please note that we want this briefing to be interactive. If you have questions or comments, please put them in the chat as you watch us on YouTube. Our team will be collecting those questions and sending them to me so that I can ask our guests and try to respond to as many as we can.

Munther Isaac: We are coming together in a very difficult moment for our region. As you all see, another war has broken out — this time between Israel and Iran, with the United States directly involved. It is a conflict that has already expanded beyond these borders, drawing in multiple actors and raising fears of an even wider regional escalation.

Munther Isaac: In moments like this, we feel overwhelmed. We ask ourselves: What should we think? How should we respond? And for many of us who are people of faith, another question is equally important: How do we pray?

Munther Isaac: Before I hear from our speakers today, I want to begin with a brief reflection that frames our conversation.

Munther Isaac: First, I want to begin with a simple but often forgotten truth: in war, there are no real winners. Everyone loses, especially the innocent — children, families, civilians — who did not choose this war. We must emphasize that every life is precious. Every life is equal. Israeli, Iranian, Palestinian, Lebanese, Jew, Muslim, Christian — every life is precious. The moment we begin to rank the value of human life, we lose our moral compass.

Munther Isaac: Second, war carries a staggering cost — not only in lives, but in resources. Today’s wars cost tens and hundreds of billions of dollars, money that could have been used to build schools, hospitals, and opportunities for millions. In this sense, war steals the future.

Munther Isaac: And of course, for those of us who are Christians, we need to look at the ethics of Jesus. The teachings of Jesus are clear: Blessed are the peacemakers. Many Christians still detach the ethics of Jesus from their own ethics. But Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers — not the warmakers. Jesus rejected violence, even when facing violence himself. He refused the sword. He chose the cross. He challenges us to think deeply about how we respond to violence and how we speak about war.

Munther Isaac: Especially in our region, history reminds us that the crises we face today did not begin yesterday. Other wars have ripple effects that continue to shape everything happening today. Wars did not work then, and they are not working now.

Munther Isaac: For us as Palestinians, this reality is deeply personal. This is yet another war: 1948, the Nakba; 1967; the intifadas; and of course the trauma is being deepened once again, especially in Gaza, where people have endured repeated wars, immense destruction, unimaginable human suffering — and now, recently, genocide.

Munther Isaac: So this is not just a detached discussion for us. It is profoundly human, moral, and spiritual. It touches the conscience of our world.

Munther Isaac: How do we speak about war? How do we speak about justice? For us in Palestine, I say this humbly, but I think it is important: at the heart of so much of our region’s instability lies the unresolved Palestinian question. A just and lasting peace must include dignity, equality, and human rights for Palestinians.

War steals the future. ~ Muther Isaac

Munther Isaac: Today, as we discuss what is happening, I am grateful to be joined by two respected voices — two voices I deeply and personally respect — who will help us reflect on what is happening and what it means for our region.

Munther Isaac: We are joined by Daoud Kuttab, speaking to us from Jordan. He is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and a leading voice in Middle Eastern media. He previously served as the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and is the publisher of Milhilard.org, a news site focused on Christians in Jordan and Palestine. His most recent book, State of Palestine NOW, has been published in several languages and reflects his decades of experience reporting on the realities of our region.

Munther Isaac: Our second speaker is Dr. Salim Munayer, joining us from Jerusalem — a theologian and one of the most respected voices in the field of peacemaking and reconciliation. Born and raised in Lydda, he is the founder of Musalaha, a ministry dedicated to reconciliation. Over many years, he has devoted his life to exploring the relationship between theology, justice, and reconciliation in our context.

Munther Isaac: Let me begin by turning to Daoud. Many people around the world are following the headlines and the news updates, but we all know that the reality on the ground often looks very different — especially when seen from the perspective of the people of the region, and different from how the media covers it.

Munther Isaac: So help us understand what is really happening right now from where you stand, and how we should understand the current moment — not only in terms of the military developments we are hearing about, but also the broader regional dynamics. And maybe begin by telling us: how are you doing? What is happening in Jordan? How is this war impacting you and Jordanians in general?

Blessed are the peacemakers—not the warmakers ~ Munther Isaac

Regional Situation and the Cost of War

Daoud Kuttab: Thank you. My wife and I were in Malta in the Mediterranean when the war began — literally just a few hours before our plane was supposed to return. It took us three more days and a lot more money to be able to come back. We are thankful to the Jordanian airline because they were able to fly us from Istanbul, down almost to Egypt, and then swing back to Amman to drop us off. So we were part of the tens of thousands of people whose plans were disrupted when this war began.

Daoud Kuttab: As to the situation on the ground, I can say what I know, but most of my information — other than what I directly experience where I live — comes from open sources. And we know that in times of war, truth is the first casualty.

Daoud Kuttab: Israel and the U.S. started the war, and one of the first things they did was what is called a decapitation strike — trying to cut off the heads of the Iranian government. They killed an 86-year-old religious and political supreme leader, who was not only important for Iran but is also a leader for the Shiite branch of Islam more broadly.

Daoud Kuttab: As I wrote recently in Al Jazeera, you can kill a lot of people, but sometimes whoever comes in their place might be the same as — or even worse than — the person you killed. Often, people in power are more willing to accept compromises, and those who come after them may not be.

Daoud Kuttab: We know that Ali Khamenei had issued a fatwa — a religious edict — against nuclear weapons. There were apparently talks progressing in Muscat and Geneva about reaching a new agreement, but those were disrupted by what I believe was an illegal and unprovoked war.

Daoud Kuttab: Most people around the world — certainly those who believe in a rights-based international order, and in the U.N. and the Security Council — understand that war should not be initiated without legal legitimacy, especially after World War II, when it was agreed that it is inadmissible to take land by force.

Daoud Kuttab: In terms of casualties, you may have heard that over a thousand Iranians have been killed, among them more than 150 girls in Iran. It’s not entirely clear exactly what happened, but some reports suggest that a girls’ sports school may have been near or housed some kind of military office. But that does not justify the killing of so many innocent people.

Daoud Kuttab: In Israel, too, a number of people have been killed. One Iranian missile hit a housing complex in the Gush Dan area, and a few others were killed. Some American soldiers were also killed. There is a lot of destruction happening.

Daoud Kuttab: The Israelis also began a second ground war in Lebanon. They have put troops on the ground in Lebanon, and they are currently trying to take over or bomb one of the most populated areas in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, where many Shia live. They sent orders telling people to get out before they bombed. People panicked. We saw them leaving their homes with basically the clothes on their backs, getting into cars or moving on bicycles. It caused enormous human suffering, and many of them probably will not return to their homes.

Daoud Kuttab: Economically, one of the most important passageways for oil and gas from the Gulf has been effectively shut down. The Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted. The Qataris, who are among the biggest producers of gas, have basically turned off extraction out of fear of being bombed. The same happened in Saudi Arabia with Aramco. The entire Gulf region has been shaken.

Daoud Kuttab: Most of the time, American bases in those countries have been hit, but some civilian locations were also struck. There are disputes about whether those civilian sites contained U.S. military personnel or not, but civilians and civilian buildings were hit. That has caused enormous anger and damage. Flights have been stopped. Tens of thousands of flights have been disrupted.

Daoud Kuttab: We are now, I think, in the sixth day or so of this war. President Trump has not made clear exactly what the goals are. Three different goals have been articulated: first, to get rid of Iran’s nuclear program; second, to eliminate its missile capability; and third, regime change.

Daoud Kuttab: Today Trump said he would stop the war if the Iranians surrender. Anyone who knows Iran — and religious or ideological states more generally — knows that surrender is not really in their vocabulary.

Munther Isaac: Yes. And the question of the end result is definitely an important one that maybe we’ll get to at the end, because we still do not know: how does this end?

Living Under Constant Threat

Munther Isaac: Turning now to Salim — again, you are in Jerusalem. You hear the sirens all the time. I hope nothing interrupts this conversation so you don’t have to leave. I just want to ask you: how are you dealing with this spiritually and mentally, not just on the personal level, but also as a faith leader who has dedicated his life in Jerusalem to reconciliation and peace?

Salim Munayer: No doubt there is fatigue. Since 2019, we have gone from one trauma to another trauma — Gaza, attacks on Christians, restrictions on Christians. The situation is getting worse and worse. So yes, there is fatigue. A lot of people here are tired. A lot of people are fearful and anxious. That is a major challenge.

Violence breeds violence. ~ Salim Munayer

Salim Munayer: There is also a physical challenge. Just a few days ago, one missile landed about 300 meters from our apartment. So it is not just hearing it. It is a reality we have to deal with all the time.

Salim Munayer: How do we deal with it? For many years, as Palestinian Christians, we have practiced lament. We lament the situation, the loss of life. We lament the choices leaders are making. But we do not only lament — we also need to be present. And presence means being with people who are suffering, across the board, without distinction.

Salim Munayer: There is theological lamentation. There is the daily spiritual life you cultivate. But there is also the practical side: what do you do each day? Every day, we try to keep the routine of life, to do something meaningful, to achieve something, to reach out to others — to keep ourselves sane.

Salim Munayer: There are many practices we have learned through the years. Spiritually, there is the whole concept of sumud — steadfastness. And as Palestinian Christians, that means: we will continue to live. We will continue to raise children. We will continue to worship. We will continue to build our homes. We will continue to preserve our culture and our identity. Our sons and daughters will continue to get married. And today, I played with my grandchildren. This is our victory in the midst of this oppressive situation.

We need the imagination of hope. ~ Salim Munayer

Munther Isaac: Thank you. I think it is important to highlight that, because even for us here in the West Bank, the war impacts us directly — closures, checkpoints, fear. We hear the bombs. We see everything. Some debris has even fallen here. And once again we are reminded of the trauma of war. But sumud — resilience — is such an important part of who we are.

War, Trauma, and Christian Ethics

Munther Isaac: Back to Daoud: some Christians think this is a good war. They are cheering it. All over social media and across the Middle East, people are showing images of evangelical pastors praising Trump, praying for the troops. We are hearing that this is a good war because it will get rid of an evil regime. Maybe it will bring freedom to Christians, or democracy to Iran. It’s a “good war.” How do we respond?

Daoud Kuttab: Jordan is deeply feeling the effects of this war. I interviewed an energy expert who said that Jordan may have no more than 30 days of supplies of gas and oil. Gas has become scarce, and the price of a gas bottle for cooking is already going up. Nobody knows whether it will still be available in a month or so.

Daoud Kuttab: We have sirens in Jordan as well. There are no shelters in Jordan. There are no shelters in the West Bank. Lebanese are literally sleeping on sidewalks today. Israelis have shelters. Most others in the region do not. Life is in total disarray. Tourism, which was only beginning to recover, has collapsed again.

Daoud Kuttab: I asked a theologian in my family this very question, and he said: “I am against any kind of war. Not just ‘unjust’ wars — I am against all wars.” Jesus Christ teaches that God created us all in the image of God. As Christians, we should never celebrate the taking of even a single life. That should be our attitude.

Daoud Kuttab: But yes, many Christians — especially many evangelicals — are caught in a situation where their faith is being distorted, where their following of Jesus is being manipulated by people who abuse the Bible and tell us they want to build the Third Temple.

Daoud Kuttab: The situation is dire. Christians are totally fed up with the way this war is being driven and justified using the Bible — the very Bible we believe in.

Daoud Kuttab: Thank God, some people are finally waking up and exposing Christian Zionism for what it is. Bethlehem Bible College has been doing this for years. Christ at the Checkpoint has been a leader in this effort.

Daoud Kuttab: Younger people are much more aware of what is happening. They are less willing to accept the justification of war, the genocide in Gaza, and the terrible situation in the West Bank. Churches have been attacked — in Gaza, in Jerusalem, and in Taybeh. Yet still, Christians come to the Holy Land and visit the Western Wall, but do not even visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or meet the local church.

Daoud Kuttab: As a Christian believer, I feel frustrated trying to explain our faith to people who assume that evangelicals as a whole are all pro-war. I have to say: no, these are people abusing our faith. But it is an uphill battle when the loudest megaphones belong to those doing the abusing.

Munther Isaac: Yes — by cheering these wars, people are not only making our lives difficult in general, but also making our lives difficult because we constantly have to defend our faith and say, “No, that does not represent us. That does not represent our faith.”

Can Violence Ever Bring Peace?

Munther Isaac: There is a theological issue here that needs deeper analysis: Can violence ever bring peace or stability? My instinct is that violence breeds violence. But why do we as Christians continue to resist letting our thinking be shaped by the ethics of Jesus, and instead use theories like just war theory, or cite Old Testament wars and say, “Sometimes war can be good”?

Salim Munayer: Violence breeds violence. It creates cycles in which more and more people are killed.

Salim Munayer: Jesus himself — and as Christians, we follow Jesus — refused the sword and chose the cross. Not because the cross is weakness, but because the sword brings more killing and prolongs the cycle of revenge and retaliation.

Salim Munayer: There are kings — as the prophet Samuel said, and as Romans 13 discusses — and their role is to administer order and justice. But kings are accountable to God. Their power is limited. In the end, God is the one who rules history.

The people of God are not meant to outsource the work of proclaiming the gospel to an army. ~ Salim Munayer

Salim Munayer: But power corrupts, and kings begin to see themselves as ultimate authorities. In order to justify themselves and achieve their goals, they choose violence. And really, it does not work.

Salim Munayer: As followers of Jesus, our role is to be salt and light and to participate in what God is doing. Second Corinthians 5 says that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God is reconciling the world to himself. There is a new creation, and we are called to participate with God in that act. Peace must become part of our active daily life.

Salim Munayer: If you look at our region, there have been peace agreements between Israel and Jordan, and Israel and Egypt, but there has not been reconciliation between the peoples. So even that “peace” still has a question mark over it.

Salim Munayer: Look at the last two decades in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and Sudan. Violence has destroyed people’s hope, their aspirations for peace, for self-determination, for dignity, and for equality. That is something we must face.

Salim Munayer: The idea that one ethnic or religious group is uniquely authorized to carry out God’s justice in history is false and extremely dangerous. What we have right now is a state, through military power, claiming to advance the kingdom of God. Jesus rejected that.

Salim Munayer: Jesus repeatedly said the kingdom of God comes differently — like a mustard seed, quietly, in another way. That is why we are alert and worried.

Salim Munayer: The people of God are not meant to outsource the work of proclaiming the gospel to an army. The people of God are the ones called to love, compassion, and service.

Justice, Oppression, and Nonviolence

Munther Isaac: I recently received a thoughtful message from an Iranian pastor who appreciated the moral clarity with which many Christians condemn war and affirm the value of human life. But he also raised a difficult concern: what outsiders now call “war” did not begin with recent military escalation. For many Iranians, it began decades ago with systematic repression, imprisonment of dissidents, executions, violent crackdowns on protests, and severe restrictions of basic freedoms.

Munther Isaac: So how should Christians think about situations where people are living under long-term, systematic oppression? If we are called as Christians to pursue peace, how do we also take seriously the cry of people who feel that every peaceful path to justice has been closed to them?

Salim Munayer: If, through the power of violence, you become like the one who abuses you, then you have become like them. You want to get rid of the oppressor, but by using violence you risk becoming the oppressor.

Salim Munayer: The problem is not passivity. It is not one or the other. It is not simply doing nothing, and then only violence remains. Rather, we must practice nonviolent resistance all the way in order to deal with structures of injustice.

Salim Munayer: The message of Christ is not only about liberating the oppressed. It is also redemptive toward the oppressor. What is our theology of love, care, and hope — not only for us, but also for the enemy?

Salim Munayer: The question is not only, What is my message to the oppressed? but also, What is my message of hope, compassion, and repentance to the oppressor? Because the minute you liberate yourself from one oppressor and then become an oppressor yourself, history repeats itself.

Fear of Another Failed Intervention

Munther Isaac: Watching what is happening in Iran, many of us feel a kind of déjà vu. We feel like we have watched this movie before. Each time, military intervention or violent escalation is presented as a path toward stability, security, or even liberation. Yet in many cases, the result is prolonged instability. Is this a legitimate fear — that this war will actually make things worse?

Daoud Kuttab: I think your fear is legitimate. We are certainly not supporters of any regime that oppresses its own people. We should seek justice, freedom, and equality for our brothers and sisters in Iran. But at the same time, we have to understand that supporting violence by one country against another without international legitimacy is often done for other motives.

Daoud Kuttab: In my opinion, this war is being used to keep one person in power — the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is facing serious charges and needs political survival. He has tried for years to get American presidents to agree to war with Iran, and finally he found one willing to do it.

Daoud Kuttab: So yes, I think your fear is legitimate. But we need to overcome fear with faith. We believe that God governs history, and that ultimately God will bring justice. We do not need Trump or Netanyahu to bring justice to our brothers and sisters in Iran. God will take care of that.

Munther Isaac: We have seen what Western — especially U.S. — intervention has done in our region. We would be fools to think we can keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.

Western Power and Orientalism

Salim Munayer: We should not forget that the present religious and political situation in Iran is itself, in part, the result of Western intervention in the past. What happened there historically matters.

Salim Munayer: We have to be careful not to adopt a racist or Orientalist approach to the Middle East — as though people in this region are always at war and need “the West” to come and fix them, to bring them peace. That approach is itself rooted in domination.

Salim Munayer: There is a hegemonic mindset here. Some Christians imagine that these powers are coming to liberate people, but as history shows, they often end up enslaving them.

Audience Questions

Munther Isaac: We’ve received many questions. One question is: How might this war with Iran relate to Israel’s efforts to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and intensify annexation?

Daoud Kuttab: It’s a very serious question. There is deep concern that creeping annexation will force more Palestinians to leave because they will feel they have no choice.

Daoud Kuttab: Palestinian Christians, over the years, have often left because they had more opportunities abroad through church networks and family ties. But certainly, annexation is a very serious issue. And with the world’s attention now on Iran, there is fear that Israel is moving ahead.

Munther Isaac: Another important question: What do you think about so many pastors gathering to pray over President Trump in the Oval Office?

Salim Munayer: We are commanded to pray for our leaders. But there is another Messiah. Our leaders are not our king. Jesus is our King.

Salim Munayer: Another aspect of Christian faith is the prophetic voice to power. My question to those pastors is: what prophetic word are they speaking to the powers in the White House? About mercy? About justice? About the kingdom of God? They should remember what the prophet Nathan said to David.

Munther Isaac: Another question: What about BDS? How do we hold our commitment to nonviolence and still pursue freedom for oppressed people? Does nonviolence work?

Daoud Kuttab: It works over time. I do not think anyone imagines that boycotting a few Israeli products will, overnight, change Israeli government policy. But it does work over time. We have to be patient, and we have to be willing to make sacrifices.

Daoud Kuttab: It takes much more courage to remain committed to nonviolence than to take up arms. Violence is easy in one sense: you can learn to shoot, you can be shot, and that’s it. But to remain steadfast, to go on hunger strikes, to accept suffering, even the possibility of being killed, and still refuse violence — that takes tremendous courage.

Daoud Kuttab: As Christians, we are commanded not to use violence. We are clearly called to seek justice through nonviolent ways of confronting oppressors — whether in Palestine, Gaza, Iran, or anywhere else.

Salim Munayer: And this is not only a matter of faith. There are political scientists — including Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan — whose research on grassroots nonviolent movements found that if you can mobilize about 3.5 percent of the population nonviolently, movements have historically had a strong record of success. The larger point is that disciplined, broad-based nonviolent struggle is often more effective than violent insurgency.

Munther Isaac: Speaking of Jesus’ commandments, one of them is not just nonviolence, but loving your enemies. So, Salim, how can I love my enemy when I see them committing genocide or carrying out oppression? What does that look like?

Salim Munayer: One of the key aspects of reconciliation is confrontation. A lot of people do not understand that.

Salim Munayer: Over 30-plus years, we have learned that reconciliation has two dimensions: one is the restoring of relationships, but the other is addressing the structures and systems of injustice. We need both.

Salim Munayer: One task is restoring the identity, dignity, and culture of the people who have experienced genocide. At the same time, the people who have committed these acts need to be confronted so that they can enter a process of repentance. If there is no healthy process of repentance and restoration, there will simply be another cycle of destruction and revenge.

Closing Reflections

Munther Isaac: That is our commitment at the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice: to promote a Christ-centered, kingdom-oriented, and biblically rooted theology of peace and justice.

Munther Isaac: We are deeply committed to the teachings of Jesus, even when that means having difficult conversations about loving the enemy, about nonviolence, about war and peace, and about our conviction — based on the teachings of Jesus, the Word of God, and also our reading of history — that violence never brings good results.

Munther Isaac: We need to continue warning the church against adopting the ways of empire, the ways of power, and the illusion that through those means we can bring peace.

Munther Isaac: What message are you giving to the world? And what message are you telling your families and your people — those who live in this difficult region and feel troubled, traumatized, and perhaps despairing?

Daoud Kuttab: When we were talking about BDS, I was reminded of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. I always appreciated that truth came before peace. Truth and justice are essential.

Daoud Kuttab: As a journalist who seeks the truth, I believe we all need to search hard for the truth, and make sure that we know it. And the truth will set us free.

Salim Munayer: One of the most important things is not to be ruled by fear. We should not become so fearful of death and suffering that fear controls us.

Salim Munayer: Suffering is part of spiritual character formation. It shapes our moral and ethical stance.

Salim Munayer: But in that context, we need reconciliation — not only sumud, not only resilience, but also reaching out to our neighbors.

Salim Munayer: And we need the imagination of hope. We must not lose that. We need what Walter Brueggemann called the prophetic imagination — the ability to imagine for our children and grandchildren that Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians, and Americans can live differently.

Salim Munayer: It has happened in the past. But we need to ask for the power of God to help us achieve that.

Munther Isaac: Truth that sets us free. Hope and imagination. Not losing our hope in the goodness and beauty of God to bring a better future.

Munther Isaac: Thank you both, and thank you to everyone who joined this conversation. Please continue to pray for our region, for the victims, for their loved ones, for protection for the innocent, and for God to give wisdom and conscience to leaders — to lead us to peace, to lead us into paths where we choose conversation and dialogue rather than destruction and war.

Munther Isaac: May we continue to pray and work together for a world free of violence, where the powerful do not enrich themselves by benefiting from the suffering of the poor. Thank you, and may God bless you.

Appendix: Erica Chenoweth, Maria J. Stephan, and the Case for Civil Resistance

Book note. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict was first published by Columbia University Press in 2011, with the paperback edition appearing in 2012. The book is co-authored by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan.

When Salim Munayer referenced Erica Chenoweth’s work, he was pointing to one of the most influential contemporary studies on the strategic power of nonviolent struggle: Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. Drawing on a comparative dataset of violent and nonviolent campaigns from 1900 to 2006, Chenoweth and Stephan argued that nonviolent resistance campaigns were more than twice as effective as violent ones in achieving their stated goals.

Their central claim is not merely moral, but strategic. Nonviolent movements often succeed because they can attract broader participation, generate tactical innovation, impose civic and economic disruption, and encourage defections from those who uphold the regime, including parts of the security forces. One of the book’s most important insights is the participation advantage of nonviolence: protests, strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience, and other forms of mass noncooperation lower the barriers to participation and allow ordinary people to join a movement in ways armed struggle often cannot.

This is the context for the often-cited “3.5 percent rule.” In later work, Chenoweth described this as an observational finding: historically, no government in the original dataset withstood a mass nonviolent challenge once roughly 3.5 percent of the population had mobilized at peak participation. But she has also warned against turning that number into a formula or guarantee. It is best understood as a descriptive rule of thumb rather than a magic threshold, and later work has identified important exceptions and cautions.

Even with those cautions, the larger finding still matters. Chenoweth’s work continues to suggest that disciplined, broad-based nonviolent resistance has generally outperformed violent struggle. At the same time, she also notes that nonviolent campaigns have faced new challenges in recent years as states have become more sophisticated in surveillance, repression, and disinformation. That does not make nonviolence irrelevant. It means that organization, training, strategic clarity, discipline, and resilience matter even more.

For Christians wrestling with occupation, repression, war, and the temptation to despair, this research is significant because it gives empirical support to a conviction many theologians and practitioners of peace have long held: nonviolence is not passive, naïve, or weak. It can be disciplined, costly, courageous, and strategically potent. In that sense, Chenoweth and Stephan’s work reinforces one of the central themes of this webinar: rejecting violence is not only a moral conviction rooted in the teachings of Jesus, but often the more effective path for building a just and lasting peace.

Selected references

Chenoweth, Erica, and Maria J. Stephan. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.

Chenoweth, Erica. “Questions, Answers, and Some Cautionary Updates Regarding the 3.5% Rule.” Carr Center Discussion Paper Series, Harvard Kennedy School, April 2020.