1. ‘Unholy happenings in the Holy Land.’
The plight of the world’s oldest Christian community…
1948 : 10 – 20 %
[ State of Israel created ]
Today : 1.2 %

2. Under British Mandate from 1920’s,
Palestine’s
recent story:
From
Allies defeat
Ottoman Empire in
1917 [World War 1];
Under British Mandate from 1920’s,
Palestine progresses towards self-govt., until……

3. World War 2 & the HOLOCAUST…
1948 – U.N. General Assembly’s Resolution 181…
Recommends : partition of Palestine & creation of the State of Israel.
For Palestinians : ‘Al Nakba’ – The Disaster
‘We are sympathetic to the suffering of our Jewish brothers & sisters in the Holocaust. But -you don’t deal with one injustice by creating another injustice.’
Rev. Alex Awad, Bethlehem 2013.
U.n. resolution 194 :
‘Return or compensation for displaced Palestinians’ !!

4. Palestinian land lost since State of Israel created [Al Nakba]….

5. 1948: thousands killed; ¾ m. displaced.
Dheish’eh refugee camp set up, Bethlehem –
‘ 2-3 weeks of displacement’ ???

6. Today -15,000 ppl in the camp - 3rd generation
Youth leader born in the camp. [NB. names of destroyed Palestinian villages]

7. Heads of Christian Churches, Jerusalem, 2001 : ‘Come, see, tell.’
In 2002,
sets up

8. Palestine’s West Bank : E. A
Palestine’s West Bank : E.A. Placements Training : ‘Forget logic as you know it.’ Green / Armistice line kms; cf. Separation Wall [2002] kms. 60% of West Bank under Israeli military & civilian control.

9. EAPPI.’s Mission : Accompany - Advocate
Lutheran Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan :
“EAPPI continues to be a nonviolent and peaceful way to create a human chain promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in the Holy Land." ~

10. EAPPI. Group 56, mid-Mar. – mid-June, 2015.

11. West Bank- INJUSTICES from 50 yrs of Military Occupation…
Separation Wall / fence
IDs, permits [ ]
Restricted access – to employment, health care, education, worship, farm land, basic utilities
Demolitions – homes, businesses
Land lost to illegal Israeli settlements; military zones…
Evictions
= ‘ COLD violence ’ [ Teju Cole in ‘The Guardian’ ]:
every aspect of daily life is uncertain.

12. * SEPARATION WALL surrounds Jerusalem - 85% built on Palestinian land
What tourists are told about the Wall…

13. Women have given birth in this shed, kept waiting
* Check Point duty – Qalandia: frustrated West Bank residents 4.30 a.m.
Women have given birth in
this shed, kept waiting
@ the ‘Humanitarian’ gate.
‘This is our hell…’

14. Working for peace - ‘Machsom [Check Point ] Watch:’ Hana Barag asks:
‘What is the Occupation doing to Israel’s soul??’

15. Beautiful Old City of Jerusalem…
2 peoples, 3 faiths…

16. Israeli mili Israeli military controls Palestinians’ access
to work & worship
in the Old City.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Al Aqsa mosque compound
Wailing Wall

17. Al Aqsa Mosque,
& Dome of
the Rock,
focus of
Muslim worship.

18. Al Aqsa Mosque compound – for worship, study, recreation.

19. July 2017….

20. Friday prayers in Jerusalem streets, in protest…

21. Military disperses worshippers & journalists
The next day : Nidal Aboud
prays with
his friends…

22. Palestinian Christians celebrate Palm Sunday, marching outside Jerusalem’s Old City
[Mt of Olives]
with Christian visitors to the Holy Land; but…

23. Orthodox Good Friday, inside the Old City -.
Orthodox Good Friday, inside the Old City -
Entry permits restricted; soldiers & barricades along the Via Dolorosa.
Holy Sepulchre church
Most Palestinian Christians have given up worshipping in Jerusalem.

24. Jewish worshippers @ the Western [ Wailing ] Wall.

25. What tourists are not shown…
* Constant
demolitions eg. East Jerusalem
Mayor Bassam, West Bank : [ re children throwing stones]
‘You’ve occupied my land, you’ve taken my freedom, you’ve taken my home.
What do you expect me to throw – candy?’

26. Widowed mother’s story…
Silwan [Palestinian]– east of Old City:*excavations for ‘City of David’ tourist park….
Widowed mother’s story…

27. …built around a Palestinian home; other homes undermined.
Tal, Israeli tour guide:
‘It feels as if we’re living in a parallel universe.’
…built around a Palestinian home; other homes undermined.
Tal, tour guide: ‘It feels as if we’re living in a parallel universe.’

28. ‘Rabbis for Human Rights’ support Palestinians.
Rabbi Yehiel
Grenimann
Rabbi Arik Ascherman :
‘I pray that we will continue
to uncompromisingly fight
all that is wrong & unjust in Israel; while still being able to see
all that is good in our country & our people.’

29. ‘Kairos Palestine’ statement from Christians, 2009:
‘The Word of God is a source
of LIFE, not death. It cannot be
the source of our destruction.’
Palestinian Christians ask for
‘The right to self-determination
in our own country….
The Occupation is a sin against
God & against humanity.’

30. ‘Mary weeps over Bethlehem.’
The priority: Living stones
or ancient stones??

31. What can we do. be informed, inform others. Boycott, Divest & Sanction
What can we do? * be informed, inform others * Boycott, Divest & Sanction * Pray for the peace of jerusalem