Hi dear friends. I am writing from Jerusalem, having just arrived here today along with nine other members of a delegation organized by the group Christians for Ceasefire and hosted by the Palestinian Christian organization Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center (called Sabeel for short).
This is the one of many delegations of folks coming from mostly North America to be a presence and show solidarity with the Palestinian people during this very difficult period of genocide in Gaza and intensified aggression in the West Bank. The rationale from our Palestinian partners is that having internationals present is helpful because it offers hope and encouragement to the people who are oppressed and, it can mitigate some of the violence of the oppressor because “they tend to behave better when they know outsiders are watching.”
We are staying in the West Bank and we are safe.
I really struggled during Advent and Christmas season last year. I often do: there is such a disconnect between how Americans celebrate Christmas and the realities of what is happening to do in the place where that first Christmas story took place. It was so much worse last year in the early months of the genocide in Gaza. This year, I am channeling that grief and sadness into something that feels better.
For example, I was part of a group that built this Christ in the Rubble nativity scene modeled after the one set up in the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem last year. It is discussed in this article from Religion News. (Edited to add: ignore that line in there about being a buffer if it freaks you out. What we are doing is totally not that dramatic I promise.)
And now I am in Palestine. I will try to share updates daily about what we see and learn.
Tonight we met with Budour Hassan, one of the authors of Amnesty International’s report: You feel like you are subhuman: Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It is a nearly 300 page report documenting hundreds of details indicating Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza according to international law. Many of us don’t need this report to know this is genocide. But international law is so limited, this level of detail was necessary.
Thank you for reading. I will share more tomorrow.
In solidarity,
Lindsey