Sharing the Journey

 

      By today, all of the members of the Holy Land Group have resumed their normal lives. But after such an experience as they have had, their "normal" lives are not likely to ever be the same again.
      It is our hope, over the coming days, to publish here the shared experiences of members of the group, and perhaps to add to the albums of photos from the personal collections of group members. The postings of the trip will remain as a "living history" of that journey.
      Shortly after receiving the final posting from Pastor Said, a post came to my e-mail box from Ann Hafften: A Texas Lutheran's Voice for Middle East Peace. It details reports of the deprivation of even adequate supplies of water that the Palestinian people are undergoing.
      Click here  to go to the blog where you will find this information. On the blog site you can also learn about Ann Hafften, a journalist and church worker in the Middle East and subscribe to her newsletter.
      Thank you for your continued interest in the Holy Land Journal. I hope that it will open your heart to the unique importance of the Holy Land and the increasing need for the peoples that live there to find ways to live together in justice and peace.

Bill Dobias

The Holy Land Group spent time at Augusta Victoria Hospital on their trip. Here is an interesting article about the hospital from an Israeli's perspective

Augusta Victoria Hospital featured in the Jerusalem Post

In a November 13 article titled, "At Augusta Victoria Hospital, medicine transcends politics," Abe Selig of the Jerusalem Post writes, "Every morning, a big Mercedes bus pulls up outside the Augusta Victoria Hospital and its passengers make their way through the old steel gates ... All are Palestinians from theWest Bank, and in many ways their lives depend on this east Jerusalem hospital near Mt. Scopus - either for medical treatments that their local hospitals cannot provide, or for a paycheck." To read the article, click here. 

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Water and settlements: updates from the World Council of Churches 19/11/2009 Israel Should Revoke Decision to Expand Settlement, says WCC Churches and other ecumenical partners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have received an appeal to "mobilize their members and the public" in resistance to Israel's approval for the construction of 900 new housing units in the Gilo settlement on traditionally Palestinian land in East Jerusalem. The WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, called on organizations related to the Council "to act with resolve, in concert," with the intention "to reverse this decision of the Israeli government and the settlement programme it represents."  For the full text of the WCC general secretary's statement, click here . World Council of Churches - Feature   03/12/2009 No Water for the Neighbours By Miranda and Paul (*) Rows of neat suburban houses stand on the parched, barren hillside. A water tower looms over them, irrigating lush greenery in the gardens. But outside this West Bank settlement's perimeter fence sits the tiny Bedouin community of Umm Al Kher, whose residents are desperate for water. Here in the South Hebron Hills, there has been scarce rainfall for many months. Grey rock and dry, rugged earth spread off in every direction. But locals who met observers from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel said the effects of the recent drought are exacerbating a man-made water crisis. The community is not connected to any water supply network and the Israeli army will not issue permits to dig wells. The community is forced to buy tanked water from Mekorot, the Israeli national water company, which charges 5 shekels (around $1.30) per cubic meter. That cost prohibits the shepherds of Umm Al Kher from irrigating crops. Umm Al Kher's only other water supply is a pipe no bigger than a garden hose that trails across from the pump in the settlement. To read the rest of this story, click here