World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel

Photo: MECC Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees

Ann Farr, Pax Christi International, Working Group for Justice in Palestine and Israel writes:

The World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel takes place from 16th-22nd September 2024.

"Whatever you did…, you did for me." Matthew 25:40
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Matthew 25:35-40 New International Version (NIV)

We are invited to join together in the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel and are encouraged to learn, to pray and to take action for justice.

This year the focus is on Gaza.

On Wednesday 18th September Pax Christi members and friends were joined online by Fr Gabriel, Parish Priest of Holy Family Parish, Gaza and Usama Nicola from Wi'am Conflict Transformation Centre in Bethlehem. A recording of the prayers and discussion should be available online soon.

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the level of human loss and destruction has been unprecedented in the Holy Land. The statistics issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are devastating. Most hospitals are out of service with severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies. All the schools have been destroyed, leaving 625,000 school-age children without any education or schooling, and all the universities have been reduced to rubble. People are constantly displaced, with fewer and fewer belongings, to so-called 'safe zones' that are then bombed, with huge loss of life, countless severe injuries resulting in amputations and life-long disabilities. It is impossible to imagine the levels of trauma suffered, especially by those whose lives have been dominated by the innumerable Israeli attacks on Gaza over the years

The deliberate denial of aid, water, food, medical supplies, fuel and sanitary provision, have led to starvation, severe dehydration, illness, skin diseases and unimaginable living conditions.

The first of the themes that the WCC has for the seven days is the human loss since October 7th 2023.

'Israel's total casualty count is 1,410 killed. Of these, 1,139 were killed in the 7 October 2023 attacks, and at least 1,271 have been wounded, according to UNOCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

As published by UNOCHA, at least 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in 10 months, including at least 10,627 children of whom 663 were under one year of age, the Gaza Ministry of Health reports.

According to the Palestinian Civil Defence organisation, from 7 October until the end of April 2024, there were over 78,000 injured in Gaza, and each day the war claims more civilian victims. The International Labor Organization estimates that, so far, 25 per cent of the people killed in Gaza have been men of working age. In addition, Israel does not declare the number of Palestinians it arrests in detention camps under subhuman conditions and torture, with no legal rights, trial, or due process.'

We know that October 7th was not the start of all this and it has to be seen in the context of the long-term Israeli occupation of Palestine and the siege of Gaza with their continual violations of international law and denial of Palestinian Human Rights.

Seeing the figures and the horrific photographs, hearing the heart breaking stories and experiencing the silence and inaction of most political leaders can make us feel both angry and helpless. But all of Palestinians and Israelis who are suffering loss and all those speaking out and working for justice need us to be alongside them, to accompany them. They need to see and hear us listening, praying and taking action, denouncing all violence, the genocide, the endless injustices and the apartheid system that has been in place for so long. We need to protest against the UK arms sales to Israel that are fuelling the war on Palestine and against the refusal of our governments to call Israel to account. We need to call for the implementation of the ICJ rulings.

Many of us have learnt, from our Palestinian friends, the concept of 'SUMUD' meaning steadfastness, resilience and perseverance. Some may know this as, 'To exist is to Resist', often seen on the Israeli separation barrier that imprisons Palestinians in the West Bank. In Palestine the image of SUMUD is the olive tree, deeply rooted, long-lived and bearing new life of blossom and fruit. Olive trees can live for thousands of years as many pilgrims will have seen in the Garden of Gethsemane and if damaged can regenerate themselves.

SUMUD for Palestinians is the everyday, nonviolent resistance against an unjust occupation. It means being rooted in the land and having a determination to stay despite the political, economic, physical and psychological injustices that are committed against them.

We too need to develop the essence of SUMUD. Working together, encouraging each other, accompanying each other and those suffering injustices. We pray for that faithful steadfastness, resistance and persistence and that our commitment to the Peace of Christ will produce the fruits of nonviolent peacemaking.

We are asked to do whatever we can in our homes, churches, communities, schools and workplaces to pray, learn and take action for peace in Palestine and Israel, not just during this week but until justice, equality and freedom for all in the Holy Land comes to fruition. Please let us know what you are planning to do, no matter how small you think it is. Take photos and send Pax Christi a short report of what you did and we will send these to Palestine.

Pax Christi has two Prayer Cards that can be used at any time to pray for peace in the Holy Land. Both have prayers written for us by Jan Sutch Pickard of the Iona Community 'No Place to lay my Head' has action ideas and the prayer, 'Among the Rubble'. The SUMUD card, has the prayer, 'Steadfast God'. This has a beautiful image of the Palestinian olive tree entwined with a Welsh Oak tree with the word 'peace' in Welsh, English, Arabic and Hebrew. The illustration was the inspiration of Tanya Rotherfield from the West Wales Friends of Palestine and symbolises equality, interdependency and life.
Available from: https://paxchristi.org.uk/product-category/palestineandisrael/

As the WCC says: "As Christians, we are called to embody the principles of justice, peace, and security in all aspects of our economic, social, and political life. Our faith obliges us to respond to the cries of hardship and work towards lasting peace and justice. The current crisis reminds us of our responsibility to advocate for those in distress and to use our collective voice to call for an end to violence and the establishment of lasting peace.

Even in times of darkness and despair, our faith calls us to hold on to hope, even as we see the injustices in the Holy Land today, and to provide accompaniment and renew efforts for a just peace for all people."

FURTHER LINKS

Please join Pax Christi in prayer online on Wednesday 18th September at 7pm. Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArdumsqDItHtPqf4sUvfMcSvBOfi8lbGFD#/registration

WCC: www.oikoumene.org/events/world-week-for-peace-in-palestine-and-israel

WCC Daily Themes: www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/seven-days-seven-themes-for-the-world-week-for-peace-in-palestine-and-israel-2024

WCC Concept Note: www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/concept-note-world-week-for-peace-in-palestine-and-israel-2024

UN OCHA OPT: www.ochaopt.org/

Pax Christi: https://paxchristi.org.uk/campaigns/israel-and-palestine/world-week-for-peace-in-pi /