News,
articles and documents from the Holy Land
Issue No. 177 - Saturday, 2 November 2002
Dear Friends, Brothers
and Sisters,
I
can say that I am satisfy today after two days of continuous work on the
project of recording the song for peace with the Christian, Moslem and Jewish
children both Palestinian and Israeli kids spent the last two days in the
studio in Jerusalem and finished recording the song that we are working on
since more than two month. You will find herewith some details about it written
in the past but thanks God became a reality in the present and will become a
disk in the near future. I have really the pleasure and the honor to organize
and encourage the French friends who wanted to realize their dream of doing
this great job. I can say without hesitation that Taybeh and our kids of the
school played a key role in this work, and they want by that to send a
message-cry in the face of the world especially the adults and the leaders and
tell them please STOP and ask repeatedly “When they will stop”?! (this is the
title of the song)
These
day’s small event is very important for us because we managed to put these
Palestinian and Israeli kids to sing together, in the time when all the other
adults from both sides are killing each others in this bloody conflict leaving
the world of the children suffering and become victim of the war. They didn’t
only sing together but were also invited to eat together at the house of one of
the Israeli kids and they will be all invited to Taybeh next Saturday to eat together
and celebrate the success of finishing the recording of the song. For more
details and photos you can visit http://www.eretz.tv
You
will find in today’s Olive Branch several documents which might be a little
long but for sure interesting:
1)
Details
about the song of peace “When will they stop?”
2) Maria C. Khoury, is writing about the “Roots of Taybeh Traced to Time of Christ”
3) Toine van Teeffelen gives us in this “Letter
from Bethlehem (37) the last updates from Bethlehem.
4) Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders write us
how they “crossed the line”!
5) Finally, you will find a very important Witness
of A Christian Palestinian at the Colloque Groupe d’Amitie Islamo-Chretien in France
that Dr. Bernard Sabella couldn’t deliver because of the strike of the Ministry
of interior affairs.
I appreciate you
interest on what I send you and hope that you enjoy it and find it interesting
and useful.
Best wishes from
Taybeh and have a wonderful weekend. Fr.
Raed Abusahlia
Song for
Peace
“When will
they STOP?”
Responsible for
Mission in communication for "Médecins du monde"
Subject:
Foundation of a musical group children between 10 and 15 years, in order to
interpret a song of Protest and Peace.
Major
idea: Conversation,
dispute between Israeli children and Palestinians (under the 3 religions) in
the form of a song.
It
was always said that the truth comes from the mouth of the children!
These
children will have the occasion to begin between them the debate, and to shout
together: Stop! With the sufferings which are inflicted to them on their
ground by the "significant" adults of this world.
This
project has the role to call on those which will live here in 20 years.
This
group will be represented by young solists of talent (Palestinians and
Israelis) motivated, in an equal number.
Those
will carry a powerful text, on a music Hip hop, gorged with Gospel. The song
will be normally finished for the beginning of April.
This
disc will be under the artistic direction of Jacqueline
Herrenschmidt ,
who chose Wally Badarou as executive Producer and a writer, with
the singer Kabyle Mélaaz Bénacare author and writer, interprets of
Hip-Hop.
The
song must have a current sonority, and of a great artistic quality. Wally Badarou works already on an extremely pointed
production. The realization must be likely all to become an international
success.
Scheme of
work
Vocal
work and the training of the song will have to be planned for the school
holidays, in June 2002, in order to record the voices for September 2002.
It
is a question of producing only one title, interpreted in two languages
(English, French) for face A. the face B will be Remix of the same title on
Palestinian and Israeli rhythmic bases, with Hebrew and Arabic texts: duration
approximately 7 minutes.
The
English and French texts will be written starting from France (re-examined and
corrected with the appreciation of the Father Raed A. Abusahlia).
Adaptation
for Face b: Palestinians authors and Israelis, in Arabic and Hebrew.
Choice
of the children: on the ground of Israel, will be done under the responsibility
and the assistance of Peace of the father Raed A. Abusahlia and of its partners.
We
would like poor Israeli children, like the Palestinian children.
The scheme of
work will be able to be established only when the song will be completed. I do
not wish a great number of child, 10 will be the maximum because work of song
will require much energy of the children and of myself.
Rights of
the disc
The dividends
which the sales of this disc should report will be retained with their sources,
before agreement between the various partners, in order to protect the
integrity from our project.
This disc will
be forged by the children for the children, of this wounded ground.
- Rights,
royalties returning with Jacqueline
Herrenschmidt-Néro,
artistic director = offered to the children.
- Rights of
arranger/Producing executive/Work of sound recording/free Studio/composition Wally Badarou = free.
- Rights SACEM
(company of the type-setter authors of music) Melaaz singer/type-setter author
= free.
Company of discs
Major Distributor: Catch of load by BMG France and without profits.
The manufacture
of the disc/Engraving/Small pocket/Promotion TV-Radio-Press on the
international one .
Distribution of
the disc in all the circuits of sale: FNAC, Virgin Medgastore, great
surfaces...
We all will have to fight in order to
make this work of Peace an event: a HIT.
Roots of
Taybeh Traced to Time of Christ
28-Oct-02
Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D.
The Christian roots in Taybeh are traced to our Lord and Savior Christ Himself as stated in the New Testament. Jesus came to the village of Taybeh with his disciples after the decision was taken by the Sanhedrin to prosecute him. "Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim..." (John 11:54).
The village of Taybeh had the biblical name Ephraim. The biblical name was changed to the modern name Taybeh by the Islamic leader Salahdin around 1187. The folktale states that Salahdin visited the village Ephraim and found its people very hospitable and generous thus he made a statement that they are "Taybehn" people in Arabic meaning "good and kind," thereby since that day Biblical Ephraim took the modern name "Taybeh." However, there are three places called "Taybeh" in this region. One is "Taybeh Zaman" (original Taybeh) in Jordan, the other is "Taybeh", north of Israel and close to Jenin.
Our village of Taybeh is the only all Christian village that remains in Palestine twenty minutes outside Jerusalem before Jericho with 1300 residents all of whom are Christian and the majority is Greek Orthodox. All residents are Palestinians with a handful of outsiders. Following the l967 Israeli invasion of the West Bank approximately ten thousand people from Taybeh have emigrated to Australia, America and Europe due to the politics, bad economic situation and daily suffering faced under military occupation. The village is located between Jerusalem and Jericho in the biblical land of Judea known as the West Bank of Jordan and unfortunately does not exist on any modern map.
The village does exist here however since the time of Christ and it sits on the highest mountain region of Biblica Judea and Samaria called Mount Asur. On a clear day from the highest hill in Taybeh you can see the magnificent Dead Sea, the Jordan valley, the mountains of Samaria, the mountainous desert of Judea and also Jerusalem. It is really amazing and spiritually rewarding to stare down at the same valley where St. Mary of Egypt is said to have spent over forty years of her life in solitude. The village has five places of worship including the original St. George Greek Orthodox Church in ruins (built in the 4th century), the new St. George Greek Orthodox Church (rebuild in l929-1932), the Melkite Church (build in l964 but Melkite worship was founded in the village in 1869), the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to "The Last Retreat of Jesus" (inaugurated l971) and a small monastery build by a French monk Brother Jack Frant in l990.
We are identified as area C and have technically remained under Israeli military occupation even throughout the Oslo Peace Agreement. The settlements are a big obstacle to peace because Palestinians suffer trying to get between ABC areas for work, school and hospitals. It is impossible to get anywhere when the Israelis control all the roads and they just gave the Palestinians the center of towns to control. Our area was never turned over to the Palestinian Authority because we have hundreds of illegal settlements all around us. The largest settlement in the West Bank "Ofra" is next to our village. Ofra is the Hebrew name for the village of Efraim.
The village also has one clinic sponsored by the CARITAS organization directed by Dr. Riayd Muaddi, one pharmacy and many mini-markets. Since l956 the village was one of the first in the area to receive water, electricity and phone lines. The majority of the residents are unskilled workers with a few professionals. Traditionally, the residents of Taybeh have earned their living from the land especially cultivating olive trees. The village was put on the map in modern times because the Canaan Khoury family established The Taybeh Brewing Company making "Taybeh Beer" following the Oslo Peace Agreement in l993. The brewery is the only factory in Taybeh and the only microbrewery in the Middle East.
Taybeh has good relationships with its neighboring Muslim villages. The village of Reimon is on one side and the village of Deir Ejrear on the other side. Taybeh village has no communication with the neighboring Israeli settlements that are constantly depriving the village of water and stealing more and more Palestinian land to build illegal Israeli settlements. The residents of Taybeh share the same language, food, music and cultural values with the neighboring Muslim villages thus an exchange of invitations for weddings can often be found. However, there is no intermarriage among Muslims and Christians and it is almost forbidden. The few times that such marriages might take place their families disown the married couple. Muslims and Christians are somehow united by their Palestinian identity and their fight for independence and freedom but are obviously very different in their ways of worship and how they celebrate their holy days.
The Taybeh village has always been under the protection of our patron Saint
George ever since Constantine the great emperor built the first church to be
named after St. George in the Holy Land right in our little village. We have
been blessed not to have seen the destruction and bombings that have happened
in nearby Ramallah and other parts of Palestine. For two thousand years this
tiny little village has had the blessing to maintain a Christian presence in
the Holy Land. When the village was placed under curfew for only one day in
April most people waited with faith in God for the Israelis soldiers to
approach. Does it sound strange to have seen so much bloodshed and terror
that you can actually transcend beyond fear and anxiety and wait with faith in
God? At the end, our final destiny is the Kingdom of God so we pray for God's
mercy as we live under Israeli guns. In the mean time we must walk with
the Cross that God offered us and preserve our Christian roots in the land of
Christ's birth.
Letter from Bethlehem
(37)
Toine van Teeffelen
November 2, 2002
It is always
depressing to visit Gaza. What you see in the West Bank, you see worse in Gaza,
whether it is the intimidating look of checkpoints, the humiliating behavior of
soldiers, the hopelessness of the economy, or the understandable bitterness and
anger of the people. Constantine Dabbagh, director of a church agency for
relief to refugees, tells me on a quiet morning in his office how those who
advocate non-violence should understand how difficult it is not to be violent.
It is not just the big issues of occupation and lack of independence but also
the many small recurrent moments of humiliation which test people's patience to
the limit. Last week he and his family had to wait for one and a half hours for
nothing at the checkpoint, soldiers emphatically disregarding him as if he did
not exist. Such incidents are of course not uncommon at all. At checkpoints
sometimes hundreds of people wait while soldiers take their time. Under such
circumstances, how can you expect people to handle their emotions?
Poverty is the
other big issue. In Gaza I had the opportunity, between meetings, to lazily
stroll through the town. The city itself, especially the center and the Remal (sands)
neighbourhood, look quite pleasant and spacious but as soon as you go out of
the main roads and enter the alleyways and backyards the sights of poverty hit
you hard in the face: streets without bricks, the stench of flowing sewage,
kids barefoot, terrible housing conditions. Overwhelmingly, there is the view
of unemployed young and old men.
*
* *
With the tourist
industry barely existent, poverty now appears in Bethlehem in ways which are
not immediately observable to the outsider: families not taking the customary warm
meal in the afternoon, not changing dysfunctional equipment, or not buying new
clothes. A teacher told me how she saw a student having holes in her shoes. Her
parents could not buy her new shoes. Now the teacher tries to find financial
support here and there. To prevent such situations, people sometimes try to
create a little job. At our home it happens regularly that unemployed people
pass by to sell books or calendars. Some, not many, beg.
What is
especially disheartening right now while we live in the middle of the olive
season (which is this year abundant) are the often successful attempts of
settlers to make harvesting impossible by shooting at or intimidating the
farmers. At one point it even happened that the Israeli army forbade any olive harvesting
for one day because they were unable to protect the Palestinian harvesters
against the settlers! After a storm of protest the decision was withdrawn. But
still people have problems with harvesting, and it occurred that settlers
robbed products of farmers while they were on their way home. Some Israeli and
international peace movements have been quite active these weeks by showing
support in sharing work in especially the Nablous and Hebron regions.
*
* *
Many foreigners
ask themselves how it is possible that people are able to stand, over decades
of occupation, a situation whereby freedom, dignity and land are progressively
reduced. Once a university lecturer told me that Palestinians have this
property of stubbornness which is so characteristic for peasant people, and
also resilience – the talent to always survive despite carrying loads of
burdens.
While talking
with a fellow-countryman on a sunny veranda this morning, the both of us muse
whether individualized Westerners would at all be able to withstand the pressures
of such a prolonged occupation. The extended family and neighborhood networks here,
often absent in the West, are very instrumental in supporting needy families. (It
is those without such networks who nowadays face serious difficulties). The
networks create a sense of community that provides emotional support. Above
all, I feel that people here have a natural sense of belonging, both with
regard to their compatriots around them and their land and environment. And at
bottom perhaps a strong will to live, even to enjoy living against the odds.
Upon leaving Gaza, it happened that I had to wait for half an hour at the Erez
chackpoint. There were some hundreds of cars entering the parking lot carrying
labourers lucky enough to have a permit to work in Israel. While waiting, a man
offered me a free cup of tea, just like that, with a big hospitable smile, as
is so common in the Middle East. The definition occurred to me that generosity
is the art to enjoy giving. I suppose that having this art helps people to
withstand pressures better as you keep each other's life healthier.
*
* *
When I met Mary
for the first time, some eight years ago, in the Bethlehem University
cafetaria, the atmosphere was pleasantly filled with laughing voices. Due to
the importance of the moment, I never forgot it. At the time I asked myself how
it is possible that people could laugh and talk so easily, lightly as it were,
while living under such heavy circumstances. I still don't have an answer.
Perhaps much has to do with the pleasant weather and the opportunity to enjoy
land, gardens and sun while taking good food. But, as Mary has more than once
told me, you see people in an altogether different light when you hear their
personal stories, and in any case, people are now much more depressed than,
say, five years ago.
Our neighbour who
has a foreign passport says to Mary that she can't enjoy now going out of
Bethlehem. Lately she declined an invitation by a foreign friend who wanted to
go to the beach in Tel Aviv. Our neighbour wasn't afraid for suicide attacks
but as a Palestinian would not feel comfortable among Israelis who enjoy their
time while not caring much about what they themselves are doing in the occupied
territories. After her story, she complimented Mary because she is still able
to laugh. Mary, in response: What else should I do? Keeping a surly face? Lately
she dreamt that she was visiting the center of Jerusalem. A bomb attack
happened and she fled away from the scene unharmed. While she was running,
shopkeepers tried to lure her into their shops which are now often empty
because the bomb attacks keep the public away.
*
* *
At least one good
reason for us to laugh is Tamer who is always willing to give a laugh when you
do something strange for him. We went to the Church of Nativity with him and
put him on the star. He remained motionless, as if surprised. A friendly
Franciscan offered to make a picture of the four of us in front of the Nativity
scene.
Each time when
she comes home, Jara orders me in Dutch "kom maar spelen"
[come play], jealously watching that I do not pay too much attention to Tamer.
She was a little ill this week – in Beit Sahour even a school had to close due
to the colds – but is doing fine at school and therefore may now play the role
of the Virgin in the Nativity play which the classes at the Freres School each
year prepare for Christmas.
Witness of A Christian
Palestinian
Colloque
Groupe d’Amitie Islamo-Chretien
Paris – France
October 25-26, þ2002
Dr. Bernard Sabella
The Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of
the Middle East Council of Churches
One needs not be self-congratulatory nor justifying when one does what one believes in. The Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees that I head and which is part of the Middle East Council of Churches operates in five different areas of the Middle East: Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip of the Palestinian Territories. Our work is mostly with Palestinian refugees in camps and in other areas where they live. Education, vocational training for young men and women, primary health care and community infrastructure besides loans for small business, education and basic housing are some of the areas in which we are involved. There are over 100 of us, both Christians and Muslims, who are active in delivering these services. Our work, especially in the Palestinian Territories, is symbolized by the emblem of the Cross that joins the Crescent and which appears on our vehicles that can be spotted all over the Gaza Strip. Of significance is that the total number of Christians in the Gaza Strip is not more than 2500 out of a total Palestinian population in the Strip of 1.1 million. And because of work of people like Constantine Dabbagh, the Executive Director in the Gaza Strip, the relations of good neighborliness are confirmed again and again.
In the situation of conflict and difficult times of the
last two years, our Department has generated through Action of Churches
Together (ACT) of the World Council of Churches in Geneva close to one million
American dollars that went primarily for emergency food and medical relief. We
were able to reach 16,974 families in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank;
5,865 families in the West Bank and 11,109 families in the Gaza Strip. The ACT
appeals also contributed to our networking efforts with local organizations,
charitable societies, governmental and municipal institutions and grassroots
groups operating throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, irrespective of
religious or other backgrounds. We are also aware that there are needs for
generating employment opportunities at a time when the rate of unemployment is
over 50% of the Palestinian labor force. We are striving together with other
NGOs and international organizations to help generate new employment
opportunities and we have made a new appeal from ACT for this purpose. We do not operate in a vacuum as the
Churches of the Middle East are our empowering body and they support us in our
work because they believe that as part of our societies we need to identify
with our people and to work for a better and different future for everyone.
Palestinian and Arab Christians: A Contradiction in Terms or
An Exciting Combination of Words?
For
many in the West, Palestinian or Arab Christians is a contradiction in terms.
One journalist once asked me: How can you be a Christian and an Arab at the
same time? I tried to explain that Arab is the nationality or culture and that
the nationality and culture do not contradict the fact that I am a Christian or
a Muslim or even a Jew. The question of the journalist that astonished me is
nevertheless understood by me since one time I was reading about Arab Jews in
an article written by an Israeli academic. I just could not understand the term
and as I proceeded to read the article, it became clear that the term when
placed in context makes a lot of sense. The Jews who came from the Arab world
share also the culture of their Arab compatriots and accordingly they can be
called Arab Jews.
But
what is exciting about being an Arab Christian is that I have a rich heritage
that combines aspects of the three monotheistic religions.
First,
I am a Christian and hence the teachings of the universal church and my
relations with the different churches reinforce my faith and belief in the
message of Jesus Christ. Thus my witness to my society, its sufferings and
hopes is not simply an individual act but it is an act that emanates from my
Christian belief. When I am in distant lands or when pilgrims and people of
good will come to visit with us in the Holy Land, I find that the common faith
that unites me with them liberates me and makes me truly a person of the world
and not simply of Jerusalem or of Palestine for that matter.
Second,
as a believing Christian I know that my belief in the New Testament takes its
roots from belief in the Old Testament. This is an important theological
connection between my Christian faith and Judaism. This connection opens up my
heart and mind to the religious and historical experience of the Hebrew people
and hence creates common points of religious reference.
Third,
as a Palestinian and as a Christian, I have had together with generations of my
family excellent experiential relations with my Muslim neighbors. We have lived
the same experiences, went through difficult and pleasant times, worked
together and stood side by side in hours of need or crisis. In the process, our
children went to school with one another; they made friends, played together,
visited one another and shared together the political, social and economic
environment. Most important they got to know one another as people and not as
stereotypes. This experiential sharing taught me to respect Islam and to
appreciate the devotion and commitment of Muslims as they go around praying and
being faithful to their religion. This living together made me touch base with
the human face of my Muslim neighbors and hence to me Islam has become
culturally close to me. When I hear the call to prayer by the Muezzin, I feel
it is a universal call and it applies to me as it applies to my neighbors. Equally,
when I hear the bells ring, the same emotions overtake me. The universality
that elsewhere cannot be found is found in my living side and by side and with
my sharing with my Muslim neighbors.
Things in Common with Muslim and Jewish
Neighbors
That
I am living in a troubled region is compensated by the fact that I have so many
things in common with my Muslim and Jewish neighbors. Many seem not to realize
our common heritage, not simply that of monotheism but also of sharing and
experiencing together. Certainly, there are religious, political, cultural and
social differences that distinguish us from one another. But I always remember
the teaching that says that man is created in the image of God. Accordingly,
all persons, irrespective of background, are my brothers and sisters because
they are in the image of God the Creator. This teaching also asks me to respect
the differences and to show appreciation for the convictions and commitments of
my neighbors and fellow people. When I recite the prayer Our Father Who Art in
Heaven I am always conscious that Our Father refers to being the Father of
everyone on earth and hence what good I ask for myself I also ask for my
neighbor.
But
someone is likely to tell me: Oh! You are too idealistic, Mr. Sabella. Life is
not as simple as you portray it from your Ivory Tower. No, I am not idealistic
nor simplistic, for that matter. I know that there are issues that raise
sensitivities between Muslim and Christian; some that have to do with different
dogmas and beliefs; others more pressing have to do with sharing the same space
or, in cases of immigrants, of possible cultural contact and subsequent
discord. Yes, and there may be other areas of possible and potential
sensitivities but the fact that sharing life together, in the Palestinian and
Middle Eastern context and I am sure in other contexts, teaches us how not to
over dramatize these sensitivities but to deal with them in their proper
context. Sharing life together means also that I have to be willing not to make
unauthentic accusations whenever a problem between the two groups arise but
that I need to look more deeply and seek the cause of this problem. This is
what I teach my students, both Muslims and Christians, at Bethlehem University.
Projection of Fears and Suspicions: The
Complexities Raised by Judaism and Israel
The
projection of fears and suspicions, because of difference of culture and or
religion would not make life any easier. The common space that unites us in
Palestine and Israel is not, at times, an easy one to manage. But to resolve
problems or outstanding issues or sensitivities, we all need to look for the
causes of these problems and sensitivities. If we do this in honesty then we
can work out together solutions to the most difficult problems. Accusing the
other group because of any of its characteristics is misleading and can
complicate matters in an irreversible manner. Accordingly, the basic principle
that should motivate our sharing of the same space is respect for the other’s
religion, culture and heritage.
Some
would argue but would this apply as well to the Jews, especially amidst a most
difficult political situation and an oppressive occupation? The answer is
definitely yes. We have to distinguish here between two elements in the complicated
relationship with the Jews: the one element has to do with Judaism as the
source of monotheism. As such, Judaism is a source of a culture that has
enriched the world and it has also passed on to the two other monotheistic
traditions, Christianity and Islam, many of the precepts and religious laws and
traditions that continue to mold until the present our world. As a Christian
and as a Palestinian I appreciate this rich cultural and religious heritage
that has characterized the Jewish people and I yearn to the day when the
interchange with this heritage would be done without the constraints and
limitations of the oppressive current situation of Israeli occupation of
Palestinian lands. But I need not negate my appreciation of Jewish culture and
religion by only focusing on the need to end occupation. Occupation needs to
end, no dispute about it. But when occupation ends and I have no appreciation
of Jewish culture and religion, then it becomes more difficult to establish
common grounds between our two peoples. Hence the challenge, even in this most
dramatic and tragic conflict that has continued for over one hundred years, is
to find the common grounds. These common grounds cannot be established or
worked out if there is no mutual respect between the two sides. Accordingly, my
Christian Palestinian background calls on me to see the universalist side of
the Jewish experience and history while absolutely opposing the Israeli
military occupation and its injustices against my people.
Post September 11th 2001: Issues of Religions and
Conflict
Especially
after September 11, 2001 the issue of religions and conflict has come up again
and again. There are some who would like to see the world divided along
fighting civilizations and religious domains. To me, as a Christian and as a
Palestinian, civilizations do not fight and certainly religions do not confront
one another in martial arts and sports. Those who argue otherwise have their
own narrow agendas that would invite eventual turmoil, destruction and loss to
all of us. Using religion as a crusading movement against other religions and
cultures is wrong. History has proven that crusades, from whatever source they
come and for whatever purpose they are launched are doomed to eventual failure
and to legacies of mistrust, enmity and negation. Using violence in order to justify selective interpretations
of religious guidelines and directives goes counter to what is best in each and
every religion. September 11th and the events that have taken place
since requires all of us to go back to the religious roots that call on common
human bonds and that emphasize that mankind is created in the image of God,
irrespective of culture, religion, nationality, color or any other identifying
characteristic. My modest experience as a Palestinian Christian sharing with my
Muslim neighbors the vicissitudes of life has taught me that this is possible.
Hence, I am optimistic of the applicability of this model to the larger context
of our world with its many different religions, cultures and nationalities.
Model of Muslim – Christian Relations in
Palestine
Again
some would cast doubt on what I am saying; others would argue that not all
sides think in like manner and, accordingly, what I am saying remains but a
dream or wishful thinking. This may not be so if we realize that we need to
understand the other in his/her complexity and to look out for a balanced view
rather than a selective biased one. My experience with my Muslim neighbors
taught me to consider the good in Islam and in my neighbors. It also taught me
to resolve outstanding issues with my neighbors not on the fact that they are
Muslims but on that of the merit of the issue under discussion. My experience
also taught me that when I serve or teach or do whatever in the society, I do
it because those whom I serve are all created in the image of God. Spreading
this message is an important task because it helps make me a better Christian
as I hope it makes my Muslim and Jewish neighbors better Muslims and Jews.
So
we have a challenge and it appears these days quite a formidable one. But if we
do not stand up to this challenge, then we may perish together instead of
living side by side in harmony. We can no longer live in isolated niches of
whatever sort. We are destined to live together and we have to learn to live
together. The alternative is too disastrous and if we allow it to happen then
there is a serious question about the level of our intelligence as human
beings. In order to ensure the survival of our world, we need then to learn how
to respect others, particularly those who disagree with us and whose ways are
seen as counter to ours and even blasphemous at times. Respect for others does
not mean acceptance of their ways but it is up to us to convince them of the
wrongness of their ways without violating their basic rights to exercise what
they believe in.
The
message then of a Palestinian Christian is a simple one. I myself keep
reminding myself of what I just placed in front of you. It is difficult at
times as each one of us is prone to stereotyping and to blaming the others and
to exercise self-justification. But it is the challenge of living one’s faith
in the city and in the community and the world at large that places a special
responsibility on educators, religious leaders, political personalities and all
those who serve as a model to keep preaching for mutual respect and
understanding and to serve without prejudice or discrimination.
If
we succeed in setting such a model or at least presenting it for the
consideration of the others then perhaps we would have planted the seed for the
needed transformation among many of all religions and backgrounds.
Dr.
Bernard Sabella
Executive
Director
Department
of Service to Palestinian Refugees
Middle
East Council of Churches - Jerusalem
Associate
Professor of Sociology
Department
of Social Sciences - Bethlehem
University
Cross the Line
October 30, 2002
http://come.to/zababdeh
For
the past six months, people in the Jenin district have been struggling under
curfews and closures with varying degrees of strictness. Today, like
yesterday and the day before, was one of the stricter days. No buses,
students, or staff from Jenin could come to school. I was absent,
too. But instead of staying locked-down at home like them, I went with
Firas, the Melkite (Greek Catholic) Deacon of Zababdeh, to visit Christian
communities in two nearby villages, one in Palestine and one in Israel.
This would be a simple task in better times (that is, over two years ago) when
we'd catch shared taxis from Jenin, the transportation (and economic, medical
and educational) heart of the region. But Jenin is sealed tight and most
alternate roads are destroyed or blocked. From Zababdeh, we hired a taxi
whose route was part paved road, part dirt tractor trail, part wheat field as
it skirted around Jenin and stayed clear of settler roads. Anything goes
when it comes to arriving at one's destination. We've ridden through
ravines, under highway culverts, and across swaths of barren desert with people
determined that closures, checkpoints, and curfews would not stop them from
living their lives.
After a forty-minute workout for the old taxi's shocks, we arrived at Jalame, a
town of 2,000 nestled against the Green Line, the 1967 armistice line forming
the internationally-recognized boundary between Israel and the occupied West
Bank. In the days of thriving border trade between Israelis and
Palestinians, Jalame was a place of economic stability - that is, when compared
to the rest of the West Bank. Near the border, its main road was lined
with discount stores with Arabic and Hebrew signs advertising cheap produce and
goods. A point of entry for Israeli shoppers, Jalame was also a point of
exit for Palestinian day laborers on their way to jobs in Israel, jobs which
once employed nearly forty percent of the Palestinian workforce. Jalame
was doing all right for itself.
Today, when we arrived, there were no bargain-hunters, no thriving business
district, no day laborers. However, the shape of Jalame remains the same, that
of a typical Palestinian West Bank town. The mosque towers over
tightly-built, cement buildings, homes on top of each other as extended
families live three or four or five to a building. Front doors open right
onto the street. There's no such thing as a sidewalk, so all traffic –
human and otherwise – passes on the cracking paved streets. Plastic bags and
candy wrappers blew by us in the dust as our taxi squeezed past oncoming
traffic in the alley-like "main street." Like an Old West frontier
town, Jalame gives off a scent of chaos - to the outsider, things seem wild,
but nevertheless there is stability.
We had come here to meet Jalame's Christian community, about 70 people, but
didn't know where to find them. We asked the first people we saw, two men
repairing the main street. They were covered in dust, one of them wearing
a baseball cap with Hebrew writing on it - the tell-tale sign of a former day
laborer. He directed us to a little electronics shop. It was there
that we found Ramzi, who welcomed us with fresh apples. By training, he is
an English teacher. He left the shop in the care of his Muslim friend and
invited us to his house. There, we noticed the usual trappings of a
Palestinian Christian home - pictures and icons of the Virgin and child, rosary
beads, crucifixes. The Christians of Jalame belong to two large extended
families. They are closely related to the Christian communities in
Zababdeh, Jenin, Burqin, and in the Galilee. They have no church here,
nor Christian cemetery. Recently, the municipality voted to give them some
land for burial. But neighbors rebelled against having it next to them,
especially in the center of town, so the municipality went back on its
word.
When the Christians worship, it is in their homes, or on a Sunday visit to the
church in nearby Jenin - their pastoral responsibility traditionally falls to
the priest serving the church in Jenin. But the last time clergy visited
the village was six months ago - since then, the siege has made going and
coming from Jenin difficult at best - towards the north, where Jalame lies,
nearly impossible. They have had no Christmas or Easter celebrations in
two years. Their children have forgotten the hymns.
Now, Deacon Firas' bishop has entrusted to him the pastoral care of the
community here. He is hoping to organize weekly Bible studies, as well as
worship services. Perhaps he will pool together some funds and rent a
room somewhere in town, and decorate it appropriately for worship - a home
church from which the community can prepare for the future. The body of
Christ is hungry for the simplest of ministries in Jalame.
The village of Muqeible is just on the other side of the Green Line. We
began the long walk from Jalame's lone gas station towards the Israeli
checkpoint. It is a desolate strip of land. The dress shops, fruit and
vegetable stands, and discount kiosks which once lined the street have been
bulldozed for security reasons. The vestiges of commerce have given way
to razor wire, cement barricades, and young soldiers with M-16s wearing bullet-proof
vests and over-sized camouflage hats.
On most days, there is a steady trickle of Arab-Israelis entering Jalame.
But not today. The only vehicles we saw on the road were two cars driven
by settlers zooming off to Jenin's illegal neighbors, Kadim and Ganim.
Otherwise, it was just the two of us walking this long stretch of road.
There was something unsettling about the quiet, and we both drew deep, nervous
breaths as the stretch of road grew longer and lonelier. Firas began to
pray as we walked. Once within shouting-distance, a soldier ordered us to
approach the checkpoint one by one. I walked slowly, clutching my
American passport like a talisman. In the end, we both passed, but
it wasn't Firas' Vatican-issued, Israeli-authorized laissez-passe that got him
through, but rather the fact he was with an American companion. Still
breathing sighs of relief, we found a ride going into Muqeible.
The main road into this town of 3000 is newly-paved - black, shiny asphalt,
with even curbs of alternating red and white paint lining its sidewalks.
It's a spacious town, and clean. No garbage littering the streets
here. The lawns (lawns!) are green, European-style, bordered with
flowers. It's less than a mile from Jalame, and prior to 1948, there was
little separating them. In fact, most residents of Jalame have family in
Muqeible. Both are Palestinian villages, both have Muslims and Christians
living together. But one is in Israel, the other in the West Bank.
They might as well be a million miles apart.
We hopped out of the van in front of what appeared to be an official building -
clean, sedate, rectangular. It was the local youth center we learn from
Mohammad, a broad man with a broad smile. He offered to drive us to the
home of Zuheir, a young Muqeible Christian and a friend of his. Muqeible,
like Jalame, has suffered from pastoral neglect. It has no church, though
it is home to the first Christians you will find coming south from
Nazareth. It, too, falls under the responsibility of the Jenin clergy,
two checkpoints away. But unlike Jalame, they have occasional visits from
clergy living in the Galilee. Muqeible's 200 Christians come from three
denominations - Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Melkite. They, too,
have grown tired of waiting for ministry to be brought to them.
And so they have begun to build. The regional council has given them land
- three dunums, to be exact. They've received all of the official
permissions to build – no small feat for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Their architectural drawings are complete, and the exterior wall that surrounds
the land is three-fourths finished. They are in need of funding, but
their vision is clear: an ecumenical church for the Christians of
Muqeible. As we surveyed the land, Muhammad stopped by - his home borders
the church grounds, and he can often be found lending a hand with the work that
is done here. Muslims and Christians are, in his words, brothers in
Muqeible.
Now Deacon Firas has also been given responsibility for ministry in this
village. His work here will be difficult, too, but there is
hope. The leadership of Muqeible's Christian community is young, it
is eager, and it is focused. The body of Christ is being built up.
Hopefully, the energy here will invigorate the ministries of Jalame and
Zababdeh.
As the afternoon grew long, we bade our new Muqeible friends goodbye and went
back to the checkpoint. Back at the Green Line, the Israeli soldier frisked us
as we entered the West Bank. Granted permission to pass, we began the
long walk back to Jalame and then the long, dusty taxi ride back to Zababdeh,
the Palestinian Christian village we both call home. As Firas napped in
the back seat, I began to think. We traveled between worlds today.
The ordered tranquility of Muqeible feels like suburban utopia, with warm
neighborhoods of permanence. In Jalame, it's not hard to imagine the
warzone of Jenin. The whole place feels so temporary, as though everyone
and everything were leaning, poised to escape from their cage if given the
chance. But they're not so far apart - they speak the same language,
share the same faiths, even come from the same families. But by the
arbitrary choices of history, they are separated by nationality and citizenship
- and thus live in different circumstances, have different status, face
different treatment. Yet in the body of Christ that straddles that Line,
there lies the hope of unity. Those days that clergy stop by to visit and
share in sacrament, or when Firas the deacon becomes Firas the priest and can
begin to come here regularly, they are brought together in a holy communion
that fills both time and space.
The same is true of me and Firas. Muqeible to me is far more
familiar. In Jalame he seems at home. But here we are, sharing a
taxi back to the heart of the West Bank. We are able to span the gap in
language, a mixture of his broken English and my atrocious Arabic. We are
brothers in Christ, members of the same family. But by an accident of
birth, my passport works wonders at border crossings, while his draws
suspicion. After seminary, I spent four years working in churches whereas
he spent four years working in sweat shops. But we are drawn together in
that same communion that binds Jalame to Muqeible, and by a common call.
We are here to serve the church in the land of its birth. We are here to
witness to Christ in the land of his resurrection. And if it means
walking from Jalame to Muqeible and back again, so be it. Right now, as
the dust of an oncoming truck rolls in through the window, there's no place in
the world I'd rather be.
-------------------------------
Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders are American Presbyterians working in the
Palestinian Christian village of Zababdeh.
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