I wish you a warm welcome here at the occasion of the reading and pronouncing of so many prayers in different languages, which come from all over the world, indeed from all continents. We would like to express our thanks to you, Monsignor, as International President of Pax Christi, for your kind willingness to preside over the mass and we also express our gratitude to Pax Christi International for having organized the arrival of the prayers. 

It is heartening and inspiring to know that Pax Christi members abroad, by writing and sending their prayers, show that they really care about the people living here. Originally, the ideas of a church and mosque, and also the synagogue, are linguistically and historically related to the idea of community. Sharing prayers from all over the world at such a difficult moment as today is indeed community building. It is often said that prayers serve to give consolation and inner strength; here they do more - they really connect.

We have come together as educators - teachers, parents and students. (Students are educators too, they educate themselves and others, including teachers). Education is essentially about connecting, connecting with oneself, other people, one’s own culture and other cultures. Here in Palestine educators have a difficult time not only because of the severe political, economic and safety circumstances but also because we are presently prevented from connecting. We are very limited in our freedom of traveling, communicating, meeting, joint learning and community building. 

When we as educators talk about peace, we are looking for the principles and practices of human connecting. In our contribution to the work of Pax Christi we wish to apply the following principles. 

First, we need to bring forward the Palestinian voice. While we see images of Palestinian youth we barely hear the voices of those youth, including young women. Yet there are chances here. In a modern media-conscious world there are a great many opportunities to show the voice of people, including the making of diaries, oral histories, websites, on-line courses, video documentaries, photos and drawings. Increasingly, Palestinian educators now take the initiative to involve youth in communication projects which connect them in a two-way exchange with the world.

Secondly, the more difficult the circumstances are, and the greater the pressure of isolation, the more urgent also the need to develop an inclusive vision of peace – or in present-day language, a “culture of peace.”  We have to prevent ourselves to become entrapped in an inward-looking culture of self-righteousness. When we talk about a vision of peace, we do not mean peace as a slogan or a political deal. Rather, for us, a vision of peace comes out of the hope and wish to transcend the present terrible situation of exposure, helplessness, fear and isolation; a hope which allows us to become human again and to connect with others. 

Thirdly, as educators we choose for non-violence. We follow the Patriarch’s words in his Christmas message. Doing so does not mean that we isolate ourselves from those youngsters who challenge the Israeli army. They have been led to do so by the force of desperate circumstances. We simply say that there should be different ways of dealing with others. In all human struggles of liberation, non-violent means of persuasion have been decisive in reaching out to others who support one’s rights, and to the world at large. Moreover, as educators we must prevent that violence grows inwards into the person, community and society. Non-violent means are essential in order not to loose the human connection.

As an illustration of these principles, I would like to quote from an essay written by four educator-students from St Joseph School: Jennifer Juha, Jumana Denho, Rasha Hazineh and Nisreen Ballout.

There was a little boy who was holding his toy. It was a pigeon that symbolizes peace. While he was playing one afternoon, he had a dream. He dreamed about another world where he could talk about his toys and his hobbies, his interests and his dreams, instead of talking about guns, blood and killing. A world where he could run and play with his friends. He dreamed about people who loved each other, smiling to each other, happy and secure. Happiness was in everybody’s heart. There was no war, no tanks, no rockets, and no shelling and bombing. There weren’t sounds of crying. Christians, Moslems and Jews living together in peace, fighting together against the evil of the world. They talked about justice. He dreamed about w better world. A world full of peace. A bullet, an evil bullet came like a thief and entered his heart. It took his soul and his dream away. His pigeon was beside him, right there next to his motionless body. But the pigeon remembered his dream, and came to life and flew away. It has decided to tell his dream to the world. AND it decided to make his world that he dreamed about come true.

While walking to the Iftar meal, you received a balloon to which were attached the prayers we received. We invited you to lift the balloon, as if it was the pigeon, so that the prayers come alive and fly away in order to make the dream come true.