Nakba Day, May 15, 2011

In Denver we marched in support of Palestinian human rights - at the Capitol and down the 16th Street Mall. A peaceful protest of Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands and its continuing confiscation of Palestinian lands for the building of its security wall, which it is building in many places, not on Israeli land, but on Palestinian land. Click on the photo to see video of our protest march in Denver.

The Nakba or "catastrophe" is Palestinians' commemoration, on Israeli Independence Day, May 15, of the depopulation of 500 Palestinian villages in 1947-49, and the forceable removal of Palestinians from their homes and farmlands, as well as the destruction of many of those villages.

In the West Bank, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh was arrested on Sunday, as he participated in a protest in the village of Al-Walaja, where the Israelis are continuing to build their security wall on Palestinian land. The wall in Al-Walaja is being built on village farmlands instead of on Israeli land. The wall is close to surrounding the village, completely cutting it off from the world. The map shows Al-Walaja, at the left, surrounded by the wall (red dotten line indicates where the wall is currently being built); tan areas are Palestinian towns and villages, blue areas are Israeli settlements, green line marks the 1949 armistice line separating Israel and the West Bank Red lines are completed wall; purple is proposed, dotted red under construction.

Israel claims that it is building the wall to protect its settlements (Har Gilo, Gilo), which are also constructed on Palestinian land, well within the Palestinian West Bank. As you can see from the map, the settlements themselves separate Palestinian towns and villages from one another, making commerce and daily life difficult.

See Dr. Qumsiyeh's own video of the demonstration and his arrest:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfizCh0TaZE

Other video of Al-Walaja and his arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD06coIJWQs

Today Dr. Qumsiyeh, an American citizen, and a Palestinian, is still being held in Ofer prison in Israel. Please write to President Obama and the US State Department to put pressure on Israel for his release.

Or call: White House comment line: (202) 456-1111
State Department public information line: (202) 647-6575

Read an excellent analysis of Palestinian protests and the what the future holds for peace in Palestine/Israel, an op-ed piece in the Jerusalem Post by Israeli peace activist Gersho Baskin.

Lent 2011

During Lent I am writing at A Lenten Geography - Meditations for Lent, written as I ponder the texts for each Sunday, remembering the people I have met and the experiences I have had in Israel and Palestine: http://www.alentengeography.blogspot.com/

Space Available on the 2011 Holy Land Pilgrimage

Some improvements to the trip!

• an upgrade to our hotel in Tiberias - Nofim Hotel, next to the Tiberias Hot Springs.
• a discount of $80 on the Egypt portion - total cost from Denver is now $4350

Our tour guide, Pastor Paul Rowold, reports:

I have been in frequent contact with friends in Egypt and our guide there, Bishoy. They all give a picture of new joy among the Egyptian people and an optimism for a bright future. So much of the Egyptian economy is based on tourism that they are putting lavish efforts into the security, comfort, and enjoyment of every tourist who comes. Sites which have always been crowded in the past are waiting for people like us to tour them without congestion.

Please send your $300 deposit by April 1. We have extended the “refundable” clause, making it fully refundable until June 1, when the balance of the cost of the trip is due. If it is necessary to cancel the pilgrimage, we will refund everything we are able to get back from the airlines and tour companies, which should be at least 80% (and probably more) of the cost of the trip.

Ash Wednesday, Isaiah - Shout Out!!

During Lent, I will be posting weekly on A Lenten Geography, meditations on the texts for Lent reflecting on the people I've met on my five visits to Israel/Palestine these past five years.

Ash Wednesday
March 9, 2011
Isaiah 58.1-12

Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion…(Is. 58.1)

What is the worship God desires from us?

Is it the Bach cantata, or the praise band? The old familiar hymns, or some new ones? Does The red book, or the green, or the “cranberry”?

Isaiah is very clear here: what God desires is not our “fasting.” God is not impressed when we wear “sackcloth and ashes.” God is not moved by our rituals. God wants us to “loose the bonds of injustice.”

When I close my eyes and hear these words of Isaiah, I see the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, as they shouted out an end to tyranny, an end to oppression, an end to the misery of the poor, who cannot afford to buy food for their families. They stood their ground, occupying the square, until their demands were heard. Mubarak stepped down—his ruthless and cruel suppression of dissent finally overcome by the sheer numbers and persistence of the demonstrators.

Like Isaiah, these demonstrators protest hypocrisy. Isaiah saw the hypocrisy of the people who worshipped God by wearing sackcloth and ashes, but did nothing to care for God’s people. The demonstrators shouted out the hypocrisy of a president who amassed a large fortune while the people were going hungry. They shouted out the hypocrisy of a United States that talks democracy and freedom, but provides $1.5b for “security,” which tortures and silences those who question the government.

Ironically, many of the demonstrators were inspired by President Obama’s speech in Cairo shortly after he became president, in June of 2009. They were listening when he called for democracy, and they took him seriously when he announced his commitment to “governments that reflect the will of the people.”

Each Friday afternoon in Sheikh Jarrah, as Jerusalem prepares for the Sabbath, a crowd gathers; drummers march through the streets, past the house that used to belong to the Gawi family. These demonstrators, primarily Jewish Israelis, call on the government of Israel to end its hypocrisy, to match its deeds with its words—they hold placards saying “Not in my Name!” and “Free East Jerusalem” and “End the Occupation!” This is their worship…..their Shabbat.

On Fridays in Al-Walaja, Bil’in, Ni’lin, al-Ma’sara, Beit Ommar, Nabi Saleh, Bethlehem, and other villages throughout the West Bank, protesters leave the mosques after Friday prayers and march in non-violent action against the Israeli wall, still being built on Palestinian land. The wall continues to isolate these villages, cutting them off from families, schools, commerce and health care, forcing them to go through several checkpoints to get from one village in the West Bank to another.

Is not this the fast that I choose:
To loose the bonds of injustice,
To undo the thongs of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free,
And to break every yoke? (Is. 58.6)

God of all hope, your prophets called your people to actions of justice and reconciliation. Help those of us who live in the land of opportunity and freedom to break the yoke of oppression where we see it, to feed your hungry people and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, so that the world may see your light “break forth like the dawn.” Amen.

A Most Excellent Week in the Life of a Palestinian Peace Activist

Today's news from Jamal Muqbel (see more of his story in previous posts below) -

You may remember that Jamal is involved in an Israeli-Palestinian organization, Wounded Crossing Borders, that brings together Israeli and Palestinians who have been wounded or lost loved ones in the conflict. Last May, my Compassionate Listening delegation met with their group in Jamal's home in Beit Ommar, between Bethlehem and Hebron in the Palestinian West Bank. We had a delicious Palestinian feast prepared by his wife Sadiyeh and her friends and family.

Today Jamal writes about the work he is continuing to do, bringing understanding, reconciliation and healing to places filled with fear, frustration and hatred.

Earlier this week, on Monday and Tuesday, he traveled with his Israeli friend Gadi Kenny, to Sderot, an Israeli town on the northern edge of the Gaza strip. It's a town very much aware of the ongoing conflict - they live with frequent rocket attacks from angry Palestinians in the Gaza strip. When I visited with a group there in May, they described the trauma of never knowing when or where the next rocket will land. Although these homemade rockets usually land in empty fields and rarely hit anyone or anything, they have occasionally killed people and they are terrifying for the people - going to school or to the market or sitting in their homes. Everyone always knows where the nearest bomb shelter is.

Anyway, this week Jamal went to the "Gaza-Sderot Conference 2011: Moving from Crisis to Sustainability." He describes meeting many Israelis, many who are very angry, some who wanted to hit him and others who yelled at him. He persevered, however, talking with them, telling them about himself and his family, showing them photos of Palestinians. He taught them about the situation of Palestinians who cannot travel (it's a small miracle that he was able to attend the conference - I can hardly imagine how that happened!).

He says he talked to them about why the people of Gaza shoot the rockets across the border and he says that he is now in touch with many of the participants by email; one of the families invited him to stay in their home.

Then on Wednesday he visited the home of the former director of the Hebron prison, where, he says, he could not find much agreement in their dialogue. But, he spent the night in their home.

Photo shows Jamal, with Margee, his long-time friend, who was on our Compassionate Listening delegation in May. Photo: Ellen Greene

Then he and Gadi drove to Tantur (an ecumenical center near Bethlehem) and met with the Bereaved Families Forum. The good news for us Americans is that this workshop was sponsored with USAID funds! Our tax dollars finally buying something besides bulldozers, M16s and tear gas grenades.

Jamal reports that he and Gadi did not get much sleep in those five days, but his energy level is very high. He and Gadi are talking about new projects - visiting people in their homes to talk about peace, talking to people on the roads and in the schools.