On the front lines.Witnessing to Peace In Jerusalem and the World Munib Younan Munib Younan (born September 18, 1950 in Jerusalem) is the Evangelical Lutheran Church Bishop of Palestine and Jordan since 1998. He is married since 1980 to Suad Yacoub from Haifa, originally from Kfar Bir"im, (one of the depopulated villages of 1948.) They have three children. Fortress Press, $16, 169 pp. Bethlehem Besieged be·siege tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in. 3. Stories of Hope in Times of Trouble Mitri Raheb Fortress Press, $17, 157 pp. Can peace break out in the Holy Land? "The first thing to do is to stop the killing," as former Senator George Mitchell George Mitchell may refer to:
Neither Munib Younan nor Mitri Raheb addresses the details of the current peace prospects in the post-Arafat world. But for anyone who hopes for an end to the region's tragic violence, Witnessing to Peace and Bethlehem Besieged are not to be missed. Younan is the Lutheran bishop of Jerusalem. His book starts with a bang: the eruption of the Second Intifada  This page is protected from moves until disputes have been resolved on the .The reason for its protection is listed on the protection policy page. in September 2000. As gunfire interrupts the annual board meeting of the Victoria Augusta Hospital atop the Mount of Olives Mount of Olives: see Olives, Mount of. , the bishop looks out to see Israeli soldiers atop the hospital's perimeter wall perimeter wall n → mur m d'enceinte perimeter wall n → muro di cinta . "How dare they turn this place of healing into a place of murder and mayhem? How dare they violate the sanctity and trust of a church-owned hospital?" Younan writes, recounting his immediate response. Yet his flash of anger yields to words associated with the site itself: "You will be my witnesses beginning in Jerusalem ... and to the ends of the earth To the Ends of the Earth is a trilogy of novels by William Golding, consisting of Rites of Passage (1980), Close Quarters (1987), and Fire Down Below (1989). " (Acts 1:18). In this passage, Younan hears an injunction to be a witness to peace, nonviolence, even love for enemies. In keeping with Luther's famous insistence that the gospel is for all, he challenges his readers to accept this calling as their obligation, too. In Palestine today the biblical term for witnessing--"martyr"--is ambivalent. It can mean one who dies needlessly in the conflict (a little child killed by a soldier), or it can describe suicide bombers who target innocent civilians in restaurants and on buses. Younan repudiates suicide bombing Noun 1. suicide bombing - a terrorist bombing carried out by someone who does not hope to survive it bombing - the use of bombs for sabotage; a tactic frequently used by terrorists suicide bombing n → , reminding us that suicide bombers often kill Israelis and Palestinians at the same moment: Younan's cousin George was killed in a bus on his way to work. The bishop grieves the death of all of these victims, Israelis and Palestinians alike. A real martyr is not one who kills himself and others, but is a living witness to justice as the precondition for authentic peace, which Younan does not equate with passivity: "A witness does not shrink from Verb 1. shrink from - avoid (one's assigned duties); "The derelict soldier shirked his duties" fiddle, shirk, goldbrick avoid - refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's confronting evil directly, and in so doing, one lays oneself open to risk and suffering." Younan knows that enacting a just political settlement is the only way to achieve a stable peace--it won't result from a handshake between leaders or the signing of accords. Reconciliation cannot wait for the ratification of a comprehensive peace treaty. It must be embraced as a long and often painful process. Only then can the "walls of animosity and divisiveness still being erected between our two peoples" be dismantled. Mitri Raheb is the Lutheran pastor of the Christmas Church Christmas Church may refer to:
Raheb is a pastor, not a lawyer. His view of walls is far more radical than court decrees. In a Christmas homily homily (hŏm`əlē), type of oral religious instruction delivered to a church congregation. In the patristic period through the Middle Ages the focus of the homily was on the explanation and application of texts read or sung during the reprinted in his book, he urges his congregation to commit to "breaking down all walls of hatred and hostilities, be they concrete walls or ideological, racial, political, social, and economic ones." Viewing Paul's conversion experience as a moment of insight into division in general, Raheb interprets Ephesians 2:14 ("[Christ] is our peace, he who broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh") to mean that the death of Jesus destroyed the wall of hostility between the divine and the human, and that the physical barrier between Jews and Gentiles in the Jerusalem Temple was not needed to preserve his people's identity or security. Raheb concludes: "We wish ... for the transforming power of the Incarnation to strengthen all of us in our commitment to breaking down walls, making peace, and building bridges." Raheb does not suppress or deny the pain of Israeli and Palestinian experience, scarred by the bitter realties of fear, war, and decades of conflict. Instead, he insists that especially in these dark circumstances the church must remain hopeful: "Hope and vision are powerful if they are owned and lived by the oppressed op·press tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny. 2. . Hope is rewarding because it offers a real alternative." Both Israelis and Palestinians need a different vision of their future in order to rethink the painful histories in which both sides have become trapped. For Raheb, the moment of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians is connected to "the art of seeing things Seeing Things may refer to:
Focusing on adults, Raheb invites his parishioners to recover pieces of glass from the rubble of their church and homes and weld them into ornaments, transforming their pain into something joyous. Shattered glass takes the form of Bethlehem angels, and now hang on Christmas trees around the world. Raheb urges Palestinians to plant olive trees, without which "there will be nothing tomorrow" and with which "there will be shade for the children to play in ... oil to heal the wounds, and ... olive branches olive branches humorous appellation for children. [O.T.: Psalms 128:3] See : Children to wave when peace arrives." It is a blessing that these authors are not politicians, but Lutheran clergymen. They speak more truthfully than most politicians can about the Palestinian experience. They speak much more compellingly about the connections between peace, justice, and forgiveness that are essential to the resolution of the longest raging conflict in the modern world. Edward McGlynn Gaffney Jr. teaches international law and the use of force at Valparaiso University, and is producing a documentary film on peacemakers This article is about the pacifist organization. For other meanings, see Peacemaker (disambiguation). Peacemakers was an American pacifist organization. in Israel and Palestine. |
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