Young Friends of Sabeel

5th Annual Sabeel International Young Adult Conference

2010-02-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

The Sabeel Young Adult Conference is coming up! If you're interested, or have friends who might be interested, let us know and apply soon! Below is a copy of our flyer and an article published in the winter Cornerstone on the conferences.

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The Sabeel International Young Adult Conferences

A pilgrimage, loosely defined, is a journey to some form of holy place. Every year, everyday, Christian pilgrims come in droves to Israel and Palestine to visit what they call the holy land. Most of them, having grown up hearing about these places from stories and scripture, focus their minds and bodies on the place itself: the Nativity Church, the Wailing Wall, the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Of course, as a Christian organization, we at Sabeel certainly understand the value of visiting holy sites, but for us, the emphasis of a pilgrimage is a little different.

Here, we like to focus on the journey itself. Not the actual trip overseas, or over land, but the journey, the self-conscious struggle that one must go through to really see the special nature of this place. This journey is not purely spiritual, and not merely physical. It is an individual and collective transformation, one that results only from an active engagement with a place through the people in it.

Over the years, we have developed a conference for a small group of young adult Christians which aims to engage that pilgrimage experience at several levels. In a two week trip, participants spend each day traveling to different parts of Israel and Palestine, immersing themselves in religion and culture through discussions, lectures, barbecues, community volunteering, cultural activities and contextual tours.

We’ve been holding youth conferences for four years, integrating members of our local Palestinian Christian and Arab Israeli community with a number of international participants. In the past we’ve had participants come from Sweden, South Korea, Scotland, The United States, The U.K., The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Norway, Holland, Denmark and India. Both in Palestine and abroad, our participants come from all kinds of religious, economic, and social backgrounds, but they are usually interested and active in their faith as well as the cause of Palestinians. We often have, but are not limited to, seminarians, university students, journalists, social workers, clergy members, and social activists.

Each year our conference is slightly different because of the ever-changing socio-political situation here and because of the different people we have participating, but there is always a core program that we emphasize with every group. We have many goals for the conferences but most fundamentally we are attempting to offer an alternative pilgrimage opportunity to young adults; one that emphasizes people and the human relationship with land and holy sites rather than simply the things in themselves. For us it is a way of presenting the political realities of the region through a discourse that emphasizes equality and justice -- for Palestinians and Israelis -- rather than sovereignty and control. Not wanting to simply tell people what is going on and what to think about it, we try to let them see and decide for themselves through discussion, reflection, and personal involvement with the issues at hand.

We hope that over the course of our two weeks together, we will have helped prepare our participants with some of the tools, experiences, and relationships that have proved useful to us—so that when they return home, they will be able to serve as active and critical advocates for justice and peace in their own local communities.

This year, we are working hard to make the young adult conference better than ever. We are recruiting new participants and sponsors everyday, so if you or someone you know is interested in joining us in 2010, please fill out an application from our website and send it to youth@sabeel.org!

Liberation Theologian Father Miguel d'Escoto, Outgoing UN General Assembly President, Discuss the UN and Palestine

2009-10-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

Watch Father Miguel d'Escoto, Nicaraguan liberation theologian and outgoing UN General Assembly president, discuss the United Nations and Palestine with The Real News Network:

"The things that make for peace": Reflection by Timothy Seidel from the Electronic Intifada

2009-10-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

The following is a reflection by Timothy Seidel which originally appeared in The Electronic Intifada on October 11, 2009:

"The Things that Make for Peace"

A Palm Sunday procession on the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem,
April 2006. (Inbal Rose/MaanImages)

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." Luke 19:41-42

Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem is the name of a church and a site of pilgrimage for many Christian travelers to the "Holy Land." Literally, Dominus Flevit means "the Lord wept" in Latin and is remembered as the site where Jesus stopped to look out over Jerusalem to weep and ask this striking question to all who would follow him.

An unavoidable question: Do we recognize the things that make for peace? Are they right in front of us, hidden from our eyes?

The language of peace often surrounds us. In a place like Palestine, the language of peace gets thrown around on a regular basis. One can see it when surveying the expanding colonization of the occupied West Bank in recent decades, in particular during those times of "peace" process. Or when one passes through an Israeli military checkpoint and is greeted with "shalom" -- the Hebrew word for peace. And one also encounters it on the International Day of Prayer for Peace, where Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike gather to resist the daily violence they experience through prayer and protest.

When I read a text such as this one from Luke's gospel, I cannot help but feel like Jesus is speaking directly to me, to us. Indeed, these words are a challenge to all of us who would make use of the language of peace.

This is a subversive text. And it reminds me of a story about what the language of peace in Palestine-Israel looks like, a story from Hedy Sawadsky, a relief worker with the Mennonite Central Committee in the Middle East in the 1960s who was challenged by a Palestinian woman: "what you're doing here is fine, but it is only band-aid work ... go home and work for peace and get at the root causes of evil and war."

Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. Matthew 7:3-5

Since my return from Palestine, I cannot help but see the linkages to the work of peace and justice here in the US. Just as that Palestinian woman told Hedy, the root causes are too often rooted here.

I continue to struggle with not being cynical about the situation in Palestine and in Gaza in particular. It is not a healthy place for me to be, spiritually or emotionally. But the Gaza Strip is a heart-breaking catastrophe in so many ways and the people there have been suffering for so long. It makes me think about the ways that we in the US are irrelevant -- in the sense that it is less about what we need to do and more about what we need to stop doing. In other words, honestly looking at the ways in which we, the US, have made Gaza into a prison: through our tax dollars, our US military aid to Israel, which includes the military hardware used in Gaza, our US veto power that obstructs United Nations Security Council responses, or our US media representations of Gaza and Palestinians that too often dehumanize.

Honesty in our self-reflection should lead us to confession and repentance of our own histories of violence and injustice on this continent. I once heard quoted a Native American who argued that the best way for people from the US to address the terrible conflict in Palestine-Israel is to deal more seriously with our own history of colonization, dispossession and displacement and work for justice for the indigenous peoples in the US. This would not only address a serious and ongoing historical sin but in the process more effectively help our Palestinian and Israeli brothers and sisters suffering in that broken land. This manner of systemic analysis recognizes that work for justice in Gaza should be part of the work for justice everywhere.

This has led me to seek a "thicker" definition of peace, one that emerges out of a deeper, more systemic analysis of violence and injustice. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about these linkages, particularly in naming the connections between racism, poverty (classism) and war (militarism). Or put another way, recognizing that our work at anti-imperialism abroad must be complemented by our anti-racism and anti-oppression work at home.

Identifying the historical trends of colonization, dispossession and displacement in a place such as the Middle East, how might an accompanying peace issue look like in our communities? How might we identify these linkages? I would argue that immigration is such an issue, an issue all-too-invisible, or at least invisible to some. In fact, wherever you may be right now you would likely not have to look too far to uncover the plight of undocumented neighbors and discover opportunities to recognize "the things that make for peace" particularly as it relates to the biblical call to welcome the stranger (Lev. 19:33-34; Eph. 2:17-20).

Newcomers to the United States continue to encounter an unwelcoming hostility shaped by racism and xenophobia. They are too often met with suspicion, intimidation, isolation, militarized borders, raids and migratory documentation backlogs. In recent years, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) conducted some of the largest workplace raids in the history of the United States, causing fear, separating and terrorizing families, and disrupting entire communities and the lives of immigrants and US citizens. The ongoing construction of the US-Mexico border wall materializes this anti-immigrant sentiment. There are an estimated 12 to 16 million persons in the US with undocumented immigrant status. And the US immigration system continues to be dysfunctional, lacking programs for guest workers and increasing documentation backlogs, and proposing futile programs that do not address the root causes of immigration.

In this context, many Christian communities continue to be ambivalent about how it should respond to immigrants, and in its majority the church remains uneducated on the political, economic and social issues that cause immigration. For example, when coming to the United States individuals are looking for economic opportunities, means for survival for themselves and their families, and fleeing the dire situations that their countries are facing -- many of which are directly connected to foreign policies of the United States, including trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that could be understood to lead to the "colonization" of local economies resulting in a displacement that dispossesses whole communities and uproots persons. The economies of neighboring countries, such as Mexico, have been seriously affected by trade policies that promote economic disparity and dependence.

A genuine peace that speaks to all of these forms of violence and injustice is our challenge. This takes us beyond the all-too-familiar and omnipresent language of peace, recognizing that what is required is more than a word. More than holding another peace summit that provides the opportunity for another high profile photo-op. More than another gathering around a peace agency or a peace church.

Indeed, peace in its deepest, thickest, most holistic form always challenges the status quo that maintains the structures of violence that benefit the powerful and privileged. And so, a "thicker" definition of peace requires a thicker, more systemic analysis and approach to peace, accompanied by engaged and engaging theological reflection.

And this is one of the ways that we can engage this issue -- seeking a thicker definition of peace through biblical and theological reflection that is life-giving. Challenging nationalistic and chauvinistic biblical theologies such as Christian Zionism that legitimize the violence and oppression of these structures of dispossession and occupation that create a status quo of suffering for Palestinians, Native Americans, or the undocumented immigrant in our midst is crucial.

This sort of reflection and systemic analysis must lead to action and engagement -- whether in terms of education, political advocacy, boycott, divestment, or sanctions -- whose authenticity will be measured by the ways in which they challenge our lifestyles in a manner that requires we change, transform and heed the calls to confession and repentance that continue to echo from Palestine, Pine Ridge, and across the Global South.

Whether it is seeking a just peace in Palestine-Israel or radical hospitality for the stranger in our midst, how do we look with open eyes and listen with open ears and hearts so that we might see, that we might recognize on this day the things that make for peace?

Timothy Seidel works as Director for Peace and Justice Ministries with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) US He was a peace development worker with MCC in the Occupied Palestinian Territories from 2004-2007 and a contributing author to Under Vine and Fig Tree: Biblical Theologies of Land and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (Cascadia Publishing, 2007).

From the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation: "Sheikh Jarrah evictions reveal Israel's apartheid policies"

2009-08-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

This post was written by a Young Friend of Sabeel who is now working for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation in Washington, DC. You can see the original post and other news, commentary, and analysis about changing U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine to be in accordance with international law and human rights at the US Campaign's blog.

Last week we reported on the eviction of 53 Palestinians, members of the Al-Ghawi and Hanoun families, who were evicted from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Joseph Dana, an Israeli-American activist and independent journalist who works with the group Ta'ayush (Living Together), reports on a vigil organized in response to these evictions:

"Last night in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah there was a vigil, a memorial to the families’ homes from which they were evicted. First they were refugees and now they are homeless. After weeks of legal battles, sit-ins and press conferences, several hundreds gathered to acknowledge a critical defeat in the battle over the future of this land and the two peoples who want to live here in peace."

Take a look at Dana's video of the vigil below, and note in particular Rabbi Arik Ascherman discussing the "discriminatory behavior" that these evictions represent just before his arrest at the hands of Israeli military police:

There is a specific term in international law for this type of discriminatory behavior when it comes from the official apparatus of the state. That word is apartheid--a fact not lost on Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, who writes in Ha'aretz:

"We should perhaps thank the court for its scandalous ruling, which not only sparked a justifiable international wave of protest against Israel, but also revealed its true face. "There are judges in Jerusalem," as Menachem Begin said, and they have made it official: apartheid. Ownership rights are for Jews alone."

The 1973 UN Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid defines apartheid as a crime against humanity, not specific to South Africa, consisting of "inhuman acts" designed to impose racial segregation and discrimination on a targeted group. Specific acts falling under the crime of apartheid include denying basic human rights of freedom of movement and residence and the expropriation of landed property in order to create separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups.

Of course, calling apartheid by its name doesn't earn one many friends, as evidenced by the current controversy surrounding the United Church of Canada's resolutions on Israel/Palestine. There are signs that the discourse is changing, however, not the least of which is the decision by President Obama to honor key critics of Israeli apartheid with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Obama is scheduled to present these awards today.

A change in the discourse isn't enough, though. Policies have to change, and we're the ones who have to organize to change them. Find out how by clicking here.

Update from Sheikh Jarrah

2009-08-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

This past Monday, a vigil was held in Sheikh Jarrah for the Palestinian families illegally evicted from their homes. Several hundred international, Israeli, and Palestinian activists gathered to protest the eviction. Midway through the protest, it was declared illegal by the Israeli police, the crowd was told to disperse and in the process, Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights was arrested.

Read the Daily Kos for more information about the demonstration.

"Israel must allow evicted Arab families to return home" -- Haaretz editorial

2009-08-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

The al Ghawi and al Hanoun families are staying across the street in tents from the houses they were illegally evicted from by the Israeli authorities. Refugees for a second time, the families have nowhere to go.

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper published the following strongly worded editorial regarding the eviction:

The eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in order to replace them with Jewish families, predictably sparked harsh condemnations. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the government to refrain from such actions, which she described as "provocative."

Sweden, which holds the European Union's rotating presidency, asserted that the evictions were illegal, while UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said they were violations of both the Geneva Conventions and Israel's obligations under the road map peace plan.

The sight of the evicted Palestinian families, who had lived in these houses for decades, paints Israel in the world's eyes as a country that maintains a cruel regime of occupation, oppresses the weak and strives to create political facts in the disputed city under the guise of the "rule of law."

But for all its importance, this international criticism is not what makes the eviction of these families completely unacceptable. A democratic state that strives for peace and justice simply has no right to uproot families who became refugees in 1948. They left homes in West Jerusalem behind them, and were subsequently granted modest accommodations by the Jordanian government. The claim that the houses in Sheikh Jarrah were purchased by Jews in the early 1900s is a double-edged sword that opens a political and legal Pandora's box.

No thinking person will be persuaded that Jews have a sweeping right to return to their homes in East Jerusalem as long as Israeli law not only bars Palestinians from returning to their homes in West Jerusalem, but even evicts them from the houses where they have lived for the last 60 years. The Israel Lands Administration's regulations do not even allow Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to buy land and houses in many parts of the city.

The least that can be expected of a state that legalized the expropriation of thousands of dunams in East Jerusalem to build 50,000 apartments for its citizens is to once and for all deprive extremists of the right to turn Jerusalem into an obstacle to peace and a stumbling block to reconciliation between the two peoples that inhabit this city.

The government must immediately return the Palestinian residents to their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and cancel the eviction orders that have been issued against additional houses. And the neighborhood's fate must be determined via diplomatic negotiations.

Update on the Sheikh Jarrah evictions: "I have been here 56 years and I have more right to be here than them"

2009-08-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

The al Hanoun and al Ghawi families have set up tents across the street from the homes they were illegally evicted from by the Israeli authorities. From the tent the settlers are clearly visible and making audacious displays of their ownership. One settler teenager is smiling as he joyfully rides on his razor scooter under the watchful eye of the Israeli police. The streets that the houses are on have been shut down for the past two days and are guarded by Israeli forces.

There has been a large international and local presence protesting the evictions and committed to standing with the families for the past two days and plan to continue coming to demonstrate their solidarity. However, when the protesters are done for the day and return to their homes, the al Hanoun and al Ghawi families must stay on the street.

The al Ghawi family consists of three brothers and their families. One of the brothers, Naser al Ghawi told us that he wanted to stay in the tent across from his house, he didn't want to move because "we have no where else to go".

His wife, Maysoun said, "I have a been here for 56 years and I have more right to be here than them...I'm going to stay here". In fact, Israel's eviction of the families is in contravention to the Fourth Geneva Convention because their houses are located in occupied East Jerusalem. An occupying force is prohibited from transferring their own people into occupied territory. The confiscation of private property by an occupying force is also forbidden.

When asked where their 20 month old child will be staying tonight, they responded, "the street".

Video, media coverage of Sheikh Jarrah evictions

2009-08-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

Israeli American activist Joseph Dana, of the group Ta'ayush, reports on the Sheikh Jarrah evictions on his blog:

Here's an Al Jazeera report on the evictions:

Approximately 70 Palestinians evicted in East Jerusalem, Sheikh Jarrah -- Israeli Settlers move in immediately

2009-08-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

It seems convenient that every news worthy incident is directly followed by house demolitions and home evictions in Israeli occupied territory. Just as the election of Obama was followed by home demolitions in East Jerusalem, the morning after the tragedy of the Tel Aviv shootings, about 70 Palestinians in East Jerusalem were evicted from their homes.

Just before sunrise, under the cover of night, these UN registered Palestinian refugee families were thrown off of the land that the UN bought for them from Jordan in 1956 (before Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem) by the Israeli police force. Hungrily waiting on the sidelines, Israeli settlers moved into the houses almost immediately as the way was clear.

Fortunately, the press was not preoccupied and the cover of night was not sufficient to hide the grave injustice that was committed today. Still more families in this neighborhood face imminent eviction. We ask for your prayers and support for those affected by illegal Israeli expropriation of private Palestinian property. It is more evidence that the Nakba continues today.

BBC article on the evictions
Haaretz article on the evictions

Separate but Not Equal

2009-08-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, the Sabeel International Young Adult Conference participants have been touring around northern Israel visiting Acre, Nazareth, Tiberius, and more.

The Palestinians that the participants met in these areas have a different relationship with the state of Israel from Palestinians living in the West Bank because they have Israeli citizenship. The Palestinian citizens of Israel face different challenges. They do not have the same rights as Jewish citizens.

It is almost impossible for a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship to rent or buy property in Jewish towns and neighborhoods in Israel. Furthermore, Palestinian towns and neighborhoods receive very little funding in comparison to Jewish areas. This population constitutes 19% of the total population of Israel but only receives 5% of governmental development funds and 6% of the salary budget allotted to government employees (teachers are government employees in Israel). Take a closer look at disparities in funding.

Reminiscent of the United States before 1964, Israel's policy of creating a separate school system for Palestinian citizens of Israel is separate and not equal. The Arab state school system is in desperate need of 9,300 classrooms, however, the government has agreed to build only 2,850 new classrooms over the next two years. The Arab state school system lacks the funding that is provided to the Jewish school systems.

Also, the content of the curriculum must be approved by the Ministry of Education which views any information regarding Palestinian culture and history as a threat to the state of Israel. The Palestinians constitute an indigenous population and have a fundamental right to culture as recognized by the The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which clearly states that indigenous peoples have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or the destruction of their culture. However, the Israeli Education Ministry banned the work of Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish from curriculum and is now banning the teaching of the Nakba.

Below is a video from a Palestinian Israeli hip hop group. Read the translation of the lyrics below to understand some of the challenges that this community faces.

Also, take a look at how our participants are doing below in a couple photos we've uploaded.

The Sabeel International Conference Moves to Taybeh

2009-07-28T00:10:00.000-07:00

The conference participants moved from Bethlehem to Taybeh, a Christian Palestinian village close to Ramallah in the West Bank. Taybeh is well known for opening the first micro brewery in the Occupied Territories. Watch the brewery's story below.

However, the participants weren't relaxing having a beer during their stay in Taybeh. They volunteered to do various kinds of work for the local population. For eight hours they worked on painting, cleaning, and fixing houses in the village.

After a long day of hard work, the participants went back to the Taybeh Guesthouse and enjoyed an evening of Palestinian music and watched a reenactment of a traditional Palestinian wedding.

Take a look at a couple pictures we've uploaded below of the conference:

Below is a picture of a participant, Elizabeth walking through a checkpoint.

A Weekend in the West Bank: The Sabeel International Young Adult Conference Continues

2009-07-27T02:43:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the participants visited the largest city in the West Bank, Hebron. Hebron is the only Palestinian city to have a settlement inside of it. Because of the presence of these settlers, movement of Palestinians is greatly restricted in the name of the settlers' security. Certain major roads are specified for use by Israelis only. The Temporary International Presence in Hebron counted 113 checkpoints, roadblocks, and closures inside of the city. Because of these restrictions, the Palestinian economy in Hebron has become strangled. Watch this short introductory video below.

One participant from the United States, Alexandra writes:

The city is not being protected, the soldiers are plainly there for inconvenience. Blocking exists down the shops hallways, closing stores, allowing settlements to throw trash and bricks at the people below, taking homes, all in the name of security!

I do not see security, I see the basic needs of life stripped and I see prisoners in their own town. I see children living in filth much worst than third living world countries.

To learn more about Hebron, browse through BTselem's publications regarding the city.

On Sunday, the participants attended church Beit Sahour, close to Bethlehem. After services, they had the opportunity to speak to local Christian families about the challenges they face living under occupation. One topic that was raised concerned water.

The scarcity of water is a major issue for Palestinians in the West Bank, particularly during the summer. Israeli citizens (those inside of Israel AND settlers in the West Bank) benefit from unlimited access to running water all year round consuming, on average, 280 liters a day. Palestinians, on the other hand, are able to utilize only 60 liters per a day. The World Health Organization recommends 100 liters per a day as the minimum quantity for basic consumption.

Israel has strong control over the area's water sources even though two of the major sources of Israel's water lie largely in the West Bank, the Mountain Aquifer and the Jordan River. Palestinians have a right to this natural resource and Israel has a responsibility as an occupying force to ensure that Palestinians receive it.

BTselem states:

The water shortage violates the basic human rights of Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories such as the right to health, to adequate housing, to equality, and to benefit from their natural resources. This harm results from Israeli policy, in effect since 1967, based on an unfair division of resources shared by Israel and the Palestinians.

Next the participants toured Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity. They enjoyed shopping and listening to a story of a collective act of nonviolent resistance demonstrated by the local population during the first Intifada. In response to the Israeli authorities' increase in taxes imposed on the people and the lack of services provided, the local population refused to pay and disposed of their blue identity cards issued by the Israeli government. In reaction, the Israeli government took all of the possessions of the protesters in lieu of their tax money. However, those who took part are still proud of this nonviolent act.

Tomorrow, the participants will be in Taybeh.

Update on the Conference! Watch videos and check out the organizations that participants are visiting!

2009-07-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

The participants are still in Jerusalem and had the opportunity to listen to four very different Jewish Israeli organizations working for peace and justice.

The first organization, Rabbis for Human Rights, views their commitment to protecting the human rights of minorities and Palestinians as a religious one. They have called themselves "the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel". The organization seeks to give voice to the Jewish tradition's concern for the 'stranger' and others vulnerable within society, and are bound by a Jewish responsibility to defy silent complicity. Check out what they do in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Participants also met with BTselem. Known for their accuracy, BTselem documents human rights abuses committed in the West Bank and Gaza and petition the Supreme Court to take action. BTselem is also known for their Camera Distribution Project which effectively gives Palestinians living under occupation a voice by providing them with cameras to document their lives. Check out some footage below!

After lunch, the participants stood in protest against the Israeli occupation with Women in Black. These brave Jewish Israeli women stand in silent protest in a public square every Friday at 1:00 pm with signs held high that call for the end of the occupation. Despite all kinds of insults hurled their way, they have maintained this tradition for over 20 years!

At the end of the day, the participants went on an ICAHD Tour. ICAHD stands for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. ICAHD opposes and resists a practice that Hillary Clinton understatedly described as "unhelpful" to the peace process which is the Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in occupied territory. Check out this link about ICAHD's alternative tours.

Finally, the participants moved to Bethlehem for the night and will be going to a Palestinian city heavily impacted by the occupation, Hebron. It is the only Palestinian city with settlements INSIDE of its boundaries. Therefore, there is a strong if not suffocating Israeli military presence and Palestinian movement is greatly restricted within their own city limits.

Keep reading for reflections from participants about their trip to Hebron!

Update: The Second Day of the Sabeel International Young Adult Conference and a Message from a Participant!

2009-07-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

The second full day of the Sabeel International Young Adult Conference began with a briefing regarding access and movement in the West Bank and Gaza by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). There are over 602 checkpoints and barriers restricting the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank.

After the briefing, the participants visited Ein Kerem, the home village of John the Baptist, at which a Bible study was led by Father Rafiq Khoury illustrating the relevance of John the Baptist’s life to Palestinian Christians’ lives today.

Next the participants took part in a Sabeel tradition, walking the Contemporary Way of the Cross, with Sabeel staff member Nora Carmi. The Contemporary Way of the Cross draws a parallel between the suffering of Christ and the suffering of the Palestinians living under restrictive Israeli measures. The first station was the site of a Palestinian village depopulated during the Nakba (1948). 480 Palestinian towns and villages were depopulated in 1948 and resulted in the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

The following stations consisted of examples of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank: a checkpoint, settlements, and the Separation Wall. The last station was the tent of a woman, Um Kamel, who was pushed out of her home by Jewish settlers with the aid of Israeli soldiers in East Jerusalem. She was a refugee of 1948 and was made homeless again in November 2008. UNRWA had bought the land for her house to be built in 1956 from Jordan before the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem. Yet, the Israeli authorities somehow still found reason to throw her out of her home claiming legal authority.

Watch Um Kamel tell her story:

A Message from Hannah Carter:

Hi everyone,

Thanks for following us on the blog! It is just the end of the second full day here and it feels like we’ve been here for weeks. We have seen so much already, and heard so many stories…to summarize it all when I get back will be difficult. We began the week with a worship service in the Garden of Gethsemane and then walked the Stations of the Cross here in Jerusalem. Today we met with the UN, took our first trip into the West Bank, met with a refugee family and also visited the town where John the Baptist was born.

Needless to say it’s been an incredible experience so far and I can’t wait for the rest of it.

- Hannah

Check out the links to learn about what your friends and family members are seeing and keep messaging us!

Update: The First Full Day of the Sabeel International Conference

2009-07-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

The first full day of the conference began with an opening worship held in the Garden of Gethsemane. Following the service, Bishop Munib Younan, the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land introduced the subject of the challenges facing Palestinian Christians today. He began with a short introduction regarding who the Palestinian Christians are and moved on to address three major concerns regarding this population.

The first concern discussed was the mass emigration of Palestinian Christians to Europe and the United States due to the economic hardships that the Israeli Occupation imposes on them.

The second concern regards the current unemployment rate of this population. Over 40% of Palestinian Christians are unemployed (a major reason for emigration).

The last issue addressed was the intensification of racism in Jerusalem.

After the lecture, the group went on a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem. The participants walked the Via Dolorosa stopping at the stations of the cross and ended their tour with a walk through the Armenian Quarter. Then the participants were given free time to wander the historic streets in smaller groups.

The day concluded with a movie, "East Side Story" directed by Muhammad Elattar. The movie documents the history of Jerusalem pre-1948 until today by beginning with the War of 1948 or the Palestinian Nakba and loss of Palestinian homes in West Jerusalem. The movie then proceeds to draw a parallel between the Nakba and the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. Following the occupation, the Israeli authorities have made efforts to push the Palestinian population out of these areas and to create a strong Jewish presence there. These Jewish settlements and restrictions imposed on Palestinians are in contravention to International Law and the 4th Geneva Convention which stipulates that it is forbidden for an occupying force to transfer its own citizens into occupied territory or to confiscate or destroy the occupied peoples' private property. These Israeli actions constitute a second or ongoing Nakba for the Palestinians.

The 4th International Sabeel Young Adult Conference Begins Today!

2009-07-21T04:54:00.000-07:00

This evening 38 young adult conference members arrived at the Knight's Palace in the Old City of Jerusalem for Orientation. Our participants include 8 local Palestinian Christians and 30 internationals from the United States, Canada, South Korea, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands.

For the next 10 days, these participants will be traveling around Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Galilee in order to learn about the Palestinian Christian population of these areas and the challenges they face under Israeli Occupation in the West Bank or as a marginalized people in Israel.

This blog will be updated daily with summaries of the conference day and reflections on the day from participants.

To keep in touch with Sabeel staff and participants during their journey, feel free to leave a comment on the blog!

More Home Demolitions in East Jerusalem

2009-07-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Israeli authorities demolished 3 Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is considered occupied land by the United States and Europe. The Fourth Geneva Convention clearly prohibits ANY destruction of personal property by the Occupying Power, yet according to an Israeli organization, over 24,145 Palestinian homes in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza, West Bank, and East Jerusalem) have been demolished since the beginning of the occupation in 1967.

These demolitions coincided with the International Day of Action Against Home Evictions and House Demolitions. A press conference was held at the protest tent in East Jerusalem in an attempt to raise international awareness regarding this issue.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a Jewish Israeli organization, is also fighting against home demolitions. Watch this video below in which the head of ICAHD speaks about the work of his organization and the fundamental human right to shelter.

Watch this clip from Peace Now about their project, "Settlement Watch"

2009-07-07T05:09:00.001-07:00

This clip reporting on Peace Now's work documenting settlement construction in the West Bank was aired on TV in Israel. Members of the group experience difficulty on the job when a settler reacts violently. Take a look.

Peace Now is the oldest Israeli peace movement founded in 1978. Peace Now's project called, "Settlement Watch" monitors and creates awareness regarding settlement construction and the implications of the construction. The organization views the settlements as an obstacle to peace and as detrimental to the moral fabric of Israeli society because the construction of settlements necessitates violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people.

Action Alert!: Tell Israel to Free Humanitarian Workers Aboard Free Gaza Boat

2009-06-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

On June 30th, the Israeli Navy attacked and captured the unarmed humanitarian aid boat The Spirit of Humanity. This is the second time that the Israeli navy has attacked a Free Gaza Movement boat while it was attempting to deliver medical supplies, building equipment, and children's toys to the Port of Gaza.

Take action to demand the release of The Spirit of Humanity's crew and passengers!

Learn about the movement behind the Free Gaza Boats and Gaza

2009-06-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Learn more about the movement that is organizing boats sailing to Gaza by taking a look at their website.

Also, take a look at the new short video produced by Israeli Human Rights groups calling for lifting of the border closures in Gaza.

If you want to learn more about the Gaza Strip, take a look at B'Tselem's information page about this area.

Support Sheikh Jarrah: International day of actions against house demolitions in Palestine

2009-06-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

The community of Shiekh Jarrah calls on the international community to set up tents outside of Israeli embassies worldwide in solidarity with the neighborhoods threatened with eviction or demolition in occupied East Jerusalem.

Tents have become a powerful symbol of the struggle of Palestinian people living in occupied East Jerusalem. They have been set up as centres of protest in neighbourhoods threatened by numerous eviction and demolition orders, part of Israel’s wider policy to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian population. Ultimately this would destroy any hope of East Jerusalem becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state. A number of the tents, notably the one in Sheikh Jarrah, have been built by Palestinian residents forcibly evicted from their homes as a result of Israel’s racist policy. Palestinians, who became refugees in 1948 & 1967 are, once again, facing dispossession from their homes and land as our governments stand by and do nothing.

The neighbourhoods most severely affected are Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras Khamiis, Al Tur and Sur Beher however house evictions and demolitions are not uncommon in the Old City itself. In Silwan, 88 homes in the al Bustan quarter are facing immediate destruction in order to create space for a planned national park. In addition, two apartment buildings housing 34 families in the adjacent al Abbasiyya quarter have also received demolition orders. When completed, up to 2,000 Palestinians will be uprooted from their homes.

The local communities are calling for international activists to organise symbolic protests and set up tents outside of Israeli embassies or Zionist organisations worldwide to stand in solidarity with the protest tents in the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras Khamiis, Al Tur and Sur Beher.

The case of Sheikh Jarrah

The neighbourhood consists of 28 families, and is facing a number of eviction orders which are part of a plan to implant a new Jewish settlement in the area, close to the Old City. After the Al Kurd family has been forcibly removed from their home in November 2008, it is now the turn of the al-Ghawe and Hannoun families to face imminent eviction, while others are awaiting further eviction orders.

The families have gone through 37 years of legal battles, fighting for the right to stay in their houses where many of them have been born and which they legally own. To date, the Israeli courts, including the High Court, decided in favour of the Jewish settler organisations, which claim the ownership of the land based on falsified documents. The courts have not only ignored all the documents produced by the Sheikh Jarrah community which clearly prove their legal status and the ownership of the land, they have also shown that their decisions are not based on law and justice, but are clearly political decisions, serving the goal of cleansing the Palestinian people from Jerusalem.

The latest court hearing, held on the 17th May, ordered the families to sign a guarantee for 50,000 NIS and present a further guarantee for $50,000 from the bank. The court has ruled for this money to be taken if the families refuse to hand in their keys and leave their houses voluntarily by noon on the 19th July. After this date, the settler organisations have permission to enter the houses and the fathers of the families will be sent to prison, charged with contempt of court.
Now that all legal avenues have been exhausted, the families last hope is that media attention & international pressure can help stop the evictions taking place

Maher Hannoun, resident from Sheikh Jarrah faced by imminent eviction order and imprisonment, said:
As refugees and people living under occupation, we are asking people to help us with our struggle for our rights. It is unbelievable that in the 21st century, Israel’s authorities can get away with demolishing the homes of Palestinians in order to build settlements or national parks. The price we and our neighbours have to pay is too high, we are faced with two impossible choices – either we throw our kids out on the street or we go to prison. If we lose our homes, there is nowhere else for us to go, the only option we have is to live in tents.

International solidarity gives us more power and strength to continue in our struggle and stay in our homes. We need support from people around the world to let everybody know about our story and pressure their goverments to help stop this racist policy of house evictions and demolitions.

What you can do – suggestions for further actions:

* Contact your MPs and other political representatives to tell them about this story. Ask them to raise the issue of East Jerusalem in the Parliament and Government meetings and put diplomatic pressure on the Israeli authorities.

* Contact media representatives in your countries and ask them to cover the story of Sheikh Jarrah and the ongoing ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem.

* Organise demonstrations, talks, film nights or photo exhibitions in your countries. Email sheikh.jarrah@hotmail.co.uk to receive updates, tell us about your ideas for actions, events and the co-ordination of an international day of actions.

* Set up a contigency plan with your organization or affinity group in the event that these evictions are carried out or Maher Hannoun is arrested. Send your email to Sheikh.jarrah@hotmail.co.uk to recieve alerts and co-ordinate your actions.

We ask for people to stand in solidarity with the residents of Sheikh Jarrah and support their fight for justice.

Settlements ARE an obstacle to peace!

2009-06-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has authorized the building of 300 new homes in the West Bank, defying U.S. calls for a halt to settlement growth according to an article in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz today.

Interestingly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that international concerns regarding settlement activity are impeding the Middle East peace process. However, the EU and the United States view Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank as an OBSTACLE to peace.

Israeli Human Rights Organization, BTselem, explains exactly why settlement activity in the occupied West Bank is an obstacle to peace:

As part of the regime, Israel has stolen thousands of dunams of land from the Palestinians. On this land, Israel has established dozens of settlements in which hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians now live. Israel forbids Palestinians to enter and use these lands and uses the settlements to justify numerous violations of Palestinian rights, such as the right to housing, to earn a living, and freedom of movement. The sharp changes Israel made to the map of the West Bank make a viable Palestinian state impossible as part of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

BTselem goes on to argue the illegality of the settlements within the framework of international humanitarian law:

The establishment of settlements in the West Bank violates international humanitarian law which establishes principles that apply during war and occupation. Moreover, the settlements lead to the infringement of international human rights law.

The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49).

A wave of morally responsible investment victories

2009-06-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

Advocates for morally responsible investment around the world achieved a wave of victories in the past week!

It started Monday, June 8 with Veolia's announcement that it would pull out of the East Jerusalem light rail project that would connect illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem with Israel. (For those of you who have visited Sabeel's office in Jerusalem, this is the light rail that is being built right through the middle of Shou'fat road in front of the office). Veolia has lost some $7 billion in contracts due to sustained efforts in Europe, including campaigns and law suits against Veolia contracts in France; Dutch and Swedish divestment efforts, which included the participation of the Sabeel partners such as the Church of Sweden and Diakonia; and by British solidarity groups.

(Light rail in front of Sabeel Jerusalem office; photo by Tina Whitehead)

Next came the announcement that the Belgian-French financial group Dexia will no longer finance Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories through its Israeli branch Dexia Israel. This decision follows a months-long Belgian campaign to expose the company's connections to the settlement 'enterprise.'

Then came news that Motorola, which provides the Israeli military and settlements with surveillence and communication equipment, is considering selling off its Israeli subsidiary. his decision comes after our April victory in which Motorola sold off its bomb fuse department, one of the primary demands of human rights advocates working on the Motorola campaign.

Most recently, shareholder resolutions and protests at the Caterpillar shareholder meeting called on the company to end its military sales to Israel. Caterpillar bulldozers are used to demolish Palestinian homes, uproot olive and fruit trees, build settlements and the apartheid Wall, and have even been used to kill Palestinian and international civilians. Faced with questions about Caterpillar's human rights record, CAT CEO Jim Owens repeatedly said that those shareholders who don't agree with CAT's practices shouldn't own CAT shares--exactly what morally responsible investment advocates have been saying all along!

In other MRI news, the Toronto Conference of the United Church of Canada passed a resolution calling for all churches affiliated with the United Church to support Palestinian human rights through divestment efforts.. The resolution will be discussed and voted on by the United Church General Council in August. And a Canadian court is set to rule on whether companies can be sued for constructing settlements in a suit brought against two Canadian companies by the Palestinian village of Bil'in, one of the sites of weekly protests against the Apartheid Wall. To watch Al Jazeera's report on this case, click here.

Netanyahu's Conditions without Preconditions for a Palestinian State

2009-06-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

Last night, in an internationally televised speech, Netanyahu stated that he was willing to enter into negotiations with the Palestinians without preconditions...and then proceeded to state his conditions!

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator stated,"He announced a series of conditions and qualifications that render a viable, independent, and sovereign Palestinian state impossible."

Netanyahu demanded that any future Palestinian state not have a military (a right that every sovereign country has) or the ability to ask for military assistance from neighboring Arab states -- thus leaving it dependent upon the state of Israel. Palestine would also not be allowed control of its airspace.

Netanyahu also made a commitment to a united Jerusalem, a commitment which is in contravention to International Law according to the Israeli Human Rights Organization, BTselem. East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory and is home to over 208,000 Palestinians.

Take a look at BBC's key points of the speech
Check out the Guardian's analysis of the speech

Silencing the Palestinian narrative in Israel

2009-06-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

Check out the below excerpt from Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz. A bill proposed forbidding the commemoration of the Nakba was approved. The commemoration of the Nakba does not mourn the establishment of the state of Israel but mourns the dispossession of 700,000 Palestinians and the fragmentation of Palestinian society:

Ten days ago, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approved a bill proposed by MK Alex Miller of Yisrael Beiteinu, "forbidding by law the commemoration of Independence Day or the establishment of the state as a day of mourning." The bill was supported by Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar. As a result of the ruckus that resulted from the proposal, a compromise bill is being prepared, which would ban government bodies or any organization benefiting from state funding, from organizing or funding activities related to the Nakba.

One of the teachers who began using the kit [an educational kit teaching about the Nakba], Avital Spivak, says that "the Palestinian side of the story is missing completely from the educational system." She teaches civics to 11th and 12th graders at the Reali School in Haifa, and says "there is a complete blind spot, which leads to ignorance and racism and blocks the possibility of understanding and dialog. There is no need to agree to the right of return to talk about the Nakba, and there is no contradiction between being a Zionist and refusing to be blind and deaf to the pain and the story of the other side."

Read the entire article

Gaza still requires attention from the international community!

2009-06-02T02:27:00.000-07:00

According to the UN, Israel destroyed 3,500 homes in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead. Some of the displaced persons now live in tents, in harsh conditions. Participants in B’Tselem’s video project documented life in one encampment.

Watch a clip from the footage

Palestinian Family in East Jerusalem Under House Arrest

2009-05-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

The Israeli construction of the Annexation Wall on the Khatib family land has rendered 24 members of the family on the Israeli side of the Wall, where they are being kept under house arrest. No members of the family have committed any crime, but the Israeli military keeps them under house arrest because the Israeli military constructed the Wall with the family on the Israeli side.

Read the article!

Palestinian Christians and the Wall covered by Reuters

2009-05-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

Reuters news service had a pretty good article about Palestinian Christians on Monday, specifically about the effect of the Wall on the West Bank village of Aboud:

"Aboud's parish priest Father Firas Aridah blames the Israeli barrier for decimating the income of Aboud's Christian community and forcing 34 families since 2000 to leave in search of more stability and security."

Check out the full article here.

Israeli groups call for divestment from occupation

2009-05-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

Great news for the cause of morally responsible investment!

A number of Israeli organizations have called on the Norwegian government to divest its pension fund from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. The groups include Zochrot, Mossawa, the Coalition of Women for Peace, and Machsom Watch. Their letter to the Norwegian government includes a list of companies identified by the Coalition of Women for Peace as profiting from the occupation of Palestinian land either through the construction of settlements, operating on confiscated Palestinian land, or supplying the Israeli military with equipment to support the occupation.

Companies listed include Alsom and Veolia (France), which are involved in the illegal settlement light rail that runs directly in front of the Sabeel office; Assa Abloy (Sweden), which operates an Israeli subsidiary in the West Bank; Unilever (the Netherlands), which also operates an Israeli subsidiary in a West Bank settlement); Caterpillar (USA), whose bulldozers are used to destroy Palestinian houses, uproot olive and fruit trees, and build the Apartheid Wall; and Elbit, an Israeli company that is involved in both the Wall in the West Bank and the wall being built on the southern border of the United States.

The full letter is available here; check it out!

Sabeel, Nakba on 'Mondoweiss'

2009-05-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

A Sabeel trip to Palestinian villages destroyed in Al Nakba made it into Mondoweiss, one of the largest U.S. blogs covering Palestine.

The story includes this picture, taken by an erstwhile YFOSer during a Sabeel staff trip to Al Bassa, which was once a mixed Christian and Muslim town.

The churches, mosque, and Christian and Muslim graveyards of the town are now in the middle of an Israeli industrial park.

Check out the full story on Mondoweiss.

And let us know if you have photos, articles, publications, or anythign else to share--we'd love to hear from you!

May 15th is Nakba Commemoration Day

2009-05-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

The Nakba, or the "catastrophe" in Arabic, refers to the displacement and dispossession of 750,000 Palestinians as a result of the 1948 War. During the war Israel declared its independence from Great Britain and began a policy of expansion by any means possible beyond the borders defined by the 1947 UN Partition Plan.

As a result, several massacres were committed by the Jewish forces, particularly in Tantura and Dier Yassin. Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and marched to neighboring Arab countries. 530 Palestinian towns, villages, and neighborhoods were depopulated. Israel has renamed all of these locations or Hebraized the Arabic names in an attempt to wipe the history of the Palestinians from the land. After the war, new Jewish immigrants moved into the vacant Palestinian homes.

Below was a Palestinian home until the Nakba and has become inhabited by Jewish immigrants from the United States. The village of Sa'sa' is now a kibbutz.

Today, boarded up and neglected mosques and churches stand awkwardly in Israeli towns. Below is a picture of a mosque in Tiberias with the Sheraton in the background.

Read a testimony from the war.

Today, this policy, or the Nakba continues, particularly in East Jerusalem in the neighborhood of Silwan. The Jerusalem municipality has declared this Palestinian neighborhood "green space" and have issued eviction and demolition orders for the Palestinians who have lived in this area prior to Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. This area will then be called the "City of David" claiming the land as legitimately Jewish land by means of the name.

Sabeel Young Adults from the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Galilee travelled to Ma'lul, a village destroyed in 1948, to clean the church and mosque. Today, the village is considered a national park by the Israeli authorities.

Sabeel's Nora Carmi addressed the Pope on behalf of Christians in Jerusalem

2009-05-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

13 May 2009: DURING A SPECIAL AUDIENCE WITH HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI AT THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN BETHLEHEM WITH CHRISTIANS FROM GAZA, WEST BANK, AND EAST JERUSALEM THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE WAS DELIVERED BY NORA CARMI

A Message from Jerusalem Christians

Your Holiness,

We, the indigenous faithful Christians of Jerusalem, join our voices to those of our Palestinian Muslim and Christian brothers and sisters in the West Bank and Gaza to welcome you on your much desired pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Your Holiness, your pilgrimage for peace, comes at a very critical moment in the history of the Palestinian people. For this reason, religious institutions and members of the civil society have communicated to Your Holiness, their concerns and aspirations prior to your arrival in the country. We, “the little flock” of Jerusalem would have loved to celebrate with joy your presence among us, but as your experience in Jerusalem in the past few days has proved, we are not free and our rights are denied.

We are pleased that you have insisted on coming at this time to give spiritual support and guidance to the steadfast Christians of Jerusalem, the resilient faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ and His Church established in this city over 2000 years ago. Sad to say, there are only about 9000 Christians of various denominations left but they form an integral part of the rich fabric of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, the city of peace anxiously awaiting a just peace for all.

Your Holiness, you have in the past two days, observed the ramifications of the 42-year old military occupation of this city significant to all faiths. Christians and Muslims suffer the same violations of human and national rights because Jerusalem is under occupation. As the Vatican has recognized: “the part of the city militarily occupied in 1967 and annexed and declared the capital of the State of Israel, IS OCCUPIED TERRITORY (as recorded and confirmed by the United Nations) As such, all Israeli measures which exceed the power of a belligerent occupant under international law are therefore null and void”. This courageous stand of the Vatican should be upheld and prayerfully acted upon in order to end the illegal monopolization and the unilateral judaization of Jerusalem, strangulated by settlements, divided by road blocks and checkpoints. Families are separated because of the wall; residents lose their residency rights; married couples are denied family reunification and homes are demolished! Young people who raise their voices against injustice are thrown into prison and the sanctity of life is desecrated. The beautiful mosaic of Jerusalem is shattered under oppression and injustice.

How can your flock be spiritually empowered and guided when faced with the violation of their rights to worship, to move, to learn, and to return home. How can your flock remain steadfast and continue resisting non-violently? How can we secure jobs and housings for the young people so that they will not lose hope and emigrate? How can we encourage our children in exile to risk coming back to their country and contribute to maintaining the uniqueness of the Christian presence without being denied entry?

Your pilgrimage to the sites made holy by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, not only constitutes a rich spiritual experience, but, is made especially meaningful through the sharing of the sufferings of the people who also make this land holy. We count on Your Holiness, to proclaim anew to the world the teachings of our Savior “to bring good news to the poor…release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of God’s favor.”(Luke 4; 18-19)

Your Holiness, you come as a peacemaker to promote tolerance and reconciliation. We urge you to continue following in the courageous footsteps of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in daring to raise a prophetic voice and to state clearly that:

• Jerusalem must remain an open city to all faiths and be the shared capital of the two states.

• The occupation has to end.

• Israel has to abide by International Law, implement UN resolutions and be held accountable for all violations especially the most recent brutal onslaught on Gaza.

Two thousand years ago, from the Mt. of Olives overlooking Jerusalem, Jesus wept over the city, under occupation and torn apart by violence and dissent. “You do not know the things that make for peace!” That cry resonates in Jerusalem to-day, still under occupation and shattered by the absence of tolerance, respect and love.

We trust that your prayers and your genuine desire for peace in Jerusalem will drive Your Holiness and the world that looks up to your leadership to work for a just peace for all. Only then can Christians, Muslims and Jews live in freedom and in harmony in the promising land for all. Only then can the inhabitants of this blessed land enjoy a just peace that they very much deserve.

In closing, we welcome Your Holiness with the Arabic greeting “Ahlan wa Sahlan” which literally means you are among family and that your stay goes smoothly.

Listen: Sabeel's Nora Carmi is on BBC 4!

2009-05-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

Listen to BBC 4's program on the Pope's visit to Israel. The beginning of the program discusses Jewish-Catholic relations but if you want to listen to an interfaith discussion between representatives of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities in Israel, fast forward to the last 15-10 minutes of the program. In that segment you will hear from Sabeel's Nora Carmi discussing what her expectations of the Pope's visit are.

Update on the Al Hanoun and Al Ghawi families facing eviction in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem

2009-05-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

The al Hanoun and al Ghawi families continue to face the threat of eviction from their homes. The land the houses were built on were bought by the United Nations from the Jordanian government in 1956 in order to build houses for refugees of the 1948 War. After 1967, and Israel's subsequent occupation of East Jerusalem, Israel has pursued a policy of Judiazation of East Jerusalem resulting in the displacement of many Palestinian residents.

A press conference was held on May 6th in order to raise awareness regarding the recent Israeli District Court decision to issue an ultimatum to the al Ghawi and al Hanoun families giving them 10 days to voluntarily evacuate their homes or face punitive measures (including forcible expulsion from their homes).

Below is Maher Hanoun, one of 53 family members of the two families affected by the court decision.

The press release states:

"The al Ghawi and al Hanoun cases are part of an ongoing attempt by the two Jewish settler organizations to take over twenty-eight housing units built in 1956 to house refugees and to turn it into a Jewish colony. Israel's measures against the two families constitute blatant violations of international law including the 4th Geneva Convention that obligates the occupying authorities, Israel, to maintain the geographic and demographic characteristics of occupied East Jerusalem.

The Sheikh Jarrah families refuse to comply with the Israeli courts' unjust decisions and appeal to the international community, Human Rights organizations, and the EU to exert pressure on Israel to stop it from pursuing its plan to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian population. We call on our people and our political factions to rise and support us in our struggle."

Below is a map of East Jerusalem from B'Tselem. East of the Green Line on the map is considered occupied territory and was land intended to become part of a Palestinian state, however, due to Jewish settlement activity in East Jerusalem, this vision of a Palestinian state including East Jerusalem is being compromised (the blue sections on the map indicate settlements).

ACTION ALERT: Urge U.S. Action on Palestinian Christian Issues on Eve of Pope's Visit

2009-05-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Churches for Middle East Peace sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton yesterday, on the occasion this week of the Papal visit to the Holy Land, highlighting the rapid decline of the Palestinian Christian community there. The letter was also sent to President Obama, Special Envoy Mitchell and other key contacts in the Administration and Congress.

Help amplify CMEP's message! Tell the White House the decline of Palestinian Christians makes the Administration's efforts to achieve a just and lasting two-state solution even more urgent.

While recognizing that ultimately only a negotiated peace agreement can stem Palestinian Christian emigration, the letter cites several specific issues that can be acted on immediately, including: restrictive Israeli residency and family unification regulations in East Jerusalem; visa and permit restrictions that inhibit the movement of several hundred Arab clergy; and the need for further efforts to strengthen the rule of law in the West Bank and Gaza.

Send an email to President Obama urging the Administration to address the situation of Palestinian Christians as part of their comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace effort.

The CMEP letter stresses that the prospect of a Holy Land devoid of its living Christian community is not just a tragedy for world Christianity but would have serious ramifications for a future Palestinian state, the interreligious nature of Jerusalem, and regional peace and security. It concludes with the hope that persistent U.S. diplomacy can provide a positive future for all the people of the Holy Land.

TAKE ACTION!

Motorola Shareholder Meeting today: Send Emails to Moto!

2009-05-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

Motorola, Inc. is having its annual shareholder meeting today in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Although Motorola shareholders will primarily be discussing why Moto is losing so much money, representatives from the United Methodist and Presbyterian churches will be present to attempt to pass a shareholder resolution calling for Motorola to respect human rights and international law wherever it it does business. Outside the meeting, human rights advocates will be demonstrating, passing out fliers, and educating arriving shareholders about Motorola's violations of international law and human rights.

This is important because Motorola has long been complicit in the Israeli occupation. Until recently, Motorola sold bomb fuzes to the Israeli military. Researches from Human Rights Watch found evidence that these bomb fuzes were used in the attack on Gaza when they found Motorola serial numbers in shrapnel at the sight of a bombing of a civilian target in the Gaza Strip.

Moto has sold its department that made bomb fuzes but it still makes communication and surveillance equipment for the Israeli military and Israeli settlements, technology used in Israel's Separation Wall in the West Bank, and cell phone systems solely for the use of Israeli settlers.

Send an email to Motorola's management telling them you want the company to stop profiting off of Israel's illegal and immoral occupation of Palestine! Motorola is a multinational company, so we can all help on this one!

Hang up on Motorola, and hang up on apartheid. Click here to send an email and find out more.

Sabeel Young Adult Conference Videos

2009-05-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Watch the new Sabeel Young Adult Conference video on youtube. Take a look at the pictures from Sabeel's prior conferences to get an idea of what the conference is like and if you or somebody you know would be interested in attending this year's conference this summer.

Below is a video taken by one of our past Young Adult Conference participants of Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions speaking at Beit Arabiya describing the Israeli occupation to our group. Beit Arabiya is the name of the Shawamreh family home located just across the Jerusalem municipal boundary. Even though the house is in the West Bank (or land that is intended to part of a Palestinian state), the Israeli authorities have demolished the house at least 4 times. At Sabeel conferences you'll learn about stories like the Shawamreh family's.

Below is a map of Jerusalem. Toward the top right you will see the Palestinian village of Anata in which Beit Arabiya is located. Notice that this area is over the Green Line on the map or the 1949 Armistice Line. The area east of this line is intended to form the majority of the Palestinian state and is currently land occupied by Israel. The blue indicates illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. You can see Ma'ale Adummim, the settlement that Jeff Halper mentions in the video which stretches from Jerusalem to Jericho effectively cutting the West Bank and its Palestinian communities in half. Also, the red line on the map represents the Wall, or Separation Barrier that has cut further separated Palestinian communities and hurt the Palestinian economy.

Look at the entire map on B'Tselem's website.

Short film produced by young adult conference participant

2009-04-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

While we're on the topic of Hebron:

Peter, one of our 2008 Young Adult Conference participants, has produced a short film based on the experience that the group had in AlKhalil/Hebron.

Click here to view the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drA5OfP6jyo

Great work Peter, and thanks Jill and Margaret for sharing your testimonies!

Watch the World Famous "Sharmouta" Clip from B'Tselem

2009-04-19T01:19:00.000-07:00

If Arthur Gish's story of working on the Christian Peace Maker Team in Hebron below was interesting to you, watch a video of an example of the kinds of altercations he would have had to deal with there. The second portion of this 6 minute clip from B'Tselem's "Shooting Back" program is now world famous and has become known as the "Sharmouta" video.

The first portion of the clip shows a settler boy drunk throwing stones and harassing a Palestinian family. You'll notice that a cage has been erected around the Palestinian residence in an attempt to alleviate frequent acts of harassment like the one shown. The second clip begins by displaying the distress of one of the members of the Palestinian family. She is trying to help her brother get safely home from school. Frequently, Palestinian children have stones thrown at them or suffer other forms of abuse on their way home from school if they are not accompanied. Toward the end of the clip you'll see a settler woman heckling the woman worried about her brother. This portion of the video is the reason the clip became known as the "Sharmouta" video.

This video is a great illustration of the situation in high conflict areas in the West Bank, particularly Hebron. Its important to know that altercations such as these are not out of the ordinary.

A story from Arthur Gish, A member of the Christian Peace Maker Team (CPT) in Hebron

2009-04-17T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hebron Journal: December 16, 1995, Saturday (Arthur's first day in Hebron)

After spending the night in Jerusalem, I got a taxi to
Hebron this morning. It was exciting to see the beautiful
countryside, to drive through Bethlehem. Soon I was at the
municipal building in Hebron. Ahlam Muhtasib, the public
relations person for the Palestinian mayor and CPT's contact
in city hall, invited me into her office. Soon Cliff Kindy (a
50-year-old organic farmer from Indiana) and Anne
Montgomery (a 70-year-old Catholic nun), both members of
the CPT team here, arrived and we walked to our apartment
in the old city.

The old city is in a valley surrounded by hills and ancient
stone houses. Our apartment is on the second floor of a
building at the edge of the old market, in a small street that
used to be the glassmakers' street. Now it is known as chicken
market. Each day the competing squawks of the chickens,
turkeys, ducks, geese, and other creatures fill the air.

Our apartment is two doors from the corner of Shuhada
Street, which used to be the main street through Hebron, but
is now closed to Palestinian vehicles. Walk half a block up
Shuhada Street and you come to a military encampment in
what used to be the Palestinian central bus station. Go one
more block up the street and you come to the Beit Hadassah
settlement. Go two blocks up a steep hill to the left and you
find the Tel Rumeida settlement. There is a Yeshiva school
(Beit Romano) just below the military encampment. Go the
other way on Shuhada Street about three blocks and you
come to the Ibrahimi Mosque/Synagogue, also known as the Tomb of de Patriarchs.
Between our apartment and the mosque/synagogue is the Avraham Avinu settlement. There are military checkpoints in each direction. It
feels like weare in the middle of the action.

Today was Saturday, the biggest day of the week for our
team. Lots of settlers from all over the West Bank come to
Hebron each Sabbath weekend to support the Hebron settlers.
Many acts of violence have happened on Saturdays,
due to the interaction of settlers, soldiers, and Palestinians on
the street. Anne, Cliff, and I spent the day walking up and
down the street. The most disturbing thing I saw was settlers
Walking back and forth with their automatic weapons.

Right away I began to learn CPT tactics from Cliff. We
Were in the park near the mosque/synagogue when two soldiers
ran across the park, pretending to be attacking some
one with their weapons. Soon another group of soldiers did
the same thing. Cliff walked right up to them and talked with
them about how dangerous it is to act that way in a tense situation where their actions could be interpreted as an attack.
He talked to them about the need to be sensitive. I was
impressed with his courage and gentleness. It had never
occurred to me that one could actually confront soldiers
about their actions.

Later I saw four Palestinian men standing up against a
Wall. We learned that two soldiers had taken away their
identity passes and made them stand there for four hours
because they had opened their shop during curfew. The market is closed as a collective punishment because two days ago
a Palestinian was shot in front of the mosque/synagogue and
left for two hours to bleed to death. He is reported to have
stabbed a settler after being harassed by settlers.
We approached the two soldiers and asked them about
What was happening. They didn't want to talk with us, or
give us their names. Cliff told them his name and said that
since he wasn’t ashamed of what he was doing, he wasn't
afraid to give his name. We went to the police station and
made a complaint about this incident. The policeman said he
would contact the commanding officer.

This evening we visited the Abu Haikel family. The family
has been harassed for years by the settlers in the neighboring
Tel Rumeida settlement, because the settlers want the
Abu Haikelland which adjoins the Tel Rumeida settlement.
Settlers have attacked the Abu Haikels and damaged their
property. We have been accompanying their young daughter
past the settlement when she comes home from school,
because she has been threatened by the settlers.
Last summer soldiers detained two CPT members for ten
hours after accompanying a water truck up to the Abu
Haikel home. The family had been without water and the
settlers were preventing water trucks from passing the settlement.
Because two North Americans were involved, this incident
received international attention and raised awareness
about the water problem in Hebron, where settlers enjoy
well-watered lawns even as Palestinians lack water for basic
needs. Prime Minister Rabin even sent a fact-finding group
to evaluate the water problem in Hebron. The publicity also
helped ease the pressure on the Abu Haikel family.

On the way home we were stopped by six soldiers who
wanted to see our passports. They told us they heard we had
created a lot of trouble this afternoon. We had a good talk
with them about what we are doing in Hebron.

To learn more about Hebron:
Read information about Hebron from Btselem
Read Btselem's publication entitled, "Ghost Town"

To learn more about CPT work in Hebron:
Visit the CPT Hebron site

International presence deters eviction of Palestinian family from East Jerusalem

2009-04-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

Today, Israeli police presented the al Hanoun family with an eviction notice notifying them that they would need to vacate the premises within half an hour. Fortunately, a member of the family noticed that the address on the document was not the address of their house. Frustrated, the police left to obtain a notice with the al Hanoun's address on it promising to return within an hour. During that time, members of the neighborhood, various Israeli and Palestinian peace organizations, and the media were mobilized in order to create a presence that would deter the police from returning to carry out the intended eviction.

Similar to the al Kurd family, members of the al Hanoun family were refugees of the 1948 War. In 1956, the United Nations Relief and Works Agencies (UNRWA),in cooperation with the Jordanian government, built housing units for Palestinian refugees of 1948 in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. This agreement would trade UNRWA refugee benefits for permanent housing in this neighborhood.

Since 1972, Israeli settlers have been claiming ownership of the land using fraudulent documents demanding rent from the al Hanoun family. Legal battles have ensued since then. The family was evicted for a period of time in 2002 and forced to live in a tent. However, the court overturned the ruling and the al Hanoun's were allowed to return to their home.

Regardless of that ruling, the eviction notices continue to be issued and the al Hanoun family lives under constant threat of being displaced once again. The al Hanoun family's story is only a part of a much broader Israeli policy of forcing Palestinians in East Jerusalem out to create "One Jerusalem undivided".

To find out more:
PNN's article about the eviction notice today
Maan's article about the al Hanoun family from last month

Below is a map of East Jerusalem neighborhoods from Btselem. The Green Line on the map indicates the 1949 armistice line. The red line represents the Wall, or Separation barrier. The brown indicates Palestinian neighborhoods and the blue indicates illegal Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem.

Creative resistance: Hip-hop for Gaza

2009-04-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a great story from Electronic Intifada about hip-hop groups performing in Chicago to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza.

Do you have a story of creative resistance? Are you using music or art to raise awareness about the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories?

Let us know about it here!

Campus Activism Opportunity for U.S. YFOS

2009-04-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Great opportunity for young friends of Sabeel on U.S. college campuses:

"Last year, our anti-apartheid speaking tour, Separate Is Never Equal, we had 10 events on campuses and forged relationships with amazing groups of students and faculty across the country. This year, we want to build on the education done during Separate Is Never Equal by spending more time with a few select campuses and implementing intensive training to support groups organizing for boycott and divestment campaigns on campuses.

We know that boycott and divestment campaigns (BDS) require real time and energy investments and we want to work closely with campus communities to develop leadership in student groups, solidify connections with supportive faculty and build coalitions between campuses and community groups working to unify campaigns in selected cities.

The tour is being organized with consultation from Hampshire College Students for Justice in Palestine - the only campus group to have successfully divested from Israel's illegal military occupation. We will bring the lessons learned during Hampshire's two-year campaign to campuses across the country and build a support network for campuses organizing BDS campaigns. The US campaign will commit to working side-by-side with groups in the selected cities before, during and after the tour to build sustainable BDS campaigns modeled after the work that was done to end apartheid in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s.

Regardless of what investments your university may hold there are myriad ways to get involved in BDS. We will offer students, faculty and community groups a full menu of options, from divesting from war profiteers like Caterpillar, to boycotting Motorola on campus, to selective purchasing like having campus food service buy Palestinian olive oil."

Find out more by clicking here.

Young friends outside of the U.S.--let us know what's happening on campuses and in churches at home!

Comment or email us at youngfriendsofsabeel[at]gmail[dot]com.

Good Friday Reflection from Sabeel's Contemporary Way of the Cross

2009-04-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

From Sabeel's Contemporary Way of the Cross:

"The Arabic word for Good Friday is jum'a al hazini which means "Sad Friday." Sad Friday denotes the situation of Christ on that Friday two thousand years ago: Christ had been humiliated, condemned, and crucified as a criminal. His disciples were all disheartened, scattered to the four winds, and broken in spirit. They had abandoned their Lord and Master, who seemed to have betrayed their hopes of a glorious kingdom which was heralded by his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. It represented the depth of despair for the apparent victory of the forces of evil, oppression, and hypocrisy. The Romans, the foreign occupiers, had collaborated with the local political and religious leadership to crush the fresh voice of the prophet from Nazareth. All hope seemed to have been abandoned.

Palestinians are living today in the "Sad Friday" period of their history. Never before did their situation seem as desperate as it is now. People correctly point out that their current situation is worse than it ever has been. Even the most optimistic Palestinian is now feeling a deep sense of depression and despair, as what looked like the beginnings of statehood, freedom, and self-determination, has been turned into an abysmal combination of Bantustans and a silent international community.

Yet precisely in this dark hour of despair, the message of Easter needs to be proclaimed again: Christ will not remain in the tomb, nor will evil and oppression have the last word. Christ rose again on the third day with a glorious triumph over the forces of evil and darkness, and over death itself proclaiming to the whole world a new era and the victory of good over evil. The message of Easter, for Palestinians, as well as for the poor and oppressed everywhere, is that God is sovereign in the affairs of the world. No matter how dark things appear to be on "Sad Friday," Easter is coming and with it the promise, hope and certainty of resurrection, a new beginning, and the victory of life over death."

--Jonathan Kuttab, board member of Sabeel

Remember Deir Yassin

2009-04-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Holy Thursday, also marked the 61st anniversary of the Deir Yassin massacre, often considered as the beginning of Al-Nakba.

To read about Deir Yassin and to see a short video commemorating the massacre--including the voices of people that past Sabeel young adult conferences have heard from, such as Jeff Halper and Eitan Bronstein--click here.

A Trip to Sderot

2009-04-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

During Operation Cast Lead, or the recent war in Gaza, the Israeli media was flooded with stories of Israeli citizens in Sderot running for cover upon hearing air raid sirens going off signaling the flight of a rocket originating from the Gaza Strip. The story of Sderot as a besieged city has become the symbol of Israeli suffering at the hands of Palestinians and Hamas in particular. When the opportunity arose to go to the city to hear directly from its citizens, my friends and I traveled an hour and a half southwest of Jerusalem to visit with members of three groups active in their community: Other Voice, a student group at Sapir College, and Sderot and Western Negev Media Center.

As we approached the city (in Israel, a population exceeding 25,000 is considered a city), I finally understood the news stories I read during the war recounting people finding cover from rockets at bus stops. Every bus stop in Sderot either was a bomb shelter, or had a bomb shelter next to it. One of the first bits of information we received from our first hosts, members of Other Voice, was the location of the bomb shelter in the house. Our hosts expressed that they experienced perpetual tension waiting to hear the next air raid siren go off. From the very first moments upon our arrival in the city, there was no doubt that the citizenry has been deeply affected by threat of rocket attacks.

Our introduction included a brief history of the area. Sderot is considered a “Development town”, part of a policy of social engineering that emerged in the 1950s to absorb the flooding of new immigrants, generally of non-European descent. In its earliest years, Sderot was almost entirely composed of Moroccan immigrants. These towns tend to be the poorest Jewish areas of Israel and offer little to no social mobility. This compounds the issue in Sderot. Most of the citizens do not have the means to move away from the area, and there has been little government intervention to ameliorate these and other social issues that plague the city.

Our hosts told us that the rockets had started after the second Intifada. As a result, real estate prices in Sderot plummeted making it nearly impossible for residents to move. Despite the hardships our hosts experienced, they expressed their deep sense of concern, and even grief for the people of Gaza, stating that the intolerable situation they lived in did not compare to the suffering felt in Gaza. All of the members of Other Voice had kept in contact with Palestinians in Gaza throughout the war via phone and internet and every one of those Palestinians knew some one who had died as a consequence of Israeli Defense Force actions. After the war, Other Voice has continued their efforts to maintain dialogue and to demonstrate solidarity with their friends in Gaza.

We then traveled to Sapir College to meet with two students who had organized a recycling center, and were dedicated to living a green or sustainable lifestyle. The students had traveled across Israel collecting various items that people considered to be waste, including books, kitchen items, clothing, etc. The students then mend or fix the items and resell them for a nominal fee. The fee is then used to sponsor different events for the Sderot community in an attempt to provide an alternative and empowering image of Sderot rather than that of a victimized city. The students expressed dedication to Sderot and to all of the people of the Western Negev, including the Bedouin (an Arab population that was once nomadic). Stories of exchanges between these Jewish Israeli students and the Bedouin were a great source of optimism for me.

However, the optimism I felt from meeting these two extraordinary groups came to an abrupt halt with our third and final meeting. The director of the Sderot and Western Negev Media Center was to be our guide on a tour of the city. He began as our first hosts did by informing us of the proper procedure in the event of the air raid siren going off. However, his language was a bit different. He informed us that we would be running for our lives as all citizens of Sderot are forced to do on a regular basis. He went on to paint more frantic and pitiful pictures of parents unable to “save” their children because of the limited time they have to run for their lives to shelter. Every morning, bus drivers are plagued by trying to choose which child they would save if the siren goes off because they could only save one. He went on to say that the psychological detriment to the citizenry of Sderot is overlooked by the international media because people are dying in Gaza and “if it bleeds, it leads.”

One of my friends asked a very interesting question:

Q: If the people of Sderot are suffering psychologically from the possibility of rocket attacks, then what of the citizens of Gaza who are bombarded every day by the Israeli military?

A: Yeah, of course they suffer psychologically because Hamas uses them as human shields.

During our conversation with the guide there was no indication that Israel could even partially be at fault for the suffering of the people of Sderot or Gaza. When asked about the 1,400 Gazans who had been killed in the war, again, our guide put the burden on Hamas stating that very few civilians had been killed because the Israeli military was able to target the terrorists. Apparently he had not read the Haaretz articles discussing the Israeli military’s lax policy of defining “combatant” and accounts of the targeting of civilians. Finally, we asked him what the war had accomplished as Sderot is still threatened with rockets, if not more so now. He replied: “The job wasn’t finished”

It is this mentality that has made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict intractable. The Israeli government and the media’s manipulation of Sderot’s very serious problem as a symbol for Israeli suffering has hindered any kind of real change for the neglected resident of the city, and has perpetuated the view that all Palestinians in Gaza are terrorists. This kind of dehumanization is an obstacle to peace.

Great site for morally responsible investment activists

2009-04-01T19:49:00.001-07:00

Here's a great resource for anyone working on morally responsible investment in their church or on campus.

It's a website called Who Profits?

Who Profits? is a website built and maintained by the Coalition of Women for Peace. It's an online database of all the companies that support, sustain, and profit from the illegal and immoral Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Here's some cool things you can do with the website:

1) You can search by country of origin. Just go to Advanced Search on the site and type in your country under Location. This gives you all the companies that originate from your country that profit from the occupation. So, for example, if you're from Sweden, you can search for Swedish companies that help build and sustain the occupation.

2) You can also search by country of activity. Just type in your country under "Global Presence" in the Advanced Search menu. This gives a list of companies that profit from the occupation that have a presence in your country. So, if you're Canadian, you can search for companies that profit from the occupation that might have a store or sell products in your area, whether or not those companies are Canadian-owned or not.

3) You can also report a company. So for those of you living in Palestine and Israel, if you see a company that has chains in settlements, or is involved in the Wall or checkpoints, or is supplying the Israeli military with equipment they use to maintain the occupation, you can report it by going here

Let's try it, shall we? There's a Domino's Pizza chain in the French Hill settlement, but Domino's doesn't show up on the Who Profits database. Who wants to help me report Domino's by clicking here?

Today is Land Day!

2009-03-30T01:29:00.000-07:00

Today, March 30th is Land Day and is in commemoration of the first Land Day that occurred in 1976. In 1976 on this day a general strike was called by the Palestinian leadership inside of Israel (by Palestinians who had remained inside of Israel's borders after the 1948 War and had become Israeli citizens). On this same day, marches and demonstrations were also held in protest against the Israeli government's decision to confiscate thousands of acres of land owned by Palestinian citizens of Israel for Jewish Israeli use.

During clashes with the Israeli Army and police, 6 Palestinians were killed, 96 Palestinians were injured, and over 300 Palestinians were arrested. Palestinian villages in Israel were declared closed military zones and curfew was imposed.

Palestinian land in Israel and the West Bank continue to be confiscated by Israel today. Land continues to be confiscated in the Galilee, in East Jerusalem (i.e. the al Bustan neighborhood in East Jerusalem scheduled for demolition), and in the West Bank to build the Wall or Separation Barrier, to build roads that only settlers can use, to expand settlements, and to create new illegal settlements.

Protests are being held all over Israel/Palestine and in cities across the world today calling for action to be taken against these illegal confiscations.

Check out IMEMC's article about Land Day today
This is an informative article about the background of Land Day

ICAHD CALLS FOR AN IMMEDIATE HALT TO ISRAEL’S POLICY OF HOME DEMOLITIONS

2009-03-24T03:26:00.000-07:00

One can only describe Israel’s obsession with demolishing Palestinian homes in light of the exclusive Jewish claim to the entire Land of Israel harking back a century or more. It is not a policy specific to any particular time or place, nor is it confined to the Occupied Territories. In 1948 and for years after, Israeli governments systematically demolished more than 500 entire villages, towns, urban centers and neighborhoods, both to prevent the return of the Palestinian refugees and to take their lands and properties. Since the Occupation began in 1967, another 24,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished, including 4000 in the latest attack on Gaza. And in 2004, the Israeli government announced the establishment of a Demolition Administration within the Ministry of Interior; targeted for destruction are 20-40,000 homes of Israeli (Arab) citizens classified as “unrecognized villages.” (One Bedouin village in the Negev, al Twazil, has been demolished 18 times.)

It must be stressed that Israel has never explained or justified its long-standing practice of demolishing Palestinian homes by security. For the most part it has offered no explanations at all, treating the phenomenon as a purely internal matter. Occasionally it justifies the wholesale destruction of homes in military operations as “collateral damage.” According to Ha’aretz (15.2.09), “Israel Defense Forces investigations into last month's offensive in the Gaza Strip indicate the army could face significant difficulties justifying the scale of destruction of civilian homes during the fighting. A military source involved in the investigation told Haaretz, “It's clear to us that in a small portion of the combat sectors immeasurable damage was caused, and that is very difficult to justify from a legal perspective, particularly if such justifications are called for in legal proceedings with international organizations.” As for the thousands of homes demolished due to a lack of building permits, which Israel justifies on a legal basis, it neglects to say that its explicit policy since 1967 has been to deny permits to Palestinians, or to restrict them severely.

When one surveys the consequences of Israel’s house demolition policy from 1948 until the present, the conclusion is inescapable: a systematic and ongoing campaign is being waged to either rid the country of its Palestinian population or, failing that, to confine the remaining Palestinians to tiny, delimited, disconnected and impoverished enclaves, in Israel as well as in the Occupied Territories.

At this very moment, together with the “routine” demolitions that are the Palestinians’ daily fare, 88 homes in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem – the entire al Bustan quarter – are threatened with immediate destruction, as are two apartment buildings housing 34 families in the adjacent al Abbasiyya quarter. House demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem are illegal under international law, serve no obvious purpose, have severe humanitarian effects and fuel bitterness and extremism. They also violate the first phase of the Road Map. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) calls on the international community to enforce its stated opposition to this cruel policy and end it immediately.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions is based in Jerusalem and has chapters in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Please visit the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions' websites:

www.icahd.org

www.icahduk.org

www.icahdusa.org

Amazing Video by CPT members in the Hebron area of the West Bank

2009-03-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this discussion between an international and an Israeli soldier!

The same day that US citizen, Tristan Anderson was shot with a tear gas cannister by the IDF during a demonstration, the IDF attacks more demonstators

2009-03-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

On the 13th of March 2009, in Burin village (Nablus district), the Israeli army repressed a peaceful and non-violent demonstration by shooting live ammunition and teargas canisters aimed directly at protesters.

The protesters decided to hold ground, before a group of twenty Israeli soldiers started to chase the demonstrators down to the village, beating up the Palestinians demonstrators, including a journalist, and international activists. They also set about illegally confiscating all the cameras and a video recorder that previously were being used to document the soldiers’ actions.

Between seventy and a hundred people took part in the demonstration against the expansion of the illegal settlement in the village, that will result in the confiscation of much of the village’s lands.

This is again a blatant example of Israel's refusal to allow the freedom of expression of the Palestinian people and Israel's attempt to prevent journalists or internationals to report and document the illegal Israeli occupation.
You can see the settlements (in blue) surrounding the Palestinian village of Burin in the West Bank on this Btselem map.

This article is from the ISM website
This map and many other useful maps can be found at the Btselem website

U.S. Citizen shot in head by Israeli army in West Bank

2009-03-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Please pray for Tristan Andersen, from the Oakland, California area, as well as for his family and friends. Tristan is in a hospital near Tel Aviv in extremely critical condition after being shot in the head with a high-velocity tear gas canister by the Israeli Defense Forces while participating in a demonstration against the construction of the wall in the West Bank village of Ni'lin.

An updated press release is available from the website of the International Solidarity Movement. This press release contains links to other media reports and updates on Tristan's condition. PLEASE NOTE that the video footage included on these sites is graphic.

This incident comes almost exactly six years after the Israeli military killed American nonviolent activist Rachel Corrie by crushing her with a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer on March 16, 2003.

Ni'lin has been the site of regular weekly protests against the Wall. Since 2008, four Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army while demonstrating against the Wall in Ni'lin:

Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29th July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days later in a Ramallah hospital.

Please pray for their families and for the family of Tristan Andersen.

As soon as action suggestions are available, we will post them here.

Learn More About Sabeel!

2009-03-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

Meet the Rev. Naim Ateek, the founder and director of Sabeel: Watch this short video from a Sabeel conference prepared by Friends of Sabeel North America. Bishop Desmond Tutu, a good friend of Sabeel and the Rev. Naim Ateek speak out against the apartheid like injustices that Palestinian Muslims and Christians encounter on a daily basis.

Understand Sabeel's politics: Sabeel's Jerusalem Document outlines the movement's vision for a just peace. This document was written in 2000 but is still representative of Sabeel's position today.

Sabeel promotes nonviolence and condemns all forms of violence, Israeli and Palestinian: One form of nonviolent action that Sabeel promotes is morally responsible investment. Learn how as an individual or as an organization, you can make a difference by reading this Sabeel document.

During this Lenten season, Sabeel is organizing community Lenten programs in Jerusalem and the West Bank to encourage spiritual growth during this time of reflection. Today the program was held in East Jerusalem.

Before the participants went to the Melkite Church, everyone went to Silwan (the area called, al Bustan, mentioned in my last post, is inside of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan) to demonstrate solidarity with the residents threatened with eviction (see the March 5th post on this blog). Rabbi Arik Ascherman, from Rabbis for Human Rights, was also there and spoke out against the injustices that the eviction notices constitute.

Demolition orders for the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al Bustan

2009-03-05T00:27:00.000-08:00

Israel has issued orders for the demolition of an entire neighborhood in East Jerusalem called al Bustan which would uproot 2,000 people and replace their homes with...an open park. The demolition orders are for 80 Palestinian homes that the Israeli authorities claim were built illegally. However, many of these homes were built BEFORE Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

As for construction after 1967, Israel has employed a policy of planning, development, and building that severely restricts construction by Palestinians creating a situation in which Palestinians are unable to obtain permits to build or even make additions to existing homes. Because of this, many Palestinians are forced to build without a permit because they have no other way to provide shelter for their families.

On the U.S. Secretary of State's visit to Israel, Clinton stated that activities like the demolition orders are "unhelpful" and "not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the road map." While Clinton's remarks are an understatement and the demolition orders are not only destroying the peace process but also in clear violation of Humanitarian Law, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat responded by charging the Palestinians with feeding Clinton misinformation and that the land had been set aside as open space and parks (apparently after the land had already been built on before 1967 when Israel acquired the land).

For more information about these particular demolition orders please follow these links:

ICAHD article about this neighborhood
PNN article about this neighborhood

ACTION to support Morally Responsible Investment

2009-02-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

One of the many means of acting for peace and justice supported by Sabeel is the idea of morally responsible investment. We encourage churches and other organizations to invest in peace rather than investing in occupation, human rights violations, and injustice--or the companies who profit off of these things.

In early February, the movement for morally responsible investment won a huge victory. After a long campaign by the Hampshire Students for Justice in Palestine, Hampshire College announced that it was divesting from a mutual fund that included from six corporations supporting Israel's military occupation - including Motorola and Caterpillar.

Now, after attack from Alan Dershowitz and other Zionist activists, Hampshire's administration has announced that it's divestment had nothing to do with the Israeli Occupation but rather with a general socially responsible investment policy AND is considering the possibility of reinvesting in Motorola and Terex Corp. Call on Hampshire College president, Ralph Hexter, to stand with Hampshire College Students for Justice in Palestine by clicking here.

It appears that KLD, the company that is screening these companies, is not looking at their subsidiary companies - which is why Motorola is slipping through the cracks. In 1977, Hampshire College was the first U.S. college to divest from corporations profiting from South African apartheid. Click here to applaud Hampshire College for making history and make sure that they continue to lead the way in campus activism for human rights.

To learn more about morally responsible investment, see Sabeel's call for morally responsible investment and the Global Survey of divestment campaigns posted on the Sabeel homepage.

Take Action!

2009-02-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

According to the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and according to the terms of an agreement signed between the U.S. and Israel in 2007, U.S. military aid to Israel is expected to increase to 2.775 billion dollars in the fiscal year 2010.

In light of the recent events in Gaza and the way in which this military aid was utilized, this is greatly distressing. When U.S. Representatives Keith Ellison and Brian Baird visited the Gaza Strip after the 22 day land and air bombardment of the area, they stated that "If this had happened in our own country, there would be national outrage and an appeal for urgent assistance."

Fortunately,there is evidence that the Obama administration is reconsidering the deal described above. To encourage this administration to take action please visit this link to send an email to the president. It only takes 60 seconds at most.

Obstacles to Peace: More on the recent Israeli elections

2009-02-24T00:15:00.000-08:00

Netanyahu has recently been charged with the task of forming the new Israeli government and Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beiteinu, which favours tightening the Israeli blockade on Gaza, opposes the dismantlement of settlements in the West Bank, and supports policies widely regarded as anti-Arab, has given his support to Netanyahu. While President Shimon Peres' appointment of Netanyahu is troubling in itself because he does not support the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state in which Palestinians would control their borders, airspace, and have the ability to form an army (which every sovereign nation has the right to establish), a partnership with Lieberman is even more so.

To further illustrate the danger that this alliance poses to the peace process, I would like to underscore Lieberman's membership in Kahane's Kach Party. Kahane was declared a racist party by the Israeli government and was banned from the Knesset. Kahane encouraged the settlement movement and declared that a Jewish state should include all of Biblical Jewish land, including land that is currently part of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq!:

"Let me tell you what the minimal borders are, and which the rabbis agree upon, according to the description given in the Bible. The southern border goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan. Eretz Israel [the land of Israel] also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the Tigris River."

These racist sentiments which also constitute obstruction to the peace process are widely supported in Israeli society. Gideon Levy argues that while Kach was banned in the 1980s, Yisrael Beiteinu is embraced by Israeli politics and society even though they bear striking similarities. Gideon Levy is an Israeli journalist who's career is inspired by his desire to raise awareness within Israeli society concerning immoral policies directed at the Palestinian population and during the elections, Levy was particularly concerned about Yisrael Beiteinu (which ended up becoming the third largest party in the Knesset beating Labour). I am posting the article he wrote below. Even though it was written before the results of the election became known, it is still a powerful article that puts the burden of rampant racism within Israeli politics on the members of Israeli society:

Kahane Won by Gideon Levy:

Rabbi Meir Kahane can rest in peace: His doctrine has won. Twenty years after his Knesset list was disqualified and 18 years after he was murdered, Kahanism has become legitimate in public discourse. If there is something that typifies Israel's current murky, hollow election campaign, which ends the day after tomorrow, it is the transformation of racism and nationalism into accepted values.

If Kahane were alive and running for the 18th Knesset, not only would his list not be banned, it would win many votes, as Yisrael Beiteinu is expected to do. The prohibited has become permitted, the ostracized is now accepted, the destestable has become the talented - that's the slippery slope down which Israeli society has skidded over the past two decades.

There's no need to refer to Haaretz's startling revelation that Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman was a member of Kahane's Kach party in his youth: This campaign's dark horse was and is a Kahanist. The differences between Kach and Yisrael Beiteinu are minuscule, not fundamental and certainly not a matter of morality. The differences are in tactical nuances: Lieberman calls for a fascist "test of loyalty" as a condition for granting citizenship to Israel's Arabs, while Kahane called for the unconditional annulment of their citizenship. One racist (Lieberman) calls for their transfer to the Palestinian state, the other (Kahane) called for their deportation.

Now the instigator of the new Israeli racism will apparently become the leader of a large party once again in the government. Benjamin Netanyahu has already pledged that Lieberman will be an "important minister" in his government. If someone like Lieberman were to join a government in Europe, Israel would sever ties with it. If anyone had predicted in Kahane's day that a pledge to turn his successor into an important minister would one day be considered an electoral asset here, they would have been told they were having a nightmare.

But the nightmare is here and now. Kahane is alive and kicking - is he ever - in the person of his thuggish successor. This is not just a matter of disqualifying Yisrael Beiteinu; it is not even a matter of this party's growing strength to terrifying proportions, becoming the fulcrum that will decide who becomes prime minister. This is a matter of legitimization. All society bears responsibility for it.

Kahane was ostracized; Lieberman is a welcome guest in every living room and television studio. Imagine: Ehud Barak does not rule out a coalition with him; Uzi Landau, considered a "democrat," is now Lieberman's number two; a former senior ambassador and a retired police major general also adorn the list. Did we know that Israel was being represented in Washington by an avowed racist in the person of Daniel Ayalon? Did we know that former Border Police chief and deputy police commissioner Yitzhak Aharonovich was one, too? They have come out of the closet, these racists, breaking out of the heart of the establishment to the despicable right, and the attitude toward them has not changed a bit.

Lieberman and his soldiers are borne on the tides of hatred for Arabs, hatred of democracy and the rule of law, and the stink of nationalism, racism and bloodthirstiness. These have turned, horrifically, into the hottest electoral assets on the market. Like all others of his political ilk, he cynically fans these base urges, particularly among the weaker classes, the rejected, the poor and the immigrants. But not just there. Many young people, among them brainwashed soldiers, will give him their vote, and no one ostracizes them. He chose an easy, relatively weak target, Israel's Arabs, and sets his supporters on them. But his doctrine has seeped in much deeper than that.

Lieberman is the voice of the mob, and the mob craves hatred, vengeance and bloodshed. A useless war in which hundreds of children were killed was received here sympathetically, if not happily. The parties from the right and center have tried to disqualify the Arab parties; these lists are also excluded ahead of time in every political calculation. And Arab students cannot rent an apartment.

When the intifada of Israel's Arabs breaks out here one day, we will know whom to blame - those who criminally incited against them and, no less, those who turned this incitement into something acceptable and legitimate. This cancerous growth has spread to all parts of society; it remains only to issue a desperate last call: Keep away from this abomination. Anything but Yisrael Beiteinu, lest it really become Israel, our home.

Looking for material for a short film on Hebron

2009-02-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Yet another young adult conference participant working on raising awareness!

LOOKING FOR MATERIAL FOR A SHORT FILM!
VIDEO FROM PALESTINE, LICENSE-FREE ARABIC MUSIC, OR WHATEVER YOU'VE GOT!

Hello my friends!

I'm going to make a short film, about what happened in Hebron when we were there [YAC 2008].

If you have:

- Video recorded anywhere in Palestine, filmed with video camera, cellphone or whatever!
- Arabic music which is license-free, or where you know, or have contact-possibilities, with the singer
- A great quotation?
- Some pictures?
- Or something else, related to Hebron, or just Palestine?
... please send it to me!

Video can easily be sent to my mail, through www.sprend.com

e-mail: peterlindqvist5@gmail.com

Send it quickly because my friend will start to edit very soon; what we are looking for is video and an emotional Arabic song.

Take care!

Peter Lindqvist, Sweden

Call for Submissions for Art Exhibit

2009-02-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

A message from one of our Young Adult Conference participants:

Hello friends!

It has been a while since we've been together but the present situation in Gaza has kept us together in thought and prayer.

I am a part of a society called Students for Peace in the Middle East and we are looking for artistic contributions for an art exhibit and silent auction called "Capture the Conflict" to bring awareness about the situation in Israel/Palestine and to raise funds for Human Rights Watch. If you have anything you would like to contribute - photos, poetry, short films - please contact me at kt982579@dal.ca or email them directly to: spme@dal.ca

It would be fantastic to have submissions from people who have seen and lived the conflict firsthand - the deadline for contributions is the end of February but the sooner we get them the better.

The art show is planned for the week of March 21st, so get your submissions in as soon as possible!

Thanks for considering this and please pass along this to anyone who would be interested.

Peace,

Katie

Click on the image below to view our flyer for the upcoming Sabeel International Young Adult Conference!

2009-02-17T03:44:00.001-08:00

The Aftermath of the War on Gaza: Israeli political shift to the right and the international call for an investigation into Israeli war crimes

2009-02-16T23:19:00.000-08:00

Although Israeli attacks on Gaza have diminished, though not completely stopped, this situation still requires our attention and prayers. There are two issues in particular that I would like to highlight: A) The Israeli political shift to the right and the racist policies of Knesset member, Avigdor Leiberman gaining unprecedented support B) Attention is still required regarding the situation in Gaza and the need for an international investigation into Israeli war crimes committed during the attack on Gaza.

As the international community, particularly the UN and the International Criminal Court build a case highlighting Israeli war crimes committed during the recent war on Gaza, also known as Operation Cast Lead, Israeli politics have shifted to the right and Israel has become more than ever unreceptive to peace plans.

The Israeli peace movement has become marginalized and attacked being called self-hating Jews. Btselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, has called for an independent investigation into Israeli war crimes calling on the government to fulfill their democratic obligations to uphold human rights. However, Btselem has been attacked for this call.

In their position paper, in the conclusion, Btselem states that "The extent of the harm to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead is unprecedented. Only now is the full magnitude of the destruction coming to light and additional testimonies about what happened continue to surface. Whole families have been wiped out. Children were killed before their parents' eyes. Some people watched as their loved ones bled to death. Clearly, even after the dead are buried and the rubble has been cleared away, the residents of the Gaza Strip will carry scars from this operation for a long time to come."

The last sentence of this passage underscores the necessity to continue paying attention to the situation in Gaza. Gazans face a long road to reconstruction and require support from the international community. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble and the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed. It is important to remember that reconstruction doesn't just involve concrete and steel, it also requires attention to the emotional needs of individuals who have lost family members. There is not a resident of Gaza who has not been affected by this recent conflict whether by losing family, friends, property, or all of these.

Unfortunately, the Israeli government ignores its obligation to be held accountable for the destruction and particularly, the targeting of civilians and civilian structures and the use of weapons illegally (use of white phosphorous in civilian areas and the use of DIME). Btselem's report goes on to state, "In Israel, however, official authorities prefer to hide behind sweeping declarations that the military acted properly during the operation."

It is important to keep pressure on Israel and on our own government's policies regarding Israel as Israeli mainstream politics have adopted the politics of the extreme right wing, particularly Yisrael Beiteinu and its leader, Avigdor Leiberman. Yisrael Beiteinu's slogan is "no citizenship without loyalty" which on the surface does not seem particularly racist until one further investigates what this means. It means that Jewish and Arab citizens that do not serve in the army siting consciencious objection are regarded as enemies of that state of Israel and not entitled to the rights of citizenship. Before the Israeli elections, Avigdor Leiberman suceeded in gaining support in the Knesset to ban the Arab parties in Israel from participating in the recent elections. Fortunately, this decision was overturned but Leiberman's policies are gaing more and more support, especially among the youth. I would strongly suggest reading this article from Haaretz about this unprecedented support of Yisrael Beiteinu. The article's title is "Lieberman's anti-Arab ideology wins over Israel's teens".

SABEEL’S REFLECTION ON GAZA

2009-01-06T04:11:00.000-08:00

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

On Saturday, December 27, 2008, as the children of Gaza were about to leave their schools to return home, the Israeli air force carried a massive air attack against the people of Gaza. In less than 4 hours, over 150 people were killed and 200 injured – men, women, and children. By the end of the fourth day, over 390 Palestinians were killed and almost 2,000 injured. On the Israeli side, 4 were killed and no statistics are available on the number of injured.

FACTS ABOUT THE GAZA STRIP:

Population: 1.5 million. 75% of them are refugees. 45% of them are under 14 years.

Area: 360 sq km, 139 sq miles.

Population density: 4,167 people/sq km (The highest in the world.)

80% of Gazan households live below the poverty line, subsisting on less than $3 per person a day. 80% of all Gazan families would literally starve without food aid from international agencies.

The Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, similar to that of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, started with the 1967 June war. In September 2005, the Israeli army pulled out of Gaza and removed its illegal settlements. However, the illegal Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip did not come to an end. Israel maintained its tight control over Gaza’s borders (air, land, and sea). To make things even worse, Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in June 2007, thus tightening its border restrictions and causing the humanitarian conditions to deteriorate further. Under the brutal siege, every aspect of the lives of the people of Gaza was controlled. They were totally dependent on Israel for fuel, electricity, cooking gas, medical supplies, food supplies (even flour), building material, etc. Israel made sure that the Palestinians would remain alive at barely the survival and basic subsistence level.

On November 14, 2008, UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon issued a statement that said, “The Secretary-General is concerned that food and other life saving assistance is being denied to hundreds of thousands of people, and emphasizes that measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as a whole are unacceptable and should cease immediately.”

IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER:

FIRST: A word about tahdi’a (the period of calm or truce). It is important to note that among the terms of tahdi’a was the understanding that Israel would lift the siege of the Gaza Strip, and gradually extend the truce to the West Bank. This Israel did not do. It only partially lifted the siege and allowed a trickle of vital commodities into Gaza which kept the people at the level of mere survival. Israel’s raids into the West Bank continued on a daily basis and scores of Palestinians were arrested or assassinated.

The International Herald Tribune reported on December 19, 2008 that it was Hamas’ understanding that after the tahdi’a Israel would open the crossings and allow the transfer of goods that have been banned since the siege was imposed. There was never a return to the 500 – 600 truckloads of goods shipments that used to go into the Gaza Strip before the siege. “The number of trucks increased to around 90 from around 70.” The facts and figures tell the real story. Sadly, however, many western leaders have shut their ears, eyes, and mouths against the cry of the oppressed and they fell into the deceptive snares of Israel. Most of the world judges Israel by what it says and not by what it does; while they close their ears to the comprehensive and workable 2002 Peace Initiative adopted by all the Arab leaders including the Palestinians. Even Hamas has agreed to a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders as expressed to President Carter on his latest visit to Syria.

SECOND: So long as Israel holds the Palestinians in general and the Gazans in particular under occupation, they (the Palestinians) have the right, according to international law, to resist the “seemingly never ending” belligerent occupation and struggle for their liberation. Israel, therefore, cannot demand from the international community sympathy and political support and from the Palestinians calm and security, while it maintains its inhuman and illegal occupation. It is only when Israel ends its occupation that it can have a legitimate right to defend its borders. Israel stands in violation of international law and is the aggressor due to its belligerent occupation.

THIRD: The Arab leaders and governments can do more for peace. Many people accuse them of a conspiracy of silence. Most of the Arab people are ashamed of the positions of their governments because they have not used their resources collectively to end the occupation. Sabeel is not talking about the use of force although many of our Arab people do. We believe that the Arab governments could have contributed much more towards a resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict through nonviolent means. Tragically, this did not happen.

FOURTH: Although Sabeel wishes that Hamas and other Palestinian factions had chosen a nonviolent way to resist the Israeli siege, we feel that the disproportionate use of military force against the Gaza Strip and the number of casualties that it produced must be strongly condemned. It is a shame that once again many western leaders have failed to see the deeper issues that are involved. They chose to stand with the occupier rather than with the occupied, with the oppressor rather than the oppressed, and with the powerful rather than with the weak. It is important to continue the resistance against the belligerent occupation. But we call on our Palestinian people to abandon the armed struggle and to choose a more potent and effective way – the way of nonviolence. We can do it and we can win. The Palestinians are capable of setting an example for the rest of the world. This is what we must do; and this is what can restore to us our human pride and dignity.

In fact, we must look to a world where wars, and weapons of violence and destruction would be banned and where oppressed nations would choose the higher moral ground and resist the evil of belligerent occupations by nonviolent means. We hope for a world where a reformed United Nations would never be held hostage by powerful nations, but would enjoy the freedom to establish justice for the oppressed of the world.

FIFTH: We believe that the real message of the Palestinians to the world is a genuine cry for freedom and liberation. The Palestinians did not initiate the violence. The prolonged illegal Israeli occupation is the real cause for the violence in our area. Israel has shut the door on justice. The only way that can guarantee a lasting resolution of the conflict is for the United States’ new administration to dare and open the door of justice. We believe that it is the narrow gate of which Jesus Christ spoke. It is the gate that leads to a life of peace and security. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” This is the narrow gate of justice. This is the basis of international law. The way of military domination, occupation, violence, and wars is the wide gate that leads to destruction; while the gate that seems narrow and hard is the one that leads to justice, peace and security for both sides. We have tried the wide gate and it has only brought us destruction. It is high time to try the narrow gate of justice so that we might find life.

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center

December 31, 2008

Under civil society pressure, Unilever withdraws from settlement

2008-12-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to share a success story with all of you! Kudos to all of the civil society activists across Europe who worked on this:

November 27th 2008
Unilever withdraws from an Israeli settlement

United Civilians for Peace (UCP) welcomes Unilever’s decision to divest from a factory based in an illegal Israeli settlement on the West Bank. This decision comes in a period in which UCP and Unilever Netherlands are engaged in a constructive dialogue about Unilever’s presence in Barkan. UCP and Unilever discussed the ethical considerations with regards to investment in settlements and Unilever’s responsibilities within the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility.

In 2006, a report by United Civilians for Peace concluded that the Anglo-Dutch multinational owns a 51% share in Beigel & Beigel, a pretzel and snacks factory. This factory is located in Barkan, an industrial zone in Ariel, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Last Wednesday, Unilever announced their decision to divest from Beigel & Beigel.

Since the publication of the report “Dutch economic links in support of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and/or Syrian territories” in 2006, UCP has advocated the departure of Unilever from the settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This resulted in a constructive dialogue with Unilever Netherlands and UCP research into the legal and ethical implications of Unilever’s investment in Beigel & Beigel.

The research document titled: “Improper Advantage: A Study of Unilever’s investment in an illegal Israeli settlement” concludes that:
- The land of the Barkan industrial zone was confiscated from surrounding Palestinian villages by a military order issued by the Israeli Defence Force issued in 1981, and declared “state land”. International Law prohibits the confiscation of occupied land not for military purposes.

- Because the factory is located in an illegal settlement, Unilever complies with violation of Palestinian human rights and the structural discrimination of Palestinian workers.

- Beigel & Beigel benefits from subsidies that are allocated by the Israeli government to the industrial zones in the settlements. Also, the factory has been guaranteed a state grant for a plan of expansion.

The report is available as of Friday November 28th.

UCP congratulates Unilever with their decision to divest. This important and constructive step shows that Unilever takes serious both the provisions of international law as well as its Corporate Social Responsibility. Israeli settlements form a major obstacle to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the industrial zones play an important economic role in maintaining these settlements.

Not for publication: For more information and to request a copy of the report “Improper Advantage: A Study of Unilever’s investment in an illegal Israeli settlement”, please contact Merijn de Jong (United Civilians for Peace) +31(0)30-8801581 / +31(0)6-27249753 or merijn.de.jong@unitedcivilians.nl

The report is available as of Friday November 28th. http://www.unitedcivilians.nl

United Civilians for Peace (UCP) is a Dutch platform that strives for a just solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. UCP is a joint initiative of Oxfam Novib, Cordaid, ICCO and IKV Pax Christi.

__Oxfam works with others to overcome poverty and suffering.Oxfam GB is a member of Oxfam International and a company limited by guarantee registered in England No. 612172.Registered office: Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2JY.A registered charity in England and Wales (no 202918) and Scotland (SCO 039042)

Seventh International Conference statement

2008-12-15T15:20:00.000-08:00

SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL SABEEL CONFERENCE
NAZARETH AND JERUSALEM
NOVEMBER 12-19, 2008 THE NAKBA: MEMORY, REALITY AND BEYOND

We are more than 200 Christians from five continents who have come together to commemorate the tragic events that occurred 60 years ago in the lives of the people of Palestine. While we have come to hear from and to offer our solidarity and support to the indigenous Palestinian community in both Palestine and Israel, we have also heard from brothers and sisters in the Muslim and Jewish communities as they too have borne witness to the injustices visited upon the Palestinian population of this land. They have seen more than 531 villages depopulated and destroyed, and the creation of more than 750,000 refugees who have not been allowed to return to their homes since 1948.

We recognize the irony in the coincidence that this year also marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The establishment of peace with justice requires that the full truth be told about the events of 1948 and the subsequent displacement of hundreds of thousands more Palestinian citizens in 1967, a process which has continued to the present day. The human rights of the Palestinian people continue to be crushed under a military occupation that dehumanizes both oppressed and oppressor. We share our conviction that it is only an acknowledgement of the full truth behind and within this current state of oppression that will lead to true freedom for all parties in the conflict.

Truth is essential for peacemaking. We acknowledge the truth that our silence about the status of the Palestinian people equals complicity in this ongoing tragedy. The status quo is a crime against humanity. As Christians, we can no longer be silent. Things worsen as each day passes. The so-called peace process is rather a consistent and persistent process of death and destruction, both physically and spiritually. The Nakba - the catastrophe - that has been imposed and is still being imposed on the people of Palestine--continues unabated and unrestrained. The truth of it is silenced or ignored both in our churches and in our media. This must change if we are to be true to Jesus' call to be peacemakers.

We have been encouraged by the thousands of Palestinians and Israelis who have practiced methods of nonviolent resistance in seeking to bring an end to the current conflict. We lift up the practice of nonviolence as the most practical means of achieving peace in this situation where the balance of military power is so overwhelmingly one-sided and where the reliance upon violence only continues to make matters worse. We are concerned by the use of the Bible as an instrument of colonialism and exploitation by those who would enlarge the conflict. We reject the exclusivism presupposed in such an interpretive approach to biblical truth. We seek the reconciliation of all peoples throughout the world, and therefore call on our brothers and sisters in the worldwide church to speak out and act out the ministry of reconciliation.

We have been touched by the faces of children wherever we have gone. We have come to realize that an entire generation of children is being crippled because they have no access to the nutrition needed for normal growth and development, and thus endure spiritual and social alienation, violence and lack of opportunities which none of us would tolerate even for a day in our own communities. We remember the call of the Nobel peace laureates that the first decade of this new century be devoted to nonviolence. We hear anew the call of Jesus to "let the little children come unto me," to let them be placed in the center of the current picture of marginalization, thus challenging the international community with their vulnerability and their need for protection. Therefore, we call upon all our churches and governments:

▪ to work with renewed energy for an end to this endlessly spreading military occupation;

▪ to insist on full implementation of all United Nations resolutions and all human rights requirements in international law which pertain to Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories and the right of return for Palestinian refugees;

▪ to insist on greater freedom of movement and more humane conditions in the occupied territories;

▪ to insist that Israel accord equal rights to all its citizens, Jewish and Palestinian alike;

▪ to divest themselves from investments in companies that enable the occupation;

▪ to insist that Israel lift its ongoing siege and collective punishments which prevent the free movement of people, goods and humanitarian aid in and out of Gaza; and finally

▪ to support the work of Sabeel in its efforts to build bridges of nonviolence between people in all the monotheistic religions represented in the region.

We have heard the call of urgency from our fellow Christians in this holy land. As in Jesus' own day, so Bethlehem lies under military occupation today surrounded by a prison wall. Our memories of the birth of The Child of Bethlehem 2000 years ago are contrasted and challenged by the reality of the children and the parents and the grandparents of Bethlehem today. As followers of that holy child, may our spirits meet in Bethlehem's streets as we join in prayers and actions for light and life! May we seek creatively to disturb the status quo with acts born of the Spirit of courage, love and truth.

7th International Sabeel Conference: A Time To Act

2008-12-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

The last full day of the International Conference was entitled, “A Time to Act” because the lectures this day highlighted the way in which the Nakba continues to impact Palestinian society in negative ways on a daily basis and the urgent need to respond to this problem as internationals.

The first lecturer, Dr. Jeff Halper, Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD), speaking from a Jewish Israeli perspective, pointed out that the core of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict stems from an exclusive Israeli identity by which Jewish Israelis believe that they have exclusive right to the land. Therefore, “It’s a matter of 1948, not 1967” because the affects of this sense of entitlement have continued in various manifestations since 1948, the occupation of the West Bank being only one of these.

The first panel discussed a central issue to the peace process that continues to be on the negotiating table, the status of Jerusalem. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, founder of Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA), speaking on this topic, described the Wall as a “sharp knife cutting us [Palestinians] to pieces”. The construction of the Wall, or the “Separation Barrier” consists of rows of 25-foot concrete slabs in urban areas while other sections of it consist of an electronic fence equipped with surveillance devices, a trench, and barbed wire. The construction of the Wall has resulted in Israel’s further annexation of Palestinian land, the impediment of a West Bank economy, and the fragmentation of Palestinian society. Btselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories doubts the Israeli government’s intention for building the Wall as a security measure:

“The route of the Barrier, however, defies all security logic and appears politically motivated. In Jerusalem, the Barrier roughly follows the municipal boundary, set when Israel annexed East Jerusalem. This boundary ignores urban planning considerations; it cuts through Palestinian neighborhoods, at times literally running down the middle of busy, urban streets. Leaving 220,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites on the Israeli side of the Barrier, it is hardly consistent with the State’s own security logic: does the State of Israel consider Palestinians living on one side of the street dangerous, but not those on the other side?”

-Btselem “A Wall in Jerusalem: Obstacles to Human Rights in the Holy City” Summer 2006

(This particular portion of the Wall is located in the Bethlehem area and separates the Ayda Refugee Camp residents from one of their only sources of income, their olive grove)

Mahdi Abdul Hadi underscored the urgent need to take immediate action when he warned that another Nakba, “catastrophe” is immanent.

The second speaker on the panel, Elias Khoury is a lawyer based in East Jerusalem specializing in real property law. His vocation is inspired by his father’s lose of land during the Nakba in 1948. Khoury challenges Israeli policy regarding settlements, house demolitions, the decisions of the Planning and Building Commissions, etc. through the legal system.

The next panel’s topic concerned civil rights. Sarah Kreimer, a Jewish Israeli activist and Chair of the Board of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, called for the cessation of harmful unilateral actions on the part of the Israeli government and fair allocation of funds. Currently, the “facts on the ground” contradict governmental declarations. Kreimer urged the internationals to act immediately stating, “The future of Jerusalem is being determined every day by facts on the ground and we can be a part of that today”.

The second speaker on this panel, Sam Bahour, a Palestinian-American based in Ramallah and specializing in business development, provided his analysis of the situation. Describing the various statuses of Palestinians vis-à-vis the state of Israel, he states that the status of Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship is of a 3^rd or even 4^th class citizen. He went on to speak on the problematic status of Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza “residents”. He states that this status connotes impermanence, “something the Israeli government bestows upon you and can take away”. The arbitrary revocation of this status in East Jerusalem is a tool by which the government rids the area of Palestinians and creates Jewish neighborhoods in their place (creating new facts on the ground). Further tools of repression include: inflated taxation without the provision of equal municipal services, the legal maze for the required periodic renewal of residency, and the difficulty in obtaining building permits. Sam Bahour concluded his talk by stating that though the Palestinian people are fragmented as a result of Israeli policies, they are held together by an undeniably just cause. Bahour ended with a quote, “There is nothing whole like a broken heart”.

The evening closed with dinner at the Ambassador’s Hotel and the keynote address given by Manuel Hassassian, the current Ambassador of Palestine to the U.K. He told his audience that “The Nakba is going on today”.

The last day of the International Conference provided the inspiration for the participants to act. Former prime minister of the Netherlands, Andreas Van Agt described his conversion to supporting the Palestinian cause and called on the internationals to put pressure on the Israeli government to observe international law through their respective governments.

Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr., American Civil Rights Movement activist, minister, and educator, offered inspiration by recounting stories from the Civil Rights Movement. Lafayette entitled his talk, “The Struggle, the Suffering, the Success” and stated that “pain can be a sign of healing”. In order to bring about change, one must suffer. However, this suffering is to be distinguished from the suffering that occurs on a daily basis due to dehumanizing Israeli policies. The suffering Lafayette describes is deliberate and empowering. Lafayette called the audience to move past nonviolent resistance and change the power dynamic by putting your opponent on the defensive resisting the change that you are creating through nonviolent action.

Mairead Maguire, an Irish peace activist committed to nonviolence and Nobel Peace Prize winner, further urged the audience that nonviolence does work and has worked to improve the situation in Northern Ireland. Lily Habash, advisor to the Bureau Chief/ Cabinet Secretary General at the Office of the Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayaad in the Palestinian National Authority closed the panel by appealing to the internationals to help Palestinians better communicate their cause to their respecting countries. Habash views the Palestinian position not as one of victimization or despair but of hope.

7th International Sabeel Conference: creating cultural bridges

2008-12-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

But this and the whole conference experience also drives home something else, namely, the personality and character of so many Palestinians -- kids, youths, and older -- we met and which my country rarely is enabled to see: persons of warmth, courage, humor, dignity, grit, and a fantastic spirit of welcome
-Darrel Meyers

The 7^th International Sabeel Conference moved to Jerusalem but before traveling south, the international participants had the opportunity to connect with the local Christians in Nazareth. They joined in fellowship with congregations of various churches located around Nazareth. Following the service, the 300 participants were broken into groups of two to five people to eat at Nazarene family homes enjoying homemade Palestinian cooking. This informal setting allowed participants to identify with Palestinians living in Israel with citizenship on a basic human level by sharing in a universal family activity.

After lunch, participants traveled to Jerusalem and were greeted by local Jerusalemites and clergy at Saint George’s Church. This gave internationals another opportunity to connect with local Palestinians, thus exposing the internationals to a Palestinian population in a different socio-political position vis-à-vis the Israeli state.

The next day of the conference was devoted to the issue of refugees and how the solution of this issue is integral to a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In order to introduce this topic Adel Manna, research fellow at the Jerusalem Vanleer Institute, briefed the participants on the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem. Manna described the context in which the five waves of refugees either fled or were expelled. It is important to note that expulsion of Palestinians occurred during the First and Second Truces of the 1948 war. Further to this, it is not widely known that expulsions continued after the war and through the 1950s. In fact, 30,000-50,000 Palestinians became refugees after the conclusion of the war constituting an ongoing Nakba.

The overview continued with a briefing by Allegra Pacheco, OCHA, concerning the occupation and annexation of Palestinian land. The concept of occupation is one of a temporary nature by international law. However, the settlements have been established with the intention of permanence and much of occupied land has remained closed areas considered military zones inaccessible to Palestinians for decades. In addition, Israel continues to annex Palestinian land in East Jerusalem and in the construction of the wall. Annexation is defined as the acquisition of land by force and is in contravention of international law.

Concluding the overview, Bob Tobin, Sabeel volunteer, read a letter from UNRWA representative Sami Mshasha describing the situation of Palestinian refugees inside of Israel and the West Bank today.

Following the briefing, the participants traveled to one of four refugee camps located in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank: Dheishe, Aida, Azza, and Aroub Camps. They attended general tours of the camps and were divided into small groups in order to visit with different families in their homes. The participants learned about the hardships of life as a person with refugee status directly from camp residents. Currently, unemployment is at eighty percent in the Dheishe Camp. This is caused mainly by the construction of the wall cutting the inhabitants off from their olive trees. In addition, the residents are subject to other forms of discrimination. One woman recounted the story of her son being arrested without charge. He has been in jail for seventeen years now and still has not been charged with any criminal offense.

After the visits, all of the participants convened in the al-Feneiq Center of Dheishe Refugee Camp to attend panels. The first speaker, Muhammad Jaradat, BADIL Resource Center, spoke on the topic of refugee rights and international law today. The second panel was entitled, “The Church’s Response to the Occupation”. The speakers included: Mr. Rifat Kassis, World Council of Churches, Mr. Tarek Abuata, Christian Peacemakers Team, and Mr. George Sahhar, Sabeel board member.

The evening concluded with the Ibda’a Dance Troupe performing Dabka, the national dance of Palestine.

7th International Sabeel Conference discusses nonviolent action and hosts Rashid Khalidi

2008-11-25T04:42:00.000-08:00

Rashid Khalidi speaks with the Rev. Naim Ateek, director of Sabeel and the Rev. Richard Toll, Friends of Sabeel North America

The fourth day of the 7th International Sabeel Conference opened with a lecture concerning the impact of the Nakba on Christian Palestinians’ faith. The speaker, Rev. Naim Ateek, director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, described the need for a new form of Christian theology after 1948 in order to satisfy religious answers to the tragedy which struck them. Palestinian Christians were in a state of spiritual schizophrenia unsure if the establishment of the state of Israel was a fulfillment of the scriptures, “Does this mean that Jews are really God’s chosen people and he is active in bringing the Jews back to the Holy Land?” Many left their faith as a result of the church’s failure to speak out against the exclusive concept of the Jewish chosen people and their right to Palestinian land. The silence was broken in the 1980s with the establishment of Al-liqa’ by Jiryes Khoury and Sabeel by Rev. Naim Ateek. Rev. Naim Ateek established a theology of hope for the oppressed by drawing parallels between Christ’s experience under occupation and the current situation in Israel-Palestine. As an advocate of nonviolence, Ateek asks Christian Palestinians to look to Christ as a role model of nonviolent resistance. Palestinian liberation theology challenges Christians to respond to occupation with love rather than hate for the enemy.

This theme of nonviolent resistance continued with a series of workshops in which 300 international participants were given the opportunity to listen and discuss with speakers from various Jewish and Palestinian NGOs working toward peaceful coexistence. One speaker, Mohammad Zeidan, Arab Association for Human Rights, discussed the social and political situation of Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship. He described their status as second class citizens and the direct and indirect forms of discrimination that they are subject to on a daily basis living inside of Israel. Zeidan is part of the civil rights movement inside of Israel, a nonviolent movement focused on gaining equal rights by civil and legal means.

Following the workshops, Rashid Khalidi, senior lecturer at Columbia University, spoke about the evolution of Palestinian collective identity and the centrality of the Nakba to its development. As Palestinians become increasingly fragmented politically, socially, and spatially, the work of memory has succeeded in creating a collective identity. Khalidi describes memory as “the rock on which Palestinians stand.” The steadfastness of Palestinian memory is integral to resisting the view in the United States and Israel that the dominant Israeli narrative has exclusive authority. Khalidi lambasts the extent to which the Israeli narrative is entrenched in American culture and asserts that the only practical solution to changing American opinion is nonviolence. He offers the example of the first and second Intifadas’ impact on international opinion of Israel. The first Intifada was effective due to its use of nonviolent methods while the second was a failure due to the salience of Palestinian violence. In addition, the holocaust is part of American consciousness and acts of violence perpetrated by Palestinians will reinforce the American view of Israelis as victims. Also, acts of terror reinforce a connection between the United States and Israel based on a shared “War on Terror”. Khalidi ended by underscoring the need for Palestinian political consensus and a suitable forum in which to discuss the issues.

The last event of the night included Palestinian music, poetry, and a testimony from a former Jewish soldier. Guest speaker, Josef Ben-Eliezer recounted his experience as a soldier participating in the events of the Nakba drawing parallels between the Holocaust and the Nakba. Beginning his account with an emotional description of his suffering under the Nazis in occupied Poland, Ben-Eliezer described how this experience profoundly shaped his outlook as a young man in Palestine. 1948 was a “matter of fighting for our survival.” Ben-Eliezer believed that if he did not fight that the Jewish people would be exterminated. After the establishment of the state of Israel, he began to doubt the necessity of continued hostilities. The expulsion of Palestinian residents from Lydda and the confiscation of their belongings reminded Ben-Eliezer of his childhood in Poland, “We are here in Palestine doing the same things that were done to us.” After the war, Israelis did not accept his version of events labeling his story “Arab propaganda”. Eventually, Ben-Eliezer left Israel with the conviction that living in the state of Israel constituted an injustice.

7th International Sabeel Conference visits demolished Palestinian Villages

2008-11-25T04:37:00.000-08:00

On the 3rd day of the ongoing 7th International Sabeel Conference, the lost narrative of the Nakba, or the "Catastrophe" of 1948 was uncovered and participants gained an understanding of the continuing impact this event has on Palestinian society inside of Israel. 250 internationals from the United States and Europe visited locations that had once been thriving Palestinian villages and towns prior to the War of 1948. Currently, these villages exist in various states of destruction. Some villages have been partially demolished, with Jewish immigrants residing in homes previously owned by Palestinians. Others have been completely destroyed, the cacti that once served as natural fencing acting as the only remaining evidence of their existence. The international participants listened to testimonies from witnesses and former residents of the demolished villages. The witnesses were forcibly transferred in 1948 and are still currently denied their right to return to their homes.

In Azib, the Palestinian mayor’s house has been converted into a museum displaying confiscated household possessions of the former Palestinian residents and headstones stolen from the village’s cemetery. These items are displayed as artifacts of unnamed Muslims. The village mosque has been converted into bathrooms and showers servicing Israelis visiting the private beach located on land that was previously considered Azib. The observers saw many such acts of desecration tacitly approved by the Israeli state.

In the evening, the international participants returned to the convention center to share their experiences visiting these villages. A young American man mentioned that he had asked an Israeli resident of a partially demolished Palestinian village, Ijzim what the neglected mosque in the center of his town was. The Israeli incorrectly informed him that the mosque had been a hotel during the British Mandate. This shocking ignorance on the part of these new residents and the ability to witness evidence of the erasure of a culture visibly moved the international participants. They were outraged and many were moved to tears.

Today, this pre-1948 structure formerly inhabited by Palestinian residents of Sa'sa', is now inhabited by a Jewish family that immigrated after 1948. The village is now Kibbutz Sasa retaining its Palestinian name but pronounced in a Hebrew manner.

Sabeel Conference, November 13--Highlights of the Day

2008-11-17T02:23:00.000-08:00

The first full day of Sabeel's seventh international conference focused on remembering the Nakba and on the current reality for those Palestinians who remained within the borders of Israel after 1948. These Palestinian Arabs became citizens of the new state of Israel, but suffered discrimination, racism, and restriction, first during the military rule of 1948-1966 and then in more subtle ways up to the present day.

These themes were introduced by the first part of a film entitled "The Land Speaks Arabic," directed by Maryse Gargour. The film included testimonies from Palestinian refugees who recalled their connections to the land prior to the Nakba.

The film was followed by a panel discussion on memory, featuring Dr. Ahmad Sa'di and Dr. Efrat Ben Ze'ev. Dr. Sa'di spoke of the way in which Palestinians remember the Nakba as "A total destruction, the uprooting of people from their homeland, the destruction of a social fabric that had existed for centuries, and the frustration of national aspirations," in addition to the personal stories of trauma presented by survivors of the Nakba. He went on to argue for the need for moral accountability in response knowledge of the events of 1948. The Nakba narrative is, according to Dr. Sa'di, "not triumphalist, but rather looking for a place to begin....For a story of trauma to be told, there is a need for a sympathetic audience." This audience, according to Dr. Sa'di, must be found not only among other Palestinians and the wider Arab world, but in the Western world and the Israeli Jewish public.

Dr. Ben Ze'ev presented her research among Israeli veterans of 1948, and found a much more complex narrative than the official and popularly accepted Zionist version of 1948. She found that, after 60 years, the self-imposed silence of the veterans is beginning to crack, and that many veterans, seeing changes in the Israeli public and seeking some sort of relief or forgiveness, have begun to tell the truth about what the saw and experienced in 1948. While usually portraying themselves as sympathetic witnesses to massacres, abuses, and expulsions, she found that veterans are increasingly willing to tell the truth about the war experiences, even when that truth runs counter to the official or popular narrative. Although Dr. Ben Ze'ev observed that "much of the old version of truth still holds in Israeli society," she urged the audience to "pay attention to the process by which some silences were broken, and some buried voices were surfaced," arguing that it is time to reincorporate the veterans narrative into an understanding of 1948 because "agreeing on the meaning of 1948 is a crucial step to reconciliation."

The next session included an overview of the current socioeconomic reality for Arab citizens of Israel by Dr. Basel Ghattas, who addressed housing shortages, inequalities in development budgets and public health, unemployment and underemployment, and other forms of socioeconomic inequality in Israel. Abir Kopty took time off from a successful political campaign in the Nazareth municipality to speak to the conference on issues of identity for Arab Palestinians in a Jewish state. And Dr. Ameer Makhoul gave participants a briefing on political realities.

Former MK Tamar Gozansky addressed inequality in Israel as a "crisis of Israeli democracy," pointing to recent attacks on Arab residents of Akka in the North of Israel as a sign of increasing racism. Dr. Uri Davis presented an argument for the use of the term "apartheid" to describe the Israeli state and its occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Dr. Davis defined an apartheid state as “a state that regulates racism through acts of parliament,” in which the “constitution and the legal system obligates citizens of that state to make racialized choices. It criminalizes humanitarian action.” Although pointing to differences between South African apartheid and the Israeli form of apartheid, such as the lack of petty apartheid (white-only bathrooms and drinking fountains, for example), Dr. Davis maintained that the classification of Israel as an apartheid state is accurate and calls for a response of economic activism--divestment and morally responsible investment.

Sabeel Conference, November 13--Morning Worship

2008-11-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

"A Time to Remember"

The first full day of Sabeel's seventh international conference began with an opening worship filled with prayer, song, and welcome.

Violette Khoury, of the Sabeel Nazareth board, greeted the conference participants, expressing her appreciation for their solidarity:: "Now is the time for hope, for we are no longer alone."

Rev. Jonathan Frerichs of the World Council of Churches brought greetings from WCC General Secretary Rev. Sam Kobia. Echoing the language of the ecumenical Amman Call, Rev. Kobia's message emphasized the need for the church to move beyond words into action towards a just peace in Palestine and Israel, and drew attention to many recent activities of the church, from economic strategies for ending the occupation to the Core Group and Working Group (of which Sabeel's Rev. Naim Ateek and Nora Carmi are members) to the World Council of Church's Interchurch Week of Action for Palestine and Israel. Rev. Frerichs concluded with the words of the Action Week message from 2008: "It's time for Palestine."

This hopeful greeting was seconded by Cristoffer Sjoholm of Diakonia, who told the story of successful economic advocacy undertaken by a joint effort of the Church of Sweden, Diakonia, and SwedeWatch. Together, these Christian organizations were able to secure a promise from a Swedish company to close a factory built in an illegal Israeli settlement in the north of the West Bank.

Worship continued with the reading of Scripture from the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 10: "Recall those earlier days when you endured a hard struggle with suffering." With this scriptural framework in mind, participants listened to an overview of the conference program by Rev. Naim Ateek, director of Sabeel, and concluded with prayers and song: "O Lord, hear my prayer."

Sabeel Conference--Opening Worship

2008-11-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

November 12, 2008

Opening Worship, Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

The seventh International Sabeel Conference began on November 12, 2008 with an opening worship service held at the Church of the Annunciation officiated by Bishop Boulos Marcuzzo. The service was followed by a reception held for the 300 conference participants with the local Christian community and clergy. The Sabeel Peace Tapestry consisting of banners of quilt squares illustrating individual desires for peace in the Holy Land was on display in the reception hall. The concept for the tapestry originated with Marijke Egelie-Smulders, Netherlands, when she came to this region on a witness visit in 2007. The tapestry consists of over 2,000 squares that have been sent to Jerusalem primarily from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The squares were then sewn into banners and embroidered with the names of 400 villages affected by the Nakba. The embroidery work was done by women from the Jalazoun Refugee Camp. The banners illustrated the theme of this year's conference, "Nakba: Memory, Reality, and Beyond."

Sabeel International Conference--Welcome!

2008-11-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Peace to you from Nazareth!

Here at Sabeel, we are in the midst of kicking off our seventh international
conference. Entitled “The Nakba: Memory, Reality, and Beyond,” and lasting from November 12-November 19, 2008, this conference aims to educate participants about the Nakba, its modern day effects, and the hope and struggle for a future of justice and peace. Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” is the term that Palestinians use to refer to the events of 1948, in which some 800,000 Palestinians were forced to become refugees and some 500 villages were destroyed. In addition to the historical aspects of the Nakba, conference participants will learn about and witness the ongoing Nakba—modern realities of racism and identity crisis for those Palestinians who became citizens of Israel, inequalities in public services and treatment, house demolitions, evictions, pressures to emigrate, and more.

In an effort to increase the impact of our educational efforts, we will be posting entries about the conference, including summaries of presentations, pictures, helpful excerpts, and links to relevant information. We hope that you will follow along with us, from wherever you might be, and that you will take this opportunity to learn and encounter the history, memory, struggles and hopes of Palestinians and Palestinian-Arab citizens of Israel.

In peace,

Sabeel Staff and Volunteers

Sabeel Young Adults have had a busy month

2008-10-22T05:48:00.001-07:00

For those of you who have participated in our Young Adult Conference, you've already had a chance to encounter some of the awesome participants in our local Sabeel young adult programs. We want to keep all of you updated on the sorts of young adult programming that is happening here in Palestine and Israel.

The Sabeel young adults have had a busy month. As the month of Ramadan came to a close, members of the young adult program and the women's program were guests at the house of the Al Kurd family. Half of the Al Kurd house, located in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, has been taken over by a group of radical Israeli settlers. This takeover is part of a larger plan to push Palestinian inhabitants of Jerusalem out and to build a large settlement complex in the heart of East Jerusalem. (Participants of the 2008 young adult conference visited the Al Kurd house for a press conference). Members of Sabeel broke the fast with the Al Kurd family and then heard the family's story, including incidents of vandalism, harassment, and attempts to entrap the family by leaving purses and guns by their doors. There was also traditional Palestinian poetry and music. (For more on the Al Kurd family, see this article by EAPPI).

The young adults have also participated with the local Syrian Christian community in a cultural celebration held by the community and have begun going together on Sundays to the worship services of different churches in Jerusalem. They have prayed at the Syrian Orthodox church and the Latin Catholic church so far. This continuing ecumenical outreach is one of the most important aspects of the work of Sabeel's young adults.

Other recent activities have included a camping and cultural activity at the Nassar family farm, the Tent of Nations, which is threatened by the encroachment of illegal settlements. Participants shared special stories from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The young adults also gathered at the Sabeel office for a movie on interfaith understanding.

Most recently, 35 young people from Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem traveled to Hebron to participate in the olive harvest. The olive harvest is central to Palestinian economy and culture, but tragically, many Palestinian farmers cannot get to their fields due to land confiscation, military bases, settler harassment, or the Wall.

The young adult group worked alongside members of a family whose olive trees are threatened by settlers in Hebron. Along with members of an Israeli peace group, they were able to pick olives together for several hours before settlers began threatening the group. After a confrontation with a journalist and a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, the Israeli military arrived on the scene and declared the area a closed military zone, thus preventing the family from continuing their harvest. You can read more about this incident as reported by CPT.

Next weekend, the Sabeel young adult group will continue its participation in the olive harvest by picking olives at the Garden of Gethsemane.

In all of these activities, Sabeel young adults attempt to break down walls of division in order to be living witnesses to the love and justice of Jesus Christ.

Event in Toronto Area

2008-10-18T03:50:00.000-07:00

For any friends of Sabeel in the Toronto area who might be interested:

The Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation
presents the 2nd Annual James Graff Memorial Lecture

The Israel Lobby & Middle East Peace
Guest Speaker: Dr. John Mearsheimer

Dr. John Mearsheimer will speak about the Israel Lobby's push to create a special relationship between the United States and Israel and its detrimental effect on US foreign policy and prospects for peace in the Middle East. He will also address the significant influence of Israel lobbies in Canada and Europe.

Sunday November 2, 2008
3:30 pm to 6:00 pm
Trinity-St. Paul's United Church - 427 Bloor St. W
(just west of Spadina) - Toronto
$10 (adult) - $5 (student)

Tickets will be available at the door.

For advance tickets or more info e-mail NECEF at necef.canada@gmail.com

Dr. John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. Professor Mearsheimer has written extensively about security issues and international politics. His most recent and controversial book with Stephen M. Walt is The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (2007)

Sabeel resources

2008-10-03T01:57:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

I wanted to make you aware of a few resources available on the Sabeel website that might be helpful to you in education and advocacy work.

Sabeel statements, including our document on Morally Responsible Investment, are available at http://www.sabeel.org/etemplate.php?id=14. Check out the Jerusalem Sabeel Document for Sabeel's basic understanding of the situation here and possible solutions, and the Morally Responsible Investment document for a practical and concrete advocacy project that you can work on in schools, churches, and communities.

For information about the Palestinian Christian community in West Bank and Israel, see the Sabeel survey available at http://www.sabeel.org/etemplate.php?id=25.

One thing we always ask is that people pray for our Sabeel ministries, for Palestinian Christians, for the Palestinian community in general, and for all the people of this land, that justice, peace, and reconciliation be made available for all. We invite you to join us in prayer by viewing our weekly "Wave of Prayer." Share these prayers with your church and with prayer groups, youth organizations, etc. Available at http://www.sabeel.org/etemplate.php?id=58.

Resources from UN-OCHA

2008-10-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

It seems that one of the presentations that is consistently the most helpful for people visiting Palestine and Israel is the power point given by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories (OCHA-oPt). In our most recent Young Adult Conference, this presentation was given by OCHA director Allegra Pacheco.

OCHA has a great website that is very helpful for presenting objective facts and analysis of the situation on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territories (East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza): www.ochaopt.org

They publish updates on the humanitarian situation, the construction of the Wall, and checkpoints and closures.

If you are interested in OCHA's power point presentations, you can find them at: http://www.ochaopt.org/?module=displaysection&section_id=125&static=0&format=html

'Friend' Sabeel on Facebook

2008-09-30T02:43:00.000-07:00

If you've visited us here at Sabeel and are interested in keeping in touch with the friends you made here in Palestine and Israel, you might want to consider 'friending' Sabeel on Facebook.

Just search for Sabeel's profile on the most exquisite procrastination device ever created. It's a great way to keep up with friends and with Sabeel's local programs. Nicolas posts pictures of local programs on our Facebook site, and what better way to harrass Omar from afar than asking him lots of questions on the Facebook wall?

Alright, so it's a bit cheesy, but hey, we're all friends here, right?

Dates of Next Sabeel Young Adult Conference

2008-09-26T04:57:00.000-07:00

Just an announcement of the dates of the next Sabeel International Young Adult Conference!

The next Young Adult Conference will be held from July 22-August 2, 2009. Start telling your friends, your churches, your young adult groups, and anyone else you can think of!

We haven't yet decided on a theme--if you have any suggestions, let us know by commenting on this post or by emailing us at youngfriendsofsabeel@gmail.com.

Want to speak about your experiences in Palestine?

2008-09-22T08:16:00.001-07:00

For those of you from the U.S., here is an opportunity to share your story with others. If you're not from the U.S., do you know of a similar initiative in your country? Are you interested in contacting your regional Friends of Sabeel office to see if you could start a Speaker's Bureau to organize presentations and speakers on the situation for Palestinians, the Palestinian-Christian community, and prospects for a just peace in Palestine and Israel?

Let us know by commenting on this blog post or by emailing us at youngfriendsofsabeel@gmail.com!

From Friends of Sabeel North America:

Dear Friends: Have you ever wanted to speak about your experiences in Palestine? You will be provided the chance to speak through a new project sponsored by the American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights Foundation (AAPER Foundation). AAPER Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inform the American public about the situation in Palestine, particularly the human and national rights of the Palestinian people. Their website can be found at http://www.americansforpalestine.org/.

As part of its educational work and its Five for Palestine Campaign (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001IrJz44YchX9sdzfC5DcDOYcqGT63rWP_Flj7_5KxttXJZIe2C78GfUcOxrmnPZ_HnTavvYtekqGTDsPDcDxmNBKuoxIUXv_pnajQoTVJws32ohXAR3JLqQm0UqfZFKuJ), the AAPER Foundation is developing a list of speakers from across the United States to speak about and educate their fellow citizens in their respective states and communities on the situation in Palestine. And because we constantly hear that participants in Sabeel witness trips to Palestine would like opportunities to speak to audiences about what they have seen and learned, we want to include them on the speakers list.

If you are interested, the AAPER Foundation can provide you with well-researched, nicely-designed and very professional informational materials, a compelling PowerPoint presentation, training workshops and speaking opportunities in your area.
If you would be interested in participating in this project, please send an email to: info@aaper.org or call (202) 683-8438.

Young Adult Conference in Latest Issue of Cornerstone

2008-09-19T07:35:00.001-07:00

Hello friends!

The 2008 Sabeel Young Adult Conference is featured prominently in the latest issue of Cornerstone, Sabeel's quarterly English publication. Several reflections from the young adult conference, a summary of one of our collaborative Bible studies, and pictures from conference participant Jay Gregory are all worth seeing.

You can access the latest issue of Cornerstone, in PDF format, on our website: http://www.sabeel.org/pdfs/Corner50%20-2008.pdf

Let us know what you think!

Photo essay from a Young Adult Conference participant

2008-09-18T01:51:00.000-07:00

Umayyah Cable, one of our participants from last year's Sabeel Young Adult conference, has created a photo exhibit and a short essay based on her time here. The exhibit is called "Palestine and Palestinians: Cultural Survival Amidst a Ravaged Geography." Her photos are beautiful and well worth your time to see! You can view it at:

http://the-palestine-report.blogspot.com/2008/02/palestine-palestinians-cultural.html

or at:

http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/2924

Great work Umayyah!

Read about the 2008 Young Adult Conference

2008-09-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

This summer, Sabeel held its third Young Adult Conference, entitled "1948: The Nakba, Justice, and Beyond."

To read reflections from conference participants and few some of the pictures of the conference, check out this link: http://sabeelyoungadultconference.blogspot.com/

Welcome to YFOS!

2008-09-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Young Friends of Sabeel blog!

Young Friends of Sabeel (YFOS) was organized out of the desire by memebers of the international community to support the work of Sabeel Ecumencial Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. Sabeel, an ecumenical grassroots movement among Palestinians, seeks to make the Gospel contexually relevant, and strives to develop a spirituality based on justice, peace, nonviolence, liberation, and reconciliation for the different faith communities. The word "Sabeel" in Arabic means "the way" and also a "channel" or "spring" of life-giving water.

YFOS supports the work of Sabeel through education, advocacy, conferences, solidarity visits, partner-to-partner projects, and financial contributions. Young people, as a network of friends throughout the world, work in partnership with Sabeel to help bring about a just and durable peace for Palestine and Israel.

Young Friends of Sabeel educate other young adults around the world about the realitis of the Israeli occupation and how to work for peace with justice. We can help you with:

Publications, resource materials and bibliographies
Resources on the Sabeel website (http://www.sabeel.org/)
Worship and reflection tools such as the Contemporary Way of the Cross
Lectures and presentations from young adults who will come to your town

Young friends of Sabeel advocate for peace with justice through nonviolent means. We work together on:

Morally Responsible Investment (http://www.sabeel.org/pdfs/mri.htm)
Solidarity demonstrations
Internet strategies
Young Adult Conferences
How to's for community meetings, teach-ins and rallies

Young Friends of Sabeel participate in building a community of people who care:

Global partnerships
Volunteering
Lobbying for change
Media activism

Interested in joining YFOS? Want to request specific resources? Let us know what you are looking for from the YFOS network. Tell us what you want to see on this blog. Get in touch with us at Youngfriendsofsabeel@gmail.com

Whatever your gifts are, we need you!