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Living in the Holy Land: Respecting Differences
The Spirit of Sumud
Christian / Muslim Living Together Fieldtrips Project
Date: January 17, 2010
Target Groups : A.E.I High School,
University, Women, British & French Group University students (on a visit to
interview women on the effect of Wall on their lives) & AEI staff &
coordinators.
Number of participants: 103
Place of meeting: Taybeh / Ramallah.
Why was it chosen?
a) It is the place where His Beatitude Patriarch Michel
Sabbah former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem stays during his weekends.
b) It is a historical Biblical town and has a lot of
historical & holy places.
c) It is a suitable place for Christian / Muslim Living
Together and the majority of its population are Christians.
Why Jericho?
a) It is the oldest town in the world & has a lot of
religious, cultural and archeological landmarks.
b) It is the most famous winter resort in Palestine.
The Activities of the Journey:
The activities were held at the Latin hall or Roman
Catholic Church of Taybeh.
The most Important activities were:
a) Attendance of the Holy Mass at the Roman Catholic
Church during which Fr. Raed Abu Sahliah the Parish Priest welcomed the
AEI group & spoke highly of the AEI mission & activities in the field of
interreligious dialogue & especially Christian Muslim Living Together &
their essential role in strengthening community, tolerance and better
understanding.
b) Wishes & Prayers sent by members of the World Council
of Churches & Pax Christi were read by Muslims & a Christians like in front
of the audience.
c) The story of the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Quran & Bible was read.
d) An hour presentation entitled Kairus Document: "A
moment of truth a word of faith, hope & love from the heart of Palestinian
suffering" was delivered by His Beatitude Patriarch Michel Sabbah.
This document published by the heads of Christian
Churches together with a number of representatives of international churches
in a conference held in Bethlehem.
The Patriarch started his speech by a deep analysis of
the political circumstances in Palestine & the background & introduction for
the Kairus Document.
Patrirach Sabbah summarized the whole situation in the
following points:
1- The Palestinian / Israeli peace process reached
deadlock in spite of the Palestinian Authority's real commitment to peace
talks and rejection of all forms of political violence in order to reach a
resolution to the conflict.
The Patriarch also referred to many Palestinian factions
or groups which resorted to armed struggle in their resistance against
occupation but achieved no solution to the conflict.
2- The present Palestinian situation is very bad on all
levels namely: political, economic, social. This condition led to a stage of
despair & frustration.
It is wrong to surrender to despair and as believers who
do not accept despair, Christian religious leaders carried out this Kairus
Document in response to this . Their initiative originated from their belief
that God the Creator is a father for us all, He loves us, He is good,
capable & He will help us to overcome evil, which is represented in
occupation and must be ended as a sin.
3- We as Christians believe in patience, hopelessness and
that God is patient. Patience, steadfastness or sumud do not mean to stand
folding our hands, but we should work and combine our work with God's work.
Patience, sumud or resilience means that history in not made by human beings
alone. Palestinian & Isreeli history is not only made by them alone but also
by God.
4- Combining or mixing religion with politics may
transform the latter into a self work. In Christianity there is the "Love
Commandment" & we have to enter the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict well
equipped by the value of "Love". Our conflict with Israel is an
international one in which international forces are involved. Shall we fight
these powers too or shall we dialogue with them in a language to be
understood by them. Most of the world's governments know the Palestinian
people's rights as well as the Israeli people's rights. However most of the
western governments are bias with Israel. There are even some governments
who fear to criticize Israel. This adds more strength to Israel's might.
Therefore we should continue "dialogue" with these international powers in
defence for our own rights & for them to adopt balanced & serious positions
towards protecting our rights. His Beatitude the Patriarch then went on in
his analysis of the Kairus Document and pointed out to three main sections
of this document namely:
a- The present reality.
b- Hope.
c- An appeal or call.
Our Christian position regarding the above mentioned
reality is a faith stand or position in spite of the deadlock in the peace
process. We witness how some people misinterpreted and misused the Old
Testament of the Bible in supporting the Israeli people. We as Christians
cannot deny the Bible and we reject all attempts of negating the Bible but
we do believe that the Bible is the word of God & word cannot be divided
into parts. In this document we do see that it focuses on the Bible. God's
word is a living one and it has continued to be. Today God's word sheds
light on the present circumstances which are different from those 3000 years
ago during our Father Abraham.
Any one who wants to misuse God's promise by killing the
Palestinians & stealing their land's is unlawful & a sin.
The second section of the document: " Hope"
We Palestinians believe in Hope & we are not allowed to,
reach despair. We have to be patient and imitate Jesus patience until the
Palestinian people achieve its unforgettable rights.
The Israeli occupation of our land is described as a sin
& our Lord Jesus Christ commandment is very clear. Love Your Enemy and love
one another!
What does Love mean? It is God's vision in every human
being who is created in God's image. We see God's image in our enemy's face.
How ever our love to the enemies does not mean to love the evil in them
which is here represented in occupation. Our love to our enemy means the
abolition of occupation. The Christians duty is to resist occupation and the
best type of resistance is the non violent or peaceful one.
The Third Part of the Document: "A Call"
This call or appeal is addressed to the political and
spiritual leaders in the world to stand by the side of "Justice" in this
region and to work on restoring back the legitimate rights of the
Palestinian people. We call upon these leaders to lift up the unjust siege
on our people. We request the whole international community to put pressure
on the Israeli occupation forces to be committed to the international law.
Israel must not be left to be above the "law" but it should abide by the
international laws otherwise sanctions & punishments should be imposed on
her.
The Patriarch ended his presentation by referring to the
document as a Christian vision towards the present situation. It is an
expression of the Palestinian Christian responsibility, sharing &
participating in the Palestinian national struggle through out history as
equal citizens.
Dr. Barakat Fawzi an Islamic religious education
scholar at the Ministry of Education & at the University presentation of
the Kairus Document from an Islamic Perspective.
Dr. Barakat explained that this document is an expression
of the great role of the Christian Palestinians headed by their religious
leaders in the Palestinian national process. This role is an integral part
of the Palestinian society.
He emphasized that the Kairus document is a national
Palestinian document that is related to both Christians as well as
Muslims. It sheds light on the Christian role in our national the struggle.
This document plants trust in the Palestinian the Palestinian Christian &
Muslim souls. It enlightens the road & prevents all attempts to sow
division, despair & frustration among the children of the same nation.
The Kairus document is an expression and example of the
deep commitment of the Palestinian Christians towards national issues.
Dr. Barakat mentioned that all Palestinian Christians &
Muslims are suffering from occupation. This Christian initiative is greatly
admired & appreciated. He also calls upon all to move towards more
involvement & participation of Muslim religious leaders and other social
sections in the Palestinian society.
Dr. Barakat emphasized that this Christian & Muslim
initiative in this field will contribute in educating & knowing about the
religions of the others.
This document & the Christian /Muslim working together in
challenging these present difficult circumstances will greatly strengthen
Christian/Muslim relations because these relations must be built on harmony,
participation and sharing in our daily life situations.
Dr.Barakat linked the documents valuable concepts &
values namely:
Love, hope, tolerance, openness commitment,
participation, respect
. with the AEI mission, activities & projects
especially the Living in the Holy Land: Respecting Differences.
An open frank and friendly discussion followed after the
two speakers lectures.
The whole interventions, questions & answers focused on
the importance of this document in promoting better understanding, knowing
the other's religion, commitment together working in focusing society's
issues, sowing seeds of hope, love in the souls minds & behavior & attitudes
of our young generations.
The two speakers gave very good, rich and touchy personal
testimonies from their daily life situations aiming at encouraging our
adults & young participants in their sumud or perseverance and avoiding
frustration & despair.
The Latin Parish and Latin school dabkah group
(Palestinian traditional dance) gave a very interesting performance. This
folkloric popular performance by the female & male dancers captured the
attention of all the audience including the Patriarch.
Food was shared in an atmosphere of friendliness,
brotherhood & trilling (Palestine singing by AEI women in the presence of
the Patriarch.
A tour & talk to the little town of Taybeh as well
as to old town of Jericho
The Youth & Women Management Training Team members who
participated in the trip took their tasks & responsibilities in explaining
about the historical, religious & cultural sites along the way from
Bethlehem to Ramallah, Taybeh & Jericho. These Y./W./ M.T.T created an ethos
or atmosphere of fun, entertainment and harmony which contributed in helping
the participants to get to know one another , to reduce some stereotypes &
to build friendships.
Impressions on the Taybeh / Jericho Trip:
1- The encounter with the Patriarch was very rich &
fruitful on levels namely:
Spiritual, political & social. It helped us to be more
aware & enlightened us with our present issues & concerns.
This meeting was a great help in supporting our sumud or
steadfastness & it helped us to resist despair & hopelessness. (A Christian
woman).
2- The Patriarch's lecture strengthened my belief in
Christian/ Muslim Living Together and especially that the Christian Church
leaders are national leaders too. ( A Muslim Youth)
3- Dr. Barakat's presentation gave me some calmness &
respect to Muslims because a Muslim scholar supported a Christian religious
figure such as Patriarch Michel Sabbah in preaching shared values of love &
hope. (A Christian University Student)
4- New historical , religious , fun & cultural places be
came more known to me better than in geography & history lessons at schools.
(Government high schooler)
5- This trip & workshop helped us as AEI members (adults,
young, women, staff British & French students & high school, Christian &
Muslim to mingle or mix with one another & we also learnt more about our
activities especially the project: Living in the Holy Land: Respecting
Differences.
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