How did the State of Israel come into being, and why does it
continue to enjoy such unwavering political, financial and
military support from Western countries, particularly the United
States? Written in the aftermath of the attack on Israel on 7
October 2023 and the devastating escalation that followed,
Lines in the Sand brings together three penetrating essays that
offer rare spiritual perspectives in the context of an historically
grounded examination of the seemingly intractable Israel–
Palestine conflict.
The opening essay revisits the formation of Israel, focusing on
the decisive role played by British and American elites. It studies
the democratic legitimacy of international decisions such as the
Balfour Declaration and the 1947 UN partition vote, explores
contested ideas of a ‘Jewish State’ and a ‘national home’, and
traces how imperial strategy, religious ideas and demographic
engineering shaped Palestine’s fate.
The second and third essays examine the deeper origins and
extraordinary influence of so-called ‘Christian Zionism’. Tracing
its roots from medieval proto-Protestant movements through
the Reformation to modern American fundamentalism, Terry
Boardman shows how apocalyptic theology, millenarian
expectations and dispensationalist beliefs evolved into a
powerful political force. He explains how this movement has
shaped US foreign policy, sustained massive military aid to
Israel, and helped determine events in the Middle East for more
than seven decades.
Informed by the work of Rudolf Steiner, these essays offer a
challenging account of how theology, empire and power
converged to shape one of the most enduring struggles of the
modern world.
