The Israel-Palestine situation is definitely one of the most challenging and complex in the world today. We asked LPF board member Kathy Adam to step back and reflect a little on her own journey of understanding and action on the issues, and to share some especially helpful links to information -- including several on well-known Lutheran Palestinian pastor Mitri Raheb. Here is Kathy on her experience:
In
1998, my
husband and I went to Israel on a “Footsteps of Jesus” tour. We were awed, walking where Jesus had walked
over 2,000 years ago. Our spirits soared as we followed those
footsteps…. At the same time, more and more questions arose for us about what was happening all around us.
For example, we
were overwhelmed by the number of soldiers
we encountered everywhere, Israeli Defense
Forces
heavily armed with automatic weapons. We
didn’t yet understand the real scope of the situation in which we
found ourselves. We were in the lands of
Israel and Palestine. The Palestinians –
a people I didn’t even know existed
in the 20th century – were under occupa-tion since 1967 by
the State of Israel. We discovered this
was anything but a peaceful land.
Since 1998 I have
visited the region five times to learn
and observe. Sadly I have witnessed Palestinian homes bulldozed to make way
for Israeli settlements, ancient groves of olive trees uprooted,
Palestinian farmers and shopkeepers cut
off by walls from their lands and livelihoods. I have talked with people who have had family members, including children, arrested and jailed and even tortured.
But during that first
trip, having only our Sunday School Biblical knowledge to help us place the
contemporary situation into perspective, we
found ourselves lost in our limited understanding. I’m very grateful that our tour group was able
to meet with Mitri Raheb, pastor of
Christmas Lutheran Church in
Bethlehem, right up the hill from the Church of the Nativity where it is
said Jesus was born. He
invited our tour group into a room with a circle
of chairs one evening. It was then that the Biblical story and the
contemporary situation started to come together for us.
We learned that for over 2,000 years, there has been a Palestinian presence in the land, and
that for most of that time, Palestinians – mostly Christian and
Muslim – lived side-by-side with Jews in relative peace.
It was a political movement, Zionism, that
from its origins at the end of the 19th Century has caused the problems that have
become so severe ever since.
In the years since meeting Pastor Raheb, I’ve done all I can to inform myself about the region.
Perhaps you too have read or heard Pastor Raheb, and been inspired by this visionary
Lutheran advocate of peace
with justice. It was no
surprise to me that he
recently received the
prestigious Swedish Olof Palme
Prize of 2015.
He shares this award with Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, who
campaigns for his country's withdrawal from Palestinian territories. They both received the award for offering “a glimmer of hope to a conflict that for too long has plagued and continues to plague millions of people and affects
world peace.”
A few
years ago I began volunteering with
“Bright Stars of Bethlehem,” the US organization supporting the ministries led by Pastor Raheb in Palestine. I’m often encouraged by Mitri Raheb’s insight into the challenge of peacemaking: “We’ve been conditioning ourselves to run a
hundred yards, but we are in fact in a marathon,” he says. “Our struggle is neither easy nor short, and we have
to condition ourselves for the long
challenge ahead. We need moments of joy and hope in the midst of all this hopelessness.
Otherwise we won’t be able to
continue our journey.”
Indeed, peace does
not come
easily in this part of the
world, as with conflicts in so many other regions of the world.
Nor does peace always come easily in our communities, or even in some of our
close relationships. In our efforts to bring about peace in the
various areas of life, we need moments of joy and hope. We also
need resources to help
us. I
was impressed by the resources
offered by LPF when I first explored them a few years ago.
More recently,
I have been grateful for the
opportunity to contribute
to LPF’s
efforts to share information about these issues and struggles. To help frame advocacy options. To help
support this valuable and much-needed service. To offer resources and links through LPF blogs like this one, as
well as posts on the LPF facebook page, program updates,
and the rich variety of material on
LPF’s website…
by Kathy Adams, LPF board member
by Kathy Adams, LPF board member
Here are some especially helpful, informative links on these issues:
Mitri Raheb, Bright Stars, Diyar Ministries
www.brightstarsbethlehem.org - Bright Stars of Bethleham (Christian,
Lutheran, working with all faith traditions in the Middle East.)
http://www.diyar.ps/?TemplateId=info&PageId=1&MenuId=7&Lang=1
Diyar, umbrella organization of Bright Stars
Mitri Raheb Presentations
Olof Palme Prize Ceremony Speech - Parliament, Stockholm, Sweden
http://www.diyar.ps/?MenuId=0&Lang=1&TemplateId=projects&catId=1&full=1&id=120
"A Tough Calling: the Joys and Struggles of Pastoring in Palestine" Calvin College
http://www.calvin.edu/directory/series/mitri-raheb
"Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible Through Palestinian Eyes" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMJ49iivAjg
Christian Sources
|www.cmep.org – Churches for Middle East Peace (22 national Christian denominations and organizations)
https://www.elca.org/en/Our-Work/Publicly-Engaged-Church/Peace-Not-Walls - ELCA Middle East information and advocacy program, Peace Not Walls
www.fosna.org – Friends of Sabeel North America, Christian organization
www.sabeel.org – Palestinian Christian Liberation Theology Organization
Jewish and Secular Sources
B’tselem.org – Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories. (Israeli, Jewish organization)
www.annainthemiddleeast.com - Anna Baltzer’s (Jewish American woman) web page. Very articulate Jewish American woman.
www.JVP.org – Jewish Voice for Peace (Jewish group that welcomes people of any belief who want peace with justice in Palestine and Israel)
www.ifamericansknew.org – If Americans Knew (secular organization, very well researched information.)
Video: Mitri Raheb | Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible Through Palestinian Eyes
