PfL-led team visits Occupied Palestine (Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Pallestine-Israel)

Peace for Life embarked on an Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel on November 4-13, 2007 in the hope of getting its faith-based network actively involved in the ongoing global campaign to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

The urgency of the worsening crisis in Palestine and the recognition that the problems at the core of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are the very same fundamental issues that Peace for Life is committed to resist—empire, state terrorism, the perversion of religion for power and hegemony—prompted the movement to take on the project of Palestine solidarity as a central and continuing engagement.

The multifaith visiting team in Bethlehem

The ten-day solidarity programme in Palestine, which ended with a conference in Jordan, was to be the first step in this long-term commitment.

The programme was organised in two parts: the seven-day peace mission in Palestine-Israel and the two-day International Conference on Justice for Palestine held in neighbouring Jordan. Yusef Daher of the WCC office in Jerusalem and Nidal Abuzuluf of the Coalition of Christian Groups in Palestine headed the team that organised the local programme, which included meetings with the Sabeel Center for Liberation Theology, Israeli Committee against House Demolition, Christian Peacemakers Team as well as political leaders of both the Hamas and Fateh parties. There was also opportunity for home stay with Palestinian families and visits to the Holy Land as well as exposure trips to the Apartheid Wall, expropriated lands in Beit Jala, and refugee camps.

Panel presentation on “Empire, Middle East and
Israel’s Occupation of Palestine” at the
Amman Conference on Justice for Palestine.

The Palestine programme culminated in a one-day public forum during which both local and international participants deepened their comprehension of the geopolitical context of the Palestinian-Israeli confict. Then the International Conference on Justice for Palestine followed in Amman, Jordan, which addressed the theme, “Breaking the Yoke of Empire and Occupation: People of Faith with Palestine in Struggle”.

PfL’s Palestine initiative, despite the predominance of Christians marked a major step in building PfL as both a profoundly interfaith and international movement for global justice and peace. The entire delegation and the programme itself gained much from the active participation and valuable input of participants from the Muslim, Jewish and other faiths. The interaction of various faith perspectives that took place was critical as the programme sought not only to give an inter-religious testimony to justice and peace in Palestine-Israel but also help deepen and sharpen the methodology of interfaith work based on interfaith solidarity.

Graffiti on a portion of the Apartheid Wall
poses challenge to visitors.

At the end of the Amman conference, the participants issued a powerful statement titled “Pledge of Commitment: People of Faith with Palestine in Struggle”. The five-page conference declaration intoned, “For the US empire, the ‘primary, vital focus’ is the Middle East; Occupied Palestine is at the center of this imperial project and dreams of conquest.” It called for “key focused actions to strengthen a counter-imperial faith in solidarity with Palestine and all those who suffer under empire.”

PLEDGE OF COMMITMENT: People of Faith with Palestine in Struggle - Conference Declaration: Amman Conference on Justice for Palestine
Confronting Empire: People of Faith in Support of Palestine - Media Release: Amman Conference on Justice for Palestine
NARRATIVE REPORT: Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel
“Breaking the Yoke of Empire and Occupation: People of Faith with Palestine in Struggle” - keynote address by Eunice Santana, Amman Conference on Justice for Palestine
“My Visit to Palestine” - personal account and reflections by Irfan Engineer
List of Participants: Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel
Go to PROJECTS: Palestine Solidarity for more information on this initiative; and RESOURCES: Palestine-Israel for more resources on Palestine and related issues.