I remember it as clearly now as I experienced it then.
There were seven of us in the class and we were instructed to close our eyes, listen to the story and allow our imagination to lead us to respond to the character that called to us. Our leader prefaced the story from John 5: 1-6, by telling the legend of the angel from heaven who would descend and agitate the waters of the Pool of Bethsaida. Only the first leper, blind, or invalid who made it into the water would receive a healing. One day while Jesus was there, he walked by a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” The man answered he had no friends to help him get into the water first. Jesus asked him again,
“Do you want to be healed?”
Our leader then went silent, and in my imagination I was immediately upon the back of that agitating angel. I hadn’t thought of that experience until four years later when I found myself at the site of the Pool of Bethsaida. What triggered the memory of that guided meditation was the recollection of a dream I had had a few weeks after that day we call 9/11. In my dream I had stood at the edge of a dried up pool where crumbling stone columns were overgrown with vines and weeds and scores of doves and pigeons nested and flew. To my right was a large shade tree, but to my left I saw a few square squat dwellings with large satellite dishes attached to them. I remembered thinking the moment I woke up from that dream what a strange place it was, but then I quickly forgot all about it. That is, until the afternoon of June 12, 2005, four years later, when I found myself standing at the edge of a dried up pool where crumbling stone columns were overgrown with vines and weeds and scores of doves and pigeons nested and flew. To my right was a large shade tree, but to my left I saw a few square squat dwellings with large satellite dishes attached to them. What a strange place I thought, how could it be that I had seen this scene in a dream a few weeks after that day we call 9/11?
On the afternoon of my very first day in Jerusalem, I told Mother Agapia about my dream and what I had seen at the Pool of Bethsaida. She shrugged and smiled, then told me about the Jerusalem Interfaith Peace Conference with satellite link to the world that was happening the Sunday after the Thursday I was scheduled to return to the USA. I knew immediately that I needed to attend and after saying goodbye to Mother Agapia, I phoned my husband to get his OK.
On June 26, 2006, I attended the world wide satellite linked Interfaith Peace Conference at Jerusalem’s Notre Dame Cathedral. Dan Rather moderated from Washington DC and the Holy Land interfaith panel were all moderates attempting to reclaim the battlefield of ideas from extremists on both sides.
Reverend Theodore Hessburgh, President Emeritus University of Notre Dame began the evening with a pledge and a summons:
“The Peace of the world begins in Jerusalem.”
Dr. Tsvia Walden, Board of Director of the Peres Center and Geneva Initiative stated, “There is a need for a third party in the negotiations that could enable both sides to trust each other. There are more people in this region interested in making concessions, they all want peace so desperately.”
The Coordinator of World Bank emergency services to the PA, Rania Kharma informed the world, “We all need to be the bridges to our leaders that justice, equality, and human rights will bring peace. Give people justice and they will reward you with peace.”
Sheik Imad Falouiji warned, “Religions must go back to their origins. God commands us to love each other and live together. This Holy Land was given to all people. This land is on fire. There is an occupation that must be removed. The language of peace cannot succeed without justice for all.”
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Riah Abu Assal affirmed, “Peace is an act. Blessed are the peacemakers not the peace talkers. Peace is possible in the Holy Land. The root cause for the lack of peace since 1967 is the occupation. For peace to make progress in the Middle East we need to deal with the root cause...Religion was not meant to bring death. All those involved in searching for peace should commit themselves to work for justice and truth.”
Throughout the entire evening, I kept remembering what President Bush promised in his Second Inaugural Address:
“In the long run, there is no justice without FREEDOM.There can be no human rights without LIBERTY. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for liberty, we stand with you.”
Producer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" and an e-book; "So, That was 54..."
She has been to Israel Palestine five times since June 2005 and will return November 2008.
Why is it when I visited Jerusalem recently the Christians including the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church was much more fearful about the Muslims than the Jews whom he felt were protecting him? Jerusalem's Jews protect themselves by the separation barrier. Do you want them murdered by suicide bombers?
by
philip rosen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 95 comments)
on Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 2:01:39 PM
The Christian Exodus of the Holy Land has reduced their numbers from 20% of the total population to less than 1.3% since Israel became a state in 1948.
The reasons are primarily the forty years of occupation, the oppression, The Wall, the lack of economic opportunity, the daily humiliations at checkpoints, the hassle of obtaining permits to be able to move about, ineffective and corrupt governments, the rise of fundamentalism in all three branches of Father Abraham’s offsprings and the violence and destruction that surrounds.
shhraga asked:
Why is it when I visited Jerusalem recently the Christians including the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church was much more fearful about the Muslims than the Jews whom he felt were protecting him?
I RESPOND: WHAT ORTHODOX CHURCH did you visist? TELL ME and I will go and visit too and find out how that erroneous thought entered you!
schraga wrote:
Jerusalem's Jews protect themselves by the separation barrier. Do you want them murdered by suicide bombers?
I respond THE WALL DOES NOT divide Jews and Palestinians, but grabs their land, resources, separates them from their families and friends andholy sites.
LEARN THE TRUTH:
The Following was received October 24, 2005 from Bethlehem
Dear World:
We are writing you from the city of Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ was born. The city of diversity where Christians and Muslims live side-by-side and peoples of all faiths and cultures are welcomed. Bethlehem is now facing unprecedented danger.
As citizens of this Holy city, we welcome you to witness the new and sad facts. The city is completely encircled by the wall and the bypass roads. We would like to provide you with some facts about the reality of the city.
• Israel claims that it built the wall to ensure security for its citizens.
• The claim for security is nullified by the fact that the wall is NOT being built on the internationally recognized 1949 Green Line boundary between Israel and the West Bank. The wall is on Palestinian land that according to international law must be returned to Palestinians.
• The direct effect of the wall is that 10% of the West Bank will be confiscated and Palestinians will be isolated from each other and from the world in prison-like zones.
• The current wall is at least 360 km long (3 times as long and twice as high as the Berlin Wall); once completed it will reach over 700 km, completely encircling and dividing the West Bank.
• 295,000 to 400,000 Palestinians will be isolated from the West Bank because their homes will fall between the Wall and the Green Line.
• Rural populations will be walled off from primary urban centers where essential services are available, such as hospitals, schools, markets and places of worship.
• The wall has two forms: cement and/or a fenced road. The cement wall ranges between 6-9 meters in height. The fenced roads range from 40-100 meters wide. Sniper towers, trenches, trace roads, patrol roads, gates, footprint detection fields, sensors, and cameras support both forms.
• A system of "special permits" for Palestinians will be set up by Israel to allow for passage through the check points at the wall. Israel will have total control on the movement of the inhabitants and will seek their total “obedience” in order to get permits.
• Seven villages (approximately 19,000 Palestinians) lie between the Green Line and Bethlehem will be completely isolated. These villages are the main vegetables and meat providers to the Bethlehem governorate.
• The United Nations is already feeding over 1,100 families in the Bethlehem area through direct food aid. This number is likely to increase if subsistence farming declines due to restricted access to farmlands.
• The route of the wall will insure that all settlements’ clusters fall on the Israeli side together with most of the Palestinian agriculture land and underground water.
• About twelve to fifteen Palestinian residential buildings at the entrance of Bethlehem are under threat of evacuation or demolition, in addition to the Armenian Church property and an Islamic cemetery.
• After the completion of the wall, we expect percentage of migration to get higher to endanger the historical existence of the Christian community in Bethlehem. As of this publication, more than 200 Palestinian Christian families have migrated to other countries.
From Leila Sansour, Chief Executive, Open Bethlehem
On the fourth anniversary of the bombing of the ancient Palestinian-Christian Shrine to Saint Barbara by the Israeli army, aides to US Congressman Michael McCaul prepared a resolution purporting to act on behalf of Palestine's Christian community. The resolution before Congress blames the crisis threatening the erasure of the oldest Christian community in the world on the Palestinian Authority.
The resolution was drafted without consulting any Palestinian body, whether spiritual or civic. Yet they reflect a deeply entrenched view in the US that Christians and Muslims cannot share the same space.
Whether through naivety or premeditation such claims feed the myth that Israel's brutal military occupation is no more than a sectarian conflict.
At Open Bethlehem we will do everything in our power to address such misconceptions. It is important to remember that these misconceptions are not the result of a worldwide conspiracy. They are the fruit of interested parties, pursuing their own agendas and seizing the opportunities that democracies offer. With openness and transparency on our side, we can more than match the success of the pro-Israeli lobby - and we will. We invite all our friends to join us.
Open Bethlehem has joined the calls from the heads of the Churches in Palestine, civil society organisations and laity bodies in urging Congress to dismiss a resolution presented by Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas) which misleads members of the house on the real threat to the Christian community in Palestine. The resolution relies wholly on information supplied by Israel's Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, a think-tank dedicated to the promotion of Israeli concerns.
Leila Sansour, July 2006 Chief Executive, Open Bethlehem
"In the long run, there is no justice without FREEDOM. There can be no human rights without LIBERTY. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for liberty, we stand with you."-President George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address
Please send a Fax and make a phone call and let President Bush know how you feel:
WHITE HOUSE COMMENTS LINE: 202-456-1111 WHITE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 202-456-1414 WHITE HOUSE FAX: 202-456-2461
by
Eileen Fleming (149 articles, 53 quicklinks, 267 diaries, 584 comments)
on Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 4:21:04 PM
"For peace to make progress in the Middle East we need to deal with the root cause...Religion was not meant to bring death. All those involved in searching for peace should commit themselves to work for justice and truth,” was rightly said in the essay.
However, who's willing to admit they've been lied to, and stolen from, for centuries? If you simply understand that Abraham lied to get more land, more gold and more silver, then all the lies, theft and murder since those times would be understood. The faithful are manipulated for the gains of a few, who lack empathy and conscience, thus willingly direct men to lie, steal and murder.
There's certainly a higher power, but Abraham was NOT singled out. He was already in the religious business and knew how to manipulate others. Many, including Jesus, saw through his madness and pointed it out, paying for it with his life. Paul understood Abraham and corrupted Jesus's teachings to redirect the land, gold and silver his way. Islam's no better or worse, just more lies for the same reason. That's why the Pope recently came forward and said THEY were the true Church. Yeah, right. But only if the gold flows towards Rome once again. Doesn't it make sense? Give me your gold and silver, and I'll speak to God on your behalf. I'm not an atheist. I simply use the direct line, which everyone already has.
by
Edward Ulysses Cate (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 221 comments)
on Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 6:00:58 PM
This is a just a pleasant way to describe what it really is- A WALL. No peace has ever been achieved by building walls. The real work that has to be done is to tear down the walls between the people living in Israel and the West Bank. There has to be understanding and justice. Currently the situation has only worsened because there is no justice for the Palestinians who are oppressed and remain under occupation. The Wall does not make anyone safer- it just furthers the division, the separation, the suffering and does not move anyone towards peace. It also does NOT follow the boundary of Israel and the West Bank and effectively annexes more land into Israel's side of the wall. It causes great suffering for many people. If you want to really know about the wall, do some research. There are many great websites and sources for this information. The facts on the ground, are the facts-no one can deny this. Look at the maps and the history and you will see the truth. Then explain how this wall is just a "separation barrier" to keep people from being killed by suicide bombs-this is what we are told, perhaps it sounds like a good rationale to people, but it is not the truth. And while you are at it, find out about the illegal settlements and the over 500 checkpoints inside the West Bank too. Figure out how to explain that all as well.
by
Dana (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 10 comments)
on Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 12:31:43 AM
This is a just a pleasant way to describe what it really is- A WALL. No peace has ever been achieved by building walls. The real work that has to be done is to tear down the walls between the people living in Israel and the West Bank. There has to be understanding and justice. Currently the situation has only worsened because there is no justice for the Palestinians who are oppressed and remain under occupation. The Wall does not make anyone safer- it just furthers the division, the separation, the suffering and does not move anyone towards peace. It also does NOT follow the boundary of Israel and the West Bank and effectively annexes more land into Israel's side of the wall. It causes great suffering for many people. If you want to really know about the wall, do some research. There are many great websites and sources for this information. The facts on the ground, are the facts-no one can deny this. Look at the maps and the history and you will see the truth. Then explain how this wall is just a "separation barrier" to keep people from being killed by suicide bombs-this is what we are told, perhaps it sounds like a good rationale to people, but it is not the truth. And while you are at it, find out about the illegal settlements and the over 500 checkpoints inside the West Bank too. Figure out how to explain that all as well.
by
Dana (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 10 comments)
on Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 12:34:54 AM
Quoting Bush May be Hazardous To Everyone's Health
Eileen, my sister, quoting George the Weasel may be hazardous to everyone's health. Do you really think he meant what he said, or was he just spouting words without any sincerity whatsoever? I believe the latter is true, He has undone all of the good will on both sides built up by Bill Clinton. He has absolutely no credibility in the region. and neither does Tony Blair.
I asmit to being on one of my insomniac kicks as it is nearly two in the morning. However, whenever someone quotes that imbecile in the White House I can't let it go by.
Hope everything is going well. Got your V message. Oh well! God bless.
by
Kenneth Barr (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 81 comments)
on Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 12:52:14 AM
Everytime I come to Israel Palestine, it gets me in the gut; the oppression, the occupation and by virtue of my tax dollars and the over 100 BILLION USA tax dollars since 1948-not counting unpaid loans and bargain basement priced weapons of destruction; i and every USA citizen is culpable.
Our 'leaders' have failed we the people and yes of course i know George W didn't give a thought about Palestine when he read his speech writers words, BUT i do believe in doing all we can to hold our leaders accountable to their promises lets them know you cannot fool all the people any of the time!
And The Wall is an APARTHEID WALL and the International Court of Justice deemed it ILLEGAL and must come down, and we USA citizens provide 1.5 MILLION Tax dollars PER MILE!
I triesd to post two links to videos every American should see but the system will not accept them, they are accessible under BEST LINKS @
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