So Many Voices, So Much Pain, How Long, O Lord, How Long?
To the Editor:
It was my privilege to be part of a pilgrimage to the Holy land
(Israel/Palestine) with a group of 29 Episcopalians, organized from the
Diocese of Massachusetts. It was a very special and intense trip in which we
listened with great interest to the many voices of people living and working
and struggling and worshipping there. I came away with a strong need to
share with others some of what I learned. There is so much pain, there is so
much violence and there is so much desire for peace. People on all sides —
Christian, Jew and Muslim — want peace. And everyone we visited and listened
to said that the United States and/or the UN had to intervene in order for
peace to be achieved. The distrust and the fear on all sides is too deep for
the situations to be solved within the "unholy" Holy land.
It is important for me to report that the situation is not equal between the
Jewish State and the Palestinian people. While we were there a suicide bomb
in a bus in Jerusalem killed more innocent people. We/I condemn this sort of
violence and do not believe that it will advance the cause of justice for
the Palestinian people. But the continued building of settlements on land
that belonged to the Palestinians and the wanton demolition of homes of
Palestinian people that have nothing to do with Hamas or suicide bombers and
the building of a Wall, larger than anything dreamed of in Germany during
the Cold War, to further isolate the Palestinian people from each other and
from their means of livelihood and education and health are forms of
terrorism as well. Again and again we were asked by people suffering under
these actions of the Jewish state to please bring these actions to the
attention of our President and Congresspeople. In order for justice to be
accomplished and peace to prevail, the plight of all peoples must be
understood and taken into account. There is no anti-semitism here; only the
honest desire for the justice the Old Testament prophets proclaimed.
It was agreed by many that these unfortunate policies of the Israeli
government were actually hurting the Jewish people as well. So anything we
can do to beg our government officials to see the situation in its entirety
will aid in the cause of peace and eventual reconciliation.
We walked in many places where Our Lord Christ lived and walked. Some of the
sites have so much subsequent history built up around them it is hard to
feel the presence of Jesus of Nazareth in them. However, by the side of the
Sea of Galilee, with wind blowing the reeds and the water rippling I could
almost see Jesus in a boat telling the listeners (us) on the shore: "blessed
are the peacemakers." And I could easily imagine a storm coming up in which
everyone in the boat was frightened, so that Jesus, asleep in the back, had
to be awakened to urge them/us: "Peace, be still!"
While the extremists on both sides rage at each other, there are many many
organizations working to bring people together as human beings with hearts
that yearn to be open and supportive of each other. We heard an Arab sister
and a Jewish father tell us of "the Parent's Circle" where they meet
together to support each other, because they have lost siblings or children
in the violence. We met with leaders of many NGO's working in a variety of
ways with open hearts to provide security to each and every Israeli Jew,
Muslim and Christian. It is heartwarming and reassuring that they continue
to work with patience and humor for justice and peace in ordinary and
extraordinary ways in the midst of hatred and violence. A Christian pastor
recently led 300 Israeli Jews and Arabs on a trip to Auschwitz, so that some
of the fear and hatred held by each for the other could be opened to greater
peace and understanding. Over the last ten years each summer the "Seeds of
Peace" camp has brought Jewish, Arab and Christian young people to the
States. Some of them told us how much it meant to make friends and to get to
know each other better. It is now hard for them because the Palestinian
young people cannot travel out of their areas and the Jewish young people
cannot travel into the Palestinian areas without great difficulty. Sometimes
they have to wait for hours at a checkpoint to travel a short distance. This
is often at the whim of the very young Israeli soldiers. It is
self-defeating and heartbreaking and humiliating. But the young people
believe in a future together. When nothing else works for them they talk to
each other on the phone.
Everywhere we went we asked what we could do to help when we were back home?
The following Email came from one Palestinian Christian group less than a
week after we returned:
"During our meeting we discussed the issue of what you can do to help
support us. One of the most important things you can do is to tell people
what you have seen. We should like you to carry back the message of
Palestinians — a message of peace and justice to the entire region. We need
you to write to your governments demanding that they exert more pressure on
Israel to lift the siege imposed over the last two and a half years, to
allow us to work and earn money with dignity, to demand the removal of the
hundreds of check points that prevent us from moving from one Palestinian
area to another, to allow us to live in true freedom with justice."
If you wish to learn more there is a fine new book of essays by people on
the ground there representing all groups entitled, "How Long O Lord." It is
edited by Robert and Maurine Tobin who arranged and led our pilgrimage. The
book is available from Cowley Publications 800-225-1534.
Marjean Bailey
Kennebunkport, Maine
Back to Peace Talk Index,
Fall, 2003