I have uploaded an album of pictures to facebook, so if you are interested in some of the visuals that go along with my story here thus far, feel free to check it out!
I want to reflect for a minute on words from the introduction of a book called "Water from the Rock: Lutheran Voices from Palestine" which the six of us were given during orientation. It is a compilation of short essays and one of the authors is Viola Raheb:
"Viola Raheb, then director of schools for the international Center of Bethlehem, was outspoken in 2001 when she told the ELCA assembly that U.S. Lutherans should not worry so much about whose side they are on in the Middle East. 'Instead, get on the side of those who are working for peace! They are Palestinians and Israelis, Christians, Jews, and Muslims,' she said." [emphasis added]
I have been struggling the past few days with what to write on this blog- how to share the things that I have seen and the questions I have been pondering. It is far more difficult than I had anticipated. When I traveled to Bangladesh and the Philippines- I wrote about the people, the poverty, the food, the culture- but in this country all of those things are intimately tied to the occupation of Palestine. Yesterday I visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum here in Jerusalem. It was an overwhelming experience in far too many ways- and I left with a lot to think about. I could not experience it the same way I would have before I came to Palestine. I wrote down a number of quotes from the museum that struck me- and I may share them at another time. For now, I share with you a poem that I found particularly moving. Below it is a press release from the World Council of Churches, which recently released a statement about the Israeli settlements. Please understand that this blog is meant to be pro-peace, and not about choosing sides, but also that my interaction will be largely with Palestinians and in conveying my daily life, it is their stories that will most often be presented here.
The Little Smuggler
Over the wall, through holes, and past the guard,
Through the wires, ruins and fences,
Plucky, hungry and determined
I sneak through, dart like a cat...
And if the hand of destiny
Should seize me in the game,
That's a common trick of life.
You, mother, do not wait up for me...
And only one request
Will stiffen my lips:
Who, mother mine, who
Will bring your bread tomorrow?
--Henryka Lazowert, 1910-1942, deported with her mother to Treblinka where both were killed
World Council of Churches news release, September 2:
The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee called on the Israeli government to freeze and begin to dismantle settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. It also encouraged a commitment to non-violence and peace negotiations, and reiterated the need for an international boycott of products and services from settlements.
In a public “Statement on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” passed today in Geneva, Switzerland, at the end of its 26 August – 2 September meeting, the WCC central committee called “upon the government of Israel to urgently implement an open-ended freeze in good-faith on all settlement construction and expansion as a first step towards the dismantlement of all settlements”.
The committee considered some 200 settlements with more than 450,000 settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories to be “illegal, unjust, incompatible with peace and antithetical to the legitimate interests of the state of Israel”.
Even as “Israel’s own right to exist in security evokes sympathy and solidarity around the world”, the committee states, “its policies of expansion and annexation generate dismay or hostility”. For the committee there is a clear distinction to be made “between the legitimate interests of the state of Israel and its illegal settlements”.
The central committee reiterated its call to WCC member churches “to accompany and encourage the commitment to non-violence and active engagement in peace negotiations”. It also invited “member churches and faithful to give moral and practical support to non-violent acts of resistance to the confiscation of land, the destruction of Palestinian properties and the eviction of people from their homes and lands”.
The statement “reiterates the need for an international boycott of settlement products and services”. WCC member churches “must not be complicit in illegal activities on occupied territory” and therefore should “practice morally responsible investment in order to influence businesses linked to the Israeli occupation and its illegal settlements”, the statement says.
The illegal settlements “and their corresponding infrastructure including the separation wall” have dire consequences on the life and dignity of Palestinian people, the WCC statement says.
Settlements deny Palestinians access to “land and water resources”, “restrict their freedom of movement, diminish their basic human dignity and, in many cases, their right to life”, impede their “right to education and access to health care”, and “destroy the Palestinian economy”. In these ways they increase “the sense of dispossession and despair”.
In addition to that, “illegal settlements in and around Jerusalem endanger the future of the holy city”, which “should be open to all and shared by the two peoples and the three religions”.
The WCC central committee calls on member churches to “pray for and assist people who are suffering” as a result of settlement activity and “hear the call of the churches of Jerusalem for concrete actions by the international ecumenical community toward a just peace for both Palestinians and Israelis”.
Full text of the “Statement on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=
1 comment:
Sat down with Uncle Kent tonight so he could catch on your blog (he hadn't read any yet) & we really enjoyed your pictures. We're seeing everything thru your eyes and words - Take care - we love you!
Uncle Kent & Aunt Lori
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