The Link Between Justice and Peace
By Rev. Susan d’Olive Mozena
Photo: Susan Mozena at the Church of the Beatitudes in Israel
I have been part of Grosse Pointe Memorial Church (PCUSA) since 1969, first as a member, and then as a minister leading the adult education program since 2009. I was aware of Fr. Elias Chacour and Pilgrims of Ibillin through Fr. Chacour’s years-long friendship with our former pastor, Rev. Dr. V. Bruce Rigdon, who had invited Fr. Chacour to visit our congregation.
Because of his first visit with us, I read Fr. Chacour’s compelling book, Blood Brothers. In 2015, I jumped at the chance to be part of a Living Stones Pilgrimage, joined by a number of members of our church, and others from around the country. I was attracted to the Mar Elias Educational Institutions (MEEI) because of Fr. Chacour’s life story and his unshakable commitment to interfaith education grounded in the gospel of the love of God in Jesus Christ as a means to advocate for justice and foster peace in that very troubled part of the world.
I am grateful to serve on the Pilgrims of Ibillin board because of what I experienced, what I learned, during that pilgrimage in 2015.
Pilgrims of Ibillin supports MEEI, and it also supports other “peace partners,” whose work we learned about on our pilgrimage. Each of those organizations is committed to supporting Palestinian Israeli citizens and Palestinians living in the West Bank, Christians and Muslims alike, whose work is focused on the peaceful pursuit of justice. I was incredibly moved by the missions of each of Ibillin’s Peace Partners, and I was inspired by the determination of each to make a difference in the difficult life realities of those they serve.
One of our Peace Partners is Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in Bethlehem, West Bank, located right next to the very ugly Israeli separation wall and guard tower, which virtually looms over Wi’am’s patio and play yard for the children who spend time there.
Photos from Wi’am …..
Our Pilgrimage group spent a wonderful time at Wi’am, learning from the founder and director , Zoughbi Zoughbi M.A. and Wi’am staff member Usama Nicola, our guide in the West Bank. We happened to be in Bethlehem on Palm Sunday and were invited to worship at Wi’am, presided over by a wonderfully welcoming American Roman Catholic priest who was leading a tour of Catholics from several different countries who were committed to social justice. It was incredibly powerful to participate in the Palm Sunday liturgy in the birthplace of Jesus Christ, sharing the peace with sister and brother Christians from many different places, in several languages: “The peace of Christ be with you.” “And also with you.” All of that happened right next to that wall and that guard tower.
Photo: West Bank wall and guard tower
Seated near the front, I could easily see the detail of what was on the communion table. It was an olive wood depiction of the wall and the tower, with the familiar figures of the Christmas creche in front, Bethlehem now and Bethlehem then.
Photos: Olive wood creche with wall and tower
And, I could see the artistic detail of the parament hanging from the lectern, a depiction of Jacob and Esau, two brothers who had been broken apart by covetousness over issues of birthright, and then eventually reconciled. What had been broken became healed.
Photos: Parament pictures
At the end of the Palm Sunday service, the liturgist assisting the priest knocked the olive wood wall down, leaving the creche intact.
As we made our way through our pilgrimage, visiting people, sites and organizations in Israel and the West Bank, what I saw and heard from Muslim and Christian Palestinians provided me with vivid images and conversations that convinced me that without justice for Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, peace is not truly attainable and sustainable. That is why I serve on the Pilgrims of Ibillin board.
