Bearing the Burdens: Lent 2002

Burden: Systems of power and conquest.
Focus:
The Baqa'a Valley
Burden-bearer: Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions; Palestinian Land Defense Committee.

"Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" - Matthew 4:8-10.

Palestinian farmers in the hilltop village of Al Odisah look anxiously across the Beqa'a Valley to the Israeli settlements of Harsina and Kiryat Arba on the hills opposite. In mid-January a bulldozer -- protected by Israeli military and settler security -- began to plow a road toward the village from the settlement by-pass road below. The road is reportedly a step in the expropriation of 3000 more dunams of Palestinian farmland for the expansion of the settlements and the building of a connected industrial park. The State of Israel - a major recipient of U.S. foreign aid - has continued to promote settlement expansion although it endangers efforts for peace. Civilian settlement of occupied land also violates international law.

Prayer: Dear God, Give us the courage to challenge our governments when they make or support plans for unjust expansion and control. Help us discern how to bear the burdens of your children whose homes and way of life are endangered by such plans. Amen.

Hebron Team Action: Planting trees on the land in the Baqa'a Valley which the Israeli settlers are planning to confiscate.

Burden: Visions of victory through violence and domination
Focus: Israel Defence Forces
Burden-bearers: Conscientious Objectors to the Occupation

"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God'" - John 3:3.

On January 25, 2002, fifty reserve officers of the Israeli Defence Forces published an open letter in Israeli newspapers announcing their refusal to serve in the Occupied Territories. The reservists stated that they would continue to serve assignments in defence of Israel, but that "an assignment of conquest and oppression [in the territories] does not serve this goal, and so we will have no part in it." In the days following, 125 more officers have signed the letter. These CO's to the Occupation are now facing suspensions and demotions.

Prayer: Loving God, We give thanks for those who are willing to risk their own futures to challenge the entrenched structures of violence by refusing to participate in the institutions of domination. May their testimony give birth to a growing awareness of the violence of the occupation. May your transforming love bring people and nations into new life, and lead us from ways of war to ways of peace. Amen.

Hebron Team Action: Mail letters of support and a paper crane to Conscientious Objectors in Israeli prisons.

Burden: The privileging of one people over another
Focus: Hebron neighborhoods.
Burden-bearers: Palestinian residents who resist with their day-to-day lives.

"'How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?'" John 4:9

"Many of the Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days." John 4:39-40

In the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron, a Palestinian family has fled their home because of harassment by Israeli settlers living in nearby caravans (mobile homes). The widowed mother still lives in an upper apartment. Settlers regularly enter the lower apartment having broken open the locked door with a blow-torch. They have toppled furniture, broken dishes, and strewn the family's possessions over the floor. The Israeli police and soldiers, stationed near-by, rarely do anything to stop the Israeli settlers when they attack Palestinian families and property.

Prayer: Dear God, We ask for you to open possibilities for the breaking down of barriers of hatred between peoples. We pray that you will show us how to be instruments of your peace in situations pervaded by hostility. Amen.

Hebron Team Action: Give a "This house belongs to God" plaque to Palestinian families faced with harassment by settlers at Tel Rumeida in Hebron.

Burden: Inability or refusal of the Powers to see.
Focus: Yatta area (south of Hebron)
Burden-bearers: CSD North American partners; we who have seen.

"Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains." - John 9:41.

On July 3 of last year, when the Israeli military destroyed 25 homes in the southern Hebron Hills near Yatta, some 200 Palestinian families were left homeless. These families, who have made their homes in caves that dot the hillsides, eke out a subsistence tending sheep and growing wheat in the valleys. The area is bounded by two settlements and an Israeli military area. CPTers visited the next day to document the damage.

Prayer: Dear God, We thank you that you have given us eyes to see injustice as well as to see good. We pray that you will give us the courage to speak about what we have seen and the courage to take steps that will bring in your kingdom of justice and peace. Amen.

Hebron Team Action: To Be Announced

Burden: Restrictions on movement
Focus: Roadblocks encircling Hebron; Beit Ummar.
Burden-bearers: Palestinian taxi drivers, people who walk.

"The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go'." - John 11:44

Climbing over maksooms - the earth and rock roadblocks erected to close roads -- is an everyday hardship for Palestinians getting from place to place in the Occupied West Bank. Women carry children and other burdens over these barriers in all kinds of weather. Sometimes they walk for miles out of their way because by-pass roads have been closed even to pedestrians. When travelling to outlying areas, CPTers have frequently been in taxis that have taken circuitous routes out of Hebron, ultimately entering the main road over a maksoom. As they manoeuver their vehicles over these obstacles, taxi drivers risk being confronted by soldiers who could throw tear gas canisters, confiscate their keys, or shoot at their vehicles, endangering their livelihoods and their lives.

Prayer: Compassionate God, We pray for those whose lives have become so difficult because of the darkness and bondage of the Occupation. Give them endurance and strength and guide their feet over the rough path. Nurture the light that they carry and help us to know what to do to increase the light. Help us know how to respond to your command to unbind them and let them go. Amen.

Hebron Team Action: Remove roadblocks at the end of some smaller roads which prevent Palestinian families vehicle access to the main roads.

Burden: Leaders who rule through might and vainglory
Focus: Jerusalem.
Burden bearers: Women in Black; Palestinian Christians.

"'Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" - Matthew 21:5.

On December 28 of last year, five-thousand people - mostly Israelis - walked through the streets of Jerusalem, mourning Palestinians and Israelis who had died or been injured in the past 15 months of violence. The gathering was sponsored by Women in Black and other Israeli peace groups, who called for an end to the Israel's Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Those who seek a just peace are listening to the pain of people directly affected by unjust policies, rather than holding to an all-or-nothing rhetoric that favors only one side of the conflict.

Prayer: Dear Lord, When you entered the seat of power riding on a donkey, you showed us that your kingdom does not fit the worldly mould of power and glory. We pray for the discernment to know what following the humble Christ means in today's Jerusalem, Washington, New York, Ottawa, Toronto or other places of power in our home countries. Amen.

Hebron Team Action: Join the Women in Black vigil in Jerusalem against the Occupation, and ask Palestinian friends to join.

Advocacy ideas:

1. Join in a Lenten fast from sun-up until sun-down on Fridays and/or create your parallel action to coincide with the Hebron team's actions which they will also be doing on Fridays throughout Lent.
   
   
2. Join Women in Black's International Women's Day campaign and call for International Solidarity. On March 8, 2002, Women in Black, Israel, is coordinating representative delegations of Jewish and Palestinian Israeli women to meet with all of the foreign diplomatic missions in Israel. They are requesting brief meetings (approximately fifteen minutes) with either the ambassador or someone from the diplomatic staff of each embassy and consulate. In these meetings, they will present their demands for international intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for immediate international protection for Palestinian civilians.

   Women in Black is requesting that their international allies around the world organize in solidarity with them, or close to International Women's Day (the week that Women in Black is the focus of CPT's Lenten material is March 20-27). Here is a list of suggested actions to choose from:

   • Organize delegations to meet with the Israeli diplomatic representatives in your own or nearby cities on March 8 or the closest business day. Present them with Women in Black's declaration (available from batshalo@netvision.net.il). Let them know that you are well informed regarding the situation in Israel/Palestine and that you support the efforts of the growing local and international demands for an end to the Occupation.
   • Arrange delegations to meet with local representatives of your country's government (for example, parliamentary or congressional representatives) on March 8 or the closest business day. Present them with demands to pressure your country's government to support international intervention in the conflict and international protection for the Palestinian people.
   • Organize a demonstration in solidarity with Women in Black's demands for international involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
   
   

   Bat Shalom (Daughters of Peace) and Women in Black request that you keep them informed if you decide to participate in our International Women's Day campaign. Also, if you have any questions about these actions, or suggestions for other related actions, don't hesitate to contact them at batshalo@netvision.net.il. Please write 'MARCH 8' in the subject line.

3. Lighten the Burden on the People of Palestine with the Burden of Your Letters

   Hold an offering of letters in your congregation or group, making the letter-writing part of a worship service or special program. Write public officials in the U.S. and/or Canada (see addresses below). Urge the officials to pressure Israel to end unjust policies in the West Bank and Gaza; and to work to end all aid to Israel while such policies continue. Raise up one or more of the following issues: land confiscation and home demolitions (Baqa'a Valley; Yatta area); roadblocks and closure of West Bank cities; disproportionate military retaliation against Palestinian neighborhoods.

   Bear the burden of your letters to the office of your public officials (or to the Post Office). If you can travel to the office of your member of Congress or Parliament, have a delegation from your congregation or group carry the letters and ask to speak with the congressperson; notify the media of your action and your concern for the burdens of the people of Palestine.

Addresses:

Canada

Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6; Fax (613) 941-6900

The Honourable Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lester B. Pearson Building, 125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Phone (613) 992-5234
Fax (613) 996-3443
e-mail Graham.B@parl.gc.ca

Any MP can be addressed, no postage required: House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 For a fax number, go to http://www.parl.gc.ca/ choose a language, then click on "Senators and Members" (near the top) then "current" (on the left) then choose either an alphabetical or a geographical listing. When you click on their name, you will get a page including their fax number.

Embassy of Israel, 50 O'Connor St., #1005, Ottawa ON K1P 6L2
Fax 613-237-8865

United States of America

President George W. Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C. 20500
Fax (202) 456-2461
e-mail president@whitehouse.gov

Secretary of State Colin Powell, 2201 C St. NW Washington DC 20520
Fax (202) 261-8577
e-mail secretary@state.gov

You have two Senators, you can write to either at: Senator -------, US Senate, Washington, DC 20510

You can write to your Representative at: Representative ----------, US House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 For US Congresspersons fax numbers, see http://congress.org/ enter your zip code and click "Go."

Embassy of Israel, 3414 International Drive NW, Washington DC 20008
Fax 202-364-5423