Living Stones Pilgrimage: October 14-27, 2014 ~ Led by Rev. Joan Deming
Registration is open! If you’ve read Blood Brothers by Father Elias Chacour or followed the unique Mar Elias Schools he founded in Ibillin, Israel, don’t miss this opportunity! For a study tour that’s more than a tourist experience of Israel/Palestine, please join us! Contact the tour leader at jdeming7@gmail.com or 608-241-9281. Click here for brochure and registration form.
~ Stay 6 nights in Bethlehem and visit sites in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Hebron, and the Dead Sea. Meet leaders of Wi’am, the Diyar Consortium, B’Tselem, OCHA, ICAHD, and the Tent of Nations. Experience the Holy Land as “the Fifth Gospel.”
~ Share an overnight with a family in Zababdeh and visit upper West Bank programs (Seraj Libraries, Canaan Fair Trade Olive Factory, St. George Melkite Church ministries in Zababdeh) and holy sites (Jacob’s Well, Church of the Ten Lepers).
~Stay 4 nights in Ibillin on the campus of the Mar Elias Educational Institutions (located between Haifa, Akko, and Nazareth). Walk where Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, but get to know his brothers, sisters, and neighbors in today’s Galilee as well. Visit Abuna Chacour’s native village of Biram, and Jesus’ native “village” of Nazareth. Meet with Abuna if his schedule permits. Talk with students in Mar Elias classes. Meet Dalia Landau, co-founder, and leaders of The Open House in Ramle (story found in The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan). Leave with new stories to share, realities to ponder, and Facebook friends to keep! Click here for a full brochure.
Cost: $1750 program fee to Pilgrims of Ibillin (including $500 registration); pay airfare separately to our travel agent: about $1300 for the New York-Tel Aviv round trip plus the cost of your connecting flight from wherever you live to New York.
Registration deadline is June 7, but space is limited so register early. Contact Joan Deming for more information: jdeming7@gmail.com or 608-241-9281.
A Christmas tree in Biram, the childhood village of Archbishop Elias Chacour
For First Time Since 1948, Christmas Tree Lit In Displaced Village
http://www.imemc.org/article/66547
Thursday December 12, 2013 09:06
by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies Report
For the first time since Israel was established in the historic land of Palestine, in 1948, and the resulting destruction and displacement of hundreds of villages and towns, there, a group of Palestinians managed to set up a Christmas tree in the displaced village of Kufur Birim, in the Galilee.
The Sonara News Agency has reported that, despite the extreme cold and snowstorms, especially in mountain areas, and despite repeated empty promises by Israeli officials, including the Minister of Minorities, the remaining displaced villagers were never allowed back.
Four months ago, a group of young Palestinians started sleeping in the village, as part of an extended campaign to affirm their right in their own lands, and recently installed a Christmas tree in the yard of a local church, affirming their Right of Return following 65 years of displacement.
Talking to the Sonara News Agency, Zatam Zahra, a member of one of the displaced families, said that this Christmas tree, the first in 65 years, is a symbol for the Right of Return for all refugees displaced from their lands, villages and towns.
He added that the tree is also a symbol of hope to the millions of externally displaced refugees living in dozens of refugee camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and several Arab countries.
“We demand a solution to Kufur Birim refugees”, he said. “The Right of Return is a right not only to the living, but also to the dead”.
This video captures a performance on Thursday April 4, 2013 in Madison, WI of a one man play–We Belong to the Land–based on the life of world-renowned Palestinian peacemaker, Elias Chacour. The Archbishop of Galilee of the Malkite Greek Catholic Church, Chacour is also a founder of the nonprofit “Pilgrims of Ibillin,” which works to advance understandings about persons of all faiths living in Israel. Its projects include the Mar Elias Educational Institutions in Ibillin (a small village located just east of Haifa in what is now northern Israel), where Christians, Jews, Muslims and Druze are educated without regard to religion or ethnic background. Much of the work of the program is made possible by support from American churches and other institutions and individuals, several of them in greater Madison.
The play tells a remarkable story of peace and reconciliation in the face of a life that began at the time of the disruption of Palestinian lives that coincided with the birth of Israel. Born in the village of Kafr Bir’im in Upper Galilee to a Palestinian Christian family, Elisa Chacour’s family was forced to take refuge in the neighboring village of Jish after Bir’im was occupied by occupying forces for Israeli independence. Chacour and his family became Israeli citizens in 1948, shortly after the establishment of the Israeli state.
An advocate of non-violence, Chacour travels often between the Middle East and other countries around the world. In addition, many visitors, fact-finding missions, and pilgrims have come to Ibillin. In recognition of his humanitarian efforts he has received honors including the World Methodist Peace Award, the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur, and the Niwano Peace Prize (Japan) as well as honorary doctorates from five universities including Duke and Emory. In 2001 Chacour was named “Man of the Year” in Israel. Chacour is the author of two best selling books, Blood Brothers and We Belong to the Land.
The play was co-sponsored by “Pilgrims of Ibillin,” and “The Crossing,” an interfaith campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which also provided the venue. Members of “The Crossing” have supported Chacour’s work and the Pilgrims of Ibillin for more than a decade. See crossingministries.org/.
Further background on the show was provided on WORT’s A Public Affair (hosted by videographer John Quinlan) the previous Monday. That show is archived at wortfm.org/we-belong-to-the-land/ .
For more information, please go to pilgrimsofibillin.org or contact Programs of Ibillin Executive Director Joan Deming at 608-235-1046 or via email at jdeming7@gmail.com .
Please come, if you live nearby! If not, invite your friends who do.
What are the Things that Make for Peace? Building Peace in the Midst of the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict
Dec. 2 – 7:00pm, St. Martin’s in the Fields Episcopal Church, 8000 St. Martin’s Lane, Philadelphia, PA. Free admission, free will offering. MODERATOR: Chris Satullo, Vice-President for News and Civic Dialogue of WHYY’s NEWSWORKS. • For more information, contact the Rev. Sharline A. Fulton • sharline213@gmail.com • 215-283-7342
Dec. 3 – 7:00pm, Eastern University Library Atrium, 1300 Eagle Road, St. Davids, PA. Phone 610-341-5800 with questions. Free admission, free-will offering.
Note: Abuna Chacour will also present the Opening Address at the Impact: Holy Land Conference at the Friends’ Center in Philadelphia, December 4 at 7:00pm. Registration is required. Visit www.impactholyland.org for information on this excellent conference sponsored by Evangelicals for Social Action.
Come to a public address by Archbishop Elias Chacour, Peace Activist and Leader of the Melkite Catholic Church of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth, and All Galilee
A free-will offering will be received to support Archbishop Chacour’s Peace-Building work
An Arab Palestinian Christian who is a citizen of Israel, Archbishop Chacour grew up walking the hillsides where Jesus lived, where Jesus taught “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” Archbishop Chacour has worked tirelessly for reconciliation and peace in the Middle East, especially by building high-quality schools in the Galilean village of Ibillin, where the students and faculty include Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Druze. More than 50% of the students are girls.
He is a three-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and winner of the World Methodist Peace Award, the Niwano Peace Prize, and was Rotary’s Man of the Year in Israel in 2000.
His books include Blood Brothers and We Belong to the Land: the Story of a Palestinian Israeli who Lives for Peace and Reconciliation. (Both books will be available for signing at the event, as well as two DVDs about Abuna Chacour and the Mar Elias Schools in Ibillin.)
Peace advocate and author Archbishop Elias Chacour will speak at church gatherings in Laguna Beach and San Marino, CA on April 14, 2013.
Archbishop Chacour was born in Palestine in 1939. He became a priest in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which traces its roots to the Byzantine period. Father Chacour is Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth, and All Galilee. He has worked tirelessly for reconciliation between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East and is author of several books, including Blood Brothers and We Belong to the Land. He is a recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award and the Niwano (Buddhist) Peace Prize for his work in education as founder of the Mar Elias Educational Institutions, which have more than 3,000 students and faculty, including Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Jews.
All are invited to hear this well-known advocate for a peaceful resolution of the “Arab-Israeli” conflict.
Sunday, April 14, 8:30 & 10:00am — Preaching in both worship services at Laguna Presbyterian Church,
415 Forest Ave, Laguna Beach, CA. For information about worship call the church at (949) 494-7555. Click here for worship times and travel directions.
Sunday, April 14, 7:00pm — Presentation, “What Are the Things that Make for Peace?” at San Marino Community Church, 1750 Virginia Road, San Marino, CA. Click here for Google Maps directions to the church. Questions for the church: Call (626) 282-4181.
Questions about Pilgrims of Ibillin, the sponsor of Abuna’s visit? Contact Executive Director Joan Deming at (608) 235-1046 or email jdeming7@gmail.com.
Alternative Gift-Giving: YOU can make a difference!
Your donations not only provide much-needed income for the Mar Elias Educational Institutions in Israel/Palestine; your gift also tells “the Living Stones” in Ibillin that they are remembered and loved by brothers and sisters around the world.
Homily for Community Thanksgiving Service at Mary Lyon Church…Nov. 20, 2012
The Rev. Cara B. Hochhalter, Charlemont, MA
When we were driving here tonight…a beautiful white owl flew by our window and we thought perhaps it was a sign of peace…Good evening…
When we decided to be thankful for peacemaking on this night… we didn’t know then that there would be such violence erupting from Israel and Gaza. I DID know that I would be just coming back from a 2-week study/tour through Israel/Palestine with “the Pilgrims of Ibillin” and I figured I would have at least one story to share….but I did not imagine that I would share about peace out of this global context of bombing and fear… I hear that a truce may be imminent …May it be so!
Here’s a little snapshot of two people…two peacemakers…one Palestinian Arab Christian, the other, a Jewish Israeli…both are women.
Her name is Amal… she is a Palestinian who comes from a long line of generations who have lived on top of one of the highest hills about 7 kilometers from Bethlehem in the West Bank. Her family has deeds of ownership for this 100 acres from the Ottomans, then the British, then the Jordanians, as well as the Israelis, but in 1991 their land was called “state land” and Amal and her brothers were not to farm there….but they are. They continue to grow olive trees, almond trees, fig trees and cactus among many flowers….They invite classes of 80 to 100 students to come for camping sessions to learn about living off the land, how to collect water from the rain and use solar for electricity. They teach non-violence and peace to people who come from all over the world to learn from this family of peace-makers.
Amal told us a story… because their farm is not supposed to exist, there have been boulders placed at the lower part of their hill so they cannot use vehicles to get in or out….but one day she was in a town nearby at the bus stop, she saw a Jewish woman who was going to the settlement that covers the hilltop across from where Amal lives.
Instead of ignoring each other and looking down, Amal, decided to make conversation…and in these few words… she began to form a small bridge…a beginning at making peace! She introduced herself to the other woman who asked where Amal’s home was…she told her that her family lived on top of that mountain.
“Impossible,” said the woman, “No one lives on that mountain. We were told that no one lives there…we are people on land where there are no people…” But Amal assured her that for generations, her family had lived there. She told her about their farm and their efforts at educating young people. Amal handed her her card as they parted.
A few weeks later, Amal received a call from her. She wanted to come and see. And so she did…she was served a beautiful lunch, just as we were served…and they talked at the long table looking out over the expanse of hills, a distant Palestinian village, and Jewish settlements.
Amal told us, “You have to know your neighbor if you are going to love them.”
A few months after this visit, Amal received another call from her Jewish neighbor who asked if she could bring her husband to visit because he didn’t believe her when she told him of the family who lives on the mountain and teaches environmental classes and peace-making. He came… And the bridge between these neighbors is building…But it is very hard. Their farm is called, The Tent of Nations as their goal is to bring many different people from all religions and nationalities…together.
The second story is about a woman that some of you may have already read about…in the book The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan. On a rainy evening we pulled up to the very home in Ramla, near Tel Aviv, where the Palestinian family had had to flee and the Jewish family moved in after 1948. In this true story, the Jewish daughter, Dalia Landau, becomes friends with Bashir of the Palestinian family and through their life-long communications, they decide that their home should be used for a preschool for children.
It is now called “The Open House.”…What a privilege it was to sit on little preschool chairs in a circle with Dalia, now a grown woman with reddish hair and a kind smile …The house is not just a place where Muslim and Christian children come to play, but many programs that bring people together are sponsored from this once contested home, summer camps for Jewish and Palestinian youth who seek the creative space that is in the middle between them…women of all faiths work on projects together…
Dalia said it isn’t easy…but she says that “not knowing the other, is a tragedy.”
When I sat listening to her…just a week ago…she told us about something that was going to happen on November 20… today! In light of the turmoil…I can only hope they were able to continue with this program…Today they were to celebrate a Day for Prayer and Action for the rights of children!… How poignant this is as the news images we have seen coming from this same region are pictures of injured children…From “The Open House” they are going to teach about the rights for education and safety and non-violence….The staff were to go into Hebrew and Palestinian Schools …and make stories or plays that demonstrate these rights…they were also to stress the power of prayer from all religions. Today… they were to bring Jewish and Palestinian volunteers into a Bedouin school…and the children would see an example of peace-making in action.
Dalia said that HOPE is a spiritual quality…and I hope and pray that these bridges of peacemaking continue and continue and continue…I give great thanks tonight…for the people whom I met in Israel/Palestine and the people I know right here among you…who dare to reach across to the “other” ….and in that space, in that reach…I believe something of the Holy, enters in…and peace is made visible!
Living Stones Pilgrimage Opportunity — Travel with a Purpose
January 29—February 11, 2013
Led by Rev. Bob Sawyer & George Shalabi ~ pilgrims@triad.rr.com or 336-499-5310
The winter Pilgrims of Ibillin Living Stones Pilgrimage still has openings, but the registration deadline is around the corner. Join us for a tour that’s more than a tourist experience of Israel/Palestine. Check our website for full brochure and registration form.
Cost: $1600 program fee to Pilgrims of Ibillin; pay airfare separately to our travel agent for the New York-Tel Aviv round trip, plus the cost of your connecting flight from wherever you live to New York.
Registration deadline—October 15, 2012. (We have a few days wiggle room on this deadline, but do call today for more information.)
Following his 2011-12 Hebrew College year in Israel, rabbinical student David Fainsilber committed himself to supporting grassroots organizations working for a non-violent resolution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine. To fulfill this promise, on August 14th David launched a fundraising campaign: “Cutting the Dreds, Running the Race – for Peace.” He’s working toward a goal of $3600 to benefit Mar Elias Educational Institutions this fall. Thanks, David!
Why? David was inspired to visit Mar Elias after his Boston-based group of students spent an electrifying hour with Archbishop Elias Chacour during their year of studies in Haifa. Abuna’s story of Building Peace on Desktops made David eager to see the school and meet the people. Once in Ibillin, a conversation with Elias Abu Ghanima, Mar Elias’ spokesperson, sealed David’s commitment to work after he returned home to support this school where the dream of overcoming differences and finding a neighbor in “the Other” is lived out every day.
As a result: On September 1, 2012, David will run his first ever competitive race in the Lake George Triathlon (upstate NY) to raise funds and awareness for Pilgrims of Ibillin in the USA and Peace it Together in Canada. Both organizations support programs in Israel that bring young people together across religious lines to cultivate peace and mutual understanding. Later in September, he plans to cut his dreds, which have been 13 years in the making.
Hailing from Montreal, David Fainsilber currently lives with his wife, Alison, and toddler, Adar, in Jamaica Plain, MA, where he is entering his fourth year at Hebrew College’s rabbinical school. David has been involved in social justice and interfaith work for many years as a Kol Tzedek Voices of Justice Speaking Fellow for American Jewish World Service, and as a Spiritual Mentor at the Interfaith Youth Initiative. David has also served as a Hebrew College-Andover Newton CIRCLE Fellow, developing and implementing an Interfaith Hospitality initiative for seminarians of various faiths. Working in the Jewish community for more than a dozen years, David has led High Holiday services at Kolot Chayeinu in Brooklyn and MIT Hillel, and will bring in this coming year with Tufts Hillel. He is currently the rabbinic intern at Nehar Shalom, with a focus on community organizing and creating musical, soulful prayer experiences for the community.
Over the last 2 years, Mar Elias High School’s science labs have been radically improved, thanks to generous grants through Pilgrims of Ibillin from F.I.S.H. Foundation, Inc., of Plainsboro, NJ. One major grant for technology upgrades came from F.I.S.H. Foundation through the Clinton Global Initiative. Pilgrims of Ibillin offers heartfelt thanks. But the most important gratitude comes from Mar Elias teachers and students themselves:
THANK YOU! — From a Teacher:
Mr. Ehab Far, a Mar Elias High School science teacher, warmly thanks Pilgrims of Ibillin for providing the technology he needs to teach his students. “Before,” he said, “I used to have to make a drawing on the board and say to the students, “Imagine a piece of electronic equipment that looks like this…‟
Mr. Far illustrated on paper what he used to draw for his students to depict the lab equipment so he could verbally describe the result it produced. Now the students in his lab can observe directly using state of the art tools. He says with a laugh, “With religion, we praise believing without seeing, but with science you must see.”
And From a Student:
“I am being fully equipped with all that is needed for university life while I am still in high school. I tell my friends who graduated from MEEI about the labs we have now. They say that I have nothing to worry about when I am enrolled in university because of the simple fact that I’m already familiar with most of the equipment.”
~ Stay 6 nights in Bethlehem and visit sites in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Hebron, and the Dead Sea. Meet leaders of Wi’am, the Diyar Consortium, B’Tselem, OCHA, ICAHD, and the Tent of Nations. Experience the Holy Land as “the Fifth Gospel.”
