|
|
AEI-Open Windows Visitors
Pax Christi Germany Visit to Palestine
17th – 28th October 2006
From 17th
until 28th October 2006, Pax Christi
Germany organized a trip to the Holy Land
through the offices of AEI-Open Windows.
Nineteen persons were hosted among families from
Bethlehem.
The program
included morning prayers – every morning at a
different religious place in Bethlehem - tour
visits to the Nativity Church and the Bethlehem
Museum, the Herodion ruins, the Shepherd Fields,
Deheisheh refugee camp, the Wall in Bethlehem,
the Mount of Temptation and Hisham's Palace in
Jericho and the Dead Sea, the Mount of Olives
and the Old City of Jerusalem, Abraham's Tomb in
Hebron, Arafat's Tomb at Al Muqata'a-Ramallah,
the Artas Heritage Centre, the Hortus Conclusus
Monastery and Solomon's Pools in the village of
Artas, and Taybeh, as well as an Israeli
settlement.
A few meetings
with local personalities were organized in order
to transmit information and knowledge about the
political situation, including meetings with
Rev. Dr Mitri Raheb (Bethlehem International
Center), Fr. Dr Raed Abu Sahliyah (Latin Parish
Priest), Dr Ilham Abu Ghazalah (Birzeit
University), Sheikh Zuheir Al Dib'i (Moslem
leader), the Anastas family (encircled by the
Wall from three sides), Dr. Jad Ishak (Arij
Center), Mr. Fadi Sanad (Artas Heritage Center),
an Hamas member, AEI staff and women's group
and Mrs Fatin Mukarker. They also met some
Israeli peace activists of Gush Shalom, Rabbis
for Human Rights, Peace Now, and members of the
Christian Peacemaker Team. These organized
meetings helped in opening the eyes of the group
to different schools of thinking.
The group attended
and participated in a concert of peace songs
from the US and Palestine at the Peace Center.
They joined a dinner with the AEI Ramallah
school teachers and principals; participated in
wall painting and in the olive harvest, in the
launching of
www.palestine-family.net,
and shared a farewell party where AEI members
performed a drama about the Palestinian folk
wedding.
The group
conducted two reflection meetings so as to
evaluate and get feedback about their trip. The
group members were very excited about the trip
in general because they experienced the
Palestinian hardship regarding the Wall. Once
they went to the Benedictine Monastery to pray
near the Wall. Israeli soldiers started throwing
tear-gas bombs towards the Moslem prayers who at
that moment were trying to pass through the
check-point to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque. The group
also enjoyed the olive picking. They went to one
of the fields and helped in picking olives. It
was very exciting for them as they were singing
while working, which made it all the more a
physical activity in which all senses were used.
The AEI-led drama of a Palestinian folk wedding
was of extra value to the German group because
it reflected the Palestinian customs and
traditions regarding weddings, clothes, songs
and thrills.
On the farewell
party day, it was obvious that we succeeded in
communicating both the bright side of Palestine
and its ‘dark’ side, the effects of the human
rights violations and the occupation. We were
able to plant seeds of peace and encourage a
readiness to help the Palestinian cause through
advocacy. There were very deep emotions of
solidarity and support to the Palestinian cause.
Some follow-up ideas were agreed upon in order
to strengthen future forms of cooperation on the
way to creating friendly relations and a strong
partnership in the spirit of justice and peace.
|
|
