PROJECTS
Workspace and repository of materials for PfL’s special projects
Workspace and repository of materials for PfL’s special projects
INTERFAITH PEACE PILGRIMAGE TO PALESTINE
PROJECTS • PALESTINE SOLIDARITY
“People of Faith with Palestine in Struggle”
PfL’s Palestine solidarity initiative is an evolving project that began with the Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel which took place in November 2007. It drew the participation of around 40 people of various faiths representing the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. The Palestine visit was immediately followed by an international conference in neighbouring Amman, Jordan where the PLEDGE OF COMMITMENT to Palestine solidarity was made. The document, which serves as basis on which this project will be carried forward, defines PfL’s analysis of and standpoint on the Palestine question and outlines key strategies and action points for interfaith solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
The PfL Mideast Subgroup, which organised and led the Pilgrimage, oversees the development and implementation of this project. The group is composed of Farid Esack (South Africa/PfL Co-moderator), Christopher Ferguson (Canada), Gabriel Habib (Lebanon), Eilert Rostrup (Norway), Lilia Solano (Colombia), David Wildman (USA), and Vivian de Lima (Philippines/PfL Secretariat). Carmencita Karagdag (PfL Coordinator) sits in the committee ex officio.
This segment of the PfL website monitors developments related to this project, which includes maintaining a directory of relevant materials such as reports, articles, statements, invitations, reflection pieces, audio-visual materials, as well as links for recommended reading. Members and partners of the PfL network undertaking Palestine advocacy and solidarity are invited to use this space as a means of linking up and promoting common initiatives in support of the Palestinian struggle for justice and liberation.
Project reports and updates
- Filipinos remember 60th year of the Palestine Nakbah – 26 June 2008, Philippines
- Activities lined up to commemorate al-Nakba (Announcement) – 8 May 2008
- Mideast subgroup plans next steps for Palestine solidarity – 14-16 March 2008, New York City
- PfL-led team visits Occupied Palestine – 4-13 November 2007
Events, campaigns and programmes:
- Annual Olive Harvest: Al-Mazzra’a Al-Qubalia
(Siraj, Center for Holy Land Studies) – 20 October - 4 November 2008 - Christmas Pilgrimage for Peace
(Siraj, Center for Holy Land Studies) – 28 December 2008 - 10 January 2009 - International Cultural Festival Along The Wall Near Rachel’s Tomb In Bethlehem (AEI-Open Windows) – 30 April - 1 May 2009
Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel
- NARRATIVE REPORT: Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel, 10 March 2008
- PLEDGE OF COMMITMENT: People of Faith with Palestine in Struggle – Conference Declaration: Amman Conference on Justice for Palestine, 12 November 2007
- Confronting Empire: People of Faith in Support of Palestine – Media Release: Amman Conference on Justice for Palestine, 13 November 2007
- List of Participants: Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel, 4-13 November 2007
- Message from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, 1 November 2007
- Concept paper, 12 June 2007
Resources
- RESOURCES: Palestine, Iraq and the Middle East
- Palestine Update – Series of articles on current developments pertaining to Palestine, issued by Alternatives-Badayl (Ranjan Solomon, editor)
- Seeing Through the Eyes of the Other – PfL Co-Moderator Farid Esack’s reflections and moving account of his recent visit to Palestine-Israel, 12 August 2008.
- Palestine in the Middle East: Opposing Neoliberalism and US Power:
Part 1 and Part 2, Adam Hanieh, MRZine, 19 July 2008. - The Apartheid Paradigm
– Cornerstone Issue 48 - Spring 2008, a quarterly publication by Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center Jerusalem - My Palestine Visit – Personal account and reflections by Irfan Engineer, 27 November 2007 to 11 January 2008 (series of 7 articles)
- Letter to an Israeli in Christmas Time – message from Dr. Bernard Sabella, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, 20 December 2007
- Apartheid Wall in Palestine: Voices and Echoes – Poem by Stiaan van der Merwe, November 2007
- Combating Dispossession – Final report of the International Seminar on Pilgrimages for Transformation held in Madaba, Jordan on 14-18 November 2007 organised by Alternative Tourism Group (ATG). The report features a framework for the drafting of a code of ethics for tourists travelling to the Holy Land.
- Removing the Log of Apartheid in Our Own Eye – Delivered by David Wildman at the Sabeel Conference on “The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel”, Boston, USA, 27 October 2007
- Sixty Years of WCC Policy on Palestine/Israel, 1948-2007 (in brief) – 11 points summarising the WCC policy on Palestine/Israel
Recommended reading
- Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Oneworld Publications, September 25, 2007. ISBN 978-1-85168-555-4
- Rifat Odeh Kassis, Palestine, A Bleeding Wound in the World’s Conscience, 3rd Voice Project, July 2006. ISBN 9950-346-00-2
- Tanya Reinhart, The road map to nowhere: Israel/Palestine since 2003, London; New York: Verso, 2006. ISBN 1-84467-076-7
- Frances Hasso, Resistance, Repression, and Gender Politics in Occupied Palestine and Jordan, Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East Series, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8156-3087-6.
Statements and press releases
- Israel is Deporting Jerusalem Christians – Public appeal by the Laity Committee in the Holy Land for the international community to stop Israel’s policy of deporting Christians from Jerusalem, 19 June 2008
- Solidarity prayer for the 60th anniversary of the Nakbah – from the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, 7 June 2008
- Message of Solidarity for the 60th Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba – from the Moro-Christian People’s Alliance and Liga ng Kabataang Moro, 7 June 2008
- United Methodist General Conference to Consider Divestment – Press release from Methodist Federation for Social Action, 21 April 2008
- An Open Letter to All Feminists: Statement of Solidarity with Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim Women Facing War and Occupation – from P. Chatterjee and S. Maira of the Campaign of Solidarity with Women Resisting U.S. Wars and Occupation, MRZine, 13 March 2008
- A Human Tragedy Called Gaza – Sabeel statement, 4 March 2008
- Message on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – Statement by Rev. Christopher Ferguson to the UN General Assembly in his capacity as WCC Representative to the UN, 29 November 2007
- THE AMMAN CALL – Issued at the WCC International Peace Conference on “Churches together for Peace and Justice in the Middle East”, Jordan, 18-20 June 2007
Related networks and initiatives
- Abraham Path Initiative – an international NGO aimed at supporting the development of the Abraham Path – a route of cultural tourism that retraces the journey made by Abraham (Ibrahim) through the heart of the Middle East some four thousand years ago. Founded in 2007 at the Global Negotiation Initiative at Harvard University, the initiative honours all cultures and faiths, and is supported by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. Work is now underway to make the completion of the Abraham Path a reality.
- Alternative Tourism Group – a Palestinian NGO specialising in tours and pilgrimages that include critical examinations of the history, culture, and politics of the Holy Land. Established in 1995, ATG operates according to the tenets of justice tourism, seeking to promote a positive image of Palestine and contribute to establishment of just peace in the area. (Contact: Rami Kassis, Executive Director)
- International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel (ICAPPI) – Action week for just peace in Palestine-Israel coordinated by the World Council of Churches
- Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People (PCR) – a non-religious Palestinian community service center based in Beit Sahour that advocates the Palestinian cause through community service with special focus on the youth, dialogue, nonviolent resistance to the occupation, and media.
- Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center – Jerusalem head office of Sabeel, an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians. It runs local and international programs aimed at encouraging people of faith to develop a spirituality of nonviolent liberation that empowers them to work for justice, peace and reconciliation in Palestine-Israel.
- Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies – an NGO based in Beit Sahour, Palestine that aims to create links between Palestinians with people around the globe through travel programs, interfaith/ecumenical dialogue, and culture and youth exchange programs (Contact: George Rishmawi, Coordinator)
News and information sources
- International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) – Combines Palestinian journalists’ deep understanding of the context, history and socio-political environment with international journalists’ training in non-partisan reporting to provide independent media coverage of Israel-Palestine
- Occupation Magazine – aims to provide information and commentary on the ongoing developments in the Occupied Territories in Hebrew and English. While the editors represent a range of opinions as to the optimal solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all are united in the belief that a viable solution must be based on the unconditional end to the Israeli military occupation, and on principles of equality, justice and mutual respect.
- Palestine: Home of History – a site project dedicated to the current history of Palestine from 1900 and up to the present; aimed to provide a ready reference site for all information about the land of Palestine and the conflict between Arab and Jews.
- Palestine Monitor – information and analysis based website based in Ramallah; publishes rigorously researched news, information, fact sheets, regular political analysis and first hand eye-witness accounts of life in the occupied territories; recognised as an independent voice of Palestinians living under occupation
- The Palestine Chronicle – an independent online newspaper that provides information and commentary on a variety of subjects, largely focused on Palestine, Israel, and the ‘Middle East’ region. The Palestine Chronicle team consists of professional journalists and respected writers and authors who don’t speak on behalf of any political party or champion any specific political agenda.
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