Many thanks to our congregations who faithfully contribute to the 'Shared Mission' giving each year.
This year our Social Justice Ministry Team was able to offer a grant to Carson Smith which assisted in his
travel to Israel-Palestine. Each one of us has been 'called to serve' and what an honor it is to be with our
brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. Please see Carson's message to us from his experience.
Peace,
Charon
This year our Social Justice Ministry Team was able to offer a grant to Carson Smith which assisted in his
travel to Israel-Palestine. Each one of us has been 'called to serve' and what an honor it is to be with our
brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. Please see Carson's message to us from his experience.
Peace,
Charon
message from carson smith
In August, I joined a two-week delegation with Christian Peacemakers Teams in Palestine (CPT) to learn from Palestinians leading nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation. We started in Jerusalem and then went to Bethlehem before joining CPT’s full-time staff in Hebron. Our delegation leader described this as a graduated descent into the occupation.
Although this was not my first time in Israel-Palestine, this would be my first time accompanying Palestinians in the West Bank. Five years ago, I was invited on a free trip by an organization to learn about Israel. The idea was to bring together Jewish and non-Jewish students across campus to learn about Israeli society through “relational advocacy”. After taking a course on the history of the region, I jumped at the chance to see the religious sites.
At the time, my enthusiasm outweighed any hesitation concerning the trip’s bias. Besides, what was so wrong about just going and seeing? In conversations about Israel-Palestine with friends at the time, I was likely to claim ignorance about the situation: “I don’t know enough about it to have an opinion.” And that was that.
When our CPT delegation visited Bethlehem, there was no room to feign neutrality. I realized this when we visited Wi’am, a grassroots organization engaged in a broad array of services from conflict mediation to children’s camps. The center is located right next to a large slab of concrete wall with a military outlook perched on the corner. Wi’am’s founder, Zoughbi Alzoughbi, told us how protests near the wall were sometimes met with rubber bullets and tear gas. There was also a skunk water cannon on top of the wall, a device that blasted noxious liquid on protestors, pedestrians, homes, and businesses alike.
The next day at Volunteer Palestine, our delegation toured a refugee camp called Aida. The camp also borders a portion of the wall. Our guide explained that this is considered the most tear-gassed place in the world. He says the ongoing teargassing continues to displace people, forcing them to leave altogether. Overcrowding in schools and in homes also makes it difficult to stay in a refugee camp that was never meant to house a population five times larger than its original size, as it does today.
Understanding the occupation cannot be simplified by the border wall near Bethlehem. There are many ways the Israeli military makes life difficult for Palestinians there, regardless of the wall. Stories of the wall, however, reminded me of my original “free trip” to Israel-Palestine when we went on a bus tour with a man who claimed to have designed the wall. He was adamant about protecting it from criticism. He claimed that the barrier was meant to have minimal impact even as it blockaded communities and destroyed homes and businesses. When I look back on that trip, I think about how such propaganda only slowed me from realizing that the rights of Palestinians were at risk in a way that is both real and immediate.
Although I am still processing what our delegation heard and saw, I cannot claim ignorance like I did before, not only because I have witnessed effects of the occupation but also because of the Palestinians we met whose courageous nonviolence inspires me to work for justice as well.
Although this was not my first time in Israel-Palestine, this would be my first time accompanying Palestinians in the West Bank. Five years ago, I was invited on a free trip by an organization to learn about Israel. The idea was to bring together Jewish and non-Jewish students across campus to learn about Israeli society through “relational advocacy”. After taking a course on the history of the region, I jumped at the chance to see the religious sites.
At the time, my enthusiasm outweighed any hesitation concerning the trip’s bias. Besides, what was so wrong about just going and seeing? In conversations about Israel-Palestine with friends at the time, I was likely to claim ignorance about the situation: “I don’t know enough about it to have an opinion.” And that was that.
When our CPT delegation visited Bethlehem, there was no room to feign neutrality. I realized this when we visited Wi’am, a grassroots organization engaged in a broad array of services from conflict mediation to children’s camps. The center is located right next to a large slab of concrete wall with a military outlook perched on the corner. Wi’am’s founder, Zoughbi Alzoughbi, told us how protests near the wall were sometimes met with rubber bullets and tear gas. There was also a skunk water cannon on top of the wall, a device that blasted noxious liquid on protestors, pedestrians, homes, and businesses alike.
The next day at Volunteer Palestine, our delegation toured a refugee camp called Aida. The camp also borders a portion of the wall. Our guide explained that this is considered the most tear-gassed place in the world. He says the ongoing teargassing continues to displace people, forcing them to leave altogether. Overcrowding in schools and in homes also makes it difficult to stay in a refugee camp that was never meant to house a population five times larger than its original size, as it does today.
Understanding the occupation cannot be simplified by the border wall near Bethlehem. There are many ways the Israeli military makes life difficult for Palestinians there, regardless of the wall. Stories of the wall, however, reminded me of my original “free trip” to Israel-Palestine when we went on a bus tour with a man who claimed to have designed the wall. He was adamant about protecting it from criticism. He claimed that the barrier was meant to have minimal impact even as it blockaded communities and destroyed homes and businesses. When I look back on that trip, I think about how such propaganda only slowed me from realizing that the rights of Palestinians were at risk in a way that is both real and immediate.
Although I am still processing what our delegation heard and saw, I cannot claim ignorance like I did before, not only because I have witnessed effects of the occupation but also because of the Palestinians we met whose courageous nonviolence inspires me to work for justice as well.
Mural on the wall in Bethlehem (Photo credit: Carson Smith)