Dahab and Holocaust Remembrance Day

I should be writing about my trip to Egypt, but more timely topics beg me to comment. First is the sad news on the bombings in Egypt. Yesterday, terrorists attacked the tourist town of Dahab on the Sinai Coast of the Red Sea. It was the third bombing in the Sinai since 2004, and 18 people perished in the attacks along with dozens of others who were wounded. Dahab, as you may recall, is the place where I spent nearly a week just last month enjoying the beaches, restaurants, snorkeling, and my 21st birthday. At the time, I thought the area was safe. It had a small-town feel and the locals ran small businesses to keep the tourists happy. I ate at two of the restaurants mentioned in reports of the bombing (the Aladin and Al Capone cafeterias), regularly crossed the walking bridge where bombs were planted, and shopped for souvenirs in the bazaar that was targeted. Looking back on my trip to Dahab, the fact that it was chosen as a terror target makes perfect sense to me now. Most of the tourists there are European and the Dahab lifestyle is the epitome of pleasure that I imagine extreme Islam sees as the essence of Western corruption and extravagance. I’m greatly saddened by what took place in Dahab, and I pray for the area that terrorism has so terribly affected. At the same time, though, I’m thankful that God protected me during my own visit to the resort town. Some people I may have met have not been so lucky (my bus back to Israel on Sunday carried some who were on their way to Dahab). I won’t be traveling to Egypt anymore while I’m in the Middle East.

The second timely topic is today’s observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. The day is important especially here in Israel, where the Jewish state remembers the Nazi genocide with memorial services and a nation-wide moment of silence. As a visitor of German descent, I began to wonder about what I would have done had I been in Europe during the Holocaust. Would I have resisted the Nazi government and sought to protect the innocent? There were perhaps tens of thousands of Christian believers in Germany who did nothing to prevent the murder of some 6 million Jews. Can I assume that I would have been better than those silent Christians? I know myself, and I know that I am capable of serious sin and depravity. I don’t know if I would have been a “righteous Gentile.” I have no idea if I could have been a Dietrich Boenhoeffer, the rightly-esteemed pastor and theologian who participated in a plot against Hitler. Perhaps I would have seen Bonhoeffer as a misguided radical whose actions went against the biblical command to “submit to the authorities” (Rom. 13:1). If I could have been so blind like many Christians were so blind during WWII, I must ask myself, “What am I blind to today?” What am I turning my face away from that is breaking God’s heart? Am I ignoring atrocities and grotesque miscarriages of justice because I am afraid of action’s consequences? Am I scared to be a Dietrich Boenhoeffer because it may label me as a revolutionary? Or, am I seeking out God’s heart for justice and living a radical life for Christ in everything I do? These are some difficult questions that have challenged me today and that I pray will continue to confront me as long as I live.