From the Desk of Warren Clark
A Turning Point
In recent days there have been significant developments in efforts to re-launch Israel-Palestinian peace talks that have been suspended since late 2008.
Last week envoys from the White House National Security Council and the office of Senator Mitchell traveled to Jerusalem and met with Israeli and Palestinian authorities. They received whatever assurances were needed from the two sides to permit Senator George Mitchell to return late in the week. After Mitchell met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Abbas, he reportedly issued them each invitations to start "proximity" talks in two weeks.
If talks start soon, as expected, this will be a significant accomplishment for Mitchell's quiet and persistent diplomacy. After false starts and months of negotiation, talks were almost launched in early March, only to be derailed by the Israeli announcement of plans for 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. While Netanyahu has said he will not rescind the building permits issued or promise to freeze all new construction in East Jerusalem, in fact no new permits have been issued. There is a de facto freeze on new construction in East Jerusalem, at least for now.
Direct talks will be needed eventually, but indirect talks were needed now to reassure the Palestinians, and they have some advantages. Direct talks took place on and off for 18 years while Israeli housing and infrastructure expanded into Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967. As a result Palestinians have insisted they would not enter into negotiations now as long as the housing expansion continues. Prime Minister Netanyahu was not willing (or able) to say he would freeze new construction in East Jerusalem. Indirect talks are a way to address Palestinian and Arab concerns by putting the U.S. in the middle. The U.S. will then be directly wedded to the negotiating process and in a position to make suggestions, help work around problems, and hold both sides accountable for answers to proposals.
Many tensions remain. The longer the de facto Israeli freeze remains on new Israeli housing in East Jerusalem, the greater the political pressure will build on Prime Mister Netanyahu from right wing parties in his coalition to allow construction to go ahead. The Mayor of Jerusalem keeps saying that new construction will go forward. Palestinians will remain under pressure from Arab states to cut off talks if new Israeli construction in East Jerusalem goes forward.
Eventually, a political realignment of the Israeli coalition government may be required for further progress. This might well require the exit of right wing parties from the present coalition and the addition of the Kadima party, headed by Tzipi Livni, currently the leader of the opposition in the Knesset. Livni has said she will only join or lead a government that is serious about negotiations leading to creation of a Palestinian state -- the two state solution.
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Churches for Middle East Peace
Email: info@cmep.org
Phone: 202-543-1222
Web: http://www.cmep.org/
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank to be catagorized as `infiltrators'
A message from the World Council of Churches' Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum, located at this website: http://www.oikoumene.org/programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/churches-in-the-middle-east/pief/news-events/alerts/pief-alert-thousands-of-palestinians-categorized-as-infiltrators.html
Dear friends,
We are writing to you on a matter of great urgency.
The Israeli military has issued an amendment to an order, effective as of 13 April 2010, that will categorize tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the West Bank as “infiltrators.” Their target is those who lack proper residence permits.
The order is a flagrant display of military arrogance and will reduce thousands of people to “illegal aliens” in their own homes. It will also confine Palestinians to their villages and further sever them from vital economic, health, education, and social centers. Palestinians found in contravention of the order could be subject to almost immediate deportation or jail terms of up to seven years.
Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, warned this Monday, 19 April 2010 that “two Israeli Defense Forces Military Orders may be in breach of the fourth Geneva Convention and violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”. [http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=9971&LangID=E]
He noted that “a wide range of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law could be linked to actions carried out by the Government of Israel under these Orders, with particular gravity in the event that young persons become victims of their application.” Israel is party to the fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country .... regardless of their motive.”
Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF - http://www.oikoumene.org/programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/churches-in-the-middle-east/pief/pief-home.html) joins Kairos Palestine (http://www.kairospalestine.ps/) in condemning this action and strongly supports their call to “churches worldwide to publically demand the revocation of the order”. In support of the Kairos Palestine initiative, PIEF asks churches and the wider international to:
- Write to relevant Israeli officials and denounce the military order and demand its immediate reversal;
- Inform the wider public in their different communities, networks and the media about these inhumane actions.
Please read the statement from Kairos Palestine - http://www.kairospalestine.ps/sites/default/Documents/Kairos%20statement%20on%20the%20new%20Israeli%20military%20order.doc - on the new military order which describes its provisions as well as the actions they suggest you may take. We urge you to act rapidly and demonstrate to Israeli authorities that the international community is alert to their arbitrary and inhumane actions.
Michel Nseir
Programme Executive
Public witness programme
Special focus on the Middle East
World Council of churches
Read more:
Israeli military orders “in breach of international human rights law,” warns UN Special Rapporteur (website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - OHCHR)http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=7821&rid=P_570&mid=2084&aC=2cd2e853&jumpurl=1
The Kairos Palestine statement "New Military Order “Infiltrates” Palestinian Rights" (Word)http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=7821&rid=P_570&mid=2084&aC=2cd2e853&jumpurl=3
More on the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF):http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=7821&rid=P_570&mid=2084&aC=2cd2e853&jumpurl=0
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Dear friends,
We are writing to you on a matter of great urgency.
The Israeli military has issued an amendment to an order, effective as of 13 April 2010, that will categorize tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the West Bank as “infiltrators.” Their target is those who lack proper residence permits.
The order is a flagrant display of military arrogance and will reduce thousands of people to “illegal aliens” in their own homes. It will also confine Palestinians to their villages and further sever them from vital economic, health, education, and social centers. Palestinians found in contravention of the order could be subject to almost immediate deportation or jail terms of up to seven years.
Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, warned this Monday, 19 April 2010 that “two Israeli Defense Forces Military Orders may be in breach of the fourth Geneva Convention and violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”. [http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=9971&LangID=E]
He noted that “a wide range of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law could be linked to actions carried out by the Government of Israel under these Orders, with particular gravity in the event that young persons become victims of their application.” Israel is party to the fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country .... regardless of their motive.”
Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF - http://www.oikoumene.org/programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/churches-in-the-middle-east/pief/pief-home.html) joins Kairos Palestine (http://www.kairospalestine.ps/) in condemning this action and strongly supports their call to “churches worldwide to publically demand the revocation of the order”. In support of the Kairos Palestine initiative, PIEF asks churches and the wider international to:
- Write to relevant Israeli officials and denounce the military order and demand its immediate reversal;
- Inform the wider public in their different communities, networks and the media about these inhumane actions.
Please read the statement from Kairos Palestine - http://www.kairospalestine.ps/sites/default/Documents/Kairos%20statement%20on%20the%20new%20Israeli%20military%20order.doc - on the new military order which describes its provisions as well as the actions they suggest you may take. We urge you to act rapidly and demonstrate to Israeli authorities that the international community is alert to their arbitrary and inhumane actions.
Michel Nseir
Programme Executive
Public witness programme
Special focus on the Middle East
World Council of churches
Read more:
Israeli military orders “in breach of international human rights law,” warns UN Special Rapporteur (website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - OHCHR)http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=7821&rid=P_570&mid=2084&aC=2cd2e853&jumpurl=1
The Kairos Palestine statement "New Military Order “Infiltrates” Palestinian Rights" (Word)http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=7821&rid=P_570&mid=2084&aC=2cd2e853&jumpurl=3
More on the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF):http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=7821&rid=P_570&mid=2084&aC=2cd2e853&jumpurl=0
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Struggle for Jerusalem, by CMEP's Warren Clark
The Struggle for Jerusalem, Churches for Middle East Peace newsletter
By Warren Clark, Executive Director
View the full newsletter: http://www.cmep.org/newsletter/march2010.pdf
March 2010
A New Ballgame
Efforts by the Obama administration to get Israel and the Palestinians started down the path to a negotiated agreement took a sudden and unforeseen shift in March. Earlier this year Senator Mitchell orchestrated a deliberate process to bring the two sides together in "proximity" talks in which Mitchell would shuttle between the two sides. President Obama was kept at a safe political distance. All this was suddenly disrupted March 9 during a visit to Israel by the Vice President by the announcement that 1,600 new Israeli housing units were to be built in East Jerusalem.
This action seemed to undercut the whole idea of holding negotiations to decide about issues that include borders and the status of Jerusalem. The Secretary of State questioned whether the Netanyahu government was sincere about seeking an agreement.
When the President met in Washington with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu he apparently asked directly for the suspension of further new housing construction in East Jerusalem as a way of getting talks started.
The direct involvement of the President in negotiations is a game changing event. Israel asserts it has a right to build housing in East Jerusalem, but that right was asserted unilaterally with the reluctant political acquiescence of the United States. Any tacit U.S. support for new construction evaporated in Washington on March 23 when Prime Minster Netanyahu and President Obama failed to agree on a way around U.S. opposition. It will be very hard now for the Prime Minister to bridge the differences between those in his coalition who insist on continuing expansion into Palestinian territories and the U.S. demand that new construction be suspended.
Jerusalem
Without Jerusalem there might not be a Palestinian conflict. It is not only the center of local political power but of course is part of the DNA of the three great Abrahamic faiths. The Old City and its holy places are deeply associated with Christian, Jewish and Muslim identity. Any real or perceived challenge to them can lead to violence. Right wing Christian groups sometimes threaten to replace Muslim holy places. Many believe Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount with armed escorts in September 2000 contributed to the beginning of the disastrous second intifada.
Prime Minister Netanyahu asserts that Jerusalem is the “undivided and eternal capital of Israel.” Palestinians, with backing from Arabs and Muslims worldwide, insist that East Jerusalem must be the capital of a Palestinian state.
These two positions are not necessarily incompatible. There are in fact several Jerusalems. There is the 10thCentury BCE “City of David” in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, and the 12th century crusader Jerusalem with walls that enclose the one kilometer square “Old City” with its holy sites. The modern municipal borders in 1967 were expanded by Israel to include not only the 2.7 square miles of Arab East Jerusalem but 24 square miles of land to the northeast that included 26 Palestinian villages and neighborhoods.
Read the full newsletter at this link: http://www.cmep.org/newsletter/march2010.pdf
Churches for Middle East Peace
Email: info@cmep.org
Phone: 202-543-1222
Web: http://www.cmep.org/
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
By Warren Clark, Executive Director
View the full newsletter: http://www.cmep.org/newsletter/march2010.pdf
March 2010
A New Ballgame
Efforts by the Obama administration to get Israel and the Palestinians started down the path to a negotiated agreement took a sudden and unforeseen shift in March. Earlier this year Senator Mitchell orchestrated a deliberate process to bring the two sides together in "proximity" talks in which Mitchell would shuttle between the two sides. President Obama was kept at a safe political distance. All this was suddenly disrupted March 9 during a visit to Israel by the Vice President by the announcement that 1,600 new Israeli housing units were to be built in East Jerusalem.
This action seemed to undercut the whole idea of holding negotiations to decide about issues that include borders and the status of Jerusalem. The Secretary of State questioned whether the Netanyahu government was sincere about seeking an agreement.
When the President met in Washington with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu he apparently asked directly for the suspension of further new housing construction in East Jerusalem as a way of getting talks started.
The direct involvement of the President in negotiations is a game changing event. Israel asserts it has a right to build housing in East Jerusalem, but that right was asserted unilaterally with the reluctant political acquiescence of the United States. Any tacit U.S. support for new construction evaporated in Washington on March 23 when Prime Minster Netanyahu and President Obama failed to agree on a way around U.S. opposition. It will be very hard now for the Prime Minister to bridge the differences between those in his coalition who insist on continuing expansion into Palestinian territories and the U.S. demand that new construction be suspended.
Jerusalem
Without Jerusalem there might not be a Palestinian conflict. It is not only the center of local political power but of course is part of the DNA of the three great Abrahamic faiths. The Old City and its holy places are deeply associated with Christian, Jewish and Muslim identity. Any real or perceived challenge to them can lead to violence. Right wing Christian groups sometimes threaten to replace Muslim holy places. Many believe Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount with armed escorts in September 2000 contributed to the beginning of the disastrous second intifada.
Prime Minister Netanyahu asserts that Jerusalem is the “undivided and eternal capital of Israel.” Palestinians, with backing from Arabs and Muslims worldwide, insist that East Jerusalem must be the capital of a Palestinian state.
These two positions are not necessarily incompatible. There are in fact several Jerusalems. There is the 10thCentury BCE “City of David” in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, and the 12th century crusader Jerusalem with walls that enclose the one kilometer square “Old City” with its holy sites. The modern municipal borders in 1967 were expanded by Israel to include not only the 2.7 square miles of Arab East Jerusalem but 24 square miles of land to the northeast that included 26 Palestinian villages and neighborhoods.
Read the full newsletter at this link: http://www.cmep.org/newsletter/march2010.pdf
Churches for Middle East Peace
Email: info@cmep.org
Phone: 202-543-1222
Web: http://www.cmep.org/
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Thursday, April 15, 2010
New order: Israeli army could deport thousands of Palestinians
This memo came through the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
New order could see Israeli army deport thousands of Palestinians.
Human rights groups have strongly rejected a new order defining thousands of West Bank Palestinians as "illegal" and "infiltrators." The orders potentially give Israeli military commanders the ability to deport to the Gaza Strip or Arab countries from which they originate, even if they entered the area legally and have lived there for many years. This could include thousands of Palestinians.
The orders, once they come into effect, essentially place thousands of Palestinians as well as foreign nationals at risk of criminal prosecution and deportation, without adequate legal review or appeal, should they fail to produce on request a permit issued by the military commander.
Given the sweeping and arbitrary nature of these orders, several organizations - including HaMoked, ACRI, Bimkom, B’Tselem, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Yesh Din, Adalah, Rabbis for Human Rights and Physicians for Human Rights - have formally called on the Minister of Defense to delay, as a matter of urgency, their entry into force.
You can find further information about the orders (including English translations) and their implications (including the joint NGO letter to the Minister of Defense) on Hamoked’s website at this link: http://hamoked.org.il/news_main_en.asp?id=904
According to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs:
Some court cases may be pending in the next few days to suspend implementation of the new law, the enforcement of which will likely be at checkpoints. The number of possible expulsions ranges from 70,000–125,000.
The new military order aimed at preventing “infiltration” into the West Bank will come into force this week; it puts under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts those who are likely to be targeted by the new order [i.e., those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip—people born in Gaza and their West Bank-born children—or those born in the West Bank or abroad who for various reasons lost their residency status and also foreign-born spouses of Palestinians].
The new order defines anyone who enters the West Bank illegally as an infiltrator, as well as “a person who is present in the area and does not lawfully hold a permit.” The order takes the original 1969 definition of infiltrator to the extreme, as the term originally applied only to those illegally staying in Israel after having passed through countries then classified as enemy states—Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria...The order’s language is both general and ambiguous, stipulating that the term infiltrator will also be applied to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, citizens of countries with which Israel has friendly ties (such as the United States) and Israeli citizens, whether Arab or Jewish. All this depends on the judgment of Israel Defense Forces commanders in the field.
Palestinian political groups Islamic Jihad, Fatah, PLO condemn the new military orders:
"Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Fatah Central Committee leader Nabil Sha’ath issued their own condemnations of the orders, with Erekat calling them “an assault on ordinary Palestinians, and an affront to the most fundamental principles of human rights,” and the tools of an “apartheid state.” See the article: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275630
Amira Hass writes in Ha'aretz:
"A new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years.
"When the order comes into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders liable to be severely punished.
"Given the security authorities’ actions over the past decade, the first Palestinians likely to be targeted under the new rules will be those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip - people born in Gaza and their West Bank-born children - or those born in the West Bank or abroad who for various reasons lost their residency status. Also likely to be targeted are foreign-born spouses of Palestinians.
"Until now, Israeli civil courts have occasionally prevented the expulsion of these three groups from the West Bank. The new order, however, puts them under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts." See the full article at this link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162075.html
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
New order could see Israeli army deport thousands of Palestinians.
Human rights groups have strongly rejected a new order defining thousands of West Bank Palestinians as "illegal" and "infiltrators." The orders potentially give Israeli military commanders the ability to deport to the Gaza Strip or Arab countries from which they originate, even if they entered the area legally and have lived there for many years. This could include thousands of Palestinians.
The orders, once they come into effect, essentially place thousands of Palestinians as well as foreign nationals at risk of criminal prosecution and deportation, without adequate legal review or appeal, should they fail to produce on request a permit issued by the military commander.
Given the sweeping and arbitrary nature of these orders, several organizations - including HaMoked, ACRI, Bimkom, B’Tselem, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Yesh Din, Adalah, Rabbis for Human Rights and Physicians for Human Rights - have formally called on the Minister of Defense to delay, as a matter of urgency, their entry into force.
You can find further information about the orders (including English translations) and their implications (including the joint NGO letter to the Minister of Defense) on Hamoked’s website at this link: http://hamoked.org.il/news_main_en.asp?id=904
According to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs:
Some court cases may be pending in the next few days to suspend implementation of the new law, the enforcement of which will likely be at checkpoints. The number of possible expulsions ranges from 70,000–125,000.
The new military order aimed at preventing “infiltration” into the West Bank will come into force this week; it puts under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts those who are likely to be targeted by the new order [i.e., those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip—people born in Gaza and their West Bank-born children—or those born in the West Bank or abroad who for various reasons lost their residency status and also foreign-born spouses of Palestinians].
The new order defines anyone who enters the West Bank illegally as an infiltrator, as well as “a person who is present in the area and does not lawfully hold a permit.” The order takes the original 1969 definition of infiltrator to the extreme, as the term originally applied only to those illegally staying in Israel after having passed through countries then classified as enemy states—Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria...The order’s language is both general and ambiguous, stipulating that the term infiltrator will also be applied to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, citizens of countries with which Israel has friendly ties (such as the United States) and Israeli citizens, whether Arab or Jewish. All this depends on the judgment of Israel Defense Forces commanders in the field.
Palestinian political groups Islamic Jihad, Fatah, PLO condemn the new military orders:
"Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Fatah Central Committee leader Nabil Sha’ath issued their own condemnations of the orders, with Erekat calling them “an assault on ordinary Palestinians, and an affront to the most fundamental principles of human rights,” and the tools of an “apartheid state.” See the article: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275630
Amira Hass writes in Ha'aretz:
"A new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years.
"When the order comes into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders liable to be severely punished.
"Given the security authorities’ actions over the past decade, the first Palestinians likely to be targeted under the new rules will be those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip - people born in Gaza and their West Bank-born children - or those born in the West Bank or abroad who for various reasons lost their residency status. Also likely to be targeted are foreign-born spouses of Palestinians.
"Until now, Israeli civil courts have occasionally prevented the expulsion of these three groups from the West Bank. The new order, however, puts them under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts." See the full article at this link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162075.html
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 12, 2010
Israeli settlers assaulted Ecumenical Accompaniers
East Jerusalem tension has hardened in Sheikh Jarrah.
Hardline Israeli settler youths assaulted three female Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) in Jerusalem on Monday, hurling rocks and bottles in an unprovoked attack. For the full report and links, go to http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4566/settlers-attack-eas-with.html
One accompanier in her sixties was bruised on the arm when one of the young men threw a fist-sized rock at her. The group of around eight young men approached the women, shouting obscenities and making rude gestures.
The EAs filmed the incident and it can be viewed on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPm1AQqF77M
On Tuesday last week, four of the settlers that appear in the video clip were banned for a month from Sheikh Jarrah. the Israeli courts gave two more families in Sheikh Jarrah a month's notice to leave their houses. This would bring the number of evicted families to five, including dozens of individuals, many of them children.
For much more about the tension and injustice in Sheikh Jarrah, see the United Nations OCHA website, "Special Focus : The Planning Crisis in East Jerusalem, April 2009" - http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_planning_crisis_east_jerusalem_april_2009_english.pdf
And from MIFTA, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, "In East Jerusalem, a Defining Battle Over Palestinian Ownership in Sheikh Jarrah" - http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=21710&CategoryId=5
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Hardline Israeli settler youths assaulted three female Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) in Jerusalem on Monday, hurling rocks and bottles in an unprovoked attack. For the full report and links, go to http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4566/settlers-attack-eas-with.html
One accompanier in her sixties was bruised on the arm when one of the young men threw a fist-sized rock at her. The group of around eight young men approached the women, shouting obscenities and making rude gestures.
The EAs filmed the incident and it can be viewed on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPm1AQqF77M
On Tuesday last week, four of the settlers that appear in the video clip were banned for a month from Sheikh Jarrah. the Israeli courts gave two more families in Sheikh Jarrah a month's notice to leave their houses. This would bring the number of evicted families to five, including dozens of individuals, many of them children.
For much more about the tension and injustice in Sheikh Jarrah, see the United Nations OCHA website, "Special Focus : The Planning Crisis in East Jerusalem, April 2009" - http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_planning_crisis_east_jerusalem_april_2009_english.pdf
And from MIFTA, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, "In East Jerusalem, a Defining Battle Over Palestinian Ownership in Sheikh Jarrah" - http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=21710&CategoryId=5
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 5, 2010
EAPPI Easter greeting: Kairos Palestine a message of hope
A message of hope in a time of suffering
"We see a determination among many to overcome the resentments of the past and to be ready for reconciliation once justice has been restored." A Moment of Truth - the Palestine Kairos Document, 3.3.4 [http://www.kairospalestine.ps/]
Greetings from Jerusalem.
Here in the holy city of the three Abrahamic faiths, Palestinian Christians and international pilgrims are joining with their brethren from around the world to celebrate Holy Week. Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar, reminding us of God's love, the value of forgiveness and the hope of redemption.
For Palestinians this is also a time of sadness as they witness the occupation eating up the land and further restricting their rights. Palestinian Christians, after hundreds of years of celebrating their most significant annual festival in Jerusalem, are being denied freedom of worship this Easter as the Israeli grip on the city tightens - http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4834/holy-land-christians-resp.html
Yet in response to the call for "loving resistance" in the Palestine Kairos document issued in December last year, Palm Sunday witnessed an extraordinary celebration in Bethlehem.
A group of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, holding palm branches, simply walked through the main checkpoint in the Wall cutting Bethlehem off from Jerusalem. Soldiers at the checkpoint were caught off guard and the demonstration managed to move right past them. Several activists were later arrested.
EAPPI saw it all. Click here to read the story in full - http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4834/defying-the-wall-palm-su.html
...or here to watch a video of it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1uBMnPBFCQ
A message from Jerusalem's Christians
As Easter draws close, Christians in the Holy Land have been encouraged to persevere in their faith. Thirteen Heads of Churches in Jerusalem issued an Easter message of hope and encouragement, acknowledging that the Church "faces struggles here in this land."
"We know the power of God to bring hope out of despair," they said. "We know the power of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to use forgiveness and love to conquer evil. We know the power of the forgiveness of sins to redeem relationships in families and among the family of nations."
Meanwhile, the liberation theology centre Sabeel issued a prayer for peace with justice.
"In this Easter season, pilgrims from around the world come to Jerusalem to mark the death and celebrate the resurrection of Christ. We pray that the people visiting this land will remember the powerful message of love and nonviolence demonstrated by Jesus," it said.
The Sabeel statement also welcomed the 35th group of Ecumenical Accompaniers who began their service on Palm Sunday.
Easter updates from EAPPI
EAPPI’s main website is http://www.eappi.org/, but our sending organizations also run EAPPI blogs in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States [http://www.eappi-us.org/].
EAPPI has now launched a Youtube service [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4diCDyZ-1I] with a video on house demolitions in Jerusalem.
In Hebron, an Ecumenical Accompanier was able to grab a few minutes for an exclusive interview with veteran Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FlUyHr5fWU].
Channel 4's recent documentary on the children of Gaza is also worth watching [http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2010/03/dispatches-children-of-gaza-2010.html].
And as always, the EAPPI website offers you the latest human stories from the ground. Recent Eyewitness reports include the story of a PLO militant turned non-violent activist, how West Bank checkpoints are being privatized, and the tale of a Bedouin community surviving in the
South Hebron Hills - just.
Read all of this and more at http://www.eappi.org/.
An Easter Prayer
During this Holy Week, together with all Christians throughout the world, we pray that Jesus, crucified and risen, will give hope to all who live in fear; and to nourish with His eternal bread those who hunger for freedom, justice and peace.
EAPPI wishes you and yours a happy and blessed Easter/Pesach.
Sign up to instant updates from EAPPI at www.twitter.com/eappi and join our Facebook Group at http://bit.ly/eappi-facebook or by searching for “EAPPI”.
"We see a determination among many to overcome the resentments of the past and to be ready for reconciliation once justice has been restored." A Moment of Truth - the Palestine Kairos Document, 3.3.4 [http://www.kairospalestine.ps/]
Greetings from Jerusalem.
Here in the holy city of the three Abrahamic faiths, Palestinian Christians and international pilgrims are joining with their brethren from around the world to celebrate Holy Week. Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar, reminding us of God's love, the value of forgiveness and the hope of redemption.
For Palestinians this is also a time of sadness as they witness the occupation eating up the land and further restricting their rights. Palestinian Christians, after hundreds of years of celebrating their most significant annual festival in Jerusalem, are being denied freedom of worship this Easter as the Israeli grip on the city tightens - http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4834/holy-land-christians-resp.html
Yet in response to the call for "loving resistance" in the Palestine Kairos document issued in December last year, Palm Sunday witnessed an extraordinary celebration in Bethlehem.
A group of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, holding palm branches, simply walked through the main checkpoint in the Wall cutting Bethlehem off from Jerusalem. Soldiers at the checkpoint were caught off guard and the demonstration managed to move right past them. Several activists were later arrested.
EAPPI saw it all. Click here to read the story in full - http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4834/defying-the-wall-palm-su.html
...or here to watch a video of it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1uBMnPBFCQ
A message from Jerusalem's Christians
As Easter draws close, Christians in the Holy Land have been encouraged to persevere in their faith. Thirteen Heads of Churches in Jerusalem issued an Easter message of hope and encouragement, acknowledging that the Church "faces struggles here in this land."
"We know the power of God to bring hope out of despair," they said. "We know the power of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to use forgiveness and love to conquer evil. We know the power of the forgiveness of sins to redeem relationships in families and among the family of nations."
Meanwhile, the liberation theology centre Sabeel issued a prayer for peace with justice.
"In this Easter season, pilgrims from around the world come to Jerusalem to mark the death and celebrate the resurrection of Christ. We pray that the people visiting this land will remember the powerful message of love and nonviolence demonstrated by Jesus," it said.
The Sabeel statement also welcomed the 35th group of Ecumenical Accompaniers who began their service on Palm Sunday.
Easter updates from EAPPI
EAPPI’s main website is http://www.eappi.org/, but our sending organizations also run EAPPI blogs in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States [http://www.eappi-us.org/].
EAPPI has now launched a Youtube service [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4diCDyZ-1I] with a video on house demolitions in Jerusalem.
In Hebron, an Ecumenical Accompanier was able to grab a few minutes for an exclusive interview with veteran Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FlUyHr5fWU].
Channel 4's recent documentary on the children of Gaza is also worth watching [http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2010/03/dispatches-children-of-gaza-2010.html].
And as always, the EAPPI website offers you the latest human stories from the ground. Recent Eyewitness reports include the story of a PLO militant turned non-violent activist, how West Bank checkpoints are being privatized, and the tale of a Bedouin community surviving in the
South Hebron Hills - just.
Read all of this and more at http://www.eappi.org/.
An Easter Prayer
During this Holy Week, together with all Christians throughout the world, we pray that Jesus, crucified and risen, will give hope to all who live in fear; and to nourish with His eternal bread those who hunger for freedom, justice and peace.
EAPPI wishes you and yours a happy and blessed Easter/Pesach.
Sign up to instant updates from EAPPI at www.twitter.com/eappi and join our Facebook Group at http://bit.ly/eappi-facebook or by searching for “EAPPI”.
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: http://www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
Friday, April 2, 2010
Defying the Wall on Palm Sunday
Defying the Wall on Palm Sunday... posted by Ecumenical Accompaniers in Bethlehem - http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/wwppi/blog-its-time-to-speak-out.html
Defying the Wall on Palm Sunday...
Echoing Jesus’ ride through into Jerusalem about two thousand years ago, crowds of people waving palm branches accompanied riders on a pony and two donkeys through a checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem on Sunday, the Christian festival of Palm Sunday.The march began with a small group at Manger Square in central Bethlehem. As the crowd, accompanied by music and carrying signs or Palestinian flags, moved through the town, more and more people joined until it numbered about 150 Palestinians, Israeli activists, journalists and internationals.
The march was to protest the limitations placed upon Palestinians - Christians and Muslims - to travel to Jerusalem for worship at the holy sites in the city.The march was supposed to have stopped at the checkpoint, but once the group reached the checkpoint gate for vehicles, approximately 100 protesters made their way through the gate. Apparently the security guards were unprepared: they were far too few to be able to stop the demonstrators who managed to walk through the second gate and on to the road to downtown Jerusalem, still being led by the donkey and the horse.
About a hundered meters down the road, the Israeli police realized what had happened and blocked the way. The demonstrators stopped, although they easily could have marched on as there were only a few police officers on the scene.
In response, the checkpoint was closed for all vehicles and foot traffic attempting to enter Jerusalem. According to Ma’an News eleven Palestinians have been detained; four Israeli activists and one international person were detained and later released [http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=272622].
The following day, Checkpoint 300 - the main Bethlehem checkpoint - remained completely closed. All of the checkpoints along the security barrier were only open to a limited number of people (international citizens, school children and Palestinians with specific work permits, worship permits or medical permits) for the Jewish holiday of Pesach.
However, the Bethlehem checkpoint remained closed to all Jerusalem-bound traffic, foot and vehicle. Those with humanitarian concerns or who want to enter Jerusalem for worship must attempt to cross at an alternate checkpoint. There is no word yet about when the Bethlehem checkpoint will reopen. Those who want to go to the Holy City of Jerusalem for the Christian worship services during Holy Week may be forced to travel further and longer.
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com
Defying the Wall on Palm Sunday...
Echoing Jesus’ ride through into Jerusalem about two thousand years ago, crowds of people waving palm branches accompanied riders on a pony and two donkeys through a checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem on Sunday, the Christian festival of Palm Sunday.The march began with a small group at Manger Square in central Bethlehem. As the crowd, accompanied by music and carrying signs or Palestinian flags, moved through the town, more and more people joined until it numbered about 150 Palestinians, Israeli activists, journalists and internationals.
The march was to protest the limitations placed upon Palestinians - Christians and Muslims - to travel to Jerusalem for worship at the holy sites in the city.The march was supposed to have stopped at the checkpoint, but once the group reached the checkpoint gate for vehicles, approximately 100 protesters made their way through the gate. Apparently the security guards were unprepared: they were far too few to be able to stop the demonstrators who managed to walk through the second gate and on to the road to downtown Jerusalem, still being led by the donkey and the horse.
About a hundered meters down the road, the Israeli police realized what had happened and blocked the way. The demonstrators stopped, although they easily could have marched on as there were only a few police officers on the scene.
In response, the checkpoint was closed for all vehicles and foot traffic attempting to enter Jerusalem. According to Ma’an News eleven Palestinians have been detained; four Israeli activists and one international person were detained and later released [http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=272622].
The following day, Checkpoint 300 - the main Bethlehem checkpoint - remained completely closed. All of the checkpoints along the security barrier were only open to a limited number of people (international citizens, school children and Palestinians with specific work permits, worship permits or medical permits) for the Jewish holiday of Pesach.
However, the Bethlehem checkpoint remained closed to all Jerusalem-bound traffic, foot and vehicle. Those with humanitarian concerns or who want to enter Jerusalem for worship must attempt to cross at an alternate checkpoint. There is no word yet about when the Bethlehem checkpoint will reopen. Those who want to go to the Holy City of Jerusalem for the Christian worship services during Holy Week may be forced to travel further and longer.
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, sign up at the blog A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace: www.voicesforpeace.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Lutheran Bishop Younan, Easter 2010: `He has taken my hopelessness away'
Bishop Munib Younan's Easter message for 2010 is provided here. For more about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, explore the church's website: http://www.elcjhl.org/
He has taken my hopelessness away
Easter message 2010
John 20:1-18
Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL)
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ:
Is there anyone on earth who hasn’t experienced a loss of hope? This experience is so common to humanity that I’m sure we all know the signs: tears, lack of energy, confused thinking, fear, withdrawal. So we can easily imagine how Mary Magdalene was feeling that day as she went to Jesus’ tomb. She had seen her Lord and Savior, Jesus, crucified on the cross just days before. She went to the garden, prepared to anoint the lifeless body of her beloved Master with spices. But when she arrived, she didn’t even have the comfort of performing this traditional ritual. Jesus’ body was gone.
"They have taken my Lord away," she cried. Her Lord – who represented her hope for this life and the next – was gone. She ran to tell the disciples, who ran to the tomb and confirmed the awful truth – Jesus’ body was gone. They believed Mary’s words when they saw his grave clothes lying where his body should have been. And then, the text says, they went home, hopeless.
But Mary stayed – perhaps to lament, perhaps to solve the mystery. There’s no way to know what went on inside her broken heart and tormented mind. Standing outside the empty tomb crying, she looked inside again, as though to convince herself of the sad reality. This time, there were two angels inside. “Why are you crying?” they asked her. Again, a man she did not recognize asks her, “Why are you crying?”
She answers with the same words she said to the disciples: “They have taken my Lord away.” And her tears, her demeanor and her body confirm, “They have taken my hope away.”
Jerusalem, as the site of the resurrection, should be the city of hope. But many people here, Israeli and Palestinian alike, find it easy to relate to Mary’s sadness. We feel there is no hope. We cry. We lack energy. We don’t think clearly. We are afraid. We withdraw into our territories, our political positions, our arguments and opinions, and lock the door. Extremists try to justify their erroneous positions with holy writings, which threatens to turn the political situation into a religious war. The demolished houses, the ruins of the peace process, the bloodshed, the mistrust, the violence, the fear, the hate, the military action make us see our circumstances as a frightening, dark tomb. We are like Mary, standing at the empty tomb saying, “They have taken my Lord away. They have taken our hope away. And we do not know where they put it.”
Where do we find hope when all seems hopeless? Martin Luther finds it in the very act that brings us into the Christian family: “Through baptism, we are restored to a life of hope, or rather to a hope of life.” Baptized into life in Christ, our hope comes from our resurrected Lord, who sustains and renews our hope, enabling us to endure difficulties, vulnerability and weakness. And he not only implants this hope in us but commissions us to carry it to all. This is why we in Jerusalem continue to shout out the message of the early church: the resurrection of Christ is our sole hope in this world. This has been our message for 2,000 years, and will continue to be our message until Christ returns. For the living Christ will never allow our hope to fade away, for he is a God of hope and wants us to be messengers of hope.
I experienced this deeply this past January at the general assembly of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC) in Beirut, Lebanon. I had gone seeking a word of hope – and I received it, as I listened to the testimonies of our sisters and brothers in Christ in Sudan, in Iran, Iraq and other countries in the Middle East. To me, it seemed as though the risen Lord was commissioning us for a new mission; that, like Mary, we are to revive hope in our fellow disciples by reminding them that “the Lord is risen”; that, like St. Paul admonishes, we are to strengthen our sisters and brothers in need.
Likewise, my sisters and brothers of FMEEC wanted a word of hope from Jerusalem. I told them how the evangelical message of grace was having an impact in the Middle East. I told them about how we were dialoguing with interfaith partners to bring justice to our region. I told them how the risen Lord gives me hope even in a hopeless situation.
Their asking me for hope made a deep impression on me. Isn’t this exactly what our Lord intended – that our communion is deep and mutual? In God’s family, there is no majority or minority, rich or poor, big or small. We’re not divided into “the hopeful” and “the hopeless” – we all may experience both simultaneously. As one who experienced hopelessness, Jesus’ resurrection gives hope that is not cheap but expensive, not lip service but genuine. The Lord commissions us all – not to bemoan our relative disadvantages but in all things to spread hope with our words, prayers, solidarity and help.
When Mary’s hope was restored by meeting the risen Lord, did she become silent or hide herself away? Quite the opposite! In her hope, she found a new mission –the mission to proclaim this hope to the disciples and, perhaps, many more people. We can relate to this, can’t we? For those who have experienced hope after hopelessness cannot keep the hope under a bushel basket, but must go and proclaim to the world that “Christ is risen!” This is the foundation of our hope. This we share with everyone who wants to hear. So, the resurrection commissions us to be proclaimers of hope.
Likewise, we in the ELCHJL feel we have an important mission in our society. Like Mary, we stay in this land dying for peace and justice. As Jesus called Mary as his apostle of the resurrection, so we Palestinian Christians are called as apostles of hope despite our struggle, despite our hopelessness. Our congregations, schools and centers play an important role in providing hope and developing Palestinian society. Our parishioners’ daily struggle to maintain a Palestinian Christian witness in this land is an encouragement to our many partners and friends all over the world. Our efforts at building bridges between Palestinians and Israelis prepares us to live together peacefully after a political settlement is reached. Our dialogue with Muslims and Jews inspires other Christians to cross borders to build peace in this broken world. As St. Paul says of Jesus, “In his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (Ephesians 2:14b).
The resurrection calls us Palestinian Christians, given our current circumstances and our steadfast hope in the victory of life, a special call to impart hope where hopelessness exists in the world. We can encourage persecuted Christians in Asia and Africa; advocate for innocent civilians in war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq; stand up for oppressed minorities like Dalits in India; share our resources with countries like Haiti destroyed by earth quakes. We can facilitate reconciliation between majority and minority populations of Bangladesh, Central America, Burma and Turkey. We can teach people who fear unfamiliar cultures, religions and political realties about celebrating diversity. We can welcome refugees, migrants and trafficked people from among the poor and disempowered around the world. We can share with others the hope that comes from dialogue.
Surely everyone in this justice-deficient land, Israeli and Palestinian alike, longs for the day when they will hear words of peace like those found in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
As long as I believe in the risen Christ, despair will never overcome my hope; hopelessness will never overcome my trust in the living Lord. He is commissioning us, like Mary, to go and tell the world that he is risen. And, like Mary, I must not look for hope in a tomb. For Jesus is not there – he is out in the midst of life, beckoning us to follow him in his mission for peace in our beloved country. No, our Lord is not in the tomb, but he is with all of us who long for and work for justice, forgiveness and reconciliation.
May this hope, which began in Jerusalem with the risen Lord and continues in us today, inspire you to boldly say with us and all believers:
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Al Masih Qam! Haqan Qam!
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL)
PO Box 14076, Muristan Road
Jerusalem, Israel 91140
+972-2-626-6800
email: administration@elcjhl.org
website: www.elcjhl.org
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, go the the blog: A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace, www.blogspot.voicesforpeace.com
He has taken my hopelessness away
Easter message 2010
John 20:1-18
Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL)
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ:
Is there anyone on earth who hasn’t experienced a loss of hope? This experience is so common to humanity that I’m sure we all know the signs: tears, lack of energy, confused thinking, fear, withdrawal. So we can easily imagine how Mary Magdalene was feeling that day as she went to Jesus’ tomb. She had seen her Lord and Savior, Jesus, crucified on the cross just days before. She went to the garden, prepared to anoint the lifeless body of her beloved Master with spices. But when she arrived, she didn’t even have the comfort of performing this traditional ritual. Jesus’ body was gone.
"They have taken my Lord away," she cried. Her Lord – who represented her hope for this life and the next – was gone. She ran to tell the disciples, who ran to the tomb and confirmed the awful truth – Jesus’ body was gone. They believed Mary’s words when they saw his grave clothes lying where his body should have been. And then, the text says, they went home, hopeless.
But Mary stayed – perhaps to lament, perhaps to solve the mystery. There’s no way to know what went on inside her broken heart and tormented mind. Standing outside the empty tomb crying, she looked inside again, as though to convince herself of the sad reality. This time, there were two angels inside. “Why are you crying?” they asked her. Again, a man she did not recognize asks her, “Why are you crying?”
She answers with the same words she said to the disciples: “They have taken my Lord away.” And her tears, her demeanor and her body confirm, “They have taken my hope away.”
Jerusalem, as the site of the resurrection, should be the city of hope. But many people here, Israeli and Palestinian alike, find it easy to relate to Mary’s sadness. We feel there is no hope. We cry. We lack energy. We don’t think clearly. We are afraid. We withdraw into our territories, our political positions, our arguments and opinions, and lock the door. Extremists try to justify their erroneous positions with holy writings, which threatens to turn the political situation into a religious war. The demolished houses, the ruins of the peace process, the bloodshed, the mistrust, the violence, the fear, the hate, the military action make us see our circumstances as a frightening, dark tomb. We are like Mary, standing at the empty tomb saying, “They have taken my Lord away. They have taken our hope away. And we do not know where they put it.”
Where do we find hope when all seems hopeless? Martin Luther finds it in the very act that brings us into the Christian family: “Through baptism, we are restored to a life of hope, or rather to a hope of life.” Baptized into life in Christ, our hope comes from our resurrected Lord, who sustains and renews our hope, enabling us to endure difficulties, vulnerability and weakness. And he not only implants this hope in us but commissions us to carry it to all. This is why we in Jerusalem continue to shout out the message of the early church: the resurrection of Christ is our sole hope in this world. This has been our message for 2,000 years, and will continue to be our message until Christ returns. For the living Christ will never allow our hope to fade away, for he is a God of hope and wants us to be messengers of hope.
I experienced this deeply this past January at the general assembly of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC) in Beirut, Lebanon. I had gone seeking a word of hope – and I received it, as I listened to the testimonies of our sisters and brothers in Christ in Sudan, in Iran, Iraq and other countries in the Middle East. To me, it seemed as though the risen Lord was commissioning us for a new mission; that, like Mary, we are to revive hope in our fellow disciples by reminding them that “the Lord is risen”; that, like St. Paul admonishes, we are to strengthen our sisters and brothers in need.
Likewise, my sisters and brothers of FMEEC wanted a word of hope from Jerusalem. I told them how the evangelical message of grace was having an impact in the Middle East. I told them about how we were dialoguing with interfaith partners to bring justice to our region. I told them how the risen Lord gives me hope even in a hopeless situation.
Their asking me for hope made a deep impression on me. Isn’t this exactly what our Lord intended – that our communion is deep and mutual? In God’s family, there is no majority or minority, rich or poor, big or small. We’re not divided into “the hopeful” and “the hopeless” – we all may experience both simultaneously. As one who experienced hopelessness, Jesus’ resurrection gives hope that is not cheap but expensive, not lip service but genuine. The Lord commissions us all – not to bemoan our relative disadvantages but in all things to spread hope with our words, prayers, solidarity and help.
When Mary’s hope was restored by meeting the risen Lord, did she become silent or hide herself away? Quite the opposite! In her hope, she found a new mission –the mission to proclaim this hope to the disciples and, perhaps, many more people. We can relate to this, can’t we? For those who have experienced hope after hopelessness cannot keep the hope under a bushel basket, but must go and proclaim to the world that “Christ is risen!” This is the foundation of our hope. This we share with everyone who wants to hear. So, the resurrection commissions us to be proclaimers of hope.
Likewise, we in the ELCHJL feel we have an important mission in our society. Like Mary, we stay in this land dying for peace and justice. As Jesus called Mary as his apostle of the resurrection, so we Palestinian Christians are called as apostles of hope despite our struggle, despite our hopelessness. Our congregations, schools and centers play an important role in providing hope and developing Palestinian society. Our parishioners’ daily struggle to maintain a Palestinian Christian witness in this land is an encouragement to our many partners and friends all over the world. Our efforts at building bridges between Palestinians and Israelis prepares us to live together peacefully after a political settlement is reached. Our dialogue with Muslims and Jews inspires other Christians to cross borders to build peace in this broken world. As St. Paul says of Jesus, “In his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (Ephesians 2:14b).
The resurrection calls us Palestinian Christians, given our current circumstances and our steadfast hope in the victory of life, a special call to impart hope where hopelessness exists in the world. We can encourage persecuted Christians in Asia and Africa; advocate for innocent civilians in war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq; stand up for oppressed minorities like Dalits in India; share our resources with countries like Haiti destroyed by earth quakes. We can facilitate reconciliation between majority and minority populations of Bangladesh, Central America, Burma and Turkey. We can teach people who fear unfamiliar cultures, religions and political realties about celebrating diversity. We can welcome refugees, migrants and trafficked people from among the poor and disempowered around the world. We can share with others the hope that comes from dialogue.
Surely everyone in this justice-deficient land, Israeli and Palestinian alike, longs for the day when they will hear words of peace like those found in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
As long as I believe in the risen Christ, despair will never overcome my hope; hopelessness will never overcome my trust in the living Lord. He is commissioning us, like Mary, to go and tell the world that he is risen. And, like Mary, I must not look for hope in a tomb. For Jesus is not there – he is out in the midst of life, beckoning us to follow him in his mission for peace in our beloved country. No, our Lord is not in the tomb, but he is with all of us who long for and work for justice, forgiveness and reconciliation.
May this hope, which began in Jerusalem with the risen Lord and continues in us today, inspire you to boldly say with us and all believers:
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Al Masih Qam! Haqan Qam!
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL)
PO Box 14076, Muristan Road
Jerusalem, Israel 91140
+972-2-626-6800
email: administration@elcjhl.org
website: www.elcjhl.org
--- --- ---
To receive regular bulletins from Ann Hafften, go the the blog: A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Peace, www.blogspot.voicesforpeace.com
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